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Back The Dazzle of the Light Save as PDF
Chapters (55)
  1. Praise for Georgina Clarke
  2. 1
  3. 2
  4. 3
  5. 4
  6. 5
  7. 6
  8. 7
  9. 8
  10. 9
  11. 10
  12. 11
  13. 12
  14. 13
  15. 14
  16. 15
  17. 16
  18. 17
  19. 18
  20. 19
  21. 20
  22. 21
  23. 22
  24. 23
  25. 24
  26. 25
  27. 26
  28. 27
  29. 28
  30. 29
  31. 30
  32. 31
  33. 32
  34. 33
  35. 34
  36. 35
  37. 36
  38. 37
  39. 38
  40. 39
  41. 40
  42. 41
  43. 42
  44. 43
  45. 44
  46. 45
  47. 46
  48. 47
  49. 48
  50. 49
  51. Historical Note
  52. Acknowledgements
  53. Also by Georgina Clarke
  54. About the Author
  55. Copyright

Ruby stands, pretending not to have heard. Annie reaches out and grabs her hand, squeezing it so tightly that her rings press hard on Ruby’s fingers, crushing them between the bands of metal.

‘I don’t want to have to remind you again, Ruby. We share everything in the Forties. We don’t keep money back for ourselves – or diamond brooches.’

She drops the hand.

There is no answer to this except grovelling agreement, so Ruby makes none. Instead, she drains the gin, holding the glass as if her fingers are not pulsing with pain. The filthy liquor swills against the back of her mouth.

‘Goodnight, Annie.’

She picks up her old brown coat and her new umbrella and walks home to Solly’s.

She’ll hand the umbrella over to Grace Bartlett eventually.

13

13

Thursday, late evening

When she returns to the shop, Solly is packing away trays of jewellery. She doesn’t say much, but stands in her coat, touching a pair of earrings in a box. He’s left them on the counter. Neat, square-cut emeralds surrounded by small diamonds. The sort of thing a proper lady would wear. That honey-coloured woman outside Enderby’s on Gloucester Road, maybe. She would wear something like these. She picks one of them up and holds it to the gas lamp, observing it sparkle in the soft glow. It’s a good piece.

‘Are you running off with both of them or just the one?’ Solly is wiping down the shelves and the cash register, like he always does before he goes upstairs. He’ll have wiped them already when he closed the door for the evening, but it’s a habit to do it again. Ruby thinks that he’s only making sure she hasn’t nicked anything – not without reason.

She drops the earring back into the box with its twin.

‘Neither, Solly. These ain’t my style. A bit too ladylike for me.’

He chuckles at this and takes the box from her hand, just to be certain.

‘Why are you home so early? You don’t normally come back until I’ve finished packing everything away.’

Ruby pulls a face. ‘Not in the mood, really. We lost Alice today. She was caught red-handed in the store we were doing over, and the coppers came and took her away. I saw them arrive. And besides, it’s quiet at the Crown. The boys have gone to a boxing match at Frank Parsons’. There’s going to be trouble.’

‘Poor Alice. No wonder you’re out of sorts. That’s bad news.’ He rubs a hand over his thinning scalp. ‘You didn’t get caught, though. Did you find anything pretty, Magpie?’