The Cater Street Hangman - Anne Perry [7]
“Susannah is perfectly safe,” Charlotte replied firmly. “She has adequate means, and she certainly doesn’t venture out alone except in the daytime. And at night, of course, the house is quite secure. I believe her manservant is very proficient, even in the use of firearms.”
“I was not thinking of violence, Miss Ellison, but of temptation. A woman alone is subject to temptations of the flesh, to lightmindedness and entertainments that by their very shallowness tend to pervert the nature. A good woman is about the tasks of her house. Consider your Bible, Miss Ellison. I recommend you read the Book of Proverbs.”
“Susannah keeps a very good house,” Charlotte felt impelled to defend her. “And she doesn’t occupy herself in—in lightminded amusements.”
“You really are a most argumentative young woman,” the vicar smiled at her stiffly. “It is unbecoming. You must learn to control it.”
“She is only being loyal to her cousin, my dear,” Martha said quickly, seeing Charlotte’s face colour in quick anger.
“Loyalty is not a virtue, Martha, when it misguidedly praises that which is evil and dangerous. You have only to look at Chloe Abernathy, unfortunate child. And Susannah is her aunt, not her cousin.”
Charlotte could still feel the heat under her skin.
“What has Chloe Abernathy to do with Susannah?” she demanded.
“Bad company, Miss Ellison, bad company. We are all weak vessels, and in bad company women, especially young women, are easily led to become subject to vices, even to fall under the influence of evil men and end their lives in destitution and abandonment on the streets.”
“Chloe wasn’t anything like that!”
“You are soft-hearted, Miss Ellison, and so a woman should be. You should not know of such things and it does your mother credit that you do not see them. But great evils begin in small ways. That is why even the most innocent of women need the protection of men, who see the seeds of sin in time to guard against them. And bad company is the seed of sin, child; there can be no doubt of it. Poor Chloe was much taken with the company of the Madison daughters lately, before her death. And perhaps you did not fully appreciate their lightmindedness, the frivolous painting of their faces, the wearing of clothes intended to attract the attention of men, and the lingering about without chaperones indulged in by the Misses Madison. But I am sure your father was aware, and would not have let you associate with such people. You may thank his wisdom that you are not also lying murdered in the street.”
“I know they giggled rather a lot,” Charlotte said slowly; she tried to recall the Misses Madison, to see in them any of the beginnings of sin the vicar spoke of. Her memory produced nothing more than a lot of romantic nonsense and very little harm. Empty, certainly, but not wicked, even in embryo. “But I don’t remember anything spiteful in them.”
“Not spiteful.” The vicar gave a faintly patronizing smile. “Sin is not spite, my dear child; sin is the beginning of the road to damnation, to indulgence of the flesh, to fornication and the worship of the Golden Calf!” His voice rose, and Charlotte knew instinctively it was the beginning of a sermon. She clutched desperately.
“Mrs. Prebble,” she leaned forward in total hypocrisy. “Please tell me what else you would like us to do, what next we may make to contribute to the relief of the poor? I’m sure both my mother and my sisters would be most grateful to know!”
Martha Prebble was a little startled by the vehemence in her voice, but she too seemed more than happy to leave the subject of sin.
“Oh, I’m sure any blankets, or especially clothes for children. The poor always seem to have so many children, you know. They seem to have more than those of us who are more comfortably suited.”
“Naturally.” The vicar was not to be left out.