The Innkeeper's Daughter

by Val Wood

  ‘She doesn’t have to do owt, does she?’ Alice said. ‘She’s got loads o’ servants to do for her, and mebbe giving birth isn’t so bad for them as is rich, not like ’rest of us.’

  ‘Mm.’ Sarah wasn’t convinced that it would be good for the queen’s health to travel so far. ‘Still,’ she said, ‘this last one will be her seventh, so mebbe she pops ’em like peas, and she’s had this newfangled stuff, hasn’t she?’

  ‘Chloroform,’ Bella said. ‘Some doctors are against it.’

  ‘Huh,’ Sarah muttered. ‘An’ some doctors should try givin’ birth. Not that it’s that difficult, Alice,’ she assured her future daughter-in-law. ‘When you and Joe get married don’t you go worrying about that!’

  ‘I won’t, Mrs Thorp. I’ve seen my ma give birth many times so I know what it’s like.’ Alice raised her eyebrows at Bella and smiled.

  Allen and Newby wrote to Reuben Jacobs accepting his proposal and a lawyer was employed to arrange the legalities. Bella and her mother became equal shareholders in Maritime Hotel Limited.

  ‘I’m so excited, Ma,’ Bella said. ‘Did you ever imagine that we would be company directors?’

  ‘Well, no, I didn’t,’ her mother agreed. ‘And I don’t really know what it all means, in spite of having to sign my name on all them papers.’

  ‘I don’t think we have to worry about anything,’ Bella said. ‘I’d trust Reuben with my life.’

  ‘Aye,’ Sarah said. ‘I think he’s right fond of you. He won’t let anybody tek advantage of you. Especially not that sweet-talkin’ Justin Allen.’

  Bella laughed. ‘I know exactly what Justin Allen is like, Ma, and I’m not likely to let him take advantage of me.’

  Alice received a letter written by someone other than her mother but signed by her and her father’s cross, giving permission for her to marry Mr Joseph Thorp, and so hurried arrangements were made to buy Alice a suitable outfit for her wedding day. As Joe had only recently bought new clothes he said they would be perfectly all right, not only for his wedding but for the next ten years, and that the silk handkerchief Reuben had given him for his birthday he would wear in his breast pocket.

  The church service was booked for nine o’clock on a Saturday morning so that they could all be back in time to open up. Sarah said she would prepare extra victuals and the first customers through the door would receive a complimentary drink.

  On the Friday morning, the day before the marriage ceremony, Sarah picked up the post delivery. There were two envelopes which looked like bills and one addressed to Alice in ragged and spidery writing. Sarah looked at it and turned it over in her hand. Don’t know why I think it looks like trouble, she thought. But I think it is, and she put it in her apron pocket and quite deliberately forgot to tell Alice.

  None of them could eat much breakfast on the Saturday morning apart from Henry, who ate bacon and eggs and looked very handsome, Bella told him, in his buttoned jacket and breeches. ‘I know,’ he said solemnly. ‘I’ll wear this when I sing for ’queen when she comes.’

  ‘You’re going to sing for ’queen?’ his mother asked in astonishment.

  ‘Yes,’ he said prosaically, chewing on a piece of bread. ‘All the children are.’

  They all trooped off through the town to the church and arrived just on nine o’clock. Reuben was waiting for them at the gate and escorted Alice to where the vicar was waiting. Bella and her mother were witnesses to the marriage and in less than half an hour they were on their way home again.

  ‘Well, that was painless,’ Joe said, and gave Alice a kiss on the cheek. ‘Not a hitch.’

  ‘I could eat breakfast now,’ Alice laughed. ‘I was too nervous to eat before.’

  ‘Well, we’ve time,’ Sarah said. ‘And there’s plenty of eggs and bacon and sausage as well. We’ll have a proper wedding breakfast. You’ll come, won’t you, Reuben?’

  ’Thank you, I would be delighted to,’ he smiled, ‘but if I might refrain from the bacon and sausage? Just the eggs will be fine!’

  When they arrived at the Maritime, they found Adam sitting on the doorstep. He jumped up when he saw them and touched his forehead.

  ‘Morning,’ he said. ‘I wondered if there were any more jobs you needed doing? I filled up all ’coal hods last night.’

