After Tom had excused himself from the dinner table the cook and house keeper began clearing away the remaining dishes. A strange pair of women, it baffles me why Victoria chose to hire them, there were certainly better applicants. Albert I knew was less sure of them and should have stood his ground into hiring somebody better. Whilst the dishes were being cleared Albert took his coffee into the living room, where I could hear him trying to light the fire. Despite being late spring this house still remained cold during the nights, I would be pleased to return to our Mother’s house, it never seems to be cold there.
Victoria remained at the dining table; she had a pot of tea to herself and seemed to be enjoying the warmth of the china cup as she cradled it in her hands. She had been out most of the day so I didn’t blame her wanting to sit down with a cup of tea.
‘Have you told mother you will be arriving on Monday?’ she asked me.
‘I sent a telegram to her this morning. I expect she will not reply, but it will give her a couple of days to ensure the spare bedroom is ready for me.’
‘You know mother, she will have both spare bedrooms ready permanently in the off chance she gets a visitor.’ We both laughed.
‘Why don’t you come with me Vic? You have to admit you haven’t been yourself these past few weeks, maybe a week in the countryside will help clear your mind too?’
‘You know I can’t just leave. Albert is in the middle of a huge political campaign, the voting is in just four months. Then of course there is Tom, he relies on me too.’ I found myself sighing and shaking my head at her excuses. My sister always puts others first, it was what people admired about her. It was also her downfall, and people had been known to use her generosity to their own advantage.
‘Vic, I can’t even begin to understand why you took in that boy. Yes he is polite, yes he is hard working as you keep telling me time after time, but what happens when you and Albert start your own family, where does Tom fit into all that?’ Her eyes widened with surprise at my outburst. Personally I thought it was a valid question to ask ones sister.
‘Tom is our son. We may not be blood related but we are the only family he has. If and when Albert and I start a family he will be the older brother to the new arrival.’ Victoria stood, her teapot now empty, and she carried her cup and saucer through into the sitting room to join Albert by the fire.
I knew Victoria thought of me as the harsh sister, the one who looks at everything through negative eyes, but I cannot help it. A natural worrier I have always been; the one who looks at things from both sides of the spectrum. She on the other hand has always seen the bright side to everything and this attitude doesn’t always help in life.
‘I think I will go out this evening for a walk, I won’t be out too late.’ I said whilst passing the sitting room, and heading for the front door where my coat and hat hung. Victoria let out a simple ‘Okay’ and I left the house.
It was a pleasant evening, and the setting sun and clear sky made the day feel much earlier than it really was. I walked through Vincent Square, the pavements littered with dying piles of blossom. I walked less than ten minutes when I came to the main road. Here I managed to hail myself a cab. I was pleased to get a two seater cabriolet that was being pulled by two beautiful white horses; although in London a white horse never stays white for very long.
I informed the driver, a young boy no older than ten, of my destination and we were soon on our way. I loved riding in the open cabs on clear days, however we were unfortunate to get stuck in a traffic jam, and we were directly behind one of the new motorised omnibuses. The fumes coming from it were somewhat over powering as we sat there waiting for the traffic to continue. I would be glad to return to the country were the air was much more pleasant. We carried on and passed Westminster abbey, undoubtedly my favourite building in London. We then passed Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament, before making our way towards the river side. We rode along the embankment for quite some time; I loved watching the multitude of boats race up and down the Thames. It was often just as busy on the water as it was on the roads. Eventually we left the riverside and started heading up into the old part of the city. I loved the small narrow streets and little shops in this area. I especially liked coming all the way out here because I knew I was less likely to bump into Victoria, Albert or Tom. We passed hundreds, if not thousands of horse drawn carriages on the journey, but I was a little surprised to see a carriage pass us being pulled by three zebra.
‘Evening Mick.’ My driver called to the driver of the zebra-drawn carriage, and he returned the pleasantries as we passed by.
