A Village Scandal

by Dilly Court

  ‘Mrs Ralston will see that a room is made ready for you, Mr Walters,’ Mary said eagerly. ‘And Hilda will inform Cook that there is one more for dinner.’

  ‘You’re lucky that Jack went rabbiting last evening.’ Hilda folded her arms, glaring at Marius beneath a lowered brow. ‘It’s stew, unless that’s not good enough for a gentleman like yourself.’

  ‘Hilda!’ Daisy frowned at her, shaking her head.

  ‘I’m particularly partial to rabbit stew,’ Marius said, smiling affably. ‘Please don’t go to any trouble on my behalf, I’m very grateful for a comfortable bed for the night and a home-cooked meal. I travel a great deal and it’s nice to be in such a delightful home.’

  Mrs Ralston managed a hint of a smile, but Hilda tossed her head and marched off in the direction of the kitchen.

  ‘I’ll give you a hand, Ida.’ Mary and Mrs Ralston hurried after Hilda.

  ‘It seems that I have a lot to prove,’ Marius said with a wry smile. ‘Your servants are quite right to be protective, but I assure you that my intentions are honourable.’

  Daisy ushered him into the drawing room. ‘I’m sure they are, Marius. Would you like a glass of sherry? Or would you prefer something stronger?’

  ‘Sherry would be fine, thank you.’

  Daisy tugged on the bell pull and waited, but no one came. She tried to make idle conversation, but she was secretly annoyed by both Hilda and Mrs Ralston: their attitude left a lot to be desired and Daisy’s nerves were on edge anyway. This business deal was too important to be vetoed by servants who knew nothing about such matters. She rang again and when the summons went unanswered she made an excuse and left the room.

  Hilda was in the kitchen and she was chattering away to Cook but she stopped the moment she saw Daisy. ‘Is anything wrong, Daisy?’

  ‘You know very well what you’re doing, Hilda, and I won’t have it. I’ve been ringing the bell and no one came, but worse than that, you were rude to my guest and that’s unforgivable.’

  Hilda pouted ominously. ‘You only just met him today. You shouldn’t put your trust in a man like that – he’s too smooth talking, and he smiles a lot.’

  ‘He’s just being pleasant, and you can’t make snap judgements about someone just because he smiles too much. Mr Walters helped me out of a very difficult and embarrassing situation today. He’s a merchant, and if he charters the Lazy Jane we’ll all benefit, and perhaps I won’t have to rent out the manor house in the future.’

  ‘You always speak first and think afterwards, Hilda,’ Cook said severely. ‘You want to watch your tongue.’

  ‘You was interested enough while I was telling you about our guest. We might all be murdered in our sleep with a strange man in the house.’

  Cook’s eyebrows shot up to disappear under the frill of her mobcap. ‘Don’t say things like that. I’ll have to put a chair under the doorknob tonight.’

  ‘You’re both being silly.’ Daisy threw up her hands. ‘Hilda, I want you to keep your opinion to yourself, and I want sherry and two glasses in the drawing room. Send the tweeny if you can’t bring yourself to be civil to my guest.’

  Daisy swept out of the kitchen and hurried back to the drawing room. Soon she would be reduced to the status of a servant in her own household, but tonight she was still Mrs Tattersall of Creek Manor, and tomorrow she hoped to make a trade agreement with Marius Walters that would secure the future of the Lazy Jane, the ship that Jay had loved with all his heart. Keeping the vessel safe and using her to make money that might provide enough income to keep the estate from bankruptcy had become the most important thing in her life. If Marius could provide the business she was prepared to overlook almost any transgression he might have made in the past. She took a deep breath, painted a smile on her lips and entered the drawing room. This would go well, she told herself, despite the surliness of the servants.

  Next morning, at nine o’clock, Clem rowed Daisy and Marius out to the ship. Daisy had dressed for the occasion and had left off the steel crinoline cage that she normally wore beneath her petticoats. She was wearing a simple linsey-woolsey skirt, a cotton blouse and a light shawl, and her only nod to fashion was her straw bonnet trimmed with a single silk rose. She managed to climb the Jacob’s ladder without any help from Clem, although Marius held out his hand to assist her when she boarded ship. It was an unconscious action and done without making her feel awkward or embarrassed, for which Daisy was extremely grateful. Her liking for Marius Walters had increased greatly, but this was a commercial venture, and personal feelings must be put aside. She left Clem to show him around the ship.

