by Dilly Court
‘Why ever not? It’s the custom, Carrie. We must observe the niceties.’
‘Well, I wasn’t suggesting you should wear your beloved red boots,’ Caroline said, chuckling. ‘I remember how you used to sport them on every occasion possible.’
Sadie pursed her lips. ‘I was younger then. I wouldn’t dream of doing such a thing now.’
‘You were more fun then, Aunt. Anyway, that’s not what I’m saying. I just think it’s hard enough for the boys without us looking like a pair of carrion crows. I’ll wear my grey poplin, and you have a pretty lavender silk, if I remember rightly. We can change back into mourning when we return home.’
‘I think you’re right, Carrie,’ Sadie said slowly. ‘Lavender silk it shall be. Now we’d better go and support your poor mother. She’s being very brave, but I’m afraid she might find it all too much.’
Next day at Rugby School, the headmaster’s study smelled of old books, beeswax polish and ink. Dust motes danced and twirled in the rays of sunlight streaming through the tall windows, and the sound of the school bell being rung enthusiastically by an overzealous pupil signalled the end of morning lessons. The boys had been spirited away by Matron as soon as they had arrived, and Caroline had asked to see the headmaster, but she had been told that he was too busy to see anyone. In the end she had had to demand to see him and they had been granted a brief interview.
He had listened sympathetically, although, with the boys’ best interests in mind, he had said he was reluctant to grant Caroline’s request for her brothers to be released early from their studies. She had stood her ground, insisting that it was their mother’s wish to have her sons with her at such a difficult time. It was a short battle of wills and Caroline thought she had been winning the conversation when the headmaster was called away on urgent business. She stood by the smoke-blackened fireplace, anxiously awaiting his return while Sadie paced the floor.
‘What’s keeping him?’ Sadie glared angrily at the clock on the mantelshelf. ‘I’ll be very cross if we’ve spent three hours on the train only to be fobbed off by some jumped-up pedagogue.’
Despite her anxiety, Caroline could not repress a chuckle. ‘That’s a big word, Aunt Sadie.’
Sadie tossed her head. ‘Just because I didn’t have much education it doesn’t mean that I’m ignorant, Miss Caroline.’
‘Don’t get on your high horse. I remember when you used to pull faces at my governess behind her back, and you used to sneak food into the nursery when Max and I were sent to bed without any supper for being naughty.’
Sadie pursed her lips, but her eyes were smiling. ‘Don’t remind me. I shouldn’t have gone behind your parents’ backs, but I thought they were a bit too strict with you at times.’
‘And we loved you for standing up for us.’ Caroline was suddenly alert. ‘Someone’s coming.’ She clasped her hands tightly, hardly daring to breathe as the door opened.
‘Good afternoon, ladies.’ A tall man entered the room, his black gown billowing round him, and he had to bend his head in order to prevent his mortarboard from catching on the lintel. He closed the door, turning to them with a rueful smile. ‘That is the disadvantage of being too tall.’
‘Maybe it’s the fault of the doorway being too low,’ Sadie said, smiling.
Caroline glanced at her in surprise. Was it possible that her spinster aunt, who always obeyed the rules of etiquette, was flirting with this gangly, copper-haired teacher?
‘I should introduce myself.’ He looked from one to the other, his smile broadening. ‘My name is Laurence Bromley, and I have the pleasure of teaching both Max and James. The headmaster asked me to fetch the boys, but I wanted to speak to you first.’
‘I am Miss Sadie Dixon, and this is Miss Caroline Manning, the boys’ sister.’ Sadie’s cheeks were suspiciously pink as she made the necessary introductions, and Mr Bromley was smiling foolishly.
‘Is anything wrong?’ Caroline demanded. ‘Why do you need to speak to me? I simply want to take my brothers home before the end of term. Our mother needs to have them with her at this sad time.’
‘Yes, so I was told, but the Head is unlikely to give his consent, and he’s very strict about this sort of thing. They’re in the anteroom waiting to say goodbye.’
‘That isn’t good enough,’ Caroline said firmly. ‘It would be better if I had the Head’s permission, but I should warn you that I intend to take them home, regardless.’
