by Gracie Hart
‘Yes, Mama?’
‘Young George seems sweet on you. Don’t encourage him too much, but a friendship between you both would not go amiss.’
Mary-Anne stepped back from the banister and went to lie on her bed in the spare room, her head full of ideas of how to claim some of the Ellershaw’s wealth for herself and Victoria. She had never forgotten how she had felt when she had realised that she was with child, feeling worthless and dirty after being ravished by Edmund Ellershaw. Aye, she would encourage the friendship with George. Victoria was too young to be in any danger of giving her heart or anything else to him, but she’d encourage her to take gladly anything else that he offered her. After all, Victoria was his father’s child, part of their home, and the colliery was hers by right; it was only fair that she benefitted from their relationship.
Mary-Anne closed her eyes and thought of what she had left behind in America. Of John, and her employers, who had trusted and loved her. Even though her hatred of Edmund Ellershaw had grown with every year away, she had kept it to herself. Now it was time to put her thoughts into action and make him responsible for his daughter one way or another. She closed her eyes and listened to the light-hearted laughter from the parlour below. To think that her sister was entertaining the bastard’s family – that she would never have foreseen. Her eyes grew heavy and her thoughts drifted off as the trauma of the last few weeks’ travelling caught up with her, sleep calling her back from her dark thoughts of revenge.
‘Ah, a Victoria sandwich cake, named after our glorious Queen and yourself, my dear Miss Wild.’ George smiled before biting into the light sponge, trying to catch the crumbs that dropped onto the delicate china plate.
‘I must admit, it is a marvellous recipe that our Queen has given her name to. It is now being made in all the houses of distinction. But it is also one that should be affordable to most budgets, so Cook assures me.’ Grace Ellershaw ate her slice delicately and smiled at Victoria. ‘How are your piano lesson’s progressing, Victoria? Your aunt tells me that you have a natural ear for music.’
‘I am enjoying them greatly, Miss Grace. Mr Wilson tells me I show great promise.’ Victoria glanced at her aunt. She hoped that she had not sounded too conceited.
‘Perhaps you could entertain us with a tune, Victoria? Something light and soothing, suitable for a Sunday afternoon.’ Eliza smiled at her niece, hoping that she would impress her guests with her mastery of the keyboard. Even with their improved circumstances, she had scrimped and saved to afford to buy a second-hand piano for the parlour.
Victoria blushed. ‘Oh, Aunt Eliza. I’m sure that Miss Grace and Master George would not want to hear my attempts at a tune.’
‘Nonsense, my dear Miss Wild, come, entertain us, and perhaps you will let me join you in a duet. I too have a love of the piano, although I am sure I will not be as proficient as yourself. Or perhaps I could accompany you by singing. Do you have the music for “Home Sweet Home”? I do believe it is loved dearly by our Queen and I know the words by heart.’ George walked over to the pile of song sheets that lay on top of the piano.
‘We do. Aunt Eliza likes me to play that too. It’s by John Howard Payne,’ Victoria said excitedly. ‘Did you know that, George?’
George smiled indulgently at the little girl as she came over to the piano and they found the piece.
‘Here it is, Miss Wild. Why then, you’ll play and I’ll sing. Are you in agreement, ladies?’ George looked triumphant as Victoria sat down and turned to the first page of music.
‘Indeed, that would be most entertaining, the perfect Sunday pastime.’ Grace crossed her hands and turned to watch the pair perform while Eliza sipped her tea.
George stood tall and proud as Victoria struck the first chord. His voice echoed around Aireville Mansions:
Mid pleasures and palaces though we may roam
Be it ever so humble, there’s no place like home.
A charm from the skies seems to hallow us there
Which seek thro’ the world, is ne’er met elsewhere
Home! Home!
Sweet, sweet home!
There’s no place like home
There’s no place like home!
An exile from home splendour dazzles in vain
Oh give me my lowly thatched cottage again
The birds sing gaily that came at my call
And gave me the peace of mind dearer than all
Home, home, sweet, sweet home.
There’s no place like home, there’s no place like home!
