Authors: Sylvia Burton
John hesitated and looked, once more, at his son. He knew he was putting his job on the line but he loved his son very much.
‘Yes, go on John’, said the Master.
‘Well Sir. He is a good worker and is learning quickly and one day he will be a good butler, in what I hope will be as fine a house as this. He has a strong sense of duty and
loyalty, be it for work or family, and I’m sure that, should he marry, he would care for his wife with great consideration’.
‘Thank you John. Please be seated’.
The Master then spoke to John’s wife. ‘Do you have anything to add Missus Blunt?’
William’s mother shook her head again and began to weep. Mister Fairfax revealed none of the pity, he felt for her, but went with the discussion.
‘Now this is my proposal’. He looked directly at William, ‘if your parents are agreeable, and if you adhere to my conditions, I will agree to a union’.
He held up his hand as William began to thank him.
‘I am not finished yet young man and you may not wish to thank me when I am done’.
William waited with bated breath.
‘As I see it, neither of you may marry, without my permission, this being the rule of the house, so it is in your own interest to hear me out’.
He looked from one to the other, and then continued.
‘My conditions are, firstly, you may not meet secretly, as I believe has be the case. You, William, will treat Sarah with respect at all times. You will be allowed two free afternoons in which to call upon her, and these meetings must, without exception, be here in the house. The Drawing Room will be put at your disposal, at these times; the door is to be left open throughout the visit. If, at the end of the year, you both feel as you do today, I will not only pay for you’re wedding, but will make a settlement on you of forty pounds a year. This will assist you in your life together; after all, Sarah is kin of this family’.
When no one spoke, he asked, ‘well William. What do you think?’
‘I can only thank you Sir for your understanding and kindness. I agree to your conditions. A year is a long time but I am more than willing to wait for Sarah’.
The Master stood up. ‘That’s settled then. Now perhaps you would all be good enough to return to your work?’
His eyes met William’s, ‘the house does not come to a standstill you know, even for affairs of the heart’.
He said this with a smile, and then left the room, leaving the door ajar
behind him.
William was overwhelmed and hugged Sarah to him. ‘I love you’, she whispered, before he and his parents returned to the kitchen. His father was relieved that it had been resolved so amicably. His mother was just pleased to get back to the kitchen where she could regain some of her usual composure.
The months that followed were the happiest that William could remember. He and Sarah met twice a week and came to know each other’s every thought. They were both happy to wait knowing that, eventually, they would be united in marriage.
On his visits, upstairs, they would sit in the drawing room and hold hands. When the strawberries were in season, he would arrange the most succulent ones, on a small silver tray, cover them with clotted cream and feed them, one at a time, into her lovely mouth.
Sarah would read poetry from her
favourite book and William would gaze at her, in wonder, and think himself the luckiest of men, to have a love such as this.
He composed his own love poems for her, and
memorise each line by heart, repeating the loving words to her, whilst his eyes poured out his love. She would search his eyes, whilst he recited the words and would see the adoration written there.
Their togetherness gave them a wondrous feeling of being the only two people on earth. They were quite certain there had never been such a love as theirs.
Spring turned to summer and summer to autumn and William was not only busy with his usual work, but worked, in his spare time making furniture for his future with Sarah.
One Sunday, after stocking up the wine cellar, he was putting the finishing touches to a straight back chair, which had taken him four weeks of intricate work. His father came out to the
yard where William was working.
‘William, you had better go up to the house. Sarah is feeling ill and the Master said for you to meet with him before visiting her’.
William heart missed a beat, ‘oh my God! What's wrong with her?’
‘Calm down boy. It’s probably just ‘the
vapours’; you know what ladies are like? As they reach womanhood, they get vapours’.
‘I must see her’, shouted William, already running towards the house.
He found the Master in the morning room. William's breath was coming in great gasps as he said, ‘Mister Fairfax? What’s wrong with Sarah? Is she all right?’
‘Sit down for a moment William.
It will do no good getting into an anguished state; Sarah is all right, for the moment at least. I have had the Doctor in to see her and it looks as if she has caught a chill on her lungs. You may visit her in her rooms, but a warning William, the child needs rest and must not be disturbed for long. Please see that you stay only five minutes.
William felt panic rising in his chest as he was escorted, by a manservant, along a maze of hallways to Sarah’s quarters.
