The Downstairs Maid (51 page)

Thank God she didn’t know about the money Pa had left her. Emily scrambled to the bed and slid her hand under the mattress. Her Post Office book wasn’t there … she searched both sides of the bed and then sat down on the edge. Ma had taken that too. Emily had thought that at least must be safe, but Ma would forge her signature and in a town where Emily wasn’t known she would be able to steal her money.

Emily had nothing left but the damaged things Pa had given her, whatever was in the till downstairs … but Ma would have taken that too. How could she do this to Emily and Jack? Yet she should have known. Ma had taken Uncle Albert’s ring and the silver watch and chain left to her by her grandfather, also the stock from the barns, which Pa had left to Emily. Now she’d taken everything else of value … except for the pendant Nicolas Barton had given her, which, since Christopher had died, and could not be offended, had always hung around Emily’s neck.

She’d been such a fool to trust her! Why hadn’t she just taken Jack and left her mother to sink into her own misery?

Emily fought back the senseless tears. Now she knew where she stood. Somehow she would manage. She would get back on her feet and make a success of her life, even if it meant that to keep going she had to sell the pendant Nicolas had given her.

No, she wouldn’t sell it; she would pawn it for enough money to run the pub until she was in profit again, and then she would buy it back.

Her decision made, Emily went back to her brother. He seemed to be sleeping peacefully and she smiled. She still had Jack. She had a reason to fight and go on with her life.

The mess up here could wait until later. She had a pile of washing up to do downstairs and then she must make pastries and pies, plus a load of sandwiches. Perhaps her mother hadn’t taken her float too. Emily had hidden it in a jar in the kitchen. Only five pounds but if it was there she had something to replenish her stocks of food for the bar.

She went down to the bar and checked the till. The coins were still there. Obviously, Ma had been in too much hurry to bother with the change. She hadn’t taken any of the pewter or copper from the bar either, which meant she either didn’t know it was worth something or she wasn’t certain it belonged to Emily rather than the brewery from whom she’d leased the pub.

Emily frowned. She’d asked her mother how long the lease lasted but Ma had been vague. She remembered signing a contract but couldn’t remember how long it was for. Emily would have to find out – and to discover how much the brewery would ask for an extension. However, that might be years away yet, perhaps another two or three years before she needed to raise a lump sum.

Emily was glad she’d paid her staff the previous night. At least they’d had their wages, and if Saturday was a good day she would be able to manage until she recovered from the damage her mother’s betrayal had inflicted. She’d lost a lot of pretty things, but apart from the compact nothing had any sentimental value to her. Her engagement ring had always made her feel slightly guilty and, had Ma not stolen it would probably have been the first thing she sold. Glancing at her left hand she remembered her wedding ring. It would fetch a pound or so perhaps.

Emily felt a return of optimism. Ma had done her worst but she couldn’t harm her any more. She would work hard to make the pub pay and she would give her brother a good life.

It was nearly two-thirty before Emily was able to lock up and go upstairs for her break. She’d managed to pop upstairs a couple of times during the morning and Jack had seemed to be resting. His skin was no longer as damp as it had been and she thought he must be getting over the fever. She decided she would wake him now, give him milk and a sandwich and some more of the doctor’s medicine.

She went into his bedroom, half-expecting him to be sitting up waiting for her but he was lying just as she’d left him, his eyes closed. Her heart caught with fear and she rushed to the bed. Please don’t let him be dead! He was cool to the touch but he wasn’t dead. Emily felt her eyes wet with tears as she gathered him up in her arms and held him tight. He gave a whimper of protest, opened his eyes and looked at her, smiling.

‘Jack hungry,’ he said. ‘Emily give Jack bun?’

‘Yes, darling, you can have a bun,’ Emily said. ‘We’ll go to the baker and buy some.’

She dressed him in clean things, put his coat on and fetched her own. Then, going back down to the bar, she took a pound from the till. She couldn’t really afford to buy cakes from the baker’s shop at the moment, but she hadn’t made any that morning and her darling brother deserved a treat, even if she couldn’t afford it.

And while she was out, she would call in at the pawnbroker’s shop and discover what he would give her for the pendant. She wouldn’t sell it just yet, but if she became desperate she would sell anything of value she had left, though Ma hadn’t left her very much.

