An Orphan's Journey

by Rosie Goodwin

  ‘The missus is movin’ me to a posh bedroom in the main part o’ the ’ouse,’ she immediately told her sister, and again Pearl was shocked. It was the most Eliza had said without being questioned for months.

  ‘I know, she just told me.’ Pearl crossed to the bed and tenderly stroked her little sister’s soft blonde curls.

  ‘An’ the missus calls me Lizzie. That’s nice, ain’t it?’

  ‘It is, so just make sure as yer do all she tells yer,’ Pearl warned. ‘We’re both goin’ to be having lessons wi’ Mr Monty’s tutor an’ all, though I don’t suppose you’ll be so chuffed about that.’ Unlike Pearl, Eliza had never enjoyed the lessons at the workhouse and she very much doubted she would like them now. ‘Anyway, I’d best get yer few things packed afore the missus comes back fer you.’

  ‘She told me I won’t need nothin’. She’s got all new stuff fer me,’ Eliza told her and Pearl frowned – they’d only just got their uniforms and they were brand new. Why would the mistress go to all that trouble for a little kitchen maid?

  Shortly after, Mrs Forbes returned and, taking Eliza by the hand, she led her away. Pearl watched them go feeling strangely lonely. All her life she and Eliza had slept together and it would be odd to have a room all to herself. Even so, if it meant Eliza getting properly well again, she knew it would be worth the separation.

  Settling down on the bed, she took out her slate and chalk and practised her letters. Eventually it began to grow dark so, putting her slate aside, she rose and stretched and made her way down to the kitchen for her supper.

  She had reached the bottom of the servants’ stairs and the door leading to the kitchen when she paused with her hand on the doorknob as she heard Mrs Veasey and Cook in deep conversation.

  ‘I’m telling you no good will come of this, it isn’t natural,’ Cook said, sounding worried. ‘Whoever heard of a servant being treated like a member of the family they’re supposed to be working for?’

  ‘Well, I think we know why it’s come about, don’t we?’ Pearl heard Mrs Veasey answer. ‘The mistress is even calling the child Lizzie, and just when I thought she was beginning to get a little better. I feared this would happen the minute I clapped eyes on the child. The likeness she bears to poor Elizabeth is quite uncanny. Still, there’s nothing we can do, although I fear the master might have something to say about it.’

  Pearl frowned. Who was this Elizabeth that Eliza was supposed to look like? It must be something to do with the portrait of the little girl that hung in the dining room. Taking a deep breath, she turned the handle and entered the room. Instantly the two women stopped speaking.

  ‘Ah, had a nice rest have you, pet?’ the kindly cook said. ‘Come and sit down, there’s some fresh bread and cheese for your supper. The rest of us ate earlier on.’

  Pearl sat at the table and then blurted out, ‘Cook . . . who was Elizabeth?’

  The two women looked startled, but the cook replied, ‘She was Mrs Forbes’s daughter. A lovely little lass she was, but she died in an accident early last year. The poor mistress has never quite got over it. In fact, at one time we feared for her sanity, the poor love.’

  ‘Is that her in the portrait hangin’ in the dinin’ room?’

  The cook gave a nervous little cough before nodding. ‘Yes, that was her. That was painted shortly before she died.’

  ‘She looked a little like Eliza, didn’t she?’

  It was Mrs Veasey who answered this time. ‘Yes, I suppose she did, and now that Eliza won’t be working for a time, I’m afraid it will put more work on your shoulders.’

  ‘I don’t mind that.’ Pearl began to saw a slice off the loaf of bread on the table. ‘I’ll work twice as ’ard as I already do if it means Eliza gettin’ better.’ She already had to be up with the dawn to clean out the fireplaces and get the fires going but she meant what she said. Eliza was all the family she had left and she meant everything to her.

  ‘You’re a good girl,’ Mrs Veasey said softly. ‘But if you find the extra work too much for you, you must say and the mistress will have to get someone else in. But let’s see how we get on, shall we?’

  Pearl frowned. ‘But where is Eliza? Has she already had her supper?’

  ‘Er . . . yes she has. She dined with the family earlier,’ Mrs Veasey informed her.