‘In your position, I would do the same thing. I’ll show them in.’ He ushered the boys into the room and left, closing the door softly behind him.
‘I’m the man of the house now,’ Max said in a choked voice. ‘I want to go home and take care of you and Mama.’
Jimmy nodded, forcing a smile. ‘And I’ll do my best to cheer Mama up.’
Caroline dropped a kiss on his curly head. ‘I know you will, Jimmy. It will be lovely having both of you at home for a while longer.’
‘Mr Bromley is leaving today,’ Max said eagerly. ‘He’s a good chap, Carrie. All the boys like him, but he’s had some rows with the Head.’
Sadie eyed him curiously. ‘Mr Bromley doesn’t give the impression of being a difficult man.’
‘Well, it’s none of our business.’ Caroline patted James on the back. ‘If you’re feeling better we’ll get going. I told the cabby to wait for us.’
‘What about our trunks and tuck boxes?’ Max said frowning. ‘If I know the fellows in my dorm they’ll take what’s left, although there’s not much.’
‘I’m sure we’ve got enough food at home to satisfy your appetite.’ Sadie ruffled his hair, but he moved away, gazing anxiously at his reflection in the glass-fronted bookcase and smoothing his dark-blond curls.
‘I’m too old for that sort of treatment, Aunt Sadie. I’m grown up now.’
‘I used to say much the same when I was your age,’ Sadie said with a rueful smile. ‘That was a long time ago.’
‘You’re not so very old,’ James said quickly.
‘I’m the most senior member of the family present, so I think we should do as your sister says, and make a move.’
James opened his mouth as if to comment, but at that moment the door opened to admit Laurence Bromley. He was not smiling.
‘I’m sorry, Miss Manning, but the Head is adamant that the boys should remain in school until the end of term.’
‘Really? That is unfortunate.’ Caroline grabbed James by the hand. ‘We’re leaving now whether the headmaster likes it or not. He can’t prevent me from taking my brothers home and, to be honest, I doubt very much whether they will return. Perhaps you would be kind enough to ensure that their belongings are sent on by carrier.’ She pushed past him, with James clinging to her hand. ‘Come along, Sadie.’
‘Miss Manning, please wait a moment …’
Caroline ignored his protest and quickened her pace. A vision of her mother’s tear-stained face was enough to spur her on. She was taking her brothers home.
Chapter Two
Emotional scenes greeted the boys on their return home to find the household in deep mourning. Curtains remained drawn, mirrors were covered and Esther had ordered all clocks to be stopped at the moment of her husband’s passing. Caroline grieved for her father, but she was more concerned for the living, and after a week of existing in a state of permanent gloom she managed to persuade her mother to allow daylight into the house. She was not bothered by the lack of mirrors, but stopping the clocks was another matter, and eventually Esther agreed that they should be restarted, except for the one in her bedchamber, where the gilt hands would point for ever to the moment when her heart was broken.
Caroline did her best to look after James, and although Max stoutly refused to admit that he was in need of emotional support, she knew that he, too, was suffering the loss of a much-loved parent. Their mother seemed to have drifted into a half-world where she was present in body, but her thoughts were far away.
And then there were the bills. Tradesmen
began to knock on the door demanding payment. Ingram sent them on their way, but that did not stop the stream of documents that arrived daily, demanding large sums of money, which shocked Caroline to the core. In her seventeen years of life she had never needed to worry about whether she could afford a new gown or a pair of shoes, let alone how they were going to pay for the food they ate, the coal that heated the house and the candles that lit their rooms. Suddenly these problems became very real.
‘What are we going to do, Aunt Sadie?’ Caroline rushed into the dining room one morning, waving a sheaf of demands for payment under Sadie’s nose. ‘Mama seems to think that our housekeeper deals with the tradesmen’s accounts, but when I spoke to Mrs Hayes she told me that she had always passed them on to Papa.’
‘It’s obvious that we’re in desperate need of funds.’ Sadie rose from the table. ‘I think perhaps a visit to the office would be in order. We can’t involve your mama, not yet anyway.’
Caroline nodded emphatically. ‘I agree. I just wish I knew more about the business. Mama would never discuss such things with me.’
