A Mother's Courage (21 page)

Annie seemed oblivious to all this. She was a
child of the city, Eloise thought. She quickened
her pace to keep up as Annie danced along ahead
with Joss shrieking with delight as he bounced
up and down on her thin shoulders. She seemed
to know the area well, and she led Eloise through
a maze of back streets until at last they came to
Guildford Street and the Foundling Hospital. It
was a surprisingly pleasant-looking group of
buildings surrounded by London plane trees
with their summer foliage rustling and whispering
in the breeze. Annie led them into the rose filled
garden where families dressed in their
Sunday best were strolling or simply sitting on
the grass and enjoying the sunshine.

Annie found a shady spot beneath a plane tree
and she set Joss down on the grass. He began to
race about madly, chasing butterflies and
shouting with delight at his newfound freedom.
Beth waved her arms, crowing excitedly as
Eloise put her down on the grass beside Annie.

'Ain't this a pleasant spot?' Annie said, taking
Beth onto her lap. 'Sit down and take the weight
off your feet, Ellie.'

Her serviceable black serge skirt billowed out
round her as Eloise lowered herself carefully
onto the grass. Looking round at the well dressed
merchants and their wives, she felt
suddenly dowdy and out of place. Her good
clothes were still packed away and she had not
thought to change out of her workaday garments.
Now she wished that she had, and this
made her smile inwardly. She could hear Papa's
stern voice telling her that vanity was a sin. Poor
Papa, she had never quite managed to live up to
his ideal of womanhood. If she had been more
like Mama then perhaps he would have been
able to love her more, although Eloise had
always suspected that, if the truth were told, he
had always wanted a son. She had been a
disappointment from the start.

'Penny for 'em,' Annie said, nudging her in the
ribs. 'You was miles away, Ellie.'

'I was just thinking what a pleasant place this
appears to be, at least on the outside. What was it
like for you living here?'

'It's just a place,' Annie said, shrugging her
thin shoulders. 'We was looked after and treated
all right so long as we behaved ourselves. They
trained us girls to do housework so that we could
go into service, and the boys was brought up to
go into the Navy or the army. We was used to the
life so we didn't know no different, but I always
thought me mum would come one day and take
me away. If I close me eyes now I can picture her
face. It's round like one of them angel's faces in
the scripture books, and she has lots of curly
golden hair, and she smells nice, like wallflowers
in springtime. She has soft hands, not like mine.'
Annie held up her work-worn, calloused hands
and chuckled. 'I got hands like a washerwoman,
and hair the colour of a rat's arse. No blooming
angel am I, but she is, and I'll know her when I
see her – the rotten cow, leaving me like that.'

Eloise patted Annie's hand, but Beth chose that
moment to escape and launched herself onto the
grass, crawling as fast as she could towards Joss.
He was so intent on chasing a cabbage white
butterfly that he did not notice her and he ran
across the path in front of a tall gentleman in a
black frock coat and top hat, who was walking
with a little girl by his side.

Eloise scrambled to her feet and raced across
the grass to pick up Beth before she was trodden
underfoot. She caught her just before she reached
the path and lifted her, protesting loudly, out of
harm's way. Eloise laid a protective hand on
Joss's small shoulder and she flashed an apologetic
smile at the stern-faced gentleman. 'I beg
your pardon, sir. My little boy was not looking
where he was going.'

'I suggest you keep him under firmer control,
ma'am.' With a brief nod of his head, he walked
on. The little girl hesitated, regarding Eloise
with a curious expression on her pretty face.

'Come, Maria.'

The child gave Eloise a sweet smile and then
skipped off to join the man, who Eloise assumed
must be her father or her guardian. She stared
after him with a mixture of curiosity and resentment.
It had been the briefest of meetings but she
was left with the impression of a coldly
handsome man, whose features might have been
carved by an Italian renaissance sculptor from a
block of Carrara marble. His thick, dark hair
waved slightly as it flopped over a high forehead,
and in startling contrast his deep-set eyes
were a clear periwinkle blue. Eloise turned away
and began to walk slowly back to where Annie
was sitting beneath the tree, but she could not
resist taking a quick peek over her shoulder at
the man who had virtually ignored her. He,
however, did not look back, and she was both
irritated and piqued by his apparent lack of
interest in her. She might be shabbily dressed,
but that did not make her any less of a person.
Eloise was unused to men passing her by
without a second glance, and if she were to tell
the truth, her pride was hurt. 'What a rude man,'
she said angrily. 'Who does he think he is?'

That's Mr Barton Caine,' Annie said in an awed
tone. 'He's the governor of the Foundling
Hospital. A very important man.'

'A self-important man,' Eloise corrected. 'I
don't think I've ever met such an arrogant,
unmannerly person.'

'He's handsome, though,' Annie said, taking
an increasingly fractious Beth from Eloise's arms
and giving her a cuddle. 'I'd say he was the best looking
cove I've ever seen, even if he is old.'

