Chapter 76: Chapter 76 – Those who search will find… but maybe not what expected

Having left the girls alone this time, and since Letitia had also insisted on visiting some friends with Theresa as her only company, Oscar and Albert made their way through the streets. It was already the third day of their search for a flat.

Since the family carriage had been lend to the girls, they rented another to reach the other end of the city. And walking through a few dozen neighborhoods where the majority of the population was of lower-middle class, there were several buildings they visited throughout an entire morning in which there was no luck; all places had some drawback.

This was so until late in the afternoon, when they found another modest building situated in a quiet neighborhood. Said building, from what they had been told, belonged to an old woman who lived in the lower apartment, and of whom they had been warned that had a somewhat peculiar character. It was the upper floor that the woman was renting, and since Albert and Oscar were in a bit of a hurry to find a place to stay, they decided to try their luck there.

It was precisely this lady who opened the entrance to her home for them and, barely having allowed Oscar to say good afternoon when they ran into each other, she proceeded to close the door in his face without saying a word.

Such an attitude on the part of an old woman who was supposed to be renting some rooms was unheard of. A discredit, if one could add! And if it hadn't been for their urgent need to find a place as soon as possible, Oscar would have suggested right then and there that they turn around and continue their search the next day.

So, while Albert kept quiet, Oscar tried again to knock on a door, which, after a couple of insistent knocks, opened again.

"I don't want anything, go sell Bibles somewhere else!" snapped this time the owner of the building.

And she would have closed the door again, if it hadn't been for Oscar preventing her by putting a foot forward and making it impossible to carry out such an action.

"What do you want then? I'm not going to donate anything to the parish either, I have enough to pay my expenses to go around giving away the little money I have left!”

“Good afternoon, ma'am,” Oscar tried again, trying to sound affable, as if he wasn't already angry that he'd walked halfway across London only to have her try to slam the door on him twice in a row. “I´m telling you we are not from any parish nor do we sell anything, rather we buy. And we've been told you had an apartment for rent.”

“What?”

"Isn't that so?"

"I can't hear you, young man," the lady excused herself, putting her hand to one of her ears. “I have a little hearing problem, like not speaking louder...”

“I was asking if this is where they rented rooms.”

"I don't know what the hell he's saying, he's very quiet."

“Look, ma'am…” Oscar began again, already completely pissed off; A moment ago he had raised his voice a little, but the woman seemed to have chosen to ignore him.

If it hadn't been for Albert placing a hand on his shoulder at that moment, deciding to take the floor, he sensed how badly that meeting could have ended.

"As he said," he proceeded, using a normal tone of voice, "We apologize for coming to bother you at this hour. A neighbor of yours said you were renting the top floor of this building, and since we were looking for a house, we thought we'd have a look, if you don't mind.”

“Of course I don´t mind! Ah, how could I have mistaken you for sellers?” Saying this, the woman's face changed and she, moving away from the threshold, opened the door wider to say. “You may come in. And sorry for having confused you, lately only thugs, beggars and priests pass through here. I don't know which ones are worse! One no longer knows to whom to open.”

Seeing the road clear, Albert thanked Mrs. Burrows —that was her name— for her kindness and went in first, followed by an Oscar who couldn't believe what he had just witnessed. That woman had just deliberately sent him to hell! And maybe he was getting a little paranoid, but despite the fact that when she apologized she did it in plural, Albert was the only one she looked at.

Of course, there was no point getting pissed off about that little slip. Oscar took a deep breath and, encouraged because the villain seemed to be in a good mood and had managed to win over the old woman in just a couple of minutes, he tried to convince himself that Mrs. Burrows had nothing against him and that everything had been an unlucky one. coincidence.

After the introductions, she led them upstairs as she commented:

“It would do well to have the building occupied as before, it's been so many years since this has been boring as a cemetery...! And it's not that I like partying too much either, don't think about it, but one gets tired of being alone.”

"So you live alone?"

“From time to time my children come to visit, but yes, most of the year I am. Since my husband embarked in the Navy, during the month of August, I have not seen him again.”

August of what year? Oscar wondered as they climbed the stairs. In the corridor he had seen the occasional photo hanging on the wall of a young man, dressed in military uniform and in the company of a lady of a similar age who looked rather like Mrs. Burrows. But apart from those youth portraits, there was no more recent one of the couple.

