The Downstairs Maid (52 page)

She’d noticed a man looking round the pub. He seemed very interested in her and what she was doing. He’d asked about the food she provided, and whether she would consider giving her customers a cooked meal – and if she took lodgers. Was he trying it on? Somehow she felt there was something more behind his interest, and, just as the customers were leaving, he suddenly asked if he could speak to her about a private matter.

Emily hesitated, and picked up a tray of dirty glasses. ‘If you would come into the kitchen I can spare a few minutes …’

He nodded and followed her. Again, she noticed his eyes moving about the room, taking in its appearance.

‘You’ve made some changes here and in the bar. I think I may say that you have picked up the trade and improved it considerably. Is Mrs Carter here this evening?’

‘No, not this evening,’ Emily said, feeling uneasy though uncertain why. ‘You can speak to me in her place, Mr …?’

‘Steven Richards and you are Mrs Johnson, Mrs Carter’s daughter I understand. They tell me you are a widow?’

‘Yes.’ Her sense of unease increased. ‘What makes you ask, Mr Richards?’

‘As you know your lease is due to run out next month. The brewery was not intending to renew because we were not satisfied that the pub was being run properly on our last visit – but you have certainly improved it. I think I shall recommend that a new lease be offered after what I’ve seen this evening.’

Emily caught her breath. ‘You say the lease runs out next month – so I have three weeks before then?’

‘Yes.’ He frowned. ‘Do you not wish to be considered for a new lease?’

Emily looked at him. ‘That depends on how much it is, Mr Richards.’

‘Well, in view of the work you’ve done here and considering how much trade you’re doing … I would think we might consider a two-year lease on payment of a hundred pounds.’

‘A hundred …’ Emily’s heart sank. She had no chance of raising even a fraction of that money. Had Ma not taken everything when she ran off, Emily might have managed to sell enough to raise most of it – and there was her diamond pendant – but she couldn’t be sure how much she would get for that. Nor did she know if her trade would continue through the winter. Even if she sold all the things Pa had given her she might not manage to cover the lease – and then she would have nothing left. ‘I would need a little time. I’m not sure I can find that much.’

‘Ah, I see. I did hear that there had been a tragedy in your family. Mrs Carter isn’t around now, is she?’ He took her silence for confirmation. ‘I’m not sure the brewery could let a young woman of your age take on the lease … even if you had the money. Had Mrs Carter been here … the brewery does require the proprietor to be over twenty-five but perhaps …’

She knew that her case was hopeless. Just for a moment he’d seemed to offer a chance but Emily wasn’t old enough to run the pub even if she could somehow manage to get the hundred pounds.

‘It will take me a little time to clear my things …’

‘Yes, I dare say – well, you have the three weeks, Mrs Johnson. I shall not tell the brewery your secret in the circumstances. It is a pity Mrs Carter isn’t here. This place hasn’t been as well run in an age.’

‘If I could find the money … need you tell them at all?’

‘Mrs Carter would need to sign the lease.’ He looked regretful. ‘I’m sorry to be the bearer of bad news, especially after seeing what you’ve done here. Good evening, Mrs Johnson. If you should want to apply to the brewery in a few years I would recommend that you be given a try.’

Emily didn’t answer. She stared at him as he went out, feeling as if she’d been run over by a steam engine. Ma had taken so much more than the treasures Emily had loved; she’d taken her means of making her living.

So now what did she do? Once she’d paid her debts and arranged for her things to be moved, she would be out of a job once more. Tears stung her eyes. She dashed them away angrily. It wasn’t fair. Why did everything go wrong for her?

All she’d wanted was to take care of Jack and give him a future and now even that had been snatched away from her. Lifting her head, she went back into the bar, which was now almost empty. Remembering the filthy ruin she’d come to a few months earlier, she was angry that all her hard work had gone for nothing. It was just so unfair. She wanted to hit out at someone, scream or shout – but what was the point?

There was nothing more she could do for now. Even if she could raise enough money for the lease by selling her pendant, the brewery would refuse her the lease because she was too young.

Emily had no choice. She was going to have to move back to the cottage or store her things and move on …

Emily had hoped that in the morning things would look better, but in the cold light of daybreak, her future seemed bleak. She knew that she could find a job somewhere. They might give Emily her job back at the manor if she asked, but what would happen to Jack? She wouldn’t be allowed to keep her brother with her if she returned to service so that meant she had to look for a job elsewhere.

