Free A Dream of Desire by Nina Rowan Page A

sorry, I…”
    Talia tried not to wince when James appeared behind Sally, his gaze going from her to Alice. She did not want James to know anything about Alice or Peter Colston.
    “We’ll just be a moment, Aunt Sally.” She took Alice’s arm and went out to the front step, closing the door behind her. “What happened to Peter, Alice?”
    “He left again this morning and hasn’t returned yet. I’m afraid he might have gone back to Wapping.”
    “Did he say why he left?”
    Alice shook her head. “He knows our father wants him to attend Brick Street, but he insisted he’d never return to school. Our father won’t allow him to stay if he doesn’t, and Peter knows that. I think that’s why he’s run away again.”
    Dismay speared through Talia at the resignation in Alice’s voice. Despite their dissimilar upbringings, she had felt a kinship toward the other woman since their first meetings at the Colstons’ modest Spitalfields home. Both she and Alice had lost their mothers, and Talia sensed that, like herself, Alice had felt both isolated and trapped in a position she would never have chosen for herself.
    “Mr. Lawford said Peter refused all lessons at Newhall as well,” Alice said.
    “When did you speak with Mr. Lawford?”
    “He came to visit several times when Peter was still in prison,” Alice explained. “To assure my father and me that Peter was faring well, but was often defiant for no apparent reason. And he wouldn’t learn to either read or write, despite Mr. Lawford’s best efforts.”
    Talia frowned. She’d not heard of Lawford visiting any family members of Newhall’s inmates. Just the opposite…considering the disciplinary measures reputed to take place behind those brick walls, Lawford sought to limit contact between the boys and their families. Even letters were seldom distributed within the prison.
    “Has Peter said anything to you yet about Newhall?” Talia asked.
    “No, he won’t talk about anything. I hate to think he’s returned to the docks, but I’ve no idea where else to begin looking for him. Or even if I should.”
    “Of course we should.” But Talia wasn’t foolish enough to think she and Alice could venture into the streets of Wapping alone to look for Peter. One mistake had been enough to remind her that bravery and recklessness were two very different characteristics. So who could—
    James.
    He knew the London docks. He knew the great port where massive barges, fishing boats, schooners, and steamers cluttered the Thames as they hauled cargo and passengers in and out of the city. James knew the warehouses packed with goods from all over the world. He knew the rhythm of the docks, the men who worked and supervised, the riggers, shipwrights, lightermen, wharf laborers. He knew the type of boy who frequented the quays.
    He would know where to look for Peter Colston.
    And yet Talia knew she could not ask him to find a boy who had just been released from prison. For the first time in her life, she couldn’t ask James for his help.
    If James knew about Peter, she’d have to tell him about her attempts to visit Newhall and about Brick Street, the temporary reformatory school they’d set up in Wapping. And if James knew Talia was working with juvenile delinquents, the big fool would run straight to Alexander, and they’d shut the whole project down right as she and Mr. Fletcher were getting started.
    Not to mention what he might discover about Peter.
    Talia sighed in frustration. The timing should have been perfect. Her father had left London just as she was implementing the plans for the reformatory school and finishing her report.
    Rushton would be gone through the summer, which meant Talia could present her evidence to the House of Commons committee, find a patron for the school, and hopefully garner support among the peerage. When Rushton returned to London in August, he’d find the foundation of the work successfully established…and with any luck would then