Ruby could stand it no longer. ‘Stop it, all of you. You’re making my head ache with your constant bickering.’
Rosetta jumped to her feet. ‘There, see what you’ve done. You’ve upset Ruby and I’m supposed to be looking after her.’
‘Sit down, Rose,’ Sarah said. ‘You’re making things worse.’
‘You can’t tell me what to do in my house.’
‘Your house?’ Lottie’s voice from the doorway made everyone jump. She sailed into the room in a flurry of black ostrich feathers. ‘Jonas went and married you, did he?’
‘I’m still married to Billy.’
‘Yes, cara, and you do good to remember that.’ Lottie swept over to Ruby, bending over her so that the ostrich feathers tickled her nose, making her sneeze. ‘You look tired, Ruby.’
‘She can do without you adding your tuppence-worth,’ Granny Mole said, curling her lip. ‘What d’you want, Carlottie?’
Fending off another tiff, Ruby smiled up at Lottie. ‘Why don’t you sit down, Auntie, and have a cup of tea?’
‘I won’t stay where I’m not wanted.’
‘Give over with the play-acting,’ Sarah said,
frowning. ‘Sit down and spit it out. You’ve obviously got something to say.’
Lottie collapsed on the end of the chaise longue, narrowly missing Ruby’s feet. ‘All right, I’ll tell you. I’ve lost everything and I’m going to be thrown out on the street. Not that you’d care, Sal. You never liked me.’
Ruby shifted her feet as Lottie made herself comfortable. ‘Why would you be thrown out on the street?’
‘It’s Silas. He’s done a bunk, took all me cash and left me with a pile of bills. I’m ruined.’
‘Serve you right, you gin-swigging, Eyetie trollop,’ Granny said, sniffing.
Rosetta clasped her hands together, her eyes wide with dismay. ‘That’s not fair. Poor Aunt Lottie. I never did like that Sly.’
‘I’m so sorry.’ Ruby reached out to pat Lottie’s hand.
Sarah put her head on one side, considering. ‘But the house belongs to you, don’t it?’
Lottie shook her head. ‘I already borrowed on the house. Don’t look at me like that, Sal. I know I got a weakness for the horses but some of it was to stake Joe. Poor boy, he inherited the Capretti gambling streak and now he’s dead. It won’t be long before I join him.’ Burying her face in her hands, Lottie broke down and sobbed.
‘Bah! Theatrical balderdash,’ snorted Granny.
‘Give her a glass of gin, Rosetta, that’ll shut her up.’
‘How can you be so cruel, Granny?’ Rosetta put her arm around Lottie’s shoulders and began to cry.
Everyone started speaking at once and, looking from one to the other, Ruby realised that not one of them was capable of doing anything useful. Struggling to her feet, she managed to get as far as the side table where Jonas had thoughtfully provided a decanter of brandy and one of sherry, but then dizziness overtook her. Clutching the edge of the table, she closed her eyes as the room and everything in it spun around her like a merry-go-round. Suddenly she was back in the ward surrounded by sickness and the dying. The overpowering smell of carbolic and the sickly sweet odour of chloroform filled her nostrils, mingling with the putrefying stench of death. Swaying on her feet, she would have fallen if Jonas had not come into the room at that moment and caught her in his arms.
‘What the hell is going on? You are all supposed to be looking after Ruby.’ Settling Ruby in an armchair he poured brandy into a glass and handed it to her. ‘Sip this slowly.’
The brandy made her cough, but Jonas’s presence was reassuring and Ruby managed a smile. ‘I’m all right now, really I am. Lottie’s had some bad news and I was trying to get a drink for her.’
Silenced, Rosetta, Sarah and Lottie looked mutely up at Jonas.
As usual, Granny Mole found her tongue first. ‘Her bloke’s run off with all her money. I always said that Sly was no good.’
‘I’m ruined, Jonas. He took the lot,’ Lottie wailed.
‘He should be strung up,’ Sarah said. ‘I’m sure you could do something, Mr Crowe.’
‘Yes, you must help her,’ Rosetta added.
Jonas held up his hand for silence. He bent down to whisper in Ruby’s ear. ‘Would you like me to send them away?’
Feeling as though his mere presence had lifted a huge weight from her shoulders, Ruby slipped her hand into his. ‘No, I’m all right. But you must do something to help Aunt Lottie.’
‘I will, if that’s what you want.’ With a reassuring squeeze, Jonas disengaged Ruby’s clutching fingers. He went to the chiffonier and picked up a decanter. ‘Tell me exactly what happened,’ he said, pouring brandy into a glass and placing it in Lottie’s outstretched hand.
