The housekeeper’s face stretched as if it was being pulled from all sides and she emitted the word, ‘Well!’ and it said everything. And Biddy, now almost slapping the hand from her head, repeated, ‘Yes, well, Mrs Fulton. I was attacked on my way here. I must tell you about it sometime when I have nothing better to do.’ And on this she actually thrust the older woman to the side. And when no protest was flung at her for this daring action, she knew that her torn and bedraggled appearance had, for the moment, raised such a question mark in the housekeeper’s mind that she had become speechless.
Upstairs, she was greeted by Jessie saying, ‘Thank God you’ve come. I’m nearly mad with toothache and madam is in one of her moods, nothing can please her, and she’s asked for you twice. She said you were late, but you’re not. What’s the matter?’
It had taken some seconds for Jessie to realise something was not quite right with her assistant, and when Biddy pulled open her coat, then lifted the hair from her ear and stood silent, Jessie said, ‘My God! What happened to you, girl?’ And Biddy replied simply, ‘Mr Paul. He attacked me.’
‘No!’
‘Aye, yes. Oh, yes.’
‘Did he…?’
‘No, but it wasn’t his fault that he didn’t; Miss Lucy came along and beat him off.’
‘Miss Lucy, beat him off?’ For a moment Jessie forgot her toothache and her face screwed up in amazement as she repeated, ‘Beat her brother off?’
‘Yes, yes, she did.’
‘Well, well. But I must say, there’s a change in that girl since she was sent away to school. She’s much better mannered, lost all her devilment. They must have knocked it out of her there.’
‘Yes, I think they have. Now…now I’ll go and change.’ She was about to turn away, then stopped and said, ‘Me mother made me this dress and coat. It…it was lovely when I left the house.’
‘Oh, what a shame, lass. But it’s still lovely. We’ll fix the front…But Master Paul. Eeh! If the master…No. But if Mr Stephen or Mr Laurence knew about it, by! My, they would skin him alive.’
‘Yet, from what I understand they are not above doing such things themselves, only in…well, a more licensed way.’ There was a touch of tartness in her tone now, and Jessie replied, ‘Aye, well, that’s the way of all gentlemen. But I can tell you, they wouldn’t stand for what’s been done to you, an’ by one of their family.’ Then shaking her head, she added sadly, ‘It’s funny, girl, how things always seem to happen to you. I’ve never known anyone like you for creating…’ Instead of trouble, she added, ‘things. And I wouldn’t say you were to blame all the time. It’s just that, somehow—’ She shrugged her shoulders, then cupped her cheek with her hand and grimaced as pain stabbed at her again before adding, ‘Go on, get changed and go in to her, because I’m not going to be long out of me bed.’
‘Take some laudanum; it might ease it and put you to sleep.’
‘Yes, yes, I will. I thought of that last night, but was afraid I wouldn’t waken when she shouted. I seem to forget at times that you’re here and capable. It’s surprising how she’s taken to you and lets you talk. She never did it with me. She still doesn’t. Go on. Go on now.’
Biddy went, but she was slow to change into her uniform because she was experiencing reaction to the struggle she’d had earlier on. And as she sat on the side of her bed, she thought, I’ll have to try to get me mind clear and think what I’m going to say, and how I’m gona say it. And I’ll have to keep awake until Miss Hobson’s asleep. And on this thought she felt guilty, because she knew that Jessie was a person who knew how to keep her tongue still; she must be because who else in the house besides herself knew that at intervals Mr Mottram the coachman came up to madam to report on her son and his doings in Newcastle. Madam had brought Mr Mottram with her when she first came into this family, and it was well known in the house that he was madam’s man, but what was not equally known was that he was madam’s spy and had been for years, so she understood.
This was a queer household. Nothing she had read, she told herself, could hold a candle to it for its goings on. And now, she herself this night was to create more goings on, and she was afraid of the outcome.
Twice she had to get out of bed and sit on the edge of it to prevent herself falling into a deep sleep. At nine o’clock they had settled madam for the night and the old lady had been impatient with Miss Hobson because she complained of toothache.
