The Sewing Room Girl

by Susanna Bavin

  ‘I’m sorry. I’ve taken too much on myself. Perhaps I’d better leave. I’ve done this all wrong. I apologise.’

  She went to him and caught his hands. ‘No, you oaf, you’ve done it all right. Just say it again so I know it’s real.’

  ‘Do you mean it?’ His fingers squeezed hers.

  ‘This is what I’ve wanted for so long and I thought it couldn’t ever happen. I hated Verity Forbes for coming along just when I realised how I felt about you.’

  ‘We’re not supposed to be talking about Verity.’

  ‘Verity Forbes is an idiot,’ said Cecily. ‘She could have had you, but she’s an idiot, and I’m grateful for it, because now I’ve got you instead.’

  ‘You and Archie have got me.’

  ‘Me and Archie. Oh, he loves you so much.’

  William took a step back from her, a look of certainty and resolve on his face. ‘I haven’t made the best fist of telling you, but I’m going to do the next bit properly.’

  Her heart expanded as he went down on one knee. She caught her breath and tried to sniff discreetly to keep tears at bay.

  ‘Cecily Ramsbottom—’

  ‘Don’t! Don’t spoil the most romantic moment of my life by using that awful name.’

  ‘Cecily, will you do me the honour of becoming my wife and allowing me to be your son’s father?’

  Oh, how perfect. If she had ever wondered how much she loved him, she knew it in that moment, when he included her beloved Archie in his proposal.

  ‘Yes,’ she breathed. ‘Yes, as long as …’

  ‘Anything.’

  ‘As long as Archie can be Archie Turton. I want him to have the same name as I have.’

  ‘Of course. He’ll be my son.’ He smiled. ‘My lad Archie.’

  Rising to his feet, he enfolded her in his arms and kissed her. Cecily melted into the embrace, feeling warm and excited and safe.

  ‘Let’s wake Archie and tell him,’ said William. ‘We’re going to be a family, so he ought to know.’

  Hand in hand, they went upstairs. Cecily sat on the bed and roused her son, soon to be William’s son as well. Archie was drowsy, and she thought maybe he hadn’t twigged what he was being told, then he snapped awake.

  ‘Did Uncle William go down on one knee?’

  She laughed in surprise. ‘How do you know about men going down on one knee?’

  ‘Silly Mummy. Everyone knows that.’

  ‘Yes, I did,’ said William. ‘You have to do these things properly.’

  ‘Do it again.’

  ‘What?’

  ‘Do it again,’ Archie insisted. ‘I want to see. Say what you said, and Mummy must say what she said too.’

  William sank down on his knee. In Archie’s presence, the second proposal was even better than the first.

  ‘Well,’ said Rosie, ‘I didn’t see that coming. More to the point, neither did he. I’d never have believed you capable.’

  Juliet pulled herself closer to the parapet. Rosie had hauled her to her feet, but she had promptly sunk down again. Now she realised it was a good thing she had, because peering over the edge made her head swim. Or perhaps that was shock. She looked down, aware of Rosie beside her. Mr Nugent was below, head first in the ditch, limbs spread, unmoving.

  She asked, ‘Is he dead?’

  ‘If he isn’t, he soon will be. His face is in the water.’

  ‘Ought we …?’

  ‘Ought we what? Don’t spoil a perfectly good murder by rushing to the rescue.’

  ‘Murder? But I …’

  But she what? Hadn’t meant it? But she had. She hadn’t planned it, but in that moment, she had meant it. For the sake of her beloved child, she had meant it.

  She sank back from the edge.

  ‘You saved me a job,’ said Rosie.

  Juliet looked at her. ‘You were going to …?’

  ‘Damn right I was, after what you told me about Hannah.’

  Juliet tried to think. She had to force her mind to focus. ‘How did you know to come here?’

  ‘I sent notes to you both. I knew you’d each think the other had written, and I could think of only one possible topic of conversation, and I was right. I was sure you’d bring Hannah into it.’

  ‘You wanted to know for definite.’

  ‘I was all set to shove him over the edge, but you saved me the bother.’ Rosie glanced over the parapet, then back again. ‘Bring me the jewellery. I’ll have it taken to a bent pawnbroker I know of in Chester. I’ll ensure the police find the things in his shop. It’ll take time, but your name will be cleared.’

