‘That’s enough of that. We have to get on.’
‘At least your lovely laburnum painting survived,’ said Cecily.
‘Which is more than can be said for most of your bottom drawer.’
‘The painting is more important.’
As they resumed clearing up, Juliet thought the unthinkable. Was Mr Jones Adeline’s spy, sent here to ruin their business? There was no proof, nothing except her own dark imaginings, and if she dared voice them to the police, she would doubtless bring more trouble on herself.
‘What will we do about the wedding clothes?’ Cecily asked.
‘We’ll dress Mrs Todd and Noreen from the market, as before, but there won’t be time to pick and choose. I’ll get more fabric for Edith and begin again.’
‘Can we do all that in the time?’
‘We have to.’
She set off for the Monday markets directly after breakfast, and she wouldn’t have bothered with breakfast had Cecily not insisted. She gave herself until midday to find second-hand garments and just about met her time limit, then she raced into town to buy Edith’s material before dashing home.
Aside from stopping briefly to eat, they worked straight through and were still at it when William came that evening.
‘However hard this week is,’ he said encouragingly, ‘next week you can start afresh.’
‘We used up the last of our money buying these things,’ said Cecily.
‘So much for this making our reputation,’ said Juliet. ‘After this, we’ll have a wonderful reputation but no business, because the money’s run out.’
William said quietly, ‘There’s your mother’s money.’
She bent her head, fighting so hard not to be stupid, stupid, stupid that her ears buzzed.
‘It’s your money, love,’ said Cecily.
‘I realise you don’t want to get it yourself,’ said William, ‘but what if I fetched it for you?’
She looked up. ‘Could you?’
‘I’d need Mr Winterton’s permission. He’d know the correct way to go about it. I’d have to tell him who has the money now.’
‘Mr Nugent,’ Cecily answered promptly. ‘Lord Drysdale’s agent.’
Juliet’s stomach quivered. The thought of being brought to Mr Nugent’s notice, even from a distance, was unsettling.
William returned the next day with news. ‘Mr Winterton says your grandmother must confirm your identity. She’s your next of kin and she has standing in the community. Mr Lawson, our chief clerk, will make the appointment and accompany you to her home or office, whichever she finds convenient.’
By sewing long into the night, they finished Noreen’s dress, which might have felt like a magnificent achievement if they hadn’t been drop-dead tired. Rising early with gritty eyes, Juliet mended the costume she had picked for Mrs Todd and unpicked the side seams, tacking in new seams for Cecily to finish. Then she turned to Edith’s costume, which had been cut out yesterday. It was depressing to make it a second time. The skirt she had chosen because of all those flaring panels was now a nightmare of seams while the details on the blouse, which she had been so proud of first time round, were horribly fiddly.
They slept three or four hours that night and the next. When Cecily went out cleaning on Friday, Juliet had one embroidered harp to finish. The Todds were due at eleven for the final trying on. Mrs Todd took one look at Edith in her finery, blubbed something about ‘my baby getting wed’, and before Juliet knew it, all three of them were at it, but they were laughing too, and when they had finished hugging one another, they hugged her.
The room felt very still and quiet when they left.
That was it. It was over – unless she got Mother’s money.
She was due to see Adeline later. Mr Lawson, a pixie of a man, arrived to accompany her to the villa in West Didsbury, where Adeline received them with glacial courtesy.
‘Thank you for seeing us, madam,’ said Mr Lawson. ‘We shan’t intrude upon your time above a minute. Please will you identify this young person as your granddaughter, Juliet Catherine Harper.’
Adeline looked her up and down before turning her unwavering gaze on Mr Lawson.
‘I’ve never seen this person before in my life.’
When Juliet got home, still dizzy with shock, a letter was waiting. From Hal? Her heart bumped – but he didn’t know this address.
‘What are you waiting for?’ Cecily prompted.
She opened it, and stared in disbelief. She read it twice and even then she didn’t believe it.
‘I think I’ve got to go to court.’
‘You’ve what?’
William confirmed it later. ‘Mr Seton – he’s a magistrate – is going to hear your case.’
