Sweet Rosie

by Iris Gower

  ‘I dunno, about sixty, I can’t really tell.’ She smiled broadly. ‘To him I’m a young spring chicken fit enough for bedroom capers, that’s all he cares about.’

  She sighed. ‘Talking of Jem, I’d better go. We’ve got some boring people coming to supper tonight.’ She minced across the room. ‘The Honourable Mr Tassle Jones-Price and his grumpy old wife.’ Polly smirked. ‘If only the old cow knew that The Honourable isn’t so honourable, she’d have a fit!’

  Polly was incorrigible. ‘You’ve not played up to him, have you? Not with Jem in the house.’

  ‘Jem laughs about it,’ Polly said. ‘He thinks it great fun that the old buffer tries it on with me.’

  Lily shook her head; she would never understand why Polly and Jem stayed together. Perhaps it was because they both behaved like children at times. Jem was a good businessman and Polly had a wise head on her shoulders but over matters of the bedchamber they could both be so silly.

  ‘Heard the gossip about Alice Sparks?’ Polly said casually. Lily was irritated.

  ‘You know I never hear any gossip,’ she said. ‘The only scandal I get to know about is what you tell me.’ Trust Polly to drop something juicy into the conversation just as she was leaving.

  ‘The twins she had were not her old man’s kids at all.’ She chuckled. ‘There’s talk that Eynon Morton-Edwards was the father, the two were having an affair after all.’ She leaned forward confidentially. ‘Not that those babies were even in one piece when that butcher Dr Rogers got ’em out. Poor little mites!’ She sighed. ‘But their hair was like spun gold so I heard.’

  ‘Who told you?’ Lily asked, her eyes wide.

  ‘I talked to the nurse who came in after the delivery. Terrible time the Sparks woman had. I don’t like her nor that fool of a husband of hers but I wouldn’t wish that on my worst enemy.’

  Lily shuddered; she would never long for a baby, never. It was all too sordid for words.

  ‘Does her husband suspect anything?’

  ‘You bet!’ Polly laughed. ‘Alice’s up and gone, supposedly to holiday with that rich father of hers but I reckon her old man chucked her out. Scream, innit?’

  ‘I don’t suppose Alice Sparks thinks it’s funny. Still, she deserves it, she was never nice to me.’

  Lily saw Polly to the door, reluctant for her to go. ‘Can’t you stay for a bit longer?’ she asked but Polly was already climbing into her carriage.

  Now she would be alone for hours. Matthew was attending a business meeting tonight, something to do with the bank in town. Lily had heard a whisper that something was going on.

  It seemed that the local auditors were not happy about the bank’s affairs and that London auditors were being called in to investigate matters. She had not listened very hard when Matthew had talked to her about it; it was not that interesting.

  She watched as Polly’s carriage rolled away, envying her. Polly had everything, a good husband, respectability and wealth. But then since Matthew had come into her life Lily had not done badly herself. The fact that she was sometimes lonely was nothing to worry about. She had her work, her painting and Polly was right, she might just as well do her best to capitalize on it. Slowly, she closed the door and went inside to light a few more candles.

  ‘You don’t know where Alice Sparks is then?’ Llinos was seated opposite Eynon in the plush tea rooms of the Neath Hotel. Outside, she could see the waves washing over the beach, rushing forwards and retreating, sucking shells back with the pull of the tide. Won’t you try to find out?’

  ‘I’m not really interested. Well, would you be?’ Eynon said. He sighed heavily. ‘She’s made her choice, gone away without letting me know where. I feel I’ve done my best for her, I’ve helped her financially and,’ he paused, ‘well, all that’s water under the bridge now.’ He smiled. ‘I’m free to find someone else, aren’t I?’

  Llinos smiled wanly. ‘You would like me to think you are hard but I know different. You are upset that Alice lost the twins, aren’t you?’

  Eynon shook his head without answering and Llinos did not pursue the point.

  ‘I had a letter from Mr Sparks asking to postpone our meeting,’ she said. ‘He hinted there was trouble of a domestic kind. I knew exactly what he meant of course and I couldn’t help feeling sorry for him.’