‘I could do with a drop of brandy,’ Granny Mole said, clasping her chest. ‘Me heart, you know, it’s weak.’
‘Rosetta, give your mum and granny a drink,’ Jonas said, perching on the arm of Ruby’s chair. ‘I’m listening, Lottie.’
Rosetta opened her mouth, as if to protest, but
she did as Jonas asked, handing the drinks to Sarah and Granny Mole, and then she sat down primly on the edge of the sofa.
Drinking the brandy down in one gulp, Lottie blew her nose loudly and tucked the hanky back up her sleeve. ‘There’s nothing more to tell. Sly must have been pocketing money for a long time. He just took off with every penny I had.’
‘It ain’t the first time you’ve been dumped,’ Granny said, grinning. ‘You’ll get over it.’
‘At least I had a good life,’ Lottie shot back at her. ‘I was the toast of London. I had princes at my feet.’
‘In yer bed you mean, you hussy.’
‘That’s enough,’ Jonas said. ‘That sort of talk won’t get us anywhere.’
Lottie threw him an appealing glance. ‘I’m ruined, Jonas. What shall I do?’
‘Everything will be all right. Just leave it to me.’
Although it was Rosetta who was supposed to be attending to her needs, Ruby was hardly surprised when it was Tucker who brought her meals to her room and answered the summons of the bell if she needed anything. It was Tucker who sat with her, making her laugh with his sharp cockney wit, and Tucker who kept her informed of the gossip below stairs. Rosetta wandered in at some point every day, usually when she was dressed up for her evening performance
in the supper room. When questioned about Lottie, Rosetta said she didn’t know what was happening; Jonas was handling everything. She was obviously bursting to tell Ruby something and it didn’t take much persuasion for her to blurt out that a theatre manager had seen her performance and she was sure he was going to make her an offer. What did Jonas think of that? Rosetta admitted that she hadn’t told him, not yet. She would tell him when the offer was confirmed and not before. She danced off, bubbling with excitement, obviously determined to give the performance of her life. Ruby lay back against her pillows, wondering what Jonas would say when he knew that Rosetta was about to desert him as well as poor Billy, who was so far in the background as to be almost invisible. When she was well enough, Ruby made up her mind to visit Billy in his bakery and to see, for the first time, her baby niece, little Martha. How Rosetta could leave her child was something that Ruby would never understand; if Martha had been her baby then nothing and no one could have separated them.
Ruby closed the textbook that she had been reading, or rather trying to read, but the print had blurred out of focus and she found she could not concentrate on the medical terms. Outside the window, she could see the evening sunlight glinting off the top floor windows on the houses
across the street. A thin stripe of azure sky streaked with sunset red and gold was just visible above the chimney tops, reminding her of the sea voyage to Africa and the evening strolls on deck with Adam. He had never seemed so far away or so unreachable. Trying to picture his face, Ruby felt a surge of panic; all she could conjure up was a blurred image. He had not written to her, but then there was no real reason why he should. They were separated not only by several thousand miles of land and sea, but also by the rigid barriers of social class.
‘Good God, what are you doing sitting in the dark?’
She had not heard Jonas come into the room and Ruby opened her eyes, realising that twilight had turned into purple dusk.
He strode about the room, switching on lamps. ‘I’ll have a word with Rosetta. She’s so wrapped up in this new admirer of hers that she’s been neglecting you.’
‘You know about the theatre manager?’
‘Of course I do. Rosetta is a born performer, she’s never happier than when she’s the centre of attention. I daresay he’ll make her an offer she can’t refuse.’
‘And you don’t mind?’
Turning his head, Jonas stared at Ruby, eyebrows raised. ‘Why would I mind?’
‘I – I thought that you two were …’ Ruby
stared down at her hands resting on the blanket that covered her legs.
‘You thought wrong then.’ Jonas’s voice had a sharp edge that made Ruby look up. ‘There’s nothing between your sister and me,’ he said more gently. ‘Don’t get me wrong, Ruby, I’m fond of Rose, but any man who falls in love with her is in for a rough time.’
‘That’s not fair and it’s not true.’
Pulling up a chair, Jonas sat close to Ruby, his eyes searching her face. ‘I know you love Rose, but she’s a beautiful bundle of selfishness. She’ll go far but she’ll walk over any man who lets her get away with it. You know that’s true.’
‘Rose does love someone and I thought he loved her.’
‘She never loved me.’ A sudden twinkle lit Jonas’s eyes and his mouth curved into a smile. ‘Rosetta fell for my money and my dubious reputation. Now I’m a reformed character she finds me quite boring, I promise you.’
Lost for words, Ruby could only shake her head.