  ‘Won’t the pawnbroker …?’

  ‘Find himself in hot water? I damn well hope so. He cheated an acquaintance of mine and, as you know, it never pays to get on the wrong side of me.’

  ‘You’re helping me?’

  ‘You killed the fiend who dishonoured my sister. On your feet. We need to get away.’ Rosie hauled her up. ‘Watch yourself. It’s slippery. Poor Sir Henry, taking an evening stroll, deciding to have a look at what needs doing to his folly, and goes head first over the parapet. Still, accidents happen.’

  They went downstairs. Juliet opened the door, averting her face from where the body lay, then realised Rosie wasn’t behind her. After a moment, Rosie emerged from the gloomy interior.

  ‘Here.’ She thrust a bucket into Juliet’s hands. ‘Get rid of this.’

  ‘What?’

  ‘You’re the murderer. Get rid of the evidence. Well, why did you think it was so slippery up there?’

  Rosie walked away.

  Arriving home, Juliet was so exhausted she could barely drag one foot in front of the other. The front door opened before she reached the garden gate. Cecily and William came spilling out to draw her in. Cecily’s face was bright with happiness, but she exclaimed in concern at the sight of Juliet.

  ‘What’s happened? You look dreadful. All your colour’s gone.’

  ‘Nothing. Just a fall.’

  ‘Come in, and let me look after you. Sit down while I put the kettle on, and then …’ Cecily reached for William’s hand. They beamed at one another and then at Juliet. ‘Then we’ve got something to tell you.’

  She smiled through the shock and fatigue. She was so grateful to be home. ‘I think I know what it is.’

  ‘We’re engaged. Isn’t it wonderful? William went down on one knee and asked me properly.’

  ‘I hope you said yes.’

  ‘Of course I did, silly. Then we woke Archie and told him. He’s thrilled to pieces. He made William go down on one knee and do it all over again, so he could watch.’

  ‘I hope you’re not going to leave me out. I want to see it too.’

  ‘Actually, you’re looking a bit green,’ said William. ‘Maybe you need—’

  ‘Maybe I need to see you going down on one knee. I promise you, there isn’t anything that could make me feel any better than that.’

  William obliged.

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  ‘It’s exactly as I said, Mama,’ Sally-Ann insisted. ‘The Darleys are cursed.’

  When Mrs Palmer didn’t deign to reply, Sally-Ann fixed Juliet with gossip-laden eyes. Juliet longed to encourage her. Had Mrs Palmer not been present, she would have done so, and professional etiquette be hanged. As it was, she simply crammed pins between her lips and bent over Mrs Palmer’s hem.

  ‘A black gown, if you please,’ Mrs Palmer had decreed. ‘It’s not every day one goes into mourning for a baronet with whom one has been on dining terms.’

  And here she was, standing on a small stool while Juliet crawled in a circle, putting up the hem. She had a wardrobe full of black at Garden Cottage. There was a steady demand.

  ‘Poor Flora, what a blow,’ Sally-Ann prattled. ‘They’ve barely been married five minutes – and then for her to be away when it happened. She’s pulled herself together now – one has to – but I assure you, for the whole of that first day, she was distraught. At least an accident is easie
r to come to terms with than what happened the other time. Easier to explain to the children, and of course he wasn’t their father.’

  Juliet discreetly spat pins into her hand. ‘If I may ask, how are the children?’

  ‘Izzie’s a bit young to take it in. It’s hit Lily hardest, poor lamb. Being that bit older, she understands more. She went dead white when we told her, and I thought she’d faint clean away, then she sobbed and sobbed. Young Frances, who, between you, me and the gatepost, is a bit of a madam, seems more bothered about what will become of them next. She soon realised Darley Court belongs to someone else now.’

  Impossible to delay longer. Juliet said, ‘If you’d like to step down,’ and Mrs Palmer descended and paced to the mirror. Juliet and Sally-Ann flanked her, standing slightly behind, and all three regarded her reflection.

  ‘Are you positive full black is quite the thing, Mama?’ Sally-Ann ventured. ‘He may be a baronet, but he’s not family.’

