By bedtime she was almost dropping with exhaustion. Even the work she had once done in the laundry at Greenacres had been easier than this, and the fact that Charlotte was clearly so unhappy didn’t help matters. Nor did the fact that the family had almost completely ignored her. Melvin had made no secret that he thought she was the lowest of the low, but as for the other two men, they barely even looked in her direction. Still, she supposed that was better than the alternative, so she shouldn’t complain.
Upstairs in the loft, she put some clean clothes over one side of the mattress for Charlotte to lie on so she would be more comfortable, and once she had rocked her off to sleep she tucked her beneath the blankets and wearily tipped water into the bowl to wash in by the light of the oil lamp. Then, lying down Amber took Charlotte into her arms and let the tears that had been threatening all day roll down her cheeks. Despite the fact that she disliked Barnaby Greenwood with a vengeance, she couldn’t help but wonder how he might be feeling. He had behaved shamefully towards her but she was forced to admit that he had appeared to adore his children – both Charlotte and David. He had been devastated when David had died and she had no doubt he would be devastated now that Charlotte was gone too. But her need to have Charlotte to herself and to bring her up the way she saw fit had been overpowering. Now all she could do was pray that she had done the right thing, for both hers and Charlotte’s sakes. Only time would tell.
Chapter Thirty-One
Earlier that morning, as he always did after breakfasting with his in-laws, Barnaby had made his way to the nursery to see his daughter before he left to visit his shipyard. He was not in the best frame of mind as his father-in-law’s interest in the business was becoming annoying. Many years ago, just before Barnaby’s marriage to Louisa, Robert had invested a substantial amount of money in Barnaby’s business in exchange for a majority share in both the shipyard and the fishing trawlers, and he had also bought her Greenacres, the beautiful house they lived in, as a wedding present. It hadn’t overly concerned Barnaby as in law what was the wife’s automatically became the husband’s and ever since he had worked tirelessly to build the business up to the thriving concern it was today, so there was no reason now for his father-in-law’s interference.
Still, he thought as he took the nursery stairs two at a time, as Margaret spent most of every day with Louisa in the sick-room, Robert was probably poring over the books and poking his nose in just to pass the time.
By the time he pushed the door to the nursery open, he was smiling again at the prospect of spending a little time with his baby daughter. His heart still ached from the loss of his son and his wife now had no room in her life for him, but Charlotte could always make him smile. However, the second he entered the room the smile slid from his face as he saw Becky sitting there with tears streaking down her face.
‘What’s wrong?’ He glanced about noting the empty crib. ‘And where are Charlotte and Amber?’
‘Please, sir, I don’t know.’ Becky sniffed and swiped at her tears. ‘But I found this on the mantelpiece. It’s fer you.’
He was across the room in three long strides and almost ripped the envelope from her hand as a sense of impending doom settled over him like a big black cloud. He tore the envelope open and as he read what was written on the sheet of paper inside his face paled to the colour of parchment.
‘They’ve gone!’
‘Well, she never said nowt to me about goin’! Where’ve they gone?’ Becky asked falteringly.
‘Oh, er?.?.?.’ Barnaby had to think quickly. He had dreaded something like this happening. ‘It’s nothing to worry about. Amber has had to go away for a while so she’s taken Charlotte with her but they’re both quite safe.’
‘But what aboutme?’ Becky said plaintively. ‘What am I supposed to do till they get back?’
He knew that Becky’s family relied on her wages so he answered dully, ‘Don’t worry, I’m sure Mrs Boswell can find you plenty to do downstairs. Your job is quite safe, Becky.’
‘Thank yer, sir.’
The relief on her face was evident and without another word Barnaby turned and made for the privacy of his room – he had some serious thinking to do. Once his bedroom door had closed behind him, he leant heavily on a chest of drawers and lowered his head as a lump formed in his throat. What was he to do? If he reported Amber to the police for taking his child and they found her she was bound to tell them why, and what would that do to his wife? She was dying bit by bit, and it wouldn’t be fair to embroil her in such a scandal – it could even speed her demise. He doubted she’d care that he’d strayed, but the humiliation of everyone knowing that he had tried to foist the laundry maid’s daughter on her .?.?. He shook his head. No, he couldn’t do that to her when she was so ill. And anyway, didn’t he deserve all that he had coming to him? He had hoped that giving the post of nanny to Amber and allowing her to be close to her child would be enough for her, but it clearly hadn’t been. She had never made a secret of the fact that she detested him and he supposed he couldn’t blame her when he thought back to how shamelessly he had treated her.
But to lose Charlotte?.?.?. As the image of her chubby little face floated in front of his eyes a tear ran unheeded down his cheek. No, he couldn’t have Amber hounded for taking what was, after all, her child, and so somehow he would have to stick to the story he had told Becky – at least until after Louisa had?.?.?. He couldn’t bring himself to think of her dying, but it was inevitable and it struck him that once she was gone he would have no one. It was a daunting thought.
Once he had managed to compose himself, he went downstairs to tell Mrs Boswell that Miss Ainsley had been called away unexpectedly to visit a sick relative and he had given permission for her to take Charlotte with her.
‘Really? This is the first I knew of it,’ the woman said doubtfully. ‘And how long are they expected to be gone?’
‘Well, with my wife being so poorly, I told her to take as long as she needed,’ he lied. ‘And so it will be for an indefinite period. Meanwhile, I would be grateful if you could employ Becky below stairs until Miss Ainsley and Charlotte return.’
‘Oh, I can do that easily enough now that we have Mr and Mrs Hamilton-Tate staying,’ she assured him. ‘Was there anything else, sir?’
‘No, that will be all, thank you, Mrs Boswell.’
She bobbed her knee and went on her way as Barnaby went to the stables to have his horse saddled. Perhaps he would go into town before he went to work. It wouldn’t hurt to make a few discreet enquiries as to where Amber might have gone, and if he could only find her, he might be able to persuade her to bring Charlotte back.
However, when he rode into town a short time later, looking as if he had the worries of the world resting on his shoulders, he found the whole place swarming with police.
‘What’s going on here?’ he enquired of a sailor with a kitbag on his back who was heading for the docks.
‘Somebody broke into the post office durin’ the night be all accounts.’ The man spat out the mouthful of tobacco he had been chewing. ‘Trouble was, the postmistress heard him an’ when she come down to see what were goin’ on they clubbed her to death. Poor old sod, she were a good woman were Mrs Tilsley.’
‘Good grief! Do they have any idea who it was?’
The man shrugged. ‘Rumour has it that that young Bertie Preston an’ his cronies had a hand in it,’ the sailor said in a whisper. ‘The coppers are lookin’ fer ’em now but they’ve all gone to ground, the buggers! There’s been a few shop break-ins durin’ the last few weeks an’ Bertie an’ his gang have been in the frame every time but they ain’t managed to pin owt on ’em as yet. But anyway, I’d best get on, I don’t want to miss me ship sailin’. Ta-ra.’
The man went on his way and Barnaby walked his horse on to the market square. It was certainly turning out to be an eventful day one way or another.
*
