Page 30 of Charlotte's Reckoning
“We used to work together.”
Rowie’s jaw dropped.
“You’re surprised,”she said with a smile. “I’m Elise Purcell. I own a parlor house a few blocks over. Heloise used to stay with me before she struck out on her own.”
“Then you’re a…”
“Painted lady?”the older woman supplied. “Not anymore. Years ago, I used to entertain for a living. Now I just run the place.”
“You’re a madam, then. Like Heloise.”
She stiffened, clearly offended. “Bite your tongue. We’ve just met, and you’re insulting me?”
“I’m… Um, I didn’t mean…”
“I tease, my dear,”she said with a smile. “But honestly, no one is like Heloise. Greedy, spiteful, and cruel. But I’m sure you know that.”
“Unfortunately, I know it very well.”
Shouting from across the street drew both their gazes. As if saying her name had summoned the devil, Heloise stood in front of a group of her ladies, clearly agitated. Her voice was raised—when wasn’t it—and carried in the night.
Rowie backed into the alley next to the bathhouse, prepared to flee. “I must go,”she murmured. But to where?
“Has she made housing arrangements for you already?”
“No, and I don’t care what she does or where she goes. I won’t be joining her.”
“It sounds like there is a story here.”
“I really must go,”she repeated, although her bare feet didn’t move. Alone in a strange city, where did she go without money?
“You’re clearly in shock, my dear. Why don’t you come home with me? You can get a bath and something to eat, and I’ll make you something soothing for your irritated throat. After a good night’s sleep, we can discuss your plan to leave Heloise’s employ. Unless you have somewhere else in mind.”
Her hesitation was answer enough.
“I didn’t think so,”she said with a sympathetic smile. “Please accept my hospitality for the night.”
Gritty, tired, aching all over, and least of all, standing practically naked in the street, Rowie was sorely tempted. But for all she knew, Elise could be worse than Heloise.
“I understand your hesitation, but I promise, I am only trying to help. There will be no obligation. Although, if you’re up to it, you could satisfy my curiosity about what my old friend Heloise—and I use that term very loosely—is up to these days.”
It seemed a small price to pay for a roof over her head and a bath.
Just then, the upper floors of the brothel caved in, sending sparks into the dark sky. As she watched the fire rapidly consume the bottom floor, thehose company and bucket brigade arrived, but it was too late. By morning, the building would be nothing but ash and cinders.
Rowie worried that not everyone made it out or that her actions had injured more than Monsieur Augustine. And what about the vile Frenchman? His burns were extensive. Had he survived? Did it make her a murderer and an arsonist if he did not?
She glanced down the street, trying to locate the strapping young man who had fearlessly ventured into a dangerous situation to save a woman most of society wouldn’t have bothered with. The heavy smoke made it impossible to identify anyone, even a man who would have stood taller than the others—except for Noah.
The shrill voice piercing the night from a half block away couldn’t be mistaken. “Find her, you fool,”Heloise demanded. “The slut cost me a small fortune. I’ve lost enough today and don’t plan on letting her get away until she’s paid back every red cent.”
When a hulking figure, who could not be anyone other than Noah, separated from the huddle of people in the street and headed her way, Rowie quickly stepped farther into the shadows, pulling her cloak more closely around her and the hood lower over her eyes.
“You’re in trouble,”the elegant woman stated, startling Rowie, who had forgotten her presence. “Stay here where it’s dark while I bring my carriage around.”
Stepping lightly, Elise passed silently down the wooden sidewalk and emerged in the circle of light cast by the gas lamp at the corner of the next block. She strolled at that point like she didn’t have a care in the world.
As Noah’s gaze swept the street for her, Rowie pressed her back against the exterior wall of the dance club, trying to make herself invisible. Elise paused and said something as he came even with her.
