Fallen Grace - Mary Hooper [83]
Supposing it all went wrong? In London there wasn’t much that couldn’t be fixed for a bribe, and who was to say that Binge and Gently weren’t in league with the Unwins? Supposing Lily had been sent away somewhere and they never saw each other again? How was she going to survive the winter without a room or money of her own? What about the night she’d already spent in the hotel? Could she be flung into a debtors’ prison for staying there without the means to pay for it?
Grace might have shared some of these worries with James, but after a few moments he was called out of the room by an official who said that his presence was urgently needed elsewhere, and she did not dare to address Mr Stamford on what he would surely think were trivial matters. Besides, he was busily doing The Times crossword, pencil in one hand and twirling his moustache with the other.
At twenty minutes past midday, Mr Gently came into the anteroom and asked if they would go back into the main office. Grace, quite terrified, looked down the corridor along which James had disappeared, hoping for his return, but was disappointed. Mr Stamford, however – a calm, solid presence – offered her his arm, and she was glad to take it.
x
In the office sat Mr and Mrs George Unwin and Miss Charlotte Unwin. The two ladies were in black fur, Mr Unwin was in full mourning, and all three of them looked immensely startled at the sight of Grace. This was especially true of Charlotte Unwin, whose powder-pale face became quite ashen.
‘Mr and Mrs Unwin, Miss Charlotte Unwin, may I present Miss Grace Parkes?’ said Mr Gently, as if they’d never met each other before. ‘Miss Grace,’ Mr Gently went on smoothly, ‘now you can be reunited with your sister.’
‘She is not my sister,’ Grace said. ‘That is Charlotte Unwin.’
‘But . . . but . . .’ Charlotte Unwin wavered, thought hard about her gig and her footman, and rallied. ‘Yes, I am Charlotte Unwin now, but before I was adopted by my dear Mama and Papa here, I was Lily Parkes.’
‘You never were!’ said Grace fiercely. ‘How could you say such a thing? I only have one sister and that is Lily, and you are not her!’
‘How dare you contradict my daughter!’ Mrs Unwin bristled, glowering at Grace. ‘I took you to work at our establishment out of the goodness of my heart! Is this how you repay me?’
‘You employed my sister, too!’ Grace said. ‘But where is Lily?’
‘What are you talking about?’ Mrs Unwin threw up her hands. ‘The poor girl is demented!’
‘Mrs Unwin, can you tell me your story again from the beginning?’ Mr Binge asked. ‘Right from the adoption of er . . . Charlotte here.’
‘Certainly,’ said Mrs Unwin, ‘it’s quite simple. When Mrs Parkes – Mrs Letitia Parkes – died, she left a child, a daughter named Lily.’ Here she indicated Charlotte. ‘We knew the girl’s father was abroad, believed dead, and so we adopted her and made her our own. Here she is now, fully grown, a fine young gentlewoman whom we have long nurtured and loved.’
George Unwin shook his fist at Grace. ‘’Tis a wicked, wicked thing you are doing now, trying to prevent our dear girl from taking what is rightfully hers.’
‘Indeed it is mine!’ Charlotte Unwin burst into tears. ‘Mama always used to tell me that Papa would make his fortune abroad and then we would be very, very rich.’
‘She said that, did she?’ Mr Binge interposed.
‘She did! We were living in a dear little cottage in Wimbledon then, and though we were poor, every day Mama would make tea in her special teapot with bluebirds of happiness on it, and we would talk about what we would do when we came into money.’
Grace stared at her. ‘You only know all this because of what Lily and I have told you!’ she cried furiously. ‘And where is my real sister? What have you done with Lily?’
‘I don’t know what you’re talking about,’ said Charlotte Unwin disdainfully.
There was a silence, a stand-off, with all parties glowering at each other, and then Mr Stamford coughed