He arrived there to find her sleeping; her golden hair tussled and damp, her breathing shallow. He noticed, with concern, the dark shadows beneath her closed lids.
‘My love, if anything should happen to you, how would I bear it?’ he whispered. He carefully took her delicate hand in his and pressed it to his lips. He stayed this way for five minutes then quietly left the room.
The next few days were a nightmare. William could not work. He could concentrate on nothing but his lovely Sarah. He was allowed to see her every day, but only for a few minutes. She was showing no improvement at all, in fact, she seemed to be ‘sinking’ more each day. The Doctor said she had a ‘lung impurity’ and it would take some time for her recovery.
Sarah slept most of the time, but when she was awake, William told her how much she meant to him and how they were going to marry and live in a fine house and have beautiful children.
She smiled at him and said, ‘we will always be together William, no matter what happens won’t we?’ But the effort of talking seemed to be too much for her. She closed her eyes, once more, and slipped into a deep sleep.
The next morning, just six days after the onset of the illness, William’s world fell apart. Sarah was dead.
The dreadful news was conveyed to William by the Master. He himself had insisted on this. It was important to him that William should understand how devastated he felt at Sarah’s passing, and how sympathetic he was for the boy’s loss.
William was ravaged with grief, but allowed himself to be escorted to the house, where he could see Sarah, for the last time.
Mister Fairfax silently closed the door behind him as he left the young man in the bedroom. William tiptoed to the bed somehow afraid he would wake her.
‘Oh that I could’, he cried, tears now leaving a trail of sadness down his face. He pressed her limp hand to his cheek and wept as if he would never stop.
‘How could you leave me Sarah? How can I survive without you? My poor, sweet, love. My only love’. He did not move for a long time.
When the tears subsided he suddenly felt calm.
He turned back the sheets and lay next to Sarah, his body close to hers for the very first time. He kissed her lips, to find them cool, but not yet cold, and William thought,
how ironic that we should be left here, alone, only now when it is too late for us.
He lay there, undisturbed, for what seemed like an eternity.
They made a strange picture, he and his dead Sarah. And he vowed, there and then, never to give his heart to anyone else, as long as he lived.
The next six months were taken up with work, and then, more work. It was the only thing he could do. He wanted nothing from this cruel world, only to work until he dropped. His parents were worried for his health.
‘The boy can’t go on like this John, he really can’t’, his mother said, ‘I’m so worried about him. All he does is work and I know he’s not sleeping well’.
‘He should find someone else’, his father replied, ‘if only he would, it would help him to get over his bereavement’.
She looked at her husband and sighed, ‘John, do you honestly think he will ever get over Sarah? If you do, then you’re closing your eyes to the truth. I don’t think he will ever be happy again and it makes me sad. If only I could help him’. But she knew there was nothing to be done.
William's father tried on numerous occasions to reason with his son, but so far he had made no progress. He decided he would try one last time.
He approached William, who was in the Dining room, sorting the upstairs silver.
‘William. I want to have a serious conversation with you’.
As William started to protest, his father said, ‘no. I don’t want to hear any arguments. You really must talk about it’.
‘I haven’t time for this Father’.
‘Well you will have to make time, because I’m not going until you’ve, at least, heard what I have to say. I have watched you turn into a shadow of your former self and it’s not right. I cannot stand by and see you work yourself into the ground without doing anything to stop it’.
‘I’m all right Father,
really
’.
‘You’re not all right Son. Sarah would not have wanted
this
. It’s about time you did something about it’.
‘And what do you suggest Father?’ he said, his face suddenly dark with rage.
He had never spoken to his father in this manner and was immediately sorry.
‘I shouldn't have spoken to you like that Father. Forgive me’.
‘It’s all right Son. I know how you are grieving for Sarah. I
do
understand’.
Again, William’s anger emerged. ‘How can you understand? You haven’t had your heart torn form your chest’.
In desperation John shouted, ‘I think you should pull yourself together. Find a girl and marry her. Surely there’s a girl somewhere you could .........’ He didn't get to finish.
William, with his face like thunder, picked up his jacket and made for the door. His parting words were, ‘oh yes, there’s a girl all right’.
Rose was preparing vegetables, at the kitchen table, when she saw William enter. She was surprise to see that he was hurrying in her direction. Since the night of the party, so long ago, he had not stopped to speak to her, other than, to say ‘good morning’ or ‘good night’. And now he was coming towards her.
