Chapter Ten

 

 

After the final show of the evening, Gina went in search of the hansom cab she’d hired.

The carriage usually waited right outside the theater, but tonight, there was no sign of it. She walked up and down in the cold air, clutching her coat tightly around her. Most of the girls had gone off for the evening with their husbands or the stage door Johnny they chose.

A man stepped out of the shadows. The glow from a gas lamp fell on his face, highlighting his bony forehead and cheeks, his eyes sunken, dark hollows.

“Miss Russo, I believe.”

Gina searched the street for anyone from the theatre, but the area had quickly emptied, and she found herself alone.

“Where is your Royal lover now when you need him, I wonder?” Lord Ogilvie, asked, his smile more of a sneer. “Or is he a fabrication?”

“He isn’t here this evening. But if he gets to hear about it, you’ll be in trouble. Please leave me alone.”

“And who is he? I’m familiar with them all.”

“I’m not at liberty to say.”

Gina’s heart started to thump, and her breath quickened. She walked to the edge of the road peering into the darkness. Where was that cabbie?

Ogilvie followed and grabbed her arm, his fingers bruising her flesh. “I have come often to watch you on that stage. Artemis remained a virgin all her life. Surely you don’t want that for yourself. Or am I too late?”

She pulled her arm from his grasp. “Go away.”

“Everyone has a price, Miss Russo. What is yours?”

Hands on hips, she turned to face him. “Are you simple-minded? I’ve said I don’t want anything to do with you. If you don’t leave me alone, I’ll call the Watch.”

“I don’t see any bobbies about, do you? Nor your cabbie. He was happy to receive double fare and go home for his tea. Let me escort you, we’ll discuss your future.”

“How dare you! We have nothing to discuss.”

“If my proposition sounded a little heavy-handed, I’m willing to change it. Since your father died, you are rather short of options, are you not?”

Gina rounded on him, “Who told you my father died?”

He shrugged. “Word gets around.”

“As you can clearly see, I’m neither destitute nor in need of your services.”

He raised one eyebrow. “You may well be in the future.”

“Then I’d rather die.”

He nodded. “That’s an option certainly.”

Why did she attempt to reason with a mad man? Her pulse pounded in her ears as she fought to remain calm. She backed away toward the side door of the theater, hoping it hadn’t been locked. But the Earl anticipated her intention and grabbed her, pulling her into the shadows.

He shoved her up against a brick wall. The cold bricks dug into her back. She tried to scream, but his mouth came down hard on hers as he wrenched at her skirt, his hands tangled in the cloth in his haste.

She smelt alcohol and her stomach heaved. She bit his lip, and he shook her until her teeth rattled. “Vixen!”

“Bill, Bill!” She struggled to free herself from his iron grip.

“What’s goin’ on out there?” Bill came lumbering out onto the street. He was a big man, but getting on in years.

Ogilvie turned and ran, yelling an order at his coachman. With the crack of the whip, the black coach took off, tilting over onto two wheels as it turned the corner. Gina sank into a crouch against the wall as Bill hurried up to her.

“Who was that blighter? Did he hurt you?”

“Never mind, Bill.” Gina stood and took several deep breaths. “I’m all right now.”

“What’re yer still doing out here, this time o’night then?

“I want to get home, but my hackney didn’t wait for me.”

“Really? First time for that, you can set your grandfathers by one o’ those. Now you come into my room and wait. I’ll go around the corner and hail another for you in a trice.”

When she finally arrived home, Gina rushed inside and bolted the door, shaking with exhaustion. The rooms were silent, the air frigid. She was too tired to get a fire going now. Every dark corner seemed menacing. Teeth chattering, she threw off her clothes and climbed into bed. The bedclothes were cold and damp. She wrapped herself in her shawl and gradually began to feel warmer. The shaking ceased, but sleep evaded her. Every time she closed her eyes, she saw the earl’s sneering face. He wasn’t done with her yet. For some reason, the madman had become obsessed with her. She would not let that man ruin her life. She would show up for work tomorrow. But the grim and frightening life she was now forced to lead made her quake. She had never been so alone.

***

The fire was terrifying. Flames licked the curtain, and climbed the walls as dense, stifling smoke filled the theater. The last of the audience, coughing and screaming, rushed to the side door, followed by actors and stagehands. They turned away when they found the door barred from the outside and ran to join those escaping through the front entrance.

Gina found herself at the end of a long line of people all attempting to squeeze through the narrow entrance at once. Someone fell over, others tried to climb over the top of them as the panic and screaming reached fever pitch. Gina hauled young Alice, the goddess Persephone, to her feet, and they waited, gasping for air as those ahead of them escaped out into the street.

The stage manager, Dave was the last to leave, because he’d gone back for the dog. Worried about him, Gina turned. He was behind her. As she and Alice stumbled out into daylight, their eyes burning, they were knocked flat with the whoosh of the roof crashing down in a shower of sparks. Gina picked herself up and turned as Dave disappeared under a tangle of burned beams and roofing. The dog whined and ran in circles until its owner rushed over to claim it and lead it away.

Gina stood among the shocked crowd as the fireman tried to douse the flames.

A flash came from a black box on a tripod as the photographer from a newspaper took their picture.

The Watch questioned them, but she’d noticed nothing untoward before the smoke and flames obscured everything.

The Salvation Army people moved among the crowd with offers of assistance, and a woman threw a coat over Gina’s shoulders. Despite Gina assuring her, she was fine; the woman insisted on escorting her home. Gina was glad of the coat and numbly allowed the woman to lead her away.

In Gina’s flat, the woman sat her in a chair and made her a cup of tea.

As Gina sipped it, the woman said, “You must repent from your life of sin, my dear. Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed as your theater was destroyed. This has been God’s warning.”

Gina put the cup down and it rattled in its saucer. She would never forget poor Dave disappearing under the pile of burning timber. “Are you from the Salvation Army?” She hardly managed to get the words out, her throat felt so raw.

The woman’s eyes seemed to burn as brightly as the fire. “No. I am a messenger from God.”

Gina stood with her head swimming. Her legs threatened to collapse under her. “Thank you for your help. I’m most grateful. I’d like you to leave now.”

“Don’t forget my message. Save your soul while you can.”

Relieved, Gina closed the door on the woman. She crawled into her bed and huddled under the covers. Minutes later, there was a loud knock on the door. Worried that the woman had come back, and too exhausted to deal with anyone, she called through it. “Who is it?”

“What will you do now, Gina?” At the sound of Ogilvie’s voice, her heart began to pound, and a sob escaped from her lips. “Your options have certainly narrowed, is that not so? Remember. You have my card.”

Gina heard him laugh as she moaned and slid to the floor. Might he have started the fire?

Could anyone be that evil? Her first instinct was to go to the police. But if she told the police of her suspicions, they would dismiss it. She had no proof and they would not take her word against an earl’s. She sobbed. Why did he hate her so?

She stayed sitting on the floor until she became stiff with cold, and then wearily rose to peer from behind the curtain. There was no sign of him, but it didn’t make her any more confident. He wasn’t done with her.

She crumbled as the desire to keep fighting deserted her. The rent was due on Monday. The landlord would no doubt demand she pay the rent by offering him her body.

Blair. She’d tucked his calling card in her purse. Was he in London? To turn to him went against everything she’d been taught. Her mother and Milo would turn in their graves, but better Blair than any of the others. If he still wanted her, she would go to him.