Taking her hands in his, Jonas stared down at them. ‘You are the one person who is important to me, Ruby. You are going to get back your strength and then …’ he raised her hands to his lips, brushing them with the lightest of kisses, ‘then we’ll see.’
‘Jonas, I …’
Laying a finger on her lips, Jonas shook his head. ‘I shouldn’t have spoken out so soon.’ Clearing his throat, he got to his feet. ‘Now, you need your rest. Rosetta is down in the supper room so I’ll send one of the maids up to help you to bed.’
‘I can manage by myself,’ Ruby said, attempting to get up.
‘If you don’t do as you’re told, I shall have to put you to bed myself. And we both know how that ended up on one notable occasion.’
‘I thought you’d given up being a bastard,’ Ruby said, chuckling in response to the laughter in his voice. ‘You wouldn’t force yourself on a sick woman.’
‘You’re right.’ Jonas held out his arm. ‘We’ll compromise. I’ll walk you to your room and you’ll let the maid run your bath and help you into bed.’
Unable to resist his smile, Ruby relaxed and slipped her hand through his arm. If she were truthful, she was glad of the support as her legs had turned to jelly and her heart was thumping so loudly that the drumming in her ears almost deafened her. It was just weakness, of course, nothing more.
‘And tomorrow,’ Jonas said, leading her towards the bedroom, ‘I’ll take you for a ride in the motor car. We’ll go out to Epping Forest and
maybe the fresh air will put a bit of colour back in your cheeks.’
‘And Rose can come too?’
‘Are you afraid to be alone with me?’
‘No,’ Ruby said, leaning on his arm. ‘No, of course I’m not.’
With a picnic hamper wedged in the dicky seat and Ruby dressed in a motoring coat complete with hat and veil that Jonas had procured from apparently nowhere, like a conjuror producing a bouquet of paper flowers from his sleeve, they set off in the middle of the morning. Leaving the jostle and bustle of the East End and its refuse-littered streets jumbled with costermongers’ barrows and the polyglot crowd milling in and out of the horse-drawn traffic, the leafy, tree-lined suburbs came as a pleasant relief. Away from the city stench and the smoke and noxious fumes spilling out of the manufactories, the air in Wanstead was fresh and clean. Jonas drew the motor to a halt in a small clearing on the edge of Epping Forest. The sun was high in the sky and Ruby was glad to shed the thick linen coat and shake the dust off her hat. The air beneath the trees smelt delicious, like rich plum cake, and there was just enough breeze to cool the heat of approaching midday. She sat on a fallen tree watching Jonas as he laid out the picnic lunch on a gingham tablecloth.
He paused, cutlery in his hand. ‘What’s funny?’
‘Watching you doing something so homely,’ Ruby said, smiling. ‘Jonas Crowe, the tough gang leader, making a picnic.’
‘Reformed gang leader,’ Jonas said, with a responsive twinkle. ‘My business is on the straight now.’
‘Truly?’
Jonas grinned. ‘Well, mostly.’
A cloud passed across the sun, throwing them into deep shade. Ruby shivered. ‘Pity it’s too late for poor Joe.’
Sitting back on his haunches, Jonas gave her a searching look. ‘You blame me for Joe’s death?’
‘Not entirely, but he wouldn’t have joined the army if you hadn’t held his gambling debts over him.’
‘Is that what you think?’
‘It’s what he told me.’
‘It’s true I tried shock tactics to bring him to his senses and stop his obsession with gambling, but I wouldn’t have laid a finger on him, Ruby.’
‘You made him join your gang.’
‘Only to show him what the rotten side of life was like. Joe was just a boy; I wouldn’t have dragged him down to street level. It was just to teach him a lesson.’
‘So why did you make me work for you? And why did you set up a bursary just so that I could
train to be a nurse? It wasn’t just for Lily’s sake, was it?’
Getting to his feet, Jonas brushed dead leaves and dust from his knees. ‘In the first place,’ he said slowly, measuring his words, ‘because I wanted to take care of you and Joe.’
‘I don’t understand. Why would you care what happens to a bunch of people you don’t know?’
Jonas stood for a moment, looking down at her, his expression serious. ‘I wasn’t entirely truthful before, when I told you that I wanted you to look after Lily.’
Biting back a sharp retort, Ruby realised that this time he was speaking the truth. ‘Go on.’
‘I’ve never done much good in my life, Ruby. I’ve lived selfishly and with one aim and that was to make money. I cared for nobody and nobody, except poor Lily, cared for me. My father was long dead and my mother had abandoned me when I was a baby. Then I discovered that I did have a family, who quite honestly meant nothing to me at first … that is, until I met you.’