‘Wonderful, wonderful, you sounded wonderful together. Didn’t the piece suit them well, Eliza? It’s as if they were made to perform together.’ Grace clapped her hands, her face beaming in admiration.
‘Indeed so, Grace.’ The young couple would have been ideal suitors once Victoria was of age, if it were not for the fact that Eliza knew they could never be so. ‘But the last thing I would want Victoria to do is to work on the stage.’ Eliza’s voice fell to a whisper. ‘Plus I think George is expected to do much more with his life.’
‘Oh, I didn’t mean on the stage. No, that would never do especially for George. I just meant they are very sweet together. I never expected my brother to have such a knack with children but with your Victoria he does.’
‘He’s very kind,’ Eliza said carefully.
‘George has to marry well and carry on the family line, given neither my older brother or I are likely too. He can’t marry beneath him.’ Grace continued before misreading the look of concern on her friend’s face. ‘Oh, I’m sorry, Eliza, I don’t mean to be rude. It’s not that Victoria is not perfectly well educated and she has all the charm any man would be proud of in a wife.’ Grace spoke quietly as she watched her brother and Victoria go through the sheet music together. ‘You should be pleased that he likes her, and that he spends time with her, she will benefit from his friendship, but he really regards her as his pet. Do you not wish for them both to be happy in one another’s company?’
‘Indeed I do, but Victoria is only twelve, and she is young and impressionable.’ Eliza smiled at her friend and business partner, slightly resentful that she had described Victoria as George’s pet.
‘Well, let’s be content that they are friends for now. Perhaps as Victoria grows older she will realise that friends it will always be with George, and nothing more.’ Grace sipped her tea and smiled across at Eliza, who looked less than enthralled in George’s interest in Victoria. Did she not know that in the next few months, George would inherit thousands and be one of the wealthiest men in the district? She should be thankful that he even acknowledged Victoria Wild, coming from the differing backgrounds that they did.
Chapter 9
‘What are you going to be doing today, Mary-Anne, while I am at work?’
Eliza looked across at her sister while she tucked into the toast that her maid had placed in front of her for breakfast.
‘I thought that I’d spend the day with Victoria, get to know her a little better.’ Mary-Anne looked up from her plate and smiled at her daughter as she delicately ate her toast.
‘I’m afraid Victoria’s tutor will be calling just after nine. She takes French and German on a Monday, ready for the day when she is old enough to join the business fully. She will need it to talk to the fashion houses in Paris. At the moment, I’d be lost without Grace’s knowledge of the language, so I thought it beneficial for Victoria to learn.’ It was at moments like these that Eliza was really conscious of how different her and Mary-Anne’s upbringing had been from Victoria’s.
‘French! We hate the French. Grandfather will be turning in his grave. He wasted his best years fighting against the French and Napoleon. Why does she have to learn their language? They should talk English if they need your clothes, and as for German, well. What can I say?’ Mary-Anne couldn’t believe what she was hearing. ‘Bloody hell, we had a hard enough time getting any schooling in our own language – and you and I were already working at her age! Bloody priv
ileged is what you are, girl! French, well, I’ve heard it all now.’
‘I’ve ensured she has had the best education I can afford, to prepare for a better life than we ever had a chance of, Mary-Anne. When you left, Victoria was my reason for living, she gave me hope when you abandoned us both to wander off to America with John Vasey. It wasn’t easy at times but we made it through – so don’t you scoff at my indulgence of bringing her up as a lady.’
Eliza felt her face flush with anger. How could her sister be so ungrateful that she’d ensured her daughter had a good education? She and Mary-Anne had had to live on their wits, hand to mouth, hoping they had enough money to keep them fed. Eliza had never forgotten that. She was determined that Victoria would have the best life possible.
‘I’m sorry, I know I owe you a lot. Forgive me, Eliza, it was more amusement at the thought of my daughter speaking languages. What with that and piano lessons, I can see I have a lady in the making.’ Mary-Anne glanced at Victoria, who had said nothing as her mother and aunt fought over her.
‘She enjoys her piano lessons too. Don’t you, Victoria?’ Eliza looked at Victoria for reassurance.