William, not stopping to consider the girl’s reaction, burst out, ‘Rose. If I were to ask you, would you marry me?’
‘What?’ Rose was shocked. This was the last thing she expected.
‘I know we don’t love each other, but will you marry me? Yes or no?’
He was aware of his angry tone and his uncaring manner but added, ‘Well?’
Rose thought she felt her heart break as she looked into his tortured eyes.
‘Yes William. I
will
marry you’.
William said, more kindly, ‘thank you Rose’, and then walked out of the kitchen without another word.
Four weeks later, Mister and Missus William Blunt, left the Fairfax Residence for the last time, to start their life together.
William sighed, drained the pot of cold tea and thought,
and here we are, Butler and Cook, married over twenty years. No children and nothing to look forward to but old age
.
He had to admit that Rose was a good woman, always ready and willing to please him. He knew that it couldn't have been easy for her but she had never complained.
There was a knock, and his wife put her head around the door, ‘William? It’s the upstairs doorbell dear’.
‘Thank you Missus Blunt’.
He stood up and walked briskly upstairs to answer the door. On his way he thought of Sarah, all thoughts of Ellie were gone from his mind.
Chapter
Six
Ellie turned the corner of Canal Street, her clogs clanging on the flagged path. There was no one to be seen, so early on this Sunday morning, but she knew her mother would be up and about, waiting to see her on her first day off.
Even after so short an absence, everything looked different.
How strange
, she thought as she noticed, for the first time, the drabness of the back-to-back houses and the grubby curtains at the windows. That is, the windows with any curtains at all. Not everyone in the street bothered with such things, ‘only makes more washing’, they would say.
She heard a sound and looked across the cobbled street to see Ma Bagnall, her shawl wrapped around her shoulders, displaying a big grin on round face.
Ellie called to her. ‘Hello Missus Bagnall. Hope my noisy clogs didn’t wake you?’
‘Nay lass, I’ll be off to mass in half an hour so I was up anyway. Just popped out to say ‘
hello’. Eh!! Ellie, it’s grand to see you. You look a treat, you do that’.
‘Thank you Missus Bagnall. It’s nice to be back’. Ellie stood for a moment, not knowing what else to say to the old lady.
‘Go on then lass, your mam will be ‘on pins’ waiting to see you’.
‘Yes I expect so. Good bye’.
As she walked towards number fourteen, Ma Bagnall watched her walk away.
Eh!, with her back so straight and head held high she looks like she don’t belong here
, she thought,
that one always thought she was a 'cut above the rest'. Being in service will be a bit of a 'come down'. Still, a nice enough girl, for all that
’. She shivered in the cold morning air, hurried inside and closed the door.
Before Ellie reached the house, her mother was outside to greet her. She held her daughter’s face between both hands.
‘Oh Ellie, it’s good to see you. Come in. You look so grown up. Eh! Lass you look lovely. Tell me all about it. You hair’s so shiny...’
‘Oh Mam,
do
let me in. You’re all out of breath’.
Maggie hugged Ellie to her chest then, eventually, let her pass into the house.
‘What did Ma Bagnall have to say then? She’s an old busybody’.
‘She just said hello and asked how I was’.
‘Aye and I bet she would have liked to know more, an all. Nosey old Sod’.
Ellie laughed at this and said, ‘oh Mam, she doesn’t mean anything’.
Maggie grunted and then went to the cupboard to get two mugs.
‘I’ve got the kettle on and I’ll soon have
you a nice cuppa tea. Sit yourself down and I’ll not be a minute’.
‘Mam. Please sit down or you’ll have me thinking I’m a visitor’.
Maggie looked at her daughter and knew she was right. She was treating Ellie like a guest. She now felt embarrassed and found herself searching for something to say.
Ellie sensed her mother’s embarrassment so placed the basket on the table.
‘Look at this Mam. Mister Blunt gave it to me as I was leaving. I don’t know what’s inside’.
Together they untied the cover. Maggie’s face was a picture, ‘well I never’. On the top was a bag of apples, a little past their best, but nevertheless, good. Then a tea cloth, knotted at the top, which revealed five current scones. Also in the basket was a cob of bread and a big piece of yellow cheese. But best of all, a piece of lamb, the likes of which, Maggie had never been able to buy.
