The Rag Princess, page 10
‘I’m afraid that’s quite out of the question,’ Maggie snapped. ‘There’s more than enough work here for you to do at the weekends.’
‘Aw, come on now, Mags,’ Levi said cajolingly. ‘I bet the kid’s never been to a birthday party afore.’
‘And there’s no reason why she should now.’ Maggie’s eyes flashed as she glared at him. ‘In case you’ve forgotten, a big house like this doesn’t run itself. I need some help about the place. She’s hardly one of the family!’
A muscle twitched in Levi’s cheek, a sure sign that he was annoyed. ‘As far as I’m concerned, she is,’ he retaliated. ‘All the children under my roof should be treated the same, no matter how they got here. I won’t ’ave fish made o’ one an’ fowl of another so get it into your head, woman. You were the one that chose to bring ’em ’ere, so now make your mind up to treat ’em equal.’ Then turning his attention to Annie, he asked gently, ‘What time is this party an’ where is it, hinny?’
‘I-it’s at three o’clock an’ Emma lives in Bracebridge Street.’
‘Right, so you can walk ’er round there so she’s on time,’ Levi told Barney, who screwed his face up in disgust. ‘I’d do it meself but I’ll still be at work so mind yer get ’er there or you’ll ’ave me to answer to when I get in.’
‘Yes, Da,’ Barney sighed resignedly.
For then the subject was dropped, although Maggie was determined to have her say about it when the children were all in bed.
‘I don’t like it when you speak to me as you did earlier in front of the children, Levi,’ she scolded when they were finally alone.
Lowering the paper, he stared at her. ‘Then perhaps it’s time you made a little more effort wi’ Annie.’ His voice was calm but she could see he was annoyed. ‘Since the day she arrived you’ve shown the poor kid no affection, an’ it’s only gettin’ worse. You’re beginnin’ to treat the child like a skivvy an’ I won’t have it. Bear in mind I was quite ’appy wi’ our family how it was. It were you as chose to bring the two girls here. But now they are ’ere I want to see ’em both bein’ treated fairly, do yer ’ear me?’
‘I hear you.’ Clearly miffed, Maggie laid down her darning. ‘If you don’t mind, I can feel a headache coming on so I think I’ll have an early night.’
Levi grinned at her with a suggestive twinkle in his eye. ‘Now that sounds like a good idea. How about I come up and join you?’
She put her nose in the air. ‘As I said, I have a headache coming on, so I suggest you stay down here and read your newspaper. Oh, and don’t disturb me when you do come up, please.’
She turned and flounced out of the room leaving Levi to stare sadly into the dancing flames of the fire. He had thought coming to this house would be the making of Maggie. That it would help her to put what had happened to Penny behind her and give her something else to focus on, but that didn’t seem to have happened. She was becoming so unlike the woman he’d married that sometimes he barely recognised her. She had changed drastically from the little lass who had been happy to work beside him to build them a home and be content with what she had. Now all he heard were constant gripes and demands. It was as if nothing he did was good enough. But the worst of it was that he didn’t know how to change things, especially as he had less time now that he had a mortgage to pay as well as two extra mouths to feed. With a sigh he leant back in the chair as a lonely night stretched ahead of him.
Chapter Twelve
March 1905
‘D
id you see Barney at school today?’ Maggie questioned Annie as she arrived home from school one afternoon. The weather had finally changed and spring was in the air.
Annie flushed, avoiding Maggie’s eyes. She hated having to tittle-tattle, so instead she scuttled away to get changed. Once school was over, she was expected to work in the house and the sooner she got the jobs done the quicker she could get on with her homework.
It was Harry who answered his mother’s question when he piped up, ‘None of us ’ave seen him, Ma. He left us at the top o’ the road this mornin’ an’ he ain’t been in school all day.’
Maggie scowled. It wasn’t the first time that term he’d bunked off from school and she dreaded to think what his father would say when he found out.
Only the week before Charlie had come back from school with a message from the headmaster asking if Maggie could pay him a visit. She had set off the following morning thinking that he probably wanted to talk about Annie. After all, she could hardly be expected to fit in after spending her life in the workhouse.
