Part 24 (1/2)
”But they didn't find her,” Dr Watson said
”Do you think I would be here if they had?”
”Mrs Despain”
Her head snapped towards Mr Holmes, his voice and the cal her to civility ”Yes, well, they claih I cannot be certain of it They were not inclined to do us any favours, you understand I then went to our rooms in Minerva Street-”
”The rooms you and Miss Barnett share?”
”Yes The Pennyroyal Society keeps offices above a small jobs printer, and our rooms are there as well But she hadn't returned to the if anyone had seen a young wo her description, but if anyone had, they were not forthco entirely safe, and when I returned I discovered our roo or stolen?”
”The culprits seemed more bent on wanton destruction”
”Wanton destruction is often used to cover up a search They were looking for so”
”I-I don't knohat it could have been They destroyed anything of value”
Whatever he saw in her hesitation must have prompted his next question ”Why were you the only one bailed, do you suppose?”
She fixed her eyes on the handkerchief in her lap, twisting and untwisting the delicate linen ”I-I'ed with an actual cried with civil infractions Yet I was given to understand you were not the only person handing out the prohibited anise the demonstration”
”I am the author of the information in the pamphlets”
Dr Watson made a sound suspiciously like ”harrumph”
”I've seen the paiven for precisely that reason, so that no one person would have to bear the full burden of the law Why would you confess?”
”I didn't Perhaps I was charged because Mrs White wasn't there She'd taken ill I'm her second-in-command”
The doctor added a derisive snort
”Watson,” Holh You've made your opinion quite clear”
”I don't think I have! Wo about the East End prescribing risky contraceptive concoctions and dangerous abortifacients The poor would be better served - and safer, Ischooled in the discipline of abstinence” He'd clearly given up any eschewals of propriety and spoke now as if there were not a woman in the room
This suited her fine
”Oh, abstinence,” she replied ”Yes, quite right, because ood at that And who must bear the burden of this lack of restraint -”
”You cannot blame men alone for that lack of restraint, madam Women of the lowest order are on offer twenty-four hours a day in soe you to live on three shi+llings six pence a week doing intermittent slops work and still re rattled cups and saucers and set the biscuits dancing on the plates Startled to silence, both parties turned to the source of the sound, at which point Mr Holone off the rails A bit,” he said, looking pointedly at each in turn He righted a cup, flicked a glance at the doctor ”I am somewhat surprised at the frank nature of this discourse, Watson You tend to be more circu Mrs Despain is anything less than a lady?”
”Of course not!” Watson sputtered
”Good, good Her mission does not preclude her honour I myself am wholly uninterested in reforhts of the poor to practise family limitation I am - and I hope you are with me in this, Mrs Despain - primarily interested in the disappearance of Millie Barnett” He gave her a tight sh rather cool for it ”However, the subjecta point to bear upon your situation, and perhaps to the circuhten
”Is there a possibility you were singled out for harsher treatment because of yourand her foot caught Prevarication would avail her nothing with this norance ”I will not discuss my mother with you, Mr Holmes”
”Then I fail to see how I can be of assistance”
”Why?” Watson asked ”Who is her mother?”
”My mother can have little to do with this, surely?”
”Miss Barnett had your belongings in hand when she disappeared If so the cause you have taken up, so similar to your mother's”
”Who is herour entire consultation?”
Sherlock Hole I lack”
Watson eyed his associate warily ”Do I now?”
”You are both a doctor and a married man and therefore have practical experience and ards to the, er, remedies the Pennyroyal Society advocates and distributes in the East End”
It was Agnes's turn to scoff ”Myof nature's own remedies in her apron pocket than most doctors have in their entire heads”
”Yet your mother is in prison The remedies in her apron pocket led to a woman's death”
”Maryanne Sallow's husband didn't want another child and he didn't want her He gave her too one to prison, not h you could not provide proof of his intent, as I recall”
”Dear Lord!” Watson interjected ”Are we talking about Louisa Gillespie? Mrs Gillespie? Mother Lou, the baby-killer?”
Agnes fled the sitting room of 221b Baker Street with scarcely any recollection of as said after the daate before she realised how far she'd walked fuelled entirely by outrage And still she could not let go of it
Her mother was not a baby-killer! Herinfants to the poor women of Whitechapel and Bethnal Green than any doctor on any ward in any charity hospital anywhere And unlike those doctors, she told wo more or how to relieve themselves of the burden of another Charlie Sallow had killed his ith pills intended to expel a dead foetus Pills made by Louisa Gillespie for that purpose Her poor mother, so disheartened by the death of Maryanne, had said and done little in her own defence Serving a ten-year sentence at Holloway even nohile Charlie and his neife kept a little sweet shop off Tottenhaer was not lessened any by finding a rough htened little girl, she quickly realised who it was and wanted only to punch the ugly set in here? Who let you coh the sound of the printing press beloould cover any noise they made There was no one in the offices out front He could ht now and her cries would not be heard above the din belohich he knew full well ”Anyway, no one saw me”
”Are you responsible for this?” Her are
”Ah, no Beaten to it” His boots crunched the shards of broken glass, stirring up puffs of powdery chemicals and the scent of crushed herbs as he had a look around He scratched at the back of his neck ”Blimey, someone has it in for you lady reformers, haven't they?”