The Dollmaker's Daughters

by Dilly Court

  ‘You should have told me, Mum. I wouldn’t have let you pop your clock or your wedding ring, not for the world. But you should have hung on to the money that Mr Crowe gave you.’

  Sarah’s sallow skin flushed dull red and she turned away, stacking the dishes in a cupboard. ‘I’ll get it back when Joe gets a better job. He’s a good son, Ruby. He just had a run of bad luck. It weren’t his fault.’

  ‘No, it never is.’

  ‘And he’s well in with Mr Crowe,’ Sarah added hastily. ‘He’s doing all sorts of jobs for Mr Crowe, though Joe won’t say what. But I expect that’s how business is done in the City.’

  ‘Is that what he says?’

  ‘Well, you must know what goes on in that big house, you being the private nurse to Mrs Crowe and all that. I’ve told all the old busybodies in Tobacco Court how you come up in the world. I’m so proud of you, Ruby. And now you’re going to train as a proper nurse at the London. Your dad would have been ever so pleased.’

  Ruby had not intended to spend so long at home, but Sarah insisted that Joe would be coming and it would be nice if they all had tea together: after all, it would be a crying shame to waste that slab of rich fruit cake. To Ruby’s surprise, Billy settled down in Poppa’s chair by the fire, entertaining Mum and Granny Mole with stories about his dodgy dealings and his brushes with the law. It was dark by the time Sarah grudgingly admitted that Joe might not be coming after all. Even so, she cut a generous slice of cake and wrapped it in a piece of cloth to save for him.

  With nothing to hurry for, Ruby had not worried about returning to Raven Street, but when she decided it was time to leave Billy insisted on driving her home. Nightfall had brought with it a cloudburst and Billy produced a large, black umbrella from the depths of the footwell. When they arrived outside the house, Billy sprang off the cart to help Ruby down and he held the umbrella while she searched her purse for the latchkey. She had just put the key in the lock when the front door of Lottie’s house opened and Elsie appeared on the top step screaming and crying for help.

  Vaulting over the iron railings, Billy took her by the shoulders, giving her a gentle shake and demanding to know what was wrong. Hampered by her long skirt, Ruby had to take the long way round, and by this time, Elsie had dragged Billy into the hall.

  ‘What’s wrong, Elsie?’ Ruby hurried inside, closing the door behind her. ‘Calm down. We can’t understand a word you’re saying.’

  ‘She’s out of her head,’ Billy said, as Elsie scuttled off towards the basement stairs, crying and mumbling to herself.

  ‘Something terrible must have happened.’ Picking up her skirts, Ruby chased after Elsie with Billy close on her heels. The flickering gaslight turned their shadows into amorphous monster shapes on the walls that followed them along the narrow passages and down the stairs to the basement. As they neared the kitchen the sound of wild, hysterical screaming made Ruby’s blood spike in her veins.

  Pushing Elsie aside, Billy rushed into the kitchen. ‘Bleeding hell!’

  He stopped suddenly, causing Ruby to cannon into him. She stared in horror at the nightmarish scene. The kitchen was in darkness except for a pool of light from the fire as flames roared up the chimney; the range had been stoked with coal so that it resembled a fiery furnace. Wallowing in a tin tub filled to the brim with steaming water and completely naked, Rosetta clasped a gin bottle in her hand. Screaming hysterically, her skin reddened by the scalding water, she stared blindly at them as she writhed around, sending waves of water spilling onto the flagstones.

  ‘Rose, stop that.’ Slipping and sliding on the wet floor, Ruby threw herself down on her knees by the bath. ‘Billy, we got to get her out of there.’

  ‘Shut up, you silly girl, and fetch a towel,’ Billy said, shaking Elsie until she stopped howling, and stood shivering and staring dumbly up at him.

  Rosetta’s screaming turned to wild laughter and Ruby plunged her arms into the hot water.

  ‘No, no, leave me be.’ Rosetta pushed Ruby away, putting the bottle to her lips and pouring gin into her mouth.

  Grabbing the bottle, Ruby wrenched it from her hand and tossed it across the room, where it shattered against the wall. ‘Billy, give us a hand, for God’s sake,’ she cried, struggling to keep hold of Rosetta, who was slippery as an eel and a dead weight.

