The Christmas Wedding

by Dilly Court

  The scent of wood smoke mingled with the fruity smell of damp river mud and leaf mould as Daisy approached Creek Cottage. Her heart sank when she saw a carriage outside the house and she recognised the footman, who was chatting to the coachman. She had barely reached the front door when it opened and Squire Tattersall greeted her with a false smile.

  ‘This is fortunate indeed, Mrs Marshall,’ he said, turning to Eleanora. ‘Just as I was about to leave, the young lady in question walks up the path. Come in, my dear. I want to have a word with you.’

  Eleanora stood by the parlour door, clasping her hands to her bosom. ‘The squire has come to call on you, Daisy,’ she said pointedly.

  ‘I’d like a few words with your niece in private, if you don’t mind, Mrs Marshall.’ Tattersall fixed Daisy with a hard stare. ‘We have some business to discuss.’

  ‘Oh! I – well, I never did. I mean it’s not right for a young lady to be alone with a gentleman. Daisy has her reputation to consider, Squire.’

  ‘A few minutes, Mrs Marshall. I am a magistrate, a man of the law, so I doubt if anyone, even the vicar’s wife, would find that unreasonable.’

  Daisy could see that her aunt was at a loss for words and she stepped over the threshold, closing the door to escape the prying eyes of the squire’s servants. ‘It’s all right, Aunt. As the squire said, it will be a very brief conversation.’ She pushed past him, giving her aunt an encouraging smile as she entered the parlour.

  Tattersall strode in after her and slammed the door. ‘Now then, Miss Marshall. Explain yourself.’

  Daisy faced him, her head held high. ‘If you want your horse, it’s being cared for at Creek Hall.’

  ‘That animal cost me fifty guineas.’

  ‘I can assure you that the animal is being well looked after.’

  ‘More to the point, where is that Fox fellow? Is he your lover?’

  ‘How dare you suggest such a thing?’ Daisy said angrily. ‘I won’t allow you to speak to me like that in my own home.’

  ‘It won’t be your home for much longer if you continue to behave like this.’

  ‘You are the one at fault here, Squire Tattersall. Your argument is with your son. I can’t help you there.’

  ‘His mother was a temptress, and he’s a bastard with no claim on my estate.’

  ‘His mother must have been very young when you seduced her. You are the one who ought to be ashamed.’

  ‘She was pleased enough to oblige me and I saw to it that she left with enough money to rid herself of the child. It was her choice to keep him.’

  Daisy stared at him in disgust. ‘As far as I can see you’ve done nothing for Jay other than send him to prison for some minor offence, and now you want to make his mother suffer even more. What sort of man are you?’

  ‘They were both taken care of when she married that psalm-singing gamekeeper, no doubt using my money as a dowry.’

  ‘Then you can’t be certain that Jay is your son.’

  ‘He was supposed to be a seven-month baby, but I know better. Anyway, this has nothing to do with you. You’ve twisted the conversation round to make me out to be the villain of the piece, when I am the one who has been wronged.’

  ‘You’ve turned Jay into a fugitive and you’ve threatened his family, and mine. How dare you stand there and say that you’ve been badly treated?’

  He threw back his head and laughed. ‘You really are a woman after my own heart.’ His expression darkened. ‘But you use your beauty to torment a man, and then you walk away. I offered you marriage and you refused. You’ve hurt and humiliated me, so why should I not do the same to you?’

  ‘Because that’s just the way you are, Squire. For one thing I hardly know you, and what I have learned about you doesn’t bode well.’

  ‘Then you need to get to know me better, my dear.’ Tattersall moved a little closer. ‘I could say I was smitten by your undoubted charms, but I can see you would be hard to convince.’

  ‘You are right in that, sir. You’ve never once mentioned love or even affection, and you have no respect for anyone’s feelings other than your own. You seem to think you can use your wealth and position to get whatever you desire. Well, sir, it isn’t so. I wouldn’t marry you if you were literally the last man on earth.’

  There was a moment of complete silence. Daisy held her breath, waiting for the storm to break over her head, but to her surprise the squire shrugged and opened the door.

  ‘Come in, Mrs Marshall. I have no doubt that you were standing outside with your ear to the keyhole.’

