Chapter 4

The baker followed the barber out of the alley, but before they entered Fleet Street again, Mr. Todd suddenly turned around. He grasped her arm and pulled her back to the darkness of the small street that they had almost left.

Mrs. Lovett was too dumbfounded to resist, wondering what was going on this time. Luckily Teddy had just thrown a snowball at the still reluctant girl, distracting both of them from the two adults. The two children returned to Fleet Street without realizing what was going on right between their backs.

"What?" the baker hissed as Sweeney held her back, getting more and more frustrated by the situation. And even though she was somewhat angry with him for turning her life completely upside down within a matter of mere minutes, she couldn't help but reminded fully of what had happened between them before the children had interrupted them when his hands were on her arms again.

"We're forgetting something," he said.

"And what is that?" she asked, having no idea what he was talking about. Thinking hadn't been exactly easy as long as they had been in the alley and wasn't any less difficult now, her body still throbbing with desire even as confusion and discomfort caused by the strange behavior of the barber and the girl overwhelmed the pleasure she had felt minutes ago.

He pointed at his own hair, and then at hers. Mrs. Lovett gasped as she realized that both of them had almost walked into Fleet Street without hiding their true identities.

The baker reached quickly for the shawl that had covered her hair earlier, only to come to the conclusion that it wasn't around her neck any longer. She vaguely recalled that Mr. Todd had torn it off earlier that afternoon, when he had recognized her as the woman who she truly was.

She panicked, knowing that she needed the fabric in order to get out of Fleet Street alive. The shawl wasn't in any of the places where she had had it before she returned to her former home and as she quickly inspected her pockets, it turned out not to be in them either. It seemed that she had lost the material, which was a problem because her life depended on it, not to mention that she didn't have any money to buy another one even if she could get out of Fleet Street unnoticed to do so.

"What is it?" the barber asked, seeing the expression on her face.

"I don't have it," she muttered, running a hand through her pockets once again. "I must've lost it."

The barber checked the pockets of his coat as well and to her surprise, he was holding the brown shawl in his hand a moment later.

"I'm sorry," he said, handing it to her. "I forgot I had it."

The baker was rather curious how the item had ended up in his possession and why he had taken it in the first place, but it wasn't the moment to ask.

As she attempted to cover her hair with the shawl again, Sweeney put up the collar of his coat and pulled its hood over his head, obscuring his hair and face from view. The baker's hands however were still trembling to such an extent that she couldn't attach the fabric properly around her face.

Before she knew it, Mr. Todd's hands were covering her own, gently taking the tricky fabric from her fingers to secure it himself. She looked up at him, holding her breath as he focused all his attention on her once again.

"Don't worry," he said again as he made sure that the shawl was in its right place, clearly sensing her distress.

He didn't tell her however about what she shouldn't worry about, and since there were quite some major problems that going with him could potentially cause, the baker didn't feel much better.

The barber remained standing in front of her, even as he had already adjusted the shawl more than seemed necessary to Mrs. Lovett. His presence made her mind swim with too many things at once. She could only stand still however, his eyes scanning her face as if he was looking for something deep within her.

There was a flutter of nervous excitement in the pit of her stomach; she had mostly forgotten what it was like exactly to be in the barber's proximity. The fact that he had just kissed her was something she would probably never get used to, let alone the look he was giving her at that very moment.

As he seemed to move even closer to her, Mrs. Lovett thought that he was going to kiss her again. Just before the last inches between them were closed however, the barber pulled back and turned around abruptly, walking away from her as if he hadn't been so close to her at all – as if he hadn't kissed her with obvious delight only moments ago in the first place.

The baker took a deep breath, forcing herself not to allow the barber to toy with her like this. She had had ten years to repeat her promise to herself that she wasn't ever going to allow Mr. Todd to treat her the way he had done. She didn't intend to break this vow, but Sweeney was making it very difficult for her already and it seemed like he wasn't even trying. He probably wasn't even aware of the way basically anything that he did created huge dilemmas for her.

Even now she wasn't sure whether she should follow him or not. The only thing that was certain to her however was that the decision that she would make now, would define the rest of her life.

There was much at stake and there wasn't any reason why she could trust the barber now, after all what he had done to her in the past. But in her heart it was clear to her that there was only one thing she could do, only one choice she could make. Whether it was right or wrong, she had always blindly followed the barber and she wasn't going to change it, not right after he had literally given her a taste of her dreams.

