Mara: A Georgian Romance

by Barbara T. Cerny

  By this time, Lord Markham stepped into the conversation and also confronted Jake. “Speak up, boy! Confess you stole that garment from Lord Edwin’s room.”

  “I…I…I found it hanging on a hook in the stable, and thought it was for the footman, sir. That’s me. The footman.” Jake couldn’t look Lord Markham in the eye, even though he stood almost the same height. Instead, he looked down at the man’s boots. The lord was about to fire him.

  “Take the coat off, boy.”

  Threats dripped in the man’s voice. Lord Markham clearly believed Jake had stolen the coat, and would now dole out a punishment. Jake slowly removed the jacket, and put it in Edwin’s open hand, eyes still averted from his master’s.

  Mara watched from the front steps, not knowing what to say or do. She had no idea what her father would say, but she wouldn’t allow her father fire Jake for taking a jacket she had pulled out of an attic trunk and given to him.

  But before she could react, her father raised his right arm and struck. Not with a fist or a hand, but with the riding crop in his grasp. Everyone except Edwin gasped as the whip hit Jake square in the chest and snaked over his right shoulder onto his back, narrowly missing his face. Edwin stood with the jacket in his folded arms, and watched with a satisfied look on his face as his father meted out the harsh punishment.

  Jake fell back against the coach as pain exploded across his body. He barely felt his head snap back and hit the side of the carriage. He collapsed to his hands and knees as the second blow came, this time across his back and buttocks. Then came the third and the fourth, causing shockwaves of pain through his body. Just before he blacked out, he heard Mara shouting, but his now foggy brain couldn’t make out her words.

  Mara watched the horrific scene unfold, unable to move. She froze in shock as she watched her father unjustly whip her best friend. However, when Jake buckled completely to the ground, she snapped into action, and ran as fast as she could to put herself between her father and Jake’s crumpled body.

  “Stop!” she screamed, at the top of her lungs, putting her arms up to protect herself from her father’s next blow. “Stop! He didn’t steal it. He didn’t steal it!”

  Lord Markham stopped just before unleashing the whip once more upon the boy. He looked at his daughter, anger flashing in his eyes. Mara’s stared at him defiantly, her hood fallen back, the wind thrashing her hair wildly around her face. Markham’s fury bubbled up. His daughter had just defied him, and made him look foolish in front of his servants. How dare she! “What do you know about it?” he yelled as he grabbed her arm with his left hand and shook her. “Are you in cahoots with him?”

  “Father, please listen.” Mara panted from the exertion of running over to Jake and from the emotion that had overtaken her, but she wasn’t about to let her father hit Jake again. “I took the jacket from the attic,” she said, jamming her thumb at her chest to emphasize the word I. “And I gave it to him so he would have something nice to wear for family outings like this. I believe our servants should be properly dressed. Edwin doesn’t wear that old jacket anymore. It was in a trunk, in a trunk in the attic. I wanted to be nice to the new footman. You are beating him for no reason!”

  Lord Markham’s anger grew. Mara took the family’s clothing and gave it away to servants? Then this impertinent, useless girl announced to everyone that his punishment of the footman was unjust!

  “How dare you. How dare you!” he repeated. “You will never again steal from this house, girl. Do you understand? You will never again give what is not yours to classless scum like him. I have a mind to whip you, too! Get out of my sight; I never want to lay eyes on you again!” He looked at Calvin as he rolled Jake over on his back with his boot. “Move this thing out of my sight, too!”

  Mara put her hand over her mouth to suppress the sobs racking her body, and ran up the front steps and into the house for cover. Her father’s words hurt her more that his whip ever could.

  Rory and Termins went quickly over to Jake and, grabbing him under each arm, half dragged and half carried the unconscious young man to the stables. The rest of the family stepped up into the carriage, as if nothing had happened. Calvin had no choice but to close the coach door and climb up onto the driver seat. Lord Markham mounted his horse, and took off down the drive toward the gate. Calvin sighed as he looked back at the receding forms of Termins and Rory struggling to carry Jake. He sometimes really hated working for Lord Markham. Jake was a great boy with lots of potential, and the master didn’t understand his daughter at all. He just wished he could help. He clicked his tongue and tapped the reigns; the horses followed the master out through the gates.