‘What case? I haven’t broken the law – have I?’
‘I’ll see what I can find out. Mr Lawson might pull strings, but not until Monday.’
‘This says I’m to present myself on Wednesday morning.’
After the strain of worrying all Saturday and Sunday, they couldn’t bear to wait for Monday evening, but went into town and pounced on William the moment he emerged from the building in Rosemount Place. When he saw them, his face went smooth and expressionless, and Juliet clutched her handbag in a tight squeeze. It was something bad.
‘It’s Mrs Tewson. She wants Mr Seton to put you into her care.’
Adeline took out the letter and reread it. Going behind her back to Ingleby’s wasn’t the only underhand thing that sly-boots had done. She was clearly angling to worm her way back in with the spurned fiancé.
Dear Juliet,
I did not receive your letter until a few days ago and I have given it a lot of thought. I hope you will not mind receiving an answer. I have asked myself many questions since I last saw you and your letter has raised yet more. I thought of showing it to Mr Nugent, but decided against it. This is between you and me.
An awkward letter. A careful letter. One that showed the poor sap hadn’t known whether his reply would be welcome. Adeline pressed her lips together. Cunning little minx, she must have worded her own letter cleverly to make him feel like that.
The only thing I am certain of is how much you loved your mother. It was shocking when you did not attend her funeral, but I am sure that only something serious would have prevented you.
That was it. The next sentence – Won’t you please write and explain? – was shatteringly obvious by its very omission. The poor sap clearly lacked the guts to write it.
The address on the letter was a place up in Cumberland. That was a puzzle, and Adeline disliked puzzles. Then she shrugged. As if it mattered.
She glanced towards the fireplace, but changed her mind. The size of the paper made it suitable for use in the lavatory.
Juliet’s stomach had rolled in dread at the thought of standing in the dock, so relief washed through her when she found her case was to be heard in a private office. There was a desk at the front, and Mr Winterton, a tall, bushy-haired gentleman, sat in front of it, as did Adeline, while Juliet was relegated to a seat at the back of the room, as if the matter was nothing to do with her. Cecily and William flanked her.
The magistrate walked in without a glance at anyone and took his seat behind the desk. His chin was bare and prominent between luxuriant side whiskers. His manner was at once slick and bored, as if these proceedings were of little importance.
‘Good morning. Are we ready? This should be over and done with in five minutes.’
Juliet gasped, and William nudged her. She snapped her mouth shut. She was under strict instructions not to speak.
‘Leave it to Mr Winterton,’ had been William’s advice. ‘You’re lucky he’s involved, even if it is against his will.’
‘Against his will?’
‘Be grateful I told him about your mother’s money. That’s given him an association with this matter, however reluctantly. He wasn’t pleased when your grandmother didn’t identify you.’
‘Mrs Tewson,’ said
Mr Seton, ‘what do you wish to say?’
‘The girl ran away after her mother died. The only job she could get was charring. When it was brought to my attention that she had got herself into trouble, I placed her, against her will I may say, in a respectable home for girls of that sort. Since then, I have given her a home and a job, from which she ran away – again. Her pathetic attempt to set up in business failed dismally and she has nothing left. Nevertheless, I am prepared to take her back and provide a stable background.’
‘She is indeed fortunate,’ said Mr Seton, and for one horrifying moment, Juliet thought he was about to hand her over then and there.
Mr Winterton cleared his throat. ‘If I may? Mrs Tewson’s information may be factually correct, but it paints a picture of a hoyden. I intend to show that Miss Harper is capable of conducting herself and her affairs in a modest and appropriate manner. I have a character witness waiting outside, who knows her as a decent, hard-working individual.’
He nodded at William, who went to the door and ushered in Mrs Gillespie. William placed a chair for her, and Mrs Gillespie, handbag clutched tightly in her lap, squirmed under the combined stares of the three round the desk.
‘This is Mrs Gillespie, Miss Harper’s landlady,’ said Mr Winterton. ‘Mrs Gillespie, please tell us your opinion of Miss Harper.’
