The old man opened his portmanteau again and took out a small black book just like the one she been given by the under manager.
‘This is the genuine Pass Book sent from abroad to my firm by the late Mr Benjamin. For the sake of clarity, I will allow you to examine it for yourself. Can you read?’
‘Yes, sir, I can.’
‘Please note, the debt was incurred initially by Mr Lucas Benjamin’s father. In short, it doubled and trebled until, before his death he took out another loan, this time against his home and business in order to offset the extraordinary costs of his wife’s foreign treatments.’
Ettie took the Pass Book and opened it at the first browned page. There were many lines and columns of figures, all arranged neatly and accompanied by signatures. At the end of each page was a total, just as, in the same way, she had completed the salon’s accounts. The clear difference was, that as the months and years had passed, the figures ran into many hundreds of pounds.
‘You will see that for a while, the cash-flow problem was resolved somewhat, when Mrs Rose Benjamin took over the running of the business. However, this state of affairs did not reduce the overwhelming historical debt.’
Ettie turned to the last page of the Pass Book and was shocked to see the many entries made of Lucas’s withdrawals, paid to the physicians in Switzerland.
‘You understand now, I hope, Miss O’Reilly?’ Mr Pike said with raised eyebrows. ‘With no hope of repayment, I am here to take possession of the properties that in law, are now owned by the Bank of England.’ He reached forward and lifted the book from her hands, sliding it carefully back into his portmanteau.
‘I must warn you that our receivers will be here at midday tomorrow to oversee the bank’s claim.’ He looked at her a little more kindly and said, ‘my advice would be to collect your belongings together and leave before their arrival. Have you a key?’
Ettie sat dumfounded. This had all happened too soon. She had known the end had to come, but in such a manner?
‘Yes, I have a key.’
‘And cash? Is there any?’
Ettie nodded.
‘Then I must have it.’ The older man stood up. ‘Shall we go?’
With legs that barely had the strength to walk, Ettie led the way to the salon where she showed Mr Pike the wooden panel and the key to unlock it. He was swiftly on his knees and removed every coin and note to his portmanteau.
Ettie watched in stunned silence. When he had finished his business, he asked, ‘And books? Accounts? I shall take those too.’
Ettie gave him the accounts book and scraps of paper she had collected together with the temporary Pass Book.
‘Please remove the remaining stock to the safe,’ he ordered and watched as she went to the shelves and cleared them, laying all the tobaccos that remained in the cast iron chest. After which, Mr Pike locked it and closed the wooden panel with the lever.
‘By law you must return any property either loaned or given, by the late proprietor, to the bank,’ he reminded her.
Ettie could not think of a single thing and shook her head. ‘Just my uniform.’
‘Please leave it before you go.’
Ettie looked into this man’s small, piercing eyes and felt the final indignity. Even the clothes she wore now belonged to The Old Lady.
Mr Pike put on his hat and bid her good afternoon. A carriage had arrived outside and he climbed into it, without a glance back.
She could not help but gaze around the bare and empty salon and her tears fell again as she gazed up at Rose in a new light. Her enigmatic smile hid so much anguish. Lucas’s father had created the downfall of their lives, just as Lucas had insisted in his delirium. The debts incurred through his papa’s squandering were unbreakable chains binding the family’s ankles. Chains from which neither Rose nor Lucas had ever been able to escape.
Chapter 44
It was now late afternoon and Ettie had recovered a little from Mr Pike’s visit. There were many things on her mind; the keenest of them all, to visit Terence, the friend to whom she was indebted. Without his presence in her life, her world would have been a far lonelier place.
‘Just look at the ray of sunshine that spills in my door!’ Terence exclaimed when she stepped inside his shop. ‘I’ll wrap you a nice bit of mutton for stewing. No fat, just tender meat to fall off the bone.’
Ettie smiled, but in as few words as she could think of, she began to describe the attorney’s visit.
‘What an intrusion! What a liberty!’ Terence exclaimed, swinging down the meat cleaver so hard that its sharp blade stuck firmly into the wooden slab. ‘You should have run down to me. I would have put the cheeky fellow in his place.’
‘Mr Pike was only doing his job.’
‘Mr Pike lorded it over a young girl! Then besmirched a dead man’s name.’
‘Not exactly, Terence. The bank is owed the property and will take it.’ Ettie did not want to elaborate too much, for she knew that Terence would make a great fuss. A fuss out of the kindness of his heart and one that she appreciated, but he could do nothing to change the salon’s fate.
‘I shall shut up shop,’ Terence decided, casting the cleaver into a pail of water. He wiped his hands on a soiled cloth and drew them down his apron. ‘And come with you to pack your things. By nightfall you’ll be settled in my spare room. Tomorrow we can set about a fresh start. Soho is kind to its own. We shall tour its streets and discover a position befitting the late tobacconist’s clever young assistant.’
‘I would prefer to stay a