  Plunging his arms into the scalding water, Billy caught hold of Rosetta and, despite her biting and kicking, dragged her from the tub with Ruby hanging onto her flailing legs. In seconds they were both soaked to the skin but Billy had Rosetta firmly clutched to his chest. ‘You can struggle all you want, Rosetta,’ he said grimly. ‘I ain’t letting you go until you calm down.’

  Ruby snatched the towel from Elsie’s hands, attempting to wrap it around Rosetta’s shoulders and receiving a savage kick in the stomach for her pains. Dropping the towel on the floor, Ruby clutched her belly, doubling up with pain.

  ‘You stop that now,’ Billy said, lifting Rosetta bodily and dumping her onto a chair. She struggled like a wild thing, trying to get back into the water, screaming and laughing until Billy slapped her across the face. Her head jerked back, her eyes widened in shock. In stunned silence, Rosetta stared at Billy. ‘There now,’ he said, picking the towel from the floor and wrapping it around her naked body. ‘I never hit a woman before but you was acting like a mad thing, Rose.’

  ‘What was you thinking of?’ demanded Ruby, gasping for breath. ‘You got to tell us why you done something so stupid. You frightened the poor dimwit half to death, and us too.’

  At that, Elsie began to howl low and long like an animal in pain. ‘She made me fill the bathtub. I never knew what she had in mind.’

  ‘It’s all right,’ Ruby said, patting her shoulder. ‘You go and fetch a glass of water for Miss Rosetta. Everything will be all right, you’ll see.’

  Nodding dumbly, Elsie disappeared into the scullery.

  Ruby brushed the tangled mass of hair back from Rosetta’s forehead. ‘Rose, can you hear me?’

  Burying her face in her hands and shivering, Rosetta subsided into muffled sobs.

  Elsie hurried back from the scullery, slopping water on the floor in her haste. She handed the half-full glass to Billy and he held it to Rosetta’s lips. She drank a little, hiccupping and sniffing.

  ‘That’s better,’ Billy said, setting the glass aside and wrapping his arms around her, comforting her as if she were a baby. ‘We’d best get you to bed.’

  ‘Where is Mr Silas?’ Ruby asked, turning to Elsie. ‘And Miss Lottie?’

  ‘She’s dead drunk as usual,’ Elsie said, rolling her eyes. ‘He went out. He’ll kill me when he gets back.’

  Ruby gave her a reassuring smile. ‘Clear up this mess like a good girl and he won’t know nothing about it. You won’t get into trouble, Elsie, I promise.’

  ‘In trouble,’ Rosetta repeated, laughing hysterically. ‘It’s not Elsie what’s in trouble.’

  ‘That’s enough, Rose,’ Billy said, sweeping her up in his arms. ‘You’re going to bed now, and sleep it off.’

  ‘No, Billy,’ Rosetta cried, her laughter turning to tears. ‘You don’t understand.’

  ‘I understand all right,’ Billy said, taking the stairs two at a time in spite of his burden.

  ‘She’s out of her head with drink, Billy,’ Ruby said, hurrying after them. ‘Don’t take no notice of what she says.’

  Pausing at the top of the basement stairs, Billy turned his head to glance at Ruby, his face twisted with pain. ‘Don’t take no notice? All right, she may be a bit squiffy, but I’d say some bugger has got her in the family way and she’s half killed herself trying to get rid of it.’

  ‘Oh, Rose!’ Ruby covered her eyes with her hands, leaning against the wall as a wave of nausea rose in her throat. She might have been in this sorry state herself after what had happened with Jonas, but she had been lucky; her monthly had come on just days afterwards and she had cried all night with sheer relief.

  ‘Ruby, come on,’ Bil
ly said, heading for the main staircase. ‘I need you to help me get her into bed.’

  Rosetta was asleep almost before her head touched the pillow. Having tucked the coverlet firmly around her, Ruby’s knees gave way and she would have fallen if Billy hadn’t put his arm around her and guided her to a chair.

  ‘I’m sorry. I don’t know what come over me.’

  ‘You’ve had a shock. Take it easy for a bit.’ Billy went over to the fireplace and put a match to the pile of coal and sticks laid ready in the grate. ‘Someone should stay with her tonight, just in case.’

  Ruby understood only too well what he meant. ‘Don’t say that.’

  ‘You got to be practical, Ruby. Maybe we ought to fetch a doctor.’

  ‘No, not yet. I read about … you know what … in my medical books. I think I would know what to do. You done your bit, Billy. I can’t thank you enough.’