‘Go down to the stables, woman,’ she had said, ‘and they’ll put a bit of wire around it and one good tug and you’ll have no more aches and pains. Have them all out. That’s the best way. I did. Do as I bid you and I’ll have a set made for you. Oh, go to bed, woman!’ she had cried at last. And Jessie had gone to bed, after taking a dose of laudanum. It was some time, however, before her snores told Biddy that she was well away, yet it was still not ten o’clock and there would be movement in the house down below—the gentlemen played billiards at night, or cards, and it was sometimes near twelve o’clock before they settled into bed. She doubted if she could keep awake till then.
At one point she put on a dressing gown that had been passed on to her from Jessie, and, creeping into the hallway, went along the gallery towards the folding doors. The last window in the gallery overlooked part of the front of the house and when she saw there was no reflection from the lamps outside the front door, she knew that the servants had retired. The butler and the valet might still be up; they couldn’t go to bed until the last member of the household was in his room, but she doubted if there was any chance of anyone coming to this end of the house now, and so she crept back and entered the dressing room, where she stood for a long moment with eyes closed before she gently opened the door and entered madam’s bedroom.
Through the light from the turned-down lamp on the bedside table, she was surprised to see the old lady, not only awake, but sitting propped up in bed. When she had last left her she had been tucked down into her pillows. But Biddy was quick to note that the pillows were rearranged, which proved that madam wasn’t as helpless as she sometimes made out to be.
‘Girl, what is it?’ The voice came to her soft, as it usually did in the night.
Slowly Biddy approached the bed, and she drew in a long and deep breath as she stood looking into the wizened face before she said, ‘Madam, may I talk to you?’
‘Talk to me, girl, at this time of night?’
‘It’s very important, madam.’
‘What’s important about you that won’t wait until the morning?’
‘I don’t wish to talk about myself. It’s about…about one of the household…the family, I…I have been asked…I mean—’
The thin body moved in the bed and Biddy for a moment imagined she could hear the aged skin crackling.
‘What you getting at, girl?’
‘It’s…it’s about Miss Lucy, madam.’
‘Miss Lucy? What about Miss Lucy?’
‘I…I have something to tell you.’
‘About Miss Lucy?’
‘Yes, madam.’
‘Carrying tales?’ The voice had lost its softness.
And Biddy’s tone also changed when she answered, ‘No, madam, I’m not carrying tales. I never carry tales. Miss Lucy asked me to…well, the fact is, madam’—she now nodded her head—‘she’s frightened, terrified to tell you herself.’
She watched the old lady press herself back into her pillows and move her head slowly from side to side as if to get a better view of her, and when she said, ‘Go on,’ Biddy said, ‘I don’t know how to tell you, madam, because it’s going to be a bit of a shock.’
‘Girl, I’m used to shocks. My life has been made up of shocks. What is it you have to tell me that Miss Lucy is afraid to tell me herself?’
Again Biddy gulped, but she didn’t take her eyes off the old lady, and her hands wavered in front of her as if ready to throttle any yell she might give, for from experience she knew that madam’s voice had a great carrying quality.
‘She…she’s going to have a baby, madam.’
The body seemed to be possessed of a new life, a young life, for when madam sat suddenly bolt upright in the bed, Biddy’s hands actually did go out. But they only touched her shoulders and she was appealing to her now, ‘Madam. Madam. Don’t say anything. Don’t shout.’
Her hands were shrugged away and the voice hissed at her, ‘Who’s going to shout? What do you mean, girl, shout? And don’t stand there. Bring a chair and sit down.’
Biddy brought a chair and sat down, and the old lady now commanded her, ‘Talk.’
‘Well, Madam, I happened to come across Miss Lucy when I was returning from my leave. I was sitting by the river. Miss…Miss Lucy seemed distressed. She…she seemed changed, different, and then she told me.’
The small mouth was puckered until the lips parted and demanded, ‘Why you?’
Yes, why her?
She said, ‘She hasn’t anyone else, madam. I mean, she was afraid to tell the master and mistress.’
