More Than Riches

by More Than Riches (retail) (epub)

  It was Peggy who wisely broke the spell. ‘You ain’t changed much,’ she remarked. ‘But then, I don’t suppose any of us has.’

  ‘You certainly haven’t,’ he said. ‘You’re still as bright as ever.’ He kissed her on the cheek, and would have done the same for Martha if she hadn’t glowered at him and stepped away.

  ‘There’s no time for all that,’ she said sullenly when he shook hands with Ned. Turning to Doug, she suggested, ‘We’d best go, son, or we’ll be late.’

  ‘Wait, there’s someone I want you all to meet.’ Adam looked behind him and ushered in Connie who was pretty as a picture in a bright pink outfit and black high-heeled shoes. ‘This is Connie,’ he explained. Addressing Doug he said, ‘I hope you don’t mind, only I didn’t want to leave her behind.’

  Doug’s face lit up. ‘Mind? Whyever should I mind?’ He stared her up and down and was pleased with what he saw. Then he turned to Rosie. ‘Come along, sweetheart. Like Mam says, we don’t want to be late now, do we?’

  * * *

  In the church, Rosie’s son was quiet as a lamb. Instead it was Doug who exploded when the priest declared the little chap’s name to be ‘Danny’.

  ‘You’re wrong,’ Doug interrupted, and was embarrassed when all eyes turned to him.

  ‘Oh?’ asked the priest, looking puzzled, ‘What shall I christen him then?’

  Rosie spoke out. ‘Danny,’ she said calmly. ‘His name is to be Danny. That’s the name he’s registered by, and that’s the name he’ll be christened.’ Fortunately, the registrar was an old man with an understanding nature. Changing the child’s name had not been the arduous task she had feared. She smiled at Doug and his eyes bored through her. Some time back she had called on this very priest and she gambled that Doug wouldn’t cause a scene here in church in front of everyone. Thankfully, she had been right.

  The ceremony continued, and throughout it Rosie could feel Doug’s hostility towards her. But she didn’t care. Her son had been given the name she had chosen, and if she had to pay the price later, then so be it. For now, the moment was hers, and she was revelling in it.

  The child slept when the priest poured water over his head, and snoozed through the heartfelt rendering of ‘The Old Rugged Cross’. He slept on while Adam cuddled him, and was still deep in dreams when they arrived back at the house. ‘I’ve never known an infant so good,’ Connie remarked, and everyone had to agree.

  ‘I’m proud you asked me to be godfather,’ Adam told Doug, who had stopped off at a mate’s to collect a crate of ale and was now busy working his way through it.

  ‘Who else would I ask but my best mate?’ Doug said sulkily. The more he drank, the surlier he became.

  Aware that Doug was deliberately being offensive, Adam guessed the reason and made a great effort to stay away from Rosie. Leaving Connie chatting to Doug, he spent a few minutes making small talk with Martha, who seemed hell-bent on making him feel unwelcome. He was relieved to talk with Ned, who discussed various current affairs, including the recently retired world heavyweight, Joe Lewis, and the lifting by the Soviets of the Berlin blockade. The talk soon came round to home, and industry, and inevitably came the question, ‘Are you making your fortune then, Adam?’

  ‘Not yet, but I’m heading in the right direction.’ Occasionally he would glance at Rosie, and everything he had achieved so far meant nothing to him. ‘I’ve got one wagon and just recently took on the lease of a yard and premises… the very same premises where we met at the sale.’ Ned Selby seemed impressed so he went on, ‘Ben Saxon did me a favour I’ll never forget.’ He explained how it had all come about, and added, ‘It was the kick-start I needed. There’ll be no holding me now!’

  Especially not now, he mused bitterly, sneaking a glance at the heavily pregnant Rosie and thinking how lovely she was. In fact, he said the very same thing to her when Doug fell asleep on the settee and the two of them were able to sneak a moment together. ‘I don’t think I’ve ever seen you look more beautiful,’ he said, smiling into her brown eyes.

  Away with you,’ she said softly, feeling suddenly shy beneath the intensity of his gaze. ‘I’m seven months pregnant and looking like the side of a house.’

  ‘Not from where I’m standing.’

  ‘Thank you for that.’

  ‘Rosie?’

  ‘Yes?’

