Shoddy Prince

by Sheelagh Kelly

  Oriel, face still buried in her mother’s bosom, made groping motions with her hand. Bright produced a handkerchief from her apron pocket and gave it to her. Oriel mopped her eyes, then blew into the square of linen. ‘Sorry.’

  ‘You don’t have to apologize,’ comforted her mother, returning to her chair, though sitting sideways on facing the fire rather than the table. ‘It’s natural to cry when someone you know dies.’

  ‘Yes, but it isn’t as if we were close.’ Oriel had never received so much as a hug from Miss Bytheway. ‘I liked her in a way, but she was so mean to you…’ Feeling somewhat disloyal, the girl heaved a shaky breath.

  ‘Well…’ Bright tried to offer some snippet of Christianity, but failed, unable to forgive the old lady for her cruelty over the years. ‘I feel sort o’ funny that she’s gone, but life goes on for us and there’re more important things to worry about now.’

  ‘About the house, you mean?’ Oriel rubbed her eyes, then lowered the handkerchief.

  ‘Yes. I know we haven’t seen any signs of relatives, but they’re sure to come creeping out of the woodwork now there’s a house in the offing.’ Bright crossed her arms over her threadbare dress, sighed, and examined the toe of her boot. ‘I suppose she chose as good a time as any to leave us homeless. What with this war on there doesn’t seem to be a shortage of jobs for women.’ Yet the idea of working for someone else after all these years was rather daunting. ‘I’ll have to go out looking this afternoon. If I find a job straightaway then maybe I can rent a house. Even so, we’ll be living on bare boards for a while.’ She swivelled to face her daughter, pushing aside her unfinished breakfast. ‘This is going to sound callous with her not yet cold, but I’ve got to think of our own survival. I’m not prepared to be thrown into the workhouse after all the hard toil I’ve done for her. So, I’m going to collect one or two things together and sell them. Just to give us enough money to last until we get on our feet.’

  Determination in her eyes, she began to clear the table. ‘And I’ll have to get them now before her lawyer appears on the scene. Nothing of great value, just odds and ends that can be sold easily, or even things we can use ourselves.’ She hesitated at the look on Oriel’s face. ‘D’ye think I’m wicked?’ Old accusations and Catholic guilt returned to haunt her; You’re a wicked girl, Bright Maguire.

  The young woman’s smile was one of surprise mixed with admiration. ‘How could anyone call you wicked after all you’ve had to put up with? Take all you can, you deserve it. It’s about time you stood your ground.’ She too, rose, adjusting the elaborate belt buckle that was digging into her abdomen. ‘Come on, I’ll help you – and please don’t worry about going into the workhouse.’ She leaned over to return her mother’s act of comfort. ‘I’d never let it happen. Why, in a few weeks I’ll be qualified, I’ll have a good job and can help you with the rent – but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t take what we can from here, so come on.’ She went into action. ‘I don’t see why people who have never cared about her should benefit just because they’re kin.’

  Bright carried the pots to the scullery then came back. ‘Well, we can soon find out if there are any relatives. You look through her bureau for any letters or documents. It’s crammed with stuff. I’ll just go and take a look at Miss Bytheway. It would be awful if she was just asleep and came down to find us!’ Managing to laugh through her worry, she added, ‘Better still, will you telephone Dr Noel and ask him to come? He’ll have to issue a certificate.’ Whilst Oriel obliged she herself went upstairs.

  Sure enough, the old lady was dead, though she had not been so for long; a teardrop shone in the socket of her eye like a diamond twinkling from the shadows. Bright gazed upon her for a brief moment, wondering how such a tyrant could look so angelic. It was an odd experience. She shuddered, crossed herself and pulled the blankets over the lifeless head. Then, conquering feelings of guilt, she turned her attention to the dressing table and Miss Bytheway’s jewellery box. There were many nice brooches. She examined one or two, wondering whether the diamonds were paste or real, this ignorance forcing her to replace them. If they were real there might be questions asked if she tried to sell them. Wiser to stick to more mundane items, like the linen sheets in the airing cupboard or the copper pans in the kitchen. Moving from room to room, she began to accumulate a bundle of linen, towels and other fine things, until her arms were full and she returned downstairs to see if Oriel had found anything.

