Farewell to Lancashire (9 page)

On the Friday after he finished at the farm, Francis asked Reece to walk with him to the end of the lane. He led his horse and Reece walked beside till they reached the track which led across the moors. ‘Let’s stop here. We can sit on the milk stone.’

He looped up the reins and as the horse began placidly eating the grass, the two men sat down on the big flat stone on which the churns of milk were left each day to be collected by one of the shopkeepers in town.

‘You asked my advice about finding work and I’ve been thinking about it. I was wondering if I could interest you in coming to Australia with me?’ He waited, as if trying to gauge the other’s reaction.

Reece looked at him in surprise.

‘I could sponsor you, which is necessary, and offer you employment after we arrive.’

‘What makes that better than finding work here?’ Reece asked.

‘My cousin is living there now. He speaks very highly of Australia and has asked me several times to join him. Land is much cheaper there and readily available to buy or lease. You could set up as a farmer one day if you saved your wages, or open a shop or ... well, anything.’

Reece felt a stir of interest, but shook his head. ‘I’ve no money to get to Australia, Mr Southerham. The fare must cost quite a lot.’ He did have a little money saved because he’d lived very frugally since his wife’s death, but he wasn’t going to admit to having it, or spend it all on the fare and leave himself penniless and dependent when he got there.

‘I’d pay for your passage, in return for which I’d ask you to work for me for two years, starting from when we leave England.’

Reece frowned. It didn’t sound a good bargain to him. He’d still be poor at the end of those two years. And that would be two more years without Cassandra. No, it’d not do. ‘What about wages? If I can’t save money, I’ll get nowhere.’

‘I’d pay wages during those years as well, but I’m not concealing from you that it’d be hard work. I gather one has to clear the land before one can farm it, and since the climate is very different from here, I’m not sure exactly what conditions will be like. My cousin can be a bit vague at times and he’s not a farmer.’

Nor are you, Reece thought. Like his cousins, he felt the Southerhams were just playing at farming. How would this man be if he had to get up early every single morning, rain or shine, to milk his cows? The only animals he really seemed to care about were horses. And how would Francis endure hard physical work for days and months and years? Reece wasn’t at all sure the other man had the stamina and willpower necessary for that. Indeed, there were days when Mr Southerham looked positively ill.

As for Mrs Southerham, she was a very pleasant lady, who talked to everyone civilly, but her hands were soft and white and she didn’t know half of what his cousin Ginny did, for all she’d fed the hens and helped collect the eggs.

He let the silence continue as he tried to think things through, then said slowly, ‘I suppose people still need food, wherever they live in the world. And animals won’t be all that different to care for. I’ve read about Australia. Which part of the country are you going to?’

‘The Swan River Colony in the west. It’s the smallest of the colonies by far, but my cousin writes that a man of sense who works hard can make a good life for himself there. I was thinking of going to Sydney, but having someone there already to show me how to go on, will be extremely useful. And anyway, I like my cousin. We always got on well.’

‘I’ll have to think about it.’

‘Yes. Of course.’

‘There’s a young woman I’m interested in here, you see.’

‘You could send for her once you were settled. Surely she can wait a year or two?’

Reece didn’t like the cavalier way his companion dismissed Cassandra, so said sharply, ‘Is your wife going to wait for you here?’

‘No. But that’s a little different. We’re already married.’

‘As I said, I’ll have to think about it.’

Francis nodded and stood up, reaching out for the horse’s reins. ‘We’ll speak again, then.’

He rode away and when he turned round, saw Reece still standing there, kicking at a piece of turf, hands thrust into his pockets.

Who was the woman Reece cared about? he wondered. Was she the sort to be an asset or a burden? Should he offer to pay her fare as well? No, he wasn’t made of money.

To Cassandra’s relief, Mrs Southerham was at the sewing class the next day, but it took a sharp exchange of words between her and the Vicar before Cassandra was allowed to work with her again.

‘Was it bad yesterday?’ she asked, once they were alone in the cosy little room.

Cassandra shrugged. ‘You know what they’re like.’

‘Yes. I’m sorry, but I shall only be here on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays from now on.’ Livia smiled conspiratorially. ‘Don’t tell anyone, but my husband and I are learning about farming. I’ve been trying to milk cows, but I’m not very good at it, I’m afraid. We’re emigrating to Australia next year and we mean to farm out there, so are learning as much as we can.’

Cassandra tried to feel pleased for her, but couldn’t help saying, ‘I shall miss you. Not just because of the protection you offer me, but because I enjoy your company.’

‘I shall miss you, too. But we’d better start work now. I have some lists of families who’re in dire need of clothing for their children. We’ll begin to visit them from next week onwards.’

‘I thought the other churches were doing the visiting.’

‘The Vicar wants me to visit those who are members of his congregation.’

‘Will I be allowed to go with you?’

‘You will if I say so.’

Cassandra had a think about it, then said reluctantly, ‘I’m not sure it’d be wise. It’ll make the other ladies even angrier.’

Livia shrugged. ‘One can’t always be wise. But if you’d rather not come, I can find someone else.’

And suddenly Cassandra couldn’t resist the idea of getting away from this place. Maybe it wasn’t wise but it seemed to get harder each day to put up with the unfair treatment. They were picking on her more than her sisters, she couldn’t understand why, but all of them were finding it difficult to keep quiet.

‘I’d love to come with you.’

O
n Sunday afternoon Reece turned up at the Blakes’ house earlier than usual. ‘I heard about your father. How is he?’

‘Not well. Do come in out of that rain. It’s not stopped all morning.’ Cassandra led the way into the front room and gestured to a seat.

‘Is he in a state to receive visitors?’