  Mara ran all the way to her room and threw herself on the bed, crying like she had never cried before. She was used to the fat jokes and the taunts about her looks, but she had never seen her father so angry, nor had she ever seen another human take a whipping. The horror-stricken look on Jake’s face as he had been struck etched itself deep into her memory. He seemed stunned, yes, but the look betrayal haunted Mara. Shame washed over her as she realized she had allowed her father to strike Jake three or four times before she could wrap her mind around the situation and move to intervene. Oh, my God! What had she done? How could Jake ever forgive her? What would happen now? She sobbed until she couldn’t breathe.

  God, she hated her father! She hated him with all the hate she could muster. She buried her head in her coverlet and let the hatred wash out, along with the pain of failing to protect her friend.

  Cecilia stood at the open door, her heart breaking as she watched her charge cry so pitifully. She knew that Mara had been pilfering items from the house for Jake and Alvin for some time, but she had let it go since Mara’s heart was in the right place. Feeding those poor boys was the right thing to do, but Cecilia didn’t know how to comfort Mara, because she herself stood on pins and needles at the moment. Cecilia had never seen the master so enraged and out of control either, and it scared her—for herself, for Jake, but most of all, for Mara.

  “Miss Mara, honey,” she started. Then she paused, as Mara stopped sobbing and looked up. “Why don’t you go to Jake and help wash his wounds.” Cecilia sensed that if Mara helped heal Jake’s wounds, it would also be balm for her emotional wounds. Mara immediately arose from the bed, wiped her eyes on her skirt, grabbed her cloak off the floor, and ran out the door, down the stairs, out of the house, and to the stables. She wasn’t ready for the sight that confronted her when she arrived in the little room above the stables that served as home to Jake and Calvin.

  Jake laid spread eagle on the cot, bare backed, his arms hanging down over the sides of the small bed. His eyes were closed, thankfully still unconscious.

  Jesse had run back into the kitchen and poured hot water from the kettle into a pail and tested it for temperature before using it to wash Jake’s wounds. Rory stripped long lengths of cloth from what looked like an old sheet, and Termins struggled to pull a pair of Edwin’s old boots off Jake’s feet.

  Jesse stood up to stop Mara. “No, Miss Mara, don’t look. You don’t want to be in here right now. You shouldn’t see this.” Mara defiantly pushed past her and stood, astounded, in front of the bed. Jake had a series of huge red, bloody welts across his back that ran from his left shoulder down to his lower right back, disappearing under Edwin’s old trousers. Her stomach churned, and she thought she might faint. But she was determined not to desert Jake again in his time of need. So she fought the urge to run, and instead knelt down next to the bed, picked up a strip of cloth, wet it in the pail, and started dabbing the wounds gently, holding back the bile rising in her throat. It took all her strength not to vomit at the sight of Jake’s scourged flesh.

  Jesse looked at Termins for help in getting Mara to leave. He simply shrugged his shoulders and went back to work pulling off Jake’s stockings and trousers. Rory ripped off a slightly larger strip of cloth, and laid it over Jake’s buttocks as Termins pulled off his pants.

  Together they worked for
over an hour, cleaning and rinsing the wounds, applying a liberal amount of Lady Maureen’s salve brought down by Cecilia, and then binding up the wounds with clean strips. When the time came to turn Jake over to dress his chest wounds, Jesse and Cecilia insisted that Mara leave. She reluctantly agreed, and walked back to the house. She returned some time later with a comfortable chair.

  “Who is that for, Miss Mara?” queried Jesse. Mara smiled. “Me. I am going to stay with Jake until he wakes up. Then we will take turns. He will become feverish, I am sure, and we have to keep him cool. I don’t want him left alone, ever.” Mara stood silently in the stable until Termins called them back into the small room, where she promptly set up the chair at Jake’s head and sat down to carry out her vigil.