  They met up again in the saloon where Ramsden had provided coffee.

  ‘Well?’ Daisy said casually. ‘What do you think, Marius? Are we in business?’

  Chapter Six

  The Lazy Jane had been chartered by Marius Walters for a respectable sum, which would be enough to pay the crew and purchase provisions, and Daisy was to have a share in the profits. They toasted their new partnership in coffee on board the ship, and Marius promised to have his solicitor draw up the contract and send it to Daisy for her approval and signature. They walked back to the manor house, chatting like old friends, and Daisy sent James to the stables with a request for Marius’s horse to be brought to the front entrance. As she stood in the warm spring sunshine Daisy felt that everything was beginning anew. The horrors of the past few weeks were behind them, although not forgotten, and she felt a sense of hope for the first time since she discovered the parlous state of their finances. One day, she was certain, Jay would come home, until then it was up to her to keep the estate from ruin and look after the people who depended upon her.

  Minutes later Jack brought Marius’s horse from the stables. ‘He’s a fine animal, sir.’

  ‘This is Jack Fox,’ Daisy said hastily in case Marius thought it unacceptable for a stable boy to speak up. ‘He’s my husband’s younger brother.’

  ‘You’re very knowledgeable, Jack,’ Marius said, smiling.

  ‘I’ll have a horse like this one day.’ Jack held the animal while Marius mounted and then handed him the reins.

  ‘I’m sure you will. Thanks for looking after him.’

  Daisy slipped her arm around Jack’s shoulders. ‘Goodbye, Marius.’

  ‘I prefer au revoir. We’ll meet again soon, Daisy.’ Marius urged his horse to a walk and then a sedate trot.

  ‘Are you still happy working in the stables, Jack?’ Daisy asked anxiously. ‘You’re a bright boy. I think you could do better.’

  ‘I like it well enough, but I wish Jay would come home.’

  ‘We all do, Jack.’ Daisy ruffled his hair and watched him walk away with a swagger in his step. There were times when he reminded her of Jay, and this was one of them. She entered the house, coming to a sudden halt when she saw the floor piled high with boxes, trunks and tea chests. She turned to Molesworth for an explanation.

  ‘Mrs Harker sent this luggage on in advance, ma’am. I was in two minds as to whether or not to accept it, but as she’ll be arriving tomorrow there didn’t seem much point in sending it back.’

  Daisy gazed around in horror. ‘It looks as though she’s moving in for good, not just a year.’

  ‘That’s what I thought, ma’am. But it’s not my place to say so.’

  ‘Perhaps this is all she intends to bring from Four Winds.’

  ‘One would hope so, ma’am.’

  ‘Where is Mrs Ralston? I must speak to her.’

  ‘I believe you’ll find her in her parlour, ma’am.’

  ‘Thank you, Molesworth.’ Daisy crossed the entrance hall and headed for the back stairs.

  She found Mrs Ralston seated at her desk, poring over an open accounts book, but she stood up when she saw Daisy, and her expression was grim.

  ‘What’s the matter, Mrs Ralston?’

  ‘I don’t know if I can continue here with that person acting as mistress.’

  ‘Why? What’s happened to upset you?’ Daisy
pulled up a chair and sat down.

  ‘I had a visit from Mrs Jones, the housekeeper from Four Winds. She insists that she’s going to be in charge while her mistress lives here, and she demanded to see my accounts for the past year. She made me feel as if I was cooking the books, as they say.’

  ‘But that wasn’t in our agreement, Mrs Ralston. I know that some of Mrs Harker’s servants were to remain at Four Winds. I would have thought she’d leave her housekeeper in charge.’

  ‘I’m not working under that woman, ma’am. There isn’t room for two of us in this office, which I might point out has been mine for twenty years.’

