Dreams Can Come True (43 page)

“Oh, Hannah,” she whispered. “I’ve missed yer so, especially little Johnny. Hasn’t he grown?”

“Come, Mother,” Hannah said, also feeling overcome. “We’ll go into the other room and leave Sadie and Jenny alone.”

“So, how was it, Mother?” asked Hannah sympathetically, as she noticed the dark smudges of tiredness and the hopeless look in Maggie’s eyes.

“Difficult, Hannah. A woman of my age shouldn’t get into situations like I did. She’s a beautiful child, but I don’t have the energy I used to. Serves me right fer falling for Johnny’s silvery tongue.”

“Poor Mother, I really do feel for you. I’ve been lucky with having Olive and now Sadie to help me, but I can imagine if I was older I couldn’t cope alone. Anyway, let me have a good look at her. Give her to me; let’s get her out of the shawl so I can see her hands and feet. Oh, just look at you in your pretty little frock and tiny bootees! Did you make these, Mother? Oh you must have done. I had to pass on Johnny’s clothes to Georgie this time.” She lowered her voice in case her servants could hear her. “We’ll have to talk alone later. Eddie has done something you might disapprove of, but at the time he couldn’t think of anything else to do. You’re staying, aren’t you? I can have a bed made up for you in the back bedroom and Rosemary can sleep in one of the tallboy drawers. You’ll notice we don’t have much in the way of furniture; only bits and pieces that the Kennets left behind.”

Maggie nodded. She had noticed the threadbare rugs on the cold stone floors, the moth-eaten curtains that hung at the windows, the sparsely furnished sitting room and nothing in the hall. She shuddered when she thought of what Hannah had got used to in her life at Selwyn Lodge.

“We’ve lots of land though, and an orchard, a paddock and lots of trees. There’s a stable and a workshop that Eddie will make into a builder’s yard. We have a quarry too, which will go someway to paying our bills.”

“And two servants to pay wages to, Hannah. How on earth have you been managing since I’ve been away?”

“From my allowance, and of course Eddie’s wages from Sheldon, but he finished there last week. Up to now Michael has not put a stop to my allowance, which is giving Eddie a fighting chance of setting up for himself.”

There came a knock on the door as Maggie began to formulate some questions for her stepdaughter. Sadie put her head around it.

“Dinner on the table in ten minutes, Missis. I take it your mother’s staying so I’ve laid an extra place.”

“Ten minutes to try to feed my baby, Hannah. Would yer leave us and I’ll wake her, then I’ll see if she’ll have a go.”

“She’s in the front room, Eddie,” said Hannah, as her husband walked in through the back door and took off his jacket.

“Who is?” asked Eddie, wondering who on earth could be in the sitting room. His heart sank into his boots when he thought it might be Alice or even Michael, then he quickly realised they didn’t know where they’d moved to.

“Mother and her little girl, Rosemary. She’s feeding her and naturally she wants a bit of privacy. Which reminds me, I’ll be needing to feed Georgie in an hour or so. Are you rushing off after dinner, Eddie? I don’t want to leave Mother on her own.”

“I’ll look after Johnny fer yer, if yer want,” broke in Sadie. “He can come with me after I’ve fed him his dinner, then he’ll be out of the road.”

“Oh, thank you,” answered Hannah, pleased that her maid had offered her help though it was really her half day off. That’s what she liked about both her servants; nothing was too much trouble and they didn’t ask for extra pay.

“How’s she looking?” asked Eddie, as the couple walked into the orchard while they waited for their meal to be served. Neither had got their servants’ measure and didn’t want to be overheard.

“A lot plumper, but her face looks older and haggard. That sparkle she used to have has gone and her eyes look full of misery.”

“Has she said anything about Sheldon, what her plans are, what she’ll do with Michael? Is she in any position, now she has the baby, to carry on?”

“Oh, hang on, Eddie, she’s only just got here. Give her a chance. I’ll suggest I take care of Rosemary this afternoon, while she has a sleep in her bedroom. Yes, she’s staying, Eddie. Then perhaps this evening we can all sit round and discuss it.”

