Miss Martha Mary Crawford

by Catherine Cookson (Catherine Marchant)

  ‘This business has nothing to do with broken bones, you’re dealing with lives now, Robbie, a precious life, a delicate life, a life of a young girl, an untried, innocent young girl.’

  ‘No, no, doctor; there you’re wrong.’ Robbie’s voice was stiff, as was his face as he went on, ‘She’s not as innocent as all that. Anyone meetin’ as often as she did with William Brockdean would not remain all that innocent, at least not to the extent that you’re implying. Up to a point she knew what loving was so I’m not snatchin’ up a baby from the cradle.’

  Harry did not take his attention from Robbie as he heard Martha’s sharp intake of breath, but bending towards him, he cautioned, ‘Be careful, Robbie; you’ve gone too far already.’

  ‘Plain speakin’s best, doctor. I want you to know there’s things on my side an’ all. An’ when I’m on with plain speakin’ I’ll say that I care for her, I always have done since I first clapped eyes on her, and although I never thought to have her, yet I never stooped to second-best. It’s me way; I’m odd they tell me, but anything I own I like it to be good. I have two fine bred dogs, but they don’t always drive good cattle. Few or many, when I get cattle, an’ I’m gona get cattle, they’ll be good.’

  Harry now swung about, bent his head, doubled his fist and beat it softly against his mouth; then turning as quickly, again he looked at Martha and asked quietly, ‘Will you leave us for a moment, Miss Crawford?’

  Martha said nothing, she did not even make an assent with her head, but she walked quickly from the room, leaving them facing each other again. And now Harry, his tone changing to one that he might have used to a familiar friend, said, ‘We’re not talking of cattle, Robbie, we’re talking of a refined young girl. You can’t do this, Robbie. Look at this house. Look—’ he waved his hand about the room—‘look about you. She’s been brought up in this and rooms like it, and she’s spent years at a private school in Hexham. Imagine taking her from this place.’

  ‘There’s nothing wrong with our place, doctor; it’s better than most; in fact it’s twice the size of most. You’ve never seen it.’

  ‘Yes, I have; I’ve passed it. It’s two cottages knocked into one, but what’s that after this.’

  ‘It’s not just two cottages; there’s a room been built at the back that runs the length of them both with the finest views in the county. An’ our furniture is handmade, most of it by me great-grandda, an’ there’s outhouses better than you find on any farm. We haven’t always been drovers; as me da told you, we were farmers one time.’

  ‘Yes, yes, I know all that, Robbie, but you’re from different worlds.’

  ‘The needs of the body all stem from the same place whether you’re up in the world or down, Doctor.’ Robbie’s voice was harsh now, almost a growl as he went on, ‘She needs me, she’s ripe for marriage. If she doesn’t ease herself with me then she’ll do something that will make that sister of hers bow her head in shame. An’ I tell you something else, doctor, and it’s just this. It would have been as easy as blinkin’ for me to be the man that could have brought that shame on her, but I held back. But should I let her go she’ll jump the hurdles like any penned sheep an’ make for the ram; shamelessly she’ll make for the ram, any ram. She was hurt, doctor, humiliated bad, brought low inside herself by that snot of a so-called gentleman, an’ if I ever come face to face with him I’ll spit in his eye, then black it, even if it means going along the line for it. But I doubt if I’ll get that chance for he’s off to France, isn’t he? His parents proudly announced his engagement a few days gone, in fact I heard it in the market the very day I told her it was time we wed.’

  Harry turned slowly away. Like Martha, he felt utterly defeated. This fellow, this young drover, was worth twenty William Brockdeans, yet such was life and early environment that he could not see young Nancy having the faintest chance of happiness with him, whereas with Brockdean she could, at least in the eyes of society, live a full life. What went on behind closed doors was another matter altogether; but in the eyes of that same society a union with this young man would be looked upon askance, not only among her own class but among his. Yet let him face it, what after all was her class? They were merely on the fringe of the upper middle class, and like many another family they had clawed their way there through commerce. But as they stood now it was likely they were no better off financially than Robbie Robson and his family.