‘Driver,’ I hollered at him, ‘does that man always use zebra?’ My eyes followed the exotic animals as they trotted on down the road.
‘Yes Miss, he has had them there zebra for a couple o’ months now.’ I was astonished. London continues to baffle me.
The cab dropped me off at St Bartholomew Church, where I made my way inside and sat in silence. I loved this church; it was the oldest in London. I could sit for hours and admire its beauty. There were a handful of other people also in the church, saying their own private pray or reading from the Bibles that lined along the pews. An elderly woman was going around lighting candles as the daylight flooding in from the giant stain glass windows began to dim.
When I left the church nearly an hour later it was dark. I did not call a cab to take me back and instead made my way up the street towards a public house that I would always visit whilst in the area. There were in fact three pubs on the junction. The Hand and Shear would always have live music blaring from inside, which always put me off. The Old Red Cow was known for its bitter selection, most of which had been made in the back room and was often served to the customers as trials to see what was popular, again this was not my ideal. I was aiming for The Dick Inn, named so after Dick Whittington. What I loved about this pub was the feel of being somewhere so old; it was very small inside and saw a lesser amount of people inhabit it. It was a building of the sixteenth century once part of a row of medieval buildings lining the street. The landlord had gladly told me its history one quiet night in such detail after I had made a comment about it looking old. It stood at the end of a small road named Cloth Fair with the junction to Kinghorn Street, and was far enough away from Vincent Square to allow me to relax. It was a simple three story building with an attic gable and slightly jettied on the second floor. The bar area was always filled with smoke, and the floor was usually sticky due to spillages. My sister would be horrified if she knew I visited a public house, and to be honest I was a little surprised myself the first time I visited. I was perfectly aware that it was not the kind of place a lady visited yet despite that I found myself feeling more relaxed here than at my sister’s house.
As soon as I walked through the door a hand grabbed me by the shoulder.
‘Lucy, I didn’t expect to see you this evening,’ a man’s voice spoke slow and quietly. I turned to see a gentleman in a top hat and suit, he was tall and pale with deep glaring eyes. He was often in this pub and we had spoken on occasion.
‘Oh hello,’ I said, ‘yes I decided I needed to get out of my sister’s house for the evening.’
‘May I buy you a drink?’ he enquired, to which I gladly accepted.
We perched near the bar area and the barman brought over a large glass of wine for myself, and a large pint glass for the gentleman.
‘Do you live around here?’ I asked, realising that every time I speak with him I usually end up talking about myself. He must know so much about me and my sister in the couple of times we have spoken, yet I don’t know anything about him. He had dark hair that poked out of the bottom of his hat, and his suit looked as though it had seen better days. He spoke with an awkward nature to him, as though he did not socialise with people very often. I had only spoken with him two or three times before, yet he always seemed to make the effort to say hello to me.
‘I am not originally from around here, but I did live in London when I was young
er, however I moved up to Yorkshire for a few years. I have only been back in London a little over a month.’ His voice was smooth and his eyes never left mine the whole time he spoke.
‘What reason did you have to return, did you not like Yorkshire?’
‘Let’s just say an old friend lives in London who I am dying to reconnect with.’
Chapter 5
Victoria
As soon as Lucy had left I was relieved. I needed to tell Albert I was pregnant and I didn’t want to do it in front of her. I would happily tell her myself later, but I felt that telling Albert was a more intimate conversation meant simply for the two of us.
I was slightly nervous about telling him. I knew he would be ecstatic, but it was more the timing that I was concerned about. If the doctors timing was correct then that would have seen me getting pregnant around the time of Whitby. With everything that happened that week I could barely touch Albert, and it was weeks afterwards before I would let him be that close. So how could I be pregnant? I had walked for a long time before coming home after seeing the doctor, my mind kept thinking about how it could be true. I remembered the night that D took me back to his hide. I remember waking up in his bed, fully dressed. But what if he wasn’t a true gentleman whilst I was unconscious? Although Albert didn’t know about this, I was worried in case he suspected the baby not to be his.
