For The Sake of Her Family (25 page)

Alice put a comforting arm around her. ‘We all make mistakes. I should know – I’ve done things that I’m really ashamed of. But you have so much to look forward to.
You’ve got money, a good cottage, a man who loves you and a baby on the way – and when he or she is born, I’m sure you’ll love that baby with all your heart. Things will get
better. You’ve just to get on with it. I’m here to do all the work and take care of you both and I’ll not let you down.’ She rocked Nancy’s trembling body, gazing over
her shoulder at the beautiful spring day outside the kitchen window. It was going to be a long five months, and even then she didn’t know how things would be. She only hoped and prayed things
would improve.

It was payday and the burly marble workers formed a line at the doorway of Stone House Cottage, collars turned up and caps pulled down to protect them from the fine drizzle.
The grey skies matched their mood.

‘I’ve not had to carve anything for over a month now,’ said the oldest man in the group. ‘I can’t see us carrying on. There’s no work, and we can’t go
on like this for ever.’

Josiah Middleton nodded in agreement and carried on trying to wind the men up. ‘If O’Hara had still been here, we’d have had full bellies and full pockets, but this arse-licker
only looks after himself. I tell you, O’Hara might have been turning Frankland over, but he took care of his own. With this ’un we’ll get bloody nothing, ’cos he’s
neither one thing nor t’other. The man’s a traitor to his own kind!’ Middleton shoved his hands in his pockets and spat on the clean step of the cottage. ‘Come on, you
bugger, open up – we want our brass,’ he brayed at the kitchen door.

The green-painted door opened and Alice stepped out, wiping her hands on her pinny. She glared at the great hulk towering over her in the doorway. ‘Will you be quiet! Miss Nancy is resting
and my brother’s trying to count out your wages. You’ll not get them any sooner by bellowing.’ There was no trace of fear in her voice, but inside she was quaking. The huge man
could easily have picked her up off her feet, and well he knew it.

‘Oooh, lads, did you hear that? Miss Nancy’s resting. From what I hear, both these so-called ladies are at their best on their backs,’ Middleton roared at his workmates, who
rewarded his wit with rumbling laughter.

‘Don’t you make fun of me, Mr Middleton, or you’ll live to regret it.’ Alice could feel her temper rising. Her face was flushing not with embarrassment but with fury. How
dare he, the crude, vulgar man. ‘I’m warning you, mind who you are talking to.’

‘And who’s that, then? A lady’s maid – if you can call that wild thing a lady. As for the “maid”, why she’s no better than a prostitute, or so
I’ve heard.’ Middleton continued playing to his admiring crowd, unaware of Will coming to the door.

‘Middleton, you’ve insulted my family enough – get yourself in here now, and close the door.’

Will was sharp and hard with his words; this troublemaker had riled him once too often. He went and sat behind the kitchen table, where the allocated wages and his accounts were all laid out,
and began counting out a few extra shillings alongside Middleton’s wages. The man had taken his cap off and relaxed his stance in anticipation of receiving his week’s pay. Alice looked
on, her eyes burning into Middleton’s back. Her hands were clenched into fists by her side; she was so angry she wanted to lash out at him for calling her those things.

Will counted the money out as he placed it in the big man’s outstretched palm, and carried on counting until the man was holding two weeks’ wages. Then he rose to his full height and
looked the grinning man straight in the eye. ‘Middleton, you’re fired. I’ve had enough of you and your troublemaking. I don’t need your sort round here. There’s an
extra week’s wage in your hand. Now, I want you off my property by the end of the day.’

‘You dirty rotten bastard – you can’t run that works without me. You’re nothing, you jumped-up piece of shit.’ Middleton grabbed Will by the collar, pulling him
halfway across the table and sending the rest of the wages scattering across the floor.

‘Oh, but I can,’ said Will, breaking free from his aggressor’s grasp. ‘There isn’t going to be a marble works any more – I’ve just closed the place down
and now you’re all out of a job. So you can threaten me all you like but there’s nothing you can do about it.’

‘You bastard! You’ve sold us all out! Taken care of yourself, haven’t you? Made sure you’re all right, but you don’t give a damn about the rest of us –
we’re nothing to you.’ He made a fist and was about to throw a punch at Will when he felt something poke him in the middle of his back.