  ‘No,’ Joe said jovially, ‘but you can come and have some breakfast seeing as it’s a special day.’ He gave Alice a big grin and squeezed her waist. ‘We’ve just got married! That’s all right, isn’t it, Ma? There’ll be enough left over for a skinny lad like this?’

  They heard the rattle of the letter box as they were sitting at the table and Henry jumped up to collect the post.

  ‘There’s one for you, Ma, and one for Alice!’

  ‘For me?’ Alice said, surprised.

  ‘Yes, but it says for Alice Walker. Whoever’s sent it doesn’t know you’re Alice Thorp now.’ Henry looked at the kitchen clock. ‘By just over one and a half hours.’

  ‘Heavens!’ Sarah put her hand to her mouth. ‘I forgot! A letter came for you yesterday, Alice, and it’s still in my apron pocket!’ She got up from the table and went to her working apron, which was hanging behind the cupboard door, and rummaged in the pockets.

  ‘It’s to be hoped it wasn’t owt urgent,’ Joe commented. ‘Who could be sending you letters, Alice?’

  ‘My ma,’ Alice said, slitting open the envelope Sarah had handed to her. ‘I hope nowt’s wrong.’

  She frowned as she read it, trying to decipher her mother’s writing. ‘It says …’ she bit on her lip, ‘she says that Da’s withdrawn his consent to our marriage!’

  Sarah concealed a smirk. So I was right, she thought. I could tell there was summat. Good thing I didn’t tell her.

  ‘Withdrawn his consent.’ Joe guffawed. ‘Too late!’

  ‘And that …’ Alice went on, ‘I’ve to go home im … mediately, I think it says. Bella, can you mek it out?’ Her hand trembled as she handed the scrap of paper to Bella.

  Bella scanned it. ‘It does say he’s withdrawn his consent and that you’ve to go home. But,’ she screwed up her eyes, ‘there’s somebody else’s writing at the bottom – could it be Seth’s? – which says “Don’t come”!’

  ‘My poor ma.’ Alice began to weep; her emotions were high due to the excitement of being married and now spilled over. ‘Da will have stood over her mekking her write it.’

  ‘Just as well he can’t read then, isn’t it?’ Sarah said. ‘And just as well that I forgot to give it to you.’

  Alice nodded. ‘Yes,’ she said, and looked at Joe with streaming eyes. ‘Cos I would have gone home. I’d be afeard of what he’d have done.’

  ‘Write to your ma an’ tell her that ’letter didn’t come in time an’ that we’re married an’ we’ll go and see them next weekend. We need to look at ’Woodman anyway to see what needs doing,’ Joe said. ‘It was very neglected when we went last time; tell your ma she can come an’ work wi’ us if she wants to.’

  ‘If my da will let her, more like.’ Alice looked strained. Her wedding day had not turned out as she’d planned.

  ‘Listen.’ Sarah was reading her own letter. She sighed. ‘It’s from William. He says he’s been made a corporal and will be going overseas wi’ his regiment on an Eastern Expedition! Whatever does that mean? Where do you think they’ll be sending him, Reuben?’

  Reuben appeared to be considering. He ran his fingers round his mouth and scratched his beard before saying, ‘I have really no idea.’

  Alice opened the latest letter after they had finished breakfast. She kept glancing at it as if it were something which might bite her, and she only opened it at Joe’s insistence.

  It was from Seth, and like his mother’s was difficult to read.

  Deer Alice,

  Sum bad news! Da’s dead. He started a fite an’ got wurst of it an’ fell an’ banged his hed. Other feller is in jale but they say he’ll get off cos it wasn’t his falt. Cum home when you can. Ma’s in a stayt
.

  Your bruther Seth.

  Alice shrieked and pushed back her chair. ‘Oh, my God. Joe! My father’s dead. He was in a fight. What’ll happen to Ma and ’bairns? They’ll go to ’workhouse sure as owt.’

  ‘Hold on, hold on.’ Joe caught her firmly, for she seemed ready to flee to Holderness that very minute. ‘We’re going next Sunday, remember? We’ll sort things out when we get there. There’s nowt to be done right this minute.’

  ‘That’s right, there isn’t,’ Sarah chipped in. ‘I’m right sorry to hear this, Alice. Now sit down and I’ll mek you a cup o’ strong tea and we’ll think on what’s best to do. Mebbe Bella could come wi’ you when you go. She’s got a sensible head on her shoulders, an’ if there’s any writing to do she can do it, can’t you, Bella?’