‘You look beautiful, Lizzie,’ Nicolas said and kissed his sister’s cheek. He handed her a small parcel wrapped in silver tissue. ‘This is just for you on your special day, dearest. So my little princess is all grown up and about to marry her prince?’ His eyes went over her, noticing the sparkle in her eyes. ‘I’ve no need to ask if you’re happy.’

‘Very happy,’ Lizzie replied and hugged him. ‘I’m so glad you could get back for the wedding, Nicolas darling. You’ve been away such a long time. I’ve missed you.’

‘You don’t need me now,’ he teased. ‘You have your Sir Arthur and soon you’ll be Lady Jones.’

Lizzie had opened her parcel, exclaiming over the beautiful silver bangle. ‘This is wonderful,’ she said and clasped it on her arm. ‘Arthur has given me so much but I love this … I truly do.’

‘Well, I’ll leave you to finish getting ready,’ Nicolas said. Then he said, ‘I suppose you don’t know where Emily went, do you?’

‘Emily Johnson?’ Lizzie looked at him, a little surprised. ‘Didn’t I tell you about her husband?’

‘Yes, you told me he’d died. You thought she would be running the shop in Ely, but it is a hairdressing salon now.’

‘Oh yes, I suppose I did think that at the time – she changed her mind so much. First it was the shop and then she wanted to join a voluntary service in London – in the end she went off to live with her mother in a pub in Ely. I think it does quite well. Arthur says he had a lunch there one Thursday and it was good – but of course I haven’t been there …’

Nicolas raised his eyes and Lizzie flushed. ‘I thought you were friends?’

‘Yes, we are. I invited her to my wedding. She sent me a piece of beautiful old lace as a gift, but told me she couldn’t spare the time to come. I was a bit hurt actually but … I suppose she thought I’d been avoiding her. You know what Mama would say if I visited her at a pub, Nicolas. She didn’t approve when Emily lived on Arthur’s estate, but Granny supported me – and she certainly doesn’t approve of Emily working in a public house. She might have had her old job back here if she’d asked …’

‘Perhaps she had good reason for doing what she does?’

‘Perhaps …’ Lizzie pulled a face at him. ‘Don’t be cross with me, Nicolas. I’m very fond of Emily, you know I am – but well, I don’t think I should like to visit a public house. It probably smells awful.’

Nicolas nodded his understanding. Lizzie could not help her upbringing. She’d been a bit of a rebel for a while, but now she was to marry a respectable man and she’d reverted to her class. A girl like her wouldn’t normally visit a public house and, if Emily had turned down the invitation to her wedding, perhaps it was for the best. For a time their worlds had come together, but now they’d drifted apart and perhaps both were content in their own way.

And in a way he’d been just as bad, because he hadn’t spoken out that day when he’d met Emily at the hospital. He’d hinted at his feelings, but he hadn’t told Emily he loved her – and he hadn’t asked her to marry him, something he’d regretted a thousand times. If he’d asked she might have said yes …

Leaving his sister to dress for her wedding, Nicolas went down to the hall. He had time to go riding, because the ceremony was not until two-thirty that afternoon. Feeling restless, he walked down to the stable. He wasn’t sure what he’d hoped for when he’d been given leave for Lizzie’s wedding.

Knowing that Emily had married out of duty had lain on his conscience all this time. He shouldn’t have let her throw her life away. Nicolas had felt hurt and angry in turns; knowing that he wanted her, his jealousy had ground away at his insides. Only when his stint as a flying instructor was over and he was back in Belgium, flying his kite, had the image of her white face left him. Then he could recall her as she’d been when he’d held her in his arms after her father died; the funny things she said that made him smile, the scent of her hair and the desire that had swept through him – but she had chosen someone else.

He hadn’t actually asked her to be his wife, because he feared a quarrel with his family
.

Nicolas cursed himself. He was, he knew, one of the fortunate ones. The young pilots he’d trained were now becoming old hands, those that survived – and other young recruits had been sent to take their place, some of them dying on their first sortie. He was considered to have a charmed life and perhaps he had – but it often felt empty to him.

He’d tried dating other girls, even taking one or two of them to bed – but still the memory of Emily’s eyes had stayed in his head.

