Page 16 of Dark Tidings on the Thames
“Help you? How, sir?”
“I heard of you, you see,” Yardley said eagerly. “Young Beth spoke of you, back at the Waif’s Wardrobe. We would tell tales, of an evening, all of us taking turns. She told us how you helped your friend, the one what was accused of murder—the singer.”
“Miss Josie Lowe, you mean,” Kara said with a nod.
“Aye! You told ’em it weren’t her,andyou found the black-hearted git what did the deed.” His tone became imploring. “My lady, you must do the same for me! I didn’t kill Glynn Foulger. Surely you don’t want to see an innocent man hang?”
“Of course not,” Kara soothed. “But…” She looked helplessly at Niall.
“Please, my lady!”
“The correct way to address the duchess is ‘Your Grace,’” Niall said stonily.
The man paled. “I’m that sorry. Your Grace, of course. It’s just, I heard the police mean to pin Glynn’s murder on me. I don’t think anyone from the Wardrobe will speak up for me.” His face twisted and his tone grew bitter. “That is all down to Glynn, herself. She turned them against me. But that don’t mean I killed her. I didn’t! I need someone to believe me, and you have influence, Your Grace. Power. The police might believe you, the same way they believed you when you helped your friend.”
“The situation with Josie was entirely different,” Kara began.
“I know! You knew her. You felt safe vouching for her. I want the same, but I don’t have no one. I thought, if I could just plead my case to you, you might see your way to helping me.”
Kara looked at Niall.
“From everything my wife heard, the victim despised you,” Niall said coldly.
“She did.” Yardley dropped his gaze. “And not without reason. I made mistakes. I admit it.” He looked up, his eyes wide and earnest. “But I am a changed man. I turned myself around. I do good now. I make a difference with people who just need a caring hand. I’m not the same as the man Glynn knew in the past.”
“Miss Foulger believed you should not be allowed to work near the vulnerable women the charity helps,” Kara stated baldly. “Why?What made her think so?”
“Because of what I did, back when I first met her.” Yardley looked miserable.
Kara and Niall waited.
The man sighed. “I’m a cobbler, by trade. I work in a shop just off the Strand. I met Glynn Foulger when she first moved to London. She worked for a seamstress just a few shops down. One of the other girls in the shop—Joan—I was courting her. That’s how I met Glynn. We would all go out for a pint or two in the evenings, sometimes.”
“What happened?” asked Niall.
“I let myself go too far on the drink,” Yardley admitted “I started drinking more than a pint or two. Much more.Stupid.” He snorted. “I didn’t have the coin for it. And it sharpened my temper. Something fierce, it sharpened it. My girl, Joanie, she tried to tell me to lay off it.”
“I imagine you didn’t take it well?” Kara asked.
“No. What man ever did? I was a beast about it. One night Joanie tried to stop me ordering another, and I…” He faltered. His shoulders drooped, but he drew a deep breath and straightened. “I struck her. Hard. Right there in the pub, in front of everyone.”
Kara closed her eyes.
“God, the shame of it,” Yardley whispered. “It struck me right away. But I was drunk and I wanted to be even more so, and I couldn’t back down. So I hit her again. It was Glynn who stopped me. She flew at me and knocked me on my arse. Others backed her up, and I was run out of the pub. Oh, I was furious.”
“And embarrassed,” Niall interjected.
“Aye.” Yardley drew a breath. “I went to Joanie’s rooms and waited outside for her. I was still drunk as a lord, but that’s no excuse for what I did to that lass.” He frowned. “I don’t even remember it, to be honest. But I saw Joanie the next day. What I had done.” He swallowed. “That’s when I knew. I couldn’t handle the drink. I hated the man I turned into. I went and sat in a church that day, just praying forthe strength to do better. To be better.”
He paused a moment. “I don’t even remember which church it was. I sat there a long time. Eventually, I realized there was a man in the pew next to me. I looked over and realized he’d been there for some time. He just nodded at me. Said not a word.”
Yardley grew quiet again, and Niall thought he had become lost in the memory.
“Finally, I spoke to him,” Yardley continued. “I told him I never wanted to hurt anyone, ever again. The stranger nodded, like he believed me.Turn your attention to helping, instead,he told me.Heaven knows there are plenty who need it.”
Niall heard Kara sigh beside him.
“I thought about that for a while,” Yardley said. “Then I realized the man had gone. I stood up, I left the church, and I took his advice. I haven’t had a pint since. I started to volunteer to help those who are worse off than I am. I started at a soup kitchen in Bethnal Green, but I made my way to the Waif’s Wardrobe, where I became the distributor for Jacob’s Island.” He stopped and looked between them. “Do you know it?”