  Kneeling in front of the fireplace with the flames licking around the kindling, spitting and crackling, Billy looked up at Ruby and a slow smile wiped the worried lines from his face. ‘I love Rose. I’d do anything for her even if she don’t give a damn about me.’

  ‘Oh, Billy, you’re a good man. Rose is just a girl and she don’t know her own mind, but she’ll need friends and family, especially now.’

  ‘And I’ll stand by her, Ruby, no matter what. I’d just like to get me hands on the dirty scoundrel who got her in trouble. If that bugger Crowe is the father, I’ll kill him.’

  Ruby was about to tell him that the idea of Jonas and Rosetta together was the most ridiculous thing she had ever heard, but the words froze on her lips. Why not Rose? She had been determined to catch his eye and Ruby knew that there was not much that would stop Rosetta when she had her heart set on something. The idea of them together was shocking, nauseating and degrading; too horrible to contemplate.

  ‘Did you hear what I said, Ruby? I’ll kill Crowe if he’s laid a finger on her.’

  Billy’s anxious voice penetrated the red mist that was circling round and round in her head.

  ‘If it’s true,’ she said, ‘I’ll kill him myself.’

  Chapter Twelve

  Rosetta woke up with pains shooting through her head as if little men with picks were hammering inside her skull. Her mouth was dry and her tongue felt twice its normal size. The light hurt her eyes and, as she raised her head, she felt sick. The room was spinning in dizzying circles as if she had just climbed off a merry-go-round. She fell back on the pillow, closing her eyes and groaning.

  ‘Rose, are you all right?’

  Opening one eye, Rosetta thought that it was Ruby who was standing over her, pale-faced and with her hair flowing loose around her shoulders. But what was Ruby doing in her attic room? ‘Ruby?’

  Ruby laid a cool hand on her forehead. ‘How do you feel?’

  ‘I think I’m dying. Me head is splitting and I’m parched.’

  ‘No pain anywhere else?’

  Ruby’s face swam in and out of focus. ‘No. I don’t know. Oh, God!’ Rosetta sat up, holding her head in her hands. ‘Tell me it was a dream. Tell me that Billy weren’t there last night.’

  ‘He was there all right and lucky for you. You was nearly boiled alive. Who told you to do such a daft thing?’

  ‘Lottie said it would work. Maybe it has … or maybe it’ll just go away.’

  ‘Don’t be bloody stupid!’ Ruby said angrily. ‘You got to face up to it, Rose. You got to tell the father and he should look after you.’

  ‘I can’t. I mean, he won’t.’

  ‘Who was it, Rose?’ Ruby demanded, shaking Rosetta until her teeth rattled. ‘Was it Jonas Crowe?’

  ‘No, it weren’t him. I wish it was.’ Shutting her eyes tight, Rosetta could still see Alf’s face leering at her. She could smell him, feel his hands on her body, taste the stale tobacco and whisky on his breath. But Alf already had a wife and six children; he would deny everything and sack her into the bargain. If only it had been Jonas who had wanted her so badly, he would have stood by her, she was certain. Now her life was in ruins, her career on the stage finished almost before it had begun. She wanted to die. ‘Ugh! I’m going to be sick.’

  Opening her eyes, Rosetta moved her head cautiously from side to side. Miraculously, the pain had stopped. Ruby had held the washbowl for her while she vomited, had washed her face and hands afterwards and had dosed her with some of Aunt Lottie’s seltzer. She was so very sorry now that she had ever had bad thoughts about Ruby and that she had teased her about her ambition to become a nurse. Rosetta sank back against the pillows, wondering where Ruby had gone and hoping that she would return soon. The door opened and Elsie came in, carrying a tray. The aroma of chicken broth wafted up Rosetta’s nostrils and she realised that she was starving. Giving her a lopsided grin, Elsie waited until Rosetta had raised herself to a sitting position and then laid the tray across her knees.

  ‘There’s more, if you wants it. Miss Lottie sent me out to the market to buy an old boiler special and Miss Ruby made the broth, even though I says I could do it, but I peeled the carrots and spuds and the onion too, even though it made me cry.’

  ‘Thank you.’ Rosetta raised the spoon to her lips. Realising that Elsie was waiting and watching her, eager for praise, she managed a smile. ‘It’s good.’

