There were no other customers that night and Jamie came in by the back door. He was soaked to the skin. ‘I’ve been stuck in a shop doorway,’ he groused. ‘Daren’t come out till ’police left. Did they come here?’ He sniffed, wiping his nose on his sleeve. ‘Get me a cup o’ coffee,’ he said to Mrs Flitt, who had let him in on hearing his tap on the door.
‘They did come,’ Lily told him, ‘and if it hadn’t been for Henry I don’t know what might have happened. I was scared witless.’
‘They can’t get you for keeping a brothel. Not that this is one,’ he added hastily. ‘It’s a bordello.’
Lily gave an impatient sigh. ‘It’s ’same thing,’ she said irritably.
‘Well, anyway, they can’t. There’s no law,’ Jamie went on. ‘But they can get you on keeping a disorderly house, which is what they’ll charge that lot out there with; silly beggars all dashed inside when they saw ’police and they caught ’em red-handed. Half dressed, most of ’em.’ He laughed.
‘Yes, we don’t need ’details, thank you!’ Lily interrupted.
‘Ooh, Miss Prim!’ Jamie said caustically. ‘Anyway, watch out and mek sure ’girls don’t get drunk cos they can get ’em on that as well, and,’ he wagged a finger, ‘no pinching money off customers.’
‘They don’t,’ she said indignantly.
‘Don’t you believe it,’ he said. ‘Course they do!’
‘Police asked me who was ’landlord,’ Lily told him. ‘Should I have said you?’
‘Broadley.’ His answer was swift. ‘Not me. He owns ’house. He’s ’one who gets ’rent. And he’s got a lot o’ clout and friends in ’right places so he’ll never get prosecuted. Anyway, I’m off; don’t forget to tek money off Henry.’
‘I won’t. Don’t you want your coffee?’
‘Nah, I’m going home to get dry. Be good.’ He winked cheekily and sped off down the hall and she heard Mrs Flitt chastising him.
‘’Ere you are, Miss Lily.’ Mrs Flitt came through with the coffee pot. ‘You might as well drink it. Can’t afford to waste it, can we? You all right, dearie?’ She bent anxiously towards her.
‘I suppose so, Mrs Flitt,’ Lily said despondently. ‘I just keep on wondering what I’m doing in this kind of life.’
‘You’ve just got to keep your head above water and below ’parapet,’ Mrs Flitt said sagely. ‘That’s what I allus say.’
Lily vaguely wondered how she could possibly manage to do both these absurdities, but she smiled and took the offered drink and sat quietly thinking.
‘Henry,’ Betty wheedled, stroking his hair. ‘I want to ask you something!’
Henry grunted. He was lying face down with his head in the pillow. ‘As long as you’re not going to ask me to do anything exhausting,’ he muttered. ‘I’m shattered. Oh my! What a girl you are!’ He half turned towards her and opened one eye. ‘Just let me get my breath back.’
She laughed. She had never known anyone with as much stamina as Henry; neither had she ever looked forward so eagerly to seeing a man. ‘Silly,’ she said. ‘I didn’t mean that!’
He rolled over and grabbed her. ‘And why not?’ He straddled her with his strong thighs and she thought that although he was the sort of man you wouldn’t notice if you passed him in the street, once he was disrobed he was magnificent. ‘Tired of me already, are you?’ He bent to nibble her neck, and as his hands clutched her hips she knew he was ready to ride her again.
‘Never,’ she breathed, arching her body beneath him. ‘I’ll never get tired of you, Henry. I’ve never met anyone like you before.’
Later, as he was dressing, he asked, ‘So what did you want to ask me?’
‘Erm.’ She hesitated. When she and the others had been talking about going to see the sea, and she had blithely said she would ask Henry to take her, she now realized she was asking the impossible. ‘Oh, it’s nothing,’ she said. ‘It doesn’t matter. You wouldn’t anyway.’
He looked keenly at her. ‘I wouldn’t what? Come on, tell me. Don’t be shy. You can ask me anything.’ He kissed her on the cheek as he buttoned up his shirt. ‘After all we’ve done together, surely there’s nothing you can’t ask?’
‘Ah, well, that’s just it.’ She felt tears welling. ‘It’s not as if I’m an ordinary sort o’ girl, after all.’