  As if Harry had spoken his thoughts aloud Robbie now said, ‘And she won’t have to go beggin’, I can promise you that, doctor, for we’re not without a shilling or so, and we owe nobody a penny. And that can’t be said for everybody, now can it, doctor, for this establishment, fine and refined as you pointed out, is on the blacklist in Hexham, an’ has been for many a year, but more so than ever now. So taking all in all, I can’t see what all the fuss is about. Apart from the fact that I can neither read nor write, I consider meself as good as the next one.’

  Harry turned about again and was now nodding slowly at Robbie and saying, ‘And if anybody asked me that question I should endorse what you have just said, you’re as good as the next one, and better than a few, but I must be honest with you: I can’t see any good coming out of this affair, and I wish I could persuade you along those lines. I must warn you that her brother will certainly attempt to stop the union. He, in a way, is her guardian until she comes of age, and should you go ahead with it he could take it to law.’

  ‘Aye, I’d thought of that; but then it needs money to go to law an’ I think at the present I’d be more able to meet the costs than him. An’ you know somethin’; it would be the worst service he could do her if he took it to law, because she’s got a spirit in her that hasn’t quite risen yet, and she’ll go her own way in the end, and happen it could be the wrong way if she was frustrated at this point, ’cos she’s got so much love in her she’s got to give it vent.’

  They stood silent for a moment staring at each other, and it was Robbie who spoke again, ‘Well, doctor,’ he said quietly, ‘I’ve got animals waiting for me an’ I must be off.’ He now pulled from his pocket a heavy lever watch and, tapping its face, said, ‘An’ it’ll take me all me time even if I run. I hate to be late. A set time is a set time. So will you tell’—he now motioned his head towards the door—‘the miss, that things stand as I go out the same way as when I come in. Good day to you doctor.’ He did not touch his forelock but gave Harry a kind of salute by placing his fingers to the middle of his brow.

  Harry mumbled a farewell, waited until the sound of the front door closing came to him, then slowly he walked out of the room and into the hall and, glancing upwards, he saw Martha standing at the top of the stairs.

  He stood waiting while she walked slowly down towards him. When she reached the last step she stopped, and he shook his head as he looked at her and said, ‘I’m afraid it’s no use.’

  She stepped down into the hall, her arms now folded across her chest, each hand gripping a forearm. ‘He can be stopped. When Roland comes home he’ll take it to law.’

  ‘I’m afraid he’s thought of that, in fact he’s thought of everything. He’s a very intelligent fellow, uneducated, granted, according to social standards, but he’s got much more in his head than most, educated or otherwise. You’ll have a hard job to stop him, and, from what I can gather, an equal task with your sister. It would seem to me, and believe me I am very reluctant to say this at this moment, but he appears to be the least of many evils confronting her due to the state of her mind at the present time.’

  ‘She’s been disappointed, she’ll get over it.’

  She turned fully to him now and, her voice deep with pleading, she asked, ‘Couldn’t you explain that to her, that these things pass, and in a few months’ time she will be thinking differently altogether?’

  Harry found it almost impossible to meet her gaze as he replied, ‘If you haven’t been able to make her see sense I don’t think I have much chance in that direction. She appears very fond of you, and I feel sure if
she could please you by changing her mind she would do so.’

  ‘Doctor—’ She had taken a step closer to him now—she could have touched the lapel of his coat with her bent arm—and he saw that she was finding it difficult to speak; then swallowing deeply and as if admitting to something shameful, she said softly, ‘Her whole trouble is that she’s afraid of ending her days like Aunt Sophie. She sees spinsterhood as something to be ashamed of. If you could only convince her that it isn’t, and that Aunt Sophie’s trouble is…is as you once said—’ she paused and the look in her eyes was soft on him now as she ended ‘epilepsy…it might have an effect.’