‘Well, all I can say is ‘God bless the man’, you must thank him for me. What a feast’. Maggie's face was alight with pleasure. Ellie saw, at the bottom of the basket, yet another gift. It was a brown paper parcel, tied up with string, and had ‘Ellie’ written on it, in blue ink.
‘I wonder what’s in here’, said Ellie, undoing the knot. She unwrapped a pair of shoes.
They were of good black leather, soft and well made and the correct size. They were not new but she could see that the condition was excellent.
Ellie wanted to cry, ‘how kind he is’.
How had he guessed? He couldn't have known how much she hated wearing the clogs
, she thought and was overwhelmed with gratitude.
Maggie poured the tea and handed Ellie a pot.
‘Well you must have made a good impression at the big house for him to give you them lovely shoes. What did you say his name was?’
‘Mister Blunt’.
‘Mister Blunt eh!! Mmm! And do you see much of that ‘sour faced Sod’ who let us in that day?’
Ellie laughed, ‘
that’s
Mister Blunt Mam.
He’s
the Butler’.
‘Oh well I never’! She laughed, ‘how can anyone so ‘toffee nosed’ be so nice underneath? Wonder’s will never cease’. Maggie’s legs came up as she fell back in her chair, laughing loudly.
Ellie had to laugh too, but she was laughing at her mother more than anything. In a strange way she had liked the Butler from the beginning.
Throughout the morning Ellie went on to relate, to her mother, everything that had happened since she had last seen her. How she shared a bedroom with Kate and had to make the candle last a week. She told her about the rest of the staff and how some of them were nice to her, whilst, others had never spoken to her. Ellie watched her mother’s face light up when she described the china and the copper bottom pans and how the Master and his family had afternoon tea, served on silver platters.
Maggie took Ellie’s hand in hers and turned it over, looking at the red, palms. ‘You work hard enough, I can see that. Do you think you will ‘take to it’ Ellie?’
‘It’s all right Mam,
really
. I don’t mind the work but I miss you and the boys more than I thought I would’. Then Ellie remembered. ‘Hey Mam, I nearly forgot’.
‘Forgot what?’
‘Well, what do you think?’
‘Oh Ellie, stop playing ‘silly buggers’. How do I know what
you forgot?’
‘My wages Mam. What else did you send me out to work for?’
She handed Maggie a small leather pouch, in which, she had been given her month’s money.
‘There it is. One pound, twelve shillings and sixpence’.
Maggie sat with the pouch in her hand and said, ‘you know Ellie, I don’t want to open it, because if I do, then I’ve
done it
’.
‘What do you mean, done it?’
‘I’ve sold you. That’s what it feels like. I’ve sold you’.
Ellie leaned over to her mother and kissed her on the side of her face. ‘Sold me? Not you Mam. You might give me away, but sell me? Never! Come on Mam, take the money. If it wasn’t for your care of me, I wouldn’t have been able to earn it, so please don’t think that way’.
Maggie emptied out the money, onto her pinny, and slowly counted it out. This done, she handed Ellie one shilling and sixpence.
‘That’s for you lass. You’ve done all the work, after all’.
Ellie protested, and her mother insisted, so she put the money into the pouch and dropped it into the empty basket. She had to admit, it was a nice feeling to have a little money of her own.
The boys had heard the talking and laughter and, knowing that Ellie was coming home, came downstairs eager to see her.
Sam was the first one down and threw himself onto his sister, saying, ‘Ellie. Is it really you? You look so posh’. Then turning to Maggie, ‘is our Ellie rich Mam?’
‘Don’t be a fool Sam, of course she’s not rich, she’s a maid’. She was careful to leave out the word ‘scullery’ because, in her way, she was as big a snob as anyone in the upper classes. ‘She’s brought
you an apple each but you can’t have it till teatime so don’t even ask. And Sam, stop jumping all over the poor lass’.
Maggie, by way of habit, swung her hand at him which failed to connect. But she had to laugh when Thomas piped up, ‘hey Mam, has our Sam been
practising? That’s the last three ‘cracks’ he’s managed to dodge’.
‘How are you
Thomas’ asked Ellie, ‘I can see that you’re as cheeky as ever’.
‘
Eh!! You look nice our lass. Have you got a chap then?’