Only when she watched him walking away, heading back to Fleet Street as if nothing as strange and surprising had happened as what they just had shared, she became aware of the way that he moved. There was something odd about it, something very different.

She looked at him more closely, focusing on his legs instead of his face and hands. Only then she saw that he appeared to be limping slightly; there was something in his right leg that prevented him from using it properly. Whenever he took a step, his right leg didn't move as fluently as the left, but was dragged behind his body.

He still managed to walk at an almost normal speed; the change was a subtle one that she hadn't even noticed herself at first sight. It wasn't pleasant to see him like this however; there had obviously happened something very unfortunate to him.

She was very eager to find out what exactly it was that had taken place, but it was clearly not the moment to talk about it. She didn't even know when – if – there would come a moment that she would actually find out. The barber had never been very talkative since he had returned from his banishment and what she had seen of him so far, that hadn't changed much.

Other characteristics of him however had changed very much indeed, so there might be hope that there would come a moment that he would tell her a few of the things about himself that she was rather desperate to know. For now however there was nothing she could do, except for following him.

When the baker stepped out of the alley a moment later, stepping back into the crowd on Fleet Street while making sure that the shawl was properly covering all her characteristic curls, Mr. Todd just helped the girl into a carriage.

Mrs. Lovett forced herself not to be surprised by this. It only made sense that he lived so far away from Fleet Street that he needed a carriage in order to get there; what surprised her however was that he was apparently able to afford such a ride. Things like that had been a luxury for her, even when her meat pie emporium had been on the peak of its success.

Teddy was standing next to Mr. Todd, looking over his shoulder. The look in his eyes when his gaze met hers suggested that he felt that they shouldn't follow the barber, but that he was very excited to get inside the horse-drawn carriage at the same time. The baker felt a jolt of guilt when she realized that the boy had never been inside such a vehicle before, even though he adored everything that moved, especially when it had wheels. The young boy still had the age that he could be intrigued by relative simple things such as this.

The barber was looking at her as well, obviously wanting her permission before helping Teddy inside. The baker couldn't help but be pleased, remembering the countless occasions that Mr. Todd had done the most drastic things in her very own house without even bothering to ask her advice or permission.

She nodded to both the man and the boy, very much aware of the look of joy on their faces as she did so. If it hadn't been for the situation, she would've been amused by the way that both Teddy and Mr. Todd could look glad even though their faces were so completely different. It was of course rather surreal to see such an expression on the barber's face, but the same things that she had noticed a few times before were there again. The subtle quirk of his lips, the light that seemed to appear in his eyes for a moment... It was nothing compared to the big and enthusiastic grin on Teddy's face, his eyes sparkling as usual, but it was at least just as beautiful to the baker.

Mrs. Lovett herself was the last one to enter the carriage. To her surprise, Mr. Todd extended his hand to her, helping her inside. The shock of heat that went through her when their hands touched almost made her lose her balance. Judging from the way his fingers jerked against hers for a second, he had felt it too.

Reminded of their frantic moment of heat mere minutes ago, the baker pulled her hand back quickly, not wanting to think about that as she settled herself at the last part of the carriage that wasn't occupied yet.

When she sat down between Teddy and the right edge of the carriage, Mr. Todd told the driver their designation. She listened intently as he did so, but even though she clearly heard the street he mentioned, she didn't know where it was; she had never heard of it before.

The carriage wasn't big enough for four people, even though there were two children among them. Her dress was still wet and this didn't make things more comfortable. The way Sweeney was looking at her didn't make her feel at ease either; she didn't know why exactly, but there was something unsettling in his eyes. It was not something she had ever seen before; it lacked the anger and hate of the old days. But the intensity of whatever it was that she could read in his dark gaze was slightly terrifying.

When the carriage moved out of Fleet Street and the baker found herself pressed against Teddy, who was sitting on the small bench next to her, and being stared at by the blond girl who was sitting directly opposite her, Mrs. Lovett began to regret her decision.

She wanted to go with Sweeney Todd and this hadn't changed. The way that she was following him however began to scare her somewhat. The carriage was small and dark, making her feel as if she was locked up.

