by Val Wood
‘I now appreciate Arabella’s desire to marry, for she must get very lonely in this rambling old house with just her father for company. It has been a fine establishment and I suppose when Mrs Laslett was alive and all her family living here, it would not have appeared as gloomy as it does now. As it is, there is great room for improvement if Mr Laslett was prepared to spend money on it, but from what I’ve seen of him, he wouldn’t notice if the roof was falling in as long as his supper was on time.
‘After we had eaten supper, Mr Laslett got up from the table, went to the door leading to the hall and yelled out “Boots!” at the top of his voice. A young boy came running and he reminded me of Jem who used to be the general lad at the Ingrams’ house when I was a kitchen maid. He positioned himself in front of Mr Laslett who had taken a seat by the fire and was holding fast to the chair arms. “Ready, boy?” he said and lifted a leg. Whereupon the lad took hold of his boot and pulled and pulled until it came away from his foot. Then they did the same with the other leg. Mr Laslett left the room shortly afterwards in his stockinged feet and we didn’t see him again that evening. That then solved the mystery of why he came down to supper in his muddy breeches and boots, for he couldn’t get out of them by himself and I don’t suppose he would notice that he was putting mud all over the stairs.’
‘I hate driving,’ Arabella said irritably as they climbed into the trap the next morning. ‘The mare always has a mind of her own.’
‘Shall I try?’ Jenny said. ‘Though I haven’t driven before. We only have our old waggon, which of course you have ridden in,’ she added, remembering Arabella’s horror at being taken to their wedding in the waggon. ‘Stephen won’t allow me to take ’reins in case I crash it or let ’horses run off. He says he can’t afford any more horses or another waggon.’
Arabella refused her offer. ‘Poor Stephen,’ she said. ‘It must be hard for him, not having any money at all. However do you manage?’
Jenny shrugged. ‘We just do. We have to.’ She took a deep breath as they bowled along and revelled in the freedom of being out without the children, for Christina had said that she wanted to stay with Dolly too. Jenny guessed that she had probably been promised a treat downstairs in the kitchens.
The weather had been warm and in many of the fields the hay had already been cut, and farm labourers with their sleeves rolled up showing dark sun-browned arms were turning the tumbled heaps with wooden rakes to dry in the sun. This was a mixed farm, and cattle grazed in the lower meadows and sheep dotted the hillside. Stephen’s father had told her he had invested his money in steam threshers, ploughs and cultivators. ‘Still need the hosses though,’ he said. ‘Can’t ever manage without them or the lads to work ’em.’
As they came into Driffield, Jenny noticed that several people, some men and some women, greeted Arabella. The men lifted their hats or touched their foreheads and the women raised a hand, and she surmised that the family were well known. They pulled into an inn yard and Arabella explained that her father regularly visited here to attend meetings or occasionally have supper with other farmers.
‘I need to buy some thread and new ribbons,’ Arabella said and shepherded Jenny along the main street. ‘And then— Oh, Maud!’ she called, not loudly but lightly and genteelly, to a young woman across the street and waved her hand, signalling to her to wait.
‘Maud,’ she said, when they crossed over to meet her. ‘This is Stephen’s wife, Jenny. She’s come on a visit with the children. Jenny, this is my sister, Mrs Herbert Graves.’
Mrs Graves glanced at Jenny, her eye sweeping over her, then she inclined her head. ‘How do you do?’ she said in a brittle voice. ‘I understand that you have been safely delivered of a son?’
She must be very disappointed that Stephen has fathered a son, Jenny considered. ‘And of a daughter,’ she replied. ‘We have been doubly blessed. I understand that you also have a new daughter?’
‘I now have four daughters,’ Mrs Graves said caustically. ‘And it is not a blessing when you consider that they will all have to be married off!’
‘I’ll be thankful if my children reach marriageable age,’ Jenny murmured. ‘I shall consider myself very fortunate.’
‘Mm, I suppose so, but it must be difficult for you, living hand to mouth?’ Mrs Graves looked down her sharp nose. ‘And no prospects of improvement? Father is in very good health and not likely to change his mind over Stephen’s indiscretions!’
‘We must be going, Maud,’ Arabella interrupted. ‘Jenny has to get back to the children. Perhaps you’ll call? You could see the twins,’ she added, her eyes brightening. ‘They are dear little things.’
