Esteemed Malevolence

VIII: Neglected Conscience

Mrs Lovett sat on one of the benches outside, chin in her palms as she gazed towards Mr Todd's tonsorial parlour. It had been a long time since Adrian had gone up those stairs - naturally, she was only thinking of the worst possible outcome...

She knew that she couldn't sit there much longer, she had a business to run. But she still needed to know that Mr Todd hadn't offed him, so she asked a loyal customer to keep an eye out for any living evidence of the man. She would check back with the customer later on in the night...

And she did.

The client told her that there had been no sign of him - she attempted to keep hold of herself, and not jump to any conclusions. It was hard not to, especially knowing Mr Todd's murderous tendencies.

"Oh that's strange," Mrs Lovett replied to the woman who'd been her lookout, even though the woman didn't appear to be listening. "thought 'e'd be down by now. Per'aps 'e just went down the other way... "

Oh he'd probably gone down alright.

"Not t'worry, love!" she added, turning away with frightened eyes. "Thanks ever so much f'the 'elp."

The night seemed to drag on forever - customers never ever seemed to leave - dirty pots and whatnots only continued to pile up ... by the end of the evening, Eleanor was grateful that it was finally closing time. If Toby had been present she knew she would have only been aching half as much, then again she had no clue where the lad had got to. He'd probably found a family that were far better off financially than her and Mr T put together. She wouldn't blame him for doing such a thing. However, it had been nice to have a child around her, that way she could at least play pretend for a while. And it had its perks... even if he had gotten in the way at times.

She let out a heavy, fatigued sigh as she walked through her parlour, her body bent slightly due to her exhaustion and concern. Adrian was still in the back of her mind, and she certainly wasn't going to venture out into the bakehouse now... she didn't know how she'd feel if she saw his lifeless, crippled form down there. But she did know that such a scene certainly wouldn't break her heart.

And that's one reason why she didn't go down there to have a peep, even though internally she knew she wanted to.

There would be too much guilt.

And she wanted to go on thinking he was alive... she would be able to accept that he was dead tomorrow - if he was indeed deceased, of course. For the time being she needed her rest.

She reached her bedroom door, looking down at the bottom of her skirts, eyes filled with regret. Yet she did not succumb to what she really wished to do, the thought of the charming man with his throat slit open from ear-to-ear hurt her enough already.

She shook her head, deciding her speculations were nothing definite and entered her room.

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

The next morning, Eleanor Lovett felt uneasy.

She sat up in her bed lazily, strands of dark red hair messily falling to rest over her collarbone. Her dreams had been filled with the memories of the charismatic man she'd met the night prior - he'd been ever so kind to her, he'd noticed she'd been sat alone and had wondered how such a beautiful woman could sit there all by herself. A compassionate person such as Adrian did not deserve a swift slice from one of Mr Todd's infamous razors.

She prayed that the barber hadn't harmed him.

Thankfully, today was Sunday. Both the barber and the baker had the day off, so there was no reason she wouldn't be able to approach Mr Todd about the whereabouts of the man. Not that she was expecting to get even a slight murmur of reply out of him.

She cautiously swung her legs out of her bed, feeling the cold air swirl over her bare skin. She swallowed and hurried upwards, practically pouncing out of bed. The sooner she got her dress, the better.

She squinted, her tired eyes adjusting to the darkness as she looked over her room. She felt that something was out of place.

That 'something' soon came to her attention - it was flat on the ground by her door and caused her to frown in confusion. Finding that her curiosity surpassed the fact her eyes were still sensitive, she rushed to her window, flinging open the curtains that hung across it. Light flooded into the place, the room bursting into life. She padded over to the object on the floor - which she could now recognise to be a piece of crumpled paper.

She snatched it from the ground, unfolding it to read the lines of a scribbled message. The writing was a slanted scrawl, unlike the artful writing most scribe's were taught to have. Yet she was able to read it with little difficulty.

'Lovely baker, won't you meet me for a spot of fresh air?'

She blinked, like she couldn't believe her eyes. The note could only be from one person - clearly not the person she truly wished such a proposal to be from. The idea of Mr Todd attempting to ask her out her made her audibly snort.

'You shall find me around St Dunstan's market just before noon. I hope to see you there. Until then, lovely baker.'

It was signed 'Adrian Evans', not that she had thought otherwise - although her heart had began to race at the last sentence. It was that one remaining slither of hope that it was the barber asking her... but of course, it hadn't been him at all.

'Well,' she thought to herself, breathing a sigh of relief. 'at least 'e's bleedin' alive! 'E must've gone down the other stairs after seein' Mr T, no wonder none o' the customers saw 'im! Or else 'ow would 'e 'ave delivered this?! Thank 'eavens!'

She began racing around in an excited rush to get herself ready. She couldn't recall the last time she'd been out with a man who was genuinely interested in her - that thought only made her want to make more of an effort. She threw open her wardrobe, rifling through all sorts of stockings and undergarments, tossing them aside carelessly to then sort through an array of dresses. It wasn't long until she found the perfect piece of clothing - she just hoped it wasn't going to rain, otherwise there would be problems.

Mrs Lovett suddenly paused in shock, draping the dress over her shoulder.

She realised she had no clue what time it was.

She cursed and started to pull the infuriating dress over her head, then over the rest of her undergarment-covered body. She hated being in a rush, but she wasn't taking any chances. She skipped to the other side of her room, humming away to herself giddily as she sat down at her dressing table, gazing at her reflection.

She thought she looked dreadful.

"Nothin' a bit 'o rouge won't fix." she told herself, chuckling.

She was genuinely looking forward to seeing Adrian now. She craved a good chat, not to mention the fact she'd be with a true gentleman... not that she was aware that he was an apparently wanted criminal, of course.

Once she had finished applying her makeup, she combed through her hair and wrapped it up into two pigtails which ended in curled ringlets. It was surprising how little effort she had put into her hair, it seemed it could always sort itself out.

After another ten minutes or so, she felt she looked suffice. She hoped the man would appreciate her effort - she knew he would. If he had taken notice of her the night before, he was definitely going to be appreciative on this day. Before leaving her room, she grabbed her coat, remembering the December weather. It was cold enough inside her room already, she knew outside would be ten times worse.

She flung on her coat, peeking through her door's hinge as she bent down and picked Adrian's note back up, a sweet smile gracing her lips as she carefully left it on a nearby dresser. There was no sign of life outside of her room, so she stood up straight, and ventured into her parlour. The memories of Toby lying on the floor completely unconscious filled her mind entirely as she passed through, her eyes glancing over the rug in front of the fireplace. She should have been concerned about his whereabouts, but she felt too giddy to care. She could be unintentionally careless sometimes, and she would often regret it in the long run.

She practically danced through to her shop door, biting her lip to stop any joyous giggles from spilling out. She wondered about telling Mr Todd - then again, it wasn't like he'd care. As she locked the door to her shop, she smiled to herself.