The Woman From Heartbreak House

by Freda Lightfoot

  It all sounded so reasonable that even the aunts were silenced.

  But Kate still felt a glimmer of concern. Had there been a discussion about the house? If so, why couldn’t she remember it? What was going on? She felt very much as if she were being manipulated, pandered to in some unidentifiable way, yet could not work out the reasoning behind it.

  Kate never quite knew where she was with Lucy, or what the other woman was thinking. One minute she would be asking herself if her sister-in-law was capable of true evil, the next Lucy was being so sweet and helpful the idea was ludicrous. Where had her bite gone, her venom, which was almost preferable to this mincing affectation? Or was she genuinely trying to make herself useful?

  Perhaps there had indeed been a discussion and Kate simply couldn’t remember it. Every time she thought she was feeling more herself, something would go wrong, and control over her own life would slip away from her again.

  Lucy said, ‘Do come along into the small parlour, which is relatively quiet and peaceful, and I’ll have Mrs Petty bring us in some tea.’ She led the way just as if she were indeed the mistress of Tyson Lodge.

  Kate was sitting in the garden beneath the grove of trees. She couldn’t bear to go inside. The noise and the dust were too much. Here, in the quiet of a golden October afternoon amongst the trees which Eliot had planted, she could find sanctuary. She remembered that other morning in autumn so long ago, when she’d discovered him planting a dozen young saplings. She’d been so young, so much in love, but she’d only been the nursemaid at that time, and he her employer.

  ‘Haven’t you enough trees already?’ she’d teased him, meaning the gracious avenue of beech which lined the drive, and the woodland copse of ash and rowan that stood behind the house, shielding Tyson Lodge from the terrace of fine houses beyond, and the high school from which each afternoon burst forth a chattering mass of giggling girls.

  ‘One can never have enough trees,’ he’d explained. ‘We must plant for the next generation,’

  ‘For Callum, you mean?’

  ‘For Callum, and for his children, and for all future generations to come.’

  Kate wiped a tear from her eye at the memory. Poor Eliot hadn’t even been given the chance to make proper provision for this son he’d worshipped and thought lost. But perhaps the trees were his best legacy, certainly the most enduring.

  And here her boy was, alive and well, walking towards her with a frown of concern on his handsome face. She thought that face paler than it should be, and more gaunt. Had he lost weight while she was away?

  Kate called to him, ‘Don’t look so worried, aren’t I just fine and dandy?’

  Callum came to sit beside her on the bench and wasted no time over greetings. ‘What do you intend to do about Lucy?’

  ‘And hello to you too, m’darlin’.’

  ‘What do you intend to do?’ he repeated.

  Kate sighed. ‘In what respect?’

  ‘You must stop her from taking over.’

  Kate tried to collect her thoughts but still they kept slipping back to Eliot, and she found that she was less concerned about the changes to the house than she’d at first thought. But then nothing really mattered, not any more. ‘I was a bit put out at first, a bit disorientated, you might say. But the bathrooms are an excellent idea, so perhaps we really did have that discussion and Lucy means only to help.’

  ‘Pigs might fly! She means to take over.’

  ‘Oh, Callum, we can’t let old feuds last forever. Let bygones be bygones, isn’t that the best way?’

  But he was having none of that. ‘You must do something. Are you going into the factory soon? Toby Lynch is itching to put those new plans for a line of ladies’ shoes into operation. You just have to say the word. He was asking after you again today. He needs you there, the men need you.’

  Kate smiled at him. ‘I believe there are women working in the factory too,’ she teased.

  Callum gave her a sideways grin. ‘I’m glad to see you’ve at least found some of your old spirit. It’s good to have you home, Mam.’

  ‘It’s good to be home, m’cushla. Give yer mam a quick kiss while no one’s looking. Flora smothers me in kisses all the time, but sure I’d like one from my boy too.’

  Callum swiftly complied, although he did first check over his shoulder to make sure he was unobserved. But then he returned to the matter uppermost in his mind. ‘I spoke to Constable Brown while you were away. He may call and see you, or he may have given up on the case, I’m not sure.’