  ‘One should always accord rank its proper respect,’ Mrs Palmer replied.

  ‘I’m not going into full black, and I’m Flora’s friend.’

  ‘I hope you’ll be correctly attired for the funeral.’

  ‘I promise I’ll be swathed. It was everyday garb I was thinking of – which is why I’m here. I haven’t come to see you, Mama. I’m here to beg Miss Harper to sort out my half-mourning.’

  ‘You may wish me to provide something for your daughters as well. I know they’re friends with the McKenzie girls.’

  Sally-Ann sighed. No gossip now, just sorrow. ‘Those poor children, losing two fathers. It doesn’t bear thinking about.’

  How strange it felt, carrying on as normal, but she had to. She needed to. When news had spread of Sir Henry’s accident, Juliet hadn’t found it hard to react appropriately. If anything, it was a relief to release some of the shock that had held her frozen.

  ‘It’s all anyone can talk about,’ Cecily reported, coming in with the shopping. ‘I keep remembering how we knew him years ago.’

  ‘Did you tell anyone?’ Juliet asked, dread hollowing her voice.

  ‘No.’ Cecily pulled a face, eyes thoughtful. ‘It wouldn’t be right somehow, spreading it about that he was a land agent. I know it’s not exactly speaking ill of the dead, but let folk remember him as grand and important, eh? It’s politer.’

  ‘I took the jewellery back to Rosie today. She’s going to arrange for it to be found elsewhere.’

  ‘I just can’t understand why she’s doing that for us.’

  ‘She says I’ve been punished enough.’ And perhaps that wasn’t so very far from the truth.

  ‘I should think so too!’ Breathing shakily, Cecily cupped her hands over her mouth. ‘What a relief. It’s only when something’s sorted that you realise how worried you were.’

  Aside from that, it was business as usual at Garden Cottage – well, perhaps not entirely as usual, what with Cecily singing round the house, and Archie bouncing with glee as the time approached for William’s daily visit, bouncing that commenced earlier with each day that passed.

  ‘I’m having a new daddy,’ he informed anyone who would listen. ‘So far he’s just been my uncle, but now he’s going to be my daddy.’

  ‘I think it’s sweet,’ Juliet told Cecily.

  ‘So did I until this morning. We were in the baker’s and an elderly couple smiled at him, which was all the encouragement he needed to tell them about his uncle being his new daddy. I happened to look round, and you should have seen the look these two women were giving one another. Honestly, he might as well have announced his daddy had finally decided to make an honest woman of me.’

  Juliet couldn’t help laughing, even though she could see how miffed Cecily was. Oh, but it felt good to laugh again.

  As Juliet walked into the office of Perkins and Watson, Verity Forbes looked up, her professional smile freezing when she saw who it was. Juliet hovered in the doorway. She had come here prompted by kindness and concern, and awareness of the friendship that never was, but now she questioned the wisdom of it.

  ‘I’ll go away, if you’d rather.’

  ‘No – stay. I’m stopping for dinner in a minute. There’s a place I go to along the road, just to treat myself, you know, if I feel I could do with a bit of a lift.’ Fetching her coat and hat from the stand, she checked her appearance in a small mirror on the wall. ‘I’ve been treating myself quite a bit lately.’

  Soon they were sitting, awaiting the arrival of pork cutlets. The table linen was worn but clean, which seemed to sum up everything about the modest establishment, including the tired-eyed old biddy waiting on them.

  ‘How is William?’ Verity asked in a bright voice.

  ‘He’s fine.’

  ‘I’m glad to hear it. He deserves to be happy.’

  ‘Yes,’ Juliet said, ‘he does.’

  There was a flutter, and Verity pressed the back of her hand against her mouth. A sharp blink, a quick sniff, and she was in control again. ‘The thing is, I was rather expecting him to be happy with me.’

  ‘I didn’t realise … I mean …’

  ‘Go on,’ challenged Verity. ‘Spit it out.’

  ‘I’m not saying you didn’t seem fond of him, but …’

  ‘Just because I wasn’t in a mad rush to get engaged and dig Granny’s veil out of mothballs doesn’t mean I didn’t care. I cared very much.’ Verity spoke the words almost gingerly, as though they might shatter if she didn’t take pains with them. ‘Unfortunately, I didn’t appreciate how much until too late. Feel free to say “I told you so.” You won’t be the first.’

