The Child Left Behind

by Gracie Hart

  ‘I don’t know what you are talking about. We are just catching up on old times. But no, Tom would not thank you to attend the ball. He wouldn’t know what to do with himself at such a posh do. Besides, I want to show you off.’

  ‘Will Mr and Mrs Ellershaw be there? I hope not. I’d find it embarrassing, knowing what I do.’ Victoria looked down at her feet and sighed.

  ‘Don’t you worry about them. He’s never said anything or acknowledged your presence on this earth and he’s not about to now. His wife would certainly have something to say if he did – after all, every penny that he has got is hers. It is most unfair that when women marry all their possessions and money becomes their husband’s. I think that is why Grace has never married, she prefers to be in charge of her own life. Unlike that poor Priscilla Eavesham married to her brother. She is ruled by him and is a simpering wreck. Speaking of which, you should avoid William, he takes after his father. In the coming years, you need to be careful who you are seen with, Victoria, it will make all the difference to your future. Even now, if any of the boys at the ball ask for a spot on your dance card, make sure they are of good repute. But most of all, you enjoy yourself, life is too short to miss out on some fun.’

  Eliza hoped that in the future Victoria could attract a husband of good nature and with some wealth. She knew little of hardship, not like herself who remembered the pain of hunger and the worry of having no money. She worried about her niece’s place in society. After all, she had nothing to offer any suitor: an illegitimate niece of a seamstress, abandoned by her true mother and with a bastard of a father. Her family history and lack of money would not make her an ideal catch, but, hopefully, somebody would be attracted by her looks and personality.

  ‘Now, I must go. I promised Tom that I would meet him once he had finished work at the pit. He is to give a talk at the Mechanics’ Institute at Allerton Bywater and I offered my support.’

  In another hour she would be standing in the village of Allerton Bywater, amongst miners and their families all angry with their lot in life, and rightly so – they put their lives on the line every day for the pit owners. The pit there was unsafe and the pay was abysmal but it was the main employer in the area and people had to live. Things had come to a head when a woman had gone down the pit with a baby strapped to her back, working at the seam just to keep her family fed after losing her husband in a pitfall. Now, the miners were starting to demand better care and conditions and Tom had been asked to give his views.

  Victoria glanced at her aunt. ‘He sounds quite a reformist, does your Tom, from what you have told me of him.’

  ‘He’s not my Tom. But yes, he believes that no man is any better than the next and that being born into money does not give you the right to treat those less fortunate than yourself disrespectfully. I fear he has his work cut out, especially with pit owners like Edmund Ellershaw.’ Eliza smiled and blushed.

  ‘I think I like your Tom, even though I don’t know him well.’ Victoria smiled as she started to take her new dress off.

  ‘Yes, he’s a good man and I’m glad that he’s made himself known to me again. We have a lot of catching up to do, but nothing more than that.’

  Eliza left Victoria to change and made her way downstairs, thinking how true her words were. Tom was a good man and she was over the moon that he was back in her life. But she must hurry if she was to keep her promise of accompanying him to his talk.

  ‘Oh, Tom, can you manage to run the Rose? It is a hell of a responsibility.’ Eliza looked at the man on her arm and felt the determination that Tom was showing after hearing about Edmund Ellershaw’s ill health.

  ‘I can run it just as good as he’s been doing. By the looks of his books, there’s been more going out than coming in because he’s been spending money like water, but not on the mine. That’s had nowt spent on it for years.’ Tom hastened his pace as they reached the outskirts of Allerton Bywater. ‘If I had owt about me, I’d be making them an offer to buy it, because I bet they’d bite my hand off just to get rid of it now the old bastard’s dying.’

  ‘Tom, don’t talk like that. He might be rotten to the core, but I can’t help but feel for Grace, even though she knows he’s no saint. He is her father, and Victoria’s come to that, not that he has had anything to do with her. Perhaps if he does die, at least she will be able to tell her future lovers that her father is dead, without lying. I must be terrible wicked to think that, but Mary-Anne and I have wished him dead so many times, I’ve lost count.’ Eliza looked up at Tom as he straightened his collar before entering the Mechanics’ Institute where he was to give his talk.

