‘Alice, that’s enough of that kind of talk, thank you,’ threatened Rose. ‘She isn’t like you, our Erin, she’s a good girl.’
‘Shall I pour ye a cup?’ Erin asked them both.
‘That would be very nice, dear,’ replied Rose plonking herself into her own chair. ‘This is a real treat to come down to.’ She held her hands to the now well-established fire and rubbed them together.
Erin confessed that she had fallen asleep in the chair.
‘Oh, you’ll pay for it, my dear! Come dinnertime and you’ll feel as though you could sleep for a week. I know, I’ve done it many a time myself.’
After her early breakfast Erin went to change into her working clothes and attend to the drawing room fire, pleased that she had ample time so as not to encounter Helena. That done, she returned to the kitchen and assisted Rose in the preparation of breakfast for upstairs, after first, of course, scrubbing the floor.
* * *
‘Well, Caroline. Have you anything to say to your Mama?’ Helena unfolded her napkin and draped it over her mustard-coloured skirts.
Caroline looked up guiltily from her plate to which her eyes had been cast since she had seated herself.
‘I am sorry, Mama,’ she said humbly.
‘I am most pleased to hear it, Caroline,’ answered her mother. ‘You cannot know the hurt I have suffered over your intransigence.’ After dealing with Erin the previous night Helena had gone on to confront her daughter.
There had been a terrible scene with Caroline nearing hysterics at one point, and Helena had thought it better to let matters cool off a little.
‘May one enquire to what intransigence you refer?’ asked Roland through a mouthful of bacon.
Helena found it impossible to conceal her disgust. ‘Really, my dear, what hope is there for the child if you persist in this uncouth habit of yours? I find it hard to comprehend what you are saying with your mouth full of food.’
‘I humbly crave your pardon, Helena,’ said Roland, dabbing his mouth. ‘It was my eagerness to join in the family discussion which led me to forget my manners.’
‘If you had been here to assume your fatherly duties last night,’ said Helena, ‘you would have no need to ask. Your daughter took it upon her shoulders to absent herself without my permission and I had to exercise the discipline which should have been administered by you.’
‘And to where did you absent yourself, Caroline?’ asked Roland lightly.
Caroline looked at her mother who answered for her. ‘She went to the home of one of the servants.’
‘To be precise I went to Erin’s party,’ provided Caroline. ‘Mama had been beastly to Erin and would not allow her to go home on her afternoon off. So I said she could go, as long as she took me with her.’
‘And did you have a pleasant time?’ asked her father.
‘Roland!’ Helena banged upon the table in a most unladylike fashion. ‘Will you please desist from this facetious attitude? How can I possibly hope to discipline our daughter when you seem to have such a low regard for our status.’
‘Quite right, my dear.’ Roland was repentant and turned to his daughter. ‘Caroline, you should not have done such a thing. I am certain that your mother must have been desperate with worry at your disappearance.’
‘Not to mention what could have happened to you in that den of thieves,’ put forward Helena.
‘I am truly, truly sorry for the hurt I have caused,’ wailed Caroline, then leapt up to grip her father’s shoulders beseechingly. ‘I know it was wrong but please, Papa, do not allow Mama to vent her anger on Erin. She was not to blame for any of it. I lent her the dress and Mama thought that she had taken it without permission, though I did inform Mama of my intention,’ she added reprovingly. ‘And now Mama has dismissed her.’ Roland’s face lost its mild expression as he looked sharply at his wife.
‘I expressly forbid you to dismiss that child!’
‘I am afraid it is already done,’ replied Helena carelessly.
‘Then it must be undone,’ said Roland. ‘For I will not have an innocent child made to suffer for one of your whims.’ He leaned forward, his heavy brow balanced on the hook of his nose. ‘Do not think that I am unaware of your reasons for this persecution, Helena. But you are wrong, so very wrong.’
‘I think not,’ smiled Helena smugly. ‘But no matter. If you are determined that the girl should stay, then however incompetent or insolent she might be, I must bow to your superiority.’
‘Oh, Mama, thank you!’ Caroline rushed around the table to kiss her mother and Helena manufactured an indulgent smile.
‘Really, Caroline, you must try to curb this impetuosity, it is not fitting in a lady. One trusts that you will conduct yourself with a little more dignity this evening.’