On arriving at the school, she had been shown into Mr Deacon’s office and he had greeted her cordially. ‘Good day, Mrs Lilburn. I apologise for having to ask you in.’
She had smiled back at him. ‘That’s quite all right, sir. Is it something to do with Annie?’
‘Oh goodness me, no.’ Mr Deacon had beamed at her. ‘Annie is doing remarkably well, all things considered. In fact, were she a boy I would be recommending that she might be grammar school material. Every one of her teachers has nothing but praise for her. I just wish all my students were as enthusiastic to learn as she is . . . Which brings me to the point of today’s meeting.’ He coughed and looked mildly embarrassed before going on, ‘I’m afraid we are having rather a lot of problems with Barney. There have been quite a few fights in the playground with different boys and it appears that Barney has incited them all. And then there is the matter of his attendance. Were you aware that he hasn’t been in school for one full week since the Christmas holidays? He’s so close to leaving now that it seems a shame.’
Maggie had been mortified. ‘Er, no . . . I wasn’t aware,’ she had mumbled. ‘And I’m so sorry, Mr Deacon. I shall be telling his father what you’ve told me this evening and you can rest assured that it will be addressed.’
‘Good, good.’ The headmaster had stood up from behind his desk indicating that the meeting was over as Maggie stumbled to her feet. ‘Because as I’m sure you can appreciate, I cannot allow this disruptive behaviour to go on. It sets a very bad example to the other students and if Barney doesn’t settle down soon, I shall have no option but to expel him, which would be most regrettable with only a few months before he leaves.’
Maggie’s hopes of Barney going on to further education had died in that moment, and as she made her way home, she fumed. She had found the whole meeting thoroughly humiliating, especially as the headmaster had sung Annie’s praises.
Levi, however, didn’t seem half as concerned about it when she had told him that evening. ‘Well, he’s never been much of a scholar ’as he? An’ it ain’t the end o’ the world. He’ll be more like me probably, ’andy wi’ his hands, so I shouldn’t worry too much about it, hinny.’
Now she nodded at Harry. ‘All right, go and get changed all of you then you can play out in the garden until your dinner is ready.’
Once the children had disappeared, she lifted Ellie from the crib and started to feed her. She was almost five months old now and Maggie was just starting to wean her on pobs and runny porridge. She was a sunny-natured little soul who rarely cried unless she was hungry or thirsty, but Maggie’s initial obsession with her was waning badly. Ellie had failed to replace her departed daughter in her affections and she was gradually sinking back into the awful depression that had taken hold of her following Penny’s untimely death. Sometimes all she felt was guilt when she looked at the child. After all, how would Penny feel if she knew her mother was caring for another little girl?
Things were going from bad to worse with her and Levi, too, as he always took Annie’s side and felt that Maggie was too harsh on the child. To make matters worse, the house hadn’t turned out to be the Utopia she had expected either, and she was painfully aware that the neighbours looked down on them because of what Levi did for a living. She would walk around the large empty rooms when Levi was at work, frustrated that she couldn’t furnish them. Oh, it was all right for Levi to say that everything would come in time, but he wasn’t the one who had to rattle around in the place all day.
As soon as the baby was fed and her binding changed, she returned her to the crib and had just started preparing the vegetables for the evening meal while Annie got the coal in, when there was a tap on the back door. Maggie went to answer it and the moment the door opened she was met with the scent of expensive French perfume.
She gasped. It was her sister Susan, but she was nothing like she remembered her from the last time she had seen her. This woman might have stepped from the pages of a magazine. She was dressed in a smart burgundy velvet travelling gown trimmed with black braid, with a long skirt and a fitted peplum jacket, and about her shoulders was a stole that looked to be made of real fur. On her head was the most beautiful hat Maggie had ever seen, trimmed with peacock feathers that danced with her every movement, and her shining hair was dressed in a chic French pleat.
‘S-Susan!’
