Settling the Account (49 page)

Joey let out a snort, and Lizzie glared at
him. ‘What’s so funny, Joseph Kelly?’

‘They’d have to be pretty good biscuits to
make anyone want to marry Maudie,’ Joey said, grinning at the
notion.

‘Who asked your opinion?’ Lizzie said
indignantly. ‘Don’t you go saying that when Doctor Townsend comes
tomorrow, either. There’s no need for anyone to be talking about
getting married just yet, not the first time he comes out. Frank,
you’d better hurry up, or it’ll be dinner time before you’re
back.’

Frank leaned on a fence post and regarded
Lizzie thoughtfully. ‘Look, I tell you what,’ he said in the voice
of one being carefully reasonable. ‘I’ll go into town and see this
doctor fellow,’ Lizzie’s face lightened as he spoke, ‘if you’ll
finish off this fence for me. How does that sound?’

‘Honestly, Frank, you can be so stubborn
sometimes! As if a bit of fence matters more than your own
daughter’s future.’

He bowed to the inevitable. ‘All right,
Joey, you’d better run a message for your ma. I can finish this off
by myself, it’ll just take a bit longer. Your ma wants you to go
and see this new doctor, and tell him he’s to come out and marry
Maudie.’

‘How much will I say you’ll pay him to take
her, Pa?’ Joey asked, his eyes glinting with mischief.

‘Don’t you go encouraging him, Frank! You’re
not to say any such thing, Joey. No, I’ve thought it out—tell him I
want him to come and take a look at Rosie. She’s got one of her
chests.’

‘Rosie’s always getting one of her chests,’
Joey pointed out.

‘Then it’s high time I had a doctor take a
look at her. Anyway, don’t pass remarks. Now, you go inside and put
some clean clothes on—wear your Sunday jacket, too, I don’t want
him thinking we don’t know how to behave. He’s living in that house
around the corner from the Masonic—you know, it used to be Walker’s
place. Tell him your mother wants him to have a look at your little
sister, and he’s to come at three o’clock tomorrow. Half past three
would be all right. Can you remember that? Good. Off you go.’

She gave Joey a small shove to hurry him on
his way, and watched him with a smug expression. ‘That should work
out nicely.’

‘I don’t know what your rush is,’ Frank
said. ‘I shouldn’t think the fellow’ll be getting married to anyone
else before the week’s out.’

Lizzie turned on him. ‘Frank, do you think
this town’s full of suitable men just lining up to marry Maudie? A
nice young chap like this doctor, half the women in Ruatane will be
after him for their daughters. And most of them live closer to him
than we do. I’m not going to just wait around till someone else
gets hold of him.’

‘She’s only fifteen. There’s plenty of time
for all that.’

‘Sixteen,’ Lizzie corrected him. ‘She’s
sixteen. That’s how old I was when you and me started keeping
company. And how often will she get a chance like this?’

‘Whenever there’s a fellow with sense enough
to know a fine girl when they see one. Anyway, I don’t know if this
doctor chap’s good enough for my Maudie.’

‘Then you’ll get a chance to find out
tomorrow. That’s the idea of getting him out nice and soon, so we
can have a good look at him. If he doesn’t seem a decent sort of
fellow, we won’t have him again.’

‘He’ll have to be more than just decent if
he thinks he’s going to have Maudie… hey, I’m getting as mad as
you,’ Frank said, pulled up short by the realisation of how far he
had let his thoughts wander. ‘Who’s to say this fellow even wants
to get married?’

‘Of course he does. He’s the right age for
marrying, he’s got a good job, and he’s got plenty of money. He
must want to get married. How could he not?’

Frank studied her face, bright with
conviction, and he broke into a smile. He drew Lizzie within the
circle of his arm. ‘Well, maybe because he doesn’t know what he’s
missing out on. Poor beggar.’

*

As soon as she arrived at Lizzie’s the next
afternoon, Amy found herself being bustled into the girls’ room,
where Lizzie and Maudie were poring over the contents of the
wardrobe. Lizzie carried Kate on one hip, while Rose wandered
around at her feet occasionally tugging at Lizzie’s dress in a vain
attempt to get her mother’s attention.

‘Now, what do you think, Amy?’ Lizzie asked.
‘The blue one’s nice, but I’m worried it might be a bit fancy for
just an ordinary working day. We don’t want the doctor thinking
Maudie’s got dressed up specially. Rosie, don’t keep pulling my
dress like that,’ she said, brushing the little hand away. ‘I’ll
get you a biscuit in a minute.’

‘But Mama, I don’t want—’

‘Shh, girl, Mama’s busy. Go outside and play
if you like.’

