"Alms! Alms! For a desperate woman!"
"O' course, dearie. Why don't you pop inside, first? Warm your bones an' 'ave a bite to eat," Mrs. Lovett offered the beggar outside. She'd noticed her many times, but before her and Sweeney's plan, she hadn't anything to offer the unfortunate woman.
"Thank ya! Thank ya kindly!" the woman cried ass Mrs. Lovett ushered her out of the night and into the brightness of the shop.
"'Ave a meat-pie, love. Would you like a drop o' ale?"
The beggar didn't answer, instead began immediately scarfing down the pie, not looking up till she was done.
"Another?" Mrs. Lovett smiled happily from her spot across the booth from the beggar.
The woman looked up and her bright blue orbs met Mrs. Lovett's brown ones.
"You!?"
The woman smiled brightly as if she knew who paced above them.
Mrs. Lovett quickly stood and began pacing, mirroring Mr. Todd upstairs. If I make too big a deal, Mr. Todd might come down and recognize her. If I don't do enough, this infernal woman would surely come back for another free meal.
She grabbed the beggar roughly by the arm and pushed her into the wall. "'Ave ya any idea who ya are?" Mrs. Lovett demanded in hushed tones.
The beggar began whimpering.
"Do ya know yer name?" she slammed the woman into the wall again to scare an answer out of her.
Mrs. Lovett heard Sweeney Todd's latest client slip through the chute and hit the basement floor with a sickening crunch. Her head turned reflexively to the basement door. You could only hear it when it was silent and…
The basement door! I must've left it open!
The beggar took advantage of Mrs. Lovett's distractedness and pulled out of her slackening grip.
"No!" Mrs. Lovett breathed as the woman ran down to the bake-house. "Come back!"
The beggar had stopped just inside the threshold, transfixed at the broken body. Mrs. Lovett, in her haste, ran into the woman, knocking her to the ground.
"Devil! Witch, witch!" the beggar yelled at Mrs. Lovett. "Sign of the devil! Fiend!"
"Shut up!" Mrs. Lovett pleaded, dragging the other woman to her feet and up the bake-house stairs. She pushed several coins into the beggar's hands before shoving her from the shop. "Leave! And don't come back!"
The beggar stumbled from the shop before backing away. She spotted the dark, unnatural smoke emanating from the chimney. "Smoke! Smoke! Sign of the devil! City on fire!" she screeched.
"Shoo!" Mrs. Lovett waved the beggar away with a rag. "Shoo!"
The beggar continued to back away, her eyes trained on Mrs. Lovett, before hurrying down the street.
"Lucy Barker…" Mrs. Lovett finally whispered as the beggar rounded the far corner. "Well, this just won't do. Benjamin Barker may 'ave been 'ers, but Sweeney Todd? 'E's mine. That- That thing that used to be Benjamin's darling wife? She can't 'ave my Sweeney."
Mrs. Lovett made her way back to the bake-house to work on the latest used-to-be client of the barber's.
"Perfect Lucy," she hacked violently. "Beautiful Lucy." Hack, hack. "Wonderful Lucy." Mrs. Lovett imagined the blue-eyed blonde on the slab, completely at the mercy of her cleaver. "Crazy ol' bat.
"I can't believe I jus' threw 'er out. What if she comes back and Mr. T sees 'er? What if 'e recognizes 'er?" Mrs. Lovett grinded the meat, taking more pleasure in it than usual. "Well, I'll jus' 'ave to make sure I don't let 'er get too close. Soon enough 'is revenge will be over an' done wit' an' we can move down by the sea. Away from Fleet Street and Lucy Barker.
"That woman," Mrs. Lovett shook her head. "She'll be the death o' me."