"It must be complicated without your husband," Albert continued, trying to sympathize with the old woman's situation and, without a doubt, not having realized the same as Oscar. “I hope he can come back soon.”

“He? What, come back? God forbid,” the woman snapped, as she took out a key to unlock the door to the first-floor apartment. “He was a hake, he didn't know anything. He smoked like a cossack, littered more than he collected and on top of that he believed he had the right to make demands on me. On me! I'll tell you one thing; the day he went to sea was the happiest of my life.”

That left the villain cut off, not knowing what to answer. It was surely the first time he had heard someone being so sincere about how she was handling her marriage and, since they were all insults towards her husband, he didn't know how to react. Oscar, for his part, was only glad that neither of the two walking in front of him had realized that he had been holding in his laughter at that little speech about the missing Burrows.

And yes, it was quite likely that the lady's anecdotes and manners were somewhat distorted, but they were soon forgotten once they began touring a flat that could be theirs.

The place in question had a small room with a built-in kitchen, a couple of bedrooms and even a bathroom. The furniture was fair, but it was well cared for and the rooms looked clean, as if someone was taking care of dusting and opening the windows often so that the place always remained ventilated.

The apartment might be a little small for someone used to living in larger houses, but for Oscar it was perfect. He had already been occupying flats of similar proportions before, when he was still living in his time and, furthermore, the price that was demanded monthly for rent wasn´t exorbitant.

Knowing, also, that they were in a quiet neighborhood, with friendly neighbors and little traffic on the streets during the night hours, it really seemed like a good decision to agree to pay the money Mrs. Burrows asked for.

It was no longer just that the place seemed peaceful, it was that as well as being located far from the house that the Northrops owned in London, it was also close to the publishing house. And if Oscar got the job, the way to this one would only be a twenty or twenty-five minute walk. Which was quite convenient, because one of the things they would have to deal with was not having their own carriage.

Mrs. Burrows, who directed all her explanations exclusively for Albert, had by now made it abundantly clear that she did not like Oscar, confirming his initial suspicions. But that did not seem to be a serious problem, since she had stated on several occasions during the visit that she did not pretend to be anyone's servant. She would only rent the apartment to them, if they accepted, and she would take care of both charging them and solving any maintenance problems that might arise while they were staying there.

That was all.

Once they moved in, she had no intention of going upstairs at all. And since Oscar and Albert didn't want or could afford service, they would be the ones who would have to do the cooking and keep the place clean.

That was no surprise, in fact, they themselves wished it so. Well, another of the things they were looking for was, precisely, to have some privacy wherever they were going to move. It wasn't as if they could present themselves to Mrs. Burrows, or to anyone else, as a couple. But, at least inside their house, they would like to be able to act as such without fear of someone coming to interrupt them. Hence, that disregarded attitude of old Burrows, to the point that she did not plan to go up to that floor unless they called her, did suit them.

"I forgot to ask," the lady had said, after she had finished showing her property, "what relationship do you two have?"

“We´re friends.”

Which is not entirely a lie, considering that one has to be a good friend of their partner if he wants to have something serious with him, thought Oscar, before the answer already agreed upon by both.

“Friends? I would never have guessed! I thought you were a gentleman and a valet, since you don't see many elegant gentlemen around here willing to share a flat with…” Correcting herself, the old woman pointed. “Although, thinking about it again, it makes sense. Valets also tend to come from good families.”

"What the hell?" Oscar murmured so that only Albert could hear him. “Is it so easy to deduce from my appearance that I have nowhere to drop dead?”

"Don't pay any attention to her, she doesn't know what she's saying," Albert replied in the same tone.

Oscar didn't say anything anymore, but it was obvious that this woman was more lucid than most of the characters he had met during his transmigration.

"Well, maybe you need some time to think about whether you should rent this apartment," she kept saying. “So, if you're going to stay here a little longer, how about some tea?”

"It wouldn't hurt, yes," Oscar accepted, aware that nothing to drink had been offered to them since they arrived at the building.

"Well, in the kitchen you have everything needed. Feel free to prepare it yourself; I'll be downstairs if you need me. Remember to come see me before you leave.”

