A Woman Undefeated (40 page)

They entered a room that hit Maggie straight away, as not being splendid or grandiose. The man who was standing to attention at his desk, was far from ebullient or smart!

“Good morning, Miss Brown, and who will this young lady be?,” Mr Hawkins inquired. “Your niece or your god daughter, come to visit perhaps? I’m sorry, do sit down. I will get my clerk to bring you tea.”

“Oh, please, don’t bother on our behalf,” Betty replied, Maggie thought a trifle nervously. “We know you are a busy man and can only spare us a little of your time. We’ll get straight to the point.
This lady is a friend of mine and recently she entrusted a great deal of money into my care. Rather than put it into my bank, I decided to invest it into setting up a small company. We have just been to the bank and opened a business account in the name of the Sheldon Loan and Property Company. We are the joint proprietors. Unfortunately for Mrs Haines, she is under the age of twenty-one and does not have a guardian. Her husband died recently. I understand that you would not be able to draw up a partnership agreement between us, because of my partner’s age, but is there some other way we could draw up a legal document? One that states that if anything should happen to me in the next three years, Mrs Haines would be given her rightful share?”

Mr Hawkins frowned and seemed to be giving the problem all his concentration. He was a tall, thin man, with quite a long face, and he had black rimmed glasses perched on the end of his nose.

After a few moments of deliberation, he seemed to have an answer.

“I think we could draw up a sworn affidavit, Miss Brown, where you would swear on oath that if on your demise, Mrs Haines has not attained the age of twenty-one, she would be given her share.”

“Excuse me,” Maggie found her voice and this time she decided to put her two pennies worth in, as she didn’t feel at all intimidated with this man and his surroundings at all.

“How do yer mean, get me share?”

She didn’t like the sound of being “given her rightful share,” as Betty had put it. She continued,

“The Sheldon Loan Company was set up with the money that I gave you, Betty. If the company was to do as well as you and Mr Arlington say it will, what do yer mean, I’ll get me share? Do yer mean I’ll get me seventeen pounds back that I give yer, or whatever is in the bank at the time of your departin’? And who would get the rest, I’d like to know?”

Two pairs of eyes looked at her. Mr Hawkins looked astonished at her outburst, Betty looked rather annoyed.

“Maggie, I don’t think we have spoken enough on this subject,” she said. “Mr Hawkins, if you will forgive us, we will call back later, after we have decided what will be written in the affidavit. We will have an early lunch, do some shopping and be back about half past one, if that is acceptable to you, of course.”

With that she put a hand under Maggie’s arm and hustled her down the stairs, into the street outside.

“What’s going on, Maggie?” she queried, in rather an irate voice, and when Maggie thought back to it later, she was entitled to be irate. “I thought all this was settled. Why didn’t you say something in front of the bank manager if you were not happy from the start? Come, we’ll go to the Blue Bell restaurant and discuss this over luncheon. I am very angry with you at this moment, that is all I am going to say.”

They sat in very comfortable surroundings, with old oaken tables and spindle backed chairs, having ordered roast duck, new potatoes and vegetables, with a gooseberry syllabub for dessert.

When the small glasses of beer arrived that Betty had ordered, the discussion between them began. It all had to come out into the open, everything Maggie hoped for, or feared.

“Betty, yer know I’m grateful fer all yer do fer me, but what would happen if you did die before I’m twenty-one? What would happen to my part of the company? Yes, yer said, I’d get me share. I want ter know exactly of yer intention, before we go ahead with legal things.” Maggie sounded apologetic, but after all her worries and misgivings, it needed to be said.

“Well, Maggie, I had intended to make you my heir, before all this mistrust from you started. I have no family, as you know, but I thought I would wait until you were twenty-one, before I made a will out in your favour. I am disappointed in you, to say the least, regarding your outspoken words in the solicitor’s office. When will you learn, that I only have your best interests in my heart?”