  ‘Dined with the family?’ Pearl looked shocked. Eliza barely knew a fork from a spoon so she could only im-agine what a mess she would have got into trying to work out which cutlery was used for which course. And her clothes – they certainly weren’t grand enough to wear in a formal dining room, especially as the family always changed for dinner, but then she supposed Mrs Forbes knew what she was doing.

  The first night alone in her room was strange. It wasn’t that long ago that she had been sharing a straw mattress on the floor, cramped in with all her siblings, and now she found herself alone in this room, in another country. She lay there listening to the soughing of the wind in the trees and the wildlife until she eventually fell into an uneasy doze hoping that Eliza was feeling better than she did.

  As usual, she was up bright and early the next day and once the fires were lit, she hurried through to the kitchen to put the kettle on the range to boil and prepared the cups and the teapot. Cook loved a cup of tea when she first appeared and they usually had ten quiet minutes before starting the breakfasts. The family would eat first and then the staff, and Pearl hoped that Eliza would be joining them.

  After she and Cook had drunk their tea, she shot off to lay the dining room table, and this time she paid particular attention to the child in the portrait. There was an uncanny resemblance to Eliza, she had to admit, although this child was dressed in satin and lace and was plumper than her sister had ever been. She laid three places as usual but as she was heading back to the kitchen Mrs Veasey informed her somewhat frostily, ‘Go back and lay another place, please, Pearl. Mrs Forbes has just informed me that Eliza will be dining with the family again this morning.’

  ‘Oh! Right, missus.’ Pearl turned and scurried back to lay another place, wondering if this was to become a common thing now. She hoped not, because she was missing Eliza already.

  It was very strange to serve the family breakfast with her sister sitting beside them. Pearl had almost dropped the steaming tureen of porridge she was carrying when she first entered the room and saw Eliza sitting at the table. She had looked so different that Pearl had had to look twice to recognise her. Her hair had been washed and brushed and rested on her shoulders in soft springy curls with a blue satin ribbon tied amongst them. The dress she was wearing was blue too and her face was freshly washed. Pearl wasn’t sure whether she was allowed to speak to her or not but decided against it when she saw the faces of Mr Forbes and Monty. Mr Forbes looked decidedly uncomfortable, while Monty looked angry and kept glaring in Eliza’s direction. Mrs Forbes, however, was cheerful and smiled at Pearl.

  ‘Place it in the centre of the table,’ she told her. ‘And I’ll serve it while you bring in the rest of the food. You can put it all over there on the sideboard. And then that will be all for now, thank you, Pearl.’ She turned her attention to Eliza then and as Pearl bobbed her knee and quietly left the room, she heard the mistress say, ‘Come along, Lizzie, this is very good for you. It will build your strength up. Try to eat just a little bit for me, won’t you?’

  Pearl felt a lump form in her throat. Eliza hadn’t looked at her once, but then she supposed she was too nervous to, so she instantly forgave her.

  Once again, she found Cook and Mrs Veasey with their heads together when she entered the kitchen, but they stopped speaking the second she appeared and Pearl guessed they had been talking of the situation. She couldn’t really blame them, and without a word she began to take the rest of the meal through to the family, although how four people were supposed to eat so much in one sitting, she had no idea. There had been times back home when the whole family hadn’t had as much food in a whole month between them. There were rashers of c
rispy bacon, fat juicy sausages, devilled kidneys, mushrooms and tomatoes and a whole tray of eggs as well as slices of golden-brown toast.

  When the meal was over, Monty left the table without a word and slunk away, and Mrs Forbes told Eliza kindly, ‘You did well this morning, dear. If you continue to eat good nourishing food, we’ll have you fit as a fiddle in no time. Why don’t you go up to your room and rest for a while? You’ll find some lovely story books in there.’

  Eliza nodded and scurried away, and as soon as she was gone Zachariah Forbes rose from his seat and crossed to place an arm about his wife’s shoulders as she stood staring out across the garden.

  Zack was a tall, handsome man with a smattering of grey in his dark hair and moustache that made him look distinguished. Although he looked to be a good few years older than his wife, he still had a muscular physique and prided himself on keeping fit, but now he looked gravely concerned.

  ‘Darling . . .’ he began, choosing his words carefully. ‘Are you quite sure that you are doing right by paying so much attention to this child?’

  His wife stared up at him from deep-blue eyes that could always melt him. ‘Why, Zack, don’t you like Lizzie?’

