The Girl From Pit Lane

by Gracie Hart

  Eliza walked into the low-beamed cottage and looked around her. The house was spotless. The dresser that took pride of place in the kitchen had shelves that were filled with sparkling china, and even the kettle on the hearth shone, the copper gleaming as Madge pulled it onto the coals to boil. She was definitely house proud, and all Eliza could think was what a demanding mother-in-law she would make.

  ‘You’ve a beautiful house, Mrs Thackeray.’ Eliza smiled and sat down at the table while Madge placed a delicately printed cup and saucer next to her.

  ‘Aye, I like me home. I always keep on top of it. Cleanliness is next to godliness, so they say.’

  ‘Indeed. Our mother brought us up the same way.’ Eliza sipped the tea that Madge poured from the matching teapot and tried to drink as politely as she could.

  ‘Are you managing without your mother? It was a sad to-do … losing her. And then Tom tells me your stepfather left you both. He must not have been much of a man, leaving two young girls to look after themselves after just losing their mother.’ Madge looked at the young lass over the lip of her teacup and waited for her reply.

  ‘We miss our mother, she meant the world to Mary-Anne and me, and we are still trying to come to terms with her death. My stepfather, we don’t miss. I don’t want to speak out of turn but he wasn’t a good man and we are almost grateful that he’s gone.’ Eliza bowed her head.

  ‘Liked his drink, I hear. Makes men and women act in strange ways. My old man never touched a drop. He swore he never would; he took the oath and stood by it. How are you two lasses making a living? It’ll be hard to going.’ Madge was making sure she found out as much as she could while the young lass was under her roof.

  ‘We are both seamstresses and have been managing of late. I’ve had a few good orders for the dresses I’ve been making from local gentry, while Mary-Anne deals in repairs and alterations. We haven’t done too badly. We watch the pennies and are not frivolous and have no bad habits.’ Eliza watched as Madge digested every word said, as she tried to find out if she was suitable material for her son to court, even though it was under the pretence of friendship only.

  Finally, at the end of tea and polite conversation, Eliza picked up the courage to ask Madge Thackeray if Tom would be allowed to join her for tea after chapel on the coming Sunday.

  ‘Well, I tell you what, lass … I didn’t want him seeing you. From what I’d heard off folk, I’ll be honest, I didn’t think you were good enough for him. But you seem right enough; he could do worse. So you have my blessing with this so-called friendship. Just as long as he comes home to his mother each night and then I know what he’s been up to.’

  ‘Thank you, Mrs Thackeray. I wanted to make myself known, I always think it is better to be straight than sneak about behind folk’s backs. Don’t you worry, Tom will never be hurt by me and we will always be respectful of your wishes.’ Eliza stood in the doorway, empty basket on her arm and looked at the ageing woman who worshiped her son.

  ‘You call in any time, but most of all, you take care of my lad. Else God help you, I might be an old woman, but I’ve a frightful tongue in my head if riled.’ Madge looked at the young lass as she closed the garden gate behind her and waved back to her as she went down the lane. She’d been better than she’d been led to believe, and Tom would need somebody after her day, she thought, as she closed the door behind her unexpected visitor.

  Eliza whistled to herself on her way home. Stupid old cow. ‘Frightful tongue, my arse,’ she whispered to herself. She was all of a quiver with the thought of it, she laughed. Tom had his mother’s blessing and that’s all that he would be worried about. All for the sake of acting like a timid mouse for an hour and a bit of baking.

  She was glad that she’d managed to win the old bag around.

  Twenty Three

  Mary-Anne sat in the window of the workshop, tacking up the hem of a skirt left by one of their local customers. It was nice and peaceful and the sun shone through the window, warming her, and for the first time in a long time she felt content. Her mind was settled over the baby she was carrying and she now knew which way her life was to take.

  Eliza had left her that morning to tackle Tom’s mother, intent on winning the old woman over, and Mary-Anne knew that if Eliza turned on her charms she wouldn’t stand a chance. She was glad that she thought enough of him to take on his mother and hoped that Tom realised how much her sister thought of him. At least her sister’s life was going to plan. She herself would have to be patient, wait until her baby was born, and go through with her plan to leave it on the steps of the orphanage and then carry on with her life.