‘Really! I have never known you enthuse over my babies!’ her sister said. ‘Are these so special?’
‘Well, there are two, you see,’ Arabella flustered. ‘And besides, yours were never brought down to look at; they were always in the nursery.’
‘But of course! Herbert would never tolerate the discord that children bring. And anyway, the nurse knows best what to do. It’s only labourers’ wives or the very poor who look after their children. But I might call if I’m up to it. You can tell Papa you have seen me.’
She gave a slight inclination of her head to Jenny, kissed Arabella on her cheek and rushed away.
‘Oh,’ Arabella breathed. ‘Jenny, I am so sorry. Maud was very rude. She’s cross about Johnny being the first grandson, I expect. But she shouldn’t have said what she did about only the poor looking after their children.’
‘But she’s right.’ Jenny stared along the street after Maud. ‘That is what we do, and I’m very glad of it.’ And she is living in hope that her father will continue to cut Stephen out of his inheritance, she thought. ‘There was never any chance of my family squabbling over possessions,’ she told Arabella, ‘for we had none.’ She smiled. ‘And as for Stephen’s indiscretions, if he’d stayed at home and never met Agnes, then I wouldn’t be married to him now.’
Arabella tucked her arm into Jenny’s. ‘And I’m glad that you are, Jenny, and I’m sorry if in the past I have offended you in any way, by presuming that you were inferior, for I now know full well that you are not, and I’m very pleased to welcome you as a sister, even if my own sisters don’t, for I fear that Laura will feel the same towards you as Maud.’
Jenny was touched. Arabella had formerly assumed a patronizing superior manner and here she was now being very warm and friendly. ‘Thank you, Arabella,’ she said. ‘I appreciate having your friendship.’ And an ally, she considered, who might help Stephen to claim his rightful place.
Arabella’s two other sisters came to visit, or to inspect her, Jenny decided, and asked to see the children. Laura, Mrs James Banks, had had another daughter, but Pearl, Mrs Edwin Smith, who was the eldest of Mr Laslett’s family, stated quite firmly that she hoped she had finished with all of that nonsense as she had three daughters already and considered that was enough for anyone.
‘Oh, but I have four,’ said Laura, ‘and James will want to continue until we have a son!’
‘Hmph,’ Pearl grunted. ‘Tell him to have them then! There’d only ever be one child if men had to give birth. And anyway, daughters run in our family so your chances of having a son are fairly small.
‘And what about you, young woman?’ She turned a beady eye on Jenny. ‘You’ve had one son. Are you likely to have more or will you produce girls like the rest of us?’
‘I don’t know.’ Jenny quaked under her gaze and put her hand protectively across her body. ‘I have six brothers and three sisters so I suppose I could have either.’
Pearl gave a grim laugh. ‘So there you are, Laura; you can tell your husband to desist and go back to his own bed, for there’s little chance of any son of yours taking over Father’s estate. Stephen’s wife has a head start already and likely to have more.’
‘Pearl! Really!’ Arabella’s cheeks flushed. ‘You shouldn’t speak so.’
‘Oh, sorry, Bella, I forget how innocent you are!’
Pearl didn’t seem at all sorry for Arabella’s discomfort and settled back comfortably in her chair. ‘Ring for the children, then,’ she ordered. ‘Let’s take a look at this fine son of Stephen’s.’
Dolly brought the children down, a baby in each arm, and Christina came to stand by her mother, putting her thumb in her mouth and gazing with her dark eyes at the company. Pearl took Johnny from Dolly and sat him on her knee and he immediately started screaming and struggling and kicking his feet. ‘Take him back,’ she demanded of Dolly. ‘He’s a Laslett all right with that temper! Let’s take a look at the other one.’
Dolly gave her Serena, who chortled and reached to pull at the beads round her neck. ‘This one will be easy to handle,’ she said to Jenny, ‘which is just as well, for that young fellow will cause you some trouble. He’s got it written all over him. And who’s this?’ She raised a finger for Christina to come to her. ‘Now this one isn’t a Laslett, that’s for certain.’
‘No,’ Jenny said quietly. ‘She isn’t.’