‘Phew! You’re certainly not.’ He ran his fingers down her throat to her breasts. ‘Don’t get me started again, Betty, or I’ll never get home tonight.’
She smiled. She hadn’t done anything, yet here he was becoming amorous again; she recognized that gleam in his eyes. ‘It’s just that ’other girls and me were talking with Lily and she was telling us about living by ’sea; and we’d never seen it—’
‘Never seen the sea!’ he broke in in astonishment. ‘What? Never?’
She shook her head. ‘No. How could we? We’ve barely had money to scrape together to buy a bit o’ bread, let alone a train ticket.’
Henry sat down on the bed and stared at her. ‘Is that what you wanted to ask? If I would buy train tickets for you all?’
‘No. No! Not for all of us!’ She looked pleadingly at him. ‘Onny me. I wondered if you’d tek me.’ She pressed her lips together and shrugged. ‘It was a stupid idea. I know that you can’t.’
He reached out and drew her towards him. ‘Why can’t I? It’s a splendid idea! I could hire a carriage if you like and we could jog along in fine style along the coast; or I suppose you’d rather travel by train if you’ve never done it before. Where to? Bridlington?’
‘Oh, yes! Please!’ She jumped into his lap. ‘Yes, please!’
‘Oh, heavens! There, you’ve done it again.’ He began to unbutton his shirt, using one hand whilst with the other he stroked her thigh, seeking pleasure with his fingers. ‘I can’t get enough of you, Betty. You’re going to have to come back into bed again.’
‘Lily!’ Betty crept into Lily’s room after she had let Henry out of the house. ‘Henry said to give you this.’
Lily sat up in bed. She’d given up waiting for Henry to leave. ‘Has he onny just gone?’ There was astonishment in her voice. ‘Wherever does he get ’energy from? Put it on my desk. I’ll see to it in ’morning.’
Betty put the money down and said, ‘Oh, we’ve been talking! That’s why he was so late leaving.’
Lily gave a snort. ‘Well, I don’t believe that for a minute, but as Jamie would say, as long as he pays it doesn’t matter what he does.’
‘He can’t come for a few days,’ Betty said in a low voice. ‘He’s got some business to attend to; but Lily, I asked him if he’d tek me to Bridlington and he said he would.’
‘Really? Oh, you lucky girl! The others will be wild wi’ jealousy.’
‘I hope he meant it,’ Betty murmured, ‘cos after he said he would, he remembered he couldn’t come again till next week. Now I’m worrying that p’raps I shouldn’t have asked. That mebbe he thinks I’ve got a bit above myself and he’s mekking an excuse not to come back.’
Lily got out of bed and, wrapping a shawl round herself, came to Betty’s side. ‘He won’t be doing that,’ she said. ‘Men do have businesses to run or other commitments, but he’s been coming here regular as clockwork. Why, there’s nobody else been so often and he’s never asked for anybody but you.’
Betty began to weep. ‘I know,’ she said. ‘But it’s just …’
‘You’re not getting over fond of him, are you?’ Lily asked anxiously. ‘That won’t do, Betty. You’ll get hurt.’
‘Yes,’ Betty sobbed. ‘And I never wanted to care for anybody ever again, not like I did for my babby’s father. I vowed I wouldn’t after he said he didn’t want me.’
‘He was young, I expect,’ Lily soothed her, ‘as you were; and he didn’t want ’responsibility of a wife and child.’
Betty lifted the hem of her skirt and wiped her eyes. ‘That’s what he said at ’time, but it didn’t help me when I was carrying his bairn.’ Another tear slid down her cheek. ‘My poor little Tommy. I think about him all ’time. I’ll never get over losing him.’ She sniffed and drew a sobbing breath. ‘Sorry! Funny thing is, though, Henry teks my mind off what’s gone before. He meks me laugh, and – and I do care for him, Lily, and I just hope that I haven’t asked for more than I deserve and frightened him off. After all, there are plenty of other women like me who’ll ask a man for nowt more than the price of a cup o’ tea or a loaf o’ bread.’
‘Yes,’ Lily said gloomily. ‘That’s a woman’s misfortune; unfortunate women, that is, who have no other means of mekking a living and are corrupted by unscrupulous men.’