  The young woman spun guiltily at her mother’s entry. ‘Oh, I thought it was Miss Bytheway!’ She laughed and clutched her throat in relief. ‘Come and look at this. I think you’ll be interested.’

  Bright deposited her bundle on the table and came to take the slip of yellowed paper. ‘Did you contact Dr Noel?’

  ‘Yes, he said he’d come straight away. Go on, read it.’

  It was a birth certificate. As she read the faded writing Bright’s jaw dropped lower and lower. ‘Why the old… am I reading this right?’ she demanded of her daughter who nodded. ‘She was illegitimate! I can’t believe it. The things she said, the insults… and all the time… why would she make me suffer like that, knowing that her own mother had gone through the same?’

  ‘I can only deduce that she blamed her mother for giving her away and was taking it out on you,’ answered Oriel. ‘There’s lots more stuff here. I can’t imagine why she kept it. Personally, I’d want to burn these letters if they were addressed to me.’ She handed the pile of envelopes to her mother who was still dumbfounded. ‘I’ve managed to piece the story together from these. Don’t bother to read them all now, I can give you their gist. It appears that Miss Bytheway was at a foundlings’ home until she was six, when she was fostered out to a wealthy couple who apparently had no children of their own. Those people on the wall.’ She pointed to a photograph. ‘Their relatives were not amused that they had taken in an illegitimate child and severed all contact with them. More fool them. Apparently Miss B inherited the lot when her foster parents died. That’s it.’ She formed a crescent with her mouth and shrugged, wondering if she would ever enjoy a similar fortune, but keeping this mercenary thought to herself.

  ‘I still can’t believe…’ Bright looked angry, then forced herself to join her daughter’s search through the desk, tossing aside papers that were irrelevant. ‘Well then, it seems unlikely that she’ll have named any relatives as her beneficiaries. Have you come across a will?’

  ‘No, I was too engrossed in the letters.’ Oriel began to flick through another compartment of the bureau. Just then the doorbell startled them. Bright went to admit Noel, jaw dropping at his form of transport.

  ‘You’ve got yourself a motor car!’ Her eyes ran along the glossy, red open-topped vehicle.

  ‘Not from choice.’ Noel had always found old-fashioned animal transport more reliable than machinery. ‘The Army requisitioned my horse. If I can ever get the blessed thing to run properly I’ll take you out for a ride one Sunday.’ He made for the stairs. ‘Usual place?’

  ‘No, we stacked her in the coalshed.’ Bright tore her eyes from the car, then clamped her mouth. ‘What a thing to say! It must be the shock. You’ll never guess what we’ve found out.’ She went with him up the stairs. ‘We were looking through her papers – just to find out if there were any relatives to contact,’ she hastened to let him know that it was not from any criminal intent, ‘and we found a birth certificate. It turns out that Miss B’s mother gave birth to her out of wedlock!’ Turning to give a scandalized laugh she saw that Noel was not at all perturbed.

  ‘Yes, I’m afraid I’m already privy to that information.’ He looked rueful as they turned the corner. ‘Sorry, but she told it to me in confidence, otherwise I would have shared it with you. I knew you’d be interested.’

  ‘Interested? I was furious! Treating me like a leper in some crazy attempt to punish her own mother.’ Bright’s feet proceeded to thud up another flight. ‘How long have you known?’

  ‘Remember when Oriel was tu
rned down for the nursing post? I asked the old girl point blank how she knew it was because of Oriel’s illegitimacy. She revealed that she herself had cherished the desire to become a nurse and had been rejected because of her own status. That’s why she did her best to bully you into submission without having to reveal her true purpose. Obviously she wouldn’t have volunteered the information, but when I was my usual pushy self she blurted it out in anger. I vouched to keep it a secret.’

  Bright opened the door to the darkened room, whispering out of habit. ‘Ah well, I don’t suppose it matters now. I’m more worried about where my daughter and I are going to live.’

  ‘Oh, yes… of course.’ Noel paused to show concern.

  ‘But that’s not for you to worry about.’ Bright ushered him to the bed. ‘First things first.’

  Noel made the necessary examination, then suggested they return downstairs where he wrote out a certificate. Oriel had stopped rummaging through the bureau in order to make a fresh pot of tea for the doctor.

