‘I’m too old for that sort of treatment, Aunt Sadie. I’m grown up now.’
‘I used to say much the same when I was your age,’ Sadie said with a rueful smile. ‘That was a long time ago.’
‘You’re not so very old,’ James said quickly.
‘I’m the most senior member of the family present, so I think we should do as your sister says, and make a move.’
James opened his mouth as if to comment, but at that moment the door opened to admit Laurence Bromley. He was not smiling.
‘I’m sorry, Miss Manning, but the Head is adamant that the boys should remain in school until the end of term.’
‘Really? That is unfortunate.’ Caroline grabbed James by the hand. ‘We’re leaving now whether the headmaster likes it or not. He can’t prevent me from taking my brothers home and, to be honest, I doubt very much whether they will return. Perhaps you would be kind enough to ensure that their belongings are sent on by carrier.’ She pushed past him, with James clinging to her hand. ‘Come along, Sadie.’
‘Miss Manning, please wait a moment …’
Caroline ignored his protest and quickened her pace. A vision of her mother’s tear-stained face was enough to spur her on. She was taking her brothers home.
Chapter Two (#uce918d8c-7229-5881-9f9b-c52cb8d7830c)
Emotional scenes greeted the boys on their return home to find the household in deep mourning. Curtains remained drawn, mirrors were covered and Esther had ordered all clocks to be stopped at the moment of her husband’s passing. Caroline grieved for her father, but she was more concerned for the living, and after a week of existing in a state of permanent gloom she managed to persuade her mother to allow daylight into the house. She was not bothered by the lack of mirrors, but stopping the clocks was another matter, and eventually Esther agreed that they should be restarted, except for the one in her bedchamber, where the gilt hands would point for ever to the moment when her heart was broken.
Caroline did her best to look after James, and although Max stoutly refused to admit that he was in need of emotional support, she knew that he, too, was suffering the loss of a much-loved parent. Their mother seemed to have drifted into a half-world where she was present in body, but her thoughts were far away.
And then there were the bills. Tradesmen began to knock on the door demanding payment. Ingram sent them on their way, but that did not stop the stream of documents that arrived daily, demanding large sums of money, which shocked Caroline to the core. In her seventeen years of life she had never needed to worry about whether she could afford a new gown or a pair of shoes, let alone how they were going to pay for the food they ate, the coal that heated the house and the candles that lit their rooms. Suddenly these problems became very real.
‘What are we going to do, Aunt Sadie?’ Caroline rushed into the dining room one morning, waving a sheaf of demands for payment under Sadie’s nose. ‘Mama seems to think that our housekeeper deals with the tradesmen’s accounts, but when I spoke to Mrs Hayes she told me that she had always passed them on to Papa.’
‘It’s obvious that we’re in desperate need of funds.’ Sadie rose from the table. ‘I think perhaps a visit to the office would be in order. We can’t involve your mama, not yet anyway.’
Caroline nodded emphatically. ‘I agree. I just wish I knew more about the business. Mama would never discuss such things with me.’
‘I need to have a word with Ezra Parkinson, although I’ve never had much faith in him as a manager.’ Sadie glanced at her reflection in one of the gilt-framed wall mirrors, patting a stray strand of hair into place. ‘I always hoped that I would run the office one day, because I started working there when I was even younger than Max, but it wasn’t to be.’
‘Why wasn’t it, Aunt Sadie? That doesn’t seem right.’
‘After they were married your parents built the company, working side by side until you were born, and by that time they could afford to pay a manager and take on more clerks, and I wasn’t needed any more. It’s a man’s world, Carrie. We just have to accept it as a fact.’
‘I’m not so sure about that,’ Caroline said, smiling. ‘But we need to sort this out, Aunt. I’m coming with you.’
‘All right, but don’t say anything to your mother. There’s no need to bother her with this.’
‘Give me five minutes to fetch my bonnet and reticule and we’ll go now, before Mama is up and about.’