  ‘I wouldn’t trust that man further than I could throw him,’ Eynon said. ‘Why you still bank with him I just don’t know. We’ve all warned you, Llinos, and you’ve been too apathetic to do anything about it.’

  Llinos was silent; these words were harsh ones coming from her best friend. She had rowed with Watt over what he saw as yet another delaying tactic by Edward Sparks and she did not want to argue with Eynon as well.

  The trouble was she knew they were both giving her good advice, advice she should have heeded long ago. She had a bundle of bills in her desk that she should be attending to right away. But she felt tired and too dispirited to care about anything.

  ‘I know, Watt keeps on at me about it.’ Llinos bit her lip. ‘I meant to close the account but, well, things happened and I put it off.’

  ‘Look, don’t worry,’ Eynon said. ‘When the London auditors have done their work I’ll step in and guide you through everything, how’s that?’

  ‘Yes, thank you, Eynon but I’m tired of the whole business. Let’s talk about something else, shall we?’

  ‘Like what?’ He reached out and took her hand. ‘I’m concerned about you, Llinos. I want to take care of you. More so now that Joe seems to have gone and abandoned you.’

  She knew he was talking sense but hearing him put Joe’s betrayal into words was painful. She felt tears well up in her eyes and she stared unseeingly at the brown china teapot. She would not cry. She would not let Eynon know how distressed she was. She still had some shred of pride left.

  ‘He’s happy with his Indian girl.’ She had to force herself to speak. ‘He’s probably followed her to America by now. He’s left me for good, I know that.’

  ‘Llinos, I hate to see you like this, so pale and thin. Why not let me take care of you?’

  ‘How can you?’ she asked. ‘There would be such a scandal if I lived with you, you know that as well as I do.’

  ‘Who cares about scandal? Look, your well-being is more important than any gossip. You could live with me and we could find a chaperone so that everything appeared to be above board.’

  ‘I will always be married to Joe,’ she said. ‘I think the world of you, Eynon, you know that, but if I can’t have Joe I won’t have any man.’

  ‘I know you don’t love me,’ he said. ‘But I have enough love for the both of us. Think about it, Llinos, why should you spend the rest of your life alone? You don’t deserve that, you are still a young woman after all.’

  Llinos smiled. ‘No I’m not. I’m getting older, Eynon, I’ve even got some grey hairs!’

  ‘Rubbish! You are as lovely to me as the day I first met you. You will always be young and beautiful in my eyes, Llinos.’

  She stared at him, at his dear face, his fall of pale hair, his eyes bright with admiration and it was a soothing balm to her damaged pride. She loved his company, she could enjoy being with him, laughing with him, but to share his bed would be unthinkable. She was Joe’s woman and whatever he had done she would always remain his in body, heart and soul.

  ‘We could never have children together,’ she said and they both knew she was making excuses, putting up obstacles, trying to rationalize her feelings.

  ‘I have my daughter and you have your son,’ Eynon said reasonably. ‘What more could any of us want?’

  She could want a great deal. She could want Joe’s arms around her, to breathe in the scent of his skin and to feel the silk of his hair against her cheek. She did not say so; she had no intention of hurting Eynon more than she had to.

  ‘We’d better get back,’ she said softly. ‘I will have to think seriously about my business. I will have to make arrangements to meet with Mr Sp
arks. You are right, I’ve been silly and apathetic letting things slide the way I have.’ She looked at Eynon. ‘But any woman who has been left by the husband she loves would behave in exactly the same way.’

  ‘I’ll drop you off home,’ Eynon said, drawing back her chair. ‘But if you need any help, I’ll come to the bank with you. I can’t see Sparks lasting very long now. So far he’s covered his tracks but it won’t help him when the books have been examined by experts.’

  ‘I’ll deal with it, don’t you worry.’ As Llinos walked out into the sea-fresh air, the tang of salt drifted in from the shore. The sound of the waves was carried on the inward breeze and Llinos sighed. It was so wonderful here, so peaceful, if only she could stay here, forget her business, just leave everything to fate.

  Eynon helped her into his carriage. The seats were comfortable, the leather covered with a warm shawl. Eynon sat next to her and took her hands in his. Llinos was taking advantage of his love for her and she wondered if the day would come when her friendship would not be enough for him.