Teddy's presence had been a comfort to her at first; it was good to have someone with her who she could trust – someone of which she at least knew how he felt about her. Now that they were heading into an unknown direction however and she couldn't get out before Mr. Todd ordered the driver to stop the carriage, the baker felt trapped. She was also worried about the boy who she was supposed to take care of; she felt as if she was dragging him down with her now.

She had made her choice however and she couldn't undo it now. Her only possibility was just to wait and see what was going to happen next. Doing nothing but waiting however was rather unpleasant now that a feeling of impending doom arose inside of her and Mr. Todd's girl kept staring at her.

The barber removed the hood from his head and, sensing that it was safe enough to do so, the baker followed his example, relieved to create some extra space directly around her. The girl's staring however increased in intensity when the baker freed herself from the fabric.

The baker had no idea why the child was doing so. She looked back at the girl, who was oblivious of this. Only then Mrs. Lovett realized that she wasn't looking at her face; her gaze was focused on a point a bit lower than that.

Nellie presumed that the girl was absorbed by the clothing that covered the baker's body – or rather, the lack of it. Mrs. Lovett was suddenly awkwardly aware of the dress that wasn't only just a bit lower cut than was appropriate, but also was worn to such extent that some parts of it were almost becoming see-through, especially now that it was wet from the melting snow.

The baker's cheeks flushed even more as she realized that that part of her body was being scrutinized. It was something she was used to to some extent, but this was rather disturbing. Not only because of the child's age and gender, but because of the judgment in her eyes.

Mrs. Lovett groaned inwardly as she was reminded again of the fact that she had no idea who the girl actually was. She vaguely recalled that the barber had referred to her as Victoria and that he had mumbled something about her age during one of their first kisses, but this didn't put her at ease at all.

Now that they were sitting so close to each other, she could see however that Victoria didn't look as much as Johanna as she had thought at first. In fact, this girl looked quite different than what Mrs. Lovett remembered of Mr. and Mrs. barker's daughter.

They both had the same sad look in their eyes and both of them had blond hair, but that was basically where the similarities ended. Victoria's skin wasn't as sickly pale as Johanna's had been and the eyes of the girl that was sitting opposite her now were brown instead of blue. Her hair was also a darker shade of blond and she was obviously perfectly at ease in Mr. Todd's presence.

Forcing herself not to be intimidated by the child, even though she might be Mr. Todd's, Mrs. Lovett tore her gaze away from the girl and focused her attention on Teddy, looking at him from the corners of her eyes. Just like she had expected, he was looking at the streets of the City with wide eyes, face pressed against the window. It pleased her to see him like this, if only because it meant that she didn't have to divide a part of her attention to him for the first being. The boy was her main priority, but as long as she was this close to Mr. Todd, she had no idea what things she would or would not do.

Knowing that Teddy was safe for the moment – and actually was enjoying himself now – the baker's attention shifted to Mr. Todd himself. He appeared to be staring outside and Mrs. Lovett was grateful to have this opportunity to look at him. It was the first time that she actually had a change to properly watch the man who she still loved.

He hadn't changed much; that was the first thing she noticed. It was easy to see who he was and she understood now that he had hidden his face when they had met in Fleet Street earlier that day; he was still just as easy to recognize as she was. As she looked at him more intently, she became aware of some subtle changes.

His hair for example was somewhat longer than she remembered it and it was graying slightly, making the white streak in his hair, that was still unmistakably there, stand out less. Even though a decade had passed, the lines on his face seemed to be less deep than they had been before. If anything, he almost looked younger than he had done when she had last seen him. Whatever had happened to him during the past ten years, it had done him good.

The change that fascinated her most however, was his eyes. They were still just as dark as she remembered them, but the haunted and lost look that had always been present there since the day that he had returned to England, seemed to have faded so drastically that it appeared to be no longer present. His gaze had softened and although there was still a look in his eyes that was probably slightly terrifying to normal people, Mrs. Lovett couldn't help but decide that he looked very well indeed.

A small smile appeared on her lips. In spite of everything, she was glad to see him like this. He had proven that she had been right all this time in thinking that he didn't for always have to be the angry and tormented man that fate had made him.

The right corner of his lips moved upwards as well, clearly as a reaction to her. Horrified, Mrs. Lovett realized that he hadn't been looking outside at all; he had been looking at her reflection in the window all this time.

