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“I see, love. I understand.” She walked to the edge of the counter and pointed down the hallway. “Third door on the left, love. She’s not with anyone right now, just tell her Joan sent you in.”

“Thank you.”

I hurried down the hallway, pausing at the third door and checking four, five, six times that I had counted correctly and was, in fact, at the third door, and not about to burst in on some unsuspecting couple. With a deep breath, I pushed down the handle, tapping on the door with my knuckles.

“Hello?” I called softly, peering into the room.

“Who’s that then?” The voice was pleasant, almost lyrical, with a sweet cockney accent.

I opened the door all the way and stepped in. Rebecca was wearing an extravagant ivory lace corset underneath a floaty robe. A cigarette dangled from her mouth, and she eyed mecuriously as I closed the door to her room. She lit the cigarette with a match and puffed out a delicate veil of smoke from between her rouged lips.

“Sorry, love, you got the wrong room, it’s Bessie and Ruth that do the ladies.”

“Yes, I know, ummm, I mean, Joan sent me to you.”

Rebecca rolled her eyes and sucked on her cigarette again. “That bleeding girl ain’t got nothing between those ears of hers.JOAN!”

I jumped at her exclamation, dropping my muff and kicking it away as I attempted to retrieve it.

“No, no, I mean, I’m meant to be here. I’m not here for that, I… wanted to talk to you.” I straightened up, stammering, and feeling all the world for a complete fool. I was in a dusty room in a brothel in Stepney, and yet I was completely intimidated. I could scarce look at Rebecca, for she seemed so regal, so worldly, compared to me, that it almost frightened me. I clutched the muff in my hands, and looked into Rebecca’s face. “I simply want to talk. Really. I asked to see you.”

“Talk, you say?” She grunted out a laugh and tapped the cigarette into an ashtray on her dressing table. “And what would a fine lady like you wanna talk to someone like me about then? You’re not looking for a job, are ya?”

“I-I am Azriel Caine’s wife.”

Her brows drew together, and she put a hand on her hip, gesturing at me with the cigarette. “Come to tell me to stay away from your man, have ya? Well, you got no worries there, hasn’t seen me since his old man kicked the bucket.”

“No I- please, may we sit?” I glanced over at the worn red velvet armchairs at the foot of the bed. “I am not here to cause you any trouble. And I am more than happy to pay you for your time.”

She narrowed her eyes at me as she inhaled again, thenshrugged before draping herself elegantly over one of the armchairs. “Alright then, I got time.”

“Thank you.” I perched on the chair opposite her, and cleared my throat, still so exceedingly nervous under her gaze. She was pretty, very pretty, even if her face did show a life that had not always been kind to her. Her eyes were a lovely shade of brown, large and lined with thick lashes. Her skin was smooth and even, and her fingers were long and elegant, like she should have been a piano player. She crossed one long, slim leg over the other, revealing a trail of bruises down her left thigh.

She caught me looking, and pulled her robe over her leg. “Games, love. Some of me clientele like to get a bit rough.”

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to…” I trailed off again, shaking my head and shrugging off my coat as I was suddenly far too warm in this cosy room. “I beg your pardon, you must think me quite mad to come here like this.”

“You’re not the first and you won’t be the last.” She chuckled to herself, looking me up and down as she inhaled, her cigarette crackling quietly. “You’re pretty. He told me you were.”

“He spoke to you about me?”

Rebecca laughed, a pleasant, gravelly laugh that sounded like a stream running over stones. “Incessantly! Besotted, that one.”

“I saw you with him.” I blurted the words out before I could stop, because it didn’t matter in any case and it wasn’t why I was here.

Rebecca lifted an eyebrow. “Did you just? Should have joined in.” She giggled behind her hand when I gasped. “Sorry, love, I shouldn’t have said that.”

“I only meant… I saw you with him, and well… I’m not… I mean…” I sighed, and Rebecca uncrossed and recrossed her legs.

“Alright, let’s start at the beginning. What is it you’re wanting from me? What did you want to talk about?”

“Sex.” Even saying the word felt odd to me, and I cursed my upbringing more than I ever had.

Not even a glimmer of judgement passed over Rebecca’s face, she simply nodded. “Sex. Alright. Now, let me guess? Religious upbringing?”

“Yes, how did you know?”

“The way you said the wordsexlike someone had stuck a lemon in your mouth and you expected Christ himself to jump out from under me bed and strike you down.” Rebecca gave me a warm smile when I shifted in my seat. “So, religious upbringing. No mother?”