“As long as she doesn’t get on at me for anything. I did the best that I could fer her and I do deserve that loan.”

“Have yer seen any sight of your Uncle, Eddie?” Maggie asked, as the three of them settled in front of the fire in the sitting room, that evening. “I wondered if he had called in to see your parents at Christmas time. He has in the past, hasn’t he?”

Eddie shook his head, regretfully. “No, no one’s seen him since yer came over together that time from Liverpool, but me Dad did say he was thinking of giving the sea up and starting a business somewhere.”

“Aye, that’s what I thought, but he didn’t tell him where?”

Eddie shook his head again and wondered when they were going to get round to discussing the business. He felt unsure and very nervous at what Maggie’s reaction would be to him taking the loan. Hannah also felt tense on her husband’s behalf; he shouldn’t have done it without consulting her mother. Maggie could get very angry if she thought someone was trying to pull the wool over her eyes.

“So what do yer think of Rosemary, then?”

This was Maggie trying to lull the conversation. She knew the couple had a lot to say, but wasn’t ready to hear it yet.

“She’s beautiful, a little poppet,” Hannah cried. “I hope I have one just like her next time.”

“She looks like Georgie, both have the hair colour and dark eyes. Don’t yer think so, Maggie?”

“Probably because they’re both Dockertys, Eddie. I’m sure that Hannah has already told yer the tale.”

Eddie coloured slightly and looked at Hannah.

“Yes, but it’s up to you what yer do with yer life.”

“Shocking behaviour, though. A woman of my age gallivanting off and having an affair with your uncle. Not the done thing, eh, Eddie?”

“Well, it seems to have caused a lot of complications.”

“Exactly, and that’s why I’ve come back, and you’re here, and me baby is sleeping upstairs with your two.”

“Mmm,” said Eddie.

“So who wants to start first? Shall I?” The couple nodded. “Well, I want to know what happened from the very beginning. I trusted yer both to get on with things while I got on with what I had to do in Ireland. Everything was legal; you had all the authorisation, Eddie. You, Hannah, only had to continue taking care of Selwyn Lodge. Then I get a letter. Michael’s come back from the Army. So, had I left him in charge, made him my manager? No, it was you, Eddie and now you’ve let me down.”

“But what could we have done, Mother?” Hannah cried, seeing the hurt in Maggie’s eyes. “I’m not your legal daughter, am I? I had Grandmama on my back pointing her fingers, Michael threatening to see a solicitor and Mr. Arlington poking his nose in. We were worried at what they could do to us, because Eddie had borrowed a substantial loan. We were treading on egg shells. Like I said, we didn’t know what they were up to, so we panicked and here we are telling you the tale.”

“Nothing changes, Hannah,” Maggie said sadly. “Alice has had it in fer me since your father went off to work fer Lord Belsham. She hated the fact that I stood on me own two feet and made a success of my business. This would be her chance to create my downfall. By putting Michael into Sheldon, she knows the place will fail.”

“So what can we do then?” Eddie said “I don’t want to go back there, Maggie. I’ve a chance here of building up a good business for meself. There’s a quarry included with the property and I can sell the stone on to local tradesmen and there’s a place at the back, which I can turn into a builders’ yard. Hannah loves it here, don’t yer darlin’? And there’s space when they’re older, fer the kids to run and play.”

“I suppose I’ll have to sort it out meself then, though I’m loathe to go just yet, as you can see. I’m tired and Rosemary takes a lot of energy. It could wait another week, don’t yer think?”

“Oh, yes,” Hannah said eagerly, relieved that Eddie and she had got off so lightly. “You’re very welcome to stay, that’s if you don’t mind the austerity. But, Mother, you’ve made no mention of this loan from Sheldon. Richard Clegg is not to blame; he did ask for collateral.”

“You’re frightening me now, Hannah. How much was the loan for? Eddie did have authorisation, after all.”

“Five hundred and thirty pounds,” Eddie mumbled, waiting for his mother in law to erupt in flames.

“Oh, is that all? I thought you’d gone and bankrupted me. Though I suppose a letter to let me know would have saved you both from going to Hell and back, as it were.”

