The Cockney Angel by Dilly Court Page B

want an explanation for this wild behaviour. What will your poor mother say when I tell her I found you dressed in your brother’s old clothes? D’you want to break her heart?’
    Irene faced him with her temper rising to match his. ‘No, Pa. It’s you who’ve done that over and over again.’
    Billy strode off with a snort and she had to run to keep up with him. He stopped at the shop door and fumbled in his pocket. ‘Damnation, where is that bloody key?’
    ‘No matter. I’ve got mine.’ Irene stepped forward and unlocked the door. She stood aside as he stormed past her. She saw that he was about to go upstairs, and she called out to him. ‘No, Pa. Please wait. I can explain.’ It would be a disaster if he discovered Arthur sleeping in his bed before she had had a chance to tell him everything.
    With one foot on the bottom step, Billy hesitated, turning to glare at her. ‘This had better be good, and you can start by telling me what you’re doing running round London in the middle of the night pretending to be that person we don’t mention in this house.’
    Irene was quick to hear the note of pain in his voice. ‘Oh, Pa, when are you going to forgive Jim for running away to sea? It weren’t all his fault.’
    ‘I don’t want to talk about him. It’s you who’ve done wrong and I want an explanation.’
    Slowly, picking her words with care, Irene explained why she had braved the Sykes brothers’ gaming house. She told him about Kent and his hold over Arthur and the reason why she had insisted that he did not return to his own home that night. Billy listened with his head on one side, but Irene could tell that he was still furious. When she came to a stammering halt, he thumped his hand on the banister rail. ‘That boy should have gone home and faced up to his punishment. Let’s see what Clara has to say about all this.’ He made as if to ascend the stairs, but Irene caught him by the coat tails.
    ‘She’s not here, Pa.’
    ‘What?’ Billy’s thick eyebrows met over the bridge of his nose and his lips were white with anger. ‘Where is she? Where’s my Clara?’
    ‘Don’t you remember? I told you this morning that Emmie’s in the family way and Ma has gone to stay with her in Love Lane. Just for a while, you understand.’
    ‘I’d forgotten,’ Billy said slowly. ‘That’s what the drink does for a fellow. But I want her back, d’you hear me, Renie?’
    ‘Ma isn’t at all well. Her rheumatics are getting worse and she needs good food and a warm house, or she’ll end up crippled. Can’t you see that it’s best for her?’
    ‘Best for her? What about me? I need my wife to be here when I come home. She’s my heart and soul, and I can’t manage without her.’
    ‘You’re a selfish, selfish man, Pa,’ Irene cried angrily. ‘You never think of no one but yourself. Well, I’ll tell you this for nothing. I’m glad that Ma ain’t here to see the mess we’re in, especially as you won’t be the one to get us out of it.’
    ‘I ain’t staying to listen to this. I won’t be spoken to like that by my own flesh and blood. You’ve put on your brother’s clothes and now you’re acting like him. You’re a serpent’s tooth, Irene, an ungrateful child.’
    ‘That’s not fair,’ Irene protested, close to tears. ‘At least give me back the money you took from the till.’
    ‘I need to keep my stake intact, but I’ll bring back a hundred times that amount,’ Billy said, brushing past her to open the street door. ‘It’s a pity you have so little faith in me. I’m going back to where I’m known and respected.’
    ‘Respected?’ Irene shouted to his disappearing back. ‘The Sykes brothers are bad men and the police will catch them, and you too if you ain’t careful. Don’t say I didn’t warn you, Pa. And don’t think I’ll come visiting when they lock you up in Newgate.’
    She ran to lock the door behind him and found that her legs were trembling so much that she could