  When she arrived home Watt was waiting for her, a newspaper in his hand, his face white with anger. Llinos knew he was going to tell her something she did not want to hear.

  She allowed the maid to take her coat and bonnet and beckoned Watt to follow her into the drawing room.

  ‘What is it?’ She braced herself as he spread the newspaper wide and pointed to a drawing on the centre page.

  ‘It’s a paper published in the Vale of Neath,’ he said. ‘I’m not surprised that no Swansea paper would print it, it’s an outrage!’ He paced around the room. ‘It will make our creditors very nervous.’

  She looked at the drawing for a long time. She had seen it before, in the hands of John Pendennis. It had been modified but the message it sent was clear enough.

  She crumpled the paper into a ball and threw it across the room. Why did people have to rub salt into the wound?

  ‘John Pendennis has carried out his threat,’ she said. She sank into a chair and looked up at Watt. ‘When he came here the other day,’ – she pointed to the newspaper – ‘it was to blackmail me with that. He demanded I sell him the pottery.’

  ‘The bastard!’ Watt’s face was white with anger. ‘I always said he was a bad lot, didn’t I?’

  ‘He’s just an added irritation, Watt,’ Llinos said. ‘I’m getting weary of all the problems that running a pottery involves. Perhaps I should sell, just get out of here for good.’

  Watt picked up the paper and put it on the table; he was shaking his head in exasperation. ‘Don’t let this piece of spite influence you, Llinos!’

  ‘I know it’s only spiteful gossip.’ Llinos sank into a chair, her eyes closing wearily. ‘But I just can’t cope with things any more, I think you know that.’

  She wished Watt would go away, stop bothering her. She longed to curl up beside the fire and think about Joe and the happiness they had shared before Sho Ka came on the scene.

  ‘Can’t you see it?’ Watt asked. ‘You are letting these scoundrels beat you.’

  Llinos sighed. ‘I don’t care, Watt, I don’t care about anything any more.’

  Watt stood shaking his head in silence for a moment and then, abruptly, he left the room. Llinos knew he was angry with her. He had a right to be; she was ignoring her problems, hoping they would go away. She was well aware that the day of reckoning must come tomorrow or the day after; the pottery workers would grow tired of waiting for their wages.

  She tried to imagine the pottery in the hands of strangers, the pottery her father had loved and cherished. If she did not act promptly everything she had worked for would fall apart before her eyes, is that what she really wanted? She closed her eyes, she would rest a little and then, when her mind was clear, she would take control once more.

  It was a fresh day and for the first time for months, Llinos felt grateful to be alive. She looked up at the clouds, light and fluffy overhead, and breathed in the scent of the wild flowers growing in the hedgerows.

  ‘Thank the Lord you’ve come to your senses,’ Watt said. ‘This is a big meeting with all of the top men present. It’s vital that we be there.’ He extended his hand and helped Llinos to seat herself beside him in the trap. She glanced at his hands, strong as they held the reins, and she felt a rush of warmth for him.

  Watt was like a brother to her. He cared about her. All his nagging was in her best interest. She had preferred Watt’s company rather than Eynon’s. Watt after all was part of her business.

  He flicked the reins and the horse began to trot away from Pottery Row and downhill towards the town. It was a fine day though the air was a little chilly for the time of the year. Llinos wished she had wrapped a woollen shawl around her shoulders; she felt the cold acutely these days. Watt looked down at her as she folded her arms across her body.

  ‘Cold?’ he said. ‘It’s no wonder, you haven’t got an ounce of fat to cover yourself with. I wish you would look after yourself, Llinos, for Lloyd’s sake if not for your own.’

  She nodded. ‘I know. I promise I’ll try to eat more. I am beginning to feel better now, can’t you see it in my face? I think at last I’m getting over my upset with Joe.’

  ‘No, you look just as pale and peaky as always. Look, I’m upset, my wife’s left me, I’ve been abandoned too but you don’t see me doing without my food, do you?’