The next morning was as bright and spring like as the day before and Maggie, having lain in bed most of the night worrying about the future, suggested that Hannah take her for a guided tour of the surrounding area.

“It will take me mind off me troubles, Hannah and I’m sure the walk will do us all good.”

They stood at the side of the narrow country lane, deciding on their direction. Redstone House was near a crossroads, so they had four different ways in which they could go.

“If we go down that way, it leads to Frankby,” Hannah said. “There’s a village, a church and an old manor house. If we go to the left, it eventually leads to Caldy shore; to the right lies the village of Greasby – that’s at the bottom of Arrowe Brook lane. Then up there is Irby, with a village, a tavern and another manorial hall.”

“What do you feel up to then? We’ve got the babies to consider and little Johnny too. Which do yer think is the shortest way for us?”

“I think we’ll go up this way. There’s a duck pond by the windmill that Johnny will be interested in, then we’ll cut through the lane to a tea shack and we can have a little rest. Are you sure you don’t want Rosemary opposite Georgie in the perambulator? Johnny can walk very well now, you know.”

“No, I like her here next to me, Hannah, tucked up in my nice warm shawl. Yer know in Ireland they don’t have these fancy prams that we have. All the mothers that I saw carried their babies under their shawls.”

The two women walked companionably along, taking in the fresh air and cooing to Georgie and Rosemary. Johnny gabbled unintelligibly, pointing out ‘birdies’ as they flew in and out of the hedgerows intent on making their nests, mooing as he heard the cows lowing in the pastures nearby and clapping his hands excitedly when he saw the plump white ducklings as they swam around the pond.

“He loves coming along here, Mother. Watch. Now here’s the windmill, Johnny. What do the sails on the windmill do? Whooooooooosh!”

Both of them laughed as the little boy made circling movements with his arms. It was a time of contentment for Maggie and she felt all her tension begin to drain away.

Later, when they sat having their drinks in the friendly woman’s garden, Maggie asked the questions that had begun to niggle her.

“Yer know, Hannah, I find it puzzling that you and Eddie gave in to Michael so easily. Is there something yer hiding; something yer not telling me? It’s hard to understand, especially when I know that as a child you would never give in to your brother. He was always coming ‘telling’ when he couldn’t get his way.”

“Jeremy Adshead, Mother!” Hannah replied, blushing as she said the name, but knowing that Maggie would understand.

“Well, the little so and so. How did he find out about it? What did he say? Oh no, he never tried to blackmail you?”

“I faced him out and told him I’d sue for defamation; that Johnny is my husband’s child. But I couldn’t let even a whisper get to Eddie’s ears.”

“Of course not,” Maggie soothed. “Well, now he’s made me mind up. I’ll sell the company from under him; then he’ll get what he deserves.”

“No, Mother! You can’t do that. You’ve been building Sheldon up for over twenty years. He’s right, it’s his inheritance, not mine nor Eddie’s or the children’s. What you have is his.”

“Yes, but not until I’m dead, Hannah, and I’m not willing to hand over the reins to him just yet. Then there’s Rosemary. How am I going to explain her existence? You see, I had my life planned out until I got your letter. I’d bought a small cottage in Killala and I was going to live there with Rosemary.”

“Then Eddie and I threw the towel in and we’ve left you high and dry.”

“Something like that. I thought that Michael was safely with his regiment, that I wouldn’t have to face the problem fer many years to come.”

“Another cup, ladies?” The woman who ran the tea shack came to their table with a teapot in her hand. “ And we’ve some freshly made biscuits, if the little boy would like one to eat with his lemon drink.”

“Thank you, but we’re just going,” Maggie replied. “Can I pay yer what we owe? A nice cup of tea by the way, Missis, and we’ll buy a few of your biscuits for little Johnny to be munching on.”

“I was just saying to my daughter,” the woman said to Hannah. “You’re the lady who bought the Kennets house down at the crossroads, aren’t you? Are these all your little babies too?”

Maggie looked at Hannah helplessly. She was going to have to get used to this. People asking, people being curious, even if it was kindly meant.