‘It’s funny an’ all that your uncle is gettin’ wed to his housekeeper.’ His voice followed her along the street. ‘I wonder why you had to go an’ look after him if they were so close? I’d say there were somethin’ fishy goin’ on here.’
Amber hurried on, ignoring him, but a bad feeling had started in the pit of her stomach and when she finally turned into Argument’s Yard, she breathed a sigh of relief, before glancing over her shoulder to make sure that Bertie wasn’t following her. When she saw old Ned hovering in the shadows, despite the fact that every penny counted, she fished in her pocket and handed him a coin. Touching the old woolly hat that covered his wispy grey hair, he limped on his way. Most of the people in the town helped him when they could and Amber and her family were no exception, poor old thing.
She hoisted the first full bag of laundry into the cottage kitchen and her mother instantly began to sort the washing into piles, ready to put into the copper in the corner, which was already bubbling away. Amber’s breath caught in her throat when she saw her fish out some soiled baby clothes. Without thinking she snatched them from Alice’s arms and held one of the tiny nightgowns to her nose and sniffed it. Seeing the look of pain on her daughter’s face Alice quickly took it off her and handed her some soiled bedding and without a word Amber submerged the sheets into the boiling water, blinking back the tears that had come to her eyes.
It was late afternoon by the time they finished hanging the clean washing on the lines strung across the beams, and they sat down beneath it as it slowly steamed in the heat of the fire.
‘I saw Bertie earlier on an’ he was askin’ questions about why I went to stay in Scarborough,’ Amber said worriedly. ‘You don’t think he knows somethin’, do you?’
‘O’ course he don’t,’ her mother said, reaching out to pat her hand. ‘I told your uncle that I’d join him in Scarborough in the next couple weeks or so.’ She looked around sadly at the little cottage that had been her home for so many years. ‘First though, I’ll have to get rid of all me stuff. I had a word wi’ Mrs Preston earlier an’ told her I were leavin’ an’ sellin’ up, an’ that’s better than usin’ a loud speaker. Everyone will know be now that I’ve stuff to sell, unless you want to keep anythin’, o’ course?’
Amber shook her head. ‘Even if I did I’ve nowhere to store it,’ she responded. ‘And anyway, if you can sell it for a few bob you’ll ’ave a bit behind you.’
‘But what willyoudo, lass? Please won’t you change yer mind an’ come with me? I’m sure we’d settle there.’
‘Don’t you worry about me,’ Amber gave her a warm smile as she rubbed some goose fat into her sore hands. ‘I had a word wi’ Nancy up at Greenacres earlier on an’ she’s goin’ to speak to her mam about me stayin’ wi’ them for a bit, just until I get on me feet an’ find another post.’
Alice looked horrified. ‘What?You’re plannin’ to stay wi’ Sadie Grimshaw? Why, they’re packed to the ceilin’ wi’ little ’uns as it is an’ although she’s got a heart as big as a bucket she ain’t the cleanest o’ women, it’s a well-known fact.’
Amber chuckled. ‘Well, it’ll do fer now. It ain’t as if I’m intendin’ to be there for long, is it? A job is bound to turn up.’
Alice sniffed, clearly displeased with the news, but she held her tongue. Her daughter had grown up into a young woman over the last months, she’d had to, and now she must let her chick leave the nest and fly free. It wouldn’t stop her worrying about her, though, and she wished that things might have been different. It was a funny old life and you never knew what was around the corner. She just prayed that it would be something good for Amber. She deserved a bit of good luck after all she’d been through.
*
When Amber returned the clean laundry to Greenacres a couple of days later Nancy confirmed that her mother was agreeable to her moving in with them. ‘But it ain’t posh,’ she warned. ‘An’ the little ’uns can be a reet pain in the arse at times. You’ll have to share a room wi’ me four little sisters. The other two lads that are still at home have got the other room an’ me mam an’ dad sleep downstairs in the kitchen.’
‘I’m sure it will be fine,’ Amber assured her gratefully.
‘In that case me mam said just turn up whenever you’ve a mind to,’ Nancy responded.
Over the next week, Amber saw the cottage slowly empty as people bartered for the few bits of decent furniture that Alice had. The only thing she kept was the bone china tea set that had been a wedding present to her and Eli from Jeremiah. It was edged with gold and painted with tiny forget-me-nots and she found that she couldn’t bear to part with it, so it was carefully wrapped in newspaper and packed in a trunk to be sent ahead to Scarborough. The oak dresser that it had been displayed on, which had been lovingly polished over the years until you could see your face in it, was sold and eventually all that was left were the two beds they slept in, two chairs and a few pots and pans.
‘I don’t mind leavin’ these for whoever gets the cottage next,’ Alice told Amber sadly as they sat together in front of the fire for their last evening. ‘It might be a young newlywed couple who’ll be glad of ’em.’
Amber nodded, feeling thoroughly miserable. It was hard to believe that just one year ago they had all been together, a happy, loving family. Now some of them were dead, the two younger boys were working miles away and somewhere the newest member of the family, her baby daughter, would be hopefully living happily with her new family.
‘I’ll miss you, lass.’ Alice reached out to squeeze Amber’s hand, her voice choked.
‘And I’ll miss you too. But don’t think you’ve seen the last o’ me. I shall come to see you just as often as I can. After all, it ain’t as if Scarborough is a million miles away, is it?’
‘No, course it ain’t.’ But for both of them, the imminent parting was breaking their hearts.
Chapter Twenty-Three
‘Mrs Ruffin, I just wanted to let you know that my mother-in-law has instructed me to hire a nurse for my wife.’
‘Then you can just go and tell her that she already has one –me!’ Mrs Ruffin puffed her chest out until she looked almost twice her size. ‘I’ve already asked that my bed be carried into her room just in case she needs anything during the night so a nurse will simply be in the way.’
‘I see.’ Barnaby worried his bottom lip with his teeth as he stared back at the woman. Her devotion to Louisa was clear to see and he secretly agreed with her, although trying to get that across to his mother-in-law would be another thing altogether. At one stage they had insisted that Louisa should go home with them, where they said she would have proper care, but the doctor had pointed out that the journey would be too much for her.
‘Very well, I shall inform them,’ he said quietly and once again Mrs Ruffin noticed the change in him. She was no fool and had known for some long time before the children had been born that the marriage was not all it should be. She knew that her darling was partly responsible for that for denying her husband his marital rights. She had seen the frustration and the anger in him, but since the birth of the children he had been different. Softer and more approachable somehow. There was no doubt whatsoever that he loved his babies but now he was having to face the loss of his wife and possibly his son too, for little Master David wasn’t faring any better.
She watched as he made his way up the stairs, his shoulders slouched, and she felt sorry for him, but then she dismissed him from her mind as she went back to her young mistress who was curled up in bed with her little dog tucked into her side.
*
‘I’m afraid we shall have to go home later this week,’ Barnaby’s father-in-law informed him at dinner later that evening. ‘Work commitments, you know.’
