“I think I know where you’re talking about. I used to ride my pony down there, but I used to start at the coastal path and ride along up that lane. There are three cottages, I didn’t know that one was empty. I’d better go now, Eddie, or my father will be sending the dogs out to look for me. What time will you get there?”
“Around two, I think, as long as dinner is put on the table early. I’ll stay until four and if yer don’t turn up, I’ll be there at the same time the following Sunday.”
They kissed goodbye and Hannah made her way out sedately, as if she had been spending time in the Ladies’ rest room. Eddie sighed. He had to find a job that would pay enough for him to rent a cottage. Then he could ask Hannah if she would marry him.
It was easy enough to find the cottage. With Fang and Rufus, her wolfhounds, it had taken no more than ten minutes of brisk walking to get them there. The garden was overgrown, as Eddie had said it would be, and the hinge on the front door wanted fixing, as the door was swinging about drunkenly in the wind.
It was freezing cold inside the living room, not helped by the flagged floor with no rugs upon it and the burnt-out range that they dared not light in case someone knew there were intruders there. Hannah was as warm as toast in her walking outfit; a heavy dark green bombazine skirt, long sleeved bodice and lots of underskirts. She wore a thick woollen travelling coat and a pretty velour bonnet in a russet shade that seemed to match the colour of the falling leaves. Eddie was enchanted, though he couldn’t help his poorly-clad body from shivering, so they shared an old blanket as they sat on the dusty settee.
The conversation was desultory, mostly with Eddie moaning about his boring life at the pub’. The family’s two wolfhounds sat like bookends at each end of the sofa and from time to time got up to wander, stretch, then sit down again. They both spoke again of playing together in Selwyn Lodge’s nursery and how Hannah had been upset when Sarah the nursemaid had married Ezra and gone to live with him.
“Not that I knew she had married the grocer, it was what my mother told me. It was sad when Ezra died and Sarah moved away.”
“It must have been sad for you that your mother died,” commented Eddie, in between placing little kisses on Hannah’s lips and eyes. “As much as I loathe my younger brothers and sister, I still love me mam.”
“What do you mean, Eddie, about my mother dying?” asked Hannah, alert now, as she had felt very languorous lying with him on the sofa.
“As far as I know, she’s alive and well. At least she was when I saw her at luncheon today.”
Eddie grew pale and started back-peddling. His chances of doing more than giving Hannah little kisses were beginning to drain away!
“Oh, forget I said it. Come here, lie back where it’s warm, you’re letting all the cold air in. We’ve this place all to ourselves and you’re wasting it.”
Hannah’s cat like eyes began to glitter dangerously. If Eddie had something to impart of an earth-shattering nature, she really wanted to know. She poked him hard on his shoulder and he yelped.
“All right, all right. It was just something me mother said when I was about nine or ten. I asked why I wasn’t allowed ter play with you and Mikey and she said there had been a falling out. She said that you were being passed off as a legitimate child of the Haines family, when everyone knew that yer mother had died and your grandma didn’t want yer living with her.”
Eddie tapped his head.
“I could be confusing it with something else she said.”
“Like what? What else could your mother be saying?”
“She just said it seemed strange that with your father not being around at the time, your mother had still given birth!”
Hannah jumped up from the sofa then, throwing the blanket over Eddie, where he trembled beneath because of what he had said. He’d blown his chances. Wasn’t there a saying about shooting the messenger? Well, he was truly wounded, as Hannah and her dogs rushed out of the cottage without a backward glance at him.
Mikey Haines, or Michael as he liked people to call him now he was grown up, was lying on his bed, staring at the ceiling. He had been trying hard to read a book called Gulliver’s Travels, but he couldn’t get interested. He had a lot on his mind instead. Michael had been working at the Sheldon Loan and Property Company for five years now from when his mother had considered it time to put his private education to use in running her firm. It had been hard working under Mr. Arlington, a precise and diligent employee, whose only wish was for the company to flourish. Which it did, with his assistant Mr. Peel. Michael was treated as the “ go for”. He had no serious input other than running errands and making the tea, but Mr. Arlington liked to wheel him out if the occasion arose, as the proprietor’s son to whom all decisions were deferred.
