Hope for Tomorrow (10 page)

“
Materials?” His eyes grew wide. “Um...”

“
Might I make a suggestion?”

“
Please.”

“
If you trust me, I would be happy to pick the materials for you.”

“
Would you? That would be marvellous.”

She didn't need her swatches, she knew exactly which fabrics would make these gloves look best.

“
If you'll just give me a moment, I'll cost them for you.”

She got out her pencil and began to jot down the figures, handing him the sheet when she was finished.

“
That seems fine,” he said. “Are you sure that they can be made in time for Christmas?”

“
Oh yes. These designs aren't overly complicated, there are still another ten days until Christmas and we've taken on a lot of additional glovers.”

“
Forward thinking,” he smiled. “When I met you at the ball, I thought you to be an uncommon woman but seeing you here, in your domain so to speak, I can see that you have hidden depths that I had not even begun to tap.”

“
Yes, I'm afraid that I also have a terrible habit of venturing an opinion and a frightful dislike of gossip.”

He laughed at her joke. “Are you quite certain that you are female?”

“
I would prove it to you but the only thing I dislike more than gossip, is being the subject of it.”

He roared with laughter.

“
You have a sharp wit, Miss Aldercott.”

“
I also have a sharp tongue so just pray that you do not get to experience it.”

“
Oh, heaven forfend,” he smiled. “So, do you have any plans for Christmas?”

“
Nothing special, it will just be Gus, my sister and I,” she answered. “Though Gus is rather insistent on us having a pine tree in our parlour this year; apparently it is a German tradition that Prince Albert and the Queen practice. I am not quite sure why cutting down a living tree and decorating one's parlour with it is in the spirit of Christmas, but he seems quite determined.”

“
It might sound strange but my family have erected a tree these last four years and it is very festive looking once decorated.”

“
Then I shall remind you of your words once your parlour is covered in pine needles,” she teased but her smile quickly faded.

Martha knew that she shouldn't encourage this man's affection but he really was very good company. He was sweet and such a nice-seeming man that she could see him becoming a good friend. If only it could remain a friendship.

“
Dr Blackhall-”

“
Thomas, please.”

“
All right, Thomas. I am not the type of person to beat around the bush or lead someone on, especially a respectable gentleman like yourself. I feel that it is only fair to inform you that, whilst I like you very much based on our short acquaintance, I have no intention of ever marrying anyone.”

“
Ever?” he sounded surprised.

“
Ever,” she confirmed. “I enjoy my work and my independence far too much to ever give either of them up.”

“
What about having a family?” he asked.

“
My sister is just two years old, she is like a daughter to me and I am the only mother that she has ever known.”

“
That sounds like a lonely life,” he said kindly.

“
I find that loneliness is a state of mind. I am as likely to feel lonely in a crowded room as I am by myself.”

“
Well...” He seemed slightly wrong-footed.

“
I do hope that I haven't hurt your pride at all. Please believe me, this is nothing personal, it is simply how I want to live my life.”

“
I do believe you,” he answered. “And as much as I do not like what you have said here today, I must thank you for your candour. I do  hope that we can remain friendly?”

“
I would like that very much. I would also ask, in light of our earlier discussion on gossip, that you not spread this about. I dread to think what kind of rumours would be started off the back of such a declaration.”

“
You have my word,” he assured her.

“
Thank you. Now, if you would be so good as to give me your address, I will have the gloves delivered to you once they are ready.”

Christmas in the Aldercott household had usually been a subdued affair until now. On Martha's first Christmas with Gus, Hope was just three months old and had no clue what was happening. They didn't decorate the study or exchange gifts and the only sign that it was even Christmas Day was when Gus and Martha wished each other happy Christmas before they ate Mrs Needham's Christmas lunch.

The second year Gus was feeling a little better and asked Mrs Needham to prepare them all sorts of Christmas treats, like mince pies, sugared plums and of course, a Christmas pudding.

Hope still didn't really understand what the day meant but she was pleased to receive gifts of toys and stuffed animals.

The gifts Martha and Gus exchanged were simple; she gave him a deep blue coloured cravat, hoping to draw him out of his perpetual black and he gave her a bead bracelet, knowing that she was unlikely to feel comfortable with anything more extravagant.

This would be their third Christmas together and Gus was the happiest that Martha had ever seen him, hence getting a Christmas tree and decorating it.

