When they arrived back in the parlor, his mother, the Worthingtons, Major Horton, and five women were talking quietly. Miss Betsy was gone, presumably with the Runners.
His mother patted the seat next to her on a settee. “Bow Street will keep a man here and we will send one as well to stop anyone from entering the house. Theseladieswish to leave.” She placed an emphasis on the word. “The rest wish work elsewhere. Apparently, this place was like a gaol to everyone here.”
Everyone except the ones the cook helped to escape. Dom had a new respect for the women who had survived such mistreatment. “Where will they go?”
“That is what we’ve been discussing,” Grace said. “These ladies as well as the ones upstairs were kidnapped. Almost all of them have military husbands on assignments out of the country.” She paused for a moment. “They need a home until their men return and may still require a home afterward.”
It took Dom a few moments to understand her meaning. Then he wondered how he could have been so slow. After what they had been through, their husbands might not want them back.
Grace continued. “They can stay here for a few days, but we need to find a more permanent place.”
“I am not sure that is a good idea,” his mother said. “They all wore heavy makeup in an attempt to disguise themselves. If they are seen here we will have no hope of salvaging their reputations. Everyone would know what they’ve been forced to do.”
Dom didn’t think they had a chance in hell of saving the women’s reputations, but he knew now that he, all of them, would do whatever they could. Thea chewed her lip. He hoped she’d stop before she masticated it completely.
“A widows’ house,” she finally said.
Everyone else’s eyes lit up. Only he was left in the dark. “A widows’ house?”
Thea nodded in that excited way she had when she’d come up with an idea. “Yes. A home for the widows of military men and wives of those deployed. That will also allow us to give jobs to the maids and the cook.”
“We can raise funds for them,” Grace added. “Perhaps even obtain money from the government.”
Glancing at Dom, Worthington rubbed his jaw. “Would you support a bill?”
Thea gazed up at him lovingly. No matter what he had to do, he wanted her to always look at him like that. “Yes. The way we’ve treated our soldiers and their families is disgraceful.”
One of the women near Grace began to sob. Grace bent down and rubbed the woman’s back. “There, there, it will be all right. You’ll see.”
Another of the ladies put her arm around the woman crying. “It’s dinnertime. She’ll be better after she eats.”
“Major Horton,” Thea said, “would you object if we moved them into the house you are in until we can find a more permanent solution?”
He was silent for a few moments. “I don’t think I have the right to deny them shelter. After all, if you had not discovered Mrs. White’s doings, my wife might have been one of the women upstairs. I don’t know how many beds there are. We’ll probably have to take some bedding from here.”
“Once it is dark,” Grace said, “we can ferry them from the mews at the back of the house.” She glanced at Worthington. “Can the footmen handle it on their own?”
“I’m sure they can.”
Most of the women were at Miss Betsy’s because of Mrs. White and, although none wanted to return, it was better than remaining where they were. The cook and maids decided to accompany the other women to St. George Street.
“Well”—Dom’s mother rose and shook out her skirts— “now that it is settled for the time being, we should take our leave.”
Worthington, Thea, and Major Horton rode in one coach. Grace and Mama rode with Dom. With Thea gone, his mother and Grace were more forthright about the women’s stories.
“The young lady that started to cry . . .” Grace said.
He nodded.
“She had only been married a few months when her husband was called away. Mrs. White gave her a drink and that night she lost her baby. Less than a week later, she was brought here. The madam tried to give her the opium, but she became deathly ill. She’d resisted being used, but was told that they’d tie her down and let several gentlemen have her.”
Dom’s stomach turned sour, and a rage blacker than he’d ever felt before speared him. Things like this had been going on all around him, and he had not even known about it. Worse, he had refused to listen to those who tried to tell him.
His mother’s countenance flushed with anger. “They all have stories like that. Even the girls who had chosen to be prostitutes before they came to the house were not allowed to leave and were made to do unspeakable things.”
He leaned back against the squabs. “Thank you for not discussing this with Miss Stern present. I am afraid it would shock her too much.”
Grace’s eyes widened. “I shall discuss it with Dotty when I return. She deserves to know. Look at all the lives she has changed today. Besides, it doesn’t do any good to keep girls ignorant.”