Roland and his daughter looked at Helena inquiringly.
‘Following our discussion I have invited some friends to dine with us. As they are most anxious to meet our daughter I have decided that she shall be present.’
Caroline’s face underwent a series of expressions, from disbelief to rapture. ‘Oh, Mama!’ She was about to leap up again, then recalled Helena’s admonishment and remained fixed to her seat.
‘I trust you will not require my presence also,’ said Roland. The thought of being cooped up for an entire evening with Helena’s lickspittle friends left him cold.
‘But naturally,’ replied his wife. ‘Are you not interested in your daughter’s future?’
‘If I understand your meaning correctly,’ answered Roland, ‘I had assumed that we were to leave that certain business until a later date.’
‘But surely it is more sensible to take the opportunity as soon as it arrives? Believe me, Roland, you will not find a more suitable match anywhere.’
‘I shall be the judge of that,’ replied Roland.
‘Of course,’ said his wife. ‘That is why you must be present tonight. I realise that you shrug most of your responsibilities on to me, but surely you could find the time to meet your prospective son-in-law.’
Caroline stared from one to the other unable to understand their words, but too excited at the thought of her first dinner party to worry.
‘As you wish,’ sighed Roland, and prepared to leave for work. ‘I only hope it will be worth the inconvenience.’
For some time after he had gone Caroline was all of a twitter about what she should wear and how one should behave, until finally Helena, tiring of the girlish enthusiasm, dismissed her to the schoolroom until later in the morning when they would go out to buy a new outfit for her.
* * *
Directly Helena and Caroline had returned from their morning’s outing Rose was summoned to the drawing room to discuss the menu for the evening. She handed over her idea for Helena’s approval.
‘Read it out to me, Cook,’ sighed the mistress, rubbing her temples. ‘I have such a headache with listening to my daughter’s incessant chatter.’
‘I’m very sorry to hear that, madam,’ said Rose insincerely, and proceeded to reel off the menu. ‘I thought for the first course, Mock Turtle Soup, Fried Fillets of Sole, Saddle of Mutton – or I thought I might do Beef a la Jardiniere (she had some difficulty getting her tongue around this) and for afters…’
‘Yes, yes,’ sighed Helena impatiently. ‘Very well, Cook, I shall leave it entirely to you. That will be all.’
As Rose turned to leave her mistress suddenly remembered. ‘Oh, and inform the Feeney chit that I have decided to overlook yesterday’s digression and she may stay in my employ, provided she smartens herself up – I trust she has had her hair attended to?’
Although glad of the first part of Helena’s sentence Rose’s heart went out to Erin; she had hoped that the mistress had forgotten. ‘Not yet, madam, Alice is going to do it when she’s finished her work.’
‘Very well, then I shall wish to inspect it before you begin preparations for tonight’s meal.’
Rose returned to her domain and told Erin the bad news. Later Alic
e brought out a pair of scissors and trimmed three inches from the long, glossy waves. ‘D’yer think that’ll satisfy her ladyship?’ She brushed the snippets of hair from Erin’s shoulders.
‘I swear I don’t know what will satisfy her,’ sighed Rose. ‘But we’ll have to find out. Come on, Erin, let’s face the Inquisition.’
They left Alice to sweep up the discarded locks and went upstairs.
Helena reclined in the armchair, rubbing pensively at the brown velvet upholstery. She was deciding which was the best course of action to take in the pursuance of the eligible Charles Snaith-Buxbridge.
Someone opened the door and she looked up annoyed at the diversion in her plotting. ‘Ah, Cook! Let us see if the work has been carried out to my instructions. Turn around, girl.’
She frowned at Erin’s back and turned to Rose. ‘But this is hardly any better,’ she exclaimed angrily. ‘It seems that I must teach you the way in which it should be done. Fetch the scissors.’
Rose hurried downstairs while Helena tapped her foot impatiently. Erin stood trembling, feeling the waves of hate from Helena’s eyes. When Rose returned, her mistress snatched the scissors and began to slice viciously at Erin’s hair, not just snipping but wielding the scissors as though she were clipping a privet hedge. Rose looked on in horror as the shears flashed over the girl’s head, hacking and slashing at the hair, which fell profusely to the carpet. Soon the Persian weaving was hidden beneath the pool of savaged black waves.
