There was a sudden clatter as Mr Thacker’s knife slipped from his hand.
‘I say Pa, are you all right?’ There was concern
in Thomas’s voice as he saw his father’s ashen face.
James Thacker clutched his chest. ‘May I have some water?’ he croaked.
‘A little red wine, sir.’ Jack was on his feet in an instant, proffering the glass to the old gentleman’s lips.
‘Thank you, thank you. I am all right,’ but he trembled and Elizabeth insisted that he should sit in a more comfortable chair. A footstool was brought for his feet and he was adamant that everyone should continue with their supper, whilst he sat silent and meditative in the chair.
After they had finished, Harriet made coffee and Jack brought out the chocolates, then they pushed back the table and sat around the fire.
James Thacker heaved a deep sigh and clasped his hands together. ‘Mr Hawkins. You may think me very impertinent, but may I question you? Not out of idle curiosity, but out of real concern.’
Ralph inclined his head to imply that he continue. ‘Please do, sir,’ he said. ‘I cannot think that a gentleman of respectability such as yourself could ever be impertinent.’
‘Be assured,’ replied Mr Thacker, ‘that on only our short acquaintanceship, I have your best interests at heart.’
He heaved another sigh and rubbed his chest. ‘I am afraid that tonight such grievous memories have returned to me. Memories that
have remained hidden for so many years. Your mother, Mr Hawkins. Is she in good health?’
Ralph started to smile. His mother, Meg, was always in good health. Then he hesitated, something disturbing his thoughts. ‘My adoptive mother is in very good health, Mr Thacker. She and my da, they have a sheep farm above the hills of Sydney.’
He saw Jack shake his head.
Thacker! That’s the name that Henderson mentioned!
‘But – my natural mother is dead. Sir,’ he said quietly, ‘did you know her?’
James Thacker put a trembling hand to his mouth. ‘I believe that perhaps I did. And your father’s name? The man you have just discovered?’
‘Scott, sir. Edward Scott.’
ELIZABETH FIELDING GAVE
an anguished cry, half rising from her chair and then sinking back again, whilst Harriet rushed to her sister’s side, to sit on the chair arm and clutch her by the shoulder. ‘What does it mean?’ Elizabeth’s voice was full of fear. ‘What does it mean?’
Ralph looked from the sisters to James Thacker and then to Jack, who appeared as puzzled as he himself felt.
James Thacker eased himself from his chair and stood up. He looked down at the sisters and said gently, ‘It means, my dear Elizabeth, my dear Harriet, that you have a brother returned to you.’
He turned to Ralph who now was also standing, and offered his hand. ‘Young man,’ he said. ‘This is probably as astounding to you as it is to these young ladies, but I for one am delighted to meet you at long last. It has been my heart’s wish that you survived.’ His voice was choked as he went on, ‘I am only so sorry, so very sorry that
your mother – and the mother of these dear ladies is no longer with us.’
‘I don’t understand—’ Ralph began, but stopped as Elizabeth began to mourn and weep, rocking into herself.
‘Mama,’ she cried. ‘Mama! Don’t say that you have left me after all.’
Ralph turned to Jack. ‘Henderson!’ he said, and Jack nodded. Henderson had said that there had been other children to consider. Why had he not thought to question him?
Harriet tried to comfort her sister but she too wept and her lips trembled as she glanced across at Ralph. ‘Please forgive us, Mr Hawkins,’ she said. ‘This is too much of a shock and I don’t completely understand what has happened. I – we didn’t know that our mother was expecting a child when she went away from us.’
Ralph went across to them and bent over Elizabeth. ‘Elizabeth,’ he said softly. ‘I didn’t know that I had any sisters. I came to England to search out relatives and thought that I had found only my father. He didn’t tell me that he had daughters.’
‘No!’ Elizabeth cried out. ‘Edward Scott is not our father! Our father, John Fielding, was a good kind man. Edward Scott is wicked. He was cruel to our mother and unkind to us. He told us that our mother had brought disgrace on us and was being sent away as a punishment, and that we as her daughters would never hold up our
heads again. He said that he would divorce her and that she would live out her life in chains in a foreign land.’
She started to sob. ‘All of my life I have waited for just one word from her to say that she was alive and well.’
‘Did Scott not tell you that she had died on the voyage?’ Ralph could not believe that Scott could keep this information from them.
Elizabeth lifted bloodshot eyes towards him. ‘On the voyage?’ she whispered, and he heard an exclamation from Mr Thacker behind him.
