Jake inclined his head and taking Emmy’s elbow, they hurried down into the drawing room where they began to talk excitedly.
‘I think we should look for suitable premises somewhere in or near Whitechapel,’ he said thoughtfully. ‘If we go to somewhere too upmarket the poor won’t want to come, they’ll feel too uncomfortable. I could start to have a look around this afternoon .?.?. But listen to me chattering away – I’m sorry, Emmy, your aunt said you’d gone to see Abi, how is she?’
‘Oh, she’s, er .?.?. fine,’ Emmy answered, although she had a terrible feeling that Abi wasn’t. There had been something not right about her but as yet Emmy couldn’t put her finger on what it was. She went on to tell him about her mother’s visit and the change in her and then they went back to speaking of finding new premises for the venture they were to embark on. Barely able to wait to start, Jake left soon after to begin the search.
The next few days passed slowly and Emmy wondered how Abi was, and how Jake was doing in his search. At last, at the end of the week, he arrived one evening with a smile that lit up the room. ‘I’ve passed my final exam! I heard today; I am now a fully qualified doctor.’
‘Oh Jake, that’swonderful, well done and congratulations!’ Emmy was genuinely thrilled for him. She knew how hard he had worked to achieve this, although Imogen wasn’t quite so enthusiastic. She could see nothing glamorous in the career he had chosen but she supposed someone had to do it!
‘It takes all sorts, although I have to say well done. It’s a shame, though, with looks like yours you could have gone on the stage.’
Both Emmy and Jake laughed but he had yet more good news for them. ‘I think I’ve found some suitable premises.’
‘Really?’ Emmy’s eyes were shining.
‘It’s two downstairs rooms in a house in Whitechapel. They’ve just become available and although they’re in a bit of a state at the moment I’m sure it’s nothing that a bit of elbow grease and paint couldn’t put right.’ When he told Imogen how much they would cost she raised an eyebrow.
‘That sounds very cheap. Couldn’t you find somewhere a little more salubrious?’
‘The people we are going to be treating are all from around that area and if we go somewhere too posh, they wouldn’t come,’ he pointed out.
‘Hm, I suppose you have a point,’ Imogen admitted. ‘I’ll have the money for the first month’s rent ready for you tomorrow and I’ll give you a little extra to buy the things you’ll need to do the rooms up. How does that sound?’
‘Excellent, thank you. This will mean so much to so many.’ And to Imogen’s huge embarrassment he leant over and planted a big kiss on her cheek making her blush furiously as she self-consciously pushed him away.
‘Go on, you daft ha’p’orth!’ She flapped her hand at him. ‘Take Emerald to have a look at these rooms. She’s got her head screwed on and if they’re too bad she’ll tell me.’
Emmy was only too happy to do as she was told, and soon after they hurried outside and flagged down a passing cab to take them to Whitechapel, as Jake hadn’t come in his carriage that evening.
Her first sight of the gloomy rooms at the bottom of a tall tenement filled her with despair. The smell in them was appalling and Emmy pinched her nostrils together to stop herself gagging as they entered.
‘You weren’t joking when you said they needed a little cleaning, were you?’ she said wryly as Jake lit a stub of candle he found on the windowsill. Then seeing the way his face fell she went on hurriedly, ‘But of course it can be done. Perhaps we could persuade Jasper and Abi to come and help.’
Jake laughed aloud. ‘I wouldn’t hold my breath on that,’ he answered. ‘I can’t really see either of them wanting to get their hands dirty, can you? One nice thing though, I called in to check on the O’Flanagans yesterday and Mrs O’Flanagan said she’d be happy to come along and help get the rooms ready. She said she’ll bring some of her neighbours to muck in and then put the word about when we’re ready to open.’
Emmy nodded with satisfaction, suddenly eager to get started, although as she looked around she realised they had an awful lot to do. The windows were so grimy both inside and out that they allowed hardly any light in and the floor was strewn with rubbish. Fingers of thick black mould snaked up the walls and out of the corner of her eye she saw a fat tail disappear into a hole in the skirting board and she shuddered. ‘Right, I suggest tomorrow you start to get the limewash and all the cleaning things we’ll need. I’ll make you a list when we get back to the house and then we’ll come early on Sunday and get stuck in, although we’ll have to get rid of all this rubbish and give it a good clean out before we can do anything.’
‘Yes, boss.’ He grinned and gave her a mock salute.
She slapped his arm playfully. It was surprising how easy she felt in his company, she thought, and she couldn’t wait to work with him, although she realised that he would be doing the lion’s share. All she was going to be able to do was assist where she could.
The next few weeks passed in a blur as Jake and Emmy worked on the two rooms every spare minute they had, and at last at the end of September they were ready to do business.
The walls had been limewashed and fresh oilskin had been fitted on the floors.
One of Jake’s professors had kindly given him an old examination table, and they had bought some mismatched chairs from second-hand shops and markets, which had been thoroughly scrubbed and were now neatly lined up in what was to be the waiting room. Jake had also managed to get hold of a couple of trolleys for holding bandages and suchlike and had also purchased a small stove for heating water – luckily there was already a sink in the corner of one room where Jake could wash his hands. Now, finally, they felt ready to open.
‘I could put a sign in the window to let people know we’re open for business and when,’ Emmy suggested and he nodded in agreement. And so when they finally left that evening it was decided that they would officially open the doors the following Sunday.
‘Just don’t expect people to flock to you straightaway,’ Imogen warned when Emmy told her about it. ‘Even poor folk have pride and some of them would rather suffer than take charity.’
‘Hm, I hadn’t thought of that,’ Emmy admitted. ‘But surely they won’t let their children suffer unnecessarily? I could buy some candy canes and liquorice sticks to encourage the children in, perhaps?’
‘Not a bad idea,’ Imogen agreed. ‘But why don’t you just hold on and see how it goes?’
Emmy nodded and stifled a yawn. She seemed to have had hardly a minute to herself for weeks and felt as if she could have slept for a month. Not that she minded; she’d enjoyed working side by side with Jake and seeing the filthy little rooms transformed, although they couldn’t take all the credit because Mrs O’Flanagan had been true to her word and had turned up with some of her neighbours to help. The only thing Emmy was concerned about now was that she hadn’t seen Abi for weeks, but she promised herself that just as soon as things settled down a bit, she would make a point of visiting. Feeling happier she went off to bed and was asleep almost as soon as her head hit the pillow.
Jake picked her up bright and early on Sunday morning and Emmy tripped out to climb into his carriage. She had chosen to dress in a very plain dove-grey gown with a large apron tied about her waist, and instead of one of her smart coats she had worn a warm woollen shawl.