  It wouldn’t be the first baby abandoned on St Mary’s steps and she was sure it wouldn’t be the last. She twined the cotton around her fingers and snapped the thread off, inspecting the neatness of her stitches before going to the back of the room to hang the skirt up to straighten.

  ‘I won’t be a minute!’ Mary-Anne shouted as she heard the shop’s bell ring but didn’t bother to turn around.

  ‘That’s quite all right, Miss Wild, I’m quite prepared to wait.’ The voice of William Ellershaw made her turn around sharply and she quickly composed herself as she looked across at him standing just inside the doorway, smartly dressed with his swagger stick in his hand.

  ‘Mr Ellershaw, I’m sorry. I was just hanging this skirt up, ready for collection.’ Mary-Anne glanced up at good-looking man that stood in front of her. She admired him but at the same time could not bear the sight of him, thinking only of what his father had done to her.

  ‘I thought I would just call in and say how much I enjoyed your company the other week. It was quite refreshing not to have a giggling girl sitting next to me, which I’m afraid all my sister’s friends are. Although I’d appreciate you don’t tell her I said so.’ William sighed and tapped his stick on the floor. ‘May I?’ He pointed to the chair that Mary-Anne had just left and sat down in the sunshine that poured though the shop window.

  ‘I’m sure your sister’s friends are lovely people; they seemed to be and I enjoyed their company,’ Mary-Anne said tactfully, as she wondered why he had really come to visit her.

  ‘They live in their own little worlds, pampered by their fathers and cossetted by their mothers until a suitable husband is found for them and then they stop giggling and become old women overnight.’ William looked across at Mary-Anne and sighed. ‘Forgive me, what I am saying is very indiscreet but true. Unfortunately, they all look at me as fair game – especially Priscilla Eavesham, she is desperate to win my heart. More for the security of her home than for the love of me. Her father is in terrible debt through his gambling habit. I fear they will lose everything if she does not find a wealthy suitor to help rescue her home. My grandfather has asked me to show interest in her as he has always coveted Leventhorpe Hall and knows that he could secure it cheaply if we were to marry. But, Miss Wild, my heart is not hers and I am loathe to marry for money not for love.’ William stared out into the high street and tapped his stick against the chair leg. ‘Though my life, if I did marry her, would be made a lot easier if I knew that somebody else was there to keep me satisfied, kept well and with plenty of my money, just for that person to be there for me go to when needed.’ William turned and looked at Mary-Anne. ‘I saw how you looked at me; those green eyes of yours seemed to stare into my soul and I knew you could be that woman. I know you find me handsome, Miss Wild, you couldn’t take your eyes of me. ‘

  ‘Sir, you are mistaken. Yes, you are a handsome man, but I’m afraid I have my pride and if you were a married man then I would not be willing to be yours at your convenience, to be used, but never respected. You have read me wrong if you think I’m looking to be your mistress, and if that is what you think of me I wish you good day.’ Mary-Anne opened the door and hung her head, not wanting to look at the young man who obviously took after his father. She wanted him out of the shop as fast as she could.

  ‘So, you were playing with me. You women are all the sam
e; you play with us men, lead us on like trained poodles and then cast us aside when you have had enough of us.’ William rose from his chair, walked over to Mary-Anne and touched her face with the silver top of his cane. ‘You’ll regret your hasty words. You could have wanted for nothing, instead of rummaging around in dirty second-hand rags. My father said you were stubborn bitches, but I cared not to listen to him. I hope you stay where you belong, in the gutter just where dirt is always to be found.’ William cast one long look at her before stepping out into the sunshine, leaving Mary-Anne shakily closing the shop door behind her.

  She breathed in deeply and held back the tears. Thank God he hadn’t forced her too; when he’d stood up she thought he had that in mind and she’d felt her legs turning to jelly. Her first thought had been the safety of the baby she carried, even before visions of his father had flashed through her mind. Thank God wounding her with his words had been all he had inflicted on her. Mary-Anne slumped in the chair. She’d not tell Eliza; she’d only worry and hopefully he’d not be returning. Poor Priscilla Eavesham … she’d rather be penniless than be married to a bastard like William Ellershaw who would never love or respect her. She breathed in again and rethought her fears for the baby … had she really worried about the baby before herself? Perhaps there was a maternal bond growing between them that was stronger than she had ever imagined.