  ‘Aye well, if he does kick the bucket, it would do us all good. And I’m not going to hold back on blackening his name tonight along with the bastards who run the pit here. There’s too many Edmund Ellershaws in this world, all looking to make money and take the food from our mouths and clothing from our backs. We both know what it’s like to go hungry and worry about keeping a roof over our heads. If I owned the Rose, I’ll not be one of them, I’ll treat folk right. Not to say I’ll be a soft touch, but I’d not see my workers go hungry.’

  Tom’s eyes sparkled with ambition. ‘Anyway, lass, best foot forward. Let’s give these owners something to think about and these poor buggers in this Institute a bit of hope. Because without hope all is lost.’ Tom took Eliza’s arm. He was drowning in hope, for both Eliza’s love and to become the owner of his own pit, if he could just raise the money.

  Chapter 28

  ‘Well, what does it say? It must be something to worry about, by the way you are gawping.’ A note had just been delivered by the post boy and Ma Fletcher was desperate to know what it said.

  ‘It’s from our Eliza, she’s sent word that Edmund Ellershaw is in a bad way. He’s had a stroke.’ Mary-Anne sat down heavily in a chair.

  ‘Couldn’t happen to a nicer person, the old bastard. The devil will be stoking the fires for him as we speak because that’s where he’ll be going.’ Ma Fletcher grinned. She might have resolved to forgo her plans for revenge but that didn’t mean she didn’t feel pleased to learn of her old enemy’s certain demise.

  ‘Eliza wants me to tell Victoria. She thinks it’s my place to do so, now she knows that he is her father. No sooner does she find out who her father is than she’s losing him,’ Mary-Anne sighed.

  ‘Nay, she’s never had him, it’ll mean nowt to her, and in fact it’s a blessing, if you ask me. She’ll never have to look at him again, if we are lucky. I don’t know why you are pulling that long face, you’d think you were going to miss him by the looks of it.’ Ma Fletcher pulled her shawl around her and shook her head.

  ‘William didn’t say anything when I met him briefly last night, although he did seem upset over words that he had with him previously. I think his father had virtually disowned him over saying what he thought about his younger brother.’

  ‘That’s typical Ellershaw, they don’t like to hear the truth about themselves. Don’t forget Victoria is your blood, do right by her first. Bloody William must sort his own family out. He shouldn’t mean anything to you, remember?’ Ma Fletcher had noticed a change in Mary-Anne of late. William Ellershaw had taken hold of Mary-Anne’s senses with his beguiling ways. She’d started singing around their home and talking as if she was starting to fall in love with him. This was not what she had planned, she had just wanted revenge.

  ‘You are right, I’ll make your dinner and then I’ll go to Aireville Mansions. Victoria is on her own today because Eliza is at work in her shop. I suppose Grace Ellershaw will be in despair as well and unable to give support to our Eliza. What a carry-on! But, like you say, he’s not worth spilling tears over. I hope he dies too, the world will be a better place without him.’

  Mary-Anne busied herself preparing some bread and cheese for Ma Fletcher’s dinner. Edmund Ellershaw had been like a dirty black shadow overhanging her life for so long. She looked down at the bread she was buttering and noticed her hands were shaking.
Hopefully, the old bastard would die and then it was over. She could hold her head up high and forget the past. She wiped a solitary tear away from her eye, breathed in and thought of the world without Edmund Ellershaw. A better world. A world where, if she had her way, she would make his son her own.

  ‘Mother, this is a surprise, Aunt Eliza didn’t say you were to call.’ Victoria rose from her chair in front of the window and put her sewing to one side.

  ‘It was our Eliza who asked me to call. She asked me to tell you the news, about your father.’ Mary-Anne saw her daughter’s face cloud over.

  ‘I don’t want to talk about him, I hate him. I hate what he did to you.’ Victoria could not make eye contact with her mother and sat back down in her chair.