‘Henry isn’t unscrupulous!’ Betty sprang to Henry’s defence. ‘He’s ’nicest man I’ve ever met.’
‘Betty,’ Lily said thoughtfully, ‘would you go back to Hope House?’
‘What? Why would I do that? I like it here, and besides, I’d want to see Henry.’
‘You just said that he won’t be coming till next week, and it’s just – will you trust me, Betty? I’ve wanted to do something to help you and I think that now I know how I can.’
The next morning Lily dressed in her grey gown, put on her bonnet and walked out of the house. In Lowgate she hired a hansom using money she had taken out of Henry’s generous payment. He had stayed for several hours, but, she reckoned, Jamie didn’t know that and what he didn’t know about he wouldn’t miss. Am I becoming underhand? Dishonest even? I think I probably am, she thought, but that’s what life has made me.
The hansom drew up outside the address she had given and she paid the driver. She would have to walk back; the money wouldn’t stretch to two journeys. Mrs Grant opened the door to her knock and asked politely, ‘Can I help you, ma’am?’
Lily suppressed a smile; the housekeeper hadn’t recognized her. What a poor thing she must have looked when she was first brought here. ‘Good morning, Mrs Grant,’ she said. ‘Might I speak to Mrs Thompson?’
She was invited in and she could see that Mrs Grant was puzzled that Lily should know her by name. ‘What name shall I say, ma’am?’
‘Mrs Maddeson,’ Lily said, and was taken through to Mrs Thompson’s room.
Mrs Thompson was sitting behind a desk writing in a ledger. She looked up and smiled at her visitor as she was announced. ‘Good morning.’ A little frown appeared above her nose. ‘We’ve met. You’re not on the committee? No? Then where – I know,’ she said intently. ‘My word. Mrs Maddeson! What a surprise. Please take a seat.’
‘You remember me? Mrs Grant didn’t.’
‘Mrs Grant has so many young women passing through her door that it’s not surprising that sometimes she forgets. But I didn’t think I would see you again. You were not the usual kind of woman to come here.’
‘Is there a usual kind of woman?’ Lily asked. ‘It seems to me that any woman can fall on misfortune and end up in ’gutter.’
‘Yes.’ Mrs Thompson sighed. ‘Forgive me. That is very true. Sadly, women are not in charge of their own lives; but what I really meant was that you seemed more capable than most of managing to fend for yourself.’
Lily nodded. ‘Generally I am and I’ve survived, but not in ’manner I’d wish.’ She went on to give brief details of what had happened to her and how she was presently employed.
‘I’m very sorry to hear it,’ Mrs Thompson said in her quiet manner. ‘I had hoped for better things for you.’
‘It’s a temporary situation,’ Lily assured her. ‘I don’t intend to stay in my present occupation. It’s degrading and humiliating,’ she said bitterly. ‘But I’m not living on ’streets and neither are my girls.’ She took a breath. ‘There’s one young woman in particular that I’d like to discuss with you. She’s been here and you mebbe thought that you’d had success with her.’
She told Mrs Thompson about Betty and how she was becoming fond of one of her customers. ‘I think,’ she said, ‘that Betty can be saved from ’kind of life she’s presently in, and that this gentleman might well see her in a different light if she’s not always available for – well, you know – for his pleasure. I’m asking you, Mrs Thompson, if you’ll have her back for a week and attempt to … shall I say knock off some of her rough edges. She does know how to behave; I noticed that when I first met her, but she needs to be told that she isn’t worthless, that she has something else to offer as well as her body.’
‘We normally prepare young women for other types of work,’ Mrs Thompson said doubtfully. ‘What had you in mind for Betty?’
‘Show her how to act in front of a man without trying to entice or allure him. Teach her to behave modestly. What I’m hoping is that this man, who’s already smitten with her, might, just might, offer her summat more permanent.’
‘Something more permanent?’ Mrs Thompson raised her eyebrows. ‘A week, you say?’ At Lily’s nod, she said, ‘Well, there’s a challenge! All right. We’ll do it.’
Lily smiled. Good, she thought. That’s Betty. Next is Lizzie!