  He explained briefly about the missing witness and Kate tried to take in what he was telling her. ‘They don’t seem to have found poor old Edith yet. I think you were right about Swainson helping Lucy. My bet is that he scared the old woman off, her family too, and the whole lot of them have run away, which doesn’t help our cause one little bit.’

  Kate sighed, not really wishing to have the agony of the accident revived by the police all over again, though she didn’t say so. She knew it had hit Callum hard, losing Eliot before he’d had the chance to see him as a father.

  ‘I’d rather not think about all of that just now. I’d like just to sit here awhile, under Eliot’s trees, which are now your trees by the way, since Eliot planted them for you and your children.’

  Callum looked surprised. ‘He planted them for me?’

  ‘That’s what he said. He believed trees were the best heritage in the world.’

  Callum thought this a rather fanciful notion, pleasant though trees undoubtedly were, but he didn’t say as much. His mother, he’d noticed, often had a way all her own of looking at things.

  ‘Will I see you at dinner?’ she asked as he got up to go.

  Callum shook his head, his expression dead-pan and his Westmorland accent coming very much to the fore. ‘I eat in t’kitchen these days, with t’other servants.’

  For a long moment Kate couldn’t quite take in what he’d said. ‘I don’t understand?’

  ‘That was another of Lucy’s decisions. Apparently it offends her sensibilities to have me sit at table with them, therefore she told me to eat in t’kitchen with Mrs Petty and Ida. Suits me fine, as a matter of fact.’

  It did not suit Kate.

  Discretion being the better part of valour though, in view of all that she must face in the coming weeks, she opted not to make too big a fuss. Somehow she had to find the courage to return to the factory, despite the implied threat of that dead rat, and with inevitable confrontations with Lucy. Kate approached the subject with laudable tact and diplomacy.

  ‘I understand that Callum elected to eat in the kitchen with Mrs Petty while we were away. Isn’t he the big eejit? Though perhaps it’s just as well. His table manners are not what they might be. But then, he hasn’t had things easy being deprived of a proper childhood, and boys will be boys. He no doubt believes “please” and “thank you” to be only for bairns. I’ve made it clear that in future I shall expect him to be properly attired, with his best manners in place, and that he is to sit at table with the rest of us, as is only right and proper. He’s not a child, after all, but the son of the house.’

  This last was the nearest Kate dare go, in her current state of health, to reminding Lucy of Callum’s position. It did not go unnoticed.

  ‘My dear Kate, I sympathise entirely with your efforts to civilise the boy. What a trial sons can be for a woman alone. Jack too can sometimes be most obstinate, won’t listen to a word I say. But then he knows exactly what he wants out of life, and means to get it. So like his father. Oh dear, if only poor, darling Charles were here now to help raise his son as the gentleman he undoubtedly is.’ Having successfully reminded Kate that she too was a widow, but that her own son had the breeding which Kate’s clearly lacked, Lucy offered up the saddest, sweetest smile. ‘What a trial life is for we women.’

  Kate made no comment. If it was pity Lucy was after, she was knocking on the wrong door.

  ‘The point is, I’m afraid, that Callum and Jack are
constantly at loggerheads. Why, I even caught them fighting the other night. They would no doubt have torn each other to shreds had I not intervened. Did Callum not tell you? I felt compelled to take Jack to the hospital. He was in such a state, I feared his nose might be broken. Fortunately it was only badly bruised but that wild son of yours has no idea of his own strength. You should try and tame him or who knows what he might do next?’

  Kate had grown increasingly bemused throughout this long complaint. Now she said, ‘Callum said nothing to me of any fight.’

  ‘He wouldn’t wish to appear in the wrong, would he?’ Lucy sweetly remarked.

  ‘I thought he looked gaunt, and rather pale. So what did Jack do to provoke such a response?’