‘A pleasing young lady, sir. Quiet, civil ways, and the rent up to date. You never saw anyone work harder.’
‘You consider yourself a good judge of character?’ Adeline cut in.
‘I like to think so.’
‘Indeed? How good a judge of character were you when you married?’
Mrs Gillespie let loose a cry of distress. Her colour drained away.
Adeline addressed herself to Mr Seton. ‘Mr Gillespie is a disgraced railway clerk, in prison for theft. This woman passes herself off as his widow, but for years she lived off his ill-gotten gains.’
‘I had no idea …’ Mrs Gillespie made a choking sound.
At a signal from Mr Winterton, William escorted the drooping figure to the door. Cecily hurried after them, taking poor Mrs Gillespie and sending William back to Juliet. There was a dark look on Mr Winterton’s face. Was he about to throw her over?
But he said crisply, ‘Mr Seton, are you aware that when Mrs Tewson was requested to provide formal identification of Miss Harper, she claimed not to know her?’
‘It was for her own good,’ Adeline retorted. ‘She had looked elsewhere for guidance and representation, which she should have received from me.’
‘Are you implying,’ Mr Winterton enquired grandly, ‘that the guidance of Winterton, Sowerby and Jenks is inferior to your own?’
‘All I know of Winterton, Sowerby and Jenks,’ replied Adeline, ‘is that a member of the firm portrayed himself, and therefore your firm, as this girl’s legal representative. I recommended his dismissal for that, but I see you didn’t heed my advice.’ She turned to the magistrate. ‘I leave you to draw your own conclusions, Mr Seton.’
‘Duly noted.’ Mr Seton scratched away with his pen.
‘Madam,’ said Mr Winterton, ‘your remarks—’
‘—are the simple truth. Do you deny it?’
Cecily crept back in and slipped across to Juliet. ‘I’m taking Mrs Gillespie home,’ she whispered.
Adeline addressed Mr Seton. ‘I’d also like to point out that this same member of Mr Winterton’s firm saw nothing undesirable in the trollop the girl lives with.’
‘Mrs Tewson!’ Mr Winterton spluttered. ‘You surely aren’t referring to Mrs Gillespie?’
‘I mean this … female.’ Adeline waved a scornful hand in Cecily’s direction. ‘Calls herself Mrs and hopes the world will take pity on a young widow, but having looked into the matter, I can assure you the most she’s ever had on her finger is a brass curtain ring. She used to be a servant and when serving girls get themselves into trouble, there’s no shortage of people to make the man do the decent thing. If that didn’t happen in this case, it must be because there were, shall we say, several candidates.’
Cecily uttered a strangled cry and stumbled from the room. Juliet made to follow, but Adeline’s hand clamped on her shoulder.
‘She’s no better than a prostitute,’ Adeline steamrollered on. ‘Hardly fit company for someone you want to see conducting herself in a – how did you express it, Mr Winterton? – “a modest and appropriate manner”?’
Mr Winterton looked daggers at William. ‘When you approached me regarding Miss Harper’s difficulty, I had no idea—’
‘Well, you have now,’ Adeline gloated.
Juliet couldn’t bear it. Any minute now Mr Seton would come down on Adeline’s side, and Mr Winterton would throw up his hands in relief. She bounced to her feet.
‘May I speak?’
It appeared to take Mr Seton a moment to realise where the voice had come from. ‘You may not. You are under twenty-one, which is why this matter is up for consideration. Do not disturb these proceedings again.’
William pulled her into her chair. She hissed, ‘The money. Ask Mr Winterton to mention my mother’s money.’
William got up to murmur in Mr Winterton’s ear, and Mr Winterton informed Mr Seton, ‘Miss Harper may be in financial straits at present, but her late mother’s money is due to her and would provide a certain independence.’
Adeline bristled. ‘If that money is retrieved, I’ll take care of it.’
Juliet couldn’t contain herself. ‘The same way you’ve taken care of the money I earned working for you? Sixteen guineas – and what I earned from Mrs Maddox.’ Appealing to Mr Seton, she cried, ‘You see, sir, I am capable of earning a living.’
