Page 80 of The Laudanum Ladies' Society

Jenny shook her head. ‘No, we won’t do anything that will harm his family, if at all possible. They can’t help what he does and shouldn’t suffer for it.’

Gwen stepped forward, head high and shoulders back, her earlier misery concealed.

‘We are looking for two young women, one is little more than a child. Your clients’ families may feel grief, but that is nothing to what they must be going through.’

‘If you want to rescue them, I’m sure that will be possible without involving me or my clients,’ Selina said.

Miriam beckoned to Jenny and Gwen and drew them aside.

‘Is that all we want to do?’ she asked. ‘There’s nothing to stop her finding some more, either tricking them off the streets or getting them from the workhouse.’

Jenny and Gwen exchanged a look. This clearly needed more thought.

‘For me, I need to rescue Mr Parry’s niece, Ruth. I want to stop her using our product and I need to ensure that no word of our involvement reaches my husband,’ said Gwen.

‘Or my uncle,’ Jenny added, though knowing his relationship to Selina, she cared slightly less about his disapproval.

‘What would you do with the girls, even if you did close The Rook and Wren down completely?’ Selina asked, turning her eyes on Gwen and fixing her with a penetrating stare.

‘Will they be turned out on the street to ply their trade there? Find another pimp? Augusta’s rooms might not be the most pleasant environment for them, but at least they are provided with some protection.’

‘But on the street, they could choose their customers and they won’t be forced or drugged,’ Jenny pointed out, though a nagging voice in the back of her mind whispered how feeble that alternative was.

‘Miss Rosewood, you are deluded!’ Selina laughed. It wasn’t a pleasant sound. ‘Do you really think a streetwalker can choose who she says yes to? Consider the harassment they receive from the constabulary. You speak of being drugged, but how many of those poor unfortunates console themselves with bathtub gin to dampen the pain and ignominy, and do themselves untold damage?’

She walked across the room and sat on her basket chair, like a queen surveying her subjects.

‘It’s all very well for you to moralise from your safe, comfortable lives, but take it from one who knows, there are many conditions under which women grit their teeth and deal with unpleasant men. If you don’t realise that, then you’re as innocent and foolish as a child in its nursery singing Mother Goose rhymes.’

Jenny’s shoulders sagged, the certainty she had been carrying dissolving. ‘When you put it like that…’ she began.

‘There will always be those who take advantage and those who are taken advantage of,’ Selina said. ‘At least Augusta understands what they are going through and tries to minimise their suffering.’

Miriam walked to Jenny’s side and took her hand. ‘Don’t listen to her. It’s better to try than not. If we save these girls, then they will stay saved.’

Gwen took Jenny’s other hand. ‘Remember, one of the girls has an influential relative who practises law. What he decides to do with whatever she tells him is out of our hands. I know he is determined to bring the authorities down upon Augusta with all the force he can muster.’

Jenny squeezed both their hands and felt the pressure returned, giving her conviction a much-needed boost. She looked Selina in the eye.

‘I heard the way Augusta spoke to Bella, and the slap that she gave her. It is you who is deluded if you think she does this out of anything other than greed. We’re going to try and find our girls. Any other women who choose to leave with us, can do so. We’ll attempt to keep you out of it, but we have the sketches, and if it comes to it, we will use them.’

‘It won’t.’ Selina looked at them haughtily. ‘What do you need to know?’

‘We need to know who is on the premises, how many girls there are and where they live,’ Jenny said.

‘There are three girls now. Four, if what you say about Bella is true. They live in a room on the ground floor. Madam Annie looks after them. Her husband is Mr Craig, who you might have seen at the chop house.’

‘Are any of the girls called Ruth or Sally?’ Gwen asked.

Selina shook her head. ‘No, but that doesn’t mean they’re using their real names. One of them said she was called Victoriana, which I highly doubt.’

‘We’re looking for a redhead and a Welsh girl,’ Jenny said.

Selina’s expression told her the answer before she confirmed it verbally.

‘The Welsh girl has a beautiful voice. She could have a future,’ she sighed wistfully.

‘On the stage or under your tutelage?’ Gwen snarled.