Mary Nichols

by Society Bride Working Man

  Nothing was said while her ladyship perused the short note, which she afterwards handed to her husband. Myles noted that the Earl’s hand shook as he took it. He was not as unfeeling as he liked to pretend. ‘Much appreciated,’ he told Myles, giving it back to his wife.

  ‘Yes, now that we know Lucy and Johnny are safe, we can relax and invite you to stay here tonight,’ the Countess added. ‘I will write to Lady Moorcroft and thank her myself and give the note to you to take with you tomorrow.’

  ‘I thank you, my lady, but there is still some daylight left and I would like to return home. I am sure you understand—my mother will worry until I am safely back. If you could put together a change of clothes for Lady Lucinda and Master Johnny, I could take them with me. I fear the clothes they were wearing are no longer serviceable.’

  She disappeared to do as he suggested and he was left alone with the Earl. Neither spoke for some time, then the Earl cleared his throat. ‘I misjudged you, Moorcroft, and for that I beg your pardon. But what I cannot understand is why you insist on playing the navvy. It gives quite the wrong impression.’

  ‘I am not playing at it, my lord. My father believes that a man should work for his bed and board and I chose to interest myself in railways. I learned the business from the bottom, working alongside the navvies and learning about the engineering side from Mr Joe Masters, who was taken on by my grandfather when he first took over the mills and has stayed with the family ever since. Now I am a major contractor on my own account.’

  ‘What about your heritage?’

  ‘That is my heritage, my lord. One day, and I hope it is a long way off yet, I shall be the third Baron Moorcroft, but it is not for that I should like to be remembered, but for the good I did and the railways I built.’

  ‘And your mother…’ He paused and his eyes took on a faraway look. ‘What does she think of the way you conduct your life?’

  Myles smiled. ‘She is happy if I am happy, as most mothers would be. Besides, my father has always been the same and she is used to it.’

  ‘I knew your mother once,’ his lordship murmured, almost as if talking to himself. ‘It was a long time ago. I wonder if she remembers me?’

  ‘You would not be easy to forget, my lord.’

  The Earl laughed. ‘I may take that whichever way I like, eh?’

  ‘It was meant as a compliment. But if you accept her invitation, you will find out for yourself.’

  ‘That will be for Lady Luffenham to decide. I imagine her impatience will not allow her to sit at home and wait for Lucy and John to come back to us.’

  ‘Did I hear my name?’ The Countess had returned, followed by Sarah carrying a carpet bag.

  ‘Yes,’ the Earl said. ‘We were talking about going to Goodthorpe Manor as soon as the roads are cleared. I said the decision was yours.’

  ‘Of course we will go. So, if I were you, I should make haste and arrange for the able-bodied villagers to make a start clearing away the snow. Now, Mr Moorcroft, do you think you can manage this bag?’

  ‘Yes, of course.’ He took it from Sarah with a smile that elicited a small grin in return—he took that to mean she knew about him and Lucy. ‘Perhaps you will permit me to take the sled to Master Johnny. I can tie the bag on to that and pull it over the snow.’

  They agreed and her ladyship escorted him to the door herself and gave him the reply she had written to his mother. ‘I shall find some way of expressing my gratitude to you, Mr Moorcroft,’ she said with a smile.

  ‘There is only one thing I want, my lady.’ He accepted his cloak from the footman and swung it over his shoulders.

  ‘I know. Have patience. At least you have broken the ice.’ She gave a tinkling laugh and he grinned, understanding what she meant.

  ‘I would have all the patience in the world if I could be sure a certain person was not lurking about.’

  ‘If he is, he won’t lurk for long, you may be sure of that. My husband is a stubborn man, Mr Moorcroft, and sometimes blind to things he does not wish to see, but I think you have opened his eyes. Once he has spoken to our son and heard the story from him, there will be no welcome here for that so-called gentleman, no welcome anywhere if the story should get out. Go now and God speed you safely home.’

  He put the bag on the sled and swung off down the drive with it bumping along behind him. Pat came out of the lodge as he reached the gates. ‘By gum, sir, you’ve been a terrible long time. I was beginning to think you’d met a nasty end.’

