Daughter of the Dales

by Diane Allen

  ‘If I could do more, I would, but her heart is weak. She will not make nightfall.’ The ageing Dr Burrows looked at the heartbroken family around him and thought about his own mortality. He’d seen many a body in and out of the world, but the death of Charlotte Atkinson hurt him as if she were his own. She’d always been a fighter, and now the fight in her was worn out and he couldn’t help but think he was heading the same way.

  Isabelle touched his hand. ‘Thank you, Doctor, we know you have done all you can; there’s nothing more that can be done by anybody.’

  Charlotte breathed in deeply, causing all the family to look at her. The beautiful grey-haired woman whimpered, held her breath for a second and then, with quiet serenity, breathed a long sigh and silently passed from one world to the next, as if she had just been given permission from Isabelle and from the Lord above.

  Dr Burrows rushed to her side and checked for signs of life, as Archie broke down in tears, his head in his hands. He’d lost the love of his life, his darling Lottie.

  ‘Don’t cry, Grandad. You said yourself that Grandma wouldn’t want us to.’ Jane placed her arms around her grandfather, whom she loved dearly. ‘You’ve still got all of us.’

  ‘I have, child. But your grandmother was my very life.’ Archie wiped his eyes and looked at the doctor, who shook his head, as no signs of life could be found.

  Isabelle broke down and cried, while Danny hugged her. ‘I’ve just lost my best friend as well as my mother,’ she sobbed.

  ‘Yes, me too. She may not have been my natural mother, but she never treated me as anything other than as if I was. Harriet and all my family will miss her – we owe everything to her.’ Danny thought back to when his father, Archie, had married Charlotte, his first love, after both had been left bereft following the deaths of their original partners, and both finding that they were very much dependent on one another.

  ‘Are Harriet and the children at Crummock?’ Isabelle blew her nose on her lace handkerchief and looked at her stepbrother.

  ‘Yes, our Ben has the German measles, and Georgina sounds as if she’s getting it too, she’s so twisty and in a mood. Rosie stayed behind to help her mother, else she would be here with me.’ Danny felt he had to explain why his side of the family were not with him, at the deathbed of the woman they owed everything to.

  ‘It’s alright, lad. Charlotte knew everybody loved her, and that’s all that matters.’ Archie looked up and across at his son.

  Dr Burrows closed his bag and felt that his time with the family had come to an end, and they needed their privacy.

  ‘I’m sure you want to be on your own now. I’ll be back tomorrow with a death certificate, in order for you to bury Charlotte.’ He shook his head. ‘She was one hell of a woman, if you don’t mind me saying so. She’s going to be missed.’ He stood up and shook Archie’s hand and patted his old friend on the back. He looked around at the woman who, as a baby, he had brought into the world. ‘Big shoes to fill, Isabelle, but she will have taught you well, if I know Charlotte.’

  Danny stood up and opened the bedroom door for the doctor to leave, as Isabelle rose and hugged the old man, who felt like part of the family.

  ‘Thank you for being here for her. It is what she would have wanted.’ She hugged him tightly.

  ‘You be strong. Your family – especially Archie – will need you.’ Dr Burrows put on his top hat and left the grieving family to say goodbye to their loved one.

  Thomson, the butler, met Dr Burrows at the bottom of the stairs. Guessing that his mistress had died if the doctor was leaving, he didn’t say a word, but simply opened the front door for the sad-looking old man.

  ‘Your mistress is no longer with us. If you can tell the staff, it will give a little ease to the family,’ Dr Burrows said as he stood in the doorway. ‘She’s gone and taken the sunshine with her, by the look of this worsening day. It looks like thunder rolling across those back fells. I’d better get myself home.’

  Both butler and doctor looked up to the darkening fells over Malham and listened as a distant rumble of thunder made itself heard.

  ‘She always was too bright to last long, just like the day.’ Dr Burrows tapped his hat and stepped out with his cane, then walked down the drive of Windfell Manor, with the storm winds starting to blow their way through the beech trees.

  ‘I’m sorry to say that Mistress Charlotte has died. I’ve just seen the doctor out of the manor,’ said Thomson to the staff as they gathered, looking sombre, around the table in the kitchen.