"At least, since you're going to be letting your guests serve themselves, could you be so kind as to tell us in which shelve you keep each item?"

"Ah, how tiresome is this going up and down stairs…" Turning one last time to those who might go from surprise guests to new tenants, she inquired. “Did you say something? Sorry, you know I don't have a very good ear, maybe you'll need to repeat things to me a couple of times for me to listen.”

There was no longer any doubt that she was screwing them over; Oscar in particular. And, since he wasn't there to uselessly raise his voice again, he could only bite his tongue and swallow all his anger while the villain thanked Mrs. Burrows again —thanks that, of course, she did hear— and confirmed that later they would let her know about their decision.

Immediately afterwards, before the attentive gaze of an old woman who ended up leaving as she had said, Albert went to the kitchen himself and began to search among the shelves and drawers.

"I can't believe you're actually going to do this," Oscar had murmured, following after him, once Mrs. Burrows had disappeared from his sight.

“Why not? She was kind enough to offer it, the other owners wouldn't let us use their respective kitchens. With this, we can take the opportunity to see if everything works and what materials we have, to begin with.”

"Well, yes, but…" Seeing that Albert had found what he needed and was already refilling a kettle with water, ready to put it on the fire, he finished. “I hope she doesn't show up too much here. Seems like the kind of person who always has a sharp edge to everything. And on top of that, she is capable of feigning ignorance when it is not convenient for her to continue talking about a topic! She´s very rude.”

Albert didn't say anything, but he did stop what he was doing momentarily to look at him, as if he were suspected of a crime.

“What?”

"Nothing," he replied, smiling, as he placed the kettle on the stove and began his search for the jar where the tea leaves were kept. “Only that description reminded me of someone close to me that I know.”

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"Must be a bad piece."

Pretending that he still didn't understand where the shots were going, Oscar decided to ignore that topic of conversation and dedicate himself to looking for a couple of cups in which the tea would be poured minutes later.

Actually, despite telling the old lady that they would have to discuss whether to rent the flat or not, they didn't have much to discuss. The place was ideal to stay and, besides, it was not that they could afford to spend too many days without reaching a consensus. They had agreed, in fact, that they would not allow themselves to spend more than three days on this task. That, if they found an apartment that convinced them, the same day they arrived they had to make the decision.

So, twenty minutes later, they both went downstairs and knocked on Mrs. Burrows's door, intending to let her know that they accepted the offer and would be interested in settling in as soon as possible.

They would wash the cups after use.

That was not a question, but a warning made by the owner just before knowing that these two people would stay as tenants.

Oscar, who was in charge of this task once they had finished drinking the prepared concoction, said so, waiting for a few words of thanks. But he got no such thing; Mrs. Burrows only said something along the lines of: “I expected no less. Get used to these tasks, you are supposed to be men, not useless beings" and, before he could reply anything, she turned to the villain to comment on the details of the payments, the maintenance of the building and some other small matters as a result of the mentioned rental.

Finding himself excluded from the conversation, Oscar limited himself to observe his surroundings, like a casual spectator: He knew that Mrs. Burrows would not speak to him unless she considered it extremely urgent. And, although at first he had been angry, he was now trying not to be affected. Albert had told him as soon as they were alone, it was convenient for them to be on good terms with the lady. Therefore, if she only wanted to talk to the villain, so be it.

Albert would listen and watch over his own interests as well as Oscar's. Well, those interests, after all, were the same. And, if Oscar got angry with the woman, Albert had recommended he try to keep quiet, because he would take care of mediating the conversation so that a greater conflict would not be unleashed.

If it had been someone else who had offered to deal alone with this matter, Oscar would have refused to do his part. He never liked having to act according to a pre-established plan by another individual, but in this case, it was different. He trusted Albert, and since they had talked at length in the past about how they wanted their home to be and the kinds of things they weren't going to accept financially, he was pretty sure that he and Mrs. Burrows would come to a satisfactory arrangement. No need for him to get involved.

And he was right in assuming this.

Before nightfall, Albert had already made an appointment with the lady so that they would return a couple of days later to settle in and take care of the legal procedures that they would have to incur. That day in which they would be absent, it would be to give Mrs. Burrows an opportunity to prepare the documents before a notary. So that when they came back, they could review and sign the lease right away.