  Myles grinned at him. ‘No, all is well. Home, Pat, as fast as you like.’

  Lucy was on the look out for him, so impatient she could not sit still. Was the snow so deep he was stranded? Had he reached Luffenham Hall, but was unable to return? Had her father threatened him again? Had more harsh words been said? But how could Papa not be grateful to him and ready to admit he had been wrong about him? He must surely see what a good, caring man Myles was? Her agitation made Lady Moorcroft laugh. ‘Lucy, do sit down and calm yourself. You will have me as nervous as you are, if you do not.’

  ‘I am sorry, my lady.’ She settled on a sofa opposite her ladyship. ‘I cannot help it.’

  Her ladyship smiled. ‘Myles means a great deal to you, doesn’t he?’

  ‘Everything. And it makes me so unhappy to think he and Papa are at loggerheads. It is all so silly.’

  ‘Yes. Very silly, but you cannot blame Myles.’

  ‘Oh, I do not. But I cannot go against my father.’

  ‘No, of course not. You leave him to me.’

  Lucy wondered what her ladyship could have to say to her father to make him change his mind, but she was too polite to ask and a few minutes later they heard the sound of a horse and Lucy flew to the widow to see Myles cantering up the drive on Trojan. He looked strange because he had something bulky strapped on behind, which made the horse’s gait a little ungainly. ‘He’s back!’ She turned back to Lady Moorcroft, her eyes alight with joy. ‘He’s back.’

  He disappeared round the side of the house in the direction of the stables and two minutes later he was in the room. Lucy flew to him and then stopped, suddenly uncertain of herself. ‘Myles.’ Her smile was a little wobbly.

  He stepped forward and took both her hands in his own, lifting them one by one to his lips. ‘Lucy.’ He smiled, looking at her over her hands still held up in his. ‘How are you?’

  ‘I’m well. What did Papa say?’

  He led her back to the sofa and went to kiss his mother on her cheek. ‘Has she been behaving herself, Mama? Resting and keeping warm?’

  Lady Moorcroft smiled at her son, relieved to have him safely home again. ‘Keeping warm, yes, but as for resting, that is another matter. If you had not come back tonight, I think she would have exploded.’

  ‘I was anxious about you,’ Lucy explained. ‘You might have been lost in the snow as I was…’

  ‘Or your papa might have shot me dead on sight.’

  ‘Oh, no, even he would not do that when you brought him such good news. He did understand why you had brought us here and not taken us home, didn’t he?’

  ‘He could hardly not understand when some of the drifts were deep enough to bury a coach out of sight. We had a long talk about railways and the works and—’

  ‘Myles, do not be so provoking,’ his mother put in.

  He laughed. ‘It’s true. After we had talked about Lucy and Johnny and the snow and he acknowledged he was in my debt. Our debt, I should say, because he included you in that, Mama. I have her ladyship’s reply to your letter and I believe, as soon as the way is clear, they will both be here to see for themselves that their offspring are well and being looked after.’ He felt in his pocket and produced the Countess’s letter. ‘There’s one for you, too, Lucy.’

  He watched as they each scanned what had been written. Lucy put her note down with a sigh. ‘She is so happy to know I am safe and she hopes I will enjoy my stay here and that I will make sure Johnny behaves himself. She says she has given you
some clothes for me.’

  ‘Yes, I left the bag in the hall. There’s a change for Johnny, too. Where is the young shaver, by the way? I brought his sled for him.’

  ‘He is in his room, reading your railways books. They seem to fascinate him. He says he wants to be a railway engineer when he grows up.’

  ‘Very laudable,’ he said. ‘But I don’t know what his papa will say to that. He made it clear in his little talk with me that he did not approve of gentlemen dirtying their hands.’

  ‘Oh, he has not changed his views on that, then?’

  ‘Doesn’t look like it.’

  ‘Lady Luffenham says she and Lord Luffenham will be happy to accept our invitation as soon as it is possible to travel,’ her ladyship said, folding her own letter and putting it on the table beside her. ‘Now, Lucy, all is well and we can enjoy our time together and really get to know each other.’