  Lily, Charlotte’s maid, sobbed. ‘She was such a lovely woman. She never lost her temper, and I remember when she first came here – both me and her were not used to the finer things in life, so we learned our roles together.’

  ‘Aye, and she gave me a chance, when I was nothing more than a filthy-mouthed nothing who couldn’t stop swearing. I didn’t deserve the chance she gave me,’ sobbed Mazy. ‘I’ll have to go and tell Jethro. Ruby, when you’ve done sobbing, put some tea on for the family; they’ll need a drink, if nothing else. Master Archie hasn’t eaten all day.’ Mazy made for the back door and ran across the yard to the stables, gazing up at the rain-filled skies.

  Jethro and Ethan saw her coming and met her in the stable doorway.

  ‘She’s gone, hasn’t she? I saw the doctor leaving.’ Jethro looked as black as the clouds that were scuttling overhead.

  ‘Aye, she’s gone, bless her soul. We are all in tears in the house.’ Mazy put her arm around her husband, for she knew how much Charlotte had meant to him.

  All of them raised their heads as a huge crack of thunder broke directly over the house.

  ‘That’s Charlotte and God arranging the furniture in heaven,’ joked Mazy as she looked upwards, with tears in her eyes.

  ‘Then he’ll have to bloody well behave himself, because little does he know it yet, but Charlotte will have her own way and will be running the show by nightfall.’ Jethro sniffed hard and fought back the tears.

  ‘Aye, that she will. At least Master Archie will get a bit of peace now, for she did lead him a dance some days, but he must be broken-hearted.’ Mazy hugged their son Ethan and rubbed his dark head of curls.

  ‘He’s not the only one – a finer woman I’ve never known. She was true to her word, was Miss Charlotte, and never let you down. The world’s a sadder place without her. Come, Ethan, let’s away and check this horse.’ Jethro nearly choked on his words.

  Mazy watched as her husband and son strode back into the shadows of the stables. The thunder rumbled above her. ‘God bless you, Charlotte Atkinson. You’ve left more than one broken-hearted man down here, if you did but know it. My Jethro worshipped the ground you walked on.’

  2

  The curtains at each house along the winding small streets of Austwick were pulled in acknowledgement of the passing of Charlotte Atkinson. Villagers lined the cortège route and bowed their heads, removing their caps and bowlers as the family passed them in the carriage on the route to the church – a route that Charlotte had taken many a time, in good times and bad.

  ‘Look at the people!’ Isabelle gasped to Danny. ‘There are so many attending, they are even standing outside the church gates. I hope it doesn’t rain, for their sakes.’

  ‘It doesn’t surprise me. Our mother knew everyone, and everyone knew her. What did you expect, our Isabelle? After all, she was one of the most powerful women in the district.’ Danny looked out of the carriage as it pulled up at the church’s gates.

  ‘It isn’t about the power, lad; it’s that she was loved and always tried to do right by people. She could have made or broken half of the families in this district, but she showed each one the respect they deserved. If you and Isabelle both do the same as you go through life, then you’ll earn just as much respect as your mother.’ Archie stood up and waited for the coachman to open the carriage door, then looked out at the ancient market cross on the small green next to the church. The cross he had chased Charlotte around, when they we
re children. Where had the days gone?

  The vicar stood at the church entrance and shook hands with the family, before nodding to the undertaker to follow him into the building. He was nervous as he looked around the packed church, which was full of dignitaries, family and those who had come to pay their respects to the once-humble farm lass from Crummock. He had never taken a burial service like this and expected not to have to do so again; not for a while anyway, he thought, as he looked over at the fragile Archie Atkinson as he started the service.

  The vicar held a good service, knowing Charlotte and her roots in Austwick and the Craven community well. He remembered all her close family members, and spoke of her life without belying the heartache that had made her the strong woman she was. He gave his final blessing as the family gathered around the grave, and watched as those who wished to said their final farewells to the woman they loved and respected.

  ‘I’m glad that’s over.’ Harriet linked her arm into her husband Danny’s, and looked round at their daughter Rosie. ‘Are you going to the funeral tea with your father or are you coming home with me?’

  ‘Would you mind if I go to Windfell with Father? I’d like to attend, if I may.’ Sixteen-year-old Rosie looked at her father, hoping that he would back up her request.