Knowing, then, that they already had a place to stay and that it wasn't the Northrop house, Oscar was relieved. So much so that he didn't even notice the presence of a stranger in the corridor. Strange that, without making a sound, he moved quickly through the small room where they were, going around a couple of armchairs and passing under some sideboard until stopping next to the old woman.

"I didn't know you had cats," Albert had commented, also just realizing there was a feline watching them.

“Is it a problem? Sometimes I take to picking up stray animals; it's a habit I've picked up since my marriage,” Mrs. Burrows noted. “But don't worry, it's not like I'm going to fill this with cats. In fact, right now I only have Walter and Cora. They are both meek, loving, and don't worry, I won't let them go upstairs.”

"You'd better not let them up, yes," said the villain. “Although it doesn't bother me particularly they're around here.”

That comment must have pleased the old woman, because she immediately began to talk about her pets and how she had rescued them. While this, Walter decided to get closer to the strangers who invaded his house, choosing one of the villain's legs to go and rub his fur. In short, and given his affable purrs, it seemed that Mrs. Burrows was not wrong when she said that those little animals were very nice.

In fact, Albert even ended up reaching down to pet a cat that seemed to be enjoying the attention. And yes, the villain also remembered to invite Oscar to come over too.

Oscar wasn't a fan of cats, he never had been. But you couldn't say he didn't like them either. He liked to see them, and even caress them from time to time, but having them as a pet was a null possibility for him.

Still, he'd been feeling pretty sidelined for the last half hour, and knowing that Albert had purposely invited him over to get him back into the conversation, he decided to take a couple of steps forward, toward the animal. Now, he barely managed to duck when he had to jump back, startled; That damned cat began to hiss, in a threatening way, as soon as he was less than a meter away! The animal's hair stood on end and Oscar thought he was right to take those steps back, because the animal seemed ready to attack.

It was curious, however, that when Oscar had moved back to a safe distance, the cat returned to normal. Still letting himself be caressed by the villain.

“I should have told you that my Walter has a kind of sixth sense with humans. He can fathom their character very well!” the lady pointed out. “He picks up crooks and dirty-hearted people instantly, sometimes I even think he's better than a guard dog.”

Oscar preferred to keep quiet about what he was thinking and Albert, aware as he must be of how upset the other was at that moment, decided to get up and apologize to Mrs. Burrows, claiming that they were late and they should leave immediately, reminding her, again, that they would be back in two days.

Once in the street, Oscar couldn't stand it any longer to say:

"If that woman lets her cats up, I swear I'll catch them and put them in a pot! Then I'll cook them over low heat and bring them down to the lady so she can have leftovers for lunch.”

"Come on, it's not the cats' fault.”

“Would you rather I cook the lady? Because it's the same to me, everyone annoys me the same way. I only chose the cats because I don't think we have a pot big enough to fit a grown person into.”

"Think of Mrs. Burrows having no interest in associating with us, especially with you," Albert reminded him, still in a good mood. “As long as we pay the rent on time, she won't bother us at all.”

"She better not! Regardless, I would suggest making good use of latches and locks.”

With that said, they both made their way through the London streets. Not knowing how long it would take for that neighborhood or where the exact place was where the houses they were going to see were located, they had dispatched the coachman as soon as they arrived at the address indicated. So, since it would be too long a walk to make on foot to the Northrop estate, they both headed down another road where they knew they could hire another carriage to take them back.

And yes, they did reach that street, having only had to walk an additional ten minutes. Now, inopportune coincidences in that novel were the order of the day. Even having left Snodland it was not possible to avoid them; Oscar knew it well. In the same way that he was also aware that in recent days he was doing too well, that it was very rare that there was not a bump in the road or, as in this case, an unwanted presence.

"Oscar, I finally found you!" Madeleine had shouted from afar, before either of them had time to put a foot on the step that would help them climb into the car.

Perhaps the prudent thing to do in that situation would have been to hurry up to the carriage, tell the coachman to leave at that moment, and immediately close the door as quickly as possible, thus isolating themselves from the crazy woman who ran towards them as soon as she spoke. But that plan would not have worked, because apart from the fact that they were still negotiating with the coachman, the protagonist was too close to avoid her.