  Lucy agreed, but the thing that was uppermost in her mind was whether her father had softened enough to allow her and Myles to marry. It was what she most wanted in the world, but it did not sound as if he had. ‘Myles, did…did you say anything to Papa about us?’

  ‘Us?’ he queried, pretending not to know what she meant.

  ‘You know what I mean.’

  ‘No. He may be glad to know you are safe and he did acknowledge that he had misjudged me and I decided that was enough to be going on with.’

  ‘You are probably right. When he comes to fetch me, we will face him together.’

  That was longer than either of them expected, because it snowed again overnight and, though the fall was not as great as on previous days, it was enough to cover the roads again. Myles, knowing that no work would be done and that the navvies were warm and well fed, did not venture out to the works. Instead he took Lucy all round the house, pointing out things of interest—ornaments his mother had collected over the years, heirlooms that came from the Porson side of the family—showed her portraits of his grandfather standing at the door of the mill beside his grandmother, others of his Porson grandmother, upright and regal, every inch a viscountess. He talked and she talked, happy in each other’s company. When it stopped snowing, they took Johnny out on his sled, helped him to make a snowman, which they dressed in an old tailcoat and a top hat, played snowballs with him and laughed a great deal. Whenever they were out of sight of anyone else, Myles would take her in his arms to kiss her and tell her how much he loved her.

  It was an idyllic time, which she knew would soon have to come to an end. It worried her that she had been so happy when perhaps she had no cause to be. She was prepared to defy her father, but Myles was not. He had not even said anything to Papa when he had had the opportunity, when her father had acknowledged he was in Myles’s debt and would have granted him any favour. By the time her father came to fetch her he would have had time to regret unbending even that far and be back to his old intransigence.

  There was no more snow and a few days later the icicles began to drip from the eaves. The roof let slip its burden in great avalanches, which made Johnny laugh. He took a spade and insisted on helping the outdoor staff clear it away. Myles and Lucy set off down the drive to look at the state of the road. Men from the workhouse were clearing it and this time Myles thought it would stay clear. ‘I’ll wager Lord Luffenham has an army working at his end,’ he said. ‘They will be here tomorrow.’

  ‘I want to see Mama and Papa, of course, but in a way I’m sorry. I’ve been so happy here.’

  ‘I have been happy to have you here and what I want most in the world is for you to be with me all the time, for ever and ever.’ He lifted her hand to put it against his cheek.

  ‘It is what I want, too, but will Papa relent, do you think?’

  ‘We shall soon find out. Now let us go back. You are shivering.’

  He had gone to the works the following afternoon when the Luffenham carriage rolled up to the door. Johnny, who had been watching for them, rushed out to fling himself at his mother. She hugged him and kissed him and his father ruffled his hair. They went into the house with Johnny talking nineteen to the dozen about what he had been doing since he arrived at Goodthorpe Manor. He seemed to have forgotten his ordeal in the snow.

  Lucy met them on the step. ‘Mama!’ She ran to embrace her mother and then turned to her father. ‘Papa. Oh, it is good to see you both.’

  The Earl did something she could not remember him ever doing before; he stooped to kiss her forehead. ‘Glad to see you safe and well,’ he said.

  She led them indoors where Lady Moorcroft was waiting to greet them. There was a certain restraint, as if they were unsure of each other, but her ladyship’s smile of welcome dispelled that and they adjourned to the drawing room where Lord Moorcroft rose from his seat beside a roaring fire, shook the Earl by the hand and added his own welcome.

  ‘You’ll stay the night?’ he said after bidding them take a seat beside the fire and exchanging news about the weather and how it had affected local transport. Apparently it was worse than anyone could remember and everything had been brought to a standstill.

  ‘Thank you,’ the Earl said. He was still a little stiff.

  ‘Myles has gone to the site to see the men get back to work,’ his lordship said. ‘He will be back directly.’

  ‘We are so very, very grateful to him,’ the Countess said.

