The Ragged Heiress (41 page)

‘This is an unexpected pleasure,’ Sam said, leaning his shoulders against the pub window. ‘What can I do for you, Miss Guthrie?’

‘I’ll come straight to the point, Captain Cutler. I need to borrow some money. It’s an emergency or I would not ask.’

He whistled through his teeth. ‘That’s to the point, certainly. Can you tell me why I should lend money to a complete stranger?’

Lucetta was desperate. Guthrie’s life hung in the balance and whatever his past misdeeds she could not desert him now. She raised her chin to look Sam in the eyes. This was no time for false pride. ‘I am not a stranger, Sam. We once knew each other very well.’

He frowned. ‘I’m sorry, but I can’t place you, although there is something familiar about you and it’s been bothering me ever since we first met.’

‘I haven’t time for guessing games. I wasn’t drowned when the
Caroline
went down in the Thames. I was rescued and the man who saved me is badly injured and may be close to death for all I know. I need the cab fare to Islington where there is a doctor who may be able to save his life.’

Sam moved away from the window, taking her by the shoulders and twisting her round to face the light from a gas lamp. He shook his head in disbelief. ‘No. It can’t be.’

She met his startled gaze with a steady look, willing him to remember those heady days of love and romance in Bali. ‘Have I changed so much, Sam?’

‘Lucetta? No, it can’t be – I visited your grave and I spoke to your grieving relations. I can’t believe it is you, and yet …’ He fingered a strand of hair that had escaped from beneath her bonnet and he held it up to the light where it gleamed like molten gold. ‘By God, it is you.’ He released the curl, staring at her with wonder dawning in his eyes as he traced the outline of her face with a gentle finger. ‘My little Lucetta is alive and has grown up.’

She pushed him away. ‘Stop that, Sam. I’m no longer
your little Lucetta and you had quite forgotten me, but that doesn’t matter now. I want nothing from you other than a small loan. I get paid on Friday and you will have your money back in full.’

He either did not hear or her words had not registered in his brain. ‘I can’t believe it. Lucetta, it really is you. But why …’

She laid her finger across his lips. ‘There isn’t time for this. I hold you to nothing, Sam. Five shillings will more than cover the fare. Please, I’m begging you, help me.’

‘You must think a lot of this man,’ Sam said slowly. ‘But I don’t understand. Why are you working in the warehouse? You must own it in part at least?’

‘It’s a long story and this really is a matter of life and death. Are you going to lend me the money or not?’

He took her by the arm. ‘I’ll do better than that, my dear. I’m coming with you and you can tell me the whole story during the cab ride.’

Reluctantly at first but warming to her story as the hackney carriage trundled on its way to Islington, Lucetta related the events of the past three years, omitting nothing.

Sam sat back against the squabs, listening intently. When she finished he let out a low whistle. ‘By God, what a tale. No wonder you look different from the pretty little thing I fell for in Bali.’ He hesitated, eyeing her anxiously. ‘Not that you aren’t attractive now, Lucetta. After all you’ve been through it’s no wonder
you look thin and pale as a wax candle, but now I’m here I can put young Jeremiah right. Old Bradley will have to acknowledge you as your father’s rightful heiress when I stand up in court and tell them that we are engaged to be married and have been these last three years. You’ll be back in Thornhill Crescent in no time at all.’

Lucetta gave him a long look. ‘Is that why you accompanied me now, Sam? Are you thinking that you will marry an heiress?’

‘I’ve never stopped loving you, my pet. My heart was buried in the cold earth with the girl I loved and now, by some miracle, she has been returned to me.’

These were the words she had imagined him uttering so many times in the past. She wanted desperately to believe him. ‘Are you telling me the truth, Sam?’

He made a show of crossing his heart and his smile embraced her like a kiss. ‘I’ve never lied to you, my love. I am yours heart and soul.’

He reached out to take her hand but the cab slowed down and their fingers barely touched. The spell was broken and Lucetta came abruptly back to reality: this was not the time or the place for a romantic reunion. She peered out of the window as they came to a halt outside the Harcourts’ house in Lonsdale Square. Flinging the door open she climbed out of the cab.

‘Wait here, please, cabby. I won’t be long.’ She picked up her skirts and hurried up the path to hammer frantically on the door. Her breath formed clouds around her head as she waited impatiently for someone to answer her urgent summons. There were lights in
the windows and in the upstairs drawing room she could see the outline of a Christmas tree hung with glass baubles and tinsel. She crossed her fingers, praying silently that Giles would be at home. She had not considered the fact that he might already be living in Dorset, but it occurred to her now and she became more and more agitated. She could have cried with relief when the maidservant opened the door.

