Chapter 11

CHAPTER ELEVEN

" W hat can I do for you, Mr. Williams?" Hyacinth said, walking out to the entranceway five minutes after the Nightingales had left.

"You have hurt your hand. Can I help you, Lady Lowell?"

"No, it is fine, but thank you."

"I have come to see if you would take a drive with me in my new curricle, my lady. There is to be a fete nearby. I thought you would like to attend."

Mr. Williams was the son of a wealthy merchant who owned many properties and businesses in London. His father had married the daughter of a baron, and now the entire family walked in society. She'd met him four months ago and been avoiding him ever since. He had made it no secret that he wanted a titled wife and had decided on Hyacinth. She could think of nothing worse, but as yet had not dissuaded him.

Kenneth had ensured they were cared for financially, and she needed no man to look after her or her children. If sometimes she wanted to experience what Letitia and Charles had with a deep, longing ache inside, it soon passed. Her thoughts went to Leo, and she pushed them away. There was nothing to gain from going there.

"Come now, you must have some joy in your life, surely?" Mr. Williams said.

He was a good-looking man, she supposed. Women certainly thought so, and that was another reason she had no idea why he'd settled on her as someone he wished to pursue. There were plenty that would love Mr. Williams's attentions, but not Hyacinth.

He was always dressed immaculately and smiled a lot, flattering with ease. The man was harmless, if annoying. What he would never be was her husband.

"I have commitments with my children, sir."

"I suppose they could come."

"How gracious," she said with feigned pleasure. "However, I will have to decline. Good day to you, Mr. Williams. I must get back to work."

He scoffed. "You have no need of work, my dear lady. Let me take you out for tea. A woman such as you deserves to be pampered and spoiled, not work." His smile irritated her.

"No, thank you. I have just had tea with friends." Cyn wasn't sure why she'd said that, but it had come out. Perhaps old habits die hard.

"Friends? I don't think I have met them before."

"I did not realize you had to know all my friends, Mr. Williams." Hyacinth knew Lewis sat at his desk listening to every word they spoke. He was there should she require him to escort this man out.

"No, indeed, you'll excuse my presumption. But everything about you intrigues me, my lady."

She had tried to dampen his interest but failed. Perhaps she should be more direct in her approach. "Let me speak plainly, Mr. Williams. "

"Of course, I want that between us," he said, his tone condescending.

"I am not looking to marry anyone ever again. I am a widow and will stay that way. My children are my only concern, and I'm sorry if you believed otherwise. Please expect nothing more from me than what we are—acquaintances."

His smile fell, and Cyn realized she had never spoken to him in such a direct manner before. Clearly, it was overdue.

"No woman wishes to live her days without a companion, surely, my lady."

"I do."

"If you will just allow me the chance, I can change your mind," he said, taking her hand before she could stop him. Hyacinth snatched it back. "I am not one to give up."

"Please do. There are plenty of more worthy recipients for your attentions. I suggest you seek out one of them. Good day to you, Mr. Williams. Please do not return."

"I am, of course, desolate," he said, looking like a mournful puppy.

Hyacinth heard Lewis mutter something, but she couldn't make out what. He then got out of his chair and walked to the door, opening it for the now-forlorn Mr. Williams to walk through.

"Well, that was a morning," Lewis said after he'd closed it.

"I'm exhausted," Hyacinth said.

"Do you want to talk about the dark, handsome lord and his family?" Lewis asked.

"No."

"But?"

"But nothing. They are from my past. I have no wish to discuss them."

"But I have a feeling they will call upon you again, especially if they take the lease next door. "

"We will not see a lot of each other," Hyacinth said, hoping it was true. She was not sure she could take too much exposure to the Nightingales. It made her remember what once she'd longed for.

"Oh, I think you could be wrong there."

As the door behind them opened once more, the conversation, thankfully, finished.

"Good day," Hyacinth said to the young lady who stepped inside. She could tell at once the woman was nervous, and the look in her eyes was defiant. A dark, ugly bruise ran the length of her chin, her dress was deep red, and she wore no bonnet or gloves.

"How may we at the Phoenix Agency help you?" Cyn asked calmly.

"My friend Trixie said you would help me."

"Are you speaking of Trixie Leigh?"

