‘The only other option I can think of is for you to go an’ stay wi’ your uncle in Scarborough till it’s over,’ she said.
Amber’s head snapped up. ‘What?Stay with Uncle Jeremiah?’ She looked horrified at the very idea of it. Her uncle was her mother’s older brother by some ten years and was very set in his ways. He had never been married nor shown any inclination to be since being jilted at the altar some long time ago, according to the letters that he wrote to Alice from time to time. Soon after, heartbroken and humiliated, he had started to sell buckets and bowls from a handcart in the market and he had worked hard to make something of himself. Now he had his own thriving hardware shop in the town and lived a stone’s throw away from it in a grand house overlooking the sea with his housekeeper and a little maid who kept it running like clockwork, and although he had never been unkind to her, Amber knew that she wouldn’t be happy there. It had been some years since she had visited with her mother and even though his house made their small cottage look like a hovel, she had no wish to have to stay there.
‘That would never work,’ Amber said sharply. ‘And Uncle Jeremiah wouldn’t want me there once he knew that I was going to have a child.’
‘He would if we were to tell a few white lies.’ Alice stopped her pacing and stared at her daughter with a serious expression on her face. ‘We could tell him that you’d been widowed – that your husband had been a fisherman and lost at sea and you needed somewhere to stay just until the baby arrives. Then when it comes you can leave it on the steps of the poorhouse and come home. They’ll take care of it. I’m presuming you don’t want the bairn?’
‘O’ course I don’t?.?.?. but thepoorhouse!’ It seemed too cruel to do such a thing to a helpless baby, but then how could she keep it, even if she wanted to, with no job and no husband to support her?
‘Think of it, if we did that you could come home and no one but your uncle would ever be any the wiser. You could start again with no blemish to your name an’ it would save breakin’ your dad’s heart.’
‘But what would we tell dad and the boys about why I’m going?’ Amber fretted.
‘Hm’ – her mother tapped her lip thoughtfully – ‘I’ll think o’ somethin’. So lass, there’s your choice from where I’m standin’. Which is it to be?’
Amber chewed on her lip. Neither of the options were very attractive to her. As her mother had said, Bertie Preston would wed her tomorrow if she gave him half a chance; they’d grown up together in Argument’s Yard and he’d chased after her since she’d been in pigtails, but could she see her herself tied to him forever? No, she couldn’t. Admittedly he was one of the handsomest chaps in the town, but he well knew it and half the lasses round about were always chasing after him – a fact he took full advantage of. Bertie was well-known for being a bit of a rogue with his fingers into all sorts of pies and he only worked on a trawler at sea with his father and brothers when he was down on his luck. The trouble was he then spent almost everything he had earned in one inn or another, drinking his wages away and Amber could just imagine the sort of life she would have with him, living hand to mouth and breeding a baby a year.No thank you,she thought,that’s not for me. So that only left her with her mother’s second suggestion to consider and much as she hated the thought of it, she supposed it made more sense to go with that one. It wasn’t as if she wanted this baby, after all, and surely the people who ran the poorhouse would take good care of it. They might even find it a home with parents who really wanted a child. The thought made her feel slightly better and turning her teary face to her mother she told her, ‘All right. I’ll go to Uncle Jeremiah’s, if he’ll have me, that is.’
‘Reet, in that case we need to get things organised.’ Her mother went to her dresser and took her ink, a quill pen and a sheet of paper from a drawer, saying, ‘The sooner we can get you there the better. I’m goin’ to write to Jeremiah reet now then I’m goin’ to the pawnshop to get you a weddin’ ring. There’d be no point tellin’ Jeremiah you’re a widow if you’ve no ring on your finger. I’ll tell Sid in the shop I’ve lost mine so he don’t ask questions. An’ then while I’m in town, I’ll enquire when the next coach to Scarborough is leavin’. The sooner we get you away from here the better. Your dad an’ two o’ the lads is due home tomorrow night so it’ll be best if you’ve gone afore then.’
Alice took a seat at the table and while she thought about what to write she fiddled with the tiny amber stone set in a silver band that sat next to her wedding ring. Her husband had bought it for her on the day their only daughter had been born and she had been so thrilled with the stone that she had decided to name her daughter after it. Once she’d decided what to say, she quickly scrawled a note to Jeremiah. This done she folded it carefully and handed it to Amber before collecting her shawl from a nail on the back of the door and telling her, ‘I’ll not be gone long. You can finish the pie off for me an’ pop it in the oven then peel some tatties to go wi’ it.’