  ‘I’m afraid I can’t stop,’ Noel showed regret. ‘I’ve got lots of calls to make.’ He closed his bag and retreated towards the hall. ‘Is there anything I can do before I go – will you be able to manage the laying out?’ Bright did not relish this, but said they would be fine. ‘Then I’ll come back this evening if I may. In the meantime I’ll try and think of a solution to your dilemma.’ He left.

  ‘What did he mean?’ Oriel went back to her search of the bureau, calling to her mother, who had gone to draw the upstairs drawing room curtains out of respect.

  ‘I told him we were worried about what would happen to us now Miss B has died.’ Bright came back down, pulled a balloon-backed chair next to that of her daughter and joined the search. ‘I can’t see what he can do, but it’s nice of him to be concerned.’

  ‘Maybe he’ll ask you to marry him,’ teased Oriel. ‘Carry you off on his white charger.’

  ‘Soft article. Behave and look for the will.’

  Oriel poked and pried through Miss Bytheway’s documents, feeling none of the guilt suffered by her mother. ‘What’s this? No, it’s an insurance policy on the house.’ She tugged at another envelope.

  ‘It’s all right, I’ve got it here.’ Bright unfolded the stiff parchment and cast her eyes over it.

  Oriel saw at first astonishment and then indignance flood her mother’s face. ‘What is it? Come on, don’t keep me in suspense.’ Looking sour, Bright proffered the document. ‘Here, read it.’

  Oriel perused it for a while, then looked up with a little gasp.

  ‘Yes, that’s right, she’s left it all to you! After all the years I slaved and curtsied and took her insults, let her treat me like a dog and not even… well, that’s it! Bright ripped off her apron. ‘I’m not laying her out. I’ve got better things to do, like going to look for work!’

  ‘Mother!’ Oriel sprang up and chased Bright to the hall, trying to prevent her from putting on her hat and coat and leaving there and then. ‘Come back inside, I’ll make you a cup of tea.’

  ‘Tea? I haven’t time for tea, I have to find a job!’

  ‘Stop it! You’re getting hysterical.’ Oriel tugged at her arm.

  ‘I am not hysterical, I’m bloody furious!’ Bright feared that her head was about to explode. ‘Not even threepence! I’m not even worth that!’

  ‘You are to me!’ Oriel’s eyes threatened more tears. ‘Please, stop all this talk about getting a job. You’re my mother and I love you, everything I’ve inherited is yours. You surely don’t think I’d act the lady while my mother played the maid? How could you?’

  Bright gritted her teeth. ‘Oh, I don’t think that at all. Tis her I’m angry with, not you!’ Like many a placid soul, when Bright’s temper was roused it was slow to deflate. ‘That… witch!’ Reluctantly, she allowed herself to accompany her daughter back into the kitchen where Oriel put the kettle on.

  While the tea was brewing she wandered into the front parlour and picked up the will again, shaking her head in disbelief. ‘Well, at least I don’t have to go hawking those around town!’ She referred to the items she had collected for selling. ‘Unless you throw me out.’

  ‘Mother!’

  ‘Sorry.’ Bright managed a weak smile as Oriel came through with the tea. ‘I am glad for you, darling. It’s just the shock.’

  ‘I know.’ Oriel was forgiving. ‘If you really want to work, why don’t you go into teaching like you intended to do before I came along and spoiled it all.’

  Her mother was quick to reassure her. ‘You didn’t spoil it! You’re the most important thing in my life. I’d never change the way things are. As for teaching… well, it wasn’t really a vocation. Twas just that I was brainy at school and the nuns thought I’d be a good teacher. I enjoyed the bit I did, but a lot o’ years have gone by and I don’t think I could be bothered with a classful of children now.’ Bright knew this sounded like an excuse, and in part it was. Any confidence that she might have had in her own abilities had been destroyed long ago. Not to mention the fact that she was liable to break out in a panic at the drop of a hat. It was not simply this, though, as she went on to tell her daughter. ‘What I would dearly like is a chance to be myself, do things when I want to do them, spend time with my daughter.’ She smiled at Oriel, then tried to explain how she felt about all of this. ‘I can’t forgive her for that you know. That’s why I can’t cry. Grateful as I am for the clothes she bought, the food, the toys, I can’t bring myself to forget that she robbed me of precious moments. I know it’s selfish…’

  ‘You’re not selfish!’

