Wedded in Sin (18 page)

The woman took Tommy immediately, but the martial light didn’t fade from her eyes. Instead, she lifted her chin. “We’ll face him together.”

There was little an older woman carrying a babe could do against the likes of Cordwain, but Penny was relieved nonetheless. Compared to yesterday morning, this would be almost easy because she had a friend with her. Though inside, she wished Samuel would magically appear, just as he had yesterday. Logically, she knew it wasn’t possible, but that didn’t stop her from wishing.

The three of them went downstairs, pausing only long enough for Penny to grab a heavy broom. She might not be as large as Cordwain, but she had strength. And a broom handle could crack a man’s skull if wielded correctly. Then, after a last shared strengthening look, Mrs. Appleton hauled open the door while Penny prepared to wield her broom.

As expected, Cordwain immediately went on the attack. “There you are, you thieving whore! Where are my likes? You give them to me now or I swear by God—”

A man’s loud voice interrupted the bastard’s tirade. “And I swear that I’ll crack your skull in two if you try.” Then a heavy hand grabbed Cordwain’s collar and hauled him back off the front step.

Penny had been too busy blocking the ass from entering the shop to say anything. Even now she was too startled to do more than gape. She knew that the voice wasn’t Samuel’s but she couldn’t help scanning the area, hoping to see his face and wild hair.

He wasn’t there. But the constable was, his face set and two of his men standing nearby, one of whom already had Jobby, Cordain’s nephew and thug, pinned against the outside wall.

“Get off me, you—”

“Oh, shut yer yap. You got no cause to be waking decent people at the crack of dawn.” The constable spoke calmly, but with no less authority. Then he chanced to glance at Penny. “You can put the broom down, Miss Shoemaker. We have him well in hand.”

Penny swallowed, none too anxious to set her only weapon aside. She did, however, relax her grip and shift it to a less threatening position. Meanwhile, Cordwain was not to be stopped. He whipped about in the constable’s grip, breaking free as he held up his paper in a clenched fist.

“I got a bill o’ sale! You need to be arresting her, the whore—”

Crack!
Penny had the satisfaction of knocking Cordwain backward a good step. She’d only landed a blow on his shoulder, but he’d sport a welt for sure. Meanwhile, she stepped into the doorway. “I warned you about calling me names yesterday,” she said.

Cordwain had his fists bunched and was leaping forward, but the constable was faster. He had his billy club out, but didn’t need it. Just as Cordwain took a step forward, the constable swept his feet out from under him, then followed the man down to the ground, pinning him there with his knee. The baton was out merely as a threat to keep the bastard down.

“She did warn you,” the constable said in calm tones. “Now keep quiet. Let me have a look at your bill of sale.”

It took a while and Cordwain was none too gracious about it. But in the end, he released the paper as the constable lifted it from the dirt.

“This is the bill of sale from yesterday,” the constable said calmly. “It says you own the property you took yesterday and all its contents.”

“Yes!” screamed Cordwain. “And she took my likes. She took—”

“I didn’t see her take anything but a sack of nappies for the boy,” interrupted the constable.

“She’s got my likes!”

“I don’t see anything in this bill of sale about any likes. But what I do see is a man intent on harassing a woman to no reason. You got her home and her clothes, though what you’d want with a pile of women’s things, I’ve got no idea.”

The words were meant as a slur on his character, and Penny had the satisfaction of hearing a few chuckles in the street. Just like yesterday, they had drawn an audience. But unlike yesterday, it was Cordwain who was taking the brunt of it. Meanwhile, the constable continued talking as calm as could be despite the fact that he held a roaring Cordwain pinned beneath his knee.

“So what I see is a man intent on causing mischief to an honest woman. Is that what you’re doing? Causing mischief to a woman who wants no part of you?”

Cordwain opened his mouth, no doubt intent on spitting some obscenity. But the constable had his baton at the ready.

