A Mother's Courage (20 page)

'What have you been up to then, Mrs Cribb?
No good by the looks of you? Got him to propose
to you yet? He does that with every new girl, and
when he's had his way with them he breaks off
the engagement and there's nothing they can do
about it. He's got through more servants that
way than I can count.'

'It's none of your business,' Eloise said breathlessly.
'He's a disgusting old man, and I can't
imagine anyone wanting to marry him.'

'He's buried three wives. Mind out you ain't
the fourth.' Agnes reached for the pewter
tankard. 'I need a drop of blue ruin if I'm to get
any sleep tonight.' She tipped the coins into the
palm of her hand and her expression hardened.
'You've been thieving my housekeeping money.
Give it back or I'll tell him what you done.'

'I didn't steal it. I used the money to buy
supper for Mr Hubble. I didn't keep a penny for
myself.'

Agnes counted out the coins. 'What did you
give the old bugger? Champagne and lobster? I
could have fed him for a month on what you've
spent.' She tipped the coins back into the tankard
and returned it to the shelf. 'You'll pay the
money back out of your wages. Every last penny
of it, d'you hear me?'

'Go to hell!' Eloise shouted, her nerve snapping.
'Leave me alone.' She slammed out of the
kitchen and went to her room, locking and
barring the door. It had gone horribly wrong. She
was worse off now than she had been before she
attempted to get on the right side of Ephraim.
She checked on the children and then lay down
on her bed fully clothed. She had not eaten all
day, but hunger was the least of her problems.
Eloise closed her eyes as tears flowed freely
down her cheeks. She was determined not to
give way to despair, but she was tired and
hungry and she longed to hear her mother's
gentle voice whispering words of reassurance in
her ear. She would say that things would look
better in the morning and each new dawn
brought with it a fresh opportunity to come to
terms with life's problems. Eloise pictured her
mother's smiling face, and she could smell the
sweet scent of lavender that always clung to her
clothes. If she concentrated hard she could
almost feel the soft touch of Mama's hand
stroking her forehead, as she had done when
Eloise was a child and lay sick in bed. Mama
would be brave. She was probably facing up to
all manner of dangers and discomforts in Africa.
One day, in the not too distant future, they
would all be reunited and this phase in her life
would fade into a memory like a bad dream.
'Take courage, Ellie, dear.' Eloise could hear the
words as clearly as if Mama were sitting at her
bedside. 'Be brave, my darling girl, and all will
come right in the end.'

Next morning, Eloise had to force herself to
take the breakfast tray upstairs to Ephraim's
room. She felt sick at the thought of facing him
after last night, but she had no alternative. Joss
and Beth were in the kitchen with Agnes and she
dared not leave them alone with her for long. She
took a deep breath as she entered the parlour and
could have sobbed with relief when she found it
empty. The mess of broken china and remnants
of his supper lay on the floor where he had
pitched the tray in his sudden outburst of rage,
but clearing that up was as nothing compared to
the thought of putting up with his salacious
looks and remarks. Perhaps he had worn himself
out last night, or maybe he was suffering a
further attack of gout after the rich food? Eloise
hoped that he was racked with pain, although
she knew that Papa would castigate her for such
wicked thoughts. However, she had never pretended
to be a saint and the image of Ephraim
doubled up in agony was a satisfying one after
everything he had put her through since he had
taken her into his employ. She had just finished
picking up the pieces when she heard the thumping
of his cane against the wall. His bedroom was
next to the parlour, and he must have heard her
moving about. She was not yet in a position to
throw up her job, and so she went to see what he
wanted.

As she had thought, Ephraim lay in his great
four-poster bed and his face was ashen. Deep
lines of suffering were etched from his nose to his
chin and he looked small and shrunken beneath
the canopied tester. 'Fetch the doctor, girl. I'm in
agony.'

Eloise bobbed a curtsey, keeping her head
bowed in case he saw the gleam of satisfaction in
her eyes. 'Yes, sir.'

'No, wait. I'll take a dose of laudanum before
you go. It's there on my side table. A few drops
in a glass of water will help with the pain.'

'Yes, sir.' Eloise went to the table and was
carefully measuring the drops when he roared at
her to hurry.

'I'm suffering torments. It's all your fault, you
scheming little bitch. You fed me red meat and
rich fancies. You did it on purpose. I shan't
marry you now. You're just as bad as all the rest.
Money-grabbing, immoral harlots the lot of you.'