‘Be silent or I’ll have you ejected,’ declared the magistrate.
‘That doesn’t mean you can run a business or lead a blameless life,’ Adeline flung at her. She turned to Mr Seton. ‘She needs all aspects of her life closely supervised. The fact that she prefers to sew in the backstreets, when she could be designing for Tewson’s Tailor-mades, proves she is incapable of making rational decisions.’
‘I agree,’ said Mr Seton. ‘Her past life is one disgrace after another. Just because she has earned money from Tewson’s and Ingleby’s doesn’t mean she’s capable of managing her own affairs. I find in favour of Mrs Tewson.’
Juliet’s heart dribbled into her shoes. She couldn’t bear to be handed back to her grandmother – wait a moment. She nudged William so hard he had to stamp one foot to keep from overbalancing.
‘How does he know about Ingleby’s?’ she whispered to him, then she leapt up. ‘How do you know I worked at Ingleby’s?’ she challenged.
‘Remove this person!’ demanded Mr Seton.
‘Miss Harper raises an interesting point,’ said Mr Winterton. ‘You appear to have prior knowledge of this case. Can it be that you aren’t impartial? Can you assure me that you and Mrs Tewson didn’t decide the matter in advance?’
Mr Seton coughed and muttered something.
Adeline turned on Mr Winterton. ‘As right-minded citizens, naturally Mr Seton and I see this matter in a similar light.’
‘I’d like to know when this cordial agreement started. Perhaps another magistrate might be prevailed upon to assist us in determining this?’
‘There’s no need for that,’ Mr Seton barked, ‘and you will treat me with the respect my position deserves.’
‘I’m entirely in favour of treating impartial magistrates with the utmost respect. I’m sure you’ll display your own impartiality in listening to my proposal for Miss Harper’s future. I propose that her late mother’s money be placed in a savings bank chosen by Mrs Tewson and myself. Access to the funds will be on Mrs Tewson’s and my joint signatures only.’
‘Wait a minute!’ Juliet exclaimed.
‘Miss Harper will receive a modest allowance to keep herself and make her way respectably in the world. Her situation will be reviewed quarterly by Mrs Tewson and myself, together with one of our esteemed impartial magistrat
es. I propose this arrangement should continue until Miss Harper comes of age.’
‘But that’s not for years!’ Juliet cried. She wasn’t quite seventeen yet and there would be another four years – four years! – after that.
Mr Winterton ignored her. ‘If my proposal is unacceptable, Mr Seton, I’ll formally request the intervention of another magistrate. This will be necessary to show that you’re impartial in spite of what appeared to be inappropriate prior knowledge.’
Mr Seton cleared his throat. ‘Very well. No need to take matters further. Your proposal seems adequate.’
Adeline leapt in. ‘I insist that at the first sign of anything unsatisfactory or unseemly in the girl’s personal life or her work, responsibility for her welfare and her money be handed to me.’
‘Agreed,’ said Mr Winterton.
‘The matter is settled.’ Mr Seton marched out.
Juliet sprang forward. ‘You can’t do this.’
‘We just have,’ said Adeline.
Juliet glared at Mr Winterton. ‘I thought you were on my side.’
‘It isn’t a question of sides. It’s a matter of what’s best for you.’
‘Be careful how you address your elders,’ warned Adeline. ‘Some might view your outspokenness as unseemly.’
‘This is to last until I’m twenty-one?’ It was unbelievable.
‘It won’t drag on until then, said Adeline. ‘Responsibility will revert to me long before that.’ The corners of her mouth moved – on anyone else, it would have been a smile. ‘Oh yes, long before that.’
Chapter Twenty-One
Juliet arrived home to find Cecily had been crying over the public humiliation Adeline had dished out, but she wouldn’t talk about it, just saying, ‘I wonder if I can get more hours at Mrs Blore’s. We’ll have to stop paying Mrs Gillespie for meals for now and buy ourselves the cheapest things we can.’
‘You can’t live on bread and dripping,’ said Juliet, ‘not in your condition.’
The Sewing Room Girl Page 24