Alone, Emily could find work anywhere but with a young child in tow … It was going to be difficult. The last thing she wanted was to put Jack into the care of a stranger, but she couldn’t see an alternative. Here at the pub she’d been able to look after him herself, taking him out for some fresh air during the hours the pub was closed. Could she find work of a similar nature? Perhaps – but she would also need a place to live.

It hardly seemed worthwhile cleaning the pub, but Emily hated the smell first thing in the morning so she scrubbed the floors, cleaned the toilets and washed the tables down before starting to make food for the bar. As soon as her staff arrived, she went upstairs to feed her brother and tidy herself.

She was just preparing to go back downstairs when she heard a heavy tread on the stairs. Her spine became icy. Who would come up here without an invitation? Had Ma returned? Yet surely they were a man’s footsteps? Emily looked round for some kind of a weapon and picked up a heavy candlestick just as a knock sounded at her parlour door; the door opened and someone looked round.

‘Vera told me to come up – is it all right, Emily?’

Emily stared in disbelief. Tears started to her eyes but she struggled to hold them back as she saw him.

‘Nicolas …?’ she whispered and the pain and grief welled over. She’d thought she might never see him again, and the relief made her weak. She dashed the tears from her cheeks. ‘I’m so foolish. It’s just that everything has been so awful – and now you’re here …’

‘Emily, my darling …’ Nicolas strode towards her, taking her into his arms to hold her as she wept against his chest. The tears flowed, because Emily couldn’t stop them. ‘What is wrong? Won’t you tell me – please?’

Somehow, Emily managed to control her emotions. She accepted his handkerchief and wiped her face. Sitting down in one of the old armchairs, she found the words flowing out of her. She told him about how she’d planned to open the shop but been too nervous to do it alone after Christopher died; she told him about coming here and finding her brother in a terrible state – and of all that had happened afterwards. She concluded with the brewery’s agent telling her the previous night that she had three weeks to leave the pub.

Raising her head, she found the strength to smile. ‘I’m sorry for being such a wet week, Nicolas. How are you? It’s a while since I heard from Lizzie, apart from the invitation to her wedding. I wondered if you would come home for it.’

‘She was a beautiful bride, but I have another nine days’ leave,’ he said. ‘Why didn’t you let me know things were difficult for you? You must have known I would help you.’

‘I was managing …’ Emily shook her head. ‘I know I could have my job back but it means I have to find someone to look after Jack.’

‘Jack is your brother?’

‘Yes …’ Emily hesitated, then, ‘He’s my mother’s child but we have different fathers. Ma had an affair with someone; it broke Pa’s heart. I should never have trusted her, but I had to do something for Jack.’

‘Yes, of course you did.’ Nicolas looked thoughtful. ‘Would you carry on with the pub if you could?’

‘Yes, I think so. I’ve built up the business and I can manage here. It would be much harder if I had to find lodgings that would take us both – and someone to look after him if I was at work.’

Nicolas took a deep breath, hesitated, then, ‘You could marry me and let me take care of you, Emily.’

She was too shocked to speak for a moment, her heart slamming against her chest like a bird trying to escape the bars of its cage. She allowed her eyes to look into his. Nicolas had been angry because she married Christopher. She’d thought she must have killed his love, but it seemed he still wanted her. Yet surely he wasn’t offering to marry her? It was impossible – he must know that?

‘Marry you …?’ she said on a breathless note. ‘You don’t … you can’t mean it. Nicolas, have you thought what it would mean?’

‘I’ve thought of it a thousand times and I know what I’m saying. I didn’t ask you when you married Johnson, Emily. It seemed too difficult, and I knew you felt you owed him something – but I’ve regretted it so many times. I want you to be my wife. I love you so much … without you, life just isn’t worth living. To hell with all the rest, I want you …’

‘Nicolas, I do love you so …’ Emily blinked hard, still unable to believe it. ‘Are you sure? Would you be willing to take on my brother? He isn’t just like other children and will always need to be looked after …’

‘He’s your brother, Emily,’ Nicolas said. ‘Besides, I like children …’

‘I wouldn’t want you to feel obliged …’

Nicolas moved towards her, taking her into his arms. His mouth sought hers and he kissed her, long and sweetly. When he let her go at last, she was trembling. Her throat caught as she gazed up at him.

‘I want you so much. I know it won’t be easy. My family will not like it – but I can’t give you up again, Emily.’ There was a little sob in his voice. ‘I couldn’t bear to lose you a second time.’