"You have no idea how terrible these days have been for me!" she continued, once she had caught up with them. “To begin with, I had to dip into all my savings to be able to reach the city. Then I looked for a hostel because, of course, where was I going to stay if I didn't even know where the Northrops lived? I've been here six days! Six days sleeping in a hostel even more seedy than the one I used last time, because I couldn't take it anymore, and having to walk all over the city looking for you. Because, that's another, I was afraid that if I spent money on transportation I wouldn't be able to afford to spend more days in that ugly little room they gave me! In fact, I think I can only stay a couple more days, or I won't even have enough for the stagecoach back to town...”

"Oh, but if that's why, we can help you," Oscar pointed out, before Albert's questioning look. “We will leave you the money you need to make the return trip. No, don't look at me like that, it's not a bother! We would be delighted to donate our money to such a worthy cause.”

"Don't talk nonsense, I didn't come to London to get away so easily! No matter how many difficulties I have to go through, even if my savings run out and I am forced to sleep on the street... Well, that won't happen, because I don't manage myself so badly! And, anyway, proof of my luck is that I was able to find you today.”

"And what do you say you've come to the capital for, if it may be known?"

"You should know better than anyone, because you were the one who convinced me to start from scratch by forgetting about that stupid Patrick and supporting myself thanks to my hard work! Well, you must be happy! I've decided to take your advice, so you cannot go around saying that I always ignore your warnings!”

"I told you to seek employment in Snodland, not to come to London for it!"

“And how did you want me to stay in the town if now everyone talks about me and not precisely for good? Who is going to want a stinker working for them? Also, how did you tell me that? You didn't mention that I was to stay in Snodland at all!”

"I thought that was self-explanatory. I mean, you have your family there and you said yourself that you didn't have money for long trips, how the hell was I to know that you would prefer to put land in between anyway!”

"Are you trying to make me feel less by calling me poor?"

“I didn't mean to, but since you mention it...”

“Ms. Cornell," Albert jumped in for the second time that day, nipping an argument in the bud, “could I ask why you were looking for Oscar if what you wanted was to find work in the city? Perhaps it is wrong of me to make this observation, but I do not think that, given your own financial situation, it would be a good idea to look for a person in the city before you had secured at least one source of income.”

If it had been Oscar who verified this, Madeleine would have screamed to the heavens, trying to refute something that was common sense. But, since it was Albert who had dropped it, the protagonist meekly replied:

“It's true, it hasn't been very wise of me, although I had my reasons. As Oscar came with you and, apart from that, he already had practically a guaranteed job because of the newspaper thing, so I thought, surely he can help me get something!”

"How far do you think my altruism goes?" Oscar asked quietly, but no one heard him.

"I swear I have no other intention than to start over!" she went on. “As soon as I get a job, I'll leave you alone. Even now, if you don't want to help me, I'll go to… Well, I'll go to the hostel, I'm not going to give up looking for a job. I just thought it would be easier if someone spoke for me, since I'm just a lonely woman in a city where no one knows me. But if it's not possible...”

Oscar was going to say it wasn't, to go to hell. But, to his surprise, Albert told her:

“Get in the carriage.”

“What?” Madeleine was even more surprised than Oscar at such a request.

"Come up, if you want to come with us. We'll have dinner together at my father's estate, and then I'll send a car to escort you to your hotel. Perhaps, over dinner, we can discuss the employment.”

Hearing this, Madeleine smiled with delight, as if she had suddenly forgotten both her attempts to harass this individual and the hurtful words he had spoken against her in the past. Truly, this woman had a unique ability to forget or remember things at her convenience!

For example, she now forgot to ask more questions about the sudden change in mood of a villain who had been avoiding her not long ago. And, without saying another word, perhaps for fear that someone would change their mind, she was the first to get into the carriage.

"May I know what this was for?" Oscar inquired, in a whisper addressed to Albert, before the aforementioned thought of getting into the vehicle as well.

"Would you rather she stay around town asking questions until she finds our new apartment?" The answer was obvious, so he continued. “It is better that we settle her as we can, before in her efforts she finds out too much about us and, in that case, we can no longer get rid of her.” Having remembered something, he added. “Besides, hadn't Miss Warren asked you to look for her? Let's take the opportunity to ask her to contact her family.”

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