‘I wouldn’t do that if I was you. Now you’d better calm down, walk out that door and keep on walking else I’ll pull this trigger – and believe me, my brother taught
me how to handle a gun real well. I don’t just lie on my back, as you so quaintly put it.’ If Alice could have pulled the trigger without fear of being prosecuted for murder, she would
have done it. She hated the ugly brute of a man.

Middleton went quiet, bent down to pick his cap up and slowly made his way to the door. The whole time Alice held Will’s shotgun to his spine. He opened the door, spat once again, put his
cap on at an angle and walked out of the yard without so much as a glance at his fellow workers. Alice and Will stood on the doorstep watching him, his coat flapping and arms swinging as he turned
the corner and disappeared from sight.

Having heard every word of what had gone on inside the cottage, the rest of the men stood silent, their faces sombre as they awaited their final paypacket. They were regretting the times that
they had moaned about their work; it might not have been up to much, but at least it put food on the table and a roof over their heads. Now things looked bleak. As each man emerged from the cottage
clutching his money, he paused to solemnly shake hands and mutter promises to stay in touch. In reality they didn’t know what the future held for them.

Once the last worker had left the kitchen, Will breathed a sigh of relief. It had been the worst day’s work he had ever had to do and he felt sorry for his ex-workers. Work was hard to
come by and he didn’t know where they would end up.

‘Thank God that’s over,’ said Alice. ‘If that Middleton had said another word, I swear I’d have shot him. Ignorant brute.’ She was sweeping the kitchen floor,
pushing the broom with a vengeance as she cleaned up all traces of the muddy boot prints that had been left on the stone slabs. ‘I’m glad Nancy didn’t wake up when he started
losing his temper and shouting: it would have made her nervous and upset her.’

‘Aye, he’s one that I’ll not be sorry to see the back of. I’ll miss some of the others, though. Still, if all goes well, I might be able to rehire them.’ Will took
his accounts book and the few pounds he had left over and locked them in his sturdy sideboard.

‘That was a good idea the pair of you came up with. Shows what you can do when you put your heads together. Once the conversion’s done, the marble works will make two good houses.
And as soon as they’re sold, you can build them two new houses. All in all, it should make a good investment for the both of you.’ Alice set aside the broom and busied herself washing
dishes.

‘Aye, I can’t wait. Starting next week, I’m going to have a hell of a tidy-up. I need to get hold of the scrap man first – might as well get what money we can from the
old machinery. But that’s all I can do for the time being. I wish that architect friend of Gerald’s would get a move on with the plans. Last thing I want is to be sitting around here
with nothing to do.’

Alice turned from the sink to look at her brother. ‘Nancy will enjoy having you around. She needs your support.’

‘Aye, but do I want to be around her? She’s near driven me mad of late. I tell you, lass, if she hadn’t any brass, I’d be thinking about doing a runner. I didn’t
know what I was taking on – why didn’t you tell me how bad she was?’ Will was standing in the kitchen doorway, staring out at the drizzle and the mist that was starting to form
around the fell.

‘She’ll get better once the baby’s born. Not long to go now, so be patient; you’ll soon be a dad and that will change everything.’ Alice went to her brother and put
an arm around him. ‘With all this money you and Gerald will be making from your new project, you’ll be lord of your own manor before you know it.’

‘Aye, well, we’ll see. It’ll take a while to get everything in place. In the meantime, we’ll have to live on Nancy’s allowance and be content with that.’

‘Is someone talking about me?’ Nancy, fresh from her afternoon nap, entered the kitchen.

‘No, Nancy. It’s been a bit of an afternoon, that’s all. Will’s just laid off the workers – I’m surprised the shouting didn’t wake you up.’ Alice
beckoned for her to sit down. ‘Will was only saying it’s a good job we have your allowance to live on, until the houses get built.’

‘What houses? What are you talking about? Nobody ever tells me anything!’ Nancy demanded in an aggravated tone.

‘You were there when Gerald and Will talked about closing the marble works and changing it into houses. That way they can keep Stone House turning a profit for them.’ Alice squeezed
her hand.

‘I can’t remember. I can’t remember anything. My head feels all fuzzy. I can’t think straight any more.’ Nancy turned to Alice, her eyes pleading for an
explanation.

‘Don’t worry, love. You let us worry about that. We’ll take care of things, won’t we, Will?’

‘Aye, nothing to fret about, all’s in hand.’ Will grabbed his coat and cap from the hook by the door. ‘Right, I’m off up to the works to make sure all’s
straight. It’ll be funny to walk up there and not have any workers around.’