The house had a full contingent of staff now and Gus even ordered a second, slightly smaller tree for the servants' quarters. Everyone was involved with the decorations.

Hope and her nanny made yards of paper chains. Cook fashioned and iced  gingerbread men and houses which could be secured to the trees with ribbon. The servants dipped the edges of ivy leaves in glue then sprinkled sugar over to look like snow crystals and fashioned
cornucopia cones
from paper to be filled with sweets and hung from the tree branches.

Martha made wreaths from evergreen branches and added touches of colour with holly berries and red apples. She also made flowers using paper and secured them with wire.

Gus was content to pay for the materials and help place the decorations on the tree once made.

This year, although only two years old, Hope seemed to know that she would be getting presents and was very excited on Christmas morning.

She was still a quiet child overall and given that she had spent most of her first two years with only Martha and Gus for company, she was wary around strangers but she had become used to the new staff and was no longer afraid to speak in front of them. She especially seemed to love her nanny, Sally, which both pleased Martha since it meant that the nanny genuinely cared for Martha but it also upset her that Hope loved another woman almost as much as her mother.

Martha spent as much time as she could with Hope, only working at the shop between 10am and 4pm, four days a week and 10am until noon on Wednesdays, though she did see special clients out of hours sometimes, usually at their homes. The rest of the time she spent at home with Hope. Since children were not allowed at the dining table, Gus had turned the rear parlour into a family room with a table where they could eat with Hope, though her table manners were still atrocious!

The servants frowned on this behaviour but since the baby wasn't at the proper dining table, there was technically nothing wrong with what they were doing. Still, they all thought that it was very odd.

This year Christmas dinner was eaten at the family dining table and then while the servants retired for their own Christmas meal, Martha, Gus and Hope went into the front parlour to open the presents which sat under the tree.

This year Hope received lots of toys, books and clothes, not only from Martha and Gus but also from the servants, who had mostly hand-made their gifts. Gus gave Martha something he had wanted to give her last year, a gold charm bracelet and three charms to add to it; a baby, an angel and a heart, which he thought summed up what she meant to him.

In return Martha gave him a pocket watch, engraved with the words '
With love from your girls
'.

Both gifts were expensive but more importantly, they were personal.

They helped Hope play with her gifts for a while then took her out for a walk. The streets of Penchester were very quiet today, one of the few days of the year when almost everyone stayed home. Since they hadn't attended the morning service, they stopped in at church to say a quick prayer then went for a stroll through the park. There was no snow this year but everywhere still had a white sheen from the nightly frost which hadn't melted.

Martha couldn't remember ever feeling so content since she had left the Marchwood estate and when they stepped into the church, she thanked God for her good luck and prayed for it to continue.

Chapter Ten

Christmas in the Beaumont house was a quiet and formal affair. The daughters had both made good marriages and were spending Christmas with their husbands' families as usual, so it was just Lucien and his parents.

The presents exchanged were expensive but little thought had gone into the gifts. Conversation over Christmas dinner was stilted almost to the point of being non-existent, so Lucien had their full attention when he announced that he was going to visit a friend in Oxford for the new year.

Lady Beaumont didn't want him to go because she was still trying to get Miss Aldercott, among others, to visit for New Year's Eve. Unfortunately Mr Aldercott had answered her letter informing her that this was the busiest time of year for them and that neither of them could be spared. He was very polite about it and hoped that she would visit them in the new year.

Lucien's father supported the idea, for he was sick and tired of his son's attitude and thought that some time away might help calm his temper. His work ethic recently was undeniable but he had offended more than a few tenants, which in itself wasn't too worrying but he had also offended some of their friends. Perhaps a few weeks surrounded by people his own age would help him.

Unlike his wife, he wasn't at all troubled by his son's lack of romantic interest in the opposite sex for he hadn't married until he was in his thirties and he was confident that his son would feel the urge to settle down sooner or later.

So the day after Christmas, Lucien packed his bags and set off on his horse for Stockport where he would stable Midnight and catch a train south to Oxford. It galled him that Marchwood didn't have a station of its own but that was his fathers fault because he wouldn't sell the railway the land that it needed.

His friend in Oxford, Peter Ellison, was the youngest son of an Earl and with three older brothers, he had long ago accepted that he would have to forge his own way in the world.

Peter envied Lucien his title and inheritance while Lucien envied Peter his freedom to choose his own future. Despite this, they had a lot in common and had become firm friends while they studied together.

