“Whenever something breaks, we don’t want to blame Ben, so we blame Harvey. He’s not real, though.” Abby smirked.
“Why is he named Harvey?” Rose felt more out of sorts with each passing moment.
Abby blinked. “Why not?”
Rose pursed her lips and shook her head, tossing aside ghosts and her father and sister to focus on the question at hand. “Why areyouhere?”
Abby looked at Cass once more before speaking. “My father was less than thrilled when he discovered Cass and I were together.”
“Together?” Rose asked.
Ben cleared his throat as Cass glared; Abby’s cheeks flushed as she took Cass’s hand. “Um, together… romantically.”
Rose’s jaw dropped, and she fought to recover. “Oh, I—I see.”
“He threatened to send me away to finishing school, so I took the matter into my own hands and left. He knows I’m safe, but I can’t tell him where I am or he’ll make me come back.” Abby’s eyes glistened, and Cass rose to stand behind her, putting her hand on Abby’s shoulder. “So you see, no one can know where I am, or Cass.”
Rose looked at Cass, and the woman exhaled in a rush and pursed her lips. “I worked for the Waverly house in the kitchen. Our involvement was…”
“Dangerous,” Rose finished for her. She could not imagine the scandal, but sympathized with the desire to keep affairs private.
“Ben offered us a place here,” Abby said, beaming at him. “Cass is studying to become a midwife, and her mentor also lives in the building.”
“So this building is—”
“Not the place for a woman who will be missed by her family,” Ben cut in, his frown even deeper. The coin was moving more quickly now, the silver flashing over his knuckles before sliding into the groove between each digit, then switching directions.
“No one will look for me, not for a few weeks at least.” The admission hurt more than Rose would admit.
Ben shifted in her peripheral vision, and her gaze cut to his in time to see his eyes roll. Angry heat rolled over her skin.
“I didn’t mean to end up here, but I’m glad I did.” Rose directed her words back to her cousin. “My father and mother are desperate. My sisters are nowhere to be seen. I need…”
What did Rose need? Staring at the ring of disapproving faces, she realized she needed someone—anyone—to need her in return.
“I want to rebuild my connection with you.” She reached out for Abby’s hand. “Family is more important than anything, after all.”
Abby did not take it, but cut a look to Ben and then to Cass, who sat stiffly by Abby’s side. “I’m uncertain if Brooklyn is the escape you’re looking for.”
“I won’t be a bother,” Rose said, sitting forward. She had no money, only a return ticket tucked in the pocket of her reticule and the threat of exile to Hampshire nipping at her heels. “And it won’t be long. As soon as I’m ready to go to Boston, I will.”Two years wasn’t long enough to be ready; what good will four more weeks be?
“I understand,” Abby said, “but Brooklyn isn’t London, or the Upper West Side. It’s a bit rougher.”
Rose remembered the half-dead rat in the street and shuddered before sitting tall. “I can handle rough.”
Ben snorted from the doorway, and the slight lift of his lips revealed a dimple in his cheek, destroying his image as an intimidating figure. Her heart fluttered at the sight, and Rose pulled her eyes away as she pushed back the unexpected feeling.
“I can,” she insisted. “I’ll do anything I can to help you. Perhaps I could…”
Do the wash? Clean dishes? Cook? She did not know even how to light a stove, and Rose doubted “sparkling dinner party conversation” was in high demand in this neighborhood.
“You can stay, Rose,” Abby said. “Until you’re ready to go to Boston and see your sister. I’m certain we can find something for you to do.”
Ben pushed off the wall and paced a moment before swinging the door open and throwing it shut behind him. The three women jumped at the sound, and Cass stood and followed him, closing the door far more delicately.
“They hate me, don’t they?” Rose asked, her shoulders slumping.
“No, but…” Abby looked up as though searching for words. “This building is full of women like Cass and me. Women who were cast out for one reason or another and needed a place to start over, to rebuild their lives and find purpose again.”
