The Constant Heart (7 page)

'It really isn't up to me. Captain Barnum has a legal contract . . .'

'A contract which he is unable to honour. That must cancel out any agreement he had with your father.'

'Well I'm blowed.' Harry stopped suddenly, pointing to the
Ellie May
, which was tied up alongside the
Curlew
. Artie was standing in the stern directing the men who were using the umbrella cranes to unload the spoiled cargo of hay onto a lighter. Rosina could see Walter standing outside the wharfinger's office, talking to the dock foreman. She picked up her skirts and ran towards him. 'Walter, what's happening?'

He gave her a lopsided smile, wincing as the cut on his lip cracked open. 'There's been a slight mishap to Barnum's boat.'

'I know. I've just come from his house. But how did you find anyone to take the spoiled cargo?'

'It's going to be taken with the city's rubbish and dumped.'

'It must be costly. Can we afford it?'

'Let's just say that Mr Gilks of Duke's Shore Wharf owes me a favour. Don't worry, Miss Rosina. It's all taken care of.'

'Now look here, my good fellow.' Harry strode up to Walter, sticking out his chin like a pugilist about to start a fight. 'You seem to be taking a lot on yourself for a mere clerk. I can't allow you to interfere in my business.'

'No, sir,' Walter said equably. 'But your father can, and he did. I went to the office first thing this morning. Mr Gostellow's main concern is filling the warehouse with enough hay to feed the work horses in the city. I suggest it ought to be yours, too.'

'Infernal cheek.' Harry's face flushed dark red and he clenched his fists.

Rosina laid her hand on his arm. 'That's wonderful, Harry. I'm so grateful to your father. And it really serves Captain Barnum right for cheating in the first place.' She turned to Walter. 'Well done. I can't thank you enough.'

'Don't thank me, miss. It was the river pirates who made it possible.'

'And I suppose a fellow like you approves of such villainy?' Harry said angrily.

Rosina could see that this argument might escalate into a full-blown row. 'Now, Harry . . .'

Walter held up his hand. 'I think sometimes a man has to take direct action even though it goes against the grain.'

'Bah! You're just a jumped-up little pen pusher. What would you know about anything?'

Behind his spectacles, Walter's eyes held a steely glint and Rosina saw, for the first time, a stubborn set to his jaw. Harry was spoiling for a fight, and she did not want to see Walter's other eye blackened and swollen. She moved to place herself squarely in between them. 'That's enough of that, gentlemen. Harry, I'd like you to walk me home if you will.'

'Of course.' He glanced over his shoulder at the ragged urchin who was patiently walking Nero. 'Bring my horse here, boy.'

The boy broke into a run, his bare feet skimming over the rough cobbles as he led Nero towards them. Rosina held her breath as the horse broke into a trot. There was an eager look of anticipation on the child's face that went straight to her heart. His stick-thin body looked so frail against the well-muscled, sleek body of the animal that was undoubtedly housed and fed better than the boy's whole family. Her hand flew to her mouth as he stumbled, but somehow he managed to regain his footing. One slip beneath those flailing hooves would cause terrible injuries or even death. She clutched Harry's arm. 'Take the reins, Harry. The child is not strong enough to hold such a mettlesome animal.'

Harry snatched the bridle from the boy's hand. He tossed a penny into the air and the boy made a dive for it: he would have tumbled over the edge of the wharf into the water if Walter had not caught him.

'Ta, mister.' The urchin closed his fist around the coin and backed away, as if afraid that someone might steal his money.

'Harry, I promised him twopence.' Rosina held her hand out to the child. 'Wait, boy. I think the gentleman has something more for you.'

Reluctantly, Harry took another penny from his pocket. 'I say, Rosie. You'll bankrupt me and spoil the brat.'

'Give him the money and don't be so mean.' She raised her eyebrows, waiting for him to throw the coin and nodding with approval when he did. 'There, that didn't hurt, did it?'

'You don't understand these people, Rosie,' Harry said, scowling. 'The boy will squander the money on raw spirits or tobacco.'

'Or maybe he will waste it on luxuries like bread and dripping, or a decadent meat pie.' Walter's lip curled in contempt.

'Did I ask for your opinion?' Harry rounded on him angrily. 'Get back to work, fellow.'

'Harry, that's no way to speak to Walter. Walk me home and let's have no more of this bad feeling between you.' She turned to Walter with a grateful smile. 'You've done so well today. I can't thank you enough.'

'I don't know why you're thanking him,' Harry grumbled as they walked slowly towards home with Nero following them on a loose rein. 'You shouldn't be too familiar with servants, Rosie. They'll only take advantage of you.'

'Walter isn't a servant. He's my pa's right-hand man. I don't know what we'd do without him.'

'He's probably fleecing your papa left, right and centre. I know his type, Rosie. He tries to act like a gentleman but don't be fooled by that. My father keeps a pretty tight rein on the clerks in our office. He don't stand for any old nonsense from them and they know their place.'

'I'm sure they do,' Rosina said sweetly. 'Thank you for walking me home, Harry.'

They had reached the house and Rosina was about to go inside when he caught her by the hand. 'Will you allow me to take you to supper tomorrow night, Rosie?'

