The Dollmaker's Daughters (23 page)

On Sunday, with Jonas not having returned from Southend and the whole day ahead of her, Ruby decided to visit her mother and give her the splendid news that she was about to enrol as a probationer at the London Hospital. It was a glorious spring day, full of golden sunshine in between the showers, and the pavements gleamed as though they had been freshly scrubbed. Opting to walk rather than to waste good money on a hansom cab, Ruby set off for Tobacco Court feeling happier than she had for a long time. She had worked it out in her head that if Jonas had not donated the bursary, then it must have been Adam. There was no one else who would have her best interests at heart and Adam had shown her marked attention from the start. Of course, she knew that he was devoted to Pamela and she would never do anything to come between them, but it was just more proof, if she had needed any, that Adam Fairfax was a wonderful person.

Stopping at a shop on the way, Ruby bought bread, butter, boiled ham and a slab of fruit cake. She was halfway home when a voice hailed her from a passing cart, and, turning her head, she saw Billy waving to her.

‘Going home, Ruby? Hop up, I’m going that way myself.’

The basket was heavy and Ruby didn’t argue.
Sitting beside Billy, she saw that his hands, although scarred, were free from bandages.

Billy grinned, holding his hands up for her to see. ‘Much better, thanks to you.’

‘I’m glad, but I didn’t do much, Billy. It was Pamela and Adam who looked after you.’

‘No, I won’t have that, girl. It was you who saw to me when I was out of me head with fever and it was you who took me to your home to be looked after.’ Billy flicked the reins to make his horse move at a slightly quicker plod. ‘As a matter of fact I was on me way to call on your mum, just to see how she was going on.’

‘That’s nice of you, Billy. But as for me, I only did what any friend would do,’ Ruby said, holding onto her hat as a frisky breeze tried to tug it off her head. ‘Rosetta would have done the same if she’d been at home.’

Billy’s face darkened. ‘She don’t want to know me now.’

‘Oh, Billy, I’m sure that’s not true.’

‘You ought to know. You lives next door to each other.’

‘I haven’t seen Rose for weeks. She’s not too happy with me working for Jonas Crowe.’

‘So that’s it, is it? I knew it wasn’t just that she’s doing well in the music hall. She’s got her sights set on a bloke with more money than I’ll ever get me hands on.’

Ruby couldn’t argue with that and she sat in
silence, clutching her basket, thinking about Rosetta and her impossible dream of becoming Mrs Jonas Crowe. One thing Ruby knew now for certain was that Jonas took what he wanted, when he wanted it, and if he had had the slightest desire for Rosetta he would have taken her, willing or not.

‘Penny for ’em.’

Billy’s voice cut through her reverie, making Ruby jump. ‘I was just thinking about Rose. I worry about her, Billy. She’s not as tough as she makes out.’

‘I know that,’ Billy said, steering the horse into Tobacco Court. ‘It’s just that she thinks she knows it all.’

Ruby leapt out as the cart stopped. ‘Are you coming in?’

‘Is that an invitation?’

Ruby laughed. ‘Of course it is. There’s enough food in my basket to go round and Mum and Granny Mole will be pleased to see you.’

Sarah’s face lit up when she saw Ruby and Billy. Granny Mole gave them a nod, silent and unsmiling, but that was a welcome in itself. Ruby had never known Granny Mole hold her tongue if she had anything to say, good or bad.

‘What a lovely surprise,’ Sarah said, hugging Ruby with an unusual display of emotion.

Ruby put the basket on the table noting, with a
stab of conscience, that the midday meal already laid out was half a stale loaf and a pot of dripping. Looking round, she realised that the brass timepiece had gone from the mantelshelf, and as Sarah thrust her hands into the basket Ruby saw that her wedding ring was missing.

‘This is a treat, Ruby,’ Sarah was saying, as she set the food out on the table. ‘Sit down both of you and I’ll make a pot of tea.’

‘Better than that,’ Billy said, opening his coat and producing a quart bottle of ale from a poacher’s pocket. ‘I thought Granny might appreciate a drop of tiddley.’

‘Fetch some glasses, Ruby,’ Granny Mole said, sitting up alert and bright-eyed. ‘I haven’t had a drop since the wake and I’m so dry I’m spitting sawdust.’

‘You’re a good bloke, Billy,’ Sarah said. ‘We’ve missed you since you went back to your own place.’

Hooking his arm around her shoulders, Billy gave her a hug. ‘And I’ve missed your cooking, Ma. Makes me wish I weren’t a bachelor.’

‘You won’t have no home cooking if you get tied up to Rose,’ Granny Mole said, darkly. ‘She’s a flighty little madam. We ain’t seen hide nor hair of her since she joined them theatricals.’