“Now mind before you speak. I’ve got no interest in hearing ugly names this early in the morning. Not when I’ve been chasing footpads half the night already.”

She could tell the words had an effect. Cordwain’s face twisted in fury, but he moderated his tone. “I got a bill of sale. Says I get those likes and she stole them!”

The constable heaved an exaggerated sigh. “I told you, I didn’t see her take any likes. But in the interest of fairness, Miss Shoemaker, do you have the likes he’s talking about?”

Penny straightened, silently thanking Samuel for his foresight. “No, sir. I don’t. I’ll let you search the shop, sir, and upstairs if you want. All you’ll find is molds for ladies’ feet. Nothing like what my father used to work on.” Then she stepped back, but kept her broom at the ready. “You can come in, but I won’t let him inside,” she said, glaring at Cordwain.

“Thank you, miss,” the constable said with a friendly smile. “Thank you, but I got no cause to be searching an honest establishment. I didn’t see you take any likes yesterday, so I have no reason to believe you’ve got anything now.” Then he straightened up, pulling his knee off Cordwain even as he stepped to block the bastard from entering the shop. “All I see right now is a loud and angry man unnecessarily disturbing the peace. And if it continues,” he said loudly, “I’ll have to arrest him.”

Cordwain scrambled to his feet. Fury twisted his features and the sight startled Penny. Certainly she knew the man was a villain, but at that moment he was more beast than man. The only thing that kept him from sinking his fists—and likely his teeth—into her was the steady presence of the constable between them.

Penny took a frightened step backward. So, too, did Mrs. Appleton as she pulled Tommy closer into her arms and breathed a low prayer. In truth, the constable was the only one who didn’t so much as flinch. Instead, he spoke in the low, tired voice of a man used to dealing with angry animals.

“Go on now, Walter. Yer likes aren’t here.”

They all watched, frozen in place, as Cordwain regained some sanity. He glared at the constable, and shot a venomous look at Penny. Then he spat a dark and angry glob at her feet. It landed splat on the stoop, before he spun on his heel and stomped away. A moment later, Jobby followed, having been released by the constable’s man.

Everyone waited. Penny held her breath in true fear while, beside her, Mrs. Appleton was still muttering a soft prayer. It was some five minutes more before the constable turned around to face her.

“You haven’t got his likes now, do you, Miss Shoemaker?”

Penny took a moment to gasp a breath. It was hard but she managed, and as she did, the constable gently pulled the broom from her hands. He leaned it against the wall, then looked back at her.

“He’s a dangerous man when riled, Miss Shoemaker. Got a temper meaner than a mad dog. And he won’t stop looking until he finds those likes.”

Penny opened her mouth to say something but he held up his hand.

“You got a bad deal, no arguing, Miss Shoemaker. And if you were to have taken those likes, then I wouldn’t blame you. But the law’s the law, and besides, what’s the sense in keeping something you can’t use? You ain’t going to be making boots for any lords and you can’t sell them without him knowing you have them.”

The constable stepped forward, his eyes kind but no less firm. Penny shied backward, not because she was afraid but because the man had a dependable kind of presence about him. And she was lying to him. She
did
know where those likes were. But her words were stopped in her throat as the man reached out to chuck Tommy under the chin.

“You got a babe to watch out for and friends here who don’t need any more problems. So if a bag of likes was to appear at the station house, then I wouldn’t look deep into it. I’d just be sure to get the things quiet-like to Cordwain. No questions. No fuss. And I’d count it as a personal favor to me. Can’t be a bad thing having the constable as yer friend, now can it?”

Penny nodded because he so clearly wanted her to. And besides, he was a good man. “No, sir,” she said softly. “I would like it very much if you were my friend. But, sir, he’s got my home and my shop illegally. That will was false. Neither Tommy nor I have gotten any money for it. The solicitor Addicock—”

“Yes, yes, I know. But I can’t do nothing without proof. All I can do is what I see before me. And what I see is that Cordwain is going to be dogging your every step trying to take a bite out of you and yours until he finds those likes. You’ve suffered a very great deal, Miss Shoemaker. I’d hate to see the troubles piled higher.”