‘I need to have a word with Ezra Parkinson, although I’ve never had much faith in him as a manager.’ Sadie glanced at her reflection in one of the gilt-framed wall mirrors, patting a stray strand of hair into place. ‘I always hoped that I would run the office one day, because I started working there when I was even younger than Max, but it wasn’t to be.’
‘Why wasn’t it, Aunt Sadie? That doesn’t seem right.’
‘After they were married your parents built the company, working side by side until you were born, and by that time they could afford to pay a manager and take on more clerks, and I wasn’t needed any more. It’s a man’s world, Carrie. We just have to accept it as a fact.’
‘I’m not so sure about that,’ Caroline said, smiling. ‘But we need to sort this out, Aunt. I’m coming with you.’
‘All right, but don’t say anything to your mother. There’s no need to bother her with this.’
‘Give me five minutes to fetch my bonnet and reticule and we’ll go now, before Mama is up and about.’
‘It’s little wonder that she sleeps until noon,’ Sadie said, sighing. ‘I hear her walking about her room well into the early hours.’
‘That means you don’t get much sleep either.’
‘I’ve always been like that, but your mother is wearing herself out. I worry about her.’
‘When we’ve been to the office I intend to call on Aunt Alice. She is the only person who might be able to help Mama.’
The hansom cab dropped them off outside the company office, which was situated in Wapping High Street. Caroline had known Ezra Parkinson since she was a small child. Even then she had realised that there was a certain amount of ill-feeling between her aunt and Ezra. He was always very courteous and obliging, but now she was older she felt that he was a little too familiar, and it was obvious that he had little time for women. The smile that curved his lips never quite reached the dark depths of his hooded eyes, and his obsequious manner barely masked an undercurrent of contempt.
Sadie marched into the outer office and came to a sudden halt. ‘Where is everyone?’ she demanded, gazing at the empty desks.
‘It’s too early for luncheon,’ Caroline said, frowning. ‘Mr Masters, the head clerk, was always sitting behind the counter when I used to visit Papa.’
Sadie rang the hand bell and its peal echoed mockingly around the empty room.
Caroline opened the door to the inner office. ‘Anyone there?’ she called. ‘Mr Parkinson, it’s me, Caroline Manning.’
‘Really, this is too bad. Even in the old days we would never leave the office unattended.’ Sadie pushed past her. ‘Parkinson. Are you there?’
A door at the back of the building opened and Parkinson emerged, carrying a brown leather bag. ‘Miss Dixon and Miss Manning. I wasn’t expecting to see you here today.’
‘What’s going on, Parkinson?’ Sadie demanded angrily. ‘Where is Masters? And why is there no one on the front desk?’
‘Times are hard, miss.’ Parkinson edged past them. ‘If you’ll excuse me, I have a business appointment.’
Caroline barred his way. ‘That’s not good enough, Mr Parkinson. It looks to me as if you’re leaving and you don’t intend to return.’
‘Even the rats desert a sinking ship, miss. I’m not vermin, but I know when the business is about to go bankrupt.’
With surprising strength, Sadie grabbed him by the shoulders and propelled him into the front office. She gave him a gentle shove, catching him off balance so that he sat down heavily on the nearest chair. ‘Now then, you’d better explain before I send Miss Caroline down to the Dock Police and have you arrested. I wouldn’t be surprised if you’d emptied the safe and the company’s money is in that bag.’
‘That’s slander, Miss Dixon. I could have you up before the beak for that.’
‘Not if it’s true, and judging by your demeanour, I think I might have hit the nail on the head.’
Caroline went to the door. ‘Shall I call a constable, Aunt?’
‘Let him speak first.’ Sadie leaned against the desk, folding her arms across her chest. ‘We’re listening, Mr Parkinson.’
‘You’ll find out sooner or later anyway.’ Parkinson put the bag down by his feet. ‘The business has been floundering for months, ever since the loss of the Mary Louise.’
‘But surely we were insured with Lloyd’s?’ Caroline stared at him, frowning. ‘Weren’t we?’
‘We could not afford the premium for such an old vessel, Miss Manning. It was a total loss and that, together with the expensive refit on your uncle’s ship, simply added to our difficulties.’