‘Then it’s just as well I’m happy to be single,’ Billy said, pouring beer into the tumblers that Ruby handed him.

Sarah looked up from serving the food and smiled at Billy. ‘You’re always welcome here whether you’re courting Rosetta or not. She’s like Joe, she’ll come home when she’s good and ready.’

‘Never mind them, Sal,’ Granny Mole said impatiently. ‘Cut me a slice of that boiled ham before I dies of hunger.’

Later, when Granny Mole had fallen asleep in front of the fire and Billy had gone out into the yard to fetch a hod of coal, Ruby and Sarah were washing the dishes in the scullery.

‘Mum, I wish you’d told me you was hard up. What happened to all that money that Mr Crowe gave you as an advance on my wages?’

Avoiding Ruby’s enquiring glance, Sarah concentrated on the washing-up. ‘There was expenses, love.’

‘What are you talking about, Mum?’

‘All right, if you must know, Joe was a bit hard up and I helped him out.’

‘You never.’

‘He finished his apprenticeship but the printer couldn’t take him on so he’s been out of work. But I’m sure he’ll find something soon. He’s a good boy.’

For a moment, Ruby almost let the truth slip, but she stopped herself just in time. Struggling with her anger, she decided that she would tell Joe a few home truths when she next saw him,
but that would have to wait. She would not upset Mum now for anything; with a huge effort Ruby managed to control her inner rage. ‘So how have you been managing, then? Has Rosetta sent you any money?’

‘You know Rose; her head’s up in the clouds most of the time. Anyway, you mustn’t worry, ducks. What you’ve given me has helped and we’ve got by,’ Sarah said, wiping her hands on her apron. ‘Billy give us money for his keep while he was here and I done a bit of washing for the baker’s wife down Spivey Street. Poor soul, she ain’t right yet after that fire and her husband might never be able to work again. There’s always someone worse off than you and that’s the truth.’

‘You should have told me, Mum. I wouldn’t have let you pop your clock or your wedding ring, not for the world. But you should have hung on to the money that Mr Crowe gave you.’

Sarah’s sallow skin flushed dull red and she turned away, stacking the dishes in a cupboard. ‘I’ll get it back when Joe gets a better job. He’s a good son, Ruby. He just had a run of bad luck. It weren’t his fault.’

‘No, it never is.’

‘And he’s well in with Mr Crowe,’ Sarah added hastily. ‘He’s doing all sorts of jobs for Mr Crowe, though Joe won’t say what. But I expect that’s how business is done in the City.’

‘Is that what he says?’

‘Well, you must know what goes on in that big house, you being the private nurse to Mrs Crowe and all that. I’ve told all the old busybodies in Tobacco Court how you come up in the world. I’m so proud of you, Ruby. And now you’re going to train as a proper nurse at the London. Your dad would have been ever so pleased.’

Ruby had not intended to spend so long at home, but Sarah insisted that Joe would be coming and it would be nice if they all had tea together: after all, it would be a crying shame to waste that slab of rich fruit cake. To Ruby’s surprise, Billy settled down in Poppa’s chair by the fire, entertaining Mum and Granny Mole with stories about his dodgy dealings and his brushes with the law. It was dark by the time Sarah grudgingly admitted that Joe might not be coming after all. Even so, she cut a generous slice of cake and wrapped it in a piece of cloth to save for him.

With nothing to hurry for, Ruby had not worried about returning to Raven Street, but when she decided it was time to leave Billy insisted on driving her home. Nightfall had brought with it a cloudburst and Billy produced a large, black umbrella from the depths of the footwell. When they arrived outside the house, Billy sprang off the cart to help Ruby down and he held the umbrella while she searched her
purse for the latchkey. She had just put the key in the lock when the front door of Lottie’s house opened and Elsie appeared on the top step screaming and crying for help.

Vaulting over the iron railings, Billy took her by the shoulders, giving her a gentle shake and demanding to know what was wrong. Hampered by her long skirt, Ruby had to take the long way round, and by this time, Elsie had dragged Billy into the hall.

‘What’s wrong, Elsie?’ Ruby hurried inside, closing the door behind her. ‘Calm down. We can’t understand a word you’re saying.’

‘She’s out of her head,’ Billy said, as Elsie scuttled off towards the basement stairs, crying and mumbling to herself.

‘Something terrible must have happened.’ Picking up her skirts, Ruby chased after Elsie with Billy close on her heels. The flickering gaslight turned their shadows into amorphous monster shapes on the walls that followed them along the narrow passages and down the stairs to the basement. As they neared the kitchen the sound of wild, hysterical screaming made Ruby’s blood spike in her veins.