She quickly looked away, only to be greeted by Victoria's cold stare once again. Her reaction must've been visible on her face, for Mr. Todd turned his head to the girl as well, obviously aware now of the tension between the two.

There was a flash of something on his face when he saw the hostile stare of the girl, but it disappeared before the baker could interpret in. It was obvious to her however that the way he looked at the girl was terrifying indeed. Victoria became aware of it after a few seconds, turning her head away from the baker at last.

Any human being – even Mrs. Lovett herself – would be quite scared if anyone looked at them like that. The girl however simply raised an eyebrow, challenging the barber to correct her behavior.

Making sure that Teddy was still fully focused on the buildings and people outside, Mrs. Lovett looked at the man and the girl in front of her, waiting with a heavy heart for the drama to enfold.

Mr. Todd and Victoria looked at each other for a long time. Mrs. Lovett blinked several times, but neither of the other two did so, both of them determined to win the staring contest.

As the long seconds passed, the baker vaguely realized that the girl differed from Johanna in this aspect as well; Lucy's daughter had been afraid of her own shadow. Which was only logical after all what had happened to her; the baker didn't even want to consider how she would be after being raised up in the household of a man as evil as Judge Turpin.

After what seemed like several minutes, Victoria looked away at last. Mrs. Lovett was a relieved, hoping that she didn't have to endure the girl's disapproval for the remaining part of the journey.

The girl's eyes however locked with the baker's once again. Unable to believe that Victoria just ignored the implicit but very clear hint of the barber, the baker just stared back again, determined not to let her dominate her in any way.

She looked away however only a few seconds later as a movement in the corner of her eye caught her attention. To her bewilderment, Mr. Todd appeared to be getting up even though the carriage was still driving at full speed.

"I'd like us to change seats," he said to Teddy.

The baker had no idea why Mr. Todd would want to move to another part of the carriage and neither did Teddy, if the look of incomprehension and distrust that he gave the barber was any indication.

"The view is better on this side," he said, surprising both the baker and the boy with the genuine gentleness of his voice.

"All right," the boy said, after casting a questing glance at his aunt.

What followed was a rather ungraceful moment in which the man and the boy switched places in the small and moving carriage. Mr. Todd bumped his head against the low ceiling and Teddy ended up in her lap twice, but they managed to do this.

The bench that she was sitting on had been small for two persons already when the young boy was sitting next to her. Now that the grown barber was at her side, it was really clear that the carriage wasn't big enough for this.

The pain of her right half of her body that was pressed against the side of the irregularly moving carriage now was however nothing compared to the feeling of the other half, which was pressed firmly against the barber's.

She still had no idea however why he insisted on sitting next to her; she highly doubted that he enjoyed the way their bodies were pressed together as much as she did.

The answer to her question provided itself quickly. In spite of the narrow space around them, Mr. Todd managed to shrug off the coat that he was wearing. She could take a proper look at it again; the fabric was even finer and more well made than she had initially thought. Even though the lowest part of it was wet because of the snow that it had come in contact with when he had sat down next to her on the stones of the alley, the shape of the coat was still unmistakable, which was completely unlike the sad excuse of a coat that the baker was still wearing herself.

The barber's hands were on her shoulders a moment later. The tingle that she had felt before whenever he touched her was there again, but it disappeared almost immediately when he removed his hands only after a second.

She had been distracted by his touch and only realized what he was doing when he helped her get her old and wet coat off. She had no idea why he did so, but she allowed him to do it anyway, for a reason that wasn't clear to her.

As soon as they had taken the coat off, he folded the clammy and thin fabric neatly and placed it on his knees. He then took his own coat and wrapped it around her shoulders, providing her both with some much needed warmth and a way to hide the majority of her body fully from Victoria's eyes.

Mrs. Lovett turned her head towards the man sitting next to her, smiling at him to express her gratitude even as she couldn't fully believe yet that Mr. Todd was apparently capable now of such chivalrous gestures, even to her.

The biggest surprise however was still to come. While he kept looking straight at the girl, the barber reached for her hand, which was resting on her knee. His fingers curled around hers, causing once again the strange jolt that she had felt earlier to. Her eyes snapped towards their now touching hands, unable to believe what was happening even as she saw it herself.

No matter how surprised she was, she wouldn't even think of preventing him from touching her like that. Not only because she had dreamed of a moment like this for so long, but because it actually felt completely right to be touched by him like this.