Eloise handed him the glass. 'I'll go for the
doctor, sir.'

'Lift me up then, you stupid whore. I'm
crippled I tell you. I can't drink lying down.'

Reluctantly, Eloise lifted his head just a little
and tilted the glass so that he could sip the
medicine. He drank it down in one greedy gulp,
and before she could move away his hand shot
out to cup her breast. She tried to struggle free,
but his fingers pinched savagely into her tender
flesh. 'Undo your blouse,' Ephraim murmured,
his eyes glazing with desire. 'Let me see your
titties, girl.'

Eloise dropped the glass on the floor and she
slapped his hand with all her might, but he only
tightened his grip. 'I will not, you disgusting old
creature. Let go of me.' She felt the buttons on her
blouse fly off in all directions as he tightened his
hold.

'I'm suffering. I need a little comfort,' Ephraim
whined, grabbing the top of her stays and
pulling her towards him. He pressed his face
against the swell of her breasts and she could feel
his hot breath searing her skin. Revolted and
panicked, Eloise dug her fingernails into his
hands, scraping at his thin skin so that blood
oozed out in long scratches. He released her with
a yelp of pain. 'Wildcat. Bitch. I'll have you for
that.'

Eloise did not wait to hear the rest of his
impassioned volley of threats. She ran from the
room sobbing with anger and humiliation and
did not stop until she was inside her own room
and had locked the door. Trembling violently,
she sank down on the bed, struggling to regain
her composure. She must not give in to hysteria.
She must not let the children see her in this state,
and she must gather her scattered wits so that
she could think more clearly. Eloise took a deep
breath. The children – she must be strong for
them and she must be sensible. The desire to
leave this awful house immediately had to be
curbed, as without money they would have
nowhere to go; she had not even enough to pay
for a room in the meanest of lodging houses.
Then there was the private detective hired by
Hilda. He could be lurking outside on the green
at this very moment.

Despite the fact that she was trembling from
head to foot, Eloise managed to change her
blouse and tidy her hair, but it took all her
willpower to remain calm and self-possessed.
When she was satisfied that nothing in her
outward appearance would give her away, she
braced herself to go down to the kitchen and face
Agnes as if nothing had happened.

'You took your time,' Agnes said crossly. 'I
ain't paid to act as nursemaid to your brats. What
was you doing up there? Or need I ask?'

Resisting the temptation to slap the sly grin off
Agnes's face, Eloise shrugged her shoulders.
'He's ill in bed. He wants me to fetch the doctor.'

'Worn him out have you?' Agnes cackled with
laughter. 'At least the old bugger will die with a
smile on his face.'

Eloise picked up Beth and held her hand out to
Joss. 'Let's go for a walk on the green, poppet.
Mama has an errand to do for Mr Hubble.'

'Mama has an errand to do,' Agnes echoed in a
mocking imitation of Eloise's voice. 'You'll get
your comeuppance, lady. He'll soon tire of your
niminy-piminy ways and send you packing. One
day it'll be just him and me again, you'll see.'

The doctor came down to the kitchen to give
them a stern lecture on keeping to the appropriate
diet for a gentleman suffering from gout.
He stressed the necessity for an even stricter
regime to repair the damage done by an excess of
rich food, and the need to keep the patient quiet
and sedated with laudanum. He eyed Eloise
with a baleful glare and said that Mr Hubble was
not to be excited in any way. She felt her cheeks
burning with embarrassment at the inference
that she had been responsible for his present
condition, and she opened her mouth to protest,
but Agnes spoke up first. 'I think that Mr Hubble
should have a proper nurse to look after him,
doctor,' she said, casting a malicious look in
Eloise's direction. 'Someone who would not take
advantage of a sick old gent laid up in his bed.'

'Quite so. An admirable idea, if Mr Hubble
could be persuaded that it was necessary.'

'And I have the exact person in mind,' Agnes
added slyly. 'A good friend of mine, Mrs Jarvis,
who is an experienced nurse.'

'Then I'll leave it to you to make the necessary
arrangements, Miss Smith. I'll call again
tomorrow.' The doctor turned to Eloise, frowning.
'I think it best if you keep away from the
sickroom, ma'am. Mr Hubble must not be
excited in any way.'