  ‘Just look at them, Bert! By she has a brass neck, has that’en.’ Ada Simms turned around from behind her lace curtains and watched Eliza and Tom walk past their house arm in arm from the chapel. ‘They even sat together at chapel, the forward hussy.’

  ‘Well, we did when we were courting, there’s nowt wrong with that. And I did warn the lad, so he knows what he’s taking on. He must think something of her. Come away and mind your own business, it’s nowt to do with us anyway.’ Bert folded his newspaper and looked across at his wife who seemed to spend half her life peering from behind her nets.

  ‘They’ve gone in. I wonder if Mary-Anne is at home. She hasn’t been going to chapel of late; at least she’s not a hypocrite, and she’s not as forthright with her opinions as that Eliza.’ Ada reached up to her head and pulled the pin out of her Sunday best hat before having a final look through the window. ‘Well, that’s going to put the cat among the pigeons. Isn’t this the man she was kissing that morning when we spotted her. He’s just going through their garden gate? Quick, Bert, come and look.’

  ‘Will you come away from that window and leave them be, woman! No wonder they hardly talk to us any more; they know you watch their every move,’ Bert growled.

  ‘I’m going … I’m off to make your tea. I can hear next door better in the kitchen anyway.’ Ada put her curtain straight and hung her hat on the hallway stand.

  ‘Mind your own business woman, it’s nothing to do with us.’ Bert sighed. She’d not listen, and tea would be late as she listened in to next-door’s conversation.

  ‘I’m so glad that you’ve both come; we make a nice foursome.’ Mary-Anne poured the tea and looked across at John and then Tom as Eliza passed the sandwiches around. They had been freshly made by Mary-Anne while Eliza attended chapel. ‘You don’t know one another, do you? Eliza, introduce John to Tom while I refill the teapot.’

  ‘This is the man who is our saviour, Tom. He brings me the material that I make my dresses from and cuts out the middle man, you could say.’ Eliza grinned and then sat down quickly as she reached for her brawn sandwich.

  ‘I get it cheap off a man down on the wharf, is what she means.’ John gave Eliza a warning glance, not wanting her to say any more in front of a man he’d just met.

  ‘You work on the canal then, down on the wharf side?’ Tom looked at the man who had obviously taken Mary-Anne’s eye and showed interest in him.

  ‘Aye, for the time being. I aim to get a passage to America later in the year, to join my brother. That’s why I’m working all the hours I can get. I can’t say my job’s ideal, but it’ll do for now.’ John sipped his tea and looked across at the lad, recognising that he was at least ten years younger than himself.

  ‘America, now that’s the place to go. Are you going to join the gold rush? I only read the other day that there had been a huge strike in Kansas and Nebraska at a place called Pike’s Peak. Thousands of people are going there, and seemingly gold is as common as coal with us. I wouldn’t mind having a go myself. Make my fortune and then come home,’ Tom said excitedly, as if he was imagining how he’d spend his gold.

  ‘You hardly dare come here, let alone America. Your mother would have something to say then, Tom Thackeray.’ Eliza looked at Tom sternly. ‘So you can forget any thoughts of sailing any oceans and leaving us both in tears.’

  ‘John’s got a brother in New York, that’s why he’s going.’ Mary-Anne sat down next to John and looked at him with a smile on her face; she felt happy that he was sitting near her and had joined them for tea.

  ‘Oh, I see … makes a lot of difference if you’ve someone already out there to help you settle into a new life. I hear it can be a bit wild out there. Eliza’s right, I’m best stopping home.’ Tom went quiet.

  ‘How’s the new town hall looking, John? We meant to have a look at it, but didn’t get the chance at the beginning of the week.’ Mary-Anne changed the subject and looked across at Eliza as she didn’t say why they had not made their destination.

