The Angel and the Rake Read online

  And yet the long lashes which curled upwards like a child’s, had grown a little darker.

  She looked very young, very pure and, in a way, very spiritual.

  It was not something that she expressed to herself, but she had always prayed that she was as good as her name.

  She turned away from the mirror, knowing that time was passing and they had not yet had luncheon.

  She reckoned that Trevor would soon be agitating to leave.

  ‘I must pack,’ Angela told herself.

  Then, as she opened her wardrobe, she thought how shabby she would look in London.

  Undoubtedly the gorgeously dressed Gaiety Girls would look down on her.

  ‘Perhaps they will not notice me until I am dressed as they are,’ she thought hopefully.

  She next began to put her things into a small trunk.

  As she did so, she was aware that her heart was beating frantically and her lips were dry.

  Whatever Trevor might say, however reassuring he might sound, she was taking a leap in the dark.

  And she had no idea where she would land.

  Chapter Two

  By the time Angela came down the stairs, Trevor had eaten a quick meal and brought the chaise round to the front door.

  She saw at once that it was an up to date and expensive one and the two horses that were pulling it were, she realised, very well-bred.

  “Come on,” her brother urged her, “you have been a long time.”

  Angela thought that this was rather unfair considering that no one else could have been quicker.

  Old Higgins was standing in the hall and she said to him,

  “I know that you and Mrs. Higgins will look after everything. I do not expect to be gone for more than two or three days.”

  ‘It’s nice for you to have a change, Miss Angela,” Higgins replied.

  He dropped his voice a little before he added,

  “Sir Trevor’s given me some money towards our wages and for food.”

  Angela smiled.

  She knew that this was much more important than anything and she hated to think of the Higginses going hungry because it embarrassed them to have to ask for more credit in the village.

  “I am sure that things will be better in the future,” she said optimistically.

  She ran down the steps and Higgins followed her slowly with her trunk.

  It was only a small one and Angela had carried it downstairs rather than ask Higgins, with his bad legs, to come up for it.

  Higgins put it on the back of the chaise and strapped it down firmly.

  Trevor waited impatiently and Angela knew that he was longing to get away as soon as he could

  At last Higgins reported,

  “That should hold fast, Miss Angela, till you reaches London.”

  “Goodbye,” Trevor called out and the horses started to move forward.

  As they went down the drive, Angela could hardly believe that she was leaving home and going off on a strange and unknown adventure.

  She knew that it was no use complaining to Trevor when she had so often told him how dull it was in the country without him.

  What was more, she herself had always longed to go to London.

  It would, however, have been different if she had been going as a debutante as should have happened last year if her mother had not died.

  She would have been presented to Queen Victoria at Court and perhaps be given a ball in the Season.

  Today they were without the money her mother had provided and the little that her father had left them was already spent.

  Her aunts too were almost as poor as she and Trevor were.

  It was, however, something that she did not want to speak about at the moment.

  She sat back in the comfortable padded seat of the chaise.

  It was a joy to be driving along the country lanes where all the hedgerows were a bright green.

  The wild primroses and daffodils were growing in the grass beneath them and, because she so seldom had the chance to leave The Priory, it was lovely to pass by the woods.

  There were also many Greystone Norman Churches as they hurried through the small villages with their picturesque thatched cottages.

  Trevor did not speak as he was too intent on driving his horses as quickly as he could and Angela wanted to ask him why they were in such a hurry.

  Then she remembered that there were clothes to be provided for her and perhaps there were other things to find or learn about before they actually left for the Marquis’s house.

  She now tried to remember exactly where Vaux was and had the idea it was not far from London.

  Because he was such an important racehorse owner, she thought that it might be on the way to Newmarket.

  She glanced at her brother and thought that, while he was looking smart and handsome, he was also feeling worried.

  She was afraid if she asked the question, he would say that he was worried about her.

  ‘I must be very very careful to do what he wants,’ she told herself.

  She was terrified that somehow, and it would be her fault, if he would not receive the one thousand pounds that he had been promised.

  It took them only two hours to reach London.

  As they began to find plenty of houses on either side of the road and there was quite a large amount of traffic about, Trevor said,

  “I am going to take you to my lodgings.”

  “That is exciting,” Angela said. “I have often longed to see them.”

  “It is something that you should not do,” he said, “but there is nowhere else we can go without having to make explanations as to why you have come to London and naturally I do not want anybody to see you.”

  Angela looked at him in surprise.

  “Why not?” she enquired.

  “Because, as I have told you, you are going to the Marquis’s house not as yourself, but just as a girl I happen to know who is of no particular consequence and comes from a middle class family.”

  Angela stared at him in astonishment.

  “From a middle class family?” she exclaimed. “Why should I be that?”

  “Because otherwise it would be impossible for you to stay at Vaux with the girls from The Gaiety.”

  “You mean that no one in Society would accept them?” Angela asked, working it out in her mind.