  ‘Of course you can come with me, Rosie – and you should come as well, Harriet, despite Ben and Georgina having German measles. You know you have no excuse not to, really,’ said Danny quickly. ‘The housemaid is quite prepared to see to their needs while you are there. I heard her say so this morning,’ he growled at his wife.

  ‘Well, you heard wrong. Ben’s over the worst of it, but Georgina has such a fever that I fear for her. Measles is known for making a child’s heart weak, and I’ve known some children have fits because their temperature is so high! Do you think I’d risk my children with a common maid, when your mother is dead and there’s nothing further that can be done for her?’ Harriet’s face was full of fear, remembering the hurt and pain she had suffered over the death of two of her previous children, the twins Daniel and Arthur. She had always blamed herself for putting her work at Atkinson’s before their needs. ‘Have we not been through enough, losing two children? I will always blame myself for not always being there when they suffered. I should never have listened to your mother and Isabelle, when they assured me that the nanny would look after them while I worked at the store.’

  ‘Harriet, there was nothing we could do to save the two offspring we lost. It was the diphtheria to blame; the disease moved quickly and, even if you had been there with them, there was nothing you could have done. The doctor told you that, and he said you were beyond reproach. You cannot keep blaming yourself for their deaths, nor keep fearing the worst every time our children have a sniffle. Nor blame Isabelle, or my mother. No one knew that day how quickly the disease was going to strike, and how bad the weather was going to turn,’ Danny whispered quietly.

  Rosie stood back from her parents. She was slightly tired of hearing her parents row, something they now seemed to do on a regular basis.

  ‘I’ve not got a problem with Isabelle; it is she who has a problem with me. Did you notice that she hardly spoke a word to me in the church? She just doesn’t understand that my children come first,’ said Harriet.

  ‘That’s because she couldn’t speak – out of respect for the dead. Perhaps you should be the one to show a bit more respect. After all, my mother did a lot for us and our family, despite what you think. Don’t forget that Crummock was hers, and we will have to wait and see how the land lies after the funeral.’

  Danny looked worried. What if Charlotte had left Crummock to Isabelle? Harriet would not be happy with that. To her, Isabelle had it all and enjoyed a life of ease. Isabelle being made the landlord of Crummock would be the last straw.

  ‘I’ll curse if your mother has left Isabelle Crummock. She’s had everything on a plate since the moment she was born. Her mother set her up in business, and even then she was too busy chasing after worthless men, leaving me to do all the work.’ Harriet looked as black as thunder as she pulled on her leather gloves.

  ‘You left the business because you wanted to bring up our family. You’ve only yourself to blame. Mother bent over backwards for you when Rosie was born, following the deaths of our first two. She was always there for you, and fully understood your decision to stay at home and be with Rosie and the rest of the family, as they came along. So stop blaming everybody else for your lifestyle. Besides, you want for nothing; we’ve a good living – it’s a bit rough in winter, but we’ve all we could wish for.’ Danny was tired of hearing the constant moaning of his wife. She had been broken-hearted at the deaths of her two eldest, but so had he. Harriet tended to forget that and withdraw into herself, blaming everyone and anyone who challenged her view on life.

  ‘My children are everything to me, which is more than can be said for Isabelle. Just look at Luke – he doesn’t seem to have an ounce of sense in him; and as for Jane, well, she’s been brought up by your mother and has every one of her traits, the bossy little madam.’

  ‘Aye, she’s a fair lass, is Jane. My mother taught her well.’ Danny grinned and looked across at his niece, who was standing next to her mother Isabelle, joining in intently a conversation about some subject that she had an opinion on.

  ‘It’s a shame you don’t have as much interest in your own lass, Rosie, and a bit more time for the two at home.’ Harriet looked across at her husband. She was fed up with her lot in life, and sick of hearing Charlotte’s and Isabelle’s names on everyone’s lips. She was the one who had helped to start the Atkinson empire; or had they all forgotten? She too had put in many hours designing and sewing, initially in the first little shop at Settle, but then the business had expanded and her family had become her main focus. It was then that she had decided that running a business was not for her, and that her heart lay with her family and home.