‘There’s something very wrong here, Parkinson,’ Sadie said angrily. ‘You need to give a full account of your dealings to Mr George.’
‘The paddle steamers we owned were sold at the beginning of the year, and I don’t know when Mr George will return, but whenever it is it’s too late to save the company, Miss Dixon. I’m getting out before the bailiffs arrive.’
‘It can’t be as bad as that.’ Caroline looked from one to the other. ‘We own the house in Finsbury Circus. Mama is a wealthy woman.’
Parkinson shrugged. ‘Tell that to your creditors.’
‘Aunt Sadie?’ Caroline crossed the floor to stand beside her aunt. ‘Tell him that the house must be worth a great deal of money. Tell him.’
‘You’re right, of course, Carrie, dear, but I’m afraid it’s rented. Your father wanted the world to see how successful he’d been and he insisted on moving to Finsbury Circus, even though your mama was happy living in the Captain’s House.’
Caroline stared at her in a state of shock. The safe and secure world of her childhood had been swept away with a few ill-chosen words. ‘I remember living in that old house, and I loved it, but then we moved to Finsbury Circus. I thought we owned our home.’
Sadie laid her hand on Caroline’s shoulder, her eyes moist with unshed tears. ‘I’m sorry, my dear. This must be a terrible shock, but things are not always what they seem.’
Parkinson clutched his hands to his breast in mock horror. ‘Poor child, my heart aches for you.’
Caroline rounded on him. ‘Hold your tongue, you horrid man. This isn’t a laughing matter.’
‘Indeed it ain’t, for you, anyway. I’m saving meself, Miss High and Mighty. Take my tip and find yourself a rich husband before the news gets out.’
‘Shut up, Parkinson,’ Sadie said wearily, sinking down into a chair. ‘At least we still own the Captain’s House. Thankfully, whether out of sentiment or for a more practical reason, Jack rented it out.’
Parkinson curled his lip, reminding Caroline of a snarling cur. ‘Then the bailiffs will seize it first.’
‘I hate to disappoint you,’ Sadie said smugly. ‘But Jack had the forethought to put it in my name. I own the Captain’s House – it was to be my dowry.’
‘I remember that it had a lo
vely friendly atmosphere and a wonderful view of the river.’ Caroline closed her eyes, trying to envision her room at the top of the old house. ‘Pa’s housekeeper told me that the captain who had built the house still kept watch over it, and sometimes I could smell tobacco smoke in my room, but I wasn’t afraid. If it was a ghost, it was a friendly one.’
‘Your mother loved the place, and I think she would have been content to live there for ever, but Jack wanted only the best for his family.’ Sadie sighed and turned her head away. ‘Life was simpler then, and we were all much younger. Anything seemed possible.’
‘This is all very interesting, Miss Dixon,’ Parkinson said sarcastically, ‘but the creditors haven’t been paid for weeks. The firm is facing bankruptcy and the sooner you realise that the better.’
‘I find that hard to believe.’ Sadie faced him angrily. ‘I think you’ve mismanaged the business, and now you’re running away.’
‘If Mr Manning hadn’t died he would have been held to account, but I don’t intend to take the blame for the collapse of the company. I’ve got an interview with one of our competitors this very afternoon. I want that job and I need to get out of here before all this becomes public.’
‘But there must be something left,’ Caroline said slowly. ‘Uncle George will make things right when he returns.’
Parkinson leaned over to open a drawer and produced a ledger, which he slammed down on the desk. ‘Study this, ladies. It lists all the ingoings and outgoings, the profits and the losses, of which there are many. The Esther Manning should have docked three days ago, but I reckon Mr George has seen the light and has decided to stay away. Maybe he’ll start up a business of his own in the Americas. That’s what I’d do if I were him.’
‘No, that’s so unfair.’ Caroline struggled to speak as her throat tightened and she had to force back tears. ‘Uncle George wouldn’t do such a thing.’
‘Of course not,’ Sadie added angrily. ‘You’re the villain here, Parkinson. Did you pay off the clerks and have you taken your wages from the money in the safe?’