The woman laughed as she stepped past her, peeled off her expensive leather gloves and glanced around. ‘Well, hardly the most rapturous welcome,’ she commented drily as Maggie continued to gawp at her. ‘And actually, I prefer to be called Susanne now.’
‘Oh, er . . . sorry. It’s just such a surprise to see you.’ Maggie hastily dried her hands on her apron. ‘I wasn’t expecting you. Florence did say that she’d heard from you and that she’d sent you my new address, but I thought you’d write to let me know if you were coming.’
‘I wasn’t aware that one had to make appointments to visit family,’ Susan responded.
Maggie was shocked to hear that she didn’t even sound the same anymore. The local dialect had gone from her speech and she sounded more like Mrs Taylor-Lloyd now.
‘Of course, if it’s a problem I can quite easily book into the hotel in town. I have the funds, I assure you, and I haven’t come to sponge off you if that’s what you’re worried about.’
‘No, no of course it isn’t,’ Maggie said hastily as Annie entered the room hefting the heavy coal bucket.
‘Ah, and this must be Annie. Flo told me all about you in her letter.’ She flashed a smile at the child. ‘But didn’t you take two children from the workhouse, Maggie?’
‘Yes . . . Eleanor is over there.’
Susan crossed to the crib and briefly glanced down at the sleeping baby. ‘Hmm, she’s a pretty little thing.’ Susan had never been very maternal and she went to the mirror to take the pin from her hat and pat her hair into place.
‘Would you like a cup of tea?’ Maggie suddenly remembered her manners and hurried to fill the kettle from the pump on the sink. ‘How long will you be staying?’
Susan laughed. ‘Regards to the first question – yes, I would, please. And goodness, I only just got here and you’re trying to get rid of me already.’
‘No, of course I’m not. But the thing is I only have one empty room and that’s up in the attic next to Annie’s. I’m afraid it isn’t what you’re clearly accustomed to nowadays.’
Again, a tinkling laugh. ‘Oh, I’m sure it will be quite acceptable.’
‘In that case I’d best get Annie to make it ready for you. Annie, get the cleaning things and the mop and bucket and go and get that room cleaned. Then when you’ve finished be sure to make the bed up.’
‘Yes, missus.’ Annie dropped the heavy bucket onto the hearth and scuttled away to do as she was told.
Susan watched her go thoughtfully. ‘I reckon you’re going to have a beauty on your hands with that one when she gets a little older,’ she commented.
Maggie bristled. ‘I suppose she’ll pass,’ she said reluctantly. ‘That’s if I keep her. I only brought her here as a maid, really, but Levi treats her like one of the family. He even insists that she goes to school.’
‘And why shouldn’t she?’
The boys bounded in from the garden then and stood staring at their visitor uncertainly. They had all been very young when Susan went off to London to seek her fortune and they clearly didn’t remember her. She and Maggie had always been very different. Even as a child Susan had craved excitement, so it had been no surprise to anyone when she ran away to London as a teenager.
‘This is your Aunt Susan,’ Maggie informed the boys. ‘She’s come to stay for a while.’
Susan looked as surprised as they did as she stared at them. They’d shot up since the last time she’d seen them. ‘Shouldn’t there be three of them?’
Maggie flushed. ‘Yes, Barney isn’t home yet. This is Charles and Harold.’
‘Didn’t they used to be Charlie and Harry?’
‘We did,’ Harry told her with a grin. ‘But now we live in a posh ’ouse, Ma allus calls us by our full names.’
‘Oh, I see.’ Susan chuckled. Maggie had always been a bit above herself and it appeared that nothing had changed. ‘Anyway, which of you strong lads is going to carry my cases upstairs and show me where I’ll be sleeping?’
They both rushed forward, eager to help, and when they had finally puffed their way to the top of the stairs, they found Annie busily mopping the floorboards in the spare room.
Susan stared around; it wasn’t what she was used to but she supposed it would do. She wasn’t intending to stay for long and the thought of what she had come for brought a frown to her face.