Peter had gone on to get a Masters egree and was now working towards a Doctorate in botany. He hoped that when he was finished the college might take him on as a professor. Lucien wished that he had been been able to go further with his studies but his father had wanted him home as soon as his degree was finished.

The life Peter led was fairly quiet and sedentary. He worked in a laboratory or read scientific papers or journals each day then he returned to his little college to read his beloved books or perhaps mix with his former professors in the evenings. Already his lifestyle was starting to take its toll on his figure and he was showing signs of developing a paunch.

Lucien spent his days riding or walking about the estate so his rich diet and love of good wine and brandy hadn't gone to his waistline. What's more, if he took after his father in that way, it never would.

Lucien felt restless being forced to live Peter's sedentary life but he did his best not to let it show because he knew that he needed to learn to relax. He had enjoyed his college days and learning but he had spent the past few years feeling like a taut string that is about to snap at any moment so the change of pace was taking some getting used to.

Peter was taking time off from his studies until after the new year when the other students returned, so they had plenty of time to just sit and talk.

For the first few days they spoke of little other than literature, then on the third day of his visit they decided to tour the empty campus. Lucien had mislaid his gloves so Peter told him to wait, then returned with a box.

“
Here,” he handed the box to him which had Aldercott & Daughter embossed on the lid. “They were a Christmas present from my sister. Apparently those gloves are all the rage at the moment, my mother and sister hardly shut up about them in their letters.

Lucien pulled them on. They were made from a very thin and supple leather but lined with cashmere which made them warm and they were trimmed with black fur both inside and outside at the wrist.

“
They're very nice,” Lucien said as he flexed his hand in them.

“
Keep them,” Peter offered.

“
Are you sure?”

“
I prefer gloves that I have already broken in,” Peter said.

The campus hadn't changed much since Lucien had been a student and it brought back some fond memories for him.

“
You would hate this life and you know it,” Peter said when Lucien once again voiced how envious he was of his friend.

“
How do you know?” Lucien scoffed.

“
Because I know you, we did our degrees together, remember? I was the one studying into the wee small hours and you were the one off playing cards and doing everything at the last minute.”

“
I did well.”

“
Because you're intelligent but even you must admit that you would have done better if you had put the hours in.”

Lucien didn't answer.

“
You like this life because it's different,” Peter continued. “You never got on with your father and academia was your rebellion but can you honestly tell me that you would be happy to spend your life behind a desk? You love the outdoors and the countryside; this life would slowly smother you.”

“
Maybe,” Lucien finally admitted.

They had reached Peter's small house by the campus and after taking off their hats, coats and scarves, they settled in the parlour with glasses of brandy to warm them.

“
She's still holding you back, isn't she?” Peter said. He knew all about what had happened with Martha and while he was sympathetic to his friend's plight, he didn't really understand why Lucien couldn't move on.

Lucien gave a heavy sigh and nodded. The silence stretched out between them for a few moments.

“
I think it's the not knowing that makes it so difficult,” Lucien said. “I don't know how she is, how the baby is, is it a girl or a boy, what she named it, nothing. If I knew that they were safe and well I think it would be easier to move on.”

“
Is there no way that you can find out?”

He shook his head sadly.

“
I think that if I hadn't gone after her like a man possessed, then she might have kept in contact with our housekeeper but now she's too scared to correspond with her.”

“
So say that you did know where she was,” Peter said. “Say you knew that she was safe and well and had found a nice man to marry her.”

A dark shadow fell over Lucien's features.

“
See?” Peter asked. “It doesn't matter if she's happy or not, you would still be obsessed with her.”

“
What do you suggest?”

“
Perhaps it's not her that has you upset so much as what she did,” he suggested. “Perhaps what troubles you is that she ran away. You didn't end it, you didn't send her away for once; she took that power from you and she used it.”

“
You think this is just hurt pride?” Lucien asked.

“
Isn't it?”

“
No. I'm certain that what you say is correct to a degree but it's so much more than that. Hurt pride is humiliating but it isn't painful. Every day when I wake up, I feel pain when I remember that she is gone.”

“
And what if she came back.” Peter asked. “Say she came back tomorrow, simple housemaid with your bastard child in tow, what would you do?”

“
Marry her.”

Peter choked on his brandy and had to spit out most of his mouthful. He coughed for a few moments until he had finally rid his airways of the drink.