Eloise bit back a sharp retort. Let him think
what he liked and let Agnes have her moment of
triumph. She seemed to be labouring under the
delusion that Eloise had ambitions to be the
fourth Mrs Hubble, and that by introducing her
friend, Nurse Jarvis, she was thwarting her plans.
If Agnes knew that nothing could be further from
the truth, she would be laughing on the other side
of her face. She was not to know that her
intervention had given Eloise a breathing space
and time to think. But it was only a reprieve.
Eloise was only too well aware that when
Ephraim recovered the problem would reassert
itself. He was not a man to give in easily.

Mrs Jarvis duly moved in and Eloise could
only guess at Ephraim's reaction to this giant of a
woman, who was almost as broad as she was tall.
It would be a brave man who took liberties with
this Amazon-like creature. When she was not in
the sickroom, Mrs Jarvis settled down in the
kitchen with Agnes. They made it quite plain
that Eloise was not welcome in their midst,
which suited her very well since they spent their
evenings taking snuff, drinking blue ruin and
laughing uproariously. In the morning they were
both red-eyed and crotchety until they had
drunk copious cups of tea and several glasses of
seltzer.

On Sunday afternoon, three days after Mrs
Jarvis had moved into the house, Eloise was in
the kitchen with the children safe in the
knowledge that Agnes and her friend had
ensconced themselves in Ephraim's parlour and
had taken a bottle of his best brandy with them.
They would not reappear until it was time for
supper, and Eloise could only guess that
Ephraim had been given a larger dose of
laudanum than usual to keep him quiet. Annie
had promised to come, and Eloise was looking
forward to having her company and taking the
children out for a walk, something she had
avoided recently for fear that the detective might
be lurking outside. It was quite irrational, she
told herself, as there was nothing to lead him to
the house in Clerkenwell Green, but all the same
she was apprehensive. She had not even dared to
write to Gladys informing her of their new
address, just in case the information somehow
filtered through to the Cribbs.

A rapping noise on the window made Eloise
start and Joss jumped up and down with
excitement, pointing to the face peering at them
through the dirt-encrusted windowpane. 'Annie,
Mama. Annie's come.'

Eloise snatched her bonnet off its peg and she
hoisted Beth onto her hip. Joss ran on ahead of
her, out through the scullery and into the area,
where Annie swung him up in her arms. 'Hello,
Joss, me boy. How are you today?'

'Annie. Annie.' Joss tugged at her Sunday best
bonnet and she tickled him until he let go and
collapsed against her shoulder in a fit of giggles.
'I thought you weren't coming,'

'She made me work late, the old bitch,' Annie
said, hoisting Joss onto her shoulders and
heading up the area steps. 'But I'm here now and
I weren't followed. I've kept an eye out for the
shifty cove, but I ain't seen him again, so perhaps
he's given up and gone back to Yorkshire.'

'I hope so,' Eloise said, following her up the
steps. 'I do hope so. I've hardly dared walk out
with the children since you told me about him,
and they're growing tired of being forever shut
up in one small room.'

'I know exactly the place to go to on such a hot
day,' Annie said enthusiastically. 'There's a
lovely garden at the back of the Foundling
Hospital. I go there on me days off and just sit
and look at the trees and flowers. Anyway, I
have to be there in case me mum comes looking
for me. I think I'd know her if ever I saw her, and
I'm sure she'd know me.'

Eloise crossed the yard and opened the gate,
holding it to allow Annie and Joss to pass.
'Doesn't it make you sad, Annie?'

'Sometimes it does, but most of the time I'm
hopeful. I think if I sits there for long enough, one
day she's sure to come along. It's not too far from
here.'

The streets were quiet at this time on a Sunday
afternoon. The businesses and shops were all
closed and it seemed that the city was drowsing in
the warmth of the early summer sunshine. The
pavements shimmered with a heat haze and the
cobblestones were as hot as coals underfoot, but
the early heat wave had brought out flies in great
swarms. They descended in black clouds, covering
the piles of horse dung and rotting rubbish
littering the streets in a moving, buzzing mantle of
blue-green. The air was thick and still with barely
a breeze to take away the stench from the drains
and overflowing privies. Eloise experienced a
sudden longing for the fresh greenery and clean
air of the country, but they were surrounded by
an army of tall grey buildings, stained with soot
and streaked with bird droppings.