Janey was more worried about Anne. He sounded the sort of man she had left well behind when she gave up the old life and entered the establishment with Constance. They talked about other things for the rest of Anne’s break, and when the girl asked for the bill, Janey paid for the tea and the cakes.
They left together, and Janey walked back to the shop with her. She was trying to work the conversation back round to the St. Johns, or other “special” customers always seen by Madame Veronique in person, when Anne said suddenly, “Do you still want me to speak to madame for you?”
“Oh, yes, please,” Janey said. “I can meet you at the tearoom again tomorrow and you can tell me what she says.” They were almost at the shop now, and time had run out. Unless she could persuade Anne to linger for a moment or two.
She couldn’t.
Without warning, Anne gasped, “Goodbye!” and whisked herself into the shop.
Perhaps she was late, Janey thought. But Anne was holding the door for two exiting customers whom Janey recognized with shock.
Mrs. Willow and her sister.
Janey halted by the window, gazing with what she hoped was longing at the single gown and reticule on display. She made sure her face was turned away from the old ladies, who hurried off in the direction of the teashop. They did not speak, and Janey wondered uneasily if they had seen and recognized her.
Surely not. Surely there would have been some disparaging comment spoken to each other, if not to her. In fact, when she risked a surreptitious glance after them, they did not walk with the stiffness of outrage she had frequently seen when they walked past the front of the establishment, or even when they passed each other in the Grosvenor Square gardens. In fact, walking very close together, they looked so curiously old and vulnerable that Janey almost felt sorry for them.
A shadow fell over her, darkening the bright window display with the large figure of a man.
Janey met every challenge face to face. She could not simply stay where she was and wait for the menacing man to get bored and move. For one thing, he could probably hit her quite agonizingly without being seen by any passersby. So she spun around to face him.
Oh yes, this was a bully in a well-cut suit. Large, cold-eyed—he had to be Veronique’s husband. No wonder his very presence frightened Anne. Janey, on the other hand, was used to the type.
“Trying to see the pretty dress, sir?” she said cheekily.
“Seen it. What are you about here?”
She put on her patient expression. “Looking at the pretty dress.”
He looked her up and down with contempt. “It’s not for the likes of you. What you doing with my girl?”
“I don’t even know your girl!”
Impatiently, he jerked his head toward the shop. He still stood far too close to her, probably blocking her from the sight of most passersby. But she knew better than to try to edge away—he would win that game.
“Her in there. Anne.”
“Oh, her,” Janey said carelessly. “She’s my friend. We had tea together.”
“Two days in a row,” he said. “What’s your game?”
“I don’t have one. What’s yours? You want to step back, mister? I can smell your breakfast. Yesterday’s.”
She’d hoped that surprise at her cheek would give her the instant she needed to dart free, but his gaze never left hers and he actually lifted one beefy arm. Whether he meant to strike her or lean his arm on the glass above her head, she never found out, for the arm suddenly jerked backward instead.
“Watch it, mate,” Lenny said mildly, and the bully turned to glare at him instead. “You nearly knocked my hat off. There you are, love. Sorry I’m late.”
He had Janey by the arm, and they sauntered unhurriedly away together.
“What the devil,” Lenny said in an entirely different voice, “was that all about? Open your mouth too wide?”
“Yes,” Janey said shakily. “Anne’s right. Heisscary.”
Rather to her surprise, Lenny’s manner changed again. His hold gentled, he slid her hand through the crook of his arm, and his expression was concerned. “Who is he?”
“Veronique’s husband. His name’s Kenny, though I don’t know if that’s his surname or a Christian name.”
“We’ll find out,” Lenny said grimly. “And you’re not going back there without me.”
