Page 28 of Eliza and the Duke
Simon touched her hand in encouragement and turned to follow Brody across the street. He wouldn’t leave her out of sight and thankfully Brody didn’t require this. No one else followed them, leaving them in relative privacy.
“This about that big fight ye mentioned?”
“It’s set. You and Rouse.”
“Rouse?” It shouldn’t come as a surprise. Rouse had a reputation as a strong brawler, and Brody had been angling to set up a fight between them for a long time now. “When?”
“Same as usual. A month hence. Midnight. He’ll come here, so we’ll have the advantage.”
“Why the privacy, then?”
“Because I don’t want ye to win. Ye’ll lose this one.”
“Lose it?”
Brody nodded. “You’re too good. Odds are shit if ye win. Ye want a big score? Ye want enough to be out for good? Then ye lose. I’ll make yer fee and ye’ll leave. And when ye do leave I don’t want to see ye here ever again.”
Simon shook his head. “I don’t lose fights.”
“Ye will if ye want to be done with it.”
“Ye want me to take a tumble. Why would ye ask it of me?” Most of the people who bet on him were the people here. Men and women who labored in factories and the docks to live in squalor.
“As I recall, it was ye who asked me to arrange something. To get ye out. Well, here is yer chance. Or do not fight and pay the price. Which do ye choose?”
Brody had done this on purpose. He’d arranged the most loathsome scenario he could to make it hurt. Simon ground his molars together. There was nothing for it. This isn’t what he wanted, but he’d do it if he had to. The subtle threat Brody had tossed in made it clear that Simon, and possibly Daisy, wouldn’t be safe if he refused. “Then ye promise I’ll be free. That I’ll be out for good.”
Brody raised his hands. “On my honor.”
“Daisy, too. You’ll let her go.”
“The brat, too.”
“Fine. I’ll do it.” He’d do whatever it took. He turned to head back to Eliza, but Brody stopped him with a hand on his shoulder.
“Ye could stay,” he said. “It’s not too late.”
Simon paused, knowing what it took for Brody to say that. The plan had been for Simon to run things with him. Brody had never said it, but he’d once trusted him like he’d trusted no one else. He’d meant to share power as much as someone like him was able to share anything. Once, Simon had bought into that plan, but that had changed with Mary’s death. He’d promised to get Daisy out and he would.
“It is too late. We both know it.” Even if Simon agreed to stay, he’d already lost Brody’s trust. He’d be dead once Brody realized he’d never trust Simon like he had before. He’d be killed as a warning to any others who might think to go against Brody’s wishes.
Brody dropped his hand and Simon walked back to Eliza. He kept his pace slow and steady even though he wanted to rush over to her. Beck had drifted closer to Eliza. He was standing in front of her, flicking the embroidered edge of her cloak with his filthy fingernail.
“Stand down, Beck. Anne.” Simon spoke harshly so thatnone of them would get a whiff of what she meant to him and held his arm out to her.
She stepped around Beck who leaned forward to catch her scent. She shrank back from him and hurried toward Simon. She tucked her hand into the crook of his arm. He’d been foolish to think that they could outrun Brody. He was lucky his flight hadn’t made the man more suspicious of him.
“I’ll see you home,” he reassured her.
She nodded silently at his side and he feared the worst, that he’d committed some unforgivable transgression. That she’d never forgive him for exposing her to those men. He should hope that was the case. If she never wanted to see him again, then he’d be well rid of her.
If only that’s how he could really feel.
No one appeared to be following them as they made their way back through the alleys of Whitechapel. He didn’t bother going back through the hay market. They needed to get out of the area as fast as possible before Brody decided that she meant more to Simon than he’d let on. Brody wouldn’t hesitate to use her to toy with him.
Unfortunately, it meant going by the workhouse. He always tried to avoid the looming brick building, but on the rare occasions he was made to pass by, it held him spellbound. Today was no exception. He looked up as they passed. The windows were dark, but that didn’t mean someone wasn’t looking out. He’d spent many evenings when he was supposed to be asleep looking out the window in the room he’d shared with thirty other boys and imagining a better life. He’d almost found it. He wouldn’t let Brody keep him from it by throwing this last hurdle in his path.
“Simon?”
