For The Sake of Her Family (21 page)

‘Hold your tongue! That’s the last thing we want to hear at the manor – you couldn’t have cursed this union more if you tried!’ Mrs Dowbiggin’s eyes flashed
as if Alice had sworn in the house of the Lord.

‘Mrs Dowbiggin, enough! Miss Alice only meant well, didn’t you, dear?’ Faulks intervened.

The two servants exchanged looks. Though no words were spoken, they were remembering Nancy’s mother teetering on the brink of insanity after childbirth. It was a curse that had plagued
generation after generation of Frankland women.

Observing them, Alice curbed the impulse to snap at the old housekeeper and instead took her by the hand and said softly, ‘Of course I meant well. Everyone wants to see children from a
marriage. Why do you call it a curse, Mrs Dowbiggin? You seem certain that this marriage is doomed and I don’t understand why, especially when Nancy is so happy.’

Mrs Dowbiggin took her handkerchief out of her coat pocket and began patting her eyes. Putting an arm around her, Alice led her to one of the oak pews and they sat down. Faulks, sensing that
women’s talk was imminent, made himself scarce. He only hoped that he had been sharp enough to stop Mrs Dowbiggin from saying anything out of turn.

‘I’m being overprotective, Alice, that’s all. The worst pain that any woman can have is childbirth. I’m almost like a mother to that girl and I don’t want her to go
through that. You know how it is.’ Mrs Dowbiggin, obviously flustered, stuffed her handkerchief into her coat pocket.

‘But you can’t protect her for ever. She’s of an age to make her own life, and she loves our Will so much; I hope he returns that love and looks after her. Now come on. With
some daffodils and narcissi we’ll make this church the bonniest in the dale on their wedding day. And I’ll bet you’ve a cake already made in the kitchen, soaking up alcohol as we
speak.’ Alice took her hand and patted it and they both quietly walked out of the church and along the pathway to where Faulks stood waiting.

‘What do you say, Faulks? Time to celebrate and look forward, eh? How can they not be happy? They have everything and more besides.’

‘Indeed so, Miss Alice.’

Alice turned to close the church’s black cast-iron gate, just missing Faulks putting his finger to his lips, urging Mrs Dowbiggin not to continue with the conversation.

‘Right, I’ll not be heading back to the manor with you on the main road. I realized as I came through the dale to meet you that I need some time to myself, so I’m going up
there.’ Alice pointed to the top of the fell.

‘But your clothes, Miss Alice – that beautiful cloak!’

‘My sanity is more important. I need my thinking time. I’ll see you at suppertime – do lay me a place.’

As she watched the two servants set off along the road, she could imagine Mrs Dowbiggin commenting, ‘You can’t make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear,’ as soon as she was
out of earshot. Frankly, Alice didn’t care. Let them think what they would; she knew what mattered to her and she had just begun to realize that it wasn’t money.

Alice hurried up the drive to the manor, her dress hem plastered with mud from taking shortcuts across the fells and a tear in her cloak where she had snagged it on a hawthorn
tree in her hurry to climb a stile on the way home. She realized with a jolt of alarm that she’d lost one of her gloves. She resolved to hunt for it later. The light was fading and she could
see the candles and gas lamps had been lit in the manor. She decided to chance the front door rather than the back, not wanting to have to explain the state of her clothes to Mrs Dowbiggin. First
she stopped to wipe the mud off her beautiful tight-buttoned boots. The leather had been spotless and shiny when she had set out, but now looked in need of at least an hour’s polishing if not
repair. She wiped them roughly on the grass verge, then brushed herself down. Seeing the state of herself, she felt a little frisson of alarm, but told herself what the hell, she’d only been
for a walk. It wasn’t as if she’d stolen the Crown jewels. She walked up the steps and quietly opened the front door, wiping her feet on the doormat and hurrying through the hall
without anyone seeing her.

‘Evening, Alice.’ Gerald Frankland was just closing Nancy’s bedroom door as Alice, head down, came running up the stairs. ‘Nancy’s been enquiring as to your
whereabouts. I told her that you had gone for a walk after your meeting with Mrs Dowbiggin at the church.’

‘Sorry, Gerald, I lost track of time. I’ll get changed and go into Nancy straight away.’ Trying to hide her distressed attire, Alice brushed past him to get to her own
bedroom.