  ‘Nothing, dear Kate, nothing at all. That is my point entirely. My son neither said nor did a single thing to warrant such an attack. It was entirely unprovoked. Rather you should ask your son the reason, for I’m sure I can think of none other than that he was making a nuisance of himself to my daughter. Just as well I sent Bunty away to Switzerland. I really can’t have her contaminated by such loutish behaviour.’

  ‘Sure and he’d never hurt a fly, and certainly not Bunty. He adores her.’

  ‘That is precisely what I’m afraid of.’

  Kate became aware that her cheeks were burning. ‘I’ll speak to Callum.’

  Lucy sighed. ‘The matter has been dealt with. Bring him back to the table by all means. He is your child, after all, the son of the house, as you say. I’m simply saying that we must watch him most carefully, make sure his jealousy of Jack doesn’t get out of hand again. I’ll not tolerate any more displays of peevishness on those grounds.’

  ‘Jealous of Jack? Peevishness, why, I’m sure that he’d never ...’

  But Kate got no further since Lucy didn’t stay long enough to hear her out. She swept away in her rustling taffeta gown, chin high and nose firmly in the air.

  Chapter Eight

  In the event, dinner that evening and in the days following passed without incident. Callum sat at table next to the aunts, in his best bib and tucker and uttered not a word. Jack sat at one end of the table and Kate at the other. She tried not to see any significance in this new placement.

  The workmen continued to come in sharp at eight every morning and Kate could find no fault with the work Lucy had ordered. Meanwhile, Lucy continued to exercise charm and good temper at every turn. It was all most unsettling, leaving Kate feeling unneeded, almost superfluous to requirements, which did no good at all for her battered self-esteem.

  Even on her first day back at the factory, she felt very much like a spare part. Almost the first thing Toby Lynch said after expressing his pleasure at seeing her again, was that she was not to worry as they were managing perfectly well without her.

  ‘I’ll go home again then, shall I, since I’m not wanted?’

  ‘That’s not what I meant, and you know it, Kate. What I’m saying is that the workers have pulled out all the stops to carry on as normal, knowing you weren’t yourself and needed to rely on their support at this difficult time.’

  Kate looked abashed. ‘Tell them I appreciate it. I’ll tell them myself, soon as I can face them. Callum says you called at the house, asking after me. Thanks for that too.’

  ‘I was needing a word when I had a problem on one occasion so called at the house, but the other Mrs Tyson, Miss Lucy, didn’t seem to think you were up to it.’

  Kate frowned. ‘She never said. Mebbe it would’ve done me good to think of a problem other than me own.’

  ‘That’s what I thought.’

  ‘It’s true that I have been a bit down, got a bit too - introspective.’

  ‘Don’t worry about it. We’ve coped fine.’ Toby smiled, and it dawned on her that he wasn’t a bad looking man, quite nice in fact, with that shock of fair hair and his cheery grin. His eyes, she noticed, were a deep grey, almost charcoal and he had a gentle, quiet manner to him. She was lucky to have him here, looking after things for her, but it was long past time she got herself back into harness and took charge herself. She couldn’t mourn forever, or risk losing what Eliot and she had built up over the years. Where was the sense in that? It wasn’t what Eliot would have wanted.

  As they talked, Toby made it plain that he was keen to set in motion the new line of ladies’ shoes, that everything was in place and their sales figures were in desperate straits. ‘Something has to be done, and fast,’ he insisted. Kate agreed that they should get on with it.

  ‘Can you just agree for me to get on with it, without consulting the other members of the board, or Miss Lucy, now that she’s your partner? Or should I set up a meeting to discuss the matter, plus any other ideas we might come up with?’

  Kate was stunned. She’d known, of course, that things would be different in future, that she wouldn’t have quite the same freedom in running the factory as before. Eliot had left her in total control while he was away at war but the complexities of his will had not yet entirely sunk in. She hadn’t really given the matter any proper thought. Now she considered Toby’s words with all due seriousness.

  ‘I expect you’re right and a board meeting would be the proper course of action. You’d best send out the notices, Toby. Thank you.’

