“I may be a rake, but I don’t ruin innocents.”
“Now I’m beginning to understand why my mother is so overprotective. She felt unsafe growing up and tried to give me safety.”
“Or her mother hurt her, and so she hurt you, but in a different way. It’s what families do. When people are bound together by blood, they know the very best ways to cause us pain.”
“My grandmother creates scandalous portraiture. I don’t think that’s so terrible.”
“In some circles she’s one of the most respected portrait artists of our age. I’ve been to see exhibitions of her work at the Duchess of Osborne’sgallery of women artists. They were very well-received.”
“I’m proud of her, and I look forward to deepening our acquaintance.”
They made excellent time from London to the outlying town of East Edston. Sandrine read aloud from the pamphlet. “It says here that the Society for the Charitable Relief of Poor, Misused, Infirm, Aged Widows and Single Women of Impeccable Character Who Have Fallen On Difficult Times cannot disclose its exact location for its applicants’ safety but lies close to the town of East Edston. It provides sixty-five old objects and misused women a room, the use of a communal kitchen, a small garden, an allotment of coal in winter, and the sum of nine guineas a year. They call the womenold objects? Not particularly flattering.”
“If there are so many women housed there, it must be a structure of a substantial size.”
“Perhaps a former hospital, or hotel? Or a cluster of cottages.”
“Let’s inquire at the village inn. They always know everything that’s happening.”
Sandrine followed Dane inside the inn. “Good day, sir. My... husband and I are subscribers to the Society for the Charitable Relief of Poor, Misused, Infirm, Aged Widows and Single Women of Impeccable Character Who Have Fallen On Difficult Times.”
“Bully for you.” The innkeeper barely glanced up before returning to read the paper he held.
“Husband?”Dane whispered.
“We’re Mr. and Mrs. Smith today. Subscribers to the charity and concerned, respectable souls,” she whispered to Dane.
“Do you know where the charity is located?” Dane asked.
“Can’t say as I do.”
“It’s a large building, or a collection of cottages. There are sixty-five elderly women housed there. Surely you’ve heard of it?” Dane laid the pamphlet on the desk. The innkeeper glanced at it. “Never heard of it. Not around here. But if you’re wanting to give money to a charity, you’ll find lots of causes here. We haven’t had any work since the mine closed.”
“Are you quite certain? It says it’s located near East Edston.”
He scratched his chin. “I’d know if there were sixty-five ancient ladies living near me. There aren’t. Perhaps it’s a misprint? Could be West Edston. Bigger than we are.”
“That must be it,” Sandrine agreed.
“Thank you for your time.”
Back on the street, Sandrine said, “That man was quite rude.” She noticed men loitering about, hats pulled low and sneers on their faces.
“I don’t like the way those men are looking at you. I was going to suggest luncheon here, but I think it’s best to push on to West Edston. If it’s a larger town and has all the custom this one used to, it will have a better-appointed inn, and we can dine there.”
But the proprietor of the Hound and Hare inWest Edston proved equally uninformative, if more polite. “Can’t say as I’ve heard of this society. Martha,” he called, and a harried-looking woman bustled out from the backroom, “have you heard of this society for old objects?”
“The Society for the Charitable Relief of Poor, Misused, Infirm, Aged Widows and Single Women of Impeccable Character Who Have Fallen On Difficult Times,” Sandrine clarified.
“Never heard of it. But I could use some charity, and I’m a woman of impeccable character whose husband misuses me most terribly. Works me night and day, and I never hear the end of his complaining.”
“Oh, go on with you, you she-devil,” said her husband affectionately. “I’m the one that will need an almshouse when you take up with a younger fellow behind my back.”
“Are you quite certain that none of the elderly ladies are housed nearby?” Dane asked.
“There is an old sanatorium for consumptives and the like on the hill a short distance. Could be they’ve refurbished it without my knowing? Though, my Martha makes it her business to know everything wot goes on near here.”
“There has been some activity there lately, comings and goings and the like,” Martha said.