  Llinos did not answer. It was pointless trying to explain that ‘upset’ was too mild a word for what she was feeling. She had been devastated by Joe’s betrayal. He had cut the very root of her life away when he had gone to live with Sho Ka. Joe was the husband she had worshipped. She would have given her life for him and he had thrown her love back in her face. But life goes on; at least that was what everyone was trying to tell her.

  Llinos gave a sigh of relief as Watt guided the horse into the roadside. He tied the reins to a tree and then helped Llinos down from the trap. Llinos lifted her skirt away from the dusty roadside and began to walk towards the bank. Suddenly, she came face to face with Lily and for a moment their eyes met.

  ‘Day to you, Mrs Mainwaring.’ Lily seemed to be making an effort to be polite. ‘I hope you are managing all right now that you have no husband?’

  The barb was there and it hurt. Llinos looked carefully at Lily, not showing by so much as a flicker of her eyelashes how the words had struck home.

  ‘I am fine, Lily,’ she found herself saying. ‘I am still a respectable married woman while you, well, the gossips are having a field day, they say you have been set up by a rich gentleman.’ She paused. ‘In return for giving him your favours of course. I hope you are managing all right now you are a mistress.’

  She regretted the words as soon as they were uttered, ashamed she had sunk to the same spiteful level as Lily.

  Lily flushed and swept past her and Watt took Llinos by the arm. ‘Well done, Llinos, that put the little viper in her place good and proper.’

  ‘I have enough enemies,’ Llinos said. ‘I shouldn’t be trying to add to them.’ She walked into the dimness of the bank and the smell of beeswax polish permeated the air.

  After a wait of a few minutes, she and Watt were ushered into a back room. Mr Sparks was clearing his desk.

  ‘How can I help you, Mrs Mainwaring?’ he asked. It was Watt who replied.

  ‘We have not come to see you, we are attending the meeting of the directors of the bank.’

  ‘You are too late, the meeting is over.’ He continued to put papers and files into a box. Watt looked at Llinos in bewilderment.

  ‘How can the meeting be over?’ Watt’s voice was harsh. ‘We were informed it was to take place at eleven-thirty.’

  ‘The time was changed unbeknown to me. I had no say in the matter.’

  ‘Well what’s happening now?’

  ‘I have no idea except that your account, along with several others, has been frozen.’ He glanced up, his eyes narrowed. ‘I told you a long time ago that you should let your husband handle your af
fairs, well now it seems he has.’

  ‘What do you mean?’ Watt demanded. Sparks did not look at him.

  ‘I think, Mrs Mainwaring, that your husband took out what little was left in the account. At least that’s what I assume he was doing here at the bank.’

  Llinos did not hear the rest of the argument between Watt and Sparks. All she wanted was to get out of the bank, away from the malicious smile on Sparks’s face. So Joe had been into Swansea, had called at the bank and apparently left his wife and his son without any means of support.

  ‘I want to go home.’ She walked through the bank without seeing anything of her surroundings. How could Joe have treated her this way? Even if he no longer loved her, what right had he to take her livelihood away from her?

  Watt followed her and caught her elbow. ‘Wait, Llinos, you can’t just accept that man’s word for it, we must speak to someone else in the bank.’

  ‘I don’t want to speak to anyone else!’ Her tone was clipped. ‘I hate Joe, do you know that, I hate him!’

  She stood in the sunshine and took a deep breath to steady herself. This was the end of the road for her and Joe; as far as she was concerned he had gone forever. The worst had happened and now she must dig deep within herself and find the courage to rebuild her life without him.

  CHAPTER THIRTY

  The public rooms of the Castle Inn were filled with people, some of them travellers taking a meal and a rest from their journey. Most were local folk enjoying a drink of beer after a long day’s work. The smoke from the fire belched forth from the grate driven by the wind howling outside. In a corner, slightly apart from the crowd, John Pendennis sat, elbows on the table, staring at Edward Sparks.

  ‘Foul night.’ John drank from his tankard. ‘I hope you’ve got good news for me.’

  ‘Good news! Don’t you realize I’m ruined? I’m out of a job, I need that money you promised me and I need it now.’

  ‘Tell me about Mrs Mainwaring,’ John ignored the man’s remark. ‘Is she going to sell the pottery?’