‘Is Dr Harcourt at home?’ Lucetta stepped over the threshold without waiting for an invitation. ‘It’s an emergency. I must speak to him right away.’

The maid took a step backwards. ‘The family are at dinner, miss. Call back in an hour.’

‘No, you don’t understand. I must speak to him now.’

‘What is all the fuss?’ Giles emerged from the dining room, wiping his lips on a spotless white table napkin. It fell from his fingers and fluttered to the floor when he saw Lucetta, and a delighted smile wreathed his face. He came towards her holding out his hands. ‘My dear Lucetta, you’ve come home. Thank God.’

‘Giles, I need your help urgently.’

His dark eyes scanned her face and his smile faded into a look of deep concern. ‘You are not ill, are you? Come into the morning parlour and let me look at you.’

She shook her head, taking him by the hands and tugging him towards the open door while the maid looked on in astonishment.

‘It’s not me, Giles,’ Lucetta said urgently. ‘There is a man bleeding to death who needs your help. You are the only one I could trust.’

He seized his coat and hat from the hallstand, turning his head to address the gawping servant. ‘Tell my mother that I’ve been called out on an emergency.’ He snatched up his medical bag. ‘I’m ready.’

‘Thank you, Giles,’ Lucetta breathed. ‘I knew I could count on you.’ She ran out into the street, giving instructions to the cabby as Sam held out his hand to help her into the waiting cab.

Giles was about to climb in after her but he paused when he saw Sam. ‘Is this the patient, Lucetta? He looks hale and hearty to me.’

‘This is Sam Cutler, Giles,’ Lucetta said, eyeing Sam nervously. She had told him almost everything, but she had omitted to mention that both Giles and Sir Hector had proposed marriage.

Giles eyed Sam with a distinctly hostile glint in his dark eyes. ‘So you are Cutler.’

‘Get in please, Giles,’ Lucetta pleaded. ‘It’s Lennie who is in desperate need of medical attention. I’ll explain everything as we go.’

He leapt in and slammed the door as the cab jolted forwards. ‘Why did you leave like that, Lucetta? What made you run away without a word?’

‘It doesn’t matter now, Giles. The most important thing is to care for Lennie. I’m afraid he will die.’

Giles took her hand and clasped it tightly. ‘I’ve scoured London trying to find you.’

‘This is all very pleasant,’ Sam drawled. ‘But the lady is with me now, cully. We have an understanding, if you get my drift.

Lucetta turned on him angrily. ‘You don’t own me,
Sam. A great deal has happened since we last met, and I owe Giles and his cousin Mary a great deal.’

‘I can see that you’re overwrought, my love,’ Sam said, making an obvious effort to control his temper. ‘When we get back to Samson’s Green I’ll go on to my lodgings and we’ll meet again tomorrow.’ He eyed Giles with a belligerent out-thrust of his chin. ‘We have the rest of our lives to look forward to.’

Lucetta eyed him doubtfully. This was not the Sam she remembered, but then she was not the same bright-eyed innocent she had been then. She curved her lips into a smile. ‘Thank you, Sam. Tomorrow I will give you my full attention.’

Tears trickled down Guthrie’s ashen cheeks as Giles finished binding his injured limb. ‘There, old chap, it’s all done,’ Giles said gently. ‘Try to get some sleep, Lennie.’

Lucetta picked up the enamel bowl filled with bloodied water and placed it on the table. ‘He will be all right now, won’t he?’ she whispered.

Giles rose to his feet, wiping his hands on a piece of towelling. His expression was grave. ‘He’s lost a great deal of blood, but providing sepsis does not set in, he should make a good recovery. He looks like a tough individual to me.’

Guthrie grunted and his lips twisted into a parody of a smile. ‘I’m that all right, guv.’

‘You must rest, Lennie,’ Lucetta said gently. ‘I’ll make you a cup of tea and some toast. You have to keep your strength up.’

Giles glanced round the sparsely furnished room. ‘Is this how you live now, Lucetta?’

‘We manage very well.’ She bent down to pick up the kettle. ‘You will stay for a cup of tea, won’t you?’