  ‘I’ll arrange it.’

  ‘I’m aware that Jack has started work here. Which department is he in? Who have you apprenticed him to?’

  Toby shook his head. ‘Mrs Tyson made it clear that he was not to be trained as a shoemaker, after all. He was to be in the office, working in administration and management, is how she put it.’

  Kate was silent for a moment, thinking this through. No wonder relations between the two boys were difficult, if Jack had effectively been set above Callum and was not to serve his time in the shoe trade as Eliot would have expected. Since Toby was clearly not prepared to comment further, she merely said, ‘I see. Well, I shall look into it, see how he’s shaping. And my son, is he behaving himself?’

  Toby gave a wry smile. ‘Seems anxious to get home most evenings. I was wondering if he had a girl?’

  Kate raised an eyebrow, then smiled. ‘Is that the way of it? Well, no wonder he’s gone all caring and concerned of a sudden. He must want my approval!’ And they both chuckled, making the usual remarks about young love. Was there more to this tale about Bunty than she’d realised? Kate wondered, and sighed. Perhaps it was just as well the girl had been packed off to finishing school. The last thing they needed right now, were yet more complications.

  ‘And what about you, Kate? Will you find new love d’you reckon, one day?’

  Not even glancing at him, and therefore missing the eagerness with which he waited for her reply, Kate brushed the question aside with the comment that it was far too soon even to contemplate such a thing.

  ‘I’m sorry. Of course it is. I spoke out of turn.’

  ‘I don’t mind your asking. Life goes on, as they say. It’s just – too soon. Much too soon even to think of anyone taking Eliot’s place.’

  After that, they got down to business, going through the figures, dealing with the problems associated with keeping the new styles suitably lightweight. When she left the factory that day Kate was feeling much more herself, better than she had in an age. It hadn’t been easy, going back, but she’d coped, and felt quite proud of her modest success.

  Now all she had to do was deal with the board meeting.

  It was a disaster. Not only was there Lucy to contend with, but also the aunts, and to Kate’s surprise, even Jack. She ventured to ask if this was strictly necessary and received the sharp retort from Lucy that it certainly was, since he may one day be taking over the company.

  ‘I don’t think that has been decided yet,’ Kate very reasonably pointed out.

  ‘There you are, doesn’t that prove that I need him here, beside me? I need somebody on my side.’

  ‘This isn’t a question of sides. We’re not about to go into battle.’

  But on that point,
Kate was entirely wrong. They seemed to disagree at every turn. When she described the need for a new advertising campaign, Lucy was adamant that they should not stoop so low. ‘Didn’t dear Eliot make his opinion on the subject abundantly clear, insisting that it would demean us?’

  ‘It would also make us more competitive.’

  ‘Eliot didn’t see it that way and I, for one, agree with him.’

  Kate couldn’t bear this woman telling her what Eliot would or would not have believed. What right had Lucy to voice his opinion? ‘Sadly, my husband is no longer here to speak for himself, so I must learn to make decisions without him.’

  ‘You cannot have things all your own way, Kate dear, since he gave me a say in the business too, in lieu of my darling Charles, and particularly since your judgement is somewhat warped, shall we say, at present.’

  ‘Warped? What are you talking about? It’s not in the least bit warped.’

  ‘Perhaps warped is too strong a word, but certainly damaged. You aren’t thinking clearly, anyone can see that.’

  ‘’Tis not so. Aren’t I feeling much more meself? Getting back to work has done me a power of good, so it has. Toby was only saying so the other day were you not, Toby?’

  He nodded, his expression carefully non-committal as he watched the two women, but he was worried. The aunts seemed equally concerned, he could tell by the way they were fidgeting with their gloves, desperately trying to avoid eye contact. They were clearly embarrassed but they too must realise that Eliot Tyson had made a bad mistake pandering to his own sense of guilt over his brother, by leaving matters in this unsatisfactory way. He’d effectively neutered Kate’s power. She was going to have a struggle to maintain control, possibly even find herself with a real fight on her hands.