  ‘Of course not, and I won’t allow anyone to oust you from your position.’ Daisy rose to her feet. ‘And I shall tell Mrs Harker so.’

  Marjorie Harker, looking elegant as always, received Daisy in the drawing room at Four Winds. She regarded Daisy with a cold stare. ‘If I am to be mistress of Creek Manor for a while, I do not expect to have my decisions questioned.’

  Taken aback by the sudden change in Marjorie’s attitude, Daisy took a deep breath, controlling her emotions with difficulty. ‘But, it was my understanding that Mrs Jones would remain here to look after your home while you were staying at the manor.’

  ‘That was my original intention, but on second thoughts I knew that I would need well-trained servants, given the scale of the entertaining I’m planning. Therefore I will put everything under holland covers and lock this house up until I decide to return.’

  ‘Are you saying that you might wish to occupy my home for a longer period of time?’

  ‘That depends, but you are already in the process of moving out, Daisy. It won’t be your home after today, although I expect you to be on hand to see that everything runs smoothly.’

  ‘I’m not sure I understand.’

  ‘I know you were just a governess at the Carringtons’ mansion in Queen Square, but you will have observed how things are done in that type of household, and I want you to advise and oversee matters so that nothing goes awry. There will be no remuneration for your work, but you will be living rent free on my land, and you’ll have meals provided. I think it will be a mutually beneficial arrangement.’

  It was on the tip of Daisy’s tongue to inform Mrs Harker that she, Daisy Tattersall, had just entered a business agreement with Marius Walters, and expected to be financially independent quite soon, but the steely-eyed woman who sat opposite her was not the smiling, sweet-natured person that Daisy had first met. Marjorie Harker had suddenly changed into a calculating harpy, who would not be gainsaid, and Daisy began to pity the colonel. Maybe it was preferable to be posted on the North-West Frontier than to be a pawn in the game played by his wealthy, scheming wife.

  ‘Well, thank you for your candour, Mrs Harker.’ ‘Everyone needs to know their place, don’t you agree?’ Marjorie said with an icy smile.

  Daisy rose to her feet. ‘I really must leave now. I have a lot to do.’

  ‘See yourself out, Daisy. My servants are busy packing the last of my best china. All my silverware is counted and if anything goes missing I will hold you personally responsible.’

  Daisy turned on her heel and left the room. If she stayed she knew she would say something that she would regret. Marjorie Harker was taking responsibility for the estate’s outstanding debts as well as the servants’ and groundsmen’s wages. To put this in jeopardy would be foolish. She marched out of the house and made her way to the stables where a groom had taken her horse. A brisk ride would calm her down, but she would be very careful how she handled Marjorie Harker in future.

  Daisy, Mary, Hilda and the children moved into the cottage on the estate early next morning, well before Marjorie and her daughters were due to arrive. It had been decided that Daisy and Mary would share the smaller bedroom, leaving the larger one for Hilda and her four children. It was not an ideal solution, but Hilda was philosophical.

  ‘It’s better than the rooms we rented in Whitechapel,’ she said stoutly. ‘And the nippers think it’s fun, so I don’t mind. At least we’re together and we’re not starving. What more can we want?’ She carried a pile of bedding into her room. ‘Come and help me, Judy, love. Molly can keep an eye on the little ’uns.’

  Judy bounded up the stairs. ‘I was hoping I could stay on and help Cook, but she says there won’t be room for me in the kitchen, what with them stuck-up servants coming from Four Winds and all.’

  ‘We don’t know what the servants are like,’ Daisy said firmly. ‘We will have to learn to live together, but it’s only for a year at most. It will soon pass.’

  Mary came puffing up the narrow staircase and joined Daisy in the room they were to share. ‘I’ll make up the bed.’ She placed the linen on the chest of drawers and selected a sheet. ‘I can’t help thinking that Jay would have a laugh if he could see us making up a bed for you and me, Daisy.’

  Daisy tried to smile, but she was close to tears and she turned away. ‘He laughed at everything,’ she murmured. ‘I miss him so much, Mary.’