  ‘No doubt you will want to hear all about what happened to Lucy and Johnny from their own lips,’ Lady Moorcroft said. ‘I will show you to your rooms and you can have a little private talk with them, while I make sure all is well in the kitchen. We dine at five, if that is convenient.’

  ‘Of course,’ the Countess said, following her ladyship as she conducted them to the room they had had prepared for them. Lucy followed, with Johnny holding her hand.

  Lucy was soon able to confirm everything that Myles had told them and Johnny, who could not be repressed, told them about Mr Gorridge. ‘He left me,’ he said, aggrieved.

  The Countess hugged him. ‘He is a very bad man, Johnny, but thanks to the navvies and Mr Moorcroft, you are safe and well.’

  ‘I like Mr Moorcroft. He didn’t go off and leave me. He is a good man.’

  ‘Yes, Johnny, he is.’ She looked meaningfully as her husband, who made no comment.

  ‘Why did Mr Gorridge come back?’ Lucy asked them.

  ‘He never left the village,’ her mother put in. ‘I am not sure, but I think he hoped to inveigle his way back into our good books by luring Johnny away and then pretending to find him, although we did not know that at the time, of course. And when you went missing, too, he put on such a display of sorrow and remorse, we were all taken in by it.’

  ‘But he must have known that Johnny would tell you the real story.’

  ‘Didn’t expect him to be found alive,’ the Earl said.

  ‘He must be twisted in his mind.’

  ‘Yes, I think he is,’ her mother said. ‘He expected us to be grateful for bringing home a—’ She stopped and looked at her son. ‘No, we will not think of it.’

  ‘Where is he now?’ Lucy asked. ‘I do not want to come back to Luffenham if he is there. I do not trust him.’

  ‘He is not there,’ her father assured her. ‘He has fled the country.’

  ‘Oh, poor Lady Gorridge.’

  ‘Just goes to show it doesn’t do to spoil children. Giving way to their whims and fancies leads to wayward adults.’

  This statement filled Lucy with alarm. It did not bode well for her and Myles. She might have said something, but saw her mother shaking her head and desisted. ‘We had better change and go downstairs,’ her ladyship said. ‘Lady Moorcroft will be wondering where we have got to.’

  Harriet helped Lucy to dress in the white evening gown her mother had brought for her. It had a fitted bodice, huge puffed sleeves and a wide, tiered skirt, each tier trimmed with deep pink ribbon. She put pink ribbons in her hair, then went downstairs to the drawing room, where everyone was gathered, waiting for dinner t
o be served. Myles came back and joined them soon afterwards. He greeted her with a polite smile, shook the Earl’s hand, bowed over the Countess’s and seemed perfectly at ease, though Lucy, knowing him so well, noticed a slight twitch in his jaw, which told her he was nervous and anxious to do nothing and to say nothing to antagonise the Earl. It seemed all wrong to her that they could not behave naturally. Thankfully Lord Moorcroft was alive to the situation and took over the conversation and they went into the dining room apparently at ease with each other.

  Under the influence of their host’s generous hospitality, the Earl visibly relaxed and was soon enjoying a joke with him and talking about the railways and Lord Moorcroft’s other business interests, although everyone was careful to avoid anything contentious. Lady Moorcroft was a charming hostess and she and the Countess were soon behaving like old friends and calling each other by their Christian names. Lucy looked at Myles and found him looking at her. He winked slowly, making her blush furiously. The evening ended with music when everyone contributed their party piece.

  Lucy went to bed, knowing they would be going home tomorrow and she did not know when she would see Myles again. If only someone would say something! They had talked about everything under the sun except what was uppermost in her mind. Even Myles seemed to be colluding with that. He had behaved in a very polite, correct manner, as if trying to prove that he could be a gentleman when he chose. She doubted if that made any difference to her father.

  Next morning, while Harriet packed her few clothes, she went down for breakfast, hoping Myles had not left for the works already and she could say goodbye to him. It was going to break her heart and she did not know how she was going to keep her misery from showing.

  She was passing the drawing room door when she heard Lady Moorcroft’s voice, and what she was saying made Lucy stop and listen. ‘Come down off your high horse, John Vernley, and stop being the Earl and be a father for once.’