  ‘Tell me, are you happy? Really happy?’

  She couldn’t bring herself to answer. Instead she looked to where Connie and Martha were talking. ‘Your girlfriend… she’s very pretty.’ She was grateful that Connie had innocently drawn Martha’s attention from her, because ever since Adam had crossed the room to talk with her, Rosie had been acutely aware of her mother-in-law’s eyes boring into them.

  ‘Rosie, you didn’t answer my question.’ Adam was insistent. ‘Are you happy?’

  ‘Of course. You can see for yourself.’ It was more than she dared do to let him think otherwise. Besides, her pride wouldn’t allow him to believe she was less than happy. Not when he obviously had a woman of his own who he ‘didn’t want to leave behind’.

  ‘You’ve changed.’

  ‘Oh?’

  ‘You’re quieter, more subdued… as if the spirit has gone out of you.’

  ‘What nonsense!’ She forced herself to laugh. ‘How like a man. Here I am, with a bairn in arms and seven months carrying, and I’m expected to leap about like a two year old.’ It wasn’t his fault but she felt angry, sad even. Perhaps because he was right. She had changed.

  ‘I didn’t mean that, and you know it.’ He glanced at Doug who had woken up and after talking briefly to his father was now glowering at them from the other side of the room. ‘He hasn’t changed at all. He’s still fond of the ale, and his temper hasn’t improved.’ When she didn’t answer, he voiced the suspicion that had played on his mind ever since he had arrived here. ‘I don’t have to ask why he wanted me as godfather?’

  ‘Are you sorry?’

  ‘If he expected me to be that, then he’s the one who should be sorry.’ He gazed down on her lovely face, and sensed the sadness there. ‘Doug should thank his lucky stars that he has a woman like you for his wife,’ he murmured. ‘Walking out on you was something I can never forgive myself for.’ Leaning towards her, he lowered his voice. It was now heavy with emotion. ‘If there should come a day when you need me, I’ll be there. Always remember that.’

  ‘Thank you, but I honestly don’t see how I’ll ever have need of you,’ she lied. ‘Doug has his faults, I know, but he takes good care of us.’ Her gaze went first to the sleeping child, and then to her husband. He was beginning to drink heavily and she feared he might cause trouble. ‘It seems such a long time since we were all footloose and fancy free,’ she mused aloud, ‘but that’s all water under the bridge.’ She wondered how she could sound so matter-of-fact when inside she was crying out for him. ‘The past is gone, and it’s only the future that counts. We all have our own roads to travel.’ In her own way she was trying to tell him that even if she should ever need his help, she could never ask for it.

  Her words were like a slap in the face to Adam. ‘I’m sorry,’ he said, ‘I didn’t mean anything. It’s just that, well, I hope we can remain friends, you and I? But of course you’re right. It’s no good dwelling on the past. Nothing ever comes of that.’ So they talked about the child and how bonny he was. They talked about how Adam was working his way up in the world, and how Ben was a good man who had advised him well. They had a little laugh about how Martha was still an old warhorse, and Rosie told him what a good friend Peggy was. They chatted about everything in general and nothing in particular, and not once after Rosie’s timely warning did they talk about themselves. In her heart, though, Rosie cherished these precious moments together, and he was tortured by her nearness.

  It was Doug’s slurred and bad-tempered voice that broke the spell between them. ‘What the bloody hell’s this then?’ he asked, flinging his arm round Rosie’s shoulders and almost knockin
g her over. ‘A secret meeting, is it? Or can anybody join?’

  Adam’s face broke into a wide smile. ‘I was just telling Rosie how well she looked… considering.’

  ‘Oh, aye?’ Pushing Rosie aside, he thrust his face forward, glaring up at Adam with bloodshot eyes. ‘And what’s that supposed to mean, eh? Considering?’

  Adam knew Doug of old. He had seen him the worse for drink before and, though he could have shaken him by the scruff of the neck, simply smiled and told him, ‘Considering the wonderful do she’s put on here, the food and everything. It’s a credit to her. It can’t have been easy.’

  Doug laughed. ‘Rubbish! This sort of thing is what women are best at.’ Turning his attention to Rosie he asked, ‘Enjoyed every minute of it, didn’t you, sweetheart?’

  ‘If you say so.’ Her brown eyes deepened with anger. She didn’t like being made to look a fool, especially in front of Adam.

