"This baby's almost ready to be born." "For her children." "Your mongrels are mine by law." "She cannot be seen." "The Spartans are in for some very fine sport." "How did you find me?" "Your dear friend Margaret Wells." "I found a treasure." " I want Lucy." " You'll be Lucy's keeper?" "I'm now your master and your lord." "You may not ever refuse me!" "Lucy will be damned." "Her soul will burn for murder." "It's my murder now." "The whole street will witness him leave." "We'll hang for this." "Where are you going?" "Pa and Jacob didn't come home last night." "I'm going to go and find them." "I'm coming with you." "No." "I'll not be cosseted." "Not anymore." "What are you doing?" "I'm going to Ma's house." "Charlotte, you can't." "I need to know what happened after I left." "No, makes no odds what happened." "Whether your man lived or died, your neck's in the noose;" "We need to leave." "Why must I run when I haven't done anything wrong?" "Because it looks like you have and that's all that matters." "I need to know that Lucy's safe." "Let your mother plot to keep Lucy safe... and we'll do the same for us." " Charlotte." " Do you have brothers or sisters?" "Many." "But not two of us within a hundred miles of each other, that's what happens." "Fate scatters you like seed." "I won't just leave her." "What if I go to the house?" "Once I've arranged passage;" "Will that satisfy you?" "You'll tell me truthfully what you find?" "Have I not done enough to earn your trust?" "Mrs. Quigley, please!" " Oh, please, I'm begging you!" " Shh-shh-shh-shh." "Charles was destined for the foundling hospital but when they came to take him away, he grabbed a handful of my hair and wouldn't let go." ""This one's a fighter", I thought." "But instead, he's as pliable as dough." "At the mercy of every hard-nosed jade that would misuse him." "He has a big, kind heart." "And it pains me that I've hurt him." "The true pain awaits." "No, Mrs. Quigley." "No!" "No, Mrs. Quigley, no, no!" "No, please!" "Please!" "Help!" "Where are the family?" "Are we expected to pretend nothing happened here last night?" "I don't know what you mean." "If Mrs. Wells has fled then we deserve to know." "Mon Dieu, even Madam Quigley, she does not murder the gentlemen." "That's the constables come for us all." "It'll just be a caller." "Hold your nerve." "And do what she pays you for." "Nance!" "Will didn't come home last night." "I thought you'd both been taken." "If I'm forced to look at your wicked face" "I might be inclined to break it." "Why?" "You distracted the wolf by throwing it a babe." "Emily." "Get in." "You stay there, Lucy Wells, there are things you don't need to hear." "I'll stay with my mother." "You may have grown an inch since you stuck a man, but you'll still do as you're told." "What choice did I have?" "I did it for Lucy." "If you had... children then you'd understand." "It isn't motherhood that's addled your morals." "It's greed." "You're only a hairpiece and a powder pot away from being everything you despised." " Where are Will and Jacob?" " They walked into the night covered in blood and mud and shame!" "If he's left you then good on him!" "Everyone else will follow." "In time." "They said it was thieves." "Poked him in the guts and then dumped him in a pond." "Rich bastard." "I hope the fishes ate his worm." "Whose worm?" "Your Ma gave Emily Lacey up to bitch Quigley." " Come on." " Oh, there she is," "Margaret Wells, the big-hearted bawd." "My ma does nothing without good cause." "This is not the work of common thieves, Constable." "His courtesan came here last night with a ruffian in tow." "When I interrupted their robbery, they set upon me." "Charlotte is a cockish moll, no doubt, but... slaying her master?" "They were smeared in blood and filth." "I knew they were fleeing from villainy but I never imagined this." "Sir George and Ms. Wells quarreled two nights ago." "She made the most outlandish accusations." "She is a fiend... dressed as a damsel." "You'll need to repeat all this to the magistrate." "If it will see justice done." "Where have you been, Mumma?" "Charles." "I expected to find you convalescing." "I came to look for you in the night and you weren't there." "I was searching for Emily Lacey." "But she has disappeared into the gutter and I am left with her debt." "And a lesson." " Lesson?" " Kindness is a cruelty." "In trying to protect you," "I have made you soft." " Mumma." " It's time you learned there's more to our business than tableaux and taffeta." "I have deprived this house of its master for too long." "Sir, I must speak to you about a troubling occurrence." "A young girl has been kidnapped." "And Sir George Howard has been slaughtered, so everything else will have to wait." "We were visited by Sir George Howard yesterday." "He dipped his biscuit, got as drunk as a lord, and left late in a hackney carriage." "What happened after that we can only surmise." "His pickled carcass was dragged