  Bright shook her head. ‘I know she spared me from something a lot worse, but I just can’t help the way I feel.’

  Oriel nodded her understanding, then picked up her cup and asked, ‘What do we do next?’

  Bright took a sip of her unsweetened tea. ‘Never having received a fortune I wouldn’t know. First I’ll have to go and get someone to lay her out. If you’ll lend me the halfcrown o’ course – all right, I’m sorry, only joking. Then I’ll go talk to the undertaker.’

  ‘Which one? Do you want me to find out if they’re on the telephone?’ Oriel was more competent than her mother at making enquiries of the operator.

  ‘You can’t do someone like this over the telephone,’ replied Bright. ‘Directly we’ve had this tea I’ll go into town.’

  ‘How much will it be?’

  ‘Well, if it were me being buried twould be a fiver but I daresay she’s left instructions for the full set o’ horses with plumes and fancy what-nots.’

  ‘I’ll go with you,’ offered her daughter.

  ‘No, I’ll be fine.’

  Oriel looked sheepish and suddenly appeared very young. ‘I don’t want to be left on my own with her.’

  ‘Oh, sorry, how thoughtless.’ Bright had not paid regard to the fact that Oriel would view the old lady’s death through different eyes. ‘Of course you can. While I’m arranging the funeral you can nip along to her solicitor’s and inform him that Miss Bytheway is dead.’

  Oriel had a thought. ‘Dr Noel’s going to have a surprise when he comes back tonight, thinking to find us destitute!’ She laughed into her cup, breast a-flutter with all manner of emotions.

  ‘He surely is!’ agreed Bright. ‘What do you say we surprise him further with a nice roast meal – if we can manage to rustle up a joint?’ She bit her lip. ‘He was awfully concerned about us being thrown out of the house. I hope he isn’t worrying about it all day.’

  * * *

  Noel had been too occupied to worry over his friend’s plight during the first half of the morning, but towards noon as he was chugging back to his surgery he gave it his full attention and in doing so came up with what he hoped to be an answer. Nat had always been allowed to shirk his responsibilities; now he must be made to provide for his daughter’s welfare. Instead of going to luncheon he drove to Nat’s house, which he had not visited for some time. Contrary to the other’s spoken intention to call o
n him after their previous exchange concerning his surveillance of Oriel, there had been no further meeting between them.

  As it turned out his friend was not at home, nor was he at the nearby scrapyard. Thwarted, the doctor climbed back into his vehicle and drove back along the maze of city streets towards his surgery. He was juddering along Aldwark when, as if it had been arranged, he coincided with the rag and bone merchant travelling in the opposite direction. With little room to pass, he moved into the kerb, engine still throbbing, and waited for the other vehicle to draw alongside. Despite the seriousness of the occasion he found himself pleased to see Nat again; he could still derive much pleasure from his friend’s good looks, even when he was mad at him. ‘This is a happy coincidence, I’ve just called to see you.’

  Still on the cart, Nat touched his top hat with a forefinger, then rested on his knees, reins in hands. ‘Fancy car. I’m impressed.’

  The doctor explained that the Army had taken his more reliable horse. ‘I see you’ve managed to hang onto your nag.’

  Nat laughed. ‘They wouldn’t take this old bugger, he’s almost knacker meat. I’m just off for me dinner if you want to join me. Nowt fancy.’

  Noel was wary of the three-legged dog who barked at him from a mountain of rags on the cart. ‘Unfortunately, I can’t stop. I just came to give you some news about a mutual friend of ours.’

  ‘Behave yourself, Talbot!’ Nat swiped at the dog which was doing its best to remove his hat with its teeth. ‘He can’t bear it you know,’ he told Noel. ‘Every time I stop he’s always trying to pull me hat off.’

  ‘Really?’ The doctor was hungry and it showed in the impatient tone of his voice. ‘Well, I won’t delay you, I just thought you might like to know that Bright’s in need of assistance. Her employer’s just died and it looks as if she and Oriel will be thrown out of the house.’

  ‘Stop it!’ Nat barked at the dog, more intent on the conversation now. Immediately it obeyed but hobbled up and down the pile of rags whining. ‘What can I do about it?’