Belle - Lesley Pearse [128]
‘But I’m afraid the water closet is outside,’ he said, looking concerned she would be offended by this.
‘That’s fine,’ she said, though her heart sank back down again.
He filled the kettle to make some coffee for them. He’d bought a box of groceries too, and seeing a walnut cake on the top, Belle roused herself to put everything away.
‘Can you cook?’ he asked as he spooned the coffee into a pot.
‘A bit,’ Belle said. ‘I used to help Mog back home. I peeled and chopped vegetables, made jam tarts and stuff like that with her. But I never made a whole meal by myself.’
‘If you can read, you can cook,’ he said, and smiled. ‘At least, that’s what my mother used to claim. Maybe you should go to a bookshop and get a recipe book?’
‘That’s a really good plan,’ she said, wanting to sound enthusiastic and joyful, even if she didn’t feel it.
They had coffee and walnut cake, then Faldo told her he was going to give her ten dollars a week pocket money. Belle was horrified it was so little – she wouldn’t get far on that – but he didn’t notice her stricken face. ‘But I’ve opened two accounts for you,’ he went on. ‘One is at Frendlar’s grocery shop down Canal Street. The other account is at Alderson’s, it’s a store which sells everything from stockings, sewing cotton to tables and chairs. Between these two shops you’ll be able to find everything you need to make this house a home; just charge it to me. You must sign the bills as Miss Anne Talbot, and should anyone ever question you, you must say I’m your guardian. Is that all right with you?’
Belle assumed she had to have a false name in case Martha tried to find her. ‘You’ve been very kind,’ she said. ‘I hope you don’t come to regret this.’
He smiled and reached out to caress her cheek. ‘There is no reason why I should, you are a delight. But I am concerned about you feeling lonely and bored. I will come as often as I can, but I know that isn’t the same as having friends or family nearby.’
‘I’ll be fine. I can read, do sewing and learn to cook,’ she said more bravely than she felt. ‘But what do I say about myself to any of the neighbours?’
Faldo frowned. ‘I think it best that you keep your distance from them,’ he said. ‘But if circumstances arise where you have to speak to them, clearly you mustn’t tell them you’ve just come from the District. You could say I’m your guardian and you came because your parents back in England died. If they are curious about why you aren’t living with my family you could say you like to be independent. But it would be safer to avoid having to say anything, that way it won’t get back to Martha that you are here.’
‘When are you going to speak to her?’ Belle asked.
‘I’m not, honey,’ he said, and seeing the surprise on her face he went on to explain. ‘She’s a tough woman, she’ll ask for an enormous sum for you, and could make mischief if I refused to pay her that much. So I shall call round one evening soon and ask for you, that way making myself look innocent of any part in your disappearance. But, as I’m sure you can understand, you mustn’t go anywhere near the District or the French Quarter.’
Belle nodded, but she felt let down that he wasn’t prepared to pay anything to free her. ‘Of course. I wouldn’t want to go there anyway,’ she said.
‘Well, shall we?’ he said, taking her hand and leading her back to the bedroom. He lifted all the bed linen off the bed and dumped it on the floor. ‘It will have to be a quick one, I’ve got a business meeting later.’
Some little time later, Belle heard the wire fly screen on the front door bang shut, and the sound of Faldo’s feet going down the steps, and she lay back on the bare mattress and began to cry.
She felt more of a whore now than she ever had at Martha’s. He had got her to take off all her clothes and then just did the act without any petting or kissing before hurrying away.
None of this was what she’d expected. She was alone in a part of town she didn’t know and which could well be dangerous. She didn’t have the luxury of a bathroom or an inside lavatory. Faldo was going to give her less