Michael would have liked to spend his days with Mr. Peel, who had the more interesting job of overseeing the Bounty vouchers. He got to visit all the stores that had been recruited to carry out the borrowing scheme and went as far as Staffordshire, sometimes on the train. The only time Michael made his escape from the office was on a Wednesday. It was his job to take the banking to Chester, getting to know the city quite well.
Occasionally he arranged to meet his sister and had asked her last week if they could meet this Wednesday in her lunch hour? To this she had replied that she was far too busy, perhaps they could meet on another Wednesday instead.
Michael had two problems to ponder over. First, he was sure he’d seen that Eddie fellow hanging around the cathedral, when he had passed by to walk down to the Rows. Then he thought that he had seen Hannah and Eddie together, as he sat in Cottles having a cake and a cup of tea. They were walking quite briskly so he couldn’t be sure it was them, but if it was true his parents would be furious, because Eddie was an undesirable to them.
Michael’s other problem was – to where was his life leading? Perhaps he should ask his mother to buy him a commission in the Army, which was what a lot of his friends were going to do. They had plans to join the Cheshire Regiment as his pals, Jeremy Adshead and Monty Renfrew, were both from families that had a military background. Michael, when he got to thinking, thought this would be a lot of fun.
Suddenly, he heard someone at the door knocking furiously. It could only be Hannah, Michael thought. Why didn’t the folks just give her a key? Then pandemonium seemed to erupt. He could hear the shouting from below. Whatever the matter was, he hoped the servants were not around to hear it, as servants were apt to carry gossip to their friends.
He got his tall frame off the bed, stretched languidly and walked to the top of the landing. The noise seemed to be coming from the conservatory now. He would go down and see what the row was all about, then hopefully come back to lie on his bed.
The scene that met his eyes as he walked in was shocking. Hannah was bent double in a low cane chair crying uncontrollably. His mother was standing, white-faced, watching as his father was trying to console his sister, patting her shoulder ineffectively.
“Whatever is the matter, Mother?” Michael began, his boyish face creased with concern for her, but Maggie just flapped him away silently. He sat down on another chair nearby and listened to what was being said.
Hannah’s outburst started to give way to a hiccoughing weeping, so Michael seized his chance to ask what was going on.
“Some lout has told Hannah that she doesn’t belong to the Haines family. I’m trying to find out who it was, because I’ll give him a good thrashing when I get to the bottom of this.” But his father looked scared as he said it and Michael wondered what was really bothering him.
“Is it true, Mother?” Hannah seemed at last to be getting hold of herself. “Is it true you’re not really my mother? I was born to somebody else?”
Both Jack and Maggie were in a turmoil. This was the moment they had dreaded. Had Hannah been told the real truth, the one that told of Kitty May and Jack’s adultery? Or the version that Alice would prefer them to tell? That she was the granddaughter of her sister
, sent over from Ireland when Alice’s sister couldn’t cope? For Maggie’s part, the latter story was the least painful, but that meant that Jack could not claim Hannah as his daughter, only a distant cousin.
She looked at Jack for guidance, but he was of no help at all. He was staring at her now. Was it pleading that she saw in his eyes, or one of resignation? She couldn’t be sure.
“Tell me again, exactly what this person told yer,” Maggie said to Hannah gently. “He said I wasn’t yer mother. What did he say about yer father as well?”
“He said that Father couldn’t possibly be my father, because he wasn’t here when you were expecting me.”
“I’ll tell her, Maggie,” Jack said, when he saw that his wife was now being painted as a loose woman. “I’ll tell them the truth, the both of them, but I know neither of them will ever forgive me.”