“But, Betty, this is all words, not actions,” Maggie persisted. “Don’t yer see the position I am in? As yer say, I have no legal guardian. I am a widow at the age of seventeen. I own no property,
have nothing of value. The only thing I have is a share in a company, that could be snatched off me at any time, ‘cos I’ve nothing to prove that part of it is mine!”

Betty sat back in her chair. She seemed to be doing a lot of thinking after Maggie’s outburst. Then she seemed to have an idea and, sitting forward again, she took her hand in her own.

“This is all about trust isn’t it? And because you’ve had a few disappointments in your life, you are finding it hard to trust me? In your shoes, I would feel the same. Look, you are like the daughter I never had. I recognize in you the same spirit, the willingness to get on in life. Not to just sit back and let things happen. How would it be if we go back to Mr Hawkins and tell him that I want a will drawn up that says, on my demise, you will inherit everything? My dressmaker’s shop, Selwyn Lodge, my share of the Sheldon Company and anything else I possess. There’s no one else I would like to leave it to, no relatives lurking on a far off shore. Will that make you happy, Maggie? Will that put paid to your illogical fears?”

Of course, after that pronouncement, Maggie was flabbergasted! She couldn’t believe her ears! But it seemed that Betty still hadn’t understood her reasoning and again she tried to point it out.

“Betty, I think yer a wonderful lady, but yer don’t have to go leavin’ me everything in yer will. All I am after is a paper that says the Sheldon Loan Company belongs to me. Not the Sheldon Loan and Property Company and Selwyn Lodge, the share of the Sheldon Company and the dressmaker’s shop. I want a piece of official paper with me name on it, that’s all I’m askin’ from you!”

“Oh, Maggie, what am I going to do with you? You’re as stubborn as a mule, but I have to smile at your tenacity. Come, we’ll eat this delicious dinner, then walk along to the fabric house.”

Later, after choosing heavy velvet material and cream coloured linings for the curtains at Selwyn Lodge, and a few rolls of satin, muslin and serge for the dressmaker’s shop, they wandered down to Frogerty’s Furnishing with Betty’s list.

It was a big list, because when Mr Freeman’s assistant had cleared the attic at Selwyn Lodge of the furniture that had been put
into store, some of the items were found to have wood worm. So, most of those lovely pieces had to go onto a bonfire, at Betty’s instigation, though she couldn’t stand and watch it as it burned.

“We’ll start with the bedrooms, Mr Frogerty,” Betty said, as the proprietor himself welcomed them and proceeded to note down their requirements.

“We already have rugs down, Oriental and Turkish. My father went to many faraway places as a sea captain and brought them back with him. I have decided that I would like most of the furniture to be made from mahogany. So, three carved mahogany head boards, three bolsters and three feather mattresses, if you please. Oh, Maggie, perhaps Mikey would like a bed of his own now? He’ll be growing too big, I’m sure, for his cradle. A smaller version too, if you have one, Mr Frogerty.”

She went on to order occasional tables, a hall table, two sideboards, a writing desk, a curio cabinet, two blanket chests, a daybed, all plush in deep pink velvet, two bookcases, three chests of drawers, a dining room set of a table and eight chairs and several pink upholstered sitting chairs, to be distributed around where necessary. That just left a sofa and two fire side chairs to be ordered and a cheval mirror for each bedroom. Mr Frogerty was obsequious to the last. The order must have been worth hundreds of pounds to him.

“Of course we will deliver them free of charge, Miss Rosemary. In fact it will probably take three trips to Selwyn Lodge, but we will always be at your service, as you know. Now, just a small deposit on account if you don’t mind and my driver will be there at nine o’clock sharp on the 29th.”

That was the 29th July, as Betty wanted to make a start on furnishing the house, before Mr Arlington was to start his job, in the first week of August.