  Chapter 6

  Jake heard someone crying. Actually, it sounded more like a painful drawing of breath with slight sobs in between. He couldn’t determine the source of the noise, but he wished it would stop so he could go back to sleep. As he wakened more fully, he felt a searing pain across his back and chest. He couldn’t breathe! What had happened? He heard Mara’s voice, soothing him. Then he realized the sobbing noise came from him!

  He opened his eyes to see Mara’s beautifully pudgy face and lovely green eyes staring down at him. He laid on his stomach, drawing his breaths quickly, and making a strange mewling noise. But he noticed the painful throbbing the most. Then it all came back to him in a huge wave pounding into his brain. The whipping! Oh, my God! His skin felt on fire! He hurt so bad he wanted to die. But there sat Angel Mara, stroking his brow and holding a moist cloth to his exposed cheek and forehead.

  “Shhhh. You are going to be okay. I am here. I won’t let you die, Jake. I am here.” She babbled little soothing phrases as she dipped the cloth into cool water and pressed it against his hairline again and again, comforting, reassuring. He felt his breathing return to normal, but he doubted if he would ever feel pain-free again. There wasn’t an inch of his skin that didn’t ache the most horrific ache. But Mara was right. He wouldn’t die. Not now. Not until he freed her from her chains. He closed his eyes and slept a healing sleep once again.

  Termins, Jesse, and Rory helped Mara nurse Jake back to health. He was young. He was strong. And he was determined.

  They changed his bandages daily, carefully cleaning the wounds to keep out infection. Jake remained awake for the procedure, but wished to God he didn’t. A few times the searing pain of the dressing coming off caused him to pass out, as the cloth pulled on the wounds and sometimes tore his skin again. He lay there on his stomach, in a pair of old cotton pajama bottoms Termins found in the house, all sense of modesty and decorum thrown out the window. He didn’t care who came into his room, as long as they brought him food, care, and company.

  But Jake liked it best when Mara changed his dressings. Her hands were soft and gentle, and so warm. She murmured sweet words while ministering to him, and sang beautiful songs to keep his mind off the pain. It worked to a point, but nothing could eliminate the pain completely. He also had a fever, but his caretakers were not overly concerned. The daily cleansing kept infection at bay. Lilac helped in her own way, sitting by his bed and licking his fingers.

  Mara ran through her lessons every morning as fast as she could, and hurriedly completed her chores before rushing through the breezeway to the stables and up the narrow staircase to Jake’s bedroom. Her father would kill her if he knew she spent time in a servant boy’s bedroom, but she didn’t care. Jake was her responsibility; his wounds were the result of her actions. Besides, she loved the feel of his skin under her hands as she cleaned his chest, back, and upper buttocks, gently rubbing salve on the angry red welts left by the horse whip. She loved to hold his hand and read to him to keep his mind off the pain. She loved just being with him, talking to him, taking care of him. Jake was her best friend in the whole world. When she sat with him, she forgot about her own sorry life, her nasty brothers, her hateful father, and her absent mother. She could finally connect with another human being on her level in her way. She forgot that she was fat and ugly, and concentrated on just being a friend to someone in need.

  After five days of bed rest, Jake finally had enough strength to stand up and take short walks around the room. After ten days, he didn’t stoop over anymore, and walked the grounds. After a fortnight, he began working with the horses again, being careful to stay out of the sights of Lord Markham and his horrible sons. In three weeks, he still bore the scars, but the pain diminished daily. In a month, he took food to Luke and Pete and joked around as if nothing had happened. Alvin and Mara did their best to keep him focused on the stables and their friendship, as Jake tended to brood now at odd moments, staring at the front of the house in deep anger, as if blaming it for his pain.

  In between their chores, Mara began teaching Alvin to read and write and do simple numbers. She lent lots of books to Jake, who pored over them at night in bed by candlelight. Mara was glad he liked the books, but she constantly warned him not to burn down the stables!