He looked at her tearstained face and decided that a small lie would suffice in this instance. Only Philip and Emily Linton in this country knew what had really happened, and they would not tell, he was sure of it. Then he remembered that he had told Scott the truth about his mother’s death. He took a deep breath. He would deal with Edward Scott.
‘Our mother,’ he said, taking her hand and then also Harriet’s. ‘Our mother was not in chains when she died. She died a few days after giving birth to me. I know the surgeon who was with her,’ he nodded. ‘I am named after him. I know that she was well looked after at the end.’
In time, he thought, I can tell them more. But not yet. Not yet. He smiled. ‘This is such a lucky day for me, to discover that I have two more sisters.’
‘Two more, Mr Hawkins?’ said Harriet, wiping away a tear.
‘I have a sister, Peggy, in Australia,’ he said. ‘Born to my adoptive mother. She will be so pleased to know about you. And I think, Harriet, that perhaps you should call me Ralph.’
The hour was getting late and it was apparent that they should make their departures. Elizabeth was very fatigued and could hardly rise from her chair. ‘Will she be all right?’ Ralph asked Harriet in a low voice. ‘This news has been too much for her.’
Harriet appeared anxious too, so he assured her that he would call round the following morning. He bowed to Elizabeth and then kissed her hand. ‘Goodnight, Elizabeth,’ he said. ‘Have no fear of me. I will not impose myself upon you if you do not desire it.’
She gave him a slight curtsey but made no reply. She was very pale and held tightly to Harriet’s arm.
‘Goodnight, Harriet.’ He kissed her hand too and was rewarded with a smile.
‘Goodnight, Ralph, I look forward to talking to you tomorrow.’
The four men walked towards Sampson’s Square and Ralph asked James Thacker if he and his son could be prevailed upon to go with himself and Jack to the inn where they were staying, so that they might further discuss the issue.
‘I am very tired,’ the older man replied,
‘but it is perhaps necessary that we fit the missing pieces of jigsaw together to make the whole.’
Ralph assured him that he would order a cab to take them home when their discussion was over and so it was agreed.
‘Mrs Fielding, as I knew her,’ Mr Thacker cradled a brandy in his hands as they sat in a small private room at the inn, ‘was a caring woman who nursed her husband when he was dying and was always a loving mother to her young daughters. Scott, of course, married her for the successful business which she bought with the annuity her late husband left her.’
He shook his head. ‘I saw her only infrequently after she married Scott, he didn’t encourage her to have friendships and certainly not with another man. But I knew, whenever I did see her, that she was desperately unhappy. I called one day at the shop which she had owned, and found her serving behind the counter, like an ordinary shop girl, which she certainly wasn’t! She told me that Scott would no longer let her make decisions about the business and that he had taken it entirely out of her hands.’
‘Was he unkind to her as Elizabeth said?’ Ralph asked.
‘I think he was,’ he said regretfully. ‘But there was nothing I could do. She was a married woman under her husband’s domination.’ He sighed. ‘If only – you see, Hawkins – ’ He looked up at Ralph. ‘Should I call you Scott?’
‘Certainly not,’ Ralph answered firmly. ‘I have no intention of changing my name.’
‘Quite right,’ said James Thacker. His son Thomas sat silently in his chair, listening to their conversation. ‘You see, Hawkins, if only I had been braver, and richer, none of this would have happened. I cared for Rose Fielding, but I was a widower with a young son to bring up and I could only offer my esteem, which seemed very little at the time. I realized later that she did have me in high regard, for she wrote to me when she was in prison, saying that there was no-one else she could trust. She was fearful for the child she was carrying, which Scott did know of, no matter that he denies it, and she asked me if I would watch over her daughters and make sure that they came to no harm.
‘Regretfully, by the time the trial was over, Scott had whisked them away to boarding school and wouldn’t tell me where they had gone. He married again,’ his voice dropped, ‘which is why I always suspected that Rose was dead – he wouldn’t have gone through the messy business of divorce. His second wife was also a widow with property and when she died he was even richer than before.’
‘And his third wife?’ Ralph asked. ‘I understand that she died also.’
James Thacker nodded, ‘I know nothing of that marriage, I can only draw conclusions.’
After the Thackers had gone, Ralph and Jack
sat talking far into the night. ‘I must look after Elizabeth and Harriet, Jack,’ Ralph said. ‘They deserve some comfort after all they have been through.’
They need more than money,’ Jack said swiftly. ‘They need you as family.’
