The Mistletoe Seller. Dilly Court

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СКАЧАТЬ holly and piled high with rosy red applies, dimpled oranges, bunches of black and green grapes and heaps of crinkled walnuts. It seemed like another life when such food had been plentiful, and the scent of chestnuts roasting on a brazier at the roadside made her stomach growl with hunger. She quickened her pace, heading towards the City where she hoped to sell the remainder of the mistletoe before noon, and that would enable her to go round the street markets in the hope of finding a fresh supply at a reasonable price. Up West she could make more on each sprig than she could in the East End, and every farthing counted. She stood on the steps of St Paul’s barefoot and shivering, having had to discard her boots when the uppers finally parted from the soles. Her feet and legs were blue with cold, but oddly enough she felt no pain from the blisters that she had incurred during the long walk to and from Hackney. If she could just earn enough pennies she could buy herself a good stout second-hand pair of boots, and some woollen stockings would be a bonus. She cried her wares, hoping to attract the sympathy of City gentlemen who might take pity on a ragged girl in the season of peace and goodwill.

      By mid-afternoon the light was fading and her purse was satisfyingly heavy. She had one last bunch of mistletoe to sell as she started on the walk back to her lodgings, but on Ludgate Hill she came across a group of ragged boys who taunted her and threw pebbles at her. She quickened her pace, but they followed and when she broke into a run, they caught her up and she was surrounded.

      ‘Give us yer money, nipper.’ The biggest boy grabbed her by the neck and another boy snatched the purse from her hand.

      Laughing, they raced off, leaving Angel shaken and angry, but unhurt. All her work had been for nothing, and now she could not pay for their lodgings and she and Dolly would go hungry. She glanced down at her left hand and realised that she was still clutching the last bunch of mistletoe. One of the boys stopped to look back and for a moment she was afraid that he was going to return. The single bunch of mistletoe meant the difference between sleeping in the dosshouse and being cast out into the night. To someone in Dolly’s condition it would be a death sentence, and Angel was not prepared to allow that to happen. She dodged into Naked Boy Court, but discovered to her dismay that the narrow alley was a dead end with no way of escape. She flattened herself against an iron-studded door, hoping that her tormentors would not see her. The sound of their raucous voices taunting her grew closer with each passing second, and she held her breath, praying that the youths would not find her. The cold iron hinges pressed into her back and she was trembling with fear, but just as she thought all was lost the door swung open.

      She found herself gazing into the snow-covered courtyard of a large house with mullioned windows and a portico over the front entrance. A tall gentleman wearing a broad-brimmed hat and black overcoat was about to place a bowl of scraps on the ground for two greyhounds. The dogs, clad in blue woollen coats, were better dressed for the snowy weather than Angel herself, and she found herself envying the animals. She knew it was wrong to spy on the gentleman and his pets, but the gentleness of his tone as he spoke to the dogs brought tears to her eyes. Overcome by a feeling of loneliness, she choked back a sob and the dogs sprang to attention, alerting their master to her presence.

      Angel wanted to run but somehow her tired limbs would not obey the command of her equally exhausted brain. Lack of food and the intense cold had turned her temporarily to stone and she could not move a muscle. The gentleman straightened up and walked towards her, flanked by his faithful hounds. Angel could only stand and stare. He was handsome in a forbidding way, with dark eyes beneath heavy brows and a full moustache that reached to his chin. Over his arm he carried a red woollen blanket and in his hand he clutched a hunting whip with a long white thong. He advanced on Angel like the god of wrath and she knew she was in trouble, but she could hear the boys shouting insults, daring her to come out and face them, and she had nowhere else to go.

      ‘Well, what have we here?’ The gentleman clicked his fingers and the dogs came to a halt at his side. ‘Who are you, girl?’

      ‘Would you like some mistletoe, sir?’ She held the bunch up for his inspection. ‘It’s only a penny a bunch.’

      He stared at her with a puzzled frown. ‘What the devil would I want with mistletoe? It’s pagan nonsense.’

      Angel glanced nervously over her shoulder as two of the boys skidded to a halt outside the great oak door.

      ‘I see.’ The gentleman raised the whip and brought it down with an expert flick of his wrist. The crack of the leather thong echoed off the walls like a pistol shot. ‘Brave fellows, aren’t you? Chasing a little girl for sport. Get out of here or the next time I’ll lop your ears off.’ He raised the whip again and the boys fled. He slammed the door and bolted it.

      Angel experienced a moment of sheer panic. The man with the whip was even more frightening than the street Arabs. ‘I – I should go, sir.’

      He turned to give her a searching look. ‘Who are you, child? You look like a ragamuffin but your manner of speech is that of a young lady.’

      Angel backed towards the door. ‘I’m a flower girl, sir. I was selling mistletoe to pay for a night’s lodging for me and my friend, Dolly, and those boys stole my purse.’ She bit back tears of fear and exhaustion, and one of the greyhounds licked her hand, its liquid brown eyes brimming with empathy, as if it too knew of hardship and cruelty.

      ‘It seems that Juno has taken to you, girl. What’s your name?’

      Her teeth were chattering so much that she could hardly speak. ‘Angel Winter, sir.’

      A hint of a smile flickered across his face. ‘An angel has landed in our midst, dogs. What shall we do with her?’ His expression changed. ‘You must go home, Angel Winter. Where do you live?’

      ‘M-Mother J-Jolly’s dosshouse, sir. If you will give me sixpence for the mistletoe I can pay for one night’s lodging for me and Dolly. She’s very sick, sir. I fear she might die.’

      ‘What the hell is a child such as yourself doing in a place like that?’ He wrapped the red blanket around her shoulders. ‘You’d better come indoors while I decide what to do with you.’

      The thick woollen cloth was still warm from contact with his body and it smelled of bay rum and cigars, bringing back memories of Uncle Joseph and her old home.

      ‘Thank you, sir, but I really must return to Monmouth Street.’

      ‘Monmouth Street? We’ll see about that. Come, dogs.’ He strode across the snow-covered courtyard and thrust the door open. ‘Don’t dawdle, child. Follow me.’ He stepped inside. ‘Baines, where are you? Come here, man.’

      Juno nudged Angel’s hand with her velvety head and the two dogs followed their master into the house. Angel hesitated, but large flakes of snow were spiralling to the ground, and the warmth of the blanket was too comforting to surrender lightly. Her options were limited and surely someone who was kind to animals could not be all bad? She plucked up the courage to go inside.

      The entrance hall was dark and cool, with a flagstone floor, oak wainscoting and a beamed ceiling. The gloomy atmosphere was far from welcoming, and Angel was nervous. She came to a halt.

      ‘Who are you, sir?’

      ‘What is that to do with you, child?’ He laid the whip on the carved top of an oak chest and took off his hat. His hair was dark and straight and it came to his shoulders, giving him the look of a tragic poet, but his military bearing and weathered features were those of a man used to command.

      ‘What’s up, Colonel?’ A man who appeared suddenly from the depths of the house came towards them wiping his large bony hands on a hessian СКАЧАТЬ