Pearl scrutinized Jenny, though didn’t question her further, then gently pinched Christina’s cheek and propelled her back to her mother. ‘So there you are, Laura, you might as well give up, and Maud too. You can tell her I said so.’ She gave a wicked satisfied chuckle. ‘Her nose will be put right out of joint.’
Laura put her own small nose in the air and reprimanded her sister. ‘You are being quite ridiculous, Pearl, and I shall do no such thing! And in any case, we all know how Papa is. He won’t tell us anything about what he intends to do until he is ready. And’, she added petulantly, ‘if he doesn’t forgive Stephen’ – she glanced quickly at Jenny – ‘for consorting with … with his first wife, then he’ll want someone to take over when he is unable to manage, and James is the obvious choice, being a farmer himself.’
‘Don’t count on it, my dear,’ Pearl replied, and nodded at Jenny. ‘Stephen will be back, mark my words.’
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
‘If it is convenient I’d like to go home ’day after tomorrow,’ Jenny said to Arabella when she had been with them almost a week.
‘Oh, so soon? Please stay a little longer!’ Arabella was quite downcast.
‘Stephen will be missing me,’ Jenny explained. ‘And there is so much I can do to help him. Feed ’hens and milk ’cow, and make sure he’s eating properly.’ Besides, she thought, I miss him. ‘And I miss not having the children around me,’ she said, ‘even though it’s been very restful for me with Dolly looking after them.’
‘But we go up to see them in the nursery several times a day, and they come down every evening before they are put to bed! Even Papa has asked to see them.’ Arabella smiled indulgently.
Dolly had commandeered a spare room and put the twins and Christina and herself in there. She had also found three child-sized chairs, a small table, and a musical box and a ball to entertain them.
‘It’s not ’same as having them around all the time,’ Jenny said. ‘I could almost forget I had any children when they’re upstairs where I can’t see them.’
Arabella sighed. ‘That’s the difference between you and my sisters, I suppose. I think they would be quite happy not to have any more children, unless they could be sure it would be a son. And that of course is quite impossible!’
‘And then the human race would die out,’ Jenny laughed. ‘We have to have at least one of each kind. But’, she said, going back to her original conversation, ‘I must go home.’
‘But you’ll come again, won’t you?’ Arabella pleaded. ‘I’ve so enjoyed having you here.’
‘I will,’ Jenny agreed. ‘And I’d invite you to stay with us, but we haven’t any room, nor even a bed.’
‘If I brought a truckle, I could sleep with the children,’ Arabella murmured and Jenny looked at her in astonishment at the suggestion and thought how much she had changed.
Dolly was upset about their leaving. ‘I wish I could come with you, Mrs Laslett,’ she said to Jenny. ‘I’ve really enjoyed looking after them bairns.’
‘You’ve been very good with them,’ Jenny told her. ‘Especially with Johnny. But I’m afraid we don’t have room for anyone else. We live very simply.’ Nor could we pay you, she thought. I worked for nothing but my bed and board when I went to look after Agnes. But I was desperate.
‘Why don’t you try to get a position as a nursery maid, Dolly?’ she suggested. ‘If you like being with children. I suppose I could give you a reference.’ And a little thrill went through her at the idea of it. ‘Or you could ask Mrs Banks or Mrs Graves.’
‘They’ve got somebody already. But I wouldn’t work for them anyway. I’d never do owt right for them.’ Dolly considered. ‘No, I’ll stay here. I don’t mind Mr Laslett. I’ve got used to his humours, and I’m near enough to home to walk to see my mother on my days off. I’ve worked away before and didn’t like it.’ She pondered for a second, her eyes shifting away from Jenny. ‘And mebbe you and Mr Stephen’ll come back to live here one day and then I can look after ’next little ’un.’
Jenny took a breath. Was it so obvious? If it was, then she must go home, for Stephen didn’t yet know.
‘What? Are you sure!’ he exclaimed when she told him soon after arriving home, and he ran his hand over her belly. ‘I can’t believe it could happen so soon!’
‘You’re the farmer, Stephen. You’re supposed to know about these things!’ She put her arms round him and hugged him. It was good to be back again even though she saw how the jobs had piled up. There was dust everywhere and stale bread and dirty dishes lying on the table. She saw that the hens had been in the house for there were feathers and mess on the floor. She also noticed how tired Stephen seemed and saw the lines of tension round his mouth.