He sat heavily into another chair, then drew an ornate table closer, so that he could rest his now trembling hands upon it.
“What is it, Papa?” said Hannah in a quiet, almost inaudible voice, using the childish name she had called her father when she used to sit on his knee.
“I am yer father, Hannah, but Maggie is not yer real mother.”
He went on to tell Hannah and Mikey of how his youthful ambition was to be great pugilist. No matter what it cost him, he wanted fame and fortune at that time.
Maggie had been content being mother to Mikey, with no ambition other than being a faithful wife. He had wanted her to follow him to Liverpool, where he was the protege of a lord who had an interest in fighting, but Maggie preferred to live in Neston, with her wonderful view of the Welsh Hills. He had been lonely and Kitty May had been kind to him, nursing him through the resulting injuries from his last fight.
“She made me happy, Hannah. Gave me comfort while I was away from me family. But before I knew it, Kitty May was going to expect my child.”
“The child being Hannah,” remarked Michael dryly, his eyes narrowing. “So you were unfaithful to my mother, while she stayed at home looking after me.”
“It wasn’t quite like that, Mikey…” Maggie began.
“The fact is, Mother, your husband here committed adultery and you obviously condoned it because here we have the result. Kitty May’s child.” Michael waved in Hannah’s direction, who had now started crying hysterically after hearing his words.
“I didn’t condone it, Mikey. As yer know I built a new life fer the pair of us. That’s why we have the Sheldon companies, because I was able to start a business without yer father, though with Miss Rosemary’s help of course. It was only when Hannah’s mother died and she was sent here from America. How could I have left a tiny little baby in the care of yer grandmother? She disliked the child on sight, because it hadn’t bin born in wedlock for a start.”
“Well, you disgust me Father and you have made up my mind for me because of it. Mother, I would like to take up a commission in the Army. I will send for the papers tomorrow and I would be obliged if you will furnish the necessary money to pay for it. Oh, and by the way Father, perhaps you would like to know where your by-blow got her information? She had a secret assignation on Wednesday in Chester with the uncouth fellow who lives at the inn.”
Michael walked away with a look of scorn on his face, narrowly escaping a blow from Jack who had jumped up in anger, ready to hit out with his clenched fists.
“Leave him, Jack. Don’t do something that you’ll regret later. Mikey’s hurting like we all are at the moment. Mikey,” his mother called. “I’ll make us all a cup of tea and bring you one up when it’s ready. Thank the Lord, the servants are off this evening,” she said to Jack. “We don’t want all this being stirred up again.”
Jack sat with his head in his hands, while Maggie left the conservatory and Hannah studiously stared at a leaf on a palm tree. He felt gutted, as if the wind had been knocked out of him. Wasn’t there a saying, how chickens came home to roost? Well, his chickens had certainly come home today. What he could do to put things right, he just didn’t know. Nothing would be the same again. He wanted to go down to the Brown Horse and knock seven bells out of this blackguard, but he knew he was as much to blame as the lad.
“Papa,” came Hannah’s voice, full of sorrow. He looked up to see the tearstained face of his daughter, as she reached up to take hold of his hand.
“Papa. Was my mother pretty? And can you tell me why she died?”
“Oh, Hannah,” was all Jack could say, then he stood to engulf her into his arms. He kissed the curls that had escaped from the pins that held up her fragrant-smelling hair.
“She was as pretty as you are, with the same pussycat eyes. She died giving birth ter you. Some sort of fever they said. I couldn’t look after yer, with my work that is and we didn’t have a proper home. So I sent yer to live with yer grandma, but it was Maggie who took yer on. I’ve a lot to be thankful for to Maggie. She forgave all me transgressions, when I came back ter be with you.”
“I know,” replied Hannah, as they both sat in chairs beside each other, not letting go of each other’s hand.
“Maggie has been the only mother I have known. I shall tell her how much I am grateful when she brings in the tea. But why has Mikey been so horrid? What you did when you were younger hasn’t really affected him.”