‘Damn well she might be afraid to tell them. Yes, damn well she might be. My God in heaven! For this to happen and at this time. Her mother would go mad.’ Then characteristically she added, ‘Not that that would matter very much. All right. All right, girl, she was frightened to tell them. But why couldn’t she come to me herself?’
‘Because madam, she thought that you would go for her as…as you sometimes…’
‘Yes? Go on, go on. Don’t stop now.’
‘Well, as you sometimes do in the daytime.’ Biddy’s head was nodding defiantly now, while part of her stood aside amazed to witness this happening. ‘And she was afraid that some member of the household would hear.’
‘And so she asked you to do her dirty work?’
‘No, it’s not dirty work. She’s very much afraid. And…and you’re always quieter at night and…’
She closed her eyes tightly and there was a silence between them now. Then the old woman’s voice low and with a tremble in it, she said, ‘Go on, girl, tell me what you know. Who is responsible? Some weak-kneed, fumbling schoolboy?’
‘It…I think it is the father of her friend.’
‘What!’ The body was brought from the pillows again. ‘Her friend? That must be the one she has spoken of. He’s a teacher in the school, and if I’m not mistaken, has a large family; well, four or five, or something like that. God in heaven! God in heaven!’ Her hands were clasped now and she was beating them on her chest as she cried, ‘He’ll pay for this. He’ll certainly pay for this.’
‘Madam.’
‘Yes, girl?’ She was giving Biddy her attention again.
‘If…if you do that, I mean, accuse him, the…the whole thing will be made public, and then…well, she might as well have gone and told her mother in the first place. I think she imagines you will come up with…well, what I mean is’—her head was moving again from side to side—‘some sort of scheme to…to prevent it being made public.’
‘What does she mean, some kind of scheme? You can’t prevent the birth of a child. You can’t cover up the birth of a child. Oh my God!’ Now she had her hand on top of her nightcap and as she screwed it round on her head the wisps of white hair fell across her brow and she muttered to herself, ‘I’ve got to think, and think hard.’ And turning her eyes on Biddy, she added, ‘If this came to light it would clamp the lid on so many things; my daughter-in-law’s standing in the county, and the fact that her uncle is to be made bishop. My God!’ She rocked her head on the pillow. ‘I can see the effect it would have on her. It would even turn her guts white. Then there is Stephen, and Parliament. And we mustn’t forget May who is about to marry that idiot out of pique, or perhaps the allure of one day being called Lady So-and-So. Life has its compensations. Oh yes, but what compensation is it going to have for that stupid little young idiot? When did this happen? How long has she carried?’
‘Over two months, I think, madam.’
‘Oh my God! I’ve got to think. I’ve got to think.’ She was muttering to herself now, and when Biddy moved uneasily in the chair, for she was feeling weary and far from her healthy self at the moment, the old lady said, ‘Fetch a blanket. I…I want you to stay with me. I want to think, and we must talk. I’ve got to reach a solution before the morning when that stupid girl comes hoping I’ll have a miracle ready for her. Well, she’ll find out I can’t perform miracles.’
She was still muttering to herself while Biddy went into the dressing room and returned with a blanket. Sitting down at the side of the bed again, Biddy draped the blanket round her knees and her waist while she half turned to face the old lady who, looking at her pointedly now, said, ‘She’s got to get away from here. That’s evident. That’s the first thing. But where? Where? Friends are out. If you want a secret spread from here to Land’s End, tell it to a friend. I have kept my own counsel all my life, that’s why my head is clear today…Don’t fall asleep, girl. We’ve got to think.’
‘Yes, madam.’
‘Are you warm enough? It gets very cold in the night, even in the summer.’
For a moment the thoughtfulness caught Biddy off her guard and she could make no reply till the voice, muffled but still harsh, came at her, saying, ‘Well, are you?’
‘Yes, madam. Thank you, madam.’
‘Well now, sit back. Think what you would do in her place, and don’t be afraid to tell me what you think. They always say two heads are better than one. Now if this was happening to you, what would you do?’
