Caught Somewhere in Time

Unbridled passion

"Oh, he's asleep." He quirked an eyebrow and she led him to the parlour door, from where they could see Mr. Lovett snoring on the armchair. How did she do it? "Your wife was right; I am a witch. Gave him my special sleeping potion, I did. He's not going to wake up for a few hours but perhaps it'd be better if we spoke at the shop? Or we could go up to your room, now that it's empty and maybe open a bottle of wine? I know where Albert keeps the good stuff! Oh, and I almost forgot, I made dinner! Soup and sausages! Let's grab a bite while we talk!"

"I'm not hungry. And I'd rather talk here, make it short" he said sharply. He had the feeling that she was getting too comfortable too fast. He didn't want to have dinner with her, he didn't want to be her friend, didn't want her to kiss him... He just wanted to help free her lover so the two could ride off into the sunset and get out of his sight forever.

"As you wish. So, I've been thinking. I'm no expert on trials, never been to one myself, but I love reading. I remembered that something that's always in those book trials, apart from judges and lawyers, are witnesses! People who testify that the accused is either guilty of innocent, people who know what happened. And I've been thinking that, since I can't do it in case he's found guilty and Albert kicks me out, there's someone else who knows the facts: Collins! He helped my parents steal the money while they were at my wedding. If we're lucky, he's still in London. He probably is, he's very close to his mother. I think I might know where they live. Perhaps we could pay him a visit on Wednesday. What do you think, love?" she said or rather blurted out, she was so excited.

He had to admit it was a good idea, but there were some loose ends. "But how are we going to convince him to testify? He wouldn't risk becoming a suspect to save Arthur... Besides, your parents probably paid him a good amount to keep his mouth shut."

"You leave that to me" she winked again and Sweeney gulped, hoping she didn't mean what he thought she meant. But he quickly composed himself. Because he did not care. He definitely did not care if she slept with that Collins or the whole London if she wanted to as long as it helped in their plan to free Arthur. But he pitied the poor lad, he would be eloping with a strumpet and he clearly had no idea. In any case, it wasn't his problem so with the promise of meeting her tomorrow at noon to look for Collins, he bid her a good night and went up to his room.

The place felt empty without Lucy and Johanna, that was the first thing that struck him when he opened the door. After a couple of months with his family, he had forgotten how cold the little apartment could be without them. Even these past few weeks, when Lucy barely spoke to him, her angelic presence lightened up the room and Johanna's baby giggles were always a welcoming sound when returned from work. He'd finally remembered what home felt like and now that he'd sent his family away, he once again felt alone in those four walls. His first instinct was to go back down to Eleanor, to the warmth of her parlour to have a drink with her like he always did when loneliness threatened to overwhelm him. But he thought against it, he could not go back to her after what happened today. He owed Lucy that much.

When his stomach rumbled, he thought of Eleanor again. Even when he didn't have much of an appetite, a consequence of the mangy 'meals' they gave him in Botany Bay, she never failed to bring him up a tray of food that he eventually did take a bite or two of, enough to survive until he finally got the judge. He couldn't deny her dishes were delicious. He had not eaten since the morning and the soup and sausages she'd mentioned earlier sounded heavenly... but he settled for the left over pea mash from the day before. When he opened the small icebox he noticed the chicken he'd bought that morning and sighed, knowing he'd have to ask Eleanor for help to prepare it if he didn't want that shilling to go to waste.

After dinner, he lay in bed. The double mattress felt too big for just one person, the empty space next to him colder than ever. He suddenly found himself thinking about the creaking narrow cot he used to have in his original timeline. She'd probably sold the double bed as soon as she had the chance like she did with almost everything that reminded her of his wife and the love he had for her, practically forcing him to stay the night in her soft mattress after he was done shagging her. It was always much warmer down there... But he would not go down to seek her company tonight, let alone share her bed. No, he would not cave in. He would not jeopardise what he had with Lucy for a few moments of bliss in the arms of that woman. He hugged his wife's pillow, hoping her the sweet aroma of her hair lulled him to sleep but it was to no avail. He tossed and turned until he got tired and simply stared at the ceiling.