from St. James' pond early this morning." "Anyone knows something different, now's the time to say." "Where is Mr. North?" " I don't know where he is." " Oh, Mr. North." "He's already in chains and we will follow." "If they'd been caught we would have heard about it." "Then where are they?" "Kitty?" "Mrs. Wells, I need to confide in you." "And I must also speak with you." "Lucy!" "Lucy!" "You must not blame yourself, he was a gutless wretch." "What did you do with him?" "They dragged him out the pond near his house this morning." "Oh, Ma, could you not have made him disappear?" "And have the last time he was seen be his arrival at my front door?" "No, this way's better." "It's not better for me." "Howard and I fought in front of half the town two nights ago." "And I was seen at his house last night." " Why did you go there?" " To take what is mine." "You're a fool." "You have incriminated yourself." "Are you blaming me?" "No." "What will you do, Charlotte?" " I'll have to leave." " No!" "She risks hanging if she stays." "You kill a man but it's me who has to run?" " It wasn't Ma that killed him." " Yes it was!" "She didn't wield the knife but she forced your legs open for any letch with a fortune." "She let them fill your belly with anger and disgust." "You did this!" "Then I'll turn myself in." " Ma, no!" " I will leave." "For you've left me no choice." "Maybe it's better this way." "Just for a while." "That way no one has to die." "You'll land on your feet as you always have done." "Thank you, Ma," "I mean for the gift of whoredom." "I can suck and fuck and flatter anywhere in the world." "I couldn't stop them." "Charlotte Wells, you're wanted for murder." " Take her." " You slander me." " I've killed no one!" " You cannot take her!" "Tell us where we'll find the Irishman!" "So you can accuse him too?" "It wasn't her!" "Get your hands off me, I'm no murderess!" "Let me go!" "Ma;" "I've done nothing wrong!" "Ma!" "Ma!" "I'm innocent!" "Ma!" "Charlotte Wells has been arrested." "Or the other way around." "A visitor, Mumma." "Personally, I can never tell which way around they are." "Join us, Charles." "Charles, did you know that Mrs. Scanwell was once the filthiest of whores?" "For enough coinage, she would allow groups of sailors to fill her every orifice all at once." "It's quite the speciality." "Charlotte Wells is suspected of killing the nobleman who kept her." "She was dragged from her mother's house by constables." "Ms. Pettifer, take Mrs. Scanwell to the door." "You threatened my daughter." "I need your assurance that Amelia is safe." "London is a den of peril." "No one is safe." "This way, Mrs. Scanwell." "Margaret Wells has dropped her prize in the gutter." "Get off me!" "That's the dirty puzzle who murdered her master." "Did you cut him a slit deeper than your own?" "Fuck off!" "You still don't seem yourself, Fanny." "I hope you're not under the weather." "I'm not ill, I'm having a baby." "Stop." "It's as dead as a salted slug." "Sorry." "You cannot know the baby's mine." "Brothel babies aren't anyone's." "Mr. North said he'd help me get my children back." "I'm sure he will when he returns." "You don't know if he will return." "And even if he does, Benjamin could have them on a ship by then." "I need more money." "You have just seen my own daughter be dragged away by constables." "I appreciate your pain." "And I beg you to appreciate mine." "Mrs. Wells, I'm a friend of Charlotte's." "She asked me to look in on you." "In light of your recent trouble." "I don't know what you're talking about." "I don't know you." "Then I'll go and tell her that her concerns are misplaced." "She's just been taken from me by the constables." "For your murder?" "I don't know what she's told you but I assume you're the reason she couldn't settle with her gentleman." "It was an ill day when she met you." "You put this right or I will." "Do you think he'll go to the constables?" "And risk being charged himself?" "He don't love her that much." "Let me come with you to see her." "No." "It's bad enough one of my girls seeing what festers in London's rear end." "I'll not have you there as well." "Hello, sir." "I heard you have an ace of spades." "Indeed we do, sir." "She'll be your lucky card." "Harriet!" "Three guineas for your pleasure, sir." "It's all I can spare." "I wasn't asking for money." "You will come back, won't you?" "Some men come here to forget their wives." "I come to remember how mine used to be." "Long before raising and burying young 'uns made her careworn." "It's a pitiless world for mothers." "Constable?" "I know where you can find a wanted man." "I saw a girl taken from a brothel." "Her name is Emily Lacey." "And the kidnapper was Mrs. Quigley." "Your acquaintance." "I appreciate you bringing this to my attention." "Have you been down to the cells to look at Charlotte Wells yet?" " No, sir." " She's rumored to be the most beautiful whore in London." "And you are a connoisseur