This statement drew a reluctant smile from
Eloise. 'To someone your age, anyone over the
age of twenty is old. I'd hazard a guess that your
Mr Caine is not a day over thirty. If he weren't so
full of himself and he was not so haughty, I
daresay he might be quite presentable, but I
haven't any patience with a man of his standing
who considers himself to be so much better than
anyone else that he cannot be civil.' Eloise
beckoned to Joss who was now playing with a
slightly older child who had a puppy on a leash,
and all three were gambolling about on the grass.
'Joss, come here, darling.'

'Let him be,' Annie said, chuckling at their
antics. 'He can't come to no harm while we're
watching and it looks as if Mr Caine has gone
home. He lives in a big house in the hospital
grounds.'

'Well, I hope he is more pleasant when he is at
home. I feel sorry for his poor wife.'

'She died,' Annie said simply. 'Five years ago,
when Maria was born. The poor lady did not
survive the birth. I was only a little nipper then,
but I remember how sad it made everyone in the
hospital. She was a kind lady, his poor wife. She
used to play the pianoforte and sing to us sometimes
after supper. She was beautiful too, a bit
like I imagined my mum would be, with golden
curls and a lovely smile.'

'If that's so, I am truly sorry for him,' Eloise
said sincerely. 'But that still doesn't give him the
right to be discourteous. I lost my husband less
than a year ago but I don't take my grief out on
others.'

'I'd put him out of me mind, if I was you,'
Annie said with a sagacious nod of her head.
'You ain't likely to run across him again, so why
worry?'

'You're right, of course, and I'm very glad of it
too. I shall be quite happy never to cross his path
again.' Eloise shaded her eyes with her hand as a
commotion in the gardens caught her attention.
'What's going on over there, Annie?'

'It's the hokey-pokey man,' Annie cried, rising
to her feet and jumping up and down with
excitement. 'It's the Eyetie ice cream man. I'd
give anything for a penny lick.'

Eloise put her hand in her pocket. She had very
little left of the money that Harcourt had given
her, but she could not deny the children this
small treat. She took out three pennies and
jingled the coins, smiling. 'Go and fetch Joss, and
you shall each have an ice cream.'

While the children were busily occupied in the
serious business of licking ice cream from small
glass pots, Eloise sat on the grass leaning her
back against the trunk of the plane tree. If she
closed her eyes she could almost imagine she
was back in the Dorset countryside, sitting on the
village green with the joyful sounds of the May
Day celebrations going on about her. She could
visualise Mama wearing her white muslin gown
and her favourite straw bonnet with blue ribbons
and pink silk roses beneath the brim. She would
be smiling as she handed out cakes and buns to
the children, while Janet poured homemade
lemonade into pot mugs, and the men lingered in
the refreshment tent drinking ale and cider.
Eloise could almost hear the lively music played
by the village band on their fiddles, a battered
old cello and a slightly out of tune concertina; in
her mind's eye she could see the energetic
movements of the young men and women as
they danced a jig or performed the intricate
movements of Gathering Peascods, and
Goddesses. It was all a far cry from the harsh
realities of steamy London and the uncertainty of
her present situation, but in her heart she knew
that it was just a pleasant dream; a way of
escaping to a safer, kinder world, which might
exist only in her imagination.

Someone tugged at her hair and Eloise opened
her eyes to see Joss beaming into her face. 'Wake
up, Mama.' He waved the licked clean glass pot
in her face. 'More, please.'

She gave him a hug. 'Not today, darling. One
day you will have all the ice cream you can eat,
but not now.' She took the tiny glass pot from his
hand and passed it to Annie to return to the
hokey-pokey man.

The garden was gradually clearing of people as
the shadows lengthened and they began to leave
for home. Eloise rose to her feet and shook out
her skirts. 'We'd best be on our way too, Annie.
You don't want to get into trouble for being late
back.'

Annie pulled a face. 'I don't want to go back at
all, but I got no choice.' She stretched her arms
up towards the sky as if she were reaching up to
touch one of the fluffy white clouds that had
suddenly drifted across the wide expanse of
cerulean blue. 'One day I'll be waiting here and
me mum will walk through them gates. She'll
come straight to me, no messing about, and she'll
take me by the hand. She'll say, "Sorry I kept you
waiting, girl, but I'm here now, and I'm going to
take you home with me." We'll get on a bus and
it'll take us to one of them leafy suburbs what the
commercial travellers talk about. I'll never have
to scrub another floor nor clean out another
privy.'

Eloise laid her hand on Annie's thin shoulder.
'I'm sure she will, dear. You keep your dreams,
Annie. Sometimes they're the only thing that
keeps us going.'

Annie rubbed her knuckles into her eyes as if
she were blotting out the impossible vision of
happiness. 'We can come here again on me next
afternoon off, can't we, Ellie?'

'Well, I'm not sure . . .'

A grin wiped away the sad look on Annie's
cheeky face. 'You ain't likely to bump into the
governor again, and if you do you can always cut
him dead. That would take him down a peg or
two.'

In spite of everything, Eloise managed a smile.
'I'm sure it would, but our paths are extremely
unlikely to cross again.'