  ‘Of course I can,’ Bella said sympathetically. ‘I’m so sorry, Alice.’

  Alice’s lips trembled. ‘Well,’ she sniffled. ‘I’m worried about Ma and ’bairns, but as for Da – and mebbe I shouldn’t say this, but I’ll say it anyway – he won’t be missed. Not by anybody!’

  CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX

  AT THE BEGINNING of October Joe and Alice moved to the Woodman and Alice’s mother and her band of siblings followed shortly afterwards. Sarah spent a week with them to help organize the kitchen and teach Alice and her mother how to deal with the kitchen range. They organized the sleeping arrangements, with Joe and Alice taking his parents’ former bedroom and Alice’s mother and the younger children taking the rooms that had been Joe’s, William’s and Nell’s, whilst Seth was sent into a paroxysm of delight by being allowed Bella’s former room in the loft.

  Joe had made it clear from the start that there was very little spare money and they would all have to pull their weight. Seth said he was going to ask Harry Porter the blacksmith if he would take him on as an apprentice even though there was no money to pay him, and then eventually he would have a trade. It seemed that he had never taken another apprentice since William had left. Alice’s mother told Joe she would cook and clean and grow outdoor vegetables, for she knew how to do those things, and if he would build her a small glasshouse she would try her hand at indoor ones as well. And, she said, she would be willing to learn how to serve the ale.

  Ellen Walker seemed to have grown in stature since her husband’s death, and no longer lived in fear; at his inquest the coroner ruled that the man who had caused his death was innocent of foul play as he was not the instigator of the fight. Mr Walker, the coroner remarked, was known as a violent man when in drink and had picked a fight with a mild-mannered stranger who happened to be a prizefighter. He was immediately set free.

  Joe had discussed his drink problem with Alice before he had asked her to marry him, and she’d told him that she’d already guessed.

  ‘You were onny a lad, Joe,’ she had said. ‘My da was a drunk and Ma was never strong enough to stand up to him.’ She’d put her hands on her hips and there was a mischievous glint in her eyes when she said, ‘But I’m much stronger than she was, so just watch out, Joe Thorp!’

  Whilst her mother was helping out at the Woodman, Bella had to advertise for extra staff, as she couldn’t manage on her own. She took on a man to help her in the saloon and a young woman to clear the tables and wash the glasses and tankards, and she asked Adam if he would run errands for her, which he was delighted to do. She sampled products from local bakers and ordered pies and cakes and bread from them to give to their customers, and was pleased when they all offered her a discount on quantity.

  She’d done calculations in her head and discussed with Reuben that there was very little difference in cost, and when the hotel was opened they could consider buying in products from a good baker, which would free up her mother for doing other things. ‘Ma will object, of course,’ she laughed. ‘But maybe she’d like to try her hand at fancy cakes, and we could put on afternoon tea for ladies. Alice told me she saw ladies going into coffee shops, so we could perhaps persuade them to come here too.’

  She saw the doubt on Reuben’s face. ‘I realize that ladies don’t go into public houses,’ she added, ‘but I see no reason why they shouldn’t come into a select hotel.’

  ‘I’m dubious only because you must decide what you want this place to be,’ he told her. ‘If you have ladies coming in, then you might lose some of your male customers.’

  ‘I’d considered that,’ she assured him. ‘And I thought that maybe if we invited the ladies’ clubs to come here, perhaps once a month and at a time during ’day – say, in a morning, when the men don’t come so often … Oh, Reuben, I can’t wait to discuss plans! I’ve so many ideas running round in my head. As soon as my mother returns I think we should have another meeting with Mr Allen and Mr Newby and begin!’

  In her head she had already started to plan how the bedrooms would be. She would have to discuss the ideas with her mother, of course, but she was going to suggest that they had bedrooms built on the top floor for each of them and Henry. The roof space was long, running from front to back of the building, and would easily accommodate three or four bedrooms, and, she thought daringly, even a separate bathroom, where maybe one day they could have piped water.

  The bedrooms they were using now could be redecorated and furnished and used for their overnight visitors, and one which was quite large could be divided and given an added dressing room and so be charged at a higher tariff.

  ‘And if Mr Newby and Justin Allen agree,’ she told Reuben, ‘we’d start straight away and without any inconvenience to our customers as all the work will be upstairs. Then I thought we could—’

  ‘Stop,’ he said good-naturedly. ‘Stop. Not all at once! You’ll frighten the brewers.’