  ‘That’s in the past. I wouldn’t have been blessed with you if it hadn’t happened. And you are a blessing, Victoria, don’t you ever forget that.’ Mary-Anne reached for her daughter’s hand. ‘Your father has had a stroke, quite a bad one. For all I know, he might have died overnight. Your aunt heard the news yesterday evening and asked for me to tell you today in a note that she sent. I know that you have no feelings for him, but he is still your father and you should know.’

  ‘He means nothing to me, why should he? Aunt Eliza was both mother and father to me while you were in America. He could have offered her help but no, he did not even recognise that I was on this earth and would not have shown me any sympathy or affection if he had.’ Victoria’s voice was cold and unfeeling.

  ‘I know, but you had to be told. One day, Victoria, I will make up for my absence in your young life, I promise.’

  ‘You are here now, Mother, that is all that matters and I understand why you did what you did. At first, I felt it was because you didn’t love me, but I know different now.’ Victoria fought back the tears, she still felt slightly confused when it came to her feelings over her mother.

  ‘You know you can come and stay with Mrs Fletcher and me if you wish? She’s not a bad old stick, really.’ Mary-Anne put her arm around her daughter.

  ‘No, I’m fine here, Aunt Eliza needs me. Although I don’t know how much longer for, she seems to have re-kindled a friendship with an old friend.’ Victoria looked up at her mother and smiled. She was happy for her aunt, it was time she found happiness.

  ‘That would be Tom Thackeray, I take it? You know she loved him dearly, and she should have married him. But he listened to the gossips and his mother and nothing came of it.’ Mary-Anne looked across at her daughter. ‘Happiness is everything, Victoria, remember that when you grow up, you grab it while you can. How’s your friendship with George? You are a right pair, both of you have secrets that you have to keep to yourselves. Will he be worried about his father too?’

  ‘George will be upset, but he’s not been the best father to him either, money does not make up for love.’ Victoria glanced at her mother. ‘I know you love me and always have done. I remember Aunt Eliza reading your letters to me when I was too young to read and I could feel the love in your words. I’m glad that you are here now, I’m just sorry that poor John Vasey lost his life, he was a good man, he didn’t deserve to die.’

  ‘I know, he was a good man. I miss him. After all, we did love one another deeply once. I’d had enough of not having any security in my life but unfortunately it seems that I was the reason for him living. Life’s been hard … but enough of this gloomy talk. You are a clever young girl with good prospects, thanks to Eliza. You should enjoy your life. Now, let us see what you are going to the Guild Ball in. I know Eliza will have made sure that you will shine.’

  Victoria beamed. ‘She has made me the most divine dress, Mother. It’s purple with black roses around the bodice, I’ve never seen a dress like it before. I’ll go and get it to show you.’ Victoria rose to her feet and ran out of the room.

  Mary-Anne was glad that her sister and daughter were so close and had a lovely home, she only hoped that the arrival of Tom Thackeray back into Eliza’s life would not jeopardise Victoria’s and her friendship.

  ‘Oh, Victoria, it is beautiful, just look at the work that’s gone into that.’ Mary-Anne held the dress up and admired the creation.

  ‘I know, I can’t wait to wear it. I’ve never been to a ball before.’ Victoria smiled as she held the dress next to her. ‘It’s a pity you are not going, Mama, it would have been lovely to have you by my side.’

  ‘I would have loved to have attended, but I’m not important enough, unlike your mother and Grace. You enjoy the evening, live every minute, my love.’ Mary-Anne kissed her daughter on the cheek, remembering how she had stolen her ticket only to return it when Eliza had cottoned on to her game. She was glad that she had now, it was right that Victoria had a chance to enjoy the party. She’d been mean and desperate when she had stolen it from under her nose. Besides, now she didn’t need to make herself known to William, she already had him under her spell and the good Lord was making sure Edmund Ellershaw met the fate he deserved.

  William Ellershaw rode his horse hard to his old home at Highfield House. The news of his father’s illness had reached his ears through a tradesman saying that the Rose Pit was being run by Tom Thackeray and might have to close. Until then, he had no knowledge of his father’s sudden decline in health, with not one of his family contacting him. He rode into the driveway and dismounted his horse around the back of the house next to the stables, leaving the horse saddled and still in its harness as he made for the kitchen door.

