Dilly Court - The Christmas Rose

‘Go away,’ he said through clenched teeth. ‘This is a respectable household.’ He was about to shut them out when Cora put her foot over the threshold.

‘I dunno what makes you think I ain’t respectable,’ she said boldly, ‘but I’m as good as you, Jem Wilkins, and I don’t think your superior would take very kindly to one of his men frequenting a—’

Wilkins opened the door a fraction wider. ‘Shut up, Cora. Don’t let the world know my business.’

‘Then let us in. This young lady is a friend of Max Manning. She wants to see him.’

Wilkins rolled his eyes. ‘She can’t be much of a friend if she doesn’t know that Captain Manning’s regiment sailed for Alexandria nearly two months ago.’

‘No,’ Rose said faintly. ‘I don’t believe it. Max wouldn’t do that to me. He would have let me know.’

Cora turned on her in a fury. ‘You was miles out at sea, you silly cow. Why didn’t you think of that? You never said he was a soldier.’

‘Let me shut the door, Cora,’ Wilkins said urgently. ‘Go away and take her with you.’

‘No.’ Rose found her voice. ‘If Captain Manning is away I need to see Mrs Colville. She’ll remember me.’

Wilkins folded his arms across his chest. ‘Well, that’s going to be a bit difficult, miss. Because Mr and Mrs Colville are away from home.’

‘Stop smirking, you smug devil,’ Cora snapped. ‘I can still peach on you to the butler or the housekeeper. Either will do.’

‘The master and mistress left on a business trip to Australia six weeks ago,’ Wilkins said stiffly. ‘Now go away, please. I can’t tell you anything else.’

‘Just a minute,’ Rose cried anxiously. ‘Do you know how long Captain Manning will be away?’

Wilkins gave her a pitying look. ‘According to the newspapers the war in Egypt is over, but I doubt if the generals themselves know when the troops will be sent home. Sorry, miss, but there it is.’ He gave Cora a push that almost overbalanced her and slammed the door.

Rose sank down on the top step. ‘I can’t believe this is happening to me,’ she murmured, shaking her head.

‘A pretty pickle you got yourself into, kid.’ Cora stared down at her, frowning. ‘Sitting there, feeling sorry for yourself, ain’t going to help either.’

‘I need to think,’ Rose said slowly. ‘I’m sure that Max would have made arrangements for me to be provided for until he returns.’

‘If he comes back at all.’ Cora threw up her hands. ‘Don’t look at me like that, young ’un. He went to fight in a war. If the bullets don’t get him he might have fallen sick from them foreign diseases. You got to face facts, love.’

‘Then I’ll travel to Egypt so that I can be near him.’

‘Oh, really! You said you got no money, and it’s a long way to walk.’

Rose stood up, bracing her shoulders. ‘I’ll get work and I’ll find a way.’

‘Well, I can’t leave you here, but I got to earn a living, too. You’d best come home with me.’ Cora gave her a calculating look. ‘Regan would take you on. He’s always looking for fresh faces and young bodies, especially virgins.’

Rose felt the colour flood her cheeks and she turned away. ‘I’m not that sort …’ She broke off, too embarrassed to finish the sentence. Cora had been kind to her, and how she supported herself was nobody’s business but her own.

‘It’s all right, love. I’m used to having my profession thrown in my face. It bounces off like rain on a pigeon’s feathers.’ Cora hitched her shawl around her shoulders as she negotiated the steps. ‘Come on if you’re coming. You can stay with me for another night or two, but you got to make yourself scarce when my gents come to call. D’you understand?’

Rose followed more slowly. ‘Thank you, Cora. I won’t impose on you any longer than necessary. I’ll look for work of some sort and a place to live.’

‘You ain’t going home then?’

‘I was happy in Bendigo, and Sadie and Laurence were kind to me, but they aren’t family. I have no ties there now.’ Rose fell into step beside Cora.

‘What about Max’s mother? Don’t she approve of you or something?’

‘She said we were too young to marry, and her husband agreed with her. They said that Max should establish himself in his career before thinking of marriage.’

‘Maybe you should write and tell her that he’s let you down. She might send you money.’

Horrified, Rose almost lost her footing on the uneven pavement. ‘I wouldn’t think of asking for charity.’

‘Suit yourself, but your young man got you into this mess, so it’s up to him or his family to get you out of it.’

Tears stung Rose’s eyes but she was determined not to cry. ‘I have only myself to blame, Cora. It’s up to me to find a solution.’

Cora shot her a sideways glance. ‘You’re obviously well educated, Rose. But without references you won’t find it easy to get work.’

‘I can cook simple things, and I can look after small children. I can scrub floors and wash dishes.’

‘Put us two together and we’d make someone a perfect wife,’ Cora said, chuckling. ‘Walk faster, Rose. I got work to do, even if you haven’t.’

Regan was hanging around outside the house in Black Raven Court, and Rose took an instant dislike to him. Despite his thickset physique and aggressive expression, his scarred face and broken nose suggested that he had come off worst in a good many fights. His unsavoury appearance, and the stench of his unwashed body made Rose shrink away from him, but his beady eyes lit up with interest the moment he spotted her.

‘You can forget it, Regan,’ Cora said firmly. ‘She’s not for sale.’

‘Pity. I could find plenty of work for someone like her.’ Regan smiled at Rose, putting her forcibly in mind of the Big Bad Wolf in the fairy tale, except that the teeth he displayed were broken and hideously decayed.

Cora turned to Rose with a warning frown. ‘You’d best go about your business, Rosie. I’ll see you tonight, but knock three times on the door or you won’t get an answer.’ She turned away, proffering her arm to Regan. ‘What pleasures have you got for me today, cully?’

Rose shivered as a chill east wind rushed up from the river. The sky was heavy with cast-iron clouds that threatened rain. She wrapped her shawl more tightly around her body and started walking, although she had no idea of where she might be going, but it was too cold to stand still. Her bright dreams for the future were fading fast, and she had very little money. She closed her eyes, praying silently for inspiration, and then she remembered what Adele had said just before they parted. Acting on impulse, she hailed a passing cab.

‘Elder Street, cabby.’ Rose climbed inside and closed the half-doors with fingers that were numbed by the cold. Sadie had warned her to pack more warm clothes, but she had travelled as light as possible, hoping to purchase a more suitable wardrobe in London. She wished now that she had paid more attention to Sadie, and had not allowed herself to be carried away by rash promises from Max. She took her purse from her reticule and counted the coins. There would be precious little left after paying the cab fare, but she had no idea where Elder Street was situated in relation to the Tower, and the pain in her feet was crippling. Perhaps Adele could find some kind of work for her that would pay enough to keep body and soul together until Max returned home. One thing was certain, there was no way she could raise enough money to buy a passage home, but she was not prepared to give up her dream, not yet anyway. She would wait for Max and they would marry and live happily ever after, just like the princes and princesses in the story books.