‘What about this one, Aunt Amy?’ Maudie
asked, pulling out a pale grey dress in fine wool, simple in style
but with a prettily draped skirt.

‘It’s very plain,’ Lizzie said. ‘You want
something a bit eye-catching.’

‘Like that awful old pink dress you gave
Maisie?’ Maudie asked, a challenge clear in her voice. Amy spoke
quickly before Lizzie could take it up.

‘Why not wear the grey one with something to
pretty it up?’ she suggested. ‘Have you got any nice sashes,
Maudie?’

Maudie opened a drawer, and Amy rummaged
through it till she found a sash in dusky pink. ‘This one would
look nice with it, don’t you think?’ She held the sash against the
dress.

‘Oh, yes, that’s just right,’ Lizzie said.
‘It’s pretty, but it doesn’t look overdone.’

‘And I’ve got a hair ribbon the same
colour,’ Maudie volunteered. ‘But don’t you think it might make me
look like a little girl, Aunt Amy? Sashes and hair ribbons and
stuff?’

Amy gave her a wistful smile. ‘Don’t be in
too much of a hurry to grow up, Maudie.’ But she did not want to
spoil Maudie’s obvious delight in the coming visitor. ‘Shall I have
a go at fluffing your hair out, so it looks all soft and full?’

‘She’s not having it up,’ Lizzie said. ‘I’ve
told her we’ll put her hair up come summer, when we let her dresses
down. I’ll put her in stays then, too.’

Maudie looked affronted. ‘I don’t want it
up, anyway. It’d look stupid, putting my hair up while I’m still in
short dresses.’

‘I didn’t mean putting it up,’ Amy said. ‘I
just thought I could fluff it out. Here, I’ll show you what I
mean.’

She took Maudie’s comb and began primping
and fussing over the girl’s thick, blond hair. A few minutes and a
handful of hairpins later, she tied the pretty pink ribbon in place
and stepped back to admire her handiwork.

‘That looks lovely,’ Maudie said in delight.
‘Thank you, Aunt Amy!’ She planted a kiss on Amy’s cheek.

‘You’re good with hair, Amy,’ said
Lizzie.

‘Oh, not really. I’ve had to figure out how
to keep mine tidy, that’s all. Mine’s so thick, it’d be a real mess
if I didn’t manage it. I’m not really much good with clothes, you
know,’ Amy added. ‘I’m not used to fancy things. You should have
asked Lily, she’s used to city fashions. Or even Susannah, come to
that.’

‘Humph!’ Lizzie said. ‘There’s
some
girls who get a bit hoity-toity if people encourage them to think
they know more than their betters. I don’t let Lily give Maudie
advice on how to dress any more. Anyway, you’re quite right about
that grey dress, and her hair looks lovely. Yes, she looks just
right,’ Lizzie said, studying Maudie. ‘That’s just how I wanted her
to look. That should do nicely.’

Maudie bristled at her mother’s
proprietorial air. ‘I don’t know if I’m even going to like this
doctor, you know,’ she said loftily. ‘He might be ugly, or have bad
breath or something. Or he might just be boring. You needn’t think
I’m going to have anything to do with him if I don’t like him.’

Instead of biting back as Amy expected her
to, Lizzie regarded her daughter calmly. ‘Oh, I wouldn’t worry
about that,’ she said. ‘If it comes to that, I don’t suppose
there’s much chance he’ll like you.’

Maudie opened her mouth, then closed it
again. Amy saw the rush of thoughts across the girl’s face as she
mulled over this new notion.

‘Time you got changed, then you can go and
help Beth set those biscuits out on the plates, Maudie,’ Lizzie
said. ‘We want it all to look just right. Put one of my aprons on
over that dress. Mind you don’t mess your hair up, either, now Aunt
Amy’s done it so nice for you. Rosie, do stop that,’ she said,
tugging her skirt out of Rosie’s hand.

‘Mama, why do I—’

‘In a minute, Rosie. You just stay here with
your sister—she’ll give you some jobs to do in the kitchen in a
bit. I want to have a little talk with Aunt Amy now.’

She led Amy out of the girls’ room and into
the front bedroom, then closed the door and put Kate down on the
floor. ‘Are you all right?’ she asked, giving Amy a searching gaze.
‘Not having any bother with him?’

‘No, there hasn’t been any trouble,’ Amy
said. ‘Charlie hardly even talks to me, let alone saying anything
nasty. I think he’s too tired.’ Charlie’s loud gloating over having
banished David had worn off as soon as the realisation sank in that
he now had to do by himself the work the two of them had done
together. By the end of most days he barely seemed to have the
energy to eat his dinner, without wasting it on abusing Amy.