His fingers entwined with hers and before she knew it, the barber took her hand in his own. Although his eyes were focused on the girl, challenging her to say something about it as he made the bold statement, she could just sense that the rest of his being was directed completely towards her.

Mrs. Lovett swallowed as Mr. Todd squeezed her hand gently, having no idea why he was doing this. No matter how much she enjoyed the unexpected gesture, she couldn't help feeling even less at ease because of it. The situation was just too strange and bizarre, but for the time being there was nothing she could do about it.

Victoria's eyes widened as the barber took his former landlady's hand in his own. After a moment she shrugged however, moving her eyes away at last. The girl continued to look outside, to the buildings and streets that flew by around them, but Mrs. Lovett could tell that the girl wasn't really looking, that there was a sudden tension in her body.

The baker turned her face around, unable to look at both Mr. Todd and the mysterious girl any longer without tending to do something that she shouldn't. Instead, she focused on the buildings that could be seen outside. To her surprise, they were currently in the center of London. She didn't know why they were here, but she felt too tired and overwhelmed to really think about it.

In fact, her eyes closed on their own accord as the ride didn't seem to come to an end. The small space around her and the others wasn't exactly getting warm, but it seemed as if there wasn't enough air in the carriage for all of them. Mrs. Lovett at least had trouble breathing, but she presumed that there were a lot of other things that could've caused this.

She wished that the ride would come to an end, that she could distance herself for a moment from the barber and the strange girl, to recollect her thoughts and wit. She needed all the energy that she still possessed to stand her ground against Mr. Todd, who had just proven to have become even more unpredictable than he had always been.

The ride didn't come to an end however for quite some time. But the barber was holding her hand, actually caressing her skin with his thumb. Even as he was driving her temperature to a rather disturbing height with the touch that was welcome but unfamiliar to her, his hand was the anchor that kept her somewhat in place in a world that didn't seem to play by the rules that she had known all her life any longer.

After more than half an hour, the carriage stood still for the final time. The baker opened her eyes when it was clear to her that they had arrived at last.

"We're here," Sweeney said, but the baker was hardly aware of those words.

Even though she was rather sure that she had just opened her eyes, it seemed to her as if she had somehow ended up in an actual dream instead of the real world while doing so. They were in a neighborhood that was unlike any that she had ever seen before.

The houses were large and beautiful without being overwhelming, solely build to impress and intimidate. The street was broad and clean, marked by trees on both sides of it. In fact, the baker could see a small park that lay just beyond the part of the road where the carriage had stopped.

The baker was unaware that she was gawking at her current surroundings, not realizing that all others had gotten out, until Mr. Todd cleared his throat.

She turned her face towards him, cheeks coloring slightly because it was obvious to both of them that she was completely caught off guard by the area where he appeared to live now.

"You didn't expect that, did you?"

There was no anger in his word, not even sarcasm. He was just asking a question, in a way she had thought he was no longer capable of.

"I did not expect this," she simply replied, casting a first glance on the house that the carriage had stopped in front of and of which the front door was currently opened by Victoria.

The house was just as big as the other houses Mrs. Lovett had seen already, and it even had a small garden in front of it. There were two floors above the ground level, the second one being part of the roof just like the barber's room in Fleet Street had been. That was however probably the only similarity between this house and the building that Mrs. Lovett had owned in the more southern part of London.

The walls were made out of regularly shaped stones that looked neither old nor new and the window frames were covered in fresh looking paint, which was dark but not in a depressing way. Although she had never been there and had no idea who would inhabit the large house except from the barber and – apparently – the girl, Mrs. Lovett felt at ease there almost immediately.

"Welcome home," Sweeney said, and although she had no idea what the word 'home' suggested, she loved the sound of it.

He extended his hand to her as she got out of the carriage, making it easier for her to descend the two small steps that crossed the distance to the cobblestones that were two yards beneath the carriage.

She took his hand as she stepped out. She almost felt like a princess visiting a ball at a palace or something as wonderful as that. But the baker knew very well that Mr. Todd wasn't a prince and that she certainly was not a princess. She couldn't allow herself such fantasies, but it was hard not to surrender herself to such thoughts for only the shortest of moments.