‘No I have not and don’t intend to either’. She felt her face flush.
Thomas quickly glanced at his mother, fearing he may have gone too far. She didn’t like ‘boy talk’ in front of Ellie but he needn't have worried, his mother was busy dividing Ellie’s wages into four equal parts, one for each week until the next of her daughter’s visits.
‘One pile for each week till
you come home again’, she informed Ellie, now smiling and obviously not feeling quite so bad about accepting the ‘proceeds’ of her daughter’s labour.
Maggie turned her attention to the piece of lamb.
It had already been cooked and some of the meat had been cut into clean slices, which still left a good-size piece.
‘We’ll have the sliced meat with some bread when Aunt Dora gets here. What’s left can be cut up and used for a stew and that should see us through half the week’.
She looked at her family, each of them, smiling. ‘It don’t take much to make you lot happy, does it? Well I think you're a grand lot and I wouldn't swap my kids for anything. Mind you, don’t let it go to you heads because I can still give a good crack when it’s needed, and don’t you forget it’.
Withholding the laugh, which threatened to choke her, Maggie turned to Thomas and added, ‘that’s if I can manage to land one any more’. Everyone laughed.
Harry said, ‘I believe you Mam. I still have a red mark on my ‘backside’ from last night. They were all in good spirits and enjoying Ellie's visit.
The three boys had their breakfast then went to work on the washing of the ‘pots’. They wouldn’t hear of their sister doing any of the clearing up, saying, ‘
you do enough at the big house and you don’t want to do it on you day off, an all’.
She listened to their talk as they washed the dishes and smiled to herself as they discussed school.
Harry was saying how much he liked his new class teacher and he couldn’t wait for tomorrow because they were going to look for different leaves and wild flowers, around the playing field, and the one who found the most would get a prize.
‘What’s the prize going to be then Harry? A sticky bun?’ said Thomas, laughing at his young brother.
‘No, Silly. I don’t know what it’s going to be but it’s sure to be something good’, said Harry, he also wondering what the prize would be.
Sam’s face was straight, as he murmured
, ‘I hate school. I never want to go there again’.
Thomas asked him why. ‘
You always liked it before’, he said.
O
bviously, feeling sorry for himself, Sam said, ‘it’s Willy Dixon, he’s always bossing me around and thumping me and I’m fed up with him’.
He then went on to tell them what Ma Bagnall had told him about bullies. ‘She said I should pray for him an ask God to forgive him then he would be nicer to me’.
Thomas had his own ideas and with his fists up in the air, like a street fighter, he said, ‘I’d smash him in the mouth and then ask God to forgive
me
later’.
Ellie tried not to laugh as she didn’t want Thomas to get into trouble with Mother, but she knew that Maggie, unlike herself, had not listened to a word of what was said.
When they had finished, the boys went off to play and Ellie and her mother spent a pleasant hour catching up with each other’s news.
About
twelve o’clock, Aunt Dora came barging into the house. ‘Eh!! Maggie, I’ve had such a ‘do’ with Albert. I didn’t think I was going to make it today’. When she saw Ellie sitting there, she said, ‘hello Ellie love, are you alright?’
Without waiting for Ellie’s reply, she went on breathlessly, ‘he’s a daft devil, is Albert.
Went out to rake up the leaves out back and fell over the blooming cat, didn’t he?’
‘And did he hurt himself then?’ Maggie tried to show concern.
‘He’s only gone and broke his wrist hasn’t he. Fancy, not seeing the cat. It’s not as though she’s a little cat. She’s the biggest cat I’ve ever seen. Well, what do you think then, eh!! Breaking his wrist?’
Maggie thought,
should have broke his bloody neck, the old Sod
. But what she actually said was, ‘it could have been worse Dora, he could have broken his neck?’
Maggie had an appropriate expression on her face as she turned it towards her sister. She did not, for one moment, imagine that Dora was taken in by her feigned concern. Dora knew that Maggie despised Albert.
And
she knew why.
‘Anyway he’s got it fixed now and he’s in bed for the rest of the day so I’ve no rush to get back’.
‘How’s the cat?’
As Maggie said this, she gave a sideways glance at Ellie, who was doing her utmost not to smile. ‘Well, I mean, did Albert fall
onto
the cat, or
over
the cat?
Is
the cat still ‘with us’?’