  ‘Master William! You are here.’ The cook looked worried. ‘Does your mother know?’ The gossip within Highfield House had been raging with everybody questioning why Edmund Ellershaw’s eldest had not been informed of his father’s illness.

  ‘She will now! Is the old bugger still alive?’ William asked as he made his way past the nosy old cook and through the kitchen doors.

  ‘Yes, he’s still with us, thank the Lord. But he’s not … taking visitors.’ The cook’s voice trailed off as she watched William walk through the house and run up the curving stairs, still in his riding boots, to the room where his father lay with his family around him. There was going to be trouble in the Ellershaw household, she thought to herself.

  ‘Now, isn’t this a nice family scene. When exactly were you going to tell me that my father is ill?’ William looked around him at the three faces of his closest relations and then at his father looking ashen, but still alive, lying in his bed.

  ‘William, hush, your father is gravely ill. Come, follow me onto the landing and then I can speak to you in private.’ Catherine Ellershaw walked over quickly to her son and took his arm, as he looked back at his brother and sister and noticed the disdain on their faces.

  ‘Why didn’t you tell me, Mother? Is he dying?’ William looked with concern at his mother.

  ‘He’s still here, that’s all I can say. He’s lost the use of his legs and his right arm and can’t speak. However, he can hear you and he does know what you are saying. He gets upset if he thinks you are doing something that he doesn’t agree with, hence the reason why we didn’t send for you. His health comes first and he needs no more upsets. It was the words you had together that brought on this stroke.’ Catherine sighed and blew her nose and sobbed.

  ‘I will not be blamed for the state that he is in. It is his own doing, you know that as well as me. He’s no saint, Mother, you know he isn’t. And as for telling him the truth about our George, he should know what his son is about. After all, it is as clear as the nose on his face that George will never bed a woman and does not have the same family traits as father and me.’ William shook his head and stared at his mother.

  ‘Hush, hold your tongue. The servants will hear, do you want them all to know our business?’ Catherine whispered.

  ‘Here we go, keep it secret, don’t let anyone know the truth! How much have you put up with from that old bastard I have the dubious honour of calling my father? Just how many women has he bedded behind your back in his late nights at the club? No wonder I am lik
e I am. It is truly a miracle that our Grace turned out a lady; perhaps it is just the male heirs that are corrupt.’ William’s eyes flashed.

  ‘How dare you!’ Catherine raised her hand and slapped her son across the face. ‘Your father is a gentleman, unlike you. He’s been the perfect husband and father. It is you that has ruined our world, taking everything my father gave you and hardly acknowledging any thanks for what we all have done for you. It is yourself you are talking about, you and your whore. Poor Priscilla, I ignored her when she cried and told me about your time spent in other women’s arms. I can’t believe what my first born has turned into. Get out of my house and don’t come back. Your father’s right, you are no longer welcome here.’ Catherine raised her hand to slap her son again, for him to grab it before she made contact with his face.

  ‘I wouldn’t stay here a minute longer. You deserve my father, you are both deaf and blind when it comes to your family. I hope the old bastard survives just for him to see his sons and daughter live their lives their way. We are all out of his control now, we will do as we want, my dear mamma.’ William let go of his grip on his mother’s arm and stood for a second looking at her before bounding back down the stairs and nearly knocking the cook over as he made for the kitchen door. Outside, he grabbed the reins of the tethered horse and mounted it before looking back at his family home, a home that he had never felt part of. He kicked his heels into the side of the horse and galloped to see Mary-Anne and ask her just how many times had she gone with his father and if she truly did have any feelings for him.

  Mary-Anne was shocked to see William tether his horse to the garden railings and march his way up to knock on the door. ‘William, I’m so glad to see you. I was wondering if you would send word to meet me, as I have heard that your father is ill. I thought that with your commitment to running your mills and your father’s illness, we should perhaps not be seeing one another for a while. But here you are.’ Mary-Anne stood on the doorstep and spoke loudly so as to make Ma Fletcher aware who her visitor was and for her to make herself scarce behind the dividing curtain.