“Yes,” Charlotte said. “They were my own. I’m Miss Rare-Foure.”
“Rare Confectionery,” Mrs. Percy whispered.
Charlotte nodded.
The woman looked at Edward. “Issheyour boss?”
“Yes, mum.” He had hold of one of his siblings by the hand, a little girl with a patched dress. In front of them was a young boy, also in well-worn clothing, probably wearing Edward’s hand-me-downs.
“What are you going to do?” the woman asked, and for the first time she glanced around. “Have you called the police?”
Charlotte could almost smell her fear. “No, we came to speak to you and to Edward, and if possible, to your brother.”
“My brother?” she exclaimed. “I don’t know what you’re on about. I ain’t got no brother.”
“Mr. Tufts,” Charlotte said, glancing at Edward and holding his gaze. He looked ashamed, chagrinned, embarrassed, and frightened — all at once. “You said he was your uncle.”
“Blimey!” his mother said. For a moment, Charlotte thought the woman would crumble or start to wail, but she straightened, hefting the grocery bag on her hip as if it were a baby.
“We live upstairs,” she gestured to The Three Brooms pub. “Two flights up if you want to come in and talk.”
“Mum,” Edward said in a warning tone.
“It’s all right, love. He won’t be back for hours.”
Charlotte imagined the “he” was Archie Tufts, and she was awfully glad to have Charles with her. Glancing at him now, he nodded, and just like that, they had decided to enter an East End dwelling.What an adventure!
“It’s the second door,” Mrs. Percy indicated.
Just then, Charlotte heard her name and realized it was Delia.
“Here now, miss, where are you going?” Delia, who’d been waiting by the carriage, hurried over, obviously not about to let the youngest Rare-Foure disappear from her sight. After all, this was no police station. There were loud shouts and laughter coming from inside the pub, and even then, a man stumbled out followed by scantily dressed woman.
Receiving a questioning glance from Mrs. Percy, Delia held her head up. “I’m her chaperone,” she declared with a sense of importance entirely unwarranted in Charlotte’s opinion. In fact, it was a little mortifying.
“I’ll be fine,” she told Delia, “I am perfectly safe.”
“Of course, she is,” Mrs. Percy said with a huff, probably unable to imagine what Delia’s purpose was.
Thinking the room or rooms upstairs must be small — and the subject of thievery and dishonesty might bring some heated words, Charlotte decided to keep her maid out of it.
“Please go back to the carriage, Delia. We’ll return shortly.”
Her maid pursed her lips, but eventually nodded. Charles, acting as a doorman, opened it and gestured them all inside. Behind the door was a steep staircase, reminding Charlotte of the one next to Rare Confectionery, except at the landing, they kept going up another flight.
It was slow going with the small children in the lead.
“Hurry along, Emma. Come on, Albert,” Edward urged his younger siblings, sounding anxious.
“Leave them be,” his mother said. “It’s been a long day, and it ain’t over yet.”
Chapter Twenty-Four
Just before Charles closed the door behind him, he caught his coachman’s gaze, giving him a nod. He wanted to be certain the man knew where he was in case there was trouble.
As soon as they entered the flat, the Percys’ dismal situation became apparent — a lone floor lamp, no heat, no carpets. Serving as a kitchen was a small chipped sink with a single tap and a small stove like the pillow woman’s with no oven. A table looked to be used both for preparing food and for eating it. There were chairs enough for four. The only other thing in the small room was a pile of piecework, spread on a cloth in one corner, presumably to keep the fabric clean.
Through an open doorway with no door on the hinges, Charles could see there were mattresses on the floor.