Two hours later, as Susan sat on a sofa at the side of the fireplace, they heard Dobbin clip-clop up the side of the house, and some twenty minutes later Levi appeared, looking tired.
As soon as he saw Susan, he hurried forward with his hand outstretched. ‘Why, Susan – just look at you. You’re all grown up and doing well for yourself by the look of things.’
The jewels on her fingers and wrist flashed in the firelight and she smiled. ‘Oh, I can’t complain, and it seems you are doing well too.’
He inclined his head. ‘We’re gettin’ there, lass. Though I ’ave to say there’s still a lot to do ’ere. We need some more furniture for a start off, but it’ll come in time.’
‘Huh, it needs to,’ Maggie said ungraciously as she slammed a pan of boiled potatoes onto the draining board. Levi hadn’t even acknowledged her once he set eyes on Susan, and she felt a pang of jealousy. Susan was very pretty now and he seemed quite taken with her.
‘So, what brings you back to this neck o’ the woods?’
Susan batted her long eyelashes at him. ‘Oh, you know . . . I just thought it was time I paid my family a visit. But don’t worry – I shan’t be staying long.’
‘You can stay as long as yer like, hinny. But tell me, what are you doin’ in London these days?’
‘This and that,’ she said sketchily. ‘I work in hotels mostly.’
‘Oh yes, doin’ what?’
Barney barged in then and the conversation stopped as all eyes turned to him.
‘Late again, my lad. I’ll have words with you later,’ Maggie warned as she carried a large steak and ale pie to the table. She didn’t want to start an argument in front of Susan, but she had no need to ask where he had been. She’d heard that the circus was back in town, so no doubt he would have been with them all day.
Over the next couple of days Susan was fairly quiet but then one evening, as darkness was painting the sky, she put on her hat and coat.
Maggie stared at her. ‘Where are you off to at this time of night? It’s getting dark.’
‘Oh, don’t worry about me. I’m a big girl now and can more than look after myself. I just want to pop out and catch up with a few friends and get a breath of fresh air. Don’t wait up for me.’
‘This is an odd sort o’ time to go out, ain’t it?’ Levi commented as the back door closed behind her.
Maggie shrugged as she glanced up from the little matinee jacket she was knitting for Ellie. ‘Like she said, she’s a grown woman now, as I’m sure you’ve noticed,’ she said sarcastically, causing Levi to blush as he lifted his clay pipe from the rack and packed it with tobacco.
Meanwhile, Susan was hurrying along the road and once she came to Abbey Green she turned left and started to make her way up Tuttle Hill. At the top of the hill she turned sharply left to follow an unmarked lane that led down to the Coventry canal. She could only hope that the person she had come to see was still living in the tiny cottage further on, otherwise she didn’t know what she was going to do.
As she drew closer to it, feeling her way along the hedgerow, she was rewarded by the glow of an oil lamp through the drawn curtains. She just prayed that the woman she remembered was still there. Looking up and down the lane to make sure no one was about, she knocked on the door, her heart in her mouth.
Chapter Thirteen
A
fter a moment she heard shuffling footsteps coming towards her and a voice called, ‘Who’s that knockin’ on me door at this bloody time o’ night? Ain’t you got a bed to go to?’
‘Granny Keen, is that you? I- I need your help,’ Susan said in a small voice.
The bolts were dragged back and the door opened a crack. A wizened old face peered out at her. ‘In trouble are yer, gel?’
When Susan nodded, the old woman held the door wider and ushered her inside. As Susan looked around her heart sank. A large dog lay snoring on a worn rug in front of the fire while two cats were fast asleep in one of the wing-back chairs to one side of the fireplace. An identical chair stood at the other side of the fire, but they were both so worn and shabby that it was hard to distinguish what colour they might once have been. The floor was packed earth and looked as if it hadn’t been swept for months and just for a moment Susan panicked and wondered if she was doing the right thing. She had known many girls visit the old woman for the same reason she was there now, but she had never thought she would have to. Perhaps she would be better off going back to London and finding someone who might help her there.
‘So ’ow far along are yer?’ the old woman asked bluntly.