“It’s because he loves his mother and when he was a baby he was separated quite a lot from her. She worked many hours and your grandma was quite mean, by only allowing Maggie ter see him for a few hours each day.”
“Poor Maggie. No, I’ll continue to call her mother, she doesn’t deserve anything less. Ah, here she is.”
Hannah moved away from her father and smiled tremulously at Maggie, though inside she was still in turmoil; sad for the woman who had died giving her life, but grateful to her father’s wife, who had treated her as her own.
“Ah, that’s better,” said Maggie, as she sipped her tea. Her colour had come back and she saw that Jack and Hannah were now on better terms. Though her son was still angry, she knew, because he had ignored her knocking when she had gone upstairs with his tea. Mikey would come round, she thought, especially if she allowed him to take up a career in the Army. She would miss him, but she knew that he hadn’t been happy at Sheldon. While Mr. Arlington was still around no one could get a look in. Even she still had battles with him, if she wanted to change things or amend.
“Now young lady,” Jack said, trying to put on a serious voice. “I think yer’ve served yer time at finishing school and are ready to take some pressure off yer mother now. I think she’s got some plan to create a grand building company, so you will be needed here to make sure the household is running smoothly. Then perhaps yer could take over some of her social duties as well.”
“I’ll try, Father,” replied Hannah, in a small voice. “And I’m assuming I’ll not be allowed to see Eddie again. Though I’m sure he didn’t mean to hurt our family, he was just repeating something his mother said.”
“Ah yes, the pot boy. He isn’t really the type of person we would choose for the company of our daughter. We prefer yer didn’t see him, Hannah, but who am I to make the rules, when I broke them all when I was young?”
“I think we would all benefit from a holiday, Jack, like you were saying before. Let me visit the bank and sort our affairs out, then we’ll consider where would be best fer us all,” said Maggie.
Chapter 3
Eddie had been devastated when Hannah left him at the cottage. Gone were his hopes and aspirations that one day he would marry her. She would hate him now for bringing up the past, though it had been purely accidental. He had mooched home, furious with himself for causing his loved one pain. Though the person to blame was his mother, who couldn’t keep secrets to herself for long.
Five anxious months passed by, with him not even being able to get a sight of her. He had haunted the station every day, until someone told him at the pub’ that Hannah had finished at the school in Chester. It appeared she was now at home helping he
r mother.
He had then taken to hanging around Selwyn Lodge’s stables, hoping he would see her saddling up to take a ride on her pony, but he got threatened with a pitchfork by a great giant of a man. Eddie decided to call it a day after that.
His father had got fed up with his moody son, and asked around his customers if they knew of any jobs. So now Eddie was a labourer, working for Jimmy Pearson. Jimmy was a builder and Eddie was going to learn the trade. It was hard, back-breaking work, especially that first winter when the ground was hard with frost and it was his job to dig out the footings for the houses that his employer was to build. They were terraced dwellings at the far end of Town Lane and at first Eddie was hopeful that he would see his loved one. Selwyn Lodge was just a walk down the hill; perhaps one morning she would ride his way.
It was one beautiful morning in late February that he saw Hannah again. He was taking a break from being shown how to set the bricks that were to be laid on top of the foundations. It had taken all the day before for the cement to dry, so there was a bit of catching up to do that Saturday. The sun shone weakly through the clouds that were coming in over the River Dee. For some reason he felt cheerful. Was it because spring was on its way, as he listened to a chirruping blackbird on the wing?
She was driving the family carriage, a highly polished black barouche. Eddie looked first to see if there was a passenger sitting inside. No, he breathed thankfully, Hannah was alone.
He ran at the side of the carriage for a few minutes before she reined the horse to a stop.
“What are you doing, Eddie?” she asked in exasperation. “You’ll have my father after you if you keep on plaguing me. You’ve not been forgiven for causing a holy war, saying what you did.”
Dreams Can Come True Page 4