Nicolas had hoped that he would see her again, just walk into the shop to buy something … he’d also hoped that she would no longer have that strange hold on his heart that he could not shake off. Lizzie might not be able to go to a public house, but Nicolas could – and he would, after the wedding.

Lizzie was a beautiful bride, just as he’d known she would be – as Amy would have been had she not chosen to run away with her lover the previous year. Nicolas felt a little sad that Amy had disgraced herself and her family … but today was not the time for regrets!

Nicolas watched as his sister took her vows and then walked back down the aisle on her husband’s arm. Outside, he threw confetti over them and joined with his family as the photographer had them all lined up for the official pictures. It took a long time for the photographs to be finished, because they had to wait for each pose to be perfect and then for the exposure, but in the end Lord Barton said they should leave for the reception. Some of the guests had modern automobiles; some were still using a horse and carriage. Nicolas took two of the bridesmaids in his open tourer.

Because the weather was so pleasant, he had the top down and the pretty girls giggled and laughed, enjoying the ride. One of them had blonde hair and large blue eyes. Nicolas was amused by the way she fluttered her lashes at him, hanging on his every word. She told him her name was Celine and she was eighteen. She had just left her finishing school and was preparing to join the ambulance service in London.

‘A lot of people think the war is almost over,’ she told Nicolas, ‘but Papa says there is a long way to go yet and he wants me to do something useful with the education he gave me – before I get married.’

Her eyelashes fluttered flirtatiously and Nicolas knew that she was telling him she was available for romance, if not marriage just yet. She amused him, because her chatter was so innocent and open that it reminded him of Emily when she’d first come to the manor.

Nicolas supposed Emily would have changed a great deal over the years. She’d been a widow for several months now and was running a successful business. If she’d wanted to see Nicolas, she could have written to him via Lizzie – but perhaps she had forgotten that night when just for one moment she’d been tempted to go away with him.

‘How long is your leave?’ Celine was asking. ‘I don’t have to join my unit for another week …’

Nicolas looked at the pretty young woman and smiled. The invitation in her eyes was clear now. ‘I have ten days,’ he said. ‘I was due leave, because I’d deferred it for Lizzie’s wedding – and now I have some time to myself.’

‘So do I,’ Celine said, her mouth soft and inviting. ‘Isn’t that a coincidence?’

Nicolas laughed. She was a very bold young woman and he liked her. She attached herself to his side when they reached the house and, when the dancing started, Nicolas felt obliged to ask her to dance. After that he had to dance with the other bridesmaid and some of Lizzie’s other friends, then with the bride herself and his mother and, finally, a very slow dance with Granny.

‘You look very well, Granny dear,’ he said, leading her to her seat afterwards. ‘I think you will miss Lizzie?’

‘Dreadfully, but don’t tell her so,’ Lady Prior said. ‘Jonathan’s wife is dull – and Helen and I don’t see eye to eye.’ She raised an eyebrow. ‘Tell me, Nicolas – when shall you oblige us and bring a bride to this house?’

‘I don’t think it would be fair until this show is over – do you?’

‘Surely it can’t go on much longer?’

‘Who knows?’ Nicolas squeezed her arm. ‘I shall wait until I’m no longer being shot at, dearest. I don’t want to make my bride a widow too soon …’

He frowned as he recalled that he’d meant to visit Emily after the wedding, but somehow he’d got caught up in the celebrations and it was too late now. She would be tired after working long hours in that pub. He would drive to Ely in the morning and see if she would speak to him …

Emily could scarcely recall a busier night at the pub. She’d made several lots of fresh sandwiches and the pastries she’d cooked earlier had run out ages ago. She’d tried out some relishes to go with the rolls, cheese and cold meats she put into her sandwiches and they had been selling well too. It would take her a while to feel certain but she thought she was going to make enough money to see her through the winter, when the pub was not as busy as this every night. In summer they had several tourists visiting; people came to see the cathedral and quite a few men came down for the fishing. Emily knew that if she wanted the extra money she could let out two rooms – at least during the summer, but she was reluctant to do it, because she was alone here with her brother. Occasionally, one of the customers would try to flirt with her but she never responded. She knew that other widows did take in lodgers, but some of them didn’t mind providing extras. Emily certainly wasn’t prepared to sleep with her lodgers.