‘Not yet.’ Her father was still disoriented and weak, unable to speak. They had to do everything for him, which was embarrassing. But she was sure there was a spark of the old intelligence and life in his eyes still, so she stubbornly continued to read and talk to him.

She watched Reece sit staring down at his clasped hands, then sigh and look up at her. ‘I’m thinking of going to Australia. Mr Southerham has offered to sponsor me and will pay my fare if I agree to work for him for two years. It’s easier to rent or buy land there, it seems. Maybe I can get a smallholding if I work hard.’

She tried to hide her dismay. If he went, she’d lose both him and Mrs Southerham. But it wouldn’t be fair to try to hold him back, not with the lack of hope here in Lancashire. With a huge effort she managed to respond calmly, ‘It sounds like a good opportunity for you.’

‘Yes. There’s no sign of cotton coming into the country in any quantity in the near future and anyway, I don’t think I could bear to go back inside a mill after working out of doors.’

She’d heard him say that before, felt the same, if truth be told. She tried to say something but could only think how much she’d miss him and struggle to hold back her tears.

‘I’d have asked you to come with me, but we’re leaving quite soon and—’

She finished for him. ‘I couldn’t leave my father.’

‘I’ll write to you if that’s all right?’

She nodded, unable to speak for the lump in her throat.

He took hold of her hand. ‘Cassandra ... if things work out well for me ... if you’re still unattached ... perhaps you could join me there one day?’

‘Go to Australia?’

He nodded, then flushed. ‘I meant, you’d come out to marry me. You know how I feel about you.’ He smiled at her, still clasping her hand tightly. ‘And I think you feel the same.’

She didn’t try to pretend, not with him. ‘Yes, I do.’

‘So later on, unless you meet someone else – and I’d not blame you if you did – would you come out and join me there if I send you the money for the fare?’

The idea was exciting but there were other problems too. Everything seemed against her and this man whom she’d grown so fond of so quickly. ‘If I went so far away, I might never see my sisters again.’

‘I know. That’s why I hesitated to ask you. I know how close you all are. And I don’t think it’d be fair to tie you down with ...’ he hesitated, then ended up, ‘promises.’

‘Couldn’t you ... find work in some other part of England?’

‘I think this is a better opportunity and I know no one outside Lancashire, so it might as well be Australia. I’m told there are more opportunities for ordinary men out there. Besides, like you, I’ve always wanted to see the world.’

‘I’ve never expected to, though.’

‘No. Life rarely gives us quite exactly what we want, does it?’ He kept hold of her hand and put the other arm round her shoulders. ‘I can’t have you if I stay here, and I can’t have you for a long time if I go. But I do want you, Cassandra love. And there is a chance that I can make a life for us in Australia – the only chance for our mutual happiness I can see.’

She looked down at their linked hands and forced the words out. ‘You should definitely go, Reece. Don’t miss this chance. But do write to me ... and think about me sometimes. And if it’s possible ... well, I can’t see so far ahead at the moment ... but if I can, I’ll come out to join you.’

He pulled her closer and kissed her, first gently, then hungrily. She gave herself up to these kisses, needing his touch just as much as he seemed to need hers. She’d not realised before how strong the need for a man’s touch could be, or how much she wanted to caress and kiss him back – had lived too much inside her head, perhaps.

When he broke away, they were both breathing heavily.

He let go of her and she had a sudden urge to pull him towards her, but she didn’t. As long as her father needed her, as long as her sisters needed her, she must stay, even if it broke her heart. ‘When – shall you go?’

‘Not for a month or two yet. I don’t know whether that makes it easier or harder.’

She felt the same.

When he’d left, she sat on alone in the front room until Pandora came to find her. She was beyond tears, beyond anything except thoughts of him and mindless wordless protests at what fate was doing to them.

‘Oh, there you are. Are you all right, Cassandra? You look – sad.’

She couldn’t give them something further to worry about, and anyway, losing Reece was
her
pain. They had another one to share. ‘I was just thinking about Dad.’

‘He’s a little better today, don’t you think?’

‘Perhaps. But he’s not going to be able to work again, is he? We have to make plans. I’ve been doing the sums and we simply can’t afford to rent this house now.’

‘You think we should move?’

‘That or take in lodgers. More people are sharing houses now to reduce the costs.’

‘Let’s take in lodgers then.’

‘If we do, we’ll have to harden our hearts. We can only accept people who can afford to pay for their rooms.’

Cassandra repeated this warning to the other two that evening.

They spread the word that they were letting rooms in their house, which was larger than most houses in the terraces, and within the day, several people came to ask if they could move in.

Cassandra questioned them with Pandora in attendance. They didn’t dare let soft-hearted Maia do it, or she’d have given the rooms to people who had no money to pay the rent, and Xanthe was so impulsive you were never quite sure what she’d do.

They’d worked out that they could let two rooms. The large room at the front of the house on the ground floor was taken first by a man who had worked with her father. He brought with him his wife, son and daughter-in-law, plus a newborn baby. All were to fit into the one room and share the kitchen facilities.

But Cassandra knew Harry Grant would be more likely to pay rent than others she spoke to, because he hadn’t waited till his money ran out to find somewhere cheaper, and he and his son were both working at stone-breaking.

She told her father what they were doing and he managed a tiny nod. He was so frail now, and so accepting of what had happened, it seemed to her as if the fighting spirit had been knocked out of him by the seizure, as if he was only waiting to die and take the burden of caring for him off their shoulders.

Only she didn’t want to lose him. He’d been more than a father to her, he’d been her best friend ... until she met Reece.

They also found tenants for the largest bedroom, the one at the front that she and Pandora had shared, letting it to an older couple with two lads of fifteen and seventeen. Again, the men were fit enough to break stones. That made such a difference.