What would she do if this was happening to her? Go home to her mother and be rated for a fool, then have the child and live under the stigma for the rest of her life, and alone, for no man would take her after that. Take her to use her, yes, but not marry her. But it wouldn’t happen to her. It wouldn’t happen to her. For she’d never marry. Never marry. Never marry. To the chant in her head sleep overcame her…
She awoke feeling that her whole body had become permanently twisted; her check was pressed against the wooden edge of the chair, one hand was on the bed and the other was clutching the blanket up to her neck. Slowly she blinked and tried to rise quickly as she realised that she had fallen asleep, but the effort had brought a groan from her and the voice to her side said, ‘It’s all right, girl. Take it slowly.’
She took it slowly, and when she was sitting up straight she blinked and murmured, ‘I’m sorry, madam. I…I didn’t mean to fall asleep.’
‘Nor did I, girl. Nor did I, but we both couldn’t keep awake all night. However, it’s now five o’clock.’
‘Five o’clock!’ Biddy went to rise, but the cramp in her legs caused her face to screw up with pain and she repeated again, ‘Five o’clock! I’ve…I’ve been asleep all night, madam?’
‘Yes, you’ve been asleep all night, girl.’
‘Have you slept, madam?’
‘On and off. On and off. Now I would like a cup of tea. The house will be astir in a little while and then I want you to go and get into your clothes as quickly as possible.’
Biddy made the cup of tea for the old lady, watched her drink it, poured her out another, then retired to the little kitchen and drank two cups herself before going to her room to get dressed.
When she again returned to the bedroom the first thing madam said to her was, ‘Well, have you any ideas in your head, girl, concerning the matter?’
‘Only one, madam.’
‘Then let me hear it.’
‘It’s…It’s just occurred to me that wherever Miss Lucy went in England, there might be somebody who knew of her. It’s amazing how things pass around. So if…well, I thought, if she could go abroad for…like a long holiday…’
‘Huh!’ It sounded like a stifled laugh, but the countenance remained grim as she said, ‘Under other circumstances you would have likely made something of yourself, girl, because that is the idea that has struck me too, abroad, but not for a long holiday. Young girls like Miss Lucy don’t go for extended holidays. For whatever length she’s got to be abroad
there’s got to be a purpose in it, and I’ve thought of the purpose. But I must have help, and the only one who can help in this case is Laurence. He will take her across to France to school. She will purportedly stay with friends of his. He’s got very good friends, in France, so he tells me, and they have young daughters and sons. She can supposedly board with them while going to school, but she’s got to have a maid, and that maid will be you.’
‘Me, madam?’ Now Biddy thrust her hand over her mouth because the exclamation could have been heard down the corridor, and at this the old lady cried, ‘Who’s bawling their head off now? Yes, you girl. You, I understand, have bragged about your ability to speak French. Well, this will be an opportunity to learn how the French speak French. And don’t tell me you can’t go, because I’m going to tell you something: you, my dear girl, are at the bottom of this trouble.’
Biddy put her hand flat on her chest and was for saying again, ‘Me, madam?’ But the ‘Me’ she brought out was in the nature of a squeak, and madam replied quickly, ‘Yes, you. If it hadn’t been for that affray in the laundry, Lucy would never have been sent to that school. Her mother was against it.’ Madam did not add at this point that she herself was for Lucy’s departure from under the wing of an inadequate governess and her psalm-singing mother. ‘Now, don’t stand there gaping, girl; I want you to go downstairs and see one of the men. Froggett is a lazy beggar, he will not be up yet, but Thompson will likely be about. Tell him to go and wake Mr Laurence and inform him that I wish to see him as soon as possible, and that means before breakfast. Make that point clear.’
‘Yes, madam.’ Biddy went out of the room and had reached the communicating doors without realising she had moved a step: there was a feeling as if she was walking on air; for a moment she had forgotten about Miss Lucy’s predicament, she could only think, I’m going to France. I’m going to France. And to this she added, Oh, Mr Miller. For it was as if he was standing by her side saying, ‘Now, what did I tell you.’
The Black Velvet Gown Page 34