  “Of course I mean that,” Trevor said, “and do be sensible, Angela. If anybody knew that I was using my sister to gain a thousand pounds from George Edwardes, I would be socially ostracised and might even be turned out of my Club.”

  Angela gave a cry of horror.

  “As bad as that? Oh, Trevor, don’t let’s do it. Supposing that I let you down and all those terrible things happen?”

  “You know as well as I do that we need the money,” Trevor said. “It is very difficult for me to earn that amount. I can assure you, I have tried and tried and for the last month I have failed to receive as much as a penny.”

  He spoke bitterly and Angela laid her hand on his.

  “I know you have tried,” she said in her soft voice, “and it is very clever of you to make as much as you have. I promise you I will be very careful.”

  “You have to be,” Trevor replied, “and you do understand that at the Marquis’s party, you are – my friend.”

  He paused before the last words and Angela thought that he was about to say something different.

  Then she asked,

  “Do all the men whom the Marquis invites bring a friend with them?”

  “Not all of them,” Trevor answered, “and the five girls from The Gaiety are already attached to the special friends of the Marquis.”

  Angela thought this over.

  Then she said,

  “Is it what the French would call a chère amie?”

  “Yes,” Trevor replied briefly.

  Angela was not quite certain what being a chère amie meant or what happened if one became such a person.

  She tho
ught that Trevor would be annoyed if she asked him too many more questions.

  They therefore drove on in silence into Mayfair.

  They reached Half Moon Street, which led off Piccadilly. It was a narrow street with a number of tall houses on either side of it.

  “This is where I have my lodgings,” Trevor said, “and you understand, Angela, that they are essentially for gentlemen.”

  Angela did not comment and he went on,

  “If they are visited by women, they are not called ladies.”

  “I am sure that nobody will know,” Angela replied, “and if anyone should come to see you, I will hide.”

  “That is certainly something you should do,” Trevor agreed.

  He drew the horses to a standstill outside a house at the end of Half Moon Street.

  He climbed out of the chaise and knocked on the door.

  It was opened almost immediately by an elderly man whom Angela thought must be the porter.

  “Is Atkins upstairs?” Trevor asked him.

  “Aye, Sir Trevor,” the porter said. “Do you want me to fetch ’im?”

  “That would be very kind of you,” Trevor replied. “I don’t want to leave the horses.”

  The porter hurried up the stairs and Trevor went back to the chaise.

  He had given Angela the reins when he had jumped out and she was having no trouble, however, as the horses were tired, having made two long journeys.

  While they were waiting, Trevor unstrapped her trunk from the back of the chaise.

  He did not lift it down, but looked towards the door.

  It was then that a man appeared who was quite obviously, Angela thought, exactly as she imagined a gentleman’s valet would look.

  “’Evenin’, Sir Trevor,” the man said. “I was expectin’ you round about now.”

  “I told you when I would arrive,” Trevor said. ‘Take this trunk upstairs for me please.”

  “I ’opes it’s not ’eavy!” Atkins remarked with a grin.

  He picked it up and Trevor walked to Angela’s side.

  “I want you to see my lodgings,” he said in a loud voice, “so, while I take the horses to their stable, I suggest that you go up with my valet.”

  He paused for a moment and then continued,

  “He is carrying up the clothes I collected when I was in the country. I will join you as quickly as I can.”

  Angela knew from the way he spoke that he was speaking so that the porter would hear what he was saying.

  Wanting to play her part as Trevor expected her to, she then said,

  “I will be very interested to see your lodgings and perhaps later you will take me to my aunt’s?”

  As she spoke, her eyes met her brother’s and she knew that, like her, he wanted to laugh.

  Instead she walked into the house while he climbed into the chaise and drove away.

  There was no sign of Atkins and the porter said kindly,

  “You’ll find Sir Trevor’s rooms on the second floor, miss.”

  “Thank you,” Angela replied and started up the stairs.

  They were steep and became steeper after she had passed the first floor.

  She reached a small landing with two doors, one of which was open. She could see that it was a bedroom and on the other side, she guessed, was the sitting room.

  Atkins put her trunk down in the bedroom and then opened the door of the sitting room for her.

  It was well furnished, she thought, if in rather dull colours.

  As it was at the end of the street, there was a bow window looking out onto another street which crossed the end of it.

  There seemed to be a great deal of traffic and a large number of people walking about.

  She enjoyed looking out on a different view from the one that she was used to at home.

  There she had the gardens, the trees and a distant view over the estate.

  Atkins now came into the room.

  “Would you be likin’ a cup of tea, miss,” he asked, “or somethin’ stronger?”

  “I would love a cup of tea,” Angela answered him.

  She realised that while he was speaking he was staring at her.

  Then he said,

  “If I ’adn’t seen it with me own eyes, I wouldn’t ’ave believed it!”

  “Believed – what?” Angela asked.