The choosing of the furniture had taken quite a lot of their time and they were late for the appointment with the solicitor at half past one. Maggie had still been turning over what had been said in the restaurant and she was determined she would get her way.
“Our apologies, Mr Hawkins,” Betty said, breathlessly. “As you can see, we have come straight to you from another appointment. With the stagecoach coming to Neston only twice in the week, it is very difficult to do all one wants in the time allotted. We have had a discussion and the simple way is for me to make a will, isn’t that so, Maggie?”

“Well, I would like ter tell yer it’s a lovely idea and so I shall,” she said stubbornly, “but I’m thinkin’ a will could be torn up at any time. A little disagreement between us and off yer’ll go and rip it up. Isn’t that so, Mr Hawkins?”

“I have to say, Miss Brown, that Mrs Haines is right, and there’s also nothing to stop you changing your will at a later date. The only way to safeguard her interest is a sworn affidavit which I took the liberty of drawing up while you were away.”

“So you don’t want my money, possessions and businesses when I die, Maggie?” Betty said, her voice sounding defeated

“I’ve told yer, Betty, all I want is what belongs ter me. Now, let’s please sign this affidavit thing and then we can be on our way.”

They sat together companionably as the coach took them away from the city walls. They chewed on the fudge that Maggie had bought from a little sweet shop before their return journey and discussed the beauty of the cathedral, wishing there had been another hour to spare.

All animosity seemed to have gone, as Betty called herself a fool to have forgotten to order the oil lamps, to light up all the rooms. As they finished laughing at her forgetfulness, Betty nudged Maggie playfully and whispered in her ear.

“You’re a plucky little devil, but I have to say I admire you. We should have a Latin motto put over our doorway at Selwyn Lodge. “Never trust anyone, not even your best friend!”

The coach put them down at five o’clock at the Cross, where Betty and Maggie prepared to go their separate ways. Maggie was looking down the hill along the High Street, watching as Betty walked along, shouting back her farewell.

Maggie’s eyes were drawn to the front of Anne Rosemary’s, where she could see a little person all hunched up and sitting on the doorstep.

“Hold up, Betty, I’ll come with yer,” she shouted, as she recognized the figure, whom Betty was preparing to give a good talking to.

“I think that is just the person I want to see.”

By the time they had reached the doorstep, the little person had stood up to greet them. It was Annie. She looked as if she had been crying, because her dirty face was smudged, where she had wiped her tears away. She was still dressed in second hand clothing, a shapeless shift in a dark blue cotton and a ragged shawl that she was carrying over her arm. Her long brown hair was a mass of tangles and her feet were bare.

“I’m sorry, Maggie, that I couldn’t come before,” she explained timidly. “I only get Sunday morning off, when they give us time off to go to church. I sometimes slip away and visit me mam and little Lenny, if I get me work done early. Just fer an hour or so, but me hour is nearly up, ‘cos I’ve bin waitin’ here fer yer.”

She turned an earnest face to Maggie, and in that moment, Maggie could see herself from two years before. It made her more
determined that this tattered girl was to be given a chance. Be it nursemaid or apprentice sempstress. She looked at Betty, who exchanged a pitying glance. Of course, Betty’s heart had softened too and gave in easily!

“Come in, the pair of you, and we’ll have a cup of tea,” she said, kindly. “Maggie put the kettle on, there might still be some biscuits in the tin. Now, Annie, have you ever done any sewing before? Do you know how to thread a needle? Because that is the job that I am offering, not the nursemaid position that Maggie spoke to your mother about.”

“I thought we would give her the job of looking after Mikey, Miss Rosemary,” Maggie interrupted, coming in from the kitchen, whilst waiting for the kettle to start boiling on the hob. She wondered whether to insist and get her own way, then thought better of it. Betty had put up with enough shenanigans from her today.

“Maggie, we are desperate for someone to help us with the flat seams and Annie has slim and nimble looking fingers. What’s more, I’m sure her granny will have shown her the rudiments, before the poor lady died a couple of years ago. I remember your grand-mama, Annie. Wasn’t your grandfather a blacksmith? He had his business on Bull Hill.”