  Eleanora fluttered into the room, her cheeks suspiciously pink. ‘I did no such thing, sir. But you were shouting so loudly that I’m sure that you could be heard in the kitchen.’

  ‘The squire was just leaving, Aunt,’ Daisy said firmly. ‘We have nothing more to say to each other.’

  Esmond Tattersall picked up his top hat, cane and gloves. ‘There’s one thing you’ll learn about me, Miss Marshall. I never give up. If I want something badly enough I will persevere until I win.’ He sauntered out of the room, leaving Daisy and her aunt staring at each other. They both jumped at the sound of the front door being slammed with some force.

  ‘Oh, my goodness!’ Eleanora sank down on the nearest chair. ‘My heart is beating so fast I can hardly breathe. What was all that about, Daisy?’

  ‘I thought you had heard most of it, Aunt.’

  ‘Not everything, dear.’

  ‘Well, you mustn’t worry. The squire is all bluff and hot air.’

  ‘It didn’t sound like that, Daisy. What will we do if he refuses to renew the lease? We’ll be homeless.’

  ‘I think Uncle Sidney ought to consult a solicitor to see if anything can be done, but I have to return to London today. I promised Sister Johnson that I would only take two days off.’

  ‘Really, Daisy? Do you have to do this? Why can’t you remain at home until you meet some nice young man and get married, like any other well-brought-up young lady?’

  Daisy leaned over to kiss her aunt’s soft cheek. ‘Because I want to be useful, and I don’t intend to marry for money. Squire Tattersall thinks he can do what he likes and get away with it – well, it’s time he learned that’s not the case. He only wants me because I’m a challenge.’

  ‘I suppose you’re right, but money and position can make life a lot more comfortable, my dear girl.’

  ‘I’ll bear that in mind,’ Daisy said, smiling.

  ‘Will you stay for luncheon at least? I know Hattie has made a rabbit pie especially for you.’

  ‘Yes, of course I will, but first there’s something I have to do. I have an urgent errand in the village.’

  Daisy had seen her uncle and Lemuel walking downstream with their fishing gear so she knew this was as good a time as any to find Mary on her own. Daisy’s last meeting with Jay’s mother had gone badly, but this time she hoped they might have a more honest conversation. She quickened her pace and arrived at the cottage just as Mary was about to leave.

  ‘Might I have a minute or two of your time, Mrs Fox?’

  Mary glanced up and down the lane, as if expecting her husband to appear. She nodded reluctantly. ‘I have a cleaning job at the church, so I can’t stay long.’

  Daisy followed her into the cottage. ‘I’m leaving for London this afternoon, but I needed to speak to you.’

  ‘If it’s about Jay, I don’t want to know.’

  ‘It does concern him, and you, too. He went to see the squire.’

  Mary’s cheeks paled to ashen and she sat down as if her knees had given way beneath her. ‘Why would he do a thing like that?’

  ‘He was trying to make things better for you, but I’m afraid it had the opposite effect. The squire told him everything.’

  ‘Everything?’

  ‘Jay knows that Lemuel isn’t his father. Squire Tattersall said that you and he were lovers and that he is the father of your eldest child.’

  Mary’s blue eyes, so like those of he
r son, filled with tears. ‘We were not lovers. I was a chambermaid at the manor house and he forced himself on me, not once but several times. I was too frightened to tell anyone.’

  ‘And then you discovered that you were in the family way.’

  ‘I told him and he called me a whore. He said I couldn’t prove that he was the father, but then I grew desperate and threatened to tell his father, who was an old man with failing health.’

  ‘He said he gave you money.’

  ‘He wanted me to get rid of the baby, but I had been walking out with Lemuel for quite a while, and when he asked me to marry him I saw a way out.’ Mary buried her face in her apron and her thin shoulders shook. ‘I was desperate.’

  ‘I can understand that,’ Daisy said gently. ‘So you didn’t tell Lemuel.’

  Mary raised her head to look Daisy in the eye. ‘I didn’t have the courage to admit what I’d done. I let him think that he was the father, but when Jay was born it was obvious that he wasn’t a seven-month baby and I’d lied.’

  ‘What happened then, Mary?’

