‘Fanks, doc.’
Once the woman had wrapped the child tightly back in her old shawl and shuffled away with Tommy in tow, Jake shook his head.
‘That damn water tap causes half of the problems in this place,’ he said. ‘The water is not at all clean and most of the folks round here don’t bother to boil it before they drink it or cook food in it.’
She nodded in agreement but they had no chance to discuss it further for another patient peered in at that moment and Jake ushered them into the treatment room. Over the day they got gradually busier and between patients Emmy told Jake about Jasper’s visit earlier in the week and that he was going home, although she didn’t tell him about Jasper’s feelings for her.
‘About time too,’ Jake said. ‘The little devil has been running up gambling debts left, right and centre from what I can see of it. It’ll do him good to buckle down to a bit of work for a change.’
As Emmy watched him, she couldn’t help but compare the two brothers. Jake was conscientious and caring while Jasper was selfish and greedy. They were as different as two people could be, but then she supposed that she and Abi were too – in their natures at least.
The light was beginning to fade from the day, and after sweeping the floors and tidying the two rooms, Emmy finally blew the candles out late that afternoon while Jake went to fetch the horse and carriage from the stable. She was feeling happy; they’d had quite a few people through the door that day – not enough to say they were actually busy, but far more than they’d had previously, and she was beginning to think this venture of Jake’s might just be a success after all and she was proud of him.
Chapter Thirty-One
‘Lilly .?.?. I was wondering if I might have a few days off this week?’ Abi asked tentatively. It was now the beginning of October and she knew that she couldn’t wait much longer before she went to track Hugo down in France. ‘I, er .?.?. I haven’t been home to see my mother since I arrived here and I feel like I should.’
‘I suppose so,’ Lilly muttered, looking up from the paperwork she was doing. ‘To be honest I shan’t much miss yer, the way you’ve been carryin’ on, queen. You’ve been walkin’ about wi’ a face on yer like you’ve lost a bob an’ found a penny, so I suggest yer try an’ get yer sparkle back while you’ve gone, eh? Cos you ain’t no use to me if yer can’t keep the customers ’appy!’
‘Sorry, Lilly,’ Abi muttered as she turned and fled up the stairs. Her bag was packed and ready to go whether Lilly had given her permission or not and now all she had to do was get through the night and she’d be on her way. She had booked a berth on a cross-Channel ship bound for Le Havre the following morning, and her excitement was growing. Surely Hugo would be pleased when she told him that she was going to have his child? She could picture him sweeping her into his arms and dancing her around the room, and then they’d have a fairy-tale wedding. She would look like a princess, all in satin and lace, and they’d live in a beautiful house with servants to wait on them and a nanny to look after the child. Oh, they were going to besohappy! But first she must get through one more night entertaining the gentlemen in the club.
Even the maid wasn’t up when Abi crept down the stairs early the next morning. She felt sick and ill and had been sorely tempted to roll over and go back to sleep, but her need to see Hugo was greater, so she swallowed her nausea and tiptoed to the dining room where she left a note addressed to Maria on the shelf. She had hoped to see her the evening before to tell her where she was going, but Maria had still been entertaining a gentleman in her room when Abi went to bed, so she’d resorted to writing her a quick message in which she told her she was going to visit Hugo at his grandparents’ chateau in France and that she would hopefully be back within a week.
She inched the back door open and set off down the side alley and soon she was heading for the docks, which were already surprisingly busy with burly seamen loading cargo and livestock on to the ships, and she had to step over thick coils of rope and wind her way amongst barrels to get to the ship she had booked a passage on.
The Mermaidwas actually a cargo ship and judging from how low it sat in the sludgy water it was already fully loaded, but the captain wasn’t averse to earning a few extra shillings by taking the odd passenger across the Channel, providing they didn’t expect luxury, which Abi didn’t. The gangplank stretched from the dock up to the ship and, gripping her bag, she climbed it as quickly as she could, clinging on to the rope handrail for all she was worth. Far below she could see the flotsam swirling on the dark water as it slapped against the quay and she shuddered.
‘Ah, Miss Winter.’ The captain, a swarthy-faced man, hurried to meet her, his calloused hand outstretched. ‘I’ll put you in the dining room, if you could call it that,’ he chuckled. ‘As I explained when you booked, it ain’t very salubrious but it’s probably where you’ll be most comfortable for the journey an’ I’m sure our cook will make sure as you have plenty o’ cups o’ tea. I’m sorry I ain’t got nothing better to offer you.’