  “That anyone could look so like an angel and it not be due to paint and powder, so to speak.”

  Angela laughed.

  “No, it is quite natural and I can assure you, I put nothing on my face.”

  “I can see that, miss,” Atkins said, “and very pretty you are too, if you don’t mind me sayin’ so.”

  “No – I am indeed flattered,” Angela murmured.

  She then thought that it was a rather strange conversation to be having with a servant.

  When Trevor joined her, she said in a whisper,

  “Did you tell your valet that you were going to bring back somebody who looked like an angel?”

  “I did not tell him,” Trevor replied, “but I told a friend of mine somewhat indiscreetly, I admit, that I was going to the country to find an angel for George Edwardes and he must have been listening at the door.”

  “He does not know I am your sister?” Angela whispered.

  “No, of course not,” Trevor answered. “For God’s sake, Angela, be careful. Although I trust Atkins and he is very loyal, all servants talk, as you well know.”

  Angela wanted to say that Higgins had no one to talk to, but she thought it was beside the point.

  It was foolish of Trevor, if he wanted to keep everything quiet, she thought, to have told one of his friends that he was going to find an angel.

  As if he knew what she was thinking, Trevor said,

  “What I really said to my friend was that I had a chère amie who looked like an angel.”

  Angela thought that everything seemed to be growing more and more complicated.

  She drank the tea that Atkins had brought her while Trevor had a glass of brandy.

  She was somewhat surprised that he was drinking so early in the day.

  She looked at the glass in his hand and, as if she had asked the question, he said,

  “I need something to steady my nerves. We must both be extra careful for, as you know, one slip and there would be no going back.”

  “Stop frightening me,” Angela insisted. “What are we going to do now?”

  She thought that they must be going somewhere because Trevor had not suggested that she should take off her hat.

  He glanced at the clock on the mantelpiece.

  “We are going to The Gaiety Theatre,” he said. “And George Edwardes will be there in another half-an-hour.”

  Angela gave a little cry.

  “But, surely, I ought to try and look smart before I meet him?”

  “What you are wearing will make him realise that he has to provide you with everything and I mean everything!” Trevor said. “Come along, we will take a Hansom cab.”

  He went from the room to tell Atkins to find one for him and when Angela walked down the stairs, it was already at the door.

  She had never been in a Hansom cab before and she found it very exciting to be sitting beside Trevor with the door folded across them.

  The cabman climbed up behind.

  They drove off and Angela felt that it seemed a little insecure but very thrilling.

  She put her hand into her brother’s.

  “I was thinking when we were driving to London that this was an adventure,” she said, “but I can see that for me it is going to be a series of adventures. I love driving like this.”

  “You are being a good sport,” Trevor smiled, “but don’t forget that we have to be very affectionate towards one another.”

  He paused and then continued,

  “It would be a great mistake when we arrive at the Marquis’s if other men think that they can step in and push me out.”

  Angela looked at him in s
urprise.

  “Why should they want to do that?” she asked.

  Trevor parted his lips to tell her and then thought that it would be a mistake at this time.

  He was astute enough to realise that what was very original and unique about his sister, besides her looks, was that she was so innocent.

  She was unaware of anything that went on in the world that he moved in.

  The Hansom cab did not take long moving down Piccadilly and through the Circus to The Gaiety.

  It looked from the outside, Angela thought, a little drab.

  Then she remembered that it would be lit up at night and that, she thought, would make all the difference.

  Trevor paid off the cabby.

  He then took her across the pavement and down a narrow side alley to where written, so that there could be no mistake, were the words,

  ‘STAGE DOOR’

  It was early and there were only three people waiting outside and Trevor knew that later there would be a whole crowd.

  They would be waiting to see the Gaiety Girls they knew or recognised and, of course, the Principals of the Show.

  He walked quickly through the narrow stage door.

  Just inside there was a window and a man sitting behind it.

  “’Evenin’, Sir Trevor,” the man said before he could speak. “You be early tonight.”

  “I need to see Mr. Edwardes before he gets too busy,” Trevor answered.

  The porter made a gesture as if to say that was impossible.

  “Tell him,” Trevor said, “I have brought somebody he particularly wanted to see and it is important that he should meet her alone.”

  The porter, who was considered to be a great personality at The Gaiety Theatre, glanced casually at Angela.

  Then he stiffened.

  Trevor, watching him, saw his eyes widen and his jaw drop in astonishment.

  Next he said,

  “Leave it to me, Sir Trevor. I’ll not be long.”

  He hurried away and Trevor drew Angela farther inside.

  There was an iron staircase leading straight up to the next floor and corridors going in both directions.

  To Angela’s surprise it looked very unglamorous and, she thought, rather dirty.

  Just under the stairs there was a large bin to hold waste paper or anything else that was unwanted, but those who used it had been casual enough to throw a lot of what should have gone into the bin onto the floor.