of whores." "Though more the caliber that give you cock warts." "Daniel Marney, you are wanted for the murder of Sir George Howard." "I'm innocent!" " I'm innocent!" " If you're innocent, why do you resist?" "We're taking you to the magistrate." "I'm innocent!" "I'm innocent!" "Justice Cunliffe." "I'm here to plead on behalf of my daughter," "Ms. Charlotte Wells." "Madam, you have some audacity to approach me." "I threatened you with flogging and transportation last time we met." "And I would risk it for five minutes of your time, sir." "Your girl struck down a nobleman, it seems a clear enough case." "She is innocent." "Sir George's estate manager saw her blood-soaked from the crime." "I've met the man." "His eyes are black with deceit." "He is a respected servant, madam." "Liars are cut from all manner of cloth." "My daughter is not a murderess." "Then she'll be vindicated at trial." "When will that be?" "The day after tomorrow." "If she is found guilty, the next hanging day is in five days' time." "Your she-bitch of a mother put the watch on my trail." "My ma's no friend of the law." "The constable knew I'd come from Greek Street." "Your ma's whatever she needs to be." "Why couldn't you have just stayed in the room?" "We would have been free." "There's a beggar looking for alms, Mother." "Let me give her something." "Don't be long." "And make sure you lock the door behind you." "What are you doing here?" "Don't worry, I don't think she saw anything." "We can't meet anymore." "Because I made a joke about your ma?" "Because we've been seen." "If my mother finds out... it will finish her." "Then we'll be more careful." "It's not your mother's heart you're trying to spare." "It's your own." "You said you'd help." " Yes." " It has to be now." "I couldn't wake him." "Is he a relative?" "He's more important than that." "Please help us." "He needs a physician." "I play the whore pipe for a penny a tune." "I have no money and even if I did, a proper doctor wouldn't come here." "I've nothing to give you." "Is there no one you can ask?" "There is." "But some money costs too much." "If you get the money," "I will make a physician come." "Pray for him in case he is taken." "Do you fear death more... because you are sinners?" "Love's not a sin." "Lydia." " I want the Wells daughter released." " Impossible." "She and her rogue lover butchered a baronet." "Well then, set him dancing on the gibbet." "And what if she were the architect?" "I must investigate thoroughly and serve justice." "You cannot serve the law and the Spartans." "Indulge me." "Or they might go without their supper." "I know you have already procured their catch." "If the Spartans don't dispatch her, who will?" "You?" "Have her and be damned;" "She's in the usual place." "Lydia." "I trust we part as friends." "Do not test our friendship to destruction." "She looks like a witch." "What business have you?" "Charlie Quigley." "Curly-haired cherub." "I used to magic sweeties from your ears." "Do you remember?" " What do you want?" " Your mumma... has taken something that isn't hers." " She's no thief." " No, she's the worst kind." "She's a people thief." "Sees someone she has need of, snaffles them away, never to return." "Where's she taken Emily?" "Mumma doesn't know or care where Emily Lacey is." "When did your mother ever let a dog lie?" "She feeds on vengeance like maggots on a corpse." "Mr. Haxby," "I'm here to speak for Charlotte." "You call yourself a man of faith?" "You are knowingly sending an innocent girl to her death." "Come." "Examine her handiwork and tell me she deserves anything less." "Do you think your co-conspirator loves you?" "I don't think very much about love at all." "Men like him buzz around the wealthy like flies about carrion." "No doubt it was his idea to rob Sir George's house." "Do you know the penalty if you are convicted?" "Hanging." "Killing your master is petty treason." "For that we draw and quarter the men and burn women at the stake." "Even in death women must suffer more." "The method is supposed to protect your modesty." "Though, of course, your shift will succumb to the heat long before the flames provide a fig leaf." "I could save you from it." "Not for free, I'm sure." "I do not seek congress with you, Ms. Wells." "I seek a just outcome that will satisfy everyone." "And what would that be?" "The Irishman is noose fodder." "Men like him don't live until old age." "Because men like you don't let them." "Attest that you didn't know he intended murder until the deed was done." "I did not kill Sir George and nor did Daniel Marney." "Florence Scanwell's waiting in the parlor." "Have you come to disarouse my customers?" "I have not come to exchange scorn with you." "Mrs. Wells... we are at the mercy of the same demon." "Lydia Quigley." "Her interest in your family is unnatural." "We must join forces against her." "You've preached hatred on my doorstep for weeks." "My little boy goes to sleep