As soon as the front door slammed shut I stood and watched her from the living room window as she crossed the square and disappeared out of sight. I knew she would be gone most of the evening, she seemed to disappear for hours on end every couple of nights. I asked her once where she was going, but it ended in her giving me a lecture. I was only concerned about her wellbeing but she of course thought I was being intrusive of her.
‘Albert…’ I could hear the hesitation in my own voice already. He was reading another Charles Dickens' book, one of many in his enormous book collection. An author he just kept going back to, notably seen by how worn the book was. Albert lowered his book and realised the fire was dying, he jumped to his feet and began prodding at it with the iron poker. He added more coal and returned to his seat, snatching up his book from the arm of the chair.
‘Albert, I was hoping to speak with you.’ He looked at me with a quizzical look in his expression.
‘Is everything okay V?’
‘Well I wanted to tell you…’ a noise from the kitchen stopped me, I strained to hear what it was and could identify it as Miss Baily tidying up the dining room. She had never been one to do a task quietly. Albert sensed I was worried about unwanted ears listening to me, and so stood and closed the sitting room door. He did not return to his chair, but instead sat next to me on the sofa.
‘Now come on, what is on your mind?’ He always sounded so calm and mellow.
‘Well today I went back to the doctor and…’
‘Oh of course,’ he interrupted me, ‘how foolish of me. Forgive me darling I have been all over the place this week I can barely recall what day it is. And your sister never stops for air over dinner so I came in here for some peace. I thought sitting in here with a book might relax me, and I could do with a night away from my desk. Please go on, how did you get on, what did Doctor Highton have to say?’
‘Well…it is not exactly what we were expecting. But you will be pleased to know that I am going to be okay.’ I could feel myself avoiding the words, but why? I knew Albert would be thrilled, it’s what he has wanted since I met him.
‘I’m pleased you’re in fine fettle V, did he tell you what was causing your strange episodes?’
‘Albert. I’m pregnant.’ His eyes widened.
‘Victoria my dear this is fantastic news.’ He leaned in and kissed me, before standing and pacing the room. ‘We have so much to do to get ready. We need to decorate and furnish the nursery. We need to get everything for its arrival, and make sure you have enough clothes for when you get… bigger.’
‘Albert.’
‘Miss Baily and Ms Lowney will need to be told so they can make the necessary adjustments. Of course Tom will be ecstatic.’
‘Albert.’
‘I will send a telegram to my parents tomorrow and we can send one to your mother too, they are going to be overjoyed.’
‘Albert,’ I found myself shouting to get his attention back to me.
‘Yes?’
‘Calm down, we have more than enough time to do everything. I am not giving birth right now.’ I couldn’t help but laugh; I knew he would be excited about becoming a father.
‘Did the doctor tell you when you are due to give birth? Can he tell how far gone you are?’
He made an amusing hand gesture towards my stomach as he asked this. He was an intelligent man, but this was clearly far beyond his level of knowledge. I knew I needed to play this one safe; I didn’t want him to figure out the timings as I had already done.
‘They can never be certain, it is all guess work really, but he expects me to give birth at the end of October, maybe even early November.’ I knew Albert wasn’t the type to care exactly when I got pregnant, but still I wanted to make sure he had no reason to doubt it was his, and so I lied and said I was due ever so earlier than the doctor had in fact told me.
‘Are you okay V, you do not sound overly happy about it all?’
‘You know I have always wanted children Albert, I am most pleased to that extent. But you know I have always worried about being a good enough mother to our children. Not to mention child birth being a frightful thing.’ He sat back next to me and took my hands in his.
‘V you will be the best mother this child could ever hope for. Look at Tom, you are practically a mother to him and he loves you. Yes child birth is scary business, but you are a strong healthy woman and I have no fears that you will be perfectly well.’