After she’d left, Amber sighed, fingering the gold sovereign in her pocket. She would have liked to have given it to her mother to pay for the ring, but she didn’t want to spend it. One day she would return it to Barnaby and then she would owe him nothing. Everything was happening so fast she hardly knew if she was on her head or her heels and all because she had been stupid enough to fall for the master’s sweet talking, damn him. But, she consoled herself, she must be at least two months gone now and that only left seven to go and then she could perhaps return to some sort of normality, although she had no idea what she might do. One thing was for sure, she wouldn’t be going back to work at Greenacres again. Barnaby Greenwood had broken her heart and she hoped she would never have to see him again.
An hour later her mother returned and after fumbling in her pocket, she handed Amber a paper-thin gold band, saying, ‘Best I could get for the money but it’ll do the job, lass. Now slip it on. And the good thing is there’s a coach bound for Scarborough leavin’ from the town hall tomorrow mornin’ at ten. When Ted an’ Will come home tonight we’ll just tell ’em you’re here because you’ve been unwell.’
‘But what will you tell ’em when I don’t come home of a Sunday?’
Her mother scowled and shook her head. ‘One thing at a time, eh, lass? I ain’t thought that far ahead yet but I’ll think o’ somethin’, never you fear.’
Like their mother, her brothers were surprised to see her when they got home from the shipyard that night and they greeted her warmly as they washed in the hot water their mother had ready before drying themselves on a piece of huckaback.
‘Sorry to hear you ain’t been too well, sis,’ Will said once they all sat down to dinner and their mother explained why Amber was there.
William, was twenty and the brother next to Amber in age. He was the spitting image of their mother, whilst at twenty-two, Edward, or Ted, took after their father with blue eyes and dark hair. Her two older brothers, Reuben and Amos, were twenty-three and twenty-four and were fishermen like their father.
‘The gaffer called to the shipyard in a reet good mood this afternoon,’ Will said through a mouthful of fish pie and Amber’s ears pricked up.
‘Oh, an’ why would that be?’ Alice asked.
‘Happen he found out today that the mistress is expectin’ another bairn.’
‘Then let’s hope it goes reet fer her this time,’ she answered. ‘How many has she lost now? Three durin’ her term an’ two born sleepin’, ain’t it?’
‘Aye, five in all,’ Will agreed as he loaded his fork. ‘An’ I don’t reckon the master’ll let her rest till she’s produced a live bairn, poor woman. Everyone knows it’s the grandaddy, his missus’s father, who wants the gaffer to have an heir.’
Amber lowered her head, feeling as if someone had punched her in the stomach. Sothatwas why Barnaby had turned his back on her – that must have been what he had been about to tell her when she had given himhernews. Because of the legitimate heir that his wife was carrying he had decided that their baby was worthless and told her to get rid of it. Her heart broke afresh as she choked back tears and she knew in that moment that she would never trust another man for as long as she lived.
Chapter Three
‘Oh Ruffy, I’msobored!’ From her seat by her bedroom window overlooking the rolling green lawns of Greenacres, Louisa Greenwood pouted as her maid placed a cup of hot chocolate on the small table to the side of her.
‘Bored or not you’re to drink this. You have the two of you to think of now,’ Ruffy scolded, and yet she was smiling as she looked at this young woman who she had loved and cared for for as long as she could remember. Louisa was the only child of wealthy, indulgent parents and Ruffy had started out as her nanny when Louisa had been less than a month old some twenty-eight years ago. When she had been of an age when she no longer needed a nanny, Maude Ruffin, or Ruffy as Louisa had affectionately named her, found that she was unable to leave the girl and she had become her maid. Even Louisa’s marriage to Barnaby Greenwood some ten years before had not separated them and Ruffy had followed her young mistress from her parent’s estate in Pickering to Greenacres – the house Louisa’s parents had given her as a wedding present.
Ruffy was now well past middle age: her dark hair peppered with grey and her figure matronly, and she no longer thought of the life she might have had if she hadn’t been so devoted to her young mistress. Her own husband had died before they’d had a chance to have a family, and Louisa had become the daughter she had never been blessed with, and she was totally devoted to her.
Louisa sighed as she lifted the cup and sipped at the chocolate before grimacing. ‘Ugh, you’ve put lots of sugar in it again, Ruffy, you would have me be as fat as a pig if I let you,’ she said miserably. ‘And I don’t need you to remind me that I’m with child again. I feel like a breeding mare! I really can’t understand Barnaby and my father’s obsession with having an heir, I really can’t. But then, I suppose being in this delicate condition does havesomecompensations. At least now Barnaby might leave me alone for a few months and hopefully sleep in his dressing room again.’
Laying the cup aside she absently stroked the ears of the little Cavalier King Charles spaniel curled up on her lap as Ruffy began to tidy the pile of magazines that Louisa had carelessly dropped onto the floor after glancing through them. She always dressed in the very latest fashions and every week magazines were delivered to Greenacres regardless of the expense.