Stephen saw her looking around her normally clean kitchen and said abruptly, ‘Sorry. I’ve been worn out at the end of each day and didn’t do anything more than have a slice of bread before I fell into bed.’
‘Did you take your boots off first?’ she said in a mock-disgruntled voice. ‘Or are you really so like your father and kept them on?’
‘Does he? Not in bed!’ he exclaimed, frowning. ‘He was always eccentric but I can’t believe he’s so outlandish!’
She laughed. ‘No. He yelled for ’young lad every night after supper to help him pull them off. When I asked Arabella why her father didn’t ring the bell for him to come, she said it was because he liked to shout and see the lad come running. He said it kept him on tenterhooks and stopped him from sloping off.’
‘He’s got worse, obviously,’ Stephen said tensely, ‘and having Arabella to tend to his every whim has spoiled him even more.’
‘Poor Arabella. Even if she found someone who wanted to marry her, I doubt that your father would agree to it. Now,’ she said briskly, ‘if you’ll listen out for ’babies and keep an eye on Christina, I’ll prepare you some supper.’
He groaned. ‘I’m not sure I wouldn’t rather be out in the fields!’
‘Not when you see what I’ve brought you.’ She smiled. ‘Your father’s cook has sent a basket of food: a beef and ale pie, some slices of venison, a fruit cake and something which she said you had always loved, a Yorkshire curd cheesecake.’
‘Not a crud chiskeeak,’ he murmured, his ill humour dissipating as he peeked into the basket. ‘There’s an art to making these and Cook has it.’ He looked wistful for a moment, then took a knife and cut a large slice, holding his other hand under it so that he didn’t lose any of the delicious crumbs or fruit. ‘Now, if you could learn to make these, Jenny,’ he said with his mouth full, ‘you’d be the perfect woman.’
A cry came from upstairs. ‘Sorry,’ she said. ‘I hate to disappoint you, but there are other things I’m better at.’
He caught hold of her. ‘I know that.’ He kissed her lips. ‘And I’ve missed all of them. Go and see to the young varmint and then I’ve something to tell you.’
‘What? Tell me now.’ There was something bothering him.
‘No. It will keep,’ he said. ‘Feed the children first.’
‘I’ll bring them down. They’ll be forgetting who you are otherwise.’ She brought the twins down and fed them on bread and milk as Stephen told her what had happened whilst she was away.
‘The railway surveyors came back. I’d had a really hard day cutting the hay. The Romanies had come, as you know. I told them they could camp if they would help to cut the hayfield. They were a great help. It was so hot; I’d never have done it so quickly on my own. As it was we got it cut and stacked in a couple of days.
‘Anyhow, the woman – Floure? – knocked on the door one night whilst I was having my supper, to tell me that men were measuring up the land. I raced up to the top meadow and found that the gypsies and the railway men were in the middle of a confrontation. The surveyors were telling the gypsies that they had no rights, so they could move off out of their way. I came along just in time to tell them that the gypsies were on my land with my permission, and that they were not.’
‘So then what happened?’ Jenny looked anxiously at Stephen. ‘Is the line coming after all?’
‘Oh, yes, it’s coming all right and it will be up here before very long, but what was odd was that as we were arguing, I noticed that the gypsy woman had gone back to her bender—’
‘Her bender? Ah! Yes, her tent.’ Jenny remembered.
‘Her tent – and another woman came out, older than her so I guessed it might have been her mother. The surveyor had his back to them, so he didn’t see them walking towards us. Then this older gypsy, I think her name was Kisaiya or something, took hold of his arm and asked him to go with her. He was very taken aback for she must have seemed to come out of nowhere, but he didn’t have much option,’ Stephen gave a wry grin, ‘because he was immediately surrounded by all the men. But this Kisaiya assured him he wasn’t in any danger and led him towards the grave. I watched them from where I was standing and –’ He gave a little shudder. ‘It was getting dark and a mist was starting to come down and shrouding everything, and I could see the gypsy with her hands held up as if she was explaining something. The other railway fellow, who was standing with me, was beginning to get jittery and said it was time they were off.