‘I’ve loved you all the time, Nicolas. I was wrong to marry Christopher. It wasn’t a proper marriage – and that hurt him. I did what I thought right but perhaps I was wrong …’

‘Don’t be sorry,’ Nicolas said. ‘You did what you thought was best and that is one of the reasons I love you, Emily. You’ve always done the right thing and you’ve put others first. Now it’s time to let me help you. Marry me, be my wife, and I’ll take care of you and Jack. I love you and I’ll love him.’

‘Oh Nicolas, are you sure?’ It seemed like an impossible dream. Could it really be happening?

‘Yes, if you are.’ He took her hands, gazing down at her with love. ‘If you wanted this place I would take on the lease for it and let you run it for yourself – but I would rather we married, if you could bear it?’

‘I don’t think I could bear not to now,’ Emily said, her throat working with emotion. ‘But what of your family? Will they accept our marriage?’

‘If they love me they will, but if not …’ Nicolas held her strongly, refusing to let her go as she pulled back. ‘It’s you I want, Emily darling. I want you to pack a few things for you and Jack. I’m going to take you away with me now. We’ll go to the seaside for a few days. Afterwards, I’ll take you to the manor to meet my parents as my wife. If they refuse to accept you, I’ll find a house for us. I have some property, which I’ve let for the duration of the war, but I can find a house for us to let until I’m home for good and then we’ll have a place of our own.’

‘What if they won’t …?’

‘No doubts, Emily,’ Nicolas said and kissed her again. ‘I’m not a rich man, my darling. I have some money my grandfather left me, but most of it is in property. I’ve always expected to work for my living and I may make a career of flying – perhaps in commercial aviation, which I believe will be the thing of the future. I’ll provide for you and Jack, and any children we have.’ He kissed her hands, which were red from scrubbing the floors, but when she tried to pull them away in shame, Nicolas wouldn’t let her. ‘Go on, pack a few things and we’ll go – I don’t want to waste a moment of the time I shall have with you.’

Emily went through to the bedroom to collect a few of her decent things. When she went to collect Jack’s clothes, she found that Nicolas already had the boy in his arms. He handed Jack to her and took the cases she’d packed.

Emily stopped in the bar downstairs, telling Vera that she was going away for a few days. It would be time enough when she returned to give the girl her notice and arrange for her personal things to be cleared. She gave Vera the keys, knowing that she could trust the girl to look after the bar while she was gone; it might not be run as she’d run it, but it hardly mattered now.

Leaving the pub, she settled Jack in the tiny back seat of Nicolas’s automobile and slid into the front beside him. He smiled at her and she felt her heart soar. It was so wonderful that she could scarcely believe what had happened.

Nicolas was here with her and he wanted to marry her. Nothing else mattered.

‘It’s so beautiful here,’ Emily said as they stood together on the cliffs late one evening and looked out at the sea as the sun began to set. ‘I’ve never been to such a lovely spot, Nicolas. Look at the way the sea seems to boil and thrash about those rocks and send white spray into the air – and the colour of the sky as it touches the sea. It’s almost as if someone has set a torch to it … orange and red and gold with dark blue streaks …’

‘That’s poetry,’ Nicolas said, looking at her lovingly. ‘I didn’t know you had the soul of a poet, my darling.’

They had driven down to Cornwall in Nicolas’s motorcar, stopping now and then to eat or drink, and they’d spent one night in a hotel. He’d made love to her that evening and if either of them had entertained doubts, by morning they’d fled, because it was perfect. Their loving was so sweet and tender, so right that Emily knew they were meant to be lovers, meant to be together always.

The next day Nicolas had gone to the registrar’s office and obtained a special licence so that they could marry without delay. The following day they continued their journey to the sea, where Nicolas had secured a beautiful suite for them. As a part of the hotel service, they were able to leave Jack in the evenings because the resident baby-sitter was paid to look after him. She was a pretty young woman and had formed an immediate bond with the child, making it easier for Emily to leave him sometimes. During the day, they mostly took him with them, buying him ice creams, sweets and showing him how to build sandcastles on a small secluded beach that was still open to the public, because it would be impossible for German ships to pass the rock barrier, around which the sea boiled and foamed. Jack was having a wonderful time and had started to call Nicolas
Dada
, which made him smile and throw the child into the air, catching him securely in loving arms.