“I’m not sure it’s that stark.” Her cloak bobbed as she nodded.
“Isn’t it?” He knelt as the nut-brown mouse he’d named Lady Dashby tiptoed to his boot. Sighing, he reached into his pocket and proffered the half crust of bread he’d been saving.
With a gleeful nod of her pink snout, she accepted the gift before hurrying off back to her family. Because she, like Miss Lira, had one. Whom she could care for and love and who loved her back.
A family who depended on her. He couldn’t even depend on himself. Couldn’t do anything without charity. He closed his eyes. Five different businesses had been cajoled into taking him on as an apprentice when his lack of facility with Talmud—or numbers or sciences or languages—had proven his mind would be no asset, to either himself or the furthering of the community.
With a tailor, a cobbler, a candlemaker, a baker, and the shochet, he had failed at everything from making product to serving customers.
All had turned him out, closing the door on any small chance of him being able to support a family of his own. To make it so he’d not go alone from the Jewish Orphans’ Home to the Jewish Home for the Aged to the grave. Now it was his inevitable future unless something changed. Something like two hundred pounds.
“Mr. Ellenberg?” Miriam’s voice, laced with concern, broke him from his woolgathering.
He bit his lip. “Sorry, I was—”
“Not listening, but I don’t blame you. You have a great deal on your mind.” She lifted her cane, indicating his head with its tip. “What I was saying is that you’re being offered—”
“An opportunity. Something that doesn’t come along very often for the likes of me. Especially considering how many I’ve previously squandered.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “And it’s not as if she’s suggesting I do something illegal or hurt the community.”
Miriam made an odd noise. “As of now, no. Though I wouldn’t underestimate the demands of a powerful, determined woman.”
At that, he rolled his eyes. “I’ll not permit Isabelle Lira to charm me into trouble.” An image of her flashing him that wide, irresistible, beautiful smile winked behind his eyes.
Or at least he’d do his best.
Miriam snorted. “How about you take care instead and promise you’ll come to me at the firstsignof trouble?” the woman said with a firm, demanding note in her voice.
Aaron frowned. That was an interesting request. “And the Commission of Delegates wants this?”
“You were invited to the festivals already.” She shrugged beneath her faded cloak. “As you said, what she’s asking isn’t illegal or designed to cause mischief. Provided you take care not to embarrass or jeopardize the community, what objection would there be?”
“I don’t know.” He shoved his hands into the pockets of his trousers, turning the information over and over in his brain. “It just feels . . . Why would they approve?”
“Why wouldn’t they?” Miriam ground her cane into the dirt. “They have an interest in keeping Isabelle Lira both happy and safe. Couldn’t that be more easily accomplished if someone like you is doing her bidding?”
So that was it. The Commission wanted to protect Miss Lira by preventing her plans from having any effect. And they’d decided the best course of action was to make sure she had a toothless henchman.
Insulting. To both her and him. It irked him that they assumed he’d be useless, no matter how likely that was to be true. As for her, while blackmailing one’s husband was wrong, it wasn’t as if she didn’t have a right to be nervous. He didn’t see the Commission finding any actual solutions to Isabelle’s problems beyond the usual pressure—legal and less than—that they applied to get refusers.
“It’s quite the sum. Money that could change your life,” the older woman added quickly, interrupting his thoughts. “Money which is hers to freely give.”
“Something doesn’t seem quite right.” He pursed his lips.
“I am confident that while Miss Lira may be flummoxed that she’s not as subtle as she thinks, she would merely shrug at the Commission’s opinions and focus her efforts on proving them wrong.” With a grunt, Miriam turned her back on him and headed toward the mouth of the alley, putting an end to the conversation.
“Where are you going?” he called after her. Not that she would necessarily answer. That was Miriam’s way. One moment she was there and the next she was gone, often fast enough that it seemed like magic.
“I have work to do.” Miriam continued toward the street, her cane scratching over the ground. “As do you. Because regardless of whether the Commission approves of your employment with Miss Lira, they would still be rather unhappy to receive complaints from the synagogue about you neglecting your duties.” Then, before he could respond, she scrambled around the corner, out of sight.
Aaron stared, a thousand questions on the tip of his tongue. No, instead he heard the faint but distinct sound of his name being called from inside the building, along with a request to bring his broom.
Time to get to work. No matter what he decided, Miriam was right on that account. He’d not be going to any festivals if he didn’t start cleaning, fast.
It had been a long time since he’d scaled a wall. And certainly never one with such a fancy address. Aaron muttered a few choice words as he vaulted over the ivy-covered stone two nights later. Climbing had never been chief among his physical skills. Part of the reason he’d never attempted burglary.
Not that his other skills were so useful in the criminal trades. Good thing he’d never become desperate enough to engage in illegality more complicated than pilfering from a cart or two. With his mazel, he’d be dead or transported. Or both.
At least there was no chance of that now. Though Miss Lira might make a fearsome crime lord if she put her mind to it. He smiled to himself before cursing once more as he scraped his knee hard enough to tear his trousers. Repairing them would be another chore for later, along with mending the edge of the Torah cover he’d noticed was frayed. Even with Miriam’s encouragement, he never should’ve come. There was no way this would end well, despite Miss Lira’s promises of making his dreams come true.
