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‘I’m here.’ Nancy came hurrying through from the hallway abruptly, marching up to the shop door and turning over the Closed sign before drawing one of the bolts. ‘But we need to close for a while.’
‘Why? Are you all right?’
‘I’m fine. Only somebody else isn’t.’
‘David!’ Henrietta gasped and started towards the kitchen.
‘Not him.’ Nancy caught at her arm, lowering her voice to an undertone. ‘Remember the woman from the street?’
‘Ye-es.’
‘She says you offered her help.’
‘I suppose so, but she ran away.’
‘Well, apparently she’s changed her mind.’
‘Oh.’ Henrietta took a deep breath. Her meeting with the woman seemed like such a long time ago now, but an offer was an offer... ‘Where are the boys?’
‘I sent them upstairs to play.’
‘Right.’ She straightened her spine. ‘Well, hopefully it won’t be anything too difficult.’
‘Oh, I don’t know. I thought we could do with some fresh challenges.’
Nancy threw her a speaking look before striding back through to the kitchen. The woman was sitting at the table, twisting her fingers together and looking more than a little nervous, although she’d removed her cloak and bonnet, Henrietta noticed, which at least suggested she wasn’t about to run away again.
‘Hello.’ She gave a warm smile as she sat down opposite. ‘I understand that you’d like to take up my offer of help?’
‘Yes.’ The woman bobbed her head so vigorously that a couple of sable-coloured tendrils escaped from her bun. ‘If you’re still willing, that is?’
‘Of course. Might I ask your name?’
‘Bel...’ the woman hesitated ‘...linda. Belinda. It’s not my real name, but...’
‘But it’s the one we’ll use. I understand. I’m Henrietta and you’ve already met Nancy. Now, why don’t you tell us what we can do to help?’
‘Well...’ The woman put her hands flat on the table as if she were bracing herself. ‘I’m looking for a lady who lives in the boarding house opposite, a Miss Foster. She’s a former governess, my former governess, and this is the last address I have for her. I’ve been waiting outside, hoping to catch her one day on the street, but it’s been almost two weeks and I haven’t had as much as a glimpse. I waited for five hours yesterday.’ She paused for breath. ‘Do you know her?’
‘I’m afraid not.’ Henrietta threw a quick glance at Nancy, who also shook her head. ‘Forgive me, but why don’t you simply ask the proprietor?’
‘Because I can’t.’ The woman dropped her gaze to her hands. ‘There’s a chance that they’ve been told to look out for a woman like me asking questions and if they were to report back on my whereabouts...’ She swallowed and looked up again. ‘I haven’t done anything criminal, I promise, but I can’t take the risk of being seen. It’s hazardous enough waiting on the street. Now I don’t know what to do. I had it all planned out when I...’ She stopped and bit her lip.
‘When you ran away?’ Nancy prodded her.
‘Yes,’ she admitted, rubbing a palm over her cheek as tears trickled down her face. ‘I made my way here by stagecoach, but I only had enough money for a couple of weeks. Now it’s almost run out and there’s still no sign of Miss Foster.’
‘Right then.’ Nancy clapped her hands together. ‘Give me five minutes.’
‘What?’ Belinda got halfway up from the table. ‘Where are you going?’
‘To find out if she’s still there.’
‘But if you ask questions they might get suspicious.’
‘Not of me they won’t. I’ll take a basket so it looks as though I’m making a delivery and it’s not as if they’ll mistake my description for yours.’ Nancy tugged at her copper-red curls. ‘Don’t worry.’
‘It’ll be all right.’ Henrietta gestured for Belinda to sit down again as Nancy tramped out through the back door. ‘She’s one of the cleverest people I know and she doesn’