‘It’s little wonder that she sleeps until noon,’ Sadie said, sighing. ‘I hear her walking about her room well into the early hours.’
‘That means you don’t get much sleep either.’
‘I’ve always been like that, but your mother is wearing herself out. I worry about her.’
‘When we’ve been to the office I intend to call on Aunt Alice. She is the only person who might be able to help Mama.’
The hansom cab dropped them off outside the company office, which was situated in Wapping High Street. Caroline had known Ezra Parkinson since she was a small child. Even then she had realised that there was a certain amount of ill-feeling between her aunt and Ezra. He was always very courteous and obliging, but now she was older she felt that he was a little too familiar, and it was obvious that he had little time for women. The smile that curved his lips never quite reached the dark depths of his hooded eyes, and his obsequious manner barely masked an undercurrent of contempt.
Sadie marched into the outer office and came to a sudden halt. ‘Where is everyone?’ she demanded, gazing at the empty desks.
‘It’s too early for luncheon,’ Caroline said, frowning. ‘Mr Masters, the head clerk, was always sitting behind the counter when I used to visit Papa.’
Sadie rang the hand bell and its peal echoed mockingly around the empty room.
Caroline opened the door to the inner office. ‘Anyone there?’ she called. ‘Mr Parkinson, it’s me, Caroline Manning.’
‘Really, this is too bad. Even in the old days we would never leave the office unattended.’ Sadie pushed past her. ‘Parkinson. Are you there?’
A door at the back of the building opened and Parkinson emerged, carrying a brown leather bag. ‘Miss Dixon and Miss Manning. I wasn’t expecting to see you here today.’
‘What’s going on, Parkinson?’ Sadie demanded angrily. ‘Where is Masters? And why is there no one on the front desk?’
‘Times are hard, miss.’ Parkinson edged past them. ‘If you’ll excuse me, I have a business appointment.’
Caroline barred his way. ‘That’s not good enough, Mr Parkinson. It looks to me as if you’re leaving and you don’t intend to return.’
‘Even the rats desert a sinking ship, miss. I’m not vermin, but I know when the business is about to go bankrupt.’
With surprising strength, Sadie grabbed him by the shoulders and propelled him into the front office. She gave him a gentle shove, catching him off balance so that he sat down heavily on the nearest chair. ‘Now then, you’d better explain before I send Miss Caroline down to the Dock Police and have you arrested. I wouldn’t be surprised if you’d emptied the safe and the company’s money is in that bag.’
‘That’s slander, Miss Dixon. I could have you up before the beak for that.’
‘Not if it’s true, and judging by your demeanour, I think I might have hit the nail on the head.’
Caroline went to the door. ‘Shall I call a constable, Aunt?’
‘Let him speak first.’ Sadie leaned against the desk, folding her arms across her chest. ‘We’re listening, Mr Parkinson.’
‘You’ll find out sooner or later anyway.’ Parkinson put the bag down by his feet. ‘The business has been floundering for months, ever since the loss of the Mary Louise.’
‘But surely we were insured with Lloyd’s?’ Caroline stared at him, frowning. ‘Weren’t we?’
‘We could not afford the premium for such an old vessel, Miss Manning. It was a total loss and that, together with the expensive refit on your uncle’s ship, simply added to our difficulties.’
‘There’s something very wrong here, Parkinson,’ Sadie said angrily. ‘You need to give a full account of your dealings to Mr George.’
‘The paddle steamers we owned were sold at the beginning of the year, and I don’t know when Mr George will return, but whenever it is it’s too late to save the company, Miss Dixon. I’m getting out before the bailiffs arrive.’
‘It can’t be as bad as that.’ Caroline looked from one to the other. ‘We own the house in Finsbury Circus. Mama is a wealthy woman.’
Parkinson shrugged. ‘Tell that to your creditors.’
‘Aunt Sadie?’ Caroline crossed the floor to stand beside her aunt. ‘Tell him that the house must be worth a great deal of money. Tell him.’