‘I do. I enjoy music and French, and German. I know that Aunt Eliza has brought me up to be a lady, for which I am grateful. However, I have not forgotten who I am and that our roots are humble.’ Victoria tried to hide how hurt she felt at her mother making fun of her education.
‘Good, and you should use it all to your advantage. What with that and inheriting your mother’s good looks, no wonder that George is so smitten with you. He knows what a beauty you will be once you are fully grown. Take him for what you can, girl, that family owes us a lot.’ Mary-Anne noticed the black look on Eliza’s face.
‘I’ve told her to keep him at arm’s length and not to encourage him. She’s too young and he’s not for her.’ Eliza growled. ‘It’s best that way.’
‘Nonsense, they can be friends. Enjoy one another’s company and enjoy his money, if Victoria has any sense.’ Mary-Anne grinned across at her daughter and noticed the flush on her cheeks. ‘Just make sure he keeps his dick in his pocket.’
‘Mary-Anne, there is no need to speak so crudely. Victoria, go into the parlour and make ready for your teacher.’ Eliza scowled across at her sister who was sorely testing her patience with her ways.
‘Yes, Aunt. Excuse me, Mother, I must prepare for my tutor.’ Victoria rose from the table, closing the door upon the frostiness between sisters.
‘Really, Mary-Anne, I’m trying to raise her as a lady and you come back with your foul mouth and scheming ways and everything is turned on its head.’
‘Scheming ways, is it? Then how did you get Grace Ellershaw’s money, then? I suppose she just said one day, “Here, you look like a worthy cause, please run my shop in the centre of Leeds and make a good living for doing nothing.” She helped you get this house too, didn’t she? You forget, Eliza, it was John and I who made you, when he risked his job, stealing material for you to impress Grace and her followers. While I’m grateful that you have brought Victoria up so well, it is time for her to inherit some of her father’s brass, whether you like it or not. Grace may have served you well, but now it is her father’s time to pay for his behaviour to myself and our mother. I haven’t forgotten the pain of the past and I’ve not been able to bury myself in all things grand and elegant. Victoria should have some Ellershaw money and I’m going to see that she gets it by fair means or foul.’ Mary-Anne put her head in her hands and sighed.
‘Leave Victoria out of your schemes – stop encouraging her with George. She’ll grow out of her affection for him and I’m sure he’s just indulging her. And even if he is interested in her enough to overlook who her mother is, think of who her father is! You know they cannot be together when she is of age. They cannot fall in love, they are brother and sister!’ Eliza stood up from her chair and went to look out of the window, not liking her sister’s dark plans.
‘I will tell her before it is too late. She need not know until we have secured some of his fortune. For all George’s education and fine ways he will probably have his father’s traits, which he will soon make Victoria aware of. Let her see just how much she can receive from him as her so-called friend.’ Mary-Anne stood beside her sister and placed her hand on Eliza’s arm. ‘Trust me: like you I only want the best for her and this way she will get part of what her father owes her.’
‘It is a dangerous game you play, Mary-Anne Wild. Hearts will be broken, one of which may be yours if you lose the love of your daughter through your lust for money and vengeance.’ Eliza looked at her sister. ‘I’ve tried to forget the past but it is always in the back of my mind, reminding me of how much we both went through with the death of our mother. For that and that alone, I will go along with your hare-brained scheme but if you hurt that girl …’
‘I promise I won’t,’ her sister assured her, hugging her deeply. Eliza sighed, realising that for all her years away, Mary-Anne had not changed.
‘It’s good to have you home, but I’d forgotten how crafty and cunning you were. I can’t say I missed the way you plot and scheme, though maybe my life has been a little dull without you in it.’
‘Dull? We must do something about that, but I’m acting only through desperation. Mentioning which, I will take a walk into Leeds and see Aunt Patsy and Uncle Mick. I suppose they still live in that terrible yard. Does Ma Fletcher still do the market up Briggate? I’ll show my face to her as well.’
‘I don’t know where Aunty Patsy lives now. I washed my hands of her after you left. We … we had words.’ Eliza sighed. ‘I still think she was partly responsible for our mother’s death and she would have got rid of Victoria if you had let her.’