  Most of all, they played and laughed and were children once again.

  Chapter 7

  The children grew, and their friendship deepened. Having both Jake and Alvin working on the estate helped keep them together. It was definitely easier to feed Luke and Pete with three of them watching for opportunities to snitch food. Jake and Alvin began filling out now that they were eating three square meals a day with plenty of meat to fuel their growing bodies.

  Luke remained small and would probably always be about five foot three, but he didn’t seem to mind. He was the only one who could still crawl through the bushes and the crack in the wall, so it fell to him to retrieve food left there by the three insiders. Mara had to sew several napkin bags, as they wore out rather quickly. She never again gave clothes to Jake and Alvin for fear of inciting another beating, but she did give clothing to Luke and Pete, since her father would probably never lay eyes on them.

  *****

  Mara spent her mornings with Miss Perkins, her tutor. Bertram and Edwin attended boarding schools, so Mara was Miss Perkins’ only pupil. Miss Perkins taught her French, history and math. Mara loved to learn, and spent hours reading the Greek philosophers Socrates, Aristotle, Plato, and Euclid, and compared their ideas to those of Hobbes, Descartes, Bacon, Machiavelli, and Aquinas. Miss Perkins enjoyed the sharpness of Mara’s mind, her desire to learn, and her inquisitiveness, and thus generally indulged her desire to discuss politics and philosophy.

  Miss Perkins knew Mara was much smarter than her brothers, and tried her best to feed the child’s mind a solid educational diet. Where the tutor fell short on knowledge, the two would explore together, poring over volumes in Lord Markham’s library. Mara’s understanding of the proletariat surprised Miss Perkins, despite the girl’s life of seclusion behind the estate walls. She had some real insight, that girl. Little did Miss Perkins know how much the orphans were teaching the young lady about real life in the city streets.

  Mara passed on as much of her education as possible, teaching the boys what they could take in during their lunches and afternoons together. Luke was her least cooperative pupil. She taught him to spell his name and do simple math, but not much else. He had no desire to “book learn,” but did understand the advantages of learning the basics. Alvin and Pete actually took books and read them just to make Mara happy. They saw the value of reading, writing, and math in their working-class world. These were valuable skills not often found among those in their class, and would probably serve them well. But only Jake had an interest in a real education. He loved to debate philosophy and politics with Mara while, in turn, giving her all those nuggets of information about the working masses that awed her tutor. He also devoured books, reading at night. Calvin, who shared a room with him, teased him constantly about wanting to be above his station in life, but the teasing was in good humor, so Jake just smiled and kept on reading.

  *****

  A favorite time of the year for the Markham family was t
he two-and-a-half months they spent at Rochcliffe House in the summer. The house, a castle really, was big enough to accommodate all of the viscount’s family as well as his brother’s family. Despite so many people under one roof, they all usually behaved fairly well in each other’s company. For Mara, she hated leaving Luke and Pete behind to once again fend for themselves.

  Much of the London staff came along as well, since doubling the family size doubled the work for the servants. Being the stable hand, Jake had to go, and Alvin convinced Rory that he needed to go to learn about the plants and flowers of the various regions of England to be the best gardener in the British Isles. Rory laughed, and sent him along with the family to the country estate.

  Lord Markham spent quite a bit of time wandering the countryside doing business with the landed gentry in the area. Mara really didn’t know much about her father’s business dealings, but he talked about land and development and factories and banking every night at the dinner table.

  During the day, she spent most of her time at the stables with Calvin, Jake, and the horses. She named her horse Hebe, after the daughter of Zeus, the Greek Goddess of youth. Zeus was her father’s horse. Most people didn’t understand the history lesson in the names.

  Jake usually rode a mount called Python, and Calvin rode Angelo, short for Michelangelo, which was too large a name for the poor coachman to wrap his tongue around. Both Python and Angelo doubled as the carriage horses.