‘I trust, by the state of your dress, you enjoyed your walk. It’s certainly brought colour to your cheeks. Perhaps you can entertain us at the dinner table by telling us where your
walk took you.’

Uncertain whether he was being serious, Alice simply nodded and darted into her room, closing the door behind her. Of all the people to run into! She was mortified that he’d seen her in
such an unkempt state, and conscious how ungrateful he must think her, getting her expensive new clothes in such a mess. Anxious not to keep Nancy waiting, she changed clothes, placed her boots
outside her door to be cleaned by Faulks, and hurried along to Nancy’s room.

‘Where do you think you’ve been? I’ve been on my own all afternoon, without any company, no explanation, nothing, cast to one side like a disused doll!’ Nancy yelled, her
hair unbrushed, her scarred face even more distorted with rage. ‘I will not be on my own! You are getting paid to be my companion twenty-four hours a day, not just when you feel like
it.’ She thumped the mattress that she was sitting on with her clenched fists and glared at Alice.

It had been a while since Alice had seen Nancy in one of her tempers. She’d forgotten just how frightening and domineering she could be.

‘I was never told I was to be a twenty-four-hour companion. I thought I was to be tret more like family, now you are to marry my brother.’ Alice spoke softly but firmly; she
wasn’t going to kowtow. The few hours that she had enjoyed walking had made her realize that, since New Year’s Day, she had not had a single hour to herself. ‘I’m sorry,
Nancy, I should have asked you first, but I thought you and your brother were busy with the tenants today.’

‘Tenants? What do I know about tenants? They are my brother’s business. I can’t be bothered to sort out rents and finances. I needed you here. I haven’t felt well all day
and now my bloody brother is threatening me with the doctor.’ She pounded the mattress again, then fixed Alice with her blazing dark eyes. ‘Whatever gave you the idea you were going to
be family? You are Alice, the poor girl we took pity on – nothing more! Now get out of my room. I’m not dining with you tonight. I’ve told Gerald I need dinner in my room –
and you can just go down to the kitchen and see to it. Go on, get out!’ Nancy threw her hands up in the air.

Alice said nothing but walked to the door with as much dignity as she could. It was a replay of her first encounter with Nancy, that day when she’d told her she was a spoilt, rich brat and
she never wanted to see her again. As she closed the door behind her, she heard the crash of something being thrown against a wall.

So that was how it lay, she thought to herself as she went downstairs: Alice, the girl everyone took pity on, never to be treated like real family. Well, she wouldn’t put up with it.
Wedding or no wedding, there was no way she would be staying where she wasn’t wanted. If she hadn’t spent the day getting her thoughts together up on her beloved fells, she would
probably have been crying. But no, she was a Bentham, her roots were in the Dales, and she was better than any off-comed family, with or without money.

‘You’re very quiet tonight, Alice. Is something the matter? I know Nancy is in one of her moods – is that it?’

Alice looked at Gerald. A few weeks ago, she’d have thought it a dream come true to find herself alone in the manor’s dining room with the man she was beginning to have feelings for.
Now she gave a wan smile and replied, ‘I think it’d be best if I left the manor tomorrow. I know you’ve only taken me in out of pity – Miss Nancy made that clear tonight
– and I have my pride.’ She carried on eating her dinner, waiting for Gerald to comment.

‘Damn that woman! She comes out with such rubbish when she’s in one of her moods. I don’t know what has come over her – today’s episode was one of the worst
I’ve seen.’ He cast aside his knife and fork and held his head in his hands. ‘We did not take pity on you, Alice. You are her only friend and she is to marry your brother.
Sometimes her mouth runs away with her. Forgive her, Alice. She truly does not mean it.’

‘I know,’ Alice said sadly. ‘I went for a walk, but I needed time to think – so much has happened this last week or two. I was only gone a few hours. I’d never hurt
Nancy.’

‘You are entitled to as much time as you wish to yourself if Nancy is otherwise occupied. She was supposed to be with me at my tenants’ meeting today, but she came downstairs barely
dressed and started dancing in the hallway in front of my stockman. The embarrassment of it! I had to escort her to her room. We must be the talk of the dale. It’s no wonder we have such a
bad name.’

Hearing the catch in his voice and seeing the tears welling in his eyes, Alice got up from her seat and rushed to his side. ‘Don’t worry, Gerald. I’ll look after her
twenty-four hours a day until the wedding, and even afterwards if Will wants me to.’ She squeezed his hand. ‘She’ll be all right, I promise. I’ll stay and keep her mind
occupied. It’s probably the pressure of the wedding that’s getting to her.’