  He wished the occasion warranted him saying, ‘Ah, so now we recognise Aunt Sophie’s turns as epilepsy; as for convincing your sister that spinsterhood is nothing to be ashamed of, as I’ve never been a spinster I can’t be expected to know how one would feel, now can I?’ But that would be turning this matter into a joke, and it was no joke. And spinsterhood was no joke; it was the cause, he knew only too well, of much of the malaise of the women under his care. Those who weren’t married pined for the experience, while many of those who were pined because of it, and these, too, took to their couches and developed a neurosis as a way of preventing further access to their bodies.

  He looked hard at Martha. It would be a great pity if she ever had to take to her couch because under that assumed exterior of primness he had detected a fire blazing; sometimes of late he had caught a glimpse of it and it had given him hope for her future. Yet he knew that she would allow the fire to burn her clean out until her life was left in ashes rather than take the step that Nancy was proposing. Such were the differences in their characters. All the strength in this family seemed to have been allotted to the first-born. She was a difficult girl to understand. He had thought at one time that they were approaching a friendly footing, then quite suddenly a few weeks ago her manner towards him had reverted almost to that of their first acquaintance. He couldn’t begin to understand her. Yet today she had approached him like an ordinary young person needing advice, needing help. This only went to show how much she was taking this situation to heart; it was the case of any port in a storm.

  He was about to speak when a loud cry from above turned them both to face the stairs, and glad to escape from this discussion for a moment he said, ‘We’ll continue this later. How has she been?’

  At the foot of the stairs he stood back to allow Martha to proceed, and as she hurried up them, she said, ‘Very uneasy for the past week. Yet she doesn’t want to get out of bed, and her mind is wandering a great deal.’

  When they entered the room Sophie was lying with her arms stretched back above her head, her hands gripping the brass bed rails, and when Harry stood over her she did not release her grip on them but smiled up at him, saying, ‘Oh, I’m so glad to see you, doctor, now you’ll be able to help George; he’s pushed them all out of the room. They were going to take me away.’ She turned now and looked at Martha. ‘Did you know that, Martha Mary? They were going to take me away. Did you tell them to take me away?’

  ‘No, of course not, Aunt Sophie.’ Martha now went to the head of the bed and gently unloosened the fingers from around the rails, then said gently, ‘There, lie quiet now. That’s a good girl.’

  ‘Good girl. I like it when you call me a good girl, Martha Mary, and I’m always quiet, and I’m always listening. I listen to them all talking, talking, talking; everybody talks, doctor.’ She was looking at Harry again, and he nodded at her and said, ‘Yes, Miss Sophie, everybody talks. There’s much too much talking goes on in the world.’

  ‘Oh, I don’t really mind people talking. Ever since I married I’ve listened to people talking. I used to be very shy before, doctor, but not since I married. George taught me not to be shy.’

  ‘That’s good.’ He felt her pulse, then put his hand on her brow. It was heavy with perspiration and he asked gently, ‘Have you a headache?’

  ‘Yes. Yes, I’ve a headache, doctor, but I think it’s the wedding. Weddings always cause worry, don’t you think so, doctor? And this new one coming along…well.’

  They both exchanged quick glances which asked how on earth she found out about the proposed wedding. In a whispered aside he asked, ‘Does she know?’ and Martha shook her head vigorously. Then his head jerked sharply to the side as Sophie said, ‘It’ll be nice to have a doctor in the family, won’t it?’

  Again he and Martha were exchanging glances, now showing their bewilderment; then Martha, pulling the covers further up around Sophie’s shoulders, said gently, ‘You’ve been dreaming, Aunt Sophie, Nancy’s not…I mean no-one’s going to marry a doctor.’

  ‘Oh yes, yes there is.’ Sophie chuckled now. ‘Yes, there is, Mildred told me last night when she was sitting with me; she was very gay and she made me laugh and she’s so happy because when she’s a doctor’s wife she’ll then get into society and she’ll be able to meet with Lady Brocker. No, no, that isn’t the name. What is the name, Martha Mary?’

  ‘Brockdean, Lady Brockdean.’ Martha’s voice was very low now. It was as Aunt Sophie said, Mildred had been very gay of late, and there was one name constantly on her lips. At times she had wanted to scream at her, but she had contained herself; she would not afford Mildred any further satisfaction.