  ‘Get yourself home, Harriet. Henry from Sowermire next door to us is about to leave, so get a lift with him back up to Crummock, before you say anything else that you might regret.’ Danny scowled at his wife. She had a caustic tongue in her head, when she was that way inclined. Better that she went home before she caused any bother. He watched as she made her way through the mourners, catching Henry at the church gate as he climbed into his trap. At least she had the sense not to argue with Danny there, but he knew he would be in for an onslaught on his return home.

  ‘Well, that’s your mother seen to, Rosie. Let’s away and keep your grandfather company – he looks a bit lost without your grandmother on his arm.’ Danny turned round to his daughter. He loved her dearly, despite what her mother had said. Rosie appreciated the farm and the world around her, and never said a bad word about anyone. At sixteen, a year younger than her cousin Jane, she was just the opposite: a young woman with a love of nature and a gentleness for the people around her. How could Harriet say that he had no time for her? They were as close as a daughter and father could be.

  ‘So, Mother’s decided to go home then? She’s been worrying all day about our Ben and Georgina. Although Ben seemed well enough this morning; he gave me a load of cheek when I went into his bedroom. He even threw one of his pillows at me as I left.’ Rosie smiled at her father – he was everything to her. He was so different from her mother, who always seemed to be fighting the world. He smiled and had time for her, and she loved to be with him, cherishing every moment.

  ‘Aye, well, you know: mothers and sons, there’s a special bond.’ Danny linked his arm into his daughter’s.

  ‘A bit like fathers and daughters?’ Rosie smiled as she walked over to her grandfather. She enjoyed having her father to herself.

  ‘Just like that, my dear.’ Danny squeezed his daughter’s hand tightly before speaking to his father. ‘We should be on our way, Father, as the day’s doing well to hold the rain back.’ He looked up at the grey sky and at his father standing at the grave’s edge, looking down upon the coffin of the
one he loved.

  ‘Aye, if you say so, lad. Folk have said that they’ll see me back at Windfell, so I suppose I’ll have to leave her here. You know we have barely ever been apart since the day we married. It is going to be hard to live without her.’ Archie leaned on his stick and wiped a tear from his eye, before walking stiffly away from the grave.

  ‘Here, take my arm, Grandpapa.’ Rosie left her father’s arm and linked her arm through her grandfather’s as she smiled with affection at him.

  ‘You are the image of your grandmother – who you were named after, lass. You’ve just the same looks and ways. You remind me of her every time I look at you. Your father’s mother was sweetness itself and I loved her just as much as my Lottie, but somehow Lottie’s light shone brighter, and I was attracted to her like a moth caught around a flame. So she was waiting on me when your grandmother died, and that’s how it is. I’ve loved and I’ve lost two good women in my life. The world can be hard sometimes.’ Archie stopped for a minute and caught his breath, thinking back to his first wife, Rosie.

  ‘But you’ve still got all of us, Gramps. You’ve Aunt Isabelle and Uncle James and all my cousins – we will all look after you.’ Rosie waited patiently as the elderly man climbed into the carriage to take him home.

  ‘Aye, but you forget, they are not my flesh and blood, not like your father. He’s my true son.’ Archie paused for a minute. ‘Danny, I need to speak to you in the morning, in the study on your own – there’s something I need to ask.’ Archie looked across at his son as the carriage rocked into action.

  ‘Ask me now, Father.’ Danny looked worried, wondering what his father wanted with him. ‘Nobody can hear us.’

  ‘No, I’ll bide my time because I need to speak to Isabelle first; it’s only right.’ Archie looked out of the window at the overgrown hedges full of cranesbill and meadowsweet passing by. ‘Hey up! It’s raining; well, my old lass, tha’ did get blessed from heaven afore they filled you in, after all.’ Archie sat back and smiled at his granddaughter and thought of the coffin that held Charlotte being rained upon, and of the love she had given him. It was a pity his son hadn’t quite the same affection from his own wife. Happen he shouldn’t have talked Danny into getting wed to Harriet all those years ago and maybe, if they hadn’t lost the children, things would have been different. He sighed and leaned on his stick. Nay, but hindsight was a marvellous thing; if you knew what life was to throw at you, you’d never do anything, he thought. Time would tell if they sank or swam; and the news he was to tell Danny the next morning would have a huge bearing on his son’s future, but it was something he had to do before he, too, departed God’s good earth.