"This is the biggest house I've ever seen," Teddy said with enthusiasm, quite a bit too loud for the baker's taste. "It's so much bigger than where we live!"

Mrs. Lovett blushed – purely because of shame this time. Sweeney Todd didn't have to know in which circumstances she lived, especially not now that he turned out to have such a house himself, indicating that his life had taken a big turn for the better after they had separated ways.

Mr. Todd just shrugged, as if the house wasn't important at all. The baker knew that he only did so to make her feel better, but the fact that he did so in the first place meant a lot to her indeed. It was certainly enough for her to calm a little and not to be bothered by Teddy's painful honesty. This was hardly the worst thing he had ever said, but things always seemed a lot more extreme when Mr. Todd was involved. It was another thing that didn't seem to have changed.

She was somewhat aware of the barber as he paid the driver of the carriage, the amount of pounds that he paid the man being more money than she had had for a long time. She was distracted by Teddy however, who was looking at the building with huge eyes. He clearly wasn't sure whether he should be impressed by the house or suspicious of the man who owned it.

"Come in," he said, moving his hand to the small of her back, guiding her towards the open front door.

There was no way for her to do anything else than just that. When Teddy saw that she was going inside, he entered the house as well, following Victoria. Judging from the look on the blond haired girl's face, she wasn't sure whether to be amused by the boys awe for her home or shocked by the fact that Mr. Todd was guiding the baker into it.

Mrs. Lovett however wasn't aware of this. She tried to focus on anything but the question who else she was going to find in the house; she couldn't imagine that the barber lived there alone with the girl. The house was much too big for that and she actually couldn't imagine Mr. Todd looking after someone by himself, let alone a girl who looked as dependent as Victoria did.

There was no sign of a tonsorial parlor and this surprised her. It was obvious now than Mr. Todd's life was quite different than what she had imagined throughout the years, but she couldn't really presume that he had quit his old profession. She doubted that he only still wore the holster with the razor on his side to remind him of days long gone.

When they walked through the garden, the baker became aware of a pleasant smell that lingered there in the air. She looked down and spotted dozens of plants in the soil that surrounded the path to the front door on both sides. They were mostly covered with snow, only their tops reaching above the white surface, but they still managed to bring an early sense of spring to the area.

"Victoria likes them," Sweeney said, noticing her surprised glance. "And so do I."

The baker almost rolled her eyes. The thought that the barber actually liked the flowers that were growing in front of his house seemed too ridiculous to be true. He had detested anything that grew – or actually, anything that lived – when they had lived together in London. But, Mrs. Lovett had to admit, recalling their kisses earlier that day, stranger things had changed about him. The barber liking flowers wasn't as seemingly unlikely after all now that he appeared to like her as well.

"Come in," he said, "it's warmer and more comfortable inside."

She followed him, noticing his slight limp again, knowing that he was right. Even though she had no idea who she might find inside of it, the house seemed to be drawing her in, as if it was calling her to come home even though she had never been there before. When the carriage drove off and Mr. Todd closed the door behind them, the baker didn't feel as captured at all as she had feared initially.

This feeling didn't last very long however. Just when they entered the hall and Mr. Todd took the coat off her shoulders that he had given her earlier, there appeared someone on the chairs that lead to the first floor.

The baker held her breath as the person stepped into the baker's view step by step. The feet appeared first; they were too big to belong to either of the two children, who had disappeared into their house already, leaving their shoes and coats in the hall.

What followed next was a skirt. The baker's heart was pounding as she saw it; just like she had feared, there was indeed a woman in the house. She wouldn't be surprised if this turned out to be Victoria's mother. That would make the situation truly difficult and painful indeed.

She was only vaguely aware that Mr. Todd came to stand right behind her, placing two supporting hands on her waist. She had never thought that the barber would ever touch her like that, but she couldn't enjoy it now that the person who could potentially ruin all of this was heading towards them.

It took the other woman only a few seconds to reach the hallway, but it seemed to Mrs. Lovett like she watched her coming into her view for at least several slow minutes. There was a moment of deep silence when the two women looked each other in the eye for the first time and Mrs. Lovett was desperately trying to find out who on earth the other woman was.

"Mrs. Clint, we have two guests," Sweeney said, breaking the silence.

The other woman simply nodded as she took in the baker with a look that wasn't as hostile or judgmental that Mrs. Lovett had feared it to be.