Mary-Anne gasped. ‘How could you do that? She was always there for us both.’
‘She was, but did you write to her after you ran off to America? I bet not. Especially after she was so keen for you to leave Victoria on the workhouse steps. So don’t you lecture me! She did offer to help with Victoria when she was first born, but then Pounders Court got flooded when a drain burst and that was when Mick and she disappeared back to Ireland with no by-your-leave, and I’ve not heard of them since. As for Ma Fletcher, you won’t find her in Briggate. Her husband died the other year and she is infirm, living in her home at Hyde Park Corner. You know where I mean, don’t you, just off Headingley Lane in the better part of Leeds? You wouldn’t think she could afford to live there, she never seemed to have a penny to her name. It just shows that looks can be deceiving.’
‘I know where you mean. That’s a bit of a walk, right over on the outskirts of Leeds, but it doesn’t surprise me that the old girl is worth a bob or two, she always did watch every penny. I’ll hunt her down first, she may have kept in touch with Aunt Patsy. You shouldn’t be so hard on Patsy, you know, she only did what she thought was best. She’s had a hard life like our mother. And Ma would not have wanted us to wash our hands of her or Mick. Blood is thicker than water, you should remember that when you are mixing with your new-found friends. You’ve changed, Eliza. Family was always precious to you.’ Mary-Anne watched her sister’s face cloud over.
‘I’ve had to, to survive,’ Eliza snapped. ‘And family is precious to me. Everything I’ve done, I’ve done for Victoria – to ensure that she and I had a better life and I don’t think I’ve done too badly. Better than you, Mary-Anne. You are back where you started. We would all be penniless and homeless if it weren’t for me.’
‘At least I’ve seen the world, not just stayed here and sold my soul to the Ellershaws,’ Mary-Anne snapped back.
‘What choice did I have if I was to do right by Victoria? Besides, we have raised ourselves out of the gutter and are now quite respectable, don’t you be doing anything to put us back there.’ Eliza glared at her sister. Just who was she to pass judgement on how she had led her life?
‘I’ll not endanger your new life, so you needn’t worry. But I will seek what is rightly mine and Victoria’
s, and make sure you are done right by too for looking after my girl all these years. Now, let us not squabble any more. The shop awaits you, and I will walk as we used to do, down the canalside into Leeds. I’ll call in and visit your grand empire once I’ve visited Ma Fletcher. I did stand outside your impressive shop on my way here and was amazed at the display and to see the name of Ellershaw and Wild over the doorway. Will Grace be working with you there today? I don’t want her to know of my presence here just yet. And I don’t mean to sound ungrateful of how you’ve brought up my daughter. She is perfect in every way, and it is all thanks to you.’ Mary-Anne put her hand on her sister’s arm. ‘I do love you, Eliza, and I’m sorry I left you with all my troubles. I aim to put that right now I am back home.’
‘Just don’t do anything rash, Mary-Anne. Victoria and I have a good life now. I still remember all our hurt caused by Edmund Ellershaw, and I hate him as much as you do. But I fear you’ll not get much satisfaction from him – I’ve heard tell he’s in debt. Grace seems to worry about him all the time, and George doesn’t seem to have much time for him. I’m not expecting Grace to be in the shop today. She’s doing the accounts at home. She insists that she keeps the books, but she mostly acts as a silent partner and leaves the everyday running of the shop to me. So you should have no fears of meeting her when you visit.’ Eliza walked with her sister to the hallway as the maid bustled into the room to clear the breakfast table.
‘When it comes to the Ellershaws, it is time for us to get what is ours now, sister, without hurting Victoria, of course, or Grace. She has always been good to both of us, which I never will forget.’ Mary-Anne smiled. ‘Now get yourself prepared for work and I will go on my way into Leeds, a journey I have done many a time in my mind as I walked the windy streets of New York. It was a cold, unwelcoming place if you had no brass. Nowhere wants you if you have no money. I should have stayed and been a mother to Victoria, instead of burdening you with her.’ Mary-Anne reached for her shawl from the hall stand, checking her looks in the hall mirror.