  He looked uncomfortable as he licked his dry lips. ‘Of course I do, she seems to be a perfectly nice child, but . . . Well, you must remember you’ve been quite ill over the last year and I would hate to see you going back to how you were just when you were showing such signs of improvement. I thought the girl’s name was Eliza? Is it right to call her Lizzie?’

  Shrugging his arm away she turned to face him, her lovely eyes flashing. ‘What you mean is I shouldn’t call her by the name we called our daughter! But don’t you see the similarities? Elizabeth – Eliza, and the similarity in looks. I truly believe that this child has been sent to us to help me come to terms with our loss. Of course, no one could take the place of Elizabeth but if I can help this child, I will feel like I have a purpose again, especially now you are sending Monty to England!’

  He took a deep breath. ‘Under the circumstances, don’t you think that is for the best? You admit he is beyond our control. I’m afraid you have spoiled him shamelessly and the way he thrashed that young maid was unforgivable. And it wasn’t the first time, she told me. It cost me a pretty penny, I don’t mind telling you, to get her to return to London and keep her mouth shut.’

  ‘But Monty denies hurting her,’ she responded hotly. ‘It is only her word against his and I choose to believe my son!’

  ‘Then you have more faith in him than I do.’ Zack shook his head sadly. ‘This school I have found for him will be the making of him, you’ll see. When he comes back in a few years’ time, he will be a man, and hopefully a responsible one.’

  His wife pouted and flounced away, and realising that he was wasting his time, Zack slowly made for the door. ‘I shall be back for dinner this evening. I have a busy day ahead at the shipyard. The new ship that the men have been building is almost completed and I want to oversee the final touches to it. I was hoping that Monty would join me following his lessons, but once again he has shown no interest. Goodbye, my dear.’

  Once alone Emmaline sank down on to a dining room chair and stared at the portrait of her late daughter with tears in her eyes, just as she did every single day. It was still hard to accept that she was really gone; that she would never see her or hold her again and the pain was still raw. But something about little Eliza had touched her deep inside and right or wrong she knew that this child was going to become her incentive to carry on. There had been so many times when she had wanted to die. Dark days when she had been too grief-stricken to even get out of bed. She knew all too well how close she had come to being shipped back to London and put in an asylum to recover. Only the devotion of her husband and dear Mrs Veasey had prevented it. But now she felt she had something to live for again.

  Chapter Fifteen

  ‘S

  o what’s up wi’ your face then?’ Susan asked in her usual forthright way when Pearl walked in to town to meet her the following Sunday afternoon. ‘Yer look as if you’ve lost a shillin’ an’ found a tanner.’

  Pearl gave her a wry smile. ‘There’s nothing wrong exactly but . . .’ She went on to tell Susan about Mrs Forbes’s sudden interest in Eliza as they wandered along the main street.

  ‘Hm,’ Susan said when she had finished. ‘An’ ’ow is Eliza respondin’ to this sudden interest?’

  ‘Well, that’s the strange thing. She seems to be thrivin’ on it. She’s come right out of ’er shell already an’ I know I should be glad about that, but she don’t seem to ’ave time fer me anymore.’

  ‘Sounds like sour grapes to me ’cause the missus is showin’ ’er favour instead o’ you,’ Susan said bluntly.

  Pearl flushed and shook her head in denial. ‘It ain’t that at all . . . it’s just that Eliza don’t even hardly speak to me anymore, only when her has to. I know she’s always been quiet, but we always felt close and now it feels like she’s getting more distant.’

  They had come to the gates of the churchyard and on an impulse Pearl suggested, ‘Let’s go in an’ have a look, shall we? I reckon this must be where Mrs Forbes’s daughter is buried.’

  ‘Huh! An’ unless yer knows where the grave is it’ll be like lookin’ for a bleedin’ needle in an ’aystack,’ Susan grumbled. She had never been keen on churches, they were cold and draughty places as far as she was concerned, and graveyards gave her the shivers: all those dead folk lying there. But she followed Pearl through the lychgate anyway, and they began to wander amongst the tombstones. As they came to the shelter of a large tree, one in particular caught their eye. It was a beautifully carved marble angel and easily the biggest in there.

  ‘This is it!’ Pearl pointed at the name etched into the stone beneath it.