  Apparently satisfied, Elsie shuffled out of the room, but the door had barely closed when it opened again and Lottie swept in, making a grand entrance.

  ‘So, it didn’t work. What went wrong?’

  Rosetta swallowed a mouthful of soup. ‘I dunno, Auntie. I done everything what you told me.’

  ‘Well, it don’t always work first time,’ Lottie said, swaying a little and leaving a scent trail of lavender cologne and gin as she went to sit in the chair by the fire. ‘But I can give you the address of a woman in Hackney. She’ll get rid of your little problem for you.’

  The broth had cooled and Rosetta’s appetite disappeared. She pushed the tray away to the end of the bed. ‘I’ve heard the girls at the theatre talking about that sort of thing. I don’t think I could go through with it.’

  Lighting a cigarillo from a spill, Lottie inhaled deeply, exhaling with a sigh. ‘Then you go to tell the poppa and make him take care of you.’

  ‘I can’t, I just can’t.’

  ‘You got no choice, cara. Sly and me can’t keep you and the baby. You won’t be able to hide your condition for long and you can’t go on stage looking like a big barrel. I’m sorry, Rosetta, but you going to have to go home to your mama and tell her you been a silly girl.’

  Rosetta burst into Alf’s office without knocking. He looked up from his work, scowling. ‘Bloody hell, Rose! Where’s the fire?’

  ‘I’m in trouble, Alf.’

  Alf’s eyebrows shot up into his hairline and his already florid complexion darkened to brick red. ‘What sort of trouble?’

  ‘You know what I mean. I’m in trouble. You got me in the family way.’

  Beads of sweat stood out on Alf’s brow. ‘So what do you expect me to do about it?’

  ‘Do about it?’ Rosetta heard her voice rise to a mouse-squeak. ‘You done it. The least you can do is help me out. Take care of me and the nipper.’

  Jumping to his feet, Alf leaned across the desk, glaring at her. ‘You can’t prove nothing. A little trollop like you has probably had half a dozen blokes.’

  ‘That’s not true!’ Rosetta stared at him in horror. ‘You know that ain’t true. You was the first and you got to help me.’

  ‘I don’t have to do nothing. It’s your little problem, girlie.’

  Seeing Alf’s jaw harden in a stubborn line, Rosetta felt panic rising inside her like a stifled scream. ‘I never been with anyone else. What if your wife was to find out? I bet she wouldn’t be too pleased.’

  Alf was round the desk before Rosetta could back away towards the door. His hands grasped her throat, pressing, constricting. She coughed and choked, feeling as though her eyes were about to pop out of her head. ‘
Don’t threaten me, girlie, or you’ll be sorry.’ He released his grip, throwing her against the wall.

  Clutching her throat, Rosetta glared back at him. ‘You bastard. You will help me or I swear I’ll tell everyone you’re the father.’

  ‘And I’ll see to it that you will never work again. You’re sacked, you little tart. Get out, and if you come near the theatre again I’ll set the police on you.’

  Terrified but desperate, Rosetta stood her ground. ‘I’ll go, but not until you hand over me wages, and a bit more to keep me going. It’s the least you can do.’ For a moment she was sure he was going to strike her to the ground and she did not care. He had ruined her, shown her the door, and now her world was crumbling. She was not afraid of him any more. She met his fierce gaze with her chin up, unflinching. ‘I ain’t leaving without what’s due to me.’

  ‘You’re a one, you are, Rosetta.’ Alf’s face relaxed into a reluctant grin. ‘Pity you wasn’t a bit more careful. I’ll miss you, but you’re no use to me now.’ Opening a drawer in his desk, he pulled out a roll of notes, tossing it on the floor at Rosetta’s feet. ‘Take it and don’t say that Alf Ricketts isn’t a fair man. But come near me again and you’ll be more than sorry.’

  When Rosetta arrived back in Raven Street, she found Sly standing on the front step smoking a Woodbine and at his feet she recognised her battered cardboard suitcase held together with a length of string.

  ‘So you lost your job then?’ He moved the Wood from one side of his mouth to the other. ‘Thought that’d be the case.’

  ‘I can still pay me way, Uncle Sly. I got money.’

  Silas pushed the case towards her with the toe of his shoe. ‘Sorry, ducks. Lottie and me can’t keep you here, not in your condition. Your money won’t last long and then we’d be stuck with you and the kiddie.’