  Sensing her animosity, he tightened his grip on her shoulders, making her wince. ‘Oh, I do say so!’ he murmured, kissing her on the mouth and laughing aloud when she pulled away. ‘No need to be shy in front of old friends,’ he argued.

  To make his point he would have kissed her again, but lost his balance. It was Adam who saved Rosie from being squashed against the sideboard. ‘Don’t you think you’ve had enough of that?’ he asked grimly, pointing to the jar of ale in Doug’s fist; most of the frothy brown liquid had splashed over Rosie, but she chose not to make a fuss in front of everyone. Instead she quietly dabbed at the stain with her hankie, realising with dismay that her one best skirt was possibly ruined.

  ‘Stop that!’ Doug knocked her hand away. ‘Bugger the skirt,’ he yelled, ‘I’ll buy you a new one. Or would you rather he bought you one, eh? Then happen he’d have a right to take it off when he felt like it!’ With every word he jabbed at her arm until it was red raw.

  Something snapped in Rosie then. Whether it was the sight of Martha’s smug and satisfied face gawping at them from across the room, or whether it was Adam’s grim features that told her he was about to wipe the floor with Doug, or even her own humiliation at being shown up in front of everyone, she would never know. But in a minute she was facing Doug, telling him in a calm and dignified voice, ‘Please keep your hands to yourself and lower your voice. Have you forgotten this is our son’s christening, and that we have guests here?’ Forcing a nervous smile while he stared at her open-mouthed, she went on, ‘If you can’t behave in a civilised manner, I think it might be a good idea for you to go upstairs and sleep it off.’ Nothing in her manner betrayed the fact that she was inwardly seething.

  But Doug’s fury was written on his face for all to see. ‘You little bitch!’ Grabbing her by the arms he shook her hard. ‘Who the hell are you to talk to me like that, eh? I ought to take the skin off your back!’

  ‘Not if I have anything to say.’ Adam had seen enough. Stepping forward, he gripped the neck of Doug’s shirt. ‘I reckon Rosie’s right. I’ll even give you a hand up the stairs if you like.’ There was a threat in his voice and Doug turned a sick shade of grey.

  ‘Take your bloody mitts off me!’ Squirming and kicking, he still couldn’t shake himself free from Adam’s vice-like grip. ‘And get out of my house, you bugger, afore I have you thrown out.’ He looked to his father, but Ned was thoroughly enjoying seeing his son being taken down a peg or two. Martha had taken a few steps forward to intervene, but was forced to a standstill when her husband caught hold of her arm. It seemed she was more shocked by his action than by the heated argument between Adam and Doug.

  Out of the ensuing awkward silence, it was Rosie who spoke. ‘I think you’d better go,’ she told Adam. ‘And it might be wisest if you never came back.’ He couldn’t have known what an immense effort it took for her to say that. ‘I’m sorry,’ she whispered. Those last two words were only for the two of them, and he knew that.

  ‘I understand,’ he told her, ‘and I wouldn’t want to outstay my welcome.’ For a seemingly endless minute his grip on Doug remained fierce, before he released him with such force that the smaller man staggered backwards. ‘I wish I could turn the clock back, but I can’t. Rosie’s your woman now, though God knows you don’t deserve her.’ His warning was unmistakeable. ‘You’d best look after her, Selby.’

  Doug didn’t answer but watched him go, calling Rosie back when she would have gone with him. ‘He can find his own way out!’ he snarled. When Martha rushed to his side to comfort him, Doug pushed her away. Peggy winked at Rosie who, in spite of her husband’s warning, hurried after Adam and Connie; at the same time acknowledging Peggy’s wink with a knowing smile.

  As she came to the door, Rosie’s smile froze on her face when she saw Connie with Adam at the car. Connie was on tiptoe with her arms round Adam’s neck. She was kissing him.

  Quickly, before they saw her, Rosie returned to the parlour, the image of what she had just seen burned on her mind. Yet she chided herself for feeling hurt. She had no right. Adam was his own man, and she had only just finished telling him in her own way that they must not dwell on the past. Yet, she did hurt, and she envied Connie with all her heart.

  ‘Are you all right?’ Peggy met her at the door.

  ‘I’m fine, thanks, Peggy.’