Pushing Elsie aside, Billy rushed into the kitchen. ‘Bleeding hell!’

He stopped suddenly, causing Ruby to cannon into him. She stared in horror at the nightmarish scene. The kitchen was in darkness except for a
pool of light from the fire as flames roared up the chimney; the range had been stoked with coal so that it resembled a fiery furnace. Wallowing in a tin tub filled to the brim with steaming water and completely naked, Rosetta clasped a gin bottle in her hand. Screaming hysterically, her skin reddened by the scalding water, she stared blindly at them as she writhed around, sending waves of water spilling onto the flagstones.

‘Rose, stop that.’ Slipping and sliding on the wet floor, Ruby threw herself down on her knees by the bath. ‘Billy, we got to get her out of there.’

‘Shut up, you silly girl, and fetch a towel,’ Billy said, shaking Elsie until she stopped howling, and stood shivering and staring dumbly up at him.

Rosetta’s screaming turned to wild laughter and Ruby plunged her arms into the hot water.

‘No, no, leave me be.’ Rosetta pushed Ruby away, putting the bottle to her lips and pouring gin into her mouth.

Grabbing the bottle, Ruby wrenched it from her hand and tossed it across the room, where it shattered against the wall. ‘Billy, give us a hand, for God’s sake,’ she cried, struggling to keep hold of Rosetta, who was slippery as an eel and a dead weight.

Plunging his arms into the scalding water, Billy caught hold of Rosetta and, despite her biting and kicking, dragged her from the tub with Ruby
hanging onto her flailing legs. In seconds they were both soaked to the skin but Billy had Rosetta firmly clutched to his chest. ‘You can struggle all you want, Rosetta,’ he said grimly. ‘I ain’t letting you go until you calm down.’

Ruby snatched the towel from Elsie’s hands, attempting to wrap it around Rosetta’s shoulders and receiving a savage kick in the stomach for her pains. Dropping the towel on the floor, Ruby clutched her belly, doubling up with pain.

‘You stop that now,’ Billy said, lifting Rosetta bodily and dumping her onto a chair. She struggled like a wild thing, trying to get back into the water, screaming and laughing until Billy slapped her across the face. Her head jerked back, her eyes widened in shock. In stunned silence, Rosetta stared at Billy. ‘There now,’ he said, picking the towel from the floor and wrapping it around her naked body. ‘I never hit a woman before but you was acting like a mad thing, Rose.’

‘What was you thinking of?’ demanded Ruby, gasping for breath. ‘You got to tell us why you done something so stupid. You frightened the poor dimwit half to death, and us too.’

At that, Elsie began to howl low and long like an animal in pain. ‘She made me fill the bathtub. I never knew what she had in mind.’

‘It’s all right,’ Ruby said, patting her shoulder. ‘You go and fetch a glass of water for Miss
Rosetta. Everything will be all right, you’ll see.’

Nodding dumbly, Elsie disappeared into the scullery.

Ruby brushed the tangled mass of hair back from Rosetta’s forehead. ‘Rose, can you hear me?’

Burying her face in her hands and shivering, Rosetta subsided into muffled sobs.

Elsie hurried back from the scullery, slopping water on the floor in her haste. She handed the half-f glass to Billy and he held it to Rosetta’s lips. She drank a little, hiccupping and sniffing.

‘That’s better,’ Billy said, setting the glass aside and wrapping his arms around her, comforting her as if she were a baby. ‘We’d best get you to bed.’

‘Where is Mr Silas?’ Ruby asked, turning to Elsie. ‘And Miss Lottie?’

‘She’s dead drunk as usual,’ Elsie said, rolling her eyes. ‘He went out. He’ll kill me when he gets back.’

Ruby gave her a reassuring smile. ‘Clear up this mess like a good girl and he won’t know nothing about it. You won’t get into trouble, Elsie, I promise.’

‘In trouble,’ Rosetta repeated, laughing hysterically. ‘It’s not Elsie what’s in trouble.’

‘That’s enough, Rose,’ Billy said, sweeping her up in his arms. ‘You’re going to bed now, and sleep it off.’

‘No, Billy,’ Rosetta cried, her laughter turning to tears. ‘You don’t understand.’

‘I understand all right,’ Billy said, taking the stairs two at a time in spite of his burden.

‘She’s out of her head with drink, Billy,’ Ruby said, hurrying after them. ‘Don’t take no notice of what she says.’

Pausing at the top of the basement stairs, Billy turned his head to glance at Ruby, his face twisted with pain. ‘Don’t take no notice? All right, she may be a bit squiffy, but I’d say some bugger has got her in the family way and she’s half killed herself trying to get rid of it.’