‘I didn’t mean just to give them money. I will be a brother to them if that is what they want. But at the moment I am a stranger to them, I can’t push myself into their lives. We must learn to know each other first. Harriet, I think, will be easy to care for, she has a friendly outgoing nature. But Elizabeth.’ He stopped and pondered. ‘She has been badly hurt by what has happened, and I don’t think that having a brother arrive on her doorstep is going to salve that hurt.’
Jack stood up. ‘I’m going to bed,’ he said. ‘You should do the same. Tomorrow there will be decisions to be made.’
Ralph nodded absent-mindedly. ‘Yes. Goodnight. I’ll see you in the morning.’
Decisions, he thought. And ways to deal with Scott! But the more pressing need was Elizabeth. He was worried for her. She had been very distressed. It is not proper for me to make suggestions, she is a woman and she barely knows me. Amelia, he thought, and Aunt Emily. They will know what to do.
He rose from his chair and went upstairs and tapped softly on Jack’s door. ‘Jack,’ he said, when the door was opened. ‘Will you
ride to Holderness and fetch Amelia or Aunt Emily?’
‘Now?’ Jack was astonished. ‘It’s half past two in the morning!’
‘Oh!’ Ralph consulted his pocket watch. ‘So it is! Well, first thing in the morning then?’
‘
MAMA! MAY I
go to Hull?’ Amelia had Elizabeth Fielding’s letter in her hand. ‘I have received a letter from Miss Fielding and she is willing to take Moira Mahoney to live with them. I’ll ask Ginny or one of the maids to go with me if you agree.’ She knew better than to attempt to go alone again.
‘Very well,’ her mother smiled. ‘Ask Ginny, she might enjoy a day out looking at the shops.’
Ginny grumbled at her as Amelia expected she would, but agreed to go the following morning. It was a fine day and Ginny brightened up considerably as the carriage neared Hull. ‘I was born in Hull, you know,’ she chatted, ‘and worked in service here. That’s how I came to know your mother. She was so beautiful, and so gentle. Still is,’ she added.
‘I know,’ Amelia nodded. ‘Did you know Ralph’s mother? Aunt Meg, I mean, who adopted him; she was from Hull.’
‘I didn’t know her though I saw her once.’
Ginny gave a slight smile. ‘We moved in different circles. I was very much mistaken about her. It just goes to show’, she said, ‘that you should never make rash judgements about people or their circumstances.’
They decided that they would visit the Mahoneys before shopping and Amelia led the way down the alley towards the court. ‘God in heaven!’ Ginny muttered. ‘Do people still live down here? I thought it had been condemned years ago.’
‘Irish and Italian people live here,’ Amelia commented. ‘It seems that no-one cares about their well-being.’
She knocked on the broken door of the house where she had previously been, and called up the stairs. A faint voice answered her but she could not make out the reply. ‘We’ll have to go up, Ginny,’ she said. ‘It’s not very pleasant, I’m afraid.’
They clambered up the worn treads and through the open doorway of the Mahoneys’ room. There was a bed in the corner and under a dirty blanket lay Mrs Mahoney. ‘I thought it was Moira come back,’ she breathed in a rasping voice. ‘She’s been gone all morning and I feel as if me throat’s cut, I’m that desperate for a drink.’
Amelia looked around the room and saw an uncovered half-full jug of water on the table. She picked up the jug and looking into it, she grimaced. ‘I’ll get some fresh water if you’ll tell me where to go.’
‘In the yard, miss. That’s as fresh as it comes.’
‘I’ll get it.’ Ginny took the jug from Amelia. ‘You find out where Moira is and then we’ll be off.’
‘Aye, you wouldn’t want to be hanging around here, missus.’ Mrs Mahoney peered up at Amelia. ‘It’s Miss Linton, isn’t it?’
‘Yes. I came to ask if you would allow Moira to go and live with the Misses Fielding, Mrs Mahoney? They would give her lessons, and feed her in exchange for a few duties. Nothing arduous,’ she added swiftly. ‘Just a little dusting and shopping.’
‘Glory be to God!’ Mrs Mahoney closed her eyes. ‘The angels have come!’
She opened her eyes again. ‘I knew when I first saw you, Miss Linton, that you’d be our saviour and you’re only just in time.’ She started to cough. ‘I’m not long for this world, a few weeks only, and my dearest wish is to be with my Daniel and young Eamon.’ She pulled herself up to a sitting position and the effort appeared to be painful. ‘But I knew I couldn’t go until Moira and Kieran were taken care of.’