‘There, that is much better.’ Helena thrust the scissors back at Rose, while Erin stared in dismay at the pile of hair on the floor. ‘And kindly clear up that mess,’ ordered their mistress, then stalked out of the room.
Rose put a hand to her mouth and gaped at the ragged, uneven mess that Helena had inflicted on the girl. There was hardly any hair left at all, just a pitiful, fluffy cap. She put her arm around Erin. ‘Come on, love,’ she said quietly. ‘You come and help your Aunt Rose; take your mind off things.’
* * *
All through the day the kitchen bubbled and boiled with alacrity. Erin was plunged headfirst into the maelstrom, with hardly a moment to dwell on her shorn locks, so busy did Rose keep her, fetching and carrying, dicing vegetables, washing up. It was not until tea-time, when the workers gratefully sat down, that her hand crept under the mob cap to explore the damage.
She sucked in her breath as her fingers encountered the place where Helena’s scissors had slashed too close to the skin. On purpose? Who could tell what went on in that woman’s mind! The relief that Erin had felt on being told that she was to stay in the Cummings’ employ was fast disappearing.
‘What’re you going to do on your evening off?’ asked Alice, licking some icing from her fingers. ‘About yer hair, I mean.’
‘Alice, sometimes I despair of you,’ said Cook impatiently. ‘Here I am trying to keep the child’s mind off it by giving her plenty to do and then you go and shove your big oar in.’
‘Well, it’s got to be faced,’ replied Alice. ‘I mean, her parents aren’t goin’ to be very pleased, are they?’
‘Perhaps I won’t go,’ said Erin, nibbling a piece of fruit-bread.
‘Well, if you’re waiting for it to grow yer’ll have a long wait,’ voiced Alice.
Rose sighed at Alice’s bluntness, then said, ‘She’s right, you know – you can’t stay hidden forever. Maybe if you put one o’ Miss Caroline’s bonnets on they won’t notice.’
Alice sniggered. ‘No, I’m sure I wouldn’t notice if my daughter had three foot of hair one day an’ none the next.’
Coinciding with Cook’s exclamation Erin said, ‘Ye don’t think I’d dare borrow anything else from Miss Caroline!’
‘Oh, no…’ Cook put a finger to her chin. ‘Eh, Alice…’
‘Oh, I know what you’re off to say, Cook – well don’t.’
‘Go on, it’ll do no harm,’ begged Cook. ‘The poor little lass.’
‘Well… I don’t see why I should,’ sulked the maid. ‘But all right, she can borrow mine – only don’t let owt happen to it, you hear? With your luck it’ll come back in tatters.’
‘Thank you, Alice,’ said Erin. ‘I’ll take good care of it.’
Johnson finished his tea and rose. ‘Come along, Alice, we have no time for shillyshallying, there’s work to be done upstairs.’
‘God, I’ve just sat down,’ protested Alice, then shoved back her chair and trailed after the manservant.
‘Don’t you take no notice what Alice says,’ Rose told Erin, patting her hand. ‘If you push all those untidy bits inside the bonnet I’m sure your parents won’t notice.’ She gathered the tea things. ‘Well, we’d better not sit here gossiping all day, there’s still plenty to do for this here dinner party.’ She went to check on the pans that simmered on the range, leaving Erin faced with another giant pile of dirty crockery.
* * *
The evening was as hectic as the afternoon. Alice rushed down to the kitchen, fighting her way through clouds of steam and stacks of red-hot tureens. ‘S’truth, it’s like Hades down here. Listen, they want some more plates up there, Mr Johnson’s going mad.’ She dropped a pile of plates into Erin’s arms. ‘Here, put these on the lift quick, else it’ll be more than yer hair getting cut.’
‘Alice, do you have to say things like that?’ said Cook crossly, shaking and quivering like a jelly as she whipped a bowl of cream.
Alice ignored the reprimand. ‘Ooh, Cook, you oughtta see the young gentleman what’s partnering Miss Caroline, he’s a real beau. His hair all falls about in waves, like that.’ She demonstrated upon her own head, undulating her hands down from her parting, then gave an exclamation. ‘Oh God, I’m not supposed to talk about hair falling down, am I?’