  ‘It’s going to be a fine building – they have just about finished the clock tower. It looks grand with all the pillars and steps into the main building; I’ve never seen anything like it built in Leeds. I remember Liverpool has some magnificent buildings but this can rival them. By the time they’ve built the new corn exchange and the shopping arcades that they are talking about, Leeds will have changed beyond belief. Sure, it’s going to be a bonnier city than my old Dublin town and I don’t say that lightly.’ John leant back in his chair and looked at the others.

  ‘I can’t wait to see Queen Victoria herself open it. Won’t that be something? The queen in Leeds!’ Eliza exclaimed, noting the excitement on Tom’s face.

  ‘I’ve only dreamt of royalty, I’d love to see her. Not bothered about Prince Albert but definitely the queen.’ Mary-Anne cupped her face in her hands and sighed.

  ‘Then why don’t we all make a day of it? I think I heard a date in early September … there’s bound to be a fair and side stalls and all sorts if the queen is visiting.’ Tom reached for Eliza’s hand and smiled.

  ‘What do you think, Mary-Anne? I know it’s a while off yet, but it is something to look forward to.’ Eliza’s face was radiant.

  ‘Yes, that would be good. It is something for you to look forward to and I’m sure it will be a good day.’ Mary-Anne put her head down and then lifted it to smile at her sister. Eliza had obviously forgotten that by then she would be as large as a barrel or possibly recovering from childbirth. She hoped it was the latter.

  ‘Well, you can count me out, I’m not going to wave a flag for a woman that knew my people were dying for the sake of a sack or two of grain. We call her the Famine Queen back home; all she gave personally to the whole of Ireland was five pounds, when she spent five thousand holding a so-called banquet for the suffering of the poor in Ireland. Sure, did you not read it in one of your English papers? They said she was illuminating a graveyard. Nah, you’ll not get me there. Besides, I hope to be gone by then.’ John looked across at Mary-Anne and saw the sorrow in her eyes. ‘But nothing’s set in stone yet – depends on work and how much my ticket will be.’

  ‘Well, I would still like you to be here and I’m sure Mary-Anne would. We will both miss you when you’ve gone.’ Eliza smiled and then looked across at her sister. ‘I think now we’ve finished tea, Tom and I will take a stroll; it’s a lovely afternoon and I feel like a breath of fresh air.’

  ‘Yes, you two go and have a wander. I’ll do the washing up. John, are you going with them or will you stay with me?’ Mary-Anne rose from her seat and started collecting the dirty side plates and te
acups.

  Tom and Eliza looked at one another, hoping that the answer from John would be no.

  ‘Now, what kind of question is that to ask of me? Do you want me to get in the way of these two lovebirds and leave you on your own?’ John sat back in his chair and laughed.

  Mary-Anne looked across at him and smiled as she took the crockery into the kitchen.

  ‘Go on then, bugger off. Don’t sit on ceremony … go and do your whispering and wooing down the lane and let me do the same in the kitchen.’ John grinned as Eliza and Tom got up immediately, not waiting for Mary-Anne to come back into the room.

  John walked through to the kitchen carrying the remains of the cake on a plate and placed it down on the table before walking to where Mary-Anne stood. He slipped his arms around her waist and held her tight to him as he gazed at their reflection in the kitchen window.

  ‘Now doesn’t that make a pretty scene? Me and you … a perfect picture of domestic bliss,’ John whispered into her ear.

  Mary-Anne smiled but felt uncomfortable. Would he be able to feel the baby as he squeezed her to him? She turned and looked at him.

  ‘I can hardly breathe, John, you are holding me so tight.’

  ‘That’s because I can’t believe what I’ve found and never want to let it go.’ John looked at her, his blue eyes sparkling as he thought about kissing her.

  ‘But you will go, won’t you? You’ll go and I’ll be left broken-hearted,’ Mary-Anne whispered. ‘I don’t think we should get too close.’

  ‘We’ll see … things change. As I say, nothing’s set in stone.’ John held her face in her hands and softly kissed her. ‘Don’t worry, Mary-Anne, it’s just a kiss, nothing more.’ He looked into her eyes, realising that she was shaking with fear and sensing her body stiffen with anticipation of his next move. ‘Fear not, lass, I’ll not take advantage of you. I believe in wooing my women and respecting them.’ He loosened his grip from around her waist.