“
I'm sorry, did you just say that you would marry the housemaid?”

“
Why not? I love her.”

Peter took another long sip of his brandy before answering.

“
Do you have any idea of the scandal that would cause? You would never again be accepted into polite society!”

“
I haven't been much of a part of polite society since she left so it would be no hardship.”

“
But she's a housemaid!”

“
And we are both the sons of Earls and yet still individuals. What we are doesn't define who we are. She was...”

“
Lucien, please, you must stop this insanity. It doesn't matter how pretty or kind or loving she was, she has made her choice and it isn't you. You need to accept that.”

“
Have you ever been in love?” Lucien asked.

“
Oh, I suppose because I have never been in love, I am not allowed to have an opinion on your affair. How very convenient.”

“
Actually I was going to say that if you ever had been in love, you would understand.”

“
And I think that you have been reading too many love stories.” He got up and went to the bookshelves, pulling one out and tossing it to Lucien. “That is what all-consuming love gets you, my friend.”

Lucien turned the book over to see that it was a copy of Romeo and Juliet.

Aldercott & Daughter continued to enjoy its success. The next year they opened a further two shops in Edinburgh and Southampton. The years after that another four in Birmingham, Coventry, York and Cambridge.

Their reputation preceded them and orders from their off-the-peg range increased both at home and from their clients abroad.

The factory workforce was more than doubled; the storeroom had to be converted to floor space and the stock moved to a small warehouse close by.

The newspapers didn't often comment on fashion but when a royal was looking particularly resplendent, they did sometimes mention who had made their outfit and Aldercott & Daughter received more than a few comments.

As Hope grew, it became clear that she had inherited her father's colouring with his light blue eyes and dark brown hair. She became a daily reminder to Martha of her father and it became harder and harder for Martha to forget about Lucien. At first she had worried that she might begin to take her anger at Lucien out on Hope but thankfully that never happened. When she saw Hope smile like her father or move like him, it instead filled her with sadness and longing, both for herself and what she had lost and for the fact that Hope would never get to know her father.

She continued to call Martha 'Mar' but as she grew she had to be told that Martha was her sister not her mother. Martha didn't want to lie to her daughter but she was too young to understand the importance of that differentiation and keep the secret. If society discovered that Miss Aldercott was an unwed mother, the company's reputation would be ruined.

When Hope turned five, Gus employed a governess for her who taught her reading, writing and arithmetic as well as the piano, French and needlepoint. Martha insisted that the classics be added to that list and as she grew, politics, geography and other topics were also to be included in her education. Sally, the nanny was also retained since Hope was attached to her and to be quite honest, the governess was a good teacher but she was also quite hard in her manner.

Thomas Blackhall became a frequent visitor to the house as Gus's friend but Martha usually stayed with them for the evening as they chatted. At first she had tried to keep her opinions to herself, as a polite lady should but both men had tried to draw her out until she now got into some quite heated discussions with Thomas at times.

Thomas had been surprised to realise that she didn't just read The London Illustrated News for inspiration for her designs but she also read Gus's daily newspaper because she was interested in the world. He found it quite charming that a lady could discuss politics and world events for the women that he knew were not at all interested in such matters.

Another thing that he also liked was that she wasn't needlessly stubborn; even when she did have a strong opinion and although at times they engaged in heated discussions, she was open to hearing his point of view and even on occasion, revising her opinion. What's more, although it usually took her a few days to fully think through the points he had raised, she was not afraid to admit when she had been wrong and apologise.

She had even managed to change his mind on occasion, though sadly he was much more stubborn than she.

When they were discussing the Poor Law which had been passed in 1834 for example, she raised some very interesting points about the workhouses and tried to get him to understand that they didn't really help the poor.

Many times during their discussions she wished that she could tell him of her childhood, the poverty that she had lived in, the perpetual hunger that she and her siblings endured, not to mention those siblings who had died from malnourishment and illness. She was forced to say that she had read about these stories or heard them from a maid.

Whilst he admitted that workhouses were not a perfect solution, Thomas thought them generally a good thing, despite the cases of mistreatment which the Times sometimes reported, calling them aberrations. Then the scandal of the Andover Workhouse broke, at which point he was finally forced to concede that she had been correct in her assessment but she took no pleasure in being right, she simply wished that there was something more that could be done for those in hardship.