‘I’m sure I shall be perfectly fine,’ Abi assured him as she followed him across the deck and down a short ladder, which proved to be quite difficult to negotiate in her wide skirts. He led her into a gloomy room where trestle tables and benches were spaced along the walls. It smelt strongly of overcooked cabbage, tobacco smoke and stale sweat but Abi didn’t complain. She would have swum the Channel if it was her only means of getting to Hugo.
‘Right, I’ll leave you to make yourself comfortable,’ the captain told her. ‘There’s only two more passengers to come an’ then hopefully we’ll be off wi’ the mornin’ tide an’ in Le Havre by late evenin’, weather permittin’. Do you have somewhere to go when we get there?’ There was something about this young lady that made him concerned about her. She was about the same age as his own daughter and didn’t look well at all, and he wondered what it was that made her want to cross the Channel unchaperoned. But still, it was none of his business and it didn’t do to ask too many questions.
‘I’m sure I shall be able to find a hotel, thank you,’ Abi answered politely. She had no idea as yet how far she would have to travel from Le Havre to reach Hugo’s grandparents’ home. ‘But could you tell me where the, er .?.?. bathroom is please.’
He laughed. ‘It’s hardly what I’d term a bathroom but if you go out o’ here an turn right you’ll find what passes as a toilet at the end o’ the corridor. Oh, an’ would you mind stayin’ below till we’ve sailed, please, then once we’re out o’ the dock you’re more than welcome to go up on deck.’ He touched his cap and left her.
Soon after a middle-aged couple joined her and nodded a greeting. By that time the gentle swaying of the boat was making Abi feel queasier than ever and suddenly she rose and made a rush for the door and fled down the corridor. The toilet the captain had referred to was simply a plank of wood with a hole in it stretched across a bucket half full of cold ashes. The smell in there was horrendous but as Abi leant over it and vomited up almost everything she had eaten the day before she hardly noticed. At last, when there was nothing left to bring up, she straightened and dabbed at her mouth with her handkerchief. She had sailed on many ships over the years with her parents when they’d holidayed abroad and she had never been ill like this, but then, she realised, the ships they had travelled on had been far more luxurious than this one and she hadn’t been expecting a baby!
Feeling weak and exhausted she staggered back to the dining room and tucked herself away in a corner as she wondered how she was going to manage the journey. But worse was to come, for shortly after, as the ship moved out into deeper waters, it began to rock alarmingly and in no time at all Abi was back up and racing towards the toilet again.
Eventually she managed to clamber back up the ladder on to the deck where she swayed towards the rail and stared down into the choppy water. The weather had taken a turn for the worse and the wind that whipped around her was biting as the ship rose and fell alarmingly. A tear trickled down her cheek as she clung weakly to the ship’s rail and prayed as she had never prayed before.
Back in Nuneaton, Hetty was just about to set off on her morning journey to the Chetwynds’ farm to fetch a jug of milk, but as she opened the door her eyes were instantly drawn to an envelope lying on the doorstep.
‘Looks like our anonymous friend ’as called again, missus,’ she told Dorcas who was sitting in front of the fire in her dressing robe. ‘An’ I sat down ’ere nearly all night an’ all hopin’ to catch ’em an’ never ’eard a blummin’ thing!’
‘Really? This is getting to be a habit.’ Dorcas took the envelope from Hetty and when she opened it and saw the folded notes inside she sighed. ‘I wonder who it could be from?’ she mused as Hetty shook her head. ‘It’s not from any of my so-called former friends, I’m sure. They soon disappeared off the scene when the chips were down.’
Looking slightly uncomfortable, Hetty suggested tentatively, ‘Yer don’t think it could be the master as is leavin’ it do yer, missus?’
‘Gerald!’ Dorcas looked shocked. It had never occurred to her that it might be him but the money had turned up monthly ever since they had moved in to the cottage. ‘Bu-but surely not? I don’t even know where he is. He could be miles away; he might even have gone abroad for all I know.’
Hetty shook her head. ‘Ner, not the master. He thought too much o’ you an’ his girls to go too far away an’ ’appen this is just ’is way o’ makin’ sure you ’ave enough to get by.’
‘What? You think he may be working somewhere around here?’ Dorcas said. ‘But if that was the case, surely we would have heard about it on the grapevine.’
‘Not necessarily,’ Hetty answered stoutly. ‘But I got to thinkin’. It’s always at the beginnin’ o’ the month that the money turns up. Next time why don’ we both stay up to try to catch him?’