"Will they be staying for dinner, sir?" she asked the barber.

"Yes, they will. And please be so kind to prepare another bedroom."

"Just one, sir?"

"Two," the barber said quickly. "I meant two."

The baker watched the exchange with increasing surprise. She had no idea what kind of plans Mr. Todd had for her and Teddy – when it came to his actual plans, he seemed to be still just as talkative as he had been ten years ago.

The words 'dinner' and 'bedroom' – especially the quantity of those – echoed in her head. There were a lot of questions she wanted to ask the barber – questions that were only inspired by the short conversation that he just had had with the other woman. There was only one question that she could voice at that particular moment.

"You've got a housekeeper?" she hissed, not sure whether she wanted to laugh or cry with relief now that it was clear to her that he wasn't romantically involved with the woman who appeared to be already living in Mr. Todd's ridiculously large house.

"I do," he said. He had the nerve to sound amused, something of which she was again not sure what to think of it. "Can you imagine me shopping at the market or doing the laundry? Taking care of this house?"

"I suppose not," the baker replied, doing her best to suppress herself from giving a more colored answer. This was the man after all who she had looked after for months during which he had been seemingly incapable of performing even the smallest and easiest domestic task.

"Mrs. Lovett," he said, the tone of his voice sobering her. "I would like to talk to you. Alone."

"All right," she said, trying to sound not as eager as she felt. This was rather difficult however, seeing that a moment to talk to him in private was something she looked forward to almost as much as finishing what they had started in the alley right next to their former home.

In fact, talking seemed even more tempting now than that. Due to her wet clothing and the long drive away from the alley, the heat that had burned her earlier had basically disappeared. She also felt that she couldn't fully enjoy the barber's touch before she knew what had happened to him, what had caused his feelings for her to change in such an extreme way.

"You have to change first," he said, gesturing at her dress, a drop of molten snow falling on the impeccable floor of the barber's hallway at that very moment.

"All right," she said, realizing that an explanation could wait a few more minutes if she could get dry clothes in exchange. "What can I wear? Does your housekeeper have any spare clothes?"

She was now more than ever aware of the fact that the only dress she still possessed was the one she was currently wearing already.

"She does," Sweeney replied, "but you will find that there'll be some pieces of clothing here that are more... suitable."

She had absolutely no idea what he meant to say with that, but she knew better than to ask.

"First door on the left," he said, gesturing at the flight of stairs that Mrs. Clint had just descended from. "I'll wait for you in the parlor."

He pointed at the large room that lay directly beyond the hallway and gave her a small key, of which she presumed that she needed it to open the room that he had mentioned. There was a thin cord attached to the key, which seemed to be feeling warmer than it should be, seeing the material it was made of.

No matter how odd she found this, she simply nodded to him and headed upstairs. Finding the room that he had mentioned to her was the best and easiest way to find out what he had been talking about.

The room was easy to find and the key that he had given her fitted perfectly. The lock was undone easily, its mechanism solid but smooth, suggesting that it was both well kept and often used.

The baker pushed the door open, finding a small room which was located on the front of the house. The window let in a generous amount of daylight and offered a nice view on the park on the other side of the street, that she had noticed when she had still been in the carriage. The room was prettier than any part of a house she had ever seen, let alone the one she had lived in herself for the past few years – the one that she had so recently lost.

It wasn't the room itself however that caught her attention, but the items that it contained. Her mouth literally fell open when she spotted the things that someone – Mr. Todd – had stored there.

The items varied greatly in their nature and purpose. There were pictures, plates, vases, knick-knacks, cutlery, sheet music of songs she had forgotten... and dresses. And so much more than that; every inch of space on the shelves that were put against the walls was filled with countless different things.

They all had however one thing in common: she had owned them once and she had been sure that she had lost them when she had fled London ten years ago.

Her legs were weaker now than they had ever been that day. She had been convinced that there could be nothing stranger than kissing Sweeney Todd, and being kissed by him in return. Now that she had found that he had an entire room filled with her former possessions, a room that basically seemed to be dedicated to her, it seemed to her whether the world – or more likely, she herself – had actually gone mad.

All thoughts of changing clothes forgotten, she sank down on her knees in the middle of the room, wondering whether she still lived the same life as she had done that morning, when she had boarded the train back to London.