‘That’s all right, then.’ Lizzie put her arm
around Amy. ‘I know it’s not much fun for you, stuck there by
yourself with him. And you miss Dave, of course.’

‘Miss’ was not a strong enough term. Amy did
not have the words for the aching loss she still felt. The shock
was over, now that David had been gone nearly four months, but the
pain was still there. Even the sudden death of Ginger, thirteen
years old and worn out by too many winters, a month after David’s
departure seemed part of the melancholy pattern. ‘Oh, yes, I miss
him all right,’ she said softly. ‘But he’s safe. That’s all that
matters, really. I wanted Mal to be safe, and I made an awful mess
of that, but Dave’s all right. Even though I can’t have him any
more.’

‘He’ll come back one day.’

Amy shook her head. ‘Not while Charlie’s
around. They’ll never make it up, not those two. Charlie’ll never
forgive Dave, and Dave wouldn’t come back without being asked. Not
after the way Charlie talked to him.’

‘Men are that stubborn,’ Lizzie said,
looking so stern that Amy could not help but smile.

‘Don’t worry about me, Lizzie. Dave’s safe,
and he’s getting on all right. He’s trying to save up his money,
but they seem to take just about all he earns off him for board,
poor thing. He says he’s got plenty to get by on, though. And he
writes faithfully every week, just like he said he would. He’s a
good boy.’ The letters David sent her via Frank were a poor
compensation for having lost him, but she drew every morsel of
happiness she could from them. Her greatest pleasure was to sit in
the boys’ room when Charlie was away from the house, spreading out
the letters on her lap and reading them over and over. ‘Brooding’,
Lizzie had called it when she caught Amy at it, and perhaps it was,
but Amy had no intention of giving it up.

‘Well, as long as you’re all right,’ Lizzie
said.

Amy gnawed at her lower lip while she tried
to decide whether to speak about what was troubling her, then words
came in a rush.

‘Lizzie, you’ll think I’m awful saying this.
And I know Maudie’s a good girl, I’m not trying to say she isn’t.
But… be careful with her. No matter what this Doctor Townsend seems
like, be careful with Maudie. I’d hate anything to happen to
her.’

‘Of course you’re not awful,’ Lizzie said
fiercely. ‘And it’s nothing to do with being a good girl, either—I
know what men can be like. Oh, yes I do, don’t you go looking at me
like that. I wouldn’t care if this fellow was the Prime Minister’s
son, I’m not letting him out of my sight with Maudie. Not until I
know what his intentions are, anyway.’

‘Give him a chance to know them himself,
Lizzie,’ Amy said, smiling. ‘Give him a chance to meet her,
anyway!’

‘Well, there’s no harm in thinking ahead, is
there? It’s no good just sitting back and waiting for things to
happen.’ Lizzie retrieved Kate from the floor and stood up. ‘Come
on, let’s see if Maudie’s doing things properly out there.’

Amy followed Lizzie out to the kitchen, to
find that the boys had gravitated into the room, attracted by the
smell of baking.

‘Now listen, you boys,’ Lizzie said, ‘you
can have some biscuits—just the plain ones, leave the fancy ones
for when the doctor comes. Have plenty now, because you lot can
stay outside when we have our afternoon tea. It’ll just be the
grown-ups then, and Maudie, because she’s the oldest.’ She looked
thoughtfully at Beth. ‘No, you can stay too, Beth. It’ll be good
for you to learn about mixing with different people.’

‘Pity the doctor’s not bringing a mate,’
Joey said. ‘Then you could see if the other fellow wanted to marry
Beth.’

‘One more word like that out of you, and
you’ll find you’re not too big to get a hiding,’ Lizzie said,
narrowing her eyes at her oldest son. ‘You can say good day to
Doctor Townsend when he comes, but don’t you go making any smart
remarks in front of him. Oh, Rosie, don’t start that pulling on my
dress again! Do you want a biscuit or what?’

‘No,’ Rosie said in a whimper.

‘Well, what
do
you want, then?’

‘I want—I don’t—I—’ Rosie’s words dissolved
into a wail. Lizzie passed Kate over to Beth, sat on a chair and
drew Rosie onto her lap. ‘Come on, tell Mama what’s wrong,’ she
said, suddenly gentle.

‘I don’t want the doctor to look at me,’
Rosie sobbed. ‘I don’t want him to stick things in me.’

‘He won’t stick things in you! He’ll just
have a look at you, and try and see why you cough all the time.
Then we’ll have a nice afternoon tea, then he’ll go home.’