with the sound of your evil in his ears like a cankerous lullaby." "If you will not help for my sake, would you do it for sweet Amelia?" "Quigley intends some foulness against her." "Help me, Mrs. Wells." "I see virtue in you and... if I have claimed otherwise in the past, it was a lie." "On any other day I would." "But I've got graver concerns than Lydia Quigley." "I am praying for Charlotte." "Had we met yesterday I might have congratulated you on bedding the magnificent Charlotte Wells for free." "I assume you have bedded her." "Alas, today, we realize what a high price you'll pay for her." "I have committed no crime." "Tell me, did she actually use you as her instrument of murder or seek you out once the crime was done?" "Either way, she's used you like the witless mick you are." "She is innocent and so am I." "No jury'll hang either of us." "You're half right." "Women like Charlotte Wells don't go to the gallows at Tyburn." "But a baronet is dead so someone will have to." "What did the magistrate say to you?" "Nothing I didn't already know." "Mrs. Wells, I need to speak to you in private." "Harriet, if I hear one more word about your children," "I swear I'll put you out that door." "Last night this house was filled with cries of pleasure." "Apart from one soul who cried in fear and agony." "I believe the magistrates would be interested to know what I heard." "I will scream what I know from the rooftops if you force me." "She took you in." "It's all I have." "Take it." "They left an hour ago." "To where?" "They took a coach to Wapping dock." "Five shillings." "Thanks." "Betsey." "Bobby, did you talk to the magistrate;" "Is he gonna look for Emily?" "It was like telling the fox that the henhouse had been raided." "The hounds are coming, vixen." "Shh." "I've heard she peels a man's skin off like a rind." "Don't worry, she won't flay you for free." "Emily Lacey is in worse danger than you thought." "I fear the justice is involved." "Go on." "Shh." "Breathe slowly or you will suffocate." "Good girl." "Nice and deep." "That which we cannot change... must be surrendered to." " Justice Cunliffe." " What do you want?" "Mumma sent me." "To guard the girl." "Good." "You guard her." "You stay away from me." "No, Emily, what I said to the judge was a lie." "Your mother is the worst cunt I've ever known and you, you're her rancid womb fruit!" "You devious bastard." "You had her all along." "No, ow, please!" "Ow, ow!" "Please, I'm trying to rescue her!" "Stop, Nancy, stop!" "I hear you're presiding over a cause célèbre." "Ms. Wells has transgressed nature's most sacred law and killed above herself." "Punish her hard." "The court will deal with her." "And what about our little backroom court?" "Does a girl wait in the dark?" "We must postpone." "The house and the girl are compromised." "I will need to replace both." "Then do so." "They are not the only things that must change." "I want a seat at the table, as you promised me." "Not to take part in the sport," "I have no appetite for that." "But I must know the devil I dine with." "I can take your request to the others but I suspect it will be denied." "Then you will take my farewell and best wishes." "Tread carefully, John." "Your mother sold me to a pack of dogs who planned to rip my throat out." "I didn't know anything about it." "You need to take your face out your mumma's teats and see what she's up to." "You want me to spy on her?" "You can't be on everyone's side, Charlie." " Where are you going now?" " To find Pa and Jacob." "I'm going to tell the magistrates what I did." "Come with me." "I won't see Charlotte put to death for something I did." "I'd rather be dead myself." "I've told you, it won't happen." "By what miracle are you going to stop it?" "Fine." "Give yourself up." "I'll come with you, shall I?" "Tell them how Sir George was clinging to life until I peeled his fingers from it." "We can hang together, holding hands." "It's not a jesting matter, Ma." "Oh, I'm not jesting." "Every girl that was in this house last night will rot in a dungeon for their silence and Jacob will read in a newspaper how we pissed ourselves as our necks snapped and spend the rest of his life trying to rid himself of the image." "I'm sorry, Ma." "Leave me alone." "Ma?" "Get out." "Get out!" "There is nothing I wouldn't do for you, Finn." "Charles, where have you been?" "Looking for Emily Lacey." "But you were right, she is gone." "Fate lays a snare for the wicked." "She will be punished, just not at our hands." "Oh, you are not yet recovered, my princeling." "Perhaps I'll rest." "You're as gaunt as a Newgate beggar." "Are you unwell?" "I have a gold nugget for you." "Do share." "It's worth more than a couple of coins." "I do hope you're not overselling it." "Well?" "The rich man they dragged from St. James'?" "He was already dead as flint when he left the Wells' brothel last night." "Silly boy." "I would have paid thrice that." "I can't, I can't!"