  She did not raise her eyes, afraid at this moment of what she would read in his face. Yet whatever she read there would not be entirely unexpected. Mildred had certainly prepared her, and for it at this moment she was grateful.

  ‘She said it was a secret. We all have secrets, haven’t we, Martha Mary?’

  Martha made no reply, and she kept her head bowed until Harry said, ‘Well, this is news. So Miss Mildred is going to marry a doctor. Well, well! I wonder who that can be. There’s only one eligible young man in Hexham practising at the moment, that is Doctor Norman. Is the gentleman’s name Doctor Norman, Miss Sophie?’

  He was bending over Sophie now, a smile on his face, and she shook her head and smiled back at him and said, ‘No, no, she just said it was a secret.’

  He made no reply but raised his head and found Martha staring at him with a look in her eyes that brought his body stiffly upright and caused a number of impressions to race through his mind at once. The expression on her face had stretched it; her mouth was open and her eyes wide. It was as if she were slightly shocked by surprise and was making an effort to hide it.

  He glanced down again at Sophie, then hastily back to Martha, and he thought, No! She couldn’t be under that impression. But why not? That Miss Mildred was a minx; just what kind of a minx he hadn’t realised until he had become better acquainted with her when he drove her home that one and only time.

  During a conversation in the shop she had told him she was reluctantly getting used to being a shop assistant, but that she’d never get used to travelling by carrier cart, and so he had laughingly said, ‘Well today is one time I can relieve you of that obnoxious journey. I shall be going out to Nolan’s farm around four o’clock, would you care to take the ride with me?’

  He recalled how he had been surprised at her pertness and her spiteful mimicking of customers; also he had found her rather pathetic in her adoration of the upper class, namely the Brockdeans. He recalled too that he had made a number of visits to the bookshop of late. True, he had wanted books, but his visits had primarily been to see how old Armstrong was faring. He remembered now, with a slight heat to the face, that last week he had accepted Mildred’s offer of a cup of coffee in the office.

  Lordy! Lordy! How careful one had to be. But on the other hand he couldn’t blame himself; he had done nothing, nothing whatever to give to that little madam the impression he was interested in her. Good God, no! Yet, apparently she had got that impression, or she was determined she was going to make the impression on him. More apparently still, from the look on Martha Mary’s face at this moment, the secret had been no secret from her. Damn the little bitch! Because that’s all she was.

  He coughed hard, cle
ared his throat, patted Sophie’s hand, saying, ‘Now you be a good girl; I’ll be seeing you again soon,’ then walked abruptly out onto the landing.

  When Martha joined him he turned fully to her and said, ‘I must congratulate Doctor Norman, that’s if…’

  ‘I wouldn’t, doctor, not…not at present.’

  ‘No? Why?’

  ‘Well’—she was blinking rapidly now—‘as Aunt Sophie said it was supposed to be a secret.’

  ‘Oh yes.’ He wagged his head. ‘Well you tell your sister that I’m in the secret, will you, and that I cannot wait until I congratulate the doctor on his good fortune. Tell her that.’

  She stared at him for a moment, then her head moved slightly downwards and her lids covered the expression in her eyes when she answered softly, ‘I’ll do that, doctor. Yes, I’ll do that.’

  ‘Well now—’ he was making for the stairs—‘weddings seem to be in the air, don’t they?’

  She made no comment on this but when she reached the hall she walked straight to the door and opened it for him, then stood watching him pick up his hat from a chair and when he stood before her she said, ‘Thank you, doctor, for…for all you have done.’

  ‘For all I have done?’ He raised his eyebrows. ‘I can’t see that I have done very much, in fact nothing as regards Miss Nancy; as for your aunt, well, we both know that little can be done in that quarter. The only thing is to keep her as happy as possible.’

  ‘Yes, doctor.’

  ‘Good day then.’

  ‘Good day, doctor.’

  He had reached the top step when he turned again and, his head slightly back on his shoulders, he moved his chin from side to side before he asked, ‘Would you like me to call in if I’m passing during the week to see how things are faring with young Robson?’