“Caulfield is the earl’s family name, I take it. Is it that obvious?” Miss Hancock asked, blushing prettily.
“Plain as day to anyone in Ashmead,” Emma responded. She patted the young woman’s hand. “We’ve become used to it. Perhaps you should tell us your story.”
Eli thought for a moment she would refuse.
“I shouldn’t have come. My mother didn’t want me to, but…”
“Circumstances drove you here, Miss Hancock. If we’re going to help, we need to know what they are,” Eli told her.
“But I came for the earl…”
“Who is in London, and you need help now,” Eli said.
“The Benson family is very good at helping, Miss Hancock,” Da assured her.
She glanced from one to the other before letting her shoulders sag. “I have no money, Mr. Benson. I can’t even pay for this food.”
Her obvious shame tore at Eli. He opened his mouth to reassure her, but she pulled herself together quickly and sat upright.Ah. The determined chin again. Bravo, Miss Hancock.
“I am obliged to ask for help, Mr. Benson, but I don’t take charity. The earl, or at least the Clarion estate, is under some obligation to me. I’m certain of it and will press my case. If he does as he ought, I will be able to pay back any loan. I already paid for tonight. If you could advance me fare to Manchester tomorrow, I will see to it you are paid back.”
“She needs more than that, Da. There are two children dependent on her who are in danger of eviction and worse. The earl may assist, but the need is great and aiding the children is urgent.”
She looked mortified that he’d aired her dirty linen to his family. “You have no right—”
“My son means well, Miss Hancock. You wish your privacy respected, understandably, but if your situation is truly that dire, you can count us as friends. I have no doubt the young earl will be, too, once he meets you. Trust us with your story and we’ll see how we can help,” the old man urged.
Miss Hancock took a sip of tea—for courage, Eli thought.
“Tell us about the children,” Emma urged gently.
“They are my brother and sister, children of my mother and her husband. Wil is twelve, and Amy is eight.”
“How is it they are alone?” Emma probed.
“Our mother died over a year ago and Rundle—their father—ten months after that.”
Emma’s face crumpled in distress. “How tragic! He must have loved her very much.”
Miss Hancock snorted. “Hardly. He wasn’t sober a day after he got his hands on the till. Drowned in his own sick.” She must have regretted the impulsive words, for she apologized to Emma immediately.
“He left you destitute?” Da asked gently.
Miss Hancock raised her eyes to the ceiling and appeared to come to a decision. “Holy damson plums,” she swore before gazing at Emma directly. “We shouldn’t have been destitute. My grandfather left Mam a prosperous drapery business. I knew Rundle was dipping into the till for a while, but Mam looked the other way. After my mother died, he emptied it as often as he could. He spent freely on fancy clothes and newfound cronies. I started hiding the take so I could feed the children. When he died, I was relieved. I thought we’d manage, the ducklings and I, but worse happened.”
“Worse?” Emma asked, eyes wet.
Eli already wished the man was still alive so he could knock his lights out. He didn’t want to hear worse.
“I found the ledgers and business papers in his bedroom. He had borrowed against the store the day after Mam was buried. It explained how he bought the sporting curricle and horses he boarded at the livery. That stable master came to collect the day of his funeral and the moneylender the day after. They were just the first.”
“And so you fear eviction,” Eli said.
“I expect it soon. We have the papers demanding payment on the kitchen table,” she said. “The livery says they’ll take the equipage in lieu of money.”
Eli doubted any livery was owed as much in several months as the value of a new curricle and two horses. Every businessman the bounder dealt with would be out to fleece these children. Someone needed to look at agreements, payments, and ledgers.
“You left the children alone?” Da made it a question.