  ‘I wouldn’t dream of it.’

  ‘I’m thinking of having it engraved on my mother’s headstone when the time comes.’

  ‘William never set out to hurt you. You know that.’

  Verity smiled sadly. ‘Yes, I do know. Not that it makes it any easier. I should have snapped him up when I had the chance.’

  ‘You had your reasons,’ Juliet reminded her.

  On a note that smacked of desperation, Verity said, ‘All I wanted was time. Time to enjoy walking out together.’

  ‘You said you valued your independence.’

  ‘And I did. I do. I love working. When William came along, it was wonderful. I had my job, my independence and now a lovely fellow. I wanted to enjoy things the way they were, but I felt I was being pushed into getting engaged and I didn’t want that. Not yet, anyway.’

  ‘But you would have in the end?’

  ‘How was I to know he’d go off and meet someone else?’

  ‘It wasn’t like that, and you know it. It just … happened. Circumstances.’

  ‘You don’t have to leap to his defence. I know what a decent man he is. Believe me, I know better than most, when I think how patient he was with me. But in the words of my dear mother: “You kept him hanging on too long, Verity, and he went off the boil.”’ Verity fetched a deep sigh. ‘As you say: circumstances.’

  Juliet answered the door, and there was Inspector Crawley. She smiled, certain he was here to tell her she was no longer under suspicion.

  ‘We’re here to conduct a further search of the premises,’ he announced, and the next thing she knew, half a dozen coppers came pouring through the door.

  She pulled herself together. ‘Cecily!’ she called. ‘Take Archie to play on the Green.’

  ‘If you wouldn’t mind accompanying me to the station, Miss Harper?’ said Inspector Crawley.

  ‘Auntie Juley! Auntie Juley!’ Archie came tumbling towards her, arms outstretched.

  She scooped him up, cuddling him close. ‘Be a good boy and look after Mummy. I won’t be long.’

  She handed Archie into Cecily’s arms, and they exchanged full looks. Thank heaven the jewels were no longer here. But that didn’t stop this being a frightening experience.

  At the police station, she was dragged through the same old questions, with the inspector pouncing on any answer that deviated in the smallest detail from bef
ore. With her heart pounding and anxiety tying knots in her stomach, she fought to keep a clear head.

  At last she was permitted to leave.

  ‘You haven’t seen the last of me,’ was Inspector Crawley’s parting shot.

  Back at Garden Cottage, Juliet and Cecily sat huddled together, outraged and vulnerable, while Mrs Livingston, who had heard on the grapevine and come hurrying round at once, bustled about, making tea and keeping Archie busy.

  When William arrived, he was horrified. ‘You should have sent for me.’

  ‘That was a mistake, not sending for William,’ Cecily whispered to Juliet later, when he had reluctantly left.

  ‘It’s because we know my name is going to be cleared. We must be careful how we act in future,’ said Juliet. ‘We mustn’t give the game away.’

  But, oh, how long was it going to take?

  Mrs Baker-Johnson conceived a fancy for something flower-sprigged with lots of ruching, and Juliet hoped she could satisfy her long-standing customer without making Hand-finished by Harper a laughing stock, but when she arrived to take Mrs Baker-Johnson’s measurements, the lady of the house wasn’t available. That was surprising. Mrs Baker-Johnson might have lamentable taste in clothes but there was nothing amiss with her manners.

  ‘Not available?’ she asked the maid.

  ‘Not in, miss.’ Sylvie’s eyes danced. ‘She’s down the cop shop. It’s ever so thrilling. The police have found her rings as was burgled, and Mr Baker-Johnson had to go and identify them, even though he swore blind he wouldn’t know them from a jar of curtain rings, but the police insisted, so off he went, only they ended up having to send for madam to do the identification, and that’s where she is now. She’ll be that relieved to get her jewellery back. So will them others as had theirs took an’ all.’

  Juliet listened in increasing delight.

  Surely it wouldn’t be a breach of professional etiquette to visit the Thomas household to express her pleasure at the return of Sally-Ann’s possessions? She went there straight from the Baker-Johnson household.