Suddenly remembering whose hand she was holding, Alice hurriedly released it. Blushing violently, she returned to her seat.

‘I’d be grateful if you could, Alice. I have a feeling that this may be the beginning of a very rocky month or two. I hope that your brother knows what he’s taking on and that
he has a great deal of patience. But let us talk of cheerier things, shall we? Where did your walk take you? You look as if you have benefited from the fresh air. It does one good to have some time
to oneself. I sometimes head up to the Occupation Road and sit gazing upon our lovely valley. Makes you forget your worries, those fells rolling gently, dale after dale, until they reach the sea.
Have you ever been to the sea?’

‘No, I haven’t. My father always said he would take me, but we never got to go. The nearest I’ve been is to the top of Leck Fell, where you can see it in the distance.’
Alice cast her mind back, remembering the sight.

‘Then we shall go! We’ll all go. In the summer, once the wedding is over, we’ll have an outing.’ Gerald smiled, his mood lightening as he picked up his knife and fork and
continued with his meal. ‘By the way, Alice, I almost forgot to tell you: Jack is to be the new owner of your old home, Dale End. He made me an offer, and I agreed. It couldn’t be in
safer hands. Eventually he will be leaving his work here and I’ll be sorry to lose him when that time comes. I do believe he must be thinking of settling down. He’ll be a good catch for
someone.’ Gerald smiled and winked, not knowing that Alice and Jack were no longer courting.

Alice’s heart pounded. She felt as if she was going to be sick. Jack in her old home – how could he? She had always hoped for Dale End to be hers one day. Only this afternoon she had
passed it on her walk and noticed it was still empty. Peering in through the kitchen window had rekindled old memories; she couldn’t bear to think of anyone else living there. And now Jack
was considering settling down . . . She didn’t know what to think. Was it jealousy she was feeling or anguish? If she wasn’t careful, she was going to be left on the shelf, and that
would never do!

‘February fill-dyke, that’s what it is. Have you ever seen rain like it? How am I supposed to get these sheets dry?’ Mrs Dowbiggin moaned to Faulks as she
lifted the damp sheets onto the clothes drier above the fire. Pulling at the rope, she wound it tight round the hook before the pulleys let it slip again. ‘It’s rained all blinking
February. What with the weather, my lumbago and her upstairs carrying on, it’s a wonder I’m not mad.’ She stretched and peered out of the window. ‘Anyway, the doctor’s
coming to see her this morning. Master Gerald says she needs something to calm her nerves. He still thinks it’s the wedding that’s getting her worked up.’

Faulks grunted while he read his newspaper.

‘Morning, another beautiful day.’ Alice entered the kitchen carrying Nancy’s breakfast tray. ‘I thought I’d bring you this, Mrs D – save you entering the
ogre’s den. I’m afraid Nancy’s moods are not improving. If this keeps up, I’m going to lose my temper. I have come so close to telling her what I think of her this last day
or two. My mother would have put her over her knee and walloped her, no matter how old she is.’ Alice helped herself to a cup of tea from the teapot.

‘Get him to serve you – he’s doing nothing.’ Mrs Dowbiggin kicked Faulks’s foot and glared at him. ‘Doctor’s coming today; she’ll calm down once
he’s been. I must admit we haven’t had a session like this for a while.’

‘What makes her like this, Mrs Dowbiggin? I used to think it was her scars hurting her, or not having anything to do, but she says she’s not in pain, and with the wedding she has
plenty to occupy her at the moment.’

Mrs Dowbiggin mouthed some words and pointed downwards.

‘What?’ Alice was lost.

‘Cover your ears, you.’ She swiped poor Faulks round his head with a damp pillowcase, then leaned conspiratorially towards Alice. ‘Women’s problems. Nerves, you
know.’

Alice blushed. ‘I see.’

‘Her mother was the same. Nearly insane with it, she was. Too highly bred, if you ask me,’ Mrs Dowbiggin whispered, half covering her mouth. ‘Dr Bailey will give her something
and then she’ll be right again.’

‘I’d better go up to her. I said I’d play whist with her until lunch – not that I dare win a game: it’d probably be more than my life’s worth!’ Alice
gave a mirthless laugh and went back upstairs, thinking that if her brother only knew what he was taking on, he’d surely think twice.