‘Alice, get back up them stairs before you feel my foot round your backside,’ ordered Rose.
And Erin plunged herself back into the washing up, still trying to think of what she was going to tell them at home.
Chapter Fifty-one
‘Eh, I hope you’ve got eyes in the back of your head this mornin’,’ Alice warned Erin as they collected their cleaning implements. ‘She’s in a Bramah of a mood.’
Erin, still suffering the after-effects of the dinner party and too preoccupied with her mutilated hair to take much notice merely nodded.
‘Morning, Cook,’ shouted Alice as Rose came down. ‘I’m just saying to Erin she’ll have to keep clear of Lady Cowclap. I don’t know what went off after that party but it obviously wasn’t to her liking. She took lumps out o’ me last night when I was taking her hair down.’
‘Her little arrangement must’ve gone awry,’ said Cook, planting herself by the fire. It was common knowledge in the kitchen what Helena was up to.
‘Shame ’cause that young Mr Charles what was invited for Miss Caroline was a bonny fella.’
‘Eh, I don’t know,’ sighed Rose. ‘One minute she can’t stand the sight of the child and the next she’s trying to marry her off.’
‘Miss Caroline’s getting married?’ asked Erin.
‘Oh, awake now, are we?’ skitted Alice. ‘Well, yes, I reckon she will be soon as she’s old enough and the mistress can get hold of a rich enough fella for her. S’obvious this one’s slipped the net.’
‘Now don’t stand there gossiping, Alice.’ Johnson had entered. ‘Attend to your duties.’
‘God, the minute he comes in he starts. All right, I’m off. Erin, you can go do the mistress’ bedroom, I’m keepin’ out of her road.’
But Erin went instead to the schoolroom where she peeped around the door to find Caroline awaiting Miss Elwood.
The girl leapt at her. ‘Oh, Erin, I’ve so much to tell you! I had the most wonderful time last night. The meal was a dream and I met the most interesting people.’
‘Yes, so Alice’s been saying,’ responded Erin, feeling if her cap was on straight so that no one could see her hair. ‘I hear your gentleman was very handsome.’
‘Erin, don’t be such a silly
,’ laughed the other. ‘He wasn’t my gentleman, he was just one of Mama and Papa’s friends — anyway, I found him the least charming of the company.’
‘Then ’tis not true you’re going to marry him?’ ventured Erin.
Caroline laughed even louder. ‘Marry him? Why, I am barely fifteen. Why should I even think of marriage to anyone?’
‘Oh, ’twas just what Alice said…’
‘Pooh, to what Alice says,’ retorted Caroline. ‘I shall not marry until I am at least twenty-one, and when I do it will certainly not be to anyone as boring as Charles. Though I must say he was very handsome.’ She poked at Erin’s temple. ‘What have you been doing to your face? It’s all scratched. Why, it goes all the way under your… oh, Erin!’ Caroline gasped as she lifted the edge of the cap and saw the mess which Helena had caused. She pulled the headwear completely off. ‘Erin, whatever happened?’
Erin grabbed the cap back and pulled it almost over her eyes. ‘Ye wouldn’t believe me if I told ye,’ she said crossly. ‘But if ye must know it was your dear mama.’
‘Erin, now you are being an ass,’ scoffed Caroline. ‘Mama would never do that.’
‘If there’s an ass in this room ’tis you!’ yelled Erin. ‘You’re too stupid to know the truth when ye see it, an’ what’s more it was done all because o’ you, because ye made me take ye to the party.’
‘I’ll thank you to have a little more respect when speaking to your betters,’ snapped Caroline, suddenly reminding Erin of a younger version of the mistress.
The Irish girl’s spirit flared up again. ‘Oh, now we’re really getting to the truth! Ye don’t look upon me as a friend at all. I was just somebody who came along at the right time when ye were feeling lonely. Now that your precious mama is taking an interest in ye, ye think ye don’t need me any more.’
‘Now you are being downright stupid,’ replied Caroline. ‘Think of all the fun we’ve had together, all the secrets I have shared with you. Of course I look upon you as my friend.’
A Long Way from Heaven Page 53