  ‘I know you do, dear.’ Mary shook out a sheet and laid it on the uncomfortable-looking mattress, which was all they could find that was not going to be in use by the new occupants of Creek Manor. ‘I regret every minute I didn’t spend with my son. I should have stood up to Lemuel, but he had a fierce temper and a hard fist.’

  ‘You did your best and I’m sure Jay knew that.’ Daisy wiped her eyes on the back of her hand. ‘What did Dove and Linnet say about you having to move out of the manor house?’

  ‘They were horrified, of course, but there’s nothing any of us can do, so we just have to get on with it. But I pity you having to go there every day and watch another woman take charge of your home.’

  ‘It’s only for a year.’ Daisy repeated the words like a mantra.

  ‘They’re coming,’ Judy called out excitedly. ‘I can see their carriage from the bedroom window, and there’s a cart following them piled high with luggage and three or four horses being ridden by servants. It looks like the circus when it came to Little Creek.’

  A circus it was. Daisy hurried back to the manor house in time to welcome the new occupants, arriving breathless after she had raced up the hill.

  Mrs Jones marched in first and came face to face with Mrs Ralston.

  ‘The servants’ entrance is round the back of the building,’ Mrs Ralston said icily.

  ‘You don’t have to tell me how to conduct myself, Ida Ralston. I was housekeeper at Four Winds when you were still a chambermaid here at the manor house. I’m in charge now and I’ll thank you to remember it.’

  ‘Don’t get on your high horse with me, Mrs Jones. I could tell a tale or two about your past, if I was so minded.’

  Daisy stepped in between them. ‘That’s quite enough, ladies. This isn’t an ideal situation, but we have to make it work somehow.’

  ‘I think you’ll find that my mistress has something to say about that,’ Mrs Jones said haughtily. ‘I take my instructions from Mrs Harker.’

  ‘Then I’ll have a word with her when she arrives.’

  ‘She’s here now.’ Mrs Jones jerked her head in the direction of the front entrance. ‘We’ll soon see who’s in charge.’ She marched across the hall to greet her mistress as she stepped over the threshold, and they exchanged a few words.

  Daisy strained her ears in an attempt to overhear what they were saying, but she could tell by Mrs Harker’s expression that she was not best pleased. Daisy sensed trouble brewing and she decided to take control of the situation before it became out of hand. She advanced on them, forcing her lips into a smile.

  ‘Good morning, Mrs Harker. Welcome to Creek Manor.’

  Marjorie looked her up and down with a supercilious frown. ‘Not a good start, Daisy. I expect my servants to be treated with respect, and Mrs Jones will be in complete control of the household from now until we leave. Is that understood?’

  ‘Yes,’ Daisy said calmly. ‘But that goes for my servants, too. If I find they ar
e being bullied or mistreated in any way I will find them alternative accommodation. You need them, Mrs Harker. If you are to entertain in the grand manner you will need all the help you can get.’ Daisy faced Marjorie Harker, not giving an inch, and it was Marjorie who looked away first.

  ‘Get on with your work,’ Marjorie said, turning to the servants, who were gaping at them wide-eyed.

  Everyone scurried off in different directions, except Mrs Ralston and Mrs Jones, who continued to face each other like gladiators.

  ‘I have a suggestion,’ Daisy said firmly.

  Marjorie beckoned to her daughters. ‘Come in, girls. Don’t loiter in the doorway. This is our new home.’ She turned to Daisy, frowning. ‘What is it?’

  ‘As you said, this will be a large and busy household. Might I suggest that we divide the housekeeping between Mrs Ralston and Mrs Jones?’

  ‘In what way?’ Marjorie did not look convinced. ‘Patience, stop scowling,’ she added, pointing at her younger daughter, who looked as though she were about to cry.

  ‘Mrs Ralston understands the working of the house below stairs. She knows the best suppliers of food and wine, and she is more than familiar with the way the kitchen operates. Don’t forget that the old squire used to entertain royally at one time.’

  Marjorie nodded reluctantly. ‘Yes, I do remember that, although we were never invited.’

  ‘On the other hand,’ Daisy continued with growing confidence, ‘I’m sure that Mrs Jones would be excellent at handling matters above stairs, including the housekeeping accounts, which would be very important to you. What do you say?’