The woman nodded at Cyn's question. She remembered Trixie well. Lewis had found her lying in a doorway one evening as he returned home from visiting friends. She'd run away from the place she worked as a prostitute and was living on the streets.

"What is your name?" Cyn asked.

"Leona Brown."

"Well, Leona, if you want our help, then we need to ask a few questions," Cyn said.

Only a select few knew the Phoenix Agency was for women such as Leona, and Cyn was determined to keep it that way. To keep it as a safe house of sorts for those who had nowhere else to run.

"Are you also a prostitute, Miss Brown?" Lewis asked.

One thing Cyn and Lewis had realized in their dealings with women who'd had hard lives was they did not want platitudes or lies about how things would be all right from now on. They wanted straight talking, and it had taken Cyn time to understand this. Lewis, however, was a master at it.

"I am. I work for him, but I won't anymore." She rubbed her arm. "Like Trixie, I want to get away."

Cyn thought she knew who she spoke of. Trixie had told her a few things, but so far, they had not been given a name.

"Him?"

"I only know him as the Wolf."

"You are one of the Baddon Boys' ladies?" Cyn asked next, having heard of the Wolf. "Do you work at the Bird of Paradise?"

Leona nodded. "They're a mean bunch, some of them."

"Well then, let's see what we can do to help you. Tea, please, Lewis," Cyn said. Leading Leona into the parlor the Nightingales had recently vacated, she waved her into a chair.

Cyn had started the Phoenix Agency six months after her husband's death, but she'd told Kenneth that this was something she'd wanted to do… well, not quite an agency for prostitutes and women who had fallen on hard times, but an agency to help women find work. Her late husband had told her about this building.

When she'd come here to inspect it, she'd met her first client. Miss Mary Coulter. The woman had been huddled around the rear of her property, sleeping, when Cyn arrived. She'd also run away from the brothel she had worked in. Cyn had told her she could sleep inside, and she'd never left.

"Do you have a place to sleep, Leona?" Cyn asked.

"I can't go back there, seeing as I spoke up and said I don't want to do it no more. No one leaves unless they wish it from the Bird of Paradise. I'm right fearful after what he's done to Clara when she tried to get away. She's hiding somewhere, but I couldn't find her."

"The Wolf?" Cyn asked .

"Yes, but it's never him who does the dirty work but one of the Baddon Boys gang. He's a mean one, and he'll have me roughed up or killed if he finds me."

"Then we will make sure he does not get near you again," Cyn said firmly, and that was all it took to crack the hard veneer of Leona Brown. Tears leaked from her eyes.

"And Clara. You have no idea where she is or what condition she is in?" Cyn asked gently.

"I-I don't know. He hurt her, and some others hid her somewhere. They wouldn't tell me where."

Often these women had taught themselves how to lock away feelings. But with a glimmer of hope, the facade frequently crumbled, and the cascade of tears falling down Leona's cheeks told her that was the case here.

"There now, Leona. It will be hard work, but if you are willing, we will make sure from this day forth that things are different for you."

"Tea," Lewis said, returning.

"Lovely," Cyn said. Her friend then set about pouring cups and handing them out, taking the seat beside Cyn after.

Lewis could be silent as a mouse when required. Like Cyn, he had sat through many interviews just like this one. He also knew that being a man, he was seen as a threat to these women.

"Upstairs, we have rooms you are welcome to stay in until you no longer need them," Cyn said. "But we insist you tell no one our address or that you are staying here."

Leona nodded. "I have no family, and my friends are at the Bird of Paradise, but I won't go back there." She looked down at her hands. "I need to tell you something, my lady."

"Of course," Cyn said.

"They're growing suspicious, my lady, so I'll understand if you want me to find other lodgings. "

"Pardon?" Cyn wasn't sure why, but suddenly the hair on the back of her neck was standing.

"After Trixie, then you helped Cathy?—"

"Cathy Miller was not one of the Baddon Boys' women," Cyn said.

"But she was known to them, and she was in Luther's stable, and he's a friend of the Wolf."

"How do you know this?"

Leona shrugged. "I hear stuff. It's amazing what a man will tell you when he's got his pants down. I didn't hear your name outright, but they said a high-class nob was interfering with the women, and she may have to be stopped."