  ‘What does it say?’ Susan asked, interested in spite of what she had said. In actual fact this was a very nice church as churches went. It was built of red bricks that had mellowed in the sun to a warm golden colour. A heavy oak door marked the entrance and beneath the spire, lovely stained-glass windows depicting saints from times gone by sparkled in the sunshine.

  Pearl narrowed her eyes. She’d been practising her reading on the boat but she still struggled, though she was sure her lessons with Master Monty’s tutor would help her improve further.

  ‘Eliza-beth . . . Jane . . . Forbes,’ she read haltingly. ‘Be-loved . . . dau-gh-ter and . . . sis-ter, tak-en far too soon.’ There was more written but Pearl couldn’t manage to read it nor the date that she could see was written there.

  ‘Poor little sod,’ Susan said. ‘Mrs Belling the baker’s wife were on about it in the shop the uvver day. I ’eard ’er when I took a tray o’ bread up. From what I could catch of it she drownded in the river.’

  ‘Really?’ Pearl looked surprised.

  ‘What? Yer mean yer live there an’ yer didn’t know?’

  ‘Nobody talks about it,’ Pearl told her solemnly. ‘I s’pose they don’t want to upset the missus.’

  Susan nodded in agreement. ‘Yer could be right. Apparently, she went a bit . . . yer know’ – she tapped her head – ‘doolally fer a time. But anyway, let’s get away from ’ere shall we? These places give me the creeps. ’Ow’s about we walk down to the river; I ain’t ’ad chance to get a proper look at it yet.’

  Neither had Pearl so, happy to oblige, she followed her friend away from the docks and back along the winding path and to the main road where they headed towards the woods.

  Once there, the trees formed a canopy above them and Susan glanced about in the gloom nervously. ‘Yer don’t suppose there’s snakes or bears in ’ere, do yer?’ she whispered.

  Pearl giggled. ‘Well, if there are, they’re probably as scared of us as we are o’ them. Come on, don’t be a scaredy cat. I’m sure I can hear the river already. It can’t be far through here.’

  She was proved to be right when some minutes later they emerged from the trees to find themselves
on the banks of the river.

  ‘Bloody ’ell, look ’ow wide it is,’ Susan breathed. ‘Yer can barely see the uvver side. An’ look ’ow fast it flows. If your missus’s daughter fell in there it’s no wonder the poor fing drownded. Yer wouldn’t stand a chance against that current would yer?’

  ‘No, I don’t think yer would,’ Pearl agreed as they began to stroll along the riverbank.

  They had gone some way when Susan suddenly remembered something and grinned. ‘’Ere you’ll never guess who I saw t’other day? It were Nick. He came into town for food for the animals wi’ the farmer ’e’s workin’ for.’

  ‘Really?’ Pearl smiled as she thought of him. ‘An’ how is he?’

  ‘Well, ’e ain’t too ’appy as it ’appens,’ Susan told her. ‘He reckons the farmer is a slave driver. ‘’E’s up wi’ the lark an’ ain’t allowed to go to bed till it’s dark, so I fink farmin’ ain’t turnin’ out to be quite what ’e’d hoped, poor sod.’

  ‘That’s a shame.’ Pearl was sad for him. She went on to tell Susan about the lessons she was now having with Monty’s tutor.

  ‘It’s just for an hour every weekday,’ she explained. ‘But me readin’ is comin’ along lovely an’ I’m learnin’ me numbers an’ all now. Mr Jackson, Monty’s tutor, is smashin’. Quite young, I reckon, probably in his early twenties. But Monty ain’t too happy about me an’ Eliza joinin’ in.’ She chuckled. ‘Still, he’s due to sail fer London to his new school next week an’ hopefully once he’s gone it’ll make things easier. The missus is in a right two an’ eight about it, I don’t mind tellin’ yer. She’s walkin’ about wi’ a face on her like a wet weekend but personally I’ll be glad to see the back of him. He’s a nasty piece o’ work. Once he’s gone she says she’d going to start me elec . . . elect . . . Well, anyway teachin’ me how to speak proper like.’

  Susan giggled; she couldn’t imagine Pearl speaking in a posh voice and thought Mrs Forbes might have quite a task on her hands to achieve it, although she didn’t like to say it.