He squeezed my hand and kissed me on the cheek. We sat for a moment in silence, both watching the flames of the open fire as we digested the news. Albert’s hands released mine and he stood again.
‘Let us tell Tom now whist Lucy is out?’ He announced, and before I could protest he was already out into the hallway calling up the stairs. I wasn’t against the idea, in actual fact on the contrary, telling him without Lucy was the better idea.
‘Tom, can you hear me?’ Alberts voice echoed up the into the hallway and up the stairs.
‘Yes, Sir?’ Came Tom’s voice a few seconds later.
‘Tom, can you come down here for a moment please.’ I could still hear footsteps in the dining room; clearly Miss Baily and Ms Lowney were curious as to what all the commotion was about. They did not appear, however I knew they would be by the door listening.
Tom came rushing down the stairs at full speed, jumping past the final two and landing with a loud thump beside the front door.
‘Is everything al’ right sir?’ I could see in his face that he was concerned; clearly worried he had done something wrong.
‘Everything is splendid Tom. Myself and Mrs Summers wished to tell you some exciting news.’
‘Albert, please,’ I interjected, ‘I ask Tom to call us by our names, not Mister and Misses.’ Albert cleared his throat and nodded.
‘Yes, well. Victoria and I wish you to be the first to know that we a expecting a baby.’ He had never sounded so proud. He stood up tall as he spoke and his smiled stretched from ear to ear.
‘A baby. Wow what an excitin’ bit o’ news ma’am. I’m dead pleased for ya both.’
‘Now Tom,’ I said learning in to give him a hug, ‘I want you to continue being the smartest, well-mannered gentleman you are. Your new brother or sister will look up to you for guidance and I hope you will be the best big brother they need.’ Tom's face lit up, he pulled Albert into the hug and held us both tight.
‘The nursery’ll need a lick o’ paint.’ Tom pulled back from the hug, ‘want me to ‘elp Mr….erm, I mean, Albert.’
‘Yes Tom I would love your help. Next week, once Lucy has left, we will tidy the nursery and give it a clean. Then a
t the weekend we can give it a new coat of paint, how does that sound?’
‘That sounds great.’
He ran off back upstairs where he stayed for the remainder of the night. Knowing full well that Miss Baily and Ms Lowney had heard the news already I decided to go through and see them. Albert returned to his book and armchair, although I could tell he wasn’t really reading anymore but going over everything in his head. Once in the dining room I was surprised not to see them both there. They were back in the kitchen, helping one and other with the dishes.
‘Good evening Ma’am,’ they said together as I entered the room.
‘Good evening ladies. Thank you again for a wonderful meal. I presume you heard that my sister will be leaving us on Monday and returning to our Mother’s.’ I could see them both trying to restrain a smile. It was certainly no great mystery what the entire household thought of Lucy.
‘Yes Miss,’ said Ms Lowney.
‘I am not sure if you heard us speaking with Tom just now,’ they both stopped what they were doing and looked at me with anticipation, ‘but we have just informed him that today whilst at the doctors I found out that I am with child.’ Both Miss Baily and Ms Lowney let out an excitable scream, Miss Baily threw her tea towel over her shoulder and raced over to hug me. She was followed by Ms Lowney who pushed her out of the way. They both extended their congratulations before returning to the dishes. Having them both, as well as Albert and Tom, so excited about the news made me feel much better about it all.
‘What is the time?’ I asked, knowing full well what time it was.
‘Just gone seven ma’am,’ said Miss Baily. They both usually worked until eight, before retiring to their own private quarters.
‘Once these dishes are put away you can go for the evening, feel free to take one of the wine bottles and enjoy a glass for me. It will be a long time before I can drink it again.’ I could see they had pretty much finished the dishes anyway, and they looked thrilled to be finishing that little bit sooner.
D_Revenge Hits London Page 3