So would she, she realized. But the anger was still inside her, the simmering fury at the injustice of it all. It made no difference to anyone else—or at least not enough of a difference—that everything that had happened was
wrong
. She was still being asked—and by a very reasonable and kind man—to give up the last connection she had to her father. And the last hope she had of giving Tommy his birthright: a shoe shop a block off Bond Street and a livelihood that would support him and his family for generations.

So she lifted her chin and spoke a bold-faced lie. “I don’t have the likes and I don’t know where they are.”

The constable nodded slowly, his mouth pressed into a weary line. “Then I’ll be swinging by here more often just to check on you. Can’t promise more than that.”

Penny swallowed, her gaze darting nervously to where Cordwain had disappeared. “I understand,” she said softly. Then just before the constable moved away, she touched his arm. “Sir!”

He swung to her, his look patient. “Yes?”

“How did you know to come here this morning? How did you know this would happen?”

The man gave a halfhearted shrug that was part embarrassment, part amazement. He was thinking of Samuel, she realized, even before the man spoke. Everyone reacted to her mad toff like that.

“Well, had a visit from a gent,” he said. “Told me all about Addicock and his thieving ways. We had quite a talk about needing proof, which he says, by the by, that he’s going to get. Then he said Cordwain’d be here this morning. Probably before I wanted to be out of bed. And that he’d be causing mischief to a shop of ladies that haven’t done anyone any harm.”

“So Mr. Morrison convinced you to come?”

The constable smiled ruefully. “It’s my sworn duty to protect the people of my district, and that includes you, Miss Shoemaker. And when a man tells me when and where a disturbance is going to be, then I’d be derelicting my duty to ignore it, now wouldn’t I?”

“Yes, sir. Thank you, sir.”

The man tipped his hat with a smile. “Wouldn’t be me that you need to thank, miss. That would be Mr. Morrison. And if you don’t mind my asking, exactly what is your relationship with the gent?”

Penny felt her cheeks heat, but she forced herself to say the truth. “He’s helping me, sir. Nothing more than that. Just…helping me right now.”

“Ah.” There was a wealth of meaning in that one word, but for the life of her, she couldn’t interpret it. Instead, she shifted uneasily and asked the question that had pressed in on her from the moment her eyes opened this morning.

“Um, you wouldn’t know where he is right now, would you?”

The man shook his head, and a frown creased his brows. “Not a single idea. But it worries me what a man might do to help a pretty miss.” Then his gaze got very heavy, very strong. “If you see Mr. Morrison, would you tell him what happened here? Would you tell him what I said about the likes?”

“Of course—”

He cut her off. “Tell him Cordwain’s dangerous. And it’d be safest for everyone if someone was to find those likes and get them to me. You tell him, Miss Shoemaker. And then you look to young Tommy there and you think on what to do.”

Penny felt her gaze drop to the floor in shame. Was she risking everyone by her stubbornness? “Yes, sir,” she said softly. “I’ll tell him. And…and I’ll think about it.”

“Good girl,” he said. Then he turned and walked away.

She might have done it right then. She even lifted her head to call the constable back, a half breath away from telling the man everything. She would have except her gaze fell not on the constable but down the street to where Samuel was running pell-mell right toward her.

Chapter 11

Samuel rushed to the dress shop, his brain spinning
uselessly about his own failure. He’d had it all planned, but he’d never accounted for the disorganization of other people’s homes. Bloody insane! How could anyone find anything? It was all well and good for his own rooms to be somewhat cluttered, but at least he had an excellent memory and a general sense of organization. Apparently not the Shoemaker household. Everything had been stored haphazardly, as if placed where it had been last used, not where it
belonged
.