  ‘Lemuel was furious. He dragged me from my bed and beat me until I was almost unconscious, and I feared he was going to kill my child. I pleaded with him and he stormed out of the cottage. He didn’t return for two days and when he came back he was a different man. The Lemuel I knew had gone for ever, and I found I was married to a stranger. He said he would acknowledge the baby as his son, but my beautiful little boy was the spawn of the devil and must be treated as such. It’s broken my heart to see Jay treated so badly, but there was nothing I could do about it.’

  ‘How can you live with a man like Lemuel?’

  ‘What else could I do? I had no family to support me and a baby to bring up. As time went by I had my other children to feed, although I lost three babies to diphtheria, but I had to protect my girls and Jack. We all have to live with the consequences of our actions, Daisy. I just wish I had had the courage to tell Jay the truth before the squire filled his head with poison.’

  Daisy put her arms around Mary and gave her a hug. ‘Jay loves you, and he wouldn’t hear a word against you. Of that I’m certain.’

  ‘How do you know all this?’ Mary wiped her eyes on her apron. ‘When did you see my boy?’

  Daisy pulled up a chair and sat down beside her.

  ‘… So you see,’ she said when she had finished relating the events of earlier that day, ‘Jay refused to believe that you were in any way to blame. One of the last things he said to me was that he loved you and always will. That won’t change.’

  ‘He loves you, too,’ Mary said slowly. ‘Do you love him?’

  ‘All I know is that I care for him deeply. I want him to be safe and happy. Maybe that’s love, but I let him go. Maybe that was a mistake.’

  Mary patted her hand. ‘You’re a good girl, Daisy. Follow your heart.’

  It was early evening by the time Daisy arrived at Mrs Wood’s lodging house. Aggie answered the door and her plain face broke into a smile when she saw Daisy.

  ‘It’s good to see you, miss. I thought you wasn’t coming back.’

  ‘I told Miss Cole that I was only going to be two days.’

  ‘It were that Gladys, miss. She told her ma that you’d gone for good, but Miss Cole insisted that you was coming back.’ She held her hand out to take Daisy’s small valise. ‘I’ll carry it upstairs for you. I’m afraid you’re too late for supper. It were terrible anyway. The lady lodgers are in the parlour.’

  Aggie headed for the staircase and bounded up it like a gazelle, narrowly avoiding a collision with the two dancers as they thundered downstairs, their capes flying and their high-pitched laughter echoing round the entrance hall.

  ‘We’re late, as usual.’ The girl with the red hair brushed past Daisy, leaving a waft of cheap scent in her wake.

  ‘Good evening.’ Daisy stepped out of the way.

  ‘Is it, love?’ The younger of the two rolled her eyes. ‘We sleep all day and come out when it’s dark. We’re like them creepy things what fly around and get tangled in your hair.’

  ‘Bats.’ The redhead propelled her friend towards the front door.

  ‘I ain’t bats, Flossie. Don’t say such things.’

  ‘I never said you was, you stupid cow, Ethel. Bats fly around at night – don’t you know nothing? Anyway, we’ll have more problems than a few flying creatures if we mess up our routine like we did at rehearsal.’ She reached out to open the front door and shoved a grumbling Ethel out into the gathering gloom.

  Slightly breathless after this whirlwind encounter, Daisy took off her cape and hung it on the hall stand before heading to the parlour, where she found the cat, Rex, ensconced on the sofa like an eastern potentate with his harem consigned to less comfortable seats. Minnie and Ivy shared a chair and the two older ladies sat at the tea table in the window, playing cards.

  Ivy looked up and smiled. ‘So you’ve come back.’

  ‘Are the children all right?’ Minnie asked anxiously.

  ‘They seems to have settled in well, and they have two of the kindest people I know taking care of them.’ Daisy glanced hopefully at the space beside Rex, but he was staring at her with a hostile look in his yellow eyes, and it was obvious that none of the others had dared to challenge his supremacy. She was about to pull up a chair when the door opened and Flora peered into the room.

  ‘Oh, there you are, Daisy. I wasn’t sure if you’d returned. There’s a handsome fellow at the door who says he’s your brother?’

  ‘Toby! Did you ask him in?’

  Flora shrugged. ‘It would be more than my life’s worth, darling. You know the rules.’