In truth, it was just an excuse to get out of the cottage. Will was fed up with humouring his new wife and listening to baby talk, and having to endlessly repeat things because Nancy
couldn’t remember having been told. Already he was sick and tired of this being-married lark. Given the chance, he’d welcome being free and single again.

‘Are you ready, you two? The horse and me are waiting. I don’t know why you women take so long. God only knows what you get up to.’ Will waited in the bright
sunshine, impatient to set off. He was meeting Gerald at the manor to go over the plans that had been drawn up for the new houses.

‘We’re coming. You should know better than to rush a pregnant woman – we had to make sure we looked our best, didn’t we, Nancy?’ Alice helped her sister-in-law into
the trap, Nancy’s swollen belly showing that the unborn baby was growing. ‘You’re going to have to be more patient when you’re a father, what with all the sleepless nights
and nappies. But I’m sure you’ll cope.’

She climbed in and sat opposite Nancy in the back. Behind her she could hear Will grunting and mumbling under his breath in response to her dig at him.

‘We do need to get there for dinner time, not supper – get a move on,’ Alice prompted.

Will finished lighting the cigarette that hung from the corner of his mouth and whipped the horse into motion.

With the trap finally moving, Alice and Nancy sat watching the countryside go by and listening to the steady pace of the horse’s hooves. In the dale, farmers were cutting the grass to make
into hay and the warm air was filled with the smell of sweet grass drying. It was a beautiful day and even Will began to relax a little, breaking into a merry out-of-tune whistle.

‘It’s nice to see home.’ Nancy gazed at the manor with tear-filled eyes as the trap slowed to a halt by the front steps. ‘I forget how much I love this place. Not that I
don’t want to be with Will, but it would be nice if the cottage was a little larger.’

‘It won’t be long now. Gerald and Will have agreed that the first house to be built will be for the two of you and the new baby to live in. Then you can rent your cottage out.’
Alice knew Nancy had been missing the luxuries of the manor and she could understand how she felt. She had forsaken so much for the love of Will and he did not appreciate it.

‘Nancy, my love, you’re blooming!’ Gerald took hold of his sister’s hand to support her as she alighted the trap.

‘Thank you, Gerald. I feel fine sometimes, but how I miss this place.’ A tear rolled down her cheek.

‘Now, don’t get upset. You know we are always here and that you are always welcome.’ He escorted her into the manor, then turned to help Alice alight. ‘Alice, how are you
keeping? I see you’ve brought the sunshine with you.’ His eyes twinkled with mischief, but he lowered them when he noticed Will watching him.

Alice couldn’t take her gaze off Gerald as he escorted her up the steps. It had been a few weeks since she had seen him and every day she had fantasized about his dark features. Crossly
she reminded herself that she had no business thinking about him in that way. So far as he was concerned, she was just a servant girl. She chattered brightly in an effort to cover her inner
turmoil.

‘Thank you. It’s such a beautiful day, we had a lovely journey, and Nancy’s been coping ever so well. She just got a little tearful when she saw the manor. You must admit,
there is quite a difference between this and where we live.’

‘Ah, but that will soon change. You should see the plans I’ve had drawn up; the new family will not want for anything with the house we are to build. Come on, Will, leave that animal
to Jack and come and join us in the study.’

Once the men were engrossed in their discussion of the plans, Mrs Dowbiggin came in with a tea tray and began serving the two women. ‘Miss Nancy, it’s lovely to see you.’ She
gave Nancy a hug and fussed over her as she poured tea and passed out the cups. ‘How’s things with the baby?’ she whispered, not wanting the men to overhear ‘women’s
business’.

‘Mrs Dowbiggin, I miss you. Are you taking good care of my brother? And where’s Faulks? Is he well?’ Nancy, shaking with emotion, clutched Mrs Dowbiggin’s hand.

‘We are fine, Miss Nancy, so stop bothering about us and just look after yourself and that baby. That’s all that matters now.’

Mrs Dowbiggin blew her nose on a lace-trimmed handkerchief, disguising the fact that her eyes, too, were brimming with tears. Having looked after Miss Nancy since she was a girl, she had missed
her terribly. At times she’d even found herself missing the tantrums, wishing she could hear her screaming upstairs and smashing ornaments. Life had been so quiet without her.