‘Let me fetch the water. You look exhausted.’ He took the kettle from her. ‘Is there a pump outside or do you have to use the one at the end of the street?’

‘We have our own pump but we share the privy with twenty other families. This is quite a modern house for this part of Wapping.’ She smiled at the shocked expression on his face. ‘It’s a hundred times better than the basement in Black Raven Court.’

‘Maybe so.’ Giles opened the door and disappeared into the darkness, returning moments later with a full kettle which he set on the hob. He glanced at Guthrie, who had fallen asleep under the influence of a generous dose of laudanum. ‘I hate to see you living like this, Lucetta. Come home with me and allow us to care for you as we did before.’

She sat down on a stool by the fire, warming her chilled feet in the blaze which would consume the last of their coal supply until pay day. ‘I can’t do that. This is what I was afraid of, Giles, and why I kept away from Lonsdale Square. It was all too complicated, and Sir Hector …’ She broke off, staring into the flames.

‘He told me,’ Giles said softly. ‘He said he was an old fool who allowed his emotions to cloud his judgement, although I think he was being a bit hard on himself. Was that why you left the Grange in such a hurry?’

Lucetta looked up and smiled for the first time that
evening as she met the irrepressible twinkle in his eyes. ‘I couldn’t marry a man I didn’t love.’

‘I know that from bitter experience, my dear.’ Giles held up his hand as she opened her mouth to protest. ‘I’ve survived a broken heart. You don’t have to worry about me.’

‘I must seem an ungrateful wretch to you, after all you’ve done for me in the past. And Mary too, does she think badly of me?’

‘Mary is a saint. She can see no wrong in the people she loves and she does love you, Lucetta. She misses you very much and she would be so happy to see you again.’

‘Is she still in Dorset?’

‘She is, although they will be returning when the winter recess is over and Sir Hector resumes his seat in Parliament.’

Lucetta eyed him curiously. ‘And have you begun working in your country practice? I was afraid that you might not have returned home for Christmas, but I am so glad that you did.’

‘I thought about it long and hard and in the end I decided that a comfortable life in Stockton Lacey was not for me. There is so much poverty and want in the East End that I could not turn my back on the people who are in so much need. I’m looking for a practice in an area where I can be of most use, and I think I might have found the ideal one in Hoxton. It’s in one of the poorest areas, quite near the fever hospital in fact.’

She felt a lump rise in her throat and she did not
know how to respond, but at that moment the kettle began to bubble. She was touched by his concern for his fellow men and for some unknown reason his words had brought tears to her eyes. She concealed her emotion by making the tea.

‘Will you stay for supper, Giles?’ She took the toasting fork from a nail by the fireplace and handed it to him. ‘I’ll slice the bread if you’d like to make yourself useful and toast it by the fire.’

He took the long-handled fork from her, brandishing it in a fair imitation of Britannia holding out her trident on the back of a copper coin. ‘I’m a dab hand at making toast. We practically lived on it when I was a medical student.’ He was silent for a moment as he watched her slice the loaf that she took from a crock on the dresser. ‘Do you love him, Lucetta?’

She looked up, startled by the suddenness of the question and the intensity in his voice. ‘That’s not a fair question, Giles.’

‘I’m sorry. I had no right to ask.’

‘Are we still friends, Giles? I couldn’t bear it if you hated me for what I did.’

‘Of course I don’t hate you.’ His voice broke with emotion and he turned away from her. ‘Why did you run away, Lucetta?’

‘You know why. I was the unwitting cause of so much heartache.’

‘Your sudden departure made things worse. If only you had waited until I returned from London, we could have straightened matters out. As it was I’ve spent weeks searching for you.’

‘I am so sorry I put you to such a lot of trouble, Giles.’ Lucetta handed him a slice of bread. ‘I thought I was acting for the best.’

Giles held the toasting fork close to the flames, glancing at her over his shoulder with a wry smile. ‘You wouldn’t think that if you had seen my desperate efforts to find you. I visited hotels and lodging houses and in desperation did the rounds of the hospitals in case you had met with an accident.’

‘Oh, Giles, I am truly sorry.’

‘I was frantic, Lucetta. We all were when you disappeared without a trace. Anyway, a couple of weeks ago I happened to meet up with an old friend, James Richards, the casualty officer at Bart’s, and he told me that he recalled treating a man who was accompanied by his pretty young daughter. She met your description exactly, and I remembered what you had told me about Guthrie. That seemed to fit too.’