  ‘’Course she’s all right!’ Martha had found her voice and was fighting fit. ‘Why shouldn’t she be? If anybody should be upset, it’s our Doug here. That bloody Adam Roach has a thing or two to answer for!’

  ‘Shut up, Mam!’ Swaying on his feet, Doug came across the room to stare at Rosie. She had never seen him so enraged.

  ‘I won’t shut up,’ Martha cried, coming between him and Rosie. ‘I’m your mother, and I don’t take kindly to folk like Adam treating a son of mine like that.’ She pushed at Doug’s chest with the flat of her hands. ‘You ought to have leathered him. Why didn’t you leather him?’

  ‘GET OUT!’ He saw her words as an accusation that he was either a coward or a lesser man than Adam. On top of everything else it was more than he could bear. With one great sweep of his arm he lifted her clean off her feet and sent her flying against the heavy oak table. There was a grinding thud, one awful minute when she stared at him with wide open eyes, then she fell to the floor with her back strangely twisted and her arms trapped beneath her own weight.

  ‘God Almighty!’ Ned fell to his knees beside her, cradling his wife and afraid to move her. ‘She’s hurt bad.’ Looking up at Doug with accusing eyes, he ordered, ‘Get out of my sight, you!’ When he spoke to Peggy it was to ask, ‘Get the ambulance, lass… quick as you can.’

  As Peggy fled from the house, Rosie urged her to run as fast as she could. With a surge of compassion she stared down on Martha’s unconscious form, and, rightly or wrongly, blamed herself for all that had happened here.

  Rosie wasn’t to know that Martha’s back was broken, and that she would never walk again. In her worst nightmare she could not realise how the events of this day would make her already unhappy life even more unbearable. For the moment all she could think was that Martha had been hurt, and needed help.

  Ned and Doug went with Martha to the Infirmary. Before they left, Doug made Rosie a promise. ‘I’ll teach you to interfere with my plans!’ he told her, and she knew he was referring to her having secretly changed the child’s name. He then blamed her for his mother’s injury. Ned, however, was quick to reassure her.

  ‘It was an accident,’ he said softly. ‘I don’t want you getting yourself in a state.’ Glancing at her swollen stomach, he said, ‘You’ve got enough to worry about. Anyway, Martha’s a tough old bird. She’ll be all right.’

  Peggy offered to stay, but Rosie would have none of it.

  ‘You look awful,’ Peggy argued. ‘Are you sure you’re all right?’ She wasn’t exaggerating when she said Rosie looked awful. Her face was drawn and pale, and she looked desperately tired. Feeling the need to be left alone with her troubled thoughts, however, Rosie assured her she was fine, and Peggy reluctantly went home to
tell her mam what had happened, and to explain how she wouldn’t have Rosie’s life ‘for all the tea in China’.

  No sooner had Peggy gone than Rosie felt the first pangs of early labour. Two hours later the pains were intensifying and she could hardly breathe.

  In the early hours, doubled up in agony and alone except for little Danny, Rosie made her slow tortuous way down the street. When Peggy opened the door she found her friend crumpled in a heap on the step.

  When those brown eyes looked up at her, Peggy’s heart turned over. ‘Help me, Peggy,’ she pleaded. ‘I don’t want to lose my baby.’

  Yet she knew. In her heart Rosie felt the child’s life ebbing away inside her. It seemed like a penance, a shocking punishment for secretly wanting Adam’s love.

  In that moment she prayed she would never set eyes on him again.

  Chapter Eleven

  ‘The end of another week, thank God.’ Kindly-faced, with the shoulders of a bull elephant and hands the size of shovels, the man’s eyes were stark white in his sooty face, and when he walked across the office little pockets of coal-dust fell from his clothes, leaving a dark trail across the floor. ‘Have you ever known such a stifling day?’ he groaned. ‘Hottest July I can ever remember.’ Wiping his brow, he left a smear of white skin exposed beneath.

  Adam was busy putting the wages together, his head bowed and his lips silently counting. Undaunted, the fellow continued, ‘It’s a miracle the way you’ve picked up more work when other merchants are losing hand over fist.’

  ‘That’s because I have a good eye for an opportunity,’ Adam teased. It was Friday night, and like his men he felt lighter of heart with a good week’s work behind him.