  ‘I hope you didn’t send him away.’ Daisy pushed past her and flew across the hall to wrench the door open. ‘Toby!’ She could have cried with relief when she saw him standing on the pavement. His look of bafflement was replaced by a broad grin.

  ‘What’s going on, Daisy? I had the door slammed in my face.’

  ‘Mrs Wood doesn’t allow gentlemen callers, so I can’t ask you in.’

  ‘Never mind that. Have you eaten? Because I’m starving and I was going to the pie and eel shop when I suddenly thought of you.’

  ‘I’m not sure how to take that,’ Daisy said, giggling. ‘Just give me a minute and I’ll fetch my cape. I’ve only just arrived back from Little Creek.’ She closed the door and when she opened it again she was dressed for outdoors.

  Toby proffered his arm. ‘I wondered why I didn’t see you on the wards. What possessed you to take time off to go home? Is anyone ill or dying?’

  ‘Let’s eat first. I didn’t realise how hungry I was until you mentioned eel pie.’

  ‘I know just the place.’

  Later, replete after eating eel pie and mash, served with the tasty liquor, Daisy related the latest events to take place at Little Creek. Toby listened in silence, shaking his head when she came to the way the squire had treated her.

  ‘He’s a tyrant, Daisy. Well done for standing up to him.’ He gave her a speculative look. ‘But what about Jay? Are you in love with the fellow?’

  ‘I don’t know. Honestly, Toby, my feelings are so confused. When he’s away I can be rational and sensible, but when I’m with him it’s quite different.’

  ‘Best avoided then, if you ask me.’ Toby leaned back against the steamy wall. ‘I always thought you and Nick might make a go of it.’

  She smiled. ‘Did you now? I didn’t think you were interested in anything unless it concerned you personally.’

  ‘I’m hurt, Daisy. You know I love you, even if I don’t always show my feelings.’

  ‘Of course I do, and the feeling is mutual. But one thing has become clear to me, and that is I need to prove to myself that I can do something worthwhile. I’d become used to the idea that the only future for me was as someone’s wife. Julian put paid to that when he decided that marriage wasn’t for him, at least not with me.’

  ‘I’m sorry.’ Toby reached out to lay his hand on
her arm. ‘But he wasn’t worthy of you. I never liked the chap.’

  ‘It seems like another life,’ Daisy said, sighing. ‘But one thing is for certain, Toby. I am going to concentrate on learning everything I can about nursing.’

  ‘It’s a pity that women like you aren’t allowed to study medicine. You’d make a good doctor. If I’ve managed to qualify you most certainly could.’

  ‘I have to prove to Sister Johnson that I’m capable of qualifying as a nurse, and I’ll have to work twice as hard to make up for taking time off, but it was important to get Hilda’s children settled into a caring home.’

  ‘The poor woman’s troubles aren’t over yet, I’m afraid. The surgeon in charge is keeping a close eye on her. If the wound doesn’t show signs of healing soon it will mean amputation.’

  ‘That’s terrible news.’ Daisy stared into her empty teacup. ‘How will she support her children? If she can’t find some sort of employment it will mean the workhouse for the whole family.’

  ‘Daisy, you can’t take the woes of the whole world on your shoulders. I’m afraid that’s one thing you’ll learn when you work in a hospital. There’s suffering all around, but you can only do your best.’

  She managed a weak smile. ‘I’ll bear that in mind.’

  ‘Enough of sad talk. If we hurry we will just catch the show at the Pavilion. What do you say to an evening’s entertainment, Daisy?’

  Chapter Eighteen

  After the show Daisy and Toby strolled back to Fieldgate Street, arms linked and in perfect harmony with each other. It was dark now, but there was a hint of approaching summer in the air, and the cold winds and April showers were fading into a distant memory. Daisy was feeling at peace with the world until they reached Fieldgate Street, where she saw Ivy struggling to free herself from Jonah Sawkins’ clumsy attempts at an embrace. Daisy broke into a run.

  ‘Let her go,’ she cried angrily.

  ‘Mind your own business, Miss High and Mighty.’ Jonah attempted to drag Ivy away but she was doing her best to fight free.

  Toby strode up to them. ‘Don’t speak to my sister like that, Sawkins.’