“Oh, very well.”
“So gracious,” Daniel murmured, which earned him a glare.
“I shall see you in the morning for practice, Abby.” Dimity gave her a hug. “Make sure she gets home safely,” she added before hurrying away.
He wondered what it was they were practicing? A musical instrument perhaps? French or Latin?
Daniel nodded to Toddy and then placed his hand in the small of Abby’s back after she’d pulled on her coat and wrapped a scarf around her neck. He nudged her toward the door.
“Which way?” he said when they were out on the street. Eros’s dulcet tones were now muted behind a closed door.
She struck out ahead of him, turning right at the bottom of the lane. Daniel quickly moved to her side.
“So you live nearby, Abby?”
“Yes.”
“How often do you frequent the Duck and Goose?”
“Not often.” Her words were short and clipped.
“Seeing as I just saved you from Clancy and am walking you home, one would think you could be nicer. Especially as when we last met you seemed to enjoy my company.”
Her sigh was loud and weighty.
“Yes, you’re right, and I am behaving badly. I did enjoy our time together when Eros played before. Forgive me, and I am sorry for my manners. You see, I do not get to attend those nights often, and it was something I had been enjoying. I fear I was upset to have it stopped so abruptly.”
“Apology accepted.” She spoke as if she frequented society gatherings daily, which intrigued him even more. Did she often feel out of place, as he did?
Daniel had learned to enunciate his vowels properly, just as he’d learned to read, late in life. He could also now sit a horse like a gentleman and eat with the correct cutlery when required. He’d known that to walk in both worlds, he’d need to at least give the appearance of being a gentleman. After all, to many, appearances were everything.
“Oh dear, do you think she needs our assistance?”
Before he could stop her, Abby had approached a woman sitting in a doorway. Daniel hadn’t even noticed her huddled there.
“Hello.”
“Abby.” Daniel grabbed her arm, but she shook him off and crouched before the figure tucked into the shadows.
“Can I help you in some way? I see you are shivering.” Abby took off her scarf. “Here, you have more need of this than I.”
“Thank you.” The woman clutched it to her chest.
“Why are you here?”
Daniel gave up trying to get Abby to her feet and dropped down beside her. The woman was curled up, arms around her knees. She was dirty, hair matted, and looked like many people who lived on the London streets. He didn’t think she presented danger to anyone, but he was taking no chances.
“I’m waiting for me da.”
“Well then, it’s my hope you will not have long to wait. Are you sure there’s no more I can do for you?”
The woman shook her head, eyes wide, face drawn.
“I’m afraid I have no coins but—”
“I do.” Daniel rose, then gripped Abby beneath the arms and lifted her to her feet. “Stay,” he cautioned her. Taking some coins out of his jacket, he leaned down and handed them to the woman.
“Thank you.”
Abby hesitated when he tried to move her on.
“There is nothing more you can do. Move your feet, please.”
She walked, but kept looking over her shoulder. “Why do you think she is really there, Daniel?”
“I don’t think you want to know.”
“Oh, dear. I had wondered.”
“Please tell me you do not stop to help everyone you see huddled in a doorway.”
“Not all of them, no. But I am blessed with food on my table and a roof over my head. Many are not.”
“And you cannot save them all, Abby.” He’d tried when his family first arrived in London. He’d wanted to give to those that had nothing, just as his family had once been without food and money. He soon realized it was an impossible task. Now he did what he could, but it no longer consumed him as it once had.
“Will you give me your last name?” He wanted to divert her attention and at the same time know more about her in case she slipped away again. Her last name was an excellent place to start.
“Little.” She threw a last glance over her shoulder before they turned down another lane.
“I understand Dimity is a friend of Gus, the Duck and Goose’s owner, but can I ask why you were there again? It does not seem the place for a woman of your standing.”
She stopped so quickly, he’d walked past before realizing it.
“Wh-what do you know of my standing? I-I have no standing!”
“Forgive me, I did not mean to distress you, but your accent is vastly different from many of the patrons we left behind. That would suggest to me you have either been educated or raised differently from many of the patrons who frequent the tavern.”
Even with the muted glow from the gaslights, he could see she was agitated.
“I’m not distressed.” She backed away from him.
“You certainly seem that way, and if you keep moving in that direction, very soon you’ll be up against a hard wall.”
Daniel watched as she exhaled slowly.
“I—ah, I must make haste, as my brothers worry when I am out.”
“I’m sure they do, which begs the question as to why they allow you to go to such a place alone?” He walked at her side once more, adjusting his stride to match hers. Not that he would have met her if she hadn’t gone to the Duck and Goose, but still. He wouldn’t allow his sisters there alone.
“It must be nice being a man,” she said instead of answering his question.
“It is most of the time.”
“You have freedom, and that is something I and other women can never hope to achieve.”
Daniel thought about that as they walked down the narrow lane she’d turned into. He knew women did not have his freedom,