'I'll have to ask Papa.'

'Then I'll call on you tomorrow morning.'

'All right, Harry.'

He hesitated. 'Perhaps I should speak to your father now.'

'I don't think that's a very good idea in the circumstances. He'll be anxious about the cargo and I expect he's still out of sorts with Captain Barnum.'

'This damned silly affair between them is getting out of hand.'

'It's not really your business, Harry.'

'It is if it affects trade. My old man won't stand for too much of it, Rosie. You can pass that message on from me, as a friendly warning. I wouldn't like to see your papa put out of business, but that's what will happen if he can't settle things with Captain Barnum.' Harry put his foot in the stirrup and mounted his horse. 'I'll see you tomorrow.' He tightened the reins so that Nero performed a caracole, and he doffed his hat, bowing from the saddle.

Rosina laughed at his antics. Really, she thought as she watched him urge the horse into a canter, Harry Gostellow was a dreadful show-off, but she was genuinely fond of him.

The interior of the old house felt cool and slightly damp after the warm sunshine outside. She went straight to the kitchen where she could hear Pa's deep tones and Bertha's higher-pitched voice; it sounded as though they were arguing, but that was nothing new.

'Ah, there you are, poppet.' Edward turned to her with a welcoming smile as he struggled into his reefer jacket, hampered by a fit of coughing.

'What did I tell you, you old fool,' Bertha said crossly. 'You're not fit enough to go out on the river so soon.'

'Hold your tongue, you old harpy. It's none of your business.'

Rosina looked from one red face to the other, sighing. 'Are you two fighting again?'

'Me? Fight with her?' Edward snatched his cap from the table and rammed it on his head. 'Miss Spinks forgets that she's a servant in this house.'

Bertha folded her arms across her ample bosom, squinting at him through narrowed eyes. 'A servant gets paid for her labours. You ain't paid me nothing for the past ten years or more.'

Rosina could see that this argument was getting out of hand. 'But Bebe, dear, you're more like one of the family than a servant.'

'Yes, a nagging old aunt,' Edward muttered.

Bertha shook her fist at him. 'A woman what brings up a man's child and waits on him hand and foot for no wages is usually his wife.'

'I'd as soon sleep with a mop stick soaked in vinegar as share my bed with you, you nagging old crow.'

Rosina threw up her hands. She was used to their bickering, but this was getting them nowhere and there were more important matters to discuss. 'Stop it, the pair of you.'

'This is the day he likes me,' Bertha said, tossing her head.

'She started it, the sour old spinster. Treating me like a schoolboy.'

'That's enough.' Rosina clapped her hands together. 'Quite enough.'

'He'll die of lung disease if he risks them bad airs from the Essex marshes in his poorly state.' Bertha slumped down on the chair by the range, putting her feet up on the brass rail. 'But don't no one listen to me. I'm just the slave round here.'

'Bah! I feed you, don't I, woman? I clothe you and keep you in boots the size of herring boxes, don't I? If I don't take the
Ellie May
downriver there'll be no food in the larder, no coal for the fire and no roof over our heads. And that bloody Barnum will have won. I ain't allowing him to beat me for a second time.' Edward stamped out of the kitchen.

'Oh, Bebe. How could you?' Rosina cast a reproachful glance over her shoulder as she hurried after her father. She followed him into the office. 'Papa, maybe Bertha is right. Perhaps you ought not to sail today.'

'Nonsense, Rosie.' He picked up a dog-eared ledger and flipped through the pages. 'I'm quite well, apart from the wretched cough, and that's common enough amongst men who breathe in the dust from hay. It will pass, but more important, I've got a cargo and I took it from Barnum.'

'Oh, Pa. Aren't you ever going to put an end to this feud?'

'It's between Barnum and me, poppet. It don't concern you.'

'But it does concern me, Papa. It affects all of us, and one day I'm afraid that one of you will come off the worse for it.'

He brushed her cheek with paper-dry lips. 'It'll be him that gets the worst of it then, my duck. He took advantage of your mother and he abandoned his wife and child – I'll see him in hell before I shakes the bugger's hand. Begging your pardon for the language, poppet. But thanks to the river pirate, I got my chance to get one over on the swine.'

She could see that nothing was going to stop him, and Rosina managed a wobbly smile. 'You will take care, won't you, Papa?'

'Of course I will. The river is my friend and he won't let me down. Haven't we been working together for forty years or more? Don't worry about me, Rosie. I'll be home again in a few days with a cargo of good hay this time.'

'I'll come and see you off.'

'No, ducks. You know I can't stand the sight of a woman left on the quay wall waving her handkerchief, all sad and lonely-looking. You go and make my peace with old Bertha. She's a good sort really.'

'I don't know why you're so mean to her.'

'She don't take it seriously. She enjoys a good spat just the same as I do.' He pinched her cheek. 'When I get home we'll have supper at the Turk's Head, and we'll take old grumble-gizzard with us. That should sweeten her temper.'

Rosina walked with him to the street door. 'Papa, Harry asked me out to supper.'

Edward shook his head. 'Not while I'm away, poppet. He's a fine young man, but I wouldn't want him to get the wrong idea. If he wants to pay court to my daughter, then he has to ask my permission first.'