Dear God.

"Hello."

Cyn looked to the door and watched Mary walk in while she grappled with what Leona had said. Was it true? Did they know her identity? Or was it like she said, they knew she was nobility? What of Meg and Simon? Were they in danger?

"Come in, Mary," Lewis said.

She pushed aside the thoughts for now; she'd think more about it later. Cyn focused on the woman who had just arrived.

No longer the frightened lady she'd found that day, Mary looked happy and confident. Her blond hair was pinned in a neat bun, and she wore a simple blue day dress. She had helped the Phoenix Agency become what it was today.

"Mary, this is Leona. She needs our help."

"Well then, she's in just the right place," Mary said.

"She needs a bed for a while, Mary," Lewis said, his eyes softening as he looked at her.

Cyn could not confirm it absolutely, but she thought perhaps he was in love with Mary. However, she had such a mistrust of men, and Cyn wasn't sure that devotion would ever be reciprocated. She hoped it was, as they were two of her most favorite people.

"Excellent, I will enjoy the company." Mary was the only woman who stayed at the Agency full-time. She was here to look after the other women who visited for however long they needed to.

"Leona told me about a woman called Clara, who was mistreated after she tried to leave the Bird of Paradise, Mary. It could be the same woman you referred to in that note," Cyn said.

"Then we must try to find her."

Cyn agreed. If there was a woman out there alone, hurting and scared, they would need to find her.

When Mary had taken Leona up the stairs to look after her, Cyn sat and sipped her tea, thinking about what Leona said.

"Do you believe we are in danger here, Lewis?"

"No one has approached us before, but I think considering what Leona said, we must take care."

"Do you think I should have someone watch the place to be safe?" Cyn asked.

"I could sleep downstairs if you are worried. Once we clear it out, that is."

"Of course, I would need to discuss it with Mary, but I would feel happier with you here until I know there is no danger, Lewis."

He got that smile on his face he always got when Mary's name was mentioned but simply nodded.

"Will you tell me about Lord Seddon now, Cyn?"

"He is someone I once thought would be my husband. But before that could happen, his father took his own life and left behind enormous debts. The family was ruined in the eyes of society and fled London."

"Society is a fool," Lewis said, disgusted .

"Indeed, it is," Cyn agreed. "I wonder how we can find the woman, Clara, that Leona is worried about."

"I will ask a few of the lads who drop by for food occasionally if they have heard anything," Lewis said.

"Excellent. I will have Mrs. Varney bake some more cakes and biscuits for them."

"And you never saw Lord Seddon again until now?" Lewis circled back to Leo.

"He was the one who pulled me out of the Thames a few days ago."

"Good Lord."

"And that is the end of the story."

"Oh, I doubt that, but for now, I am appeased. I knew there was something between you, as he could not keep his eyes off you."

Her heart absolutely did not flutter over Lewis's words. "I don't think so. Now"—Cyn rose—"we have work to do and cleaning out the downstairs so you can move in there for a while is the first task."

Lewis groaned but rose to join her. "Is your hand up to doing more work?"

"It is fine now. The bleeding has stopped. I shall put something on it when I go home shortly," Cyn said, walking out of the parlor.

"I have a nice pie for Miss Mary's supper, and I'll get about cleaning the downstairs rooms shortly," the woman who was bustling in through the rear door with her arms full said.

"Thank you, Mrs. Varney. How is your daughter?" Cyn asked. Beside her, Lewis shuddered.

Mrs. Varney had been working for them since they opened, and she occasionally brought her daughter to help. Tabitha tended toward flirtatious behavior and terrified Lewis .

"Well now, she's still not wed, for all the trying she does," the woman said, lowering her things to a table. She then took off her favorite bonnet covered in flowers and hung it on a hook.

"We are going downstairs to clean out. If you need us, Mrs. Varney, just call," Cyn said.

"If you need some help, I've a few friends who are able. You just let me know."

"I will, thank you, Mrs. Varney."

"Did you love him?" Lewis said as they left by the rear door once more.

"Lewis, I am not discussing Lord Seddon any more with you."

"Just answer that question, and I will ask you no more."

Cyn sighed. "I did. Very much. In fact, for a while, I wondered if I'd love anyone else, and then I grew up."