  ‘Of course.’ She laughed. ‘I’m too fired up.’

  He patted her arm. ‘You, Bella,’ he smiled, ‘are a singular young lady.’

  She looked puzzled. What did he mean?

  ‘What I mean,’ he said patiently, ‘is that you are a most unusual young woman. Not afraid of a challenge.’

  ‘I have ideas,’ she admitted. ‘But I don’t always know how to carry them out.’ She paused and sighed. ‘I miss Joe more than I thought I would. He’d tell me if I was flying too high and too fast.’

  Reuben nodded. ‘But Joe has to do things his way, and by leaving and going back to your old home he has freed you up to know your own potential.’

  ‘But I’m onny a young woman,’ she countered. ‘And not always taken seriously.’

  ‘I take you seriously,’ he vowed. ‘And do not run yourself down. Believe in yourself. Yes, I agree, there are some avenues not open to women, but with your strength of character you can do most things that men can do. However, now that we are alone, there is something I feel I must reiterate: a warning, perhaps, although it is not incumbent on me to pry into your private life.’

  Bella smiled pensively. ‘I don’t have a private life, Reuben. I am what you see in front of you.’

  He looked down at his hands, which like his feet were small and neat. ‘You are a young woman with prospects,’ he said. ‘A young woman in business and as such … forgive me,’ he murmured, ‘for I do not want to assume anything, but you may find yourself attracted to a gentleman who might wish to marry you, and of course I wish you good fortune and happiness in that, but I must also remind you that if you should decide to marry then your fortune becomes your husband’s in law.’

  ‘I know that, Reuben, we’ve discussed it before.’ She frowned a little. ‘You’re thinking of what Joe said about Mr Allen?’

  ‘Indeed.’ He seemed embarrassed. ‘I am thinking of him, for I do believe he has been paying you court.’

  ‘No!’ she exclaimed. ‘When he visits he only ever discusses business. Although he’s very attentive to both my mother and me.’

  Reuben gave a little grunt in his throat. ‘I have noticed,’ he muttered. ‘And your mother always keeps a slice of her fruitcake for him.’

  Bella hid a smile. He’s jealous, she thought.r />
  ‘I’m only thinking of your welfare, my dear.’ Reuben got up to leave. ‘I know I’m an old man but I have seen and heard much in my life and I do not wish to see you hurt.’

  ‘I won’t be hurt, Reuben,’ she murmured. ‘Mr Allen doesn’t interest me in ’slightest, no matter how charming he tries to be, and I’m aware that his charm isn’t always genuine.’

  ‘Ah!’ Reuben nodded. ‘So you are not taken in by that. Perhaps you recognize it because your heart has already been wounded? Although I cannot think that that is possible, when you are so young.’

  Bella hesitated. Wounded, she thought, as if in battle? No, that isn’t ’sensation I feel. A sadness, perhaps, for something that can never be is how I would describe ’condition of my heart; sorrow for the loss of something which was never mine in ’first place.

  ‘Not wounded at all, Reuben,’ she assured him as she helped him into his coat. ‘Maybe slightly bruised.’

  It was January 1854 and talk of war was all around them. In the newspapers, in the clubs and halls and universities. ‘As soon as I’m qualified I’ll be off.’ Hunter stretched out his legs in front of the fire and clasped his hands behind his head. ‘Ready to do my bit in the Crimea.’

  Jamie, his hand propping up his head as he studied the book in front of him, looked up. ‘What? What did you say?’

  ‘You heard,’ Hunter said. ‘Another four months and I’m off.’

  ‘There might not be war, though I agree the signs are that there will be.’

  ‘There’s no doubt. The military are preparing already,’ Hunter said. ‘And I shall join them.’

  ‘You’re very sure that you’ll qualify,’ Jamie muttered. ‘I wish I could be so positive!’

  ‘You’ll be all right,’ Hunter assured him. ‘But I’m not going to wait for you. They’ll be crying out for doctors. Florence Nightingale is already getting her band of angels ready for the first ship that will take them.’

  ‘And she’s had such trouble persuading the authorities to allow them permission to travel,’ Jamie murmured. ‘How ridiculous it is, that because they’re women they shouldn’t treat wounded men!’