When they arrived back in Clerkenwell Green,
Eloise bade a fond goodbye to Annie and Joss
clung to her, giving her a smacking kiss on the
cheek. Promising to come again soon, Annie
bounded off in the direction of Nile Street and
Eloise took the children round to the back of the
house to enter by the yard. She could hear the
raised voices of Agnes and Mrs Jarvis even
before she opened the kitchen door. Their
slurred speech and flushed faces indicated that
they had consumed a large amount of Ephraim's
brandy, and they appeared to be intent on going
out to the nearest pub to consume even more
strong liquor.

'You'll see to his supper,' Agnes said, laughing
drunkenly as though she had just said something
extremely funny. 'You can spoon-feed the old
goat with his boiled fish and cabbage. I feel sick
at the thought of it.'

'Yes,' Mrs Jarvis added, swaying on her feet.
'And see you do it proper like. I'm his nurse and
I say – see you do it proper, or you'll have me to
answer to.' She moved towards the door, rocking
dangerously from side to side like a badly loaded
wagon. 'Come on, Aggie. I fancy a drop more
tiddley and a meat pie for me supper.'

Joss clung to his mother's hand and Eloise
could feel him trembling with fright at the sight
of the two extremely tipsy old women as they
blundered out of the kitchen and up the back
stairs to the entrance hall. She could still hear
their raucous laughter as they made their way to
the front door, staggering and bouncing off the
walls as they went. Then there was silence and
Eloise heaved a sigh of relief. It occurred to her
that Agnes must have taken the front door key
from Hubble's pocket, but she put the thought
out of her mind. It was none of her business.

She fed the children with bread and milk
before washing them and tucking them up in
their beds. Then she went back to the kitchen to
prepare Ephraim's meal. She was tempted to
leave him to go hungry, but she could not afford
to anger the person who would eventually pay
her wages. She cooked a piece of haddock in
some milk and cut thin slices off a loaf, which she
buttered sparingly. She made a pot of tea and
having arranged everything on a tray, she took it
upstairs to his bedroom. She had to brace herself
to enter, but she felt a little safer knowing that
Mrs Jarvis would have given him a fairly hefty
dose of laudanum.

The room was in almost complete darkness.
The bed curtains were half drawn and Eloise
could only just make out the shape of Ephraim's
head on his pillow. She tiptoed across the floor,
intending to leave the tray on his bedside table
and then make a hasty retreat. She had no
intention of waking him. She put the tray down
as silently as possible and was about to move
away when a hand shot out and gripped her by
the wrist. Ephraim snapped upright in bed with
a triumphant cry. 'Gotcha.'

'Let me go,' Eloise cried, struggling to free
herself from his grasp, but his fingers tightened,
digging into her flesh until she yelped with pain.
'I'll teach you, lady,' he snarled. 'No one makes a
fool of Ephraim Hubble, least of all a chit of a girl
who puts on airs and graces.'

He was surprisingly strong for someone who
was supposed to be an invalid. He dragged her
onto the bed, tearing at the thin material of her
blouse. Driven by fear and revulsion, Eloise
kicked and struggled, but she was no match for
him. In desperation she clawed her fingers and
lashed out, catching him across the cheek. He let
out a howl of rage and slapped her repeatedly
about the face and head. The pain was excruciating
and with a last desperate effort to free
herself, she sank her teeth into his hand. With a
yelp of pain, he gave her a mighty shove which
sent her tumbling off the bed onto the floor.
Eloise scrambled to her feet, clutching her torn
blouse to cover her exposed flesh. 'You wicked,
wicked man. I'll . . .' Her voice broke on a sob.

'You'll do what?' Ephraim growled. 'I'll tell
you what you'll do, girl. You'll keep your mouth
shut and you'll go and fetch me something
decent to eat. Now get out of here and make
yourself tidy. You look like a trollop off the
streets.'

'I'll have the law on you,' Eloise hissed, too
angry now to be frightened of him. 'I'll tell the
magistrate what you did to me. I won't let you
get away with it.'

Ephraim eyed her through narrowed lids and
he was not smiling now. 'You'll do no such thing,
and who'd believe you if you did. It would be
your word against mine, and I'm a respected
person with a lifetime of public service behind
me. You're a woman of no account.'

'You are an evil old man.' Eloise gripped the
bedpost for support. Her legs were trembling so
violently that she could barely stand, but she was
filled with hatred for the man who had so
violently attacked her. 'I will speak to the vicar.
He'll believe me.'

Ephraim sat up slowly, rising from the pillows
like a leviathan from the deep. 'You won't tell no
one, girlie. You got away from me because I'm
half drugged with laudanum for me pain, but
next time you won't be so lucky. You put yourself
in my hands, and you'll do my will or you'll
be out on the street with your little bastards.'

'I won't do it. You can't make me.' Eloise
glared at him with a defiant lift of her chin. 'You
offered me marriage, Mr Hubble. I'll sue you for
breach of promise.'

Ephraim's coarse laughter echoed round the
dark room. 'Who'd believe a slut like you?
Besides which, dearie, I know something about
you that will keep you here as long as I care to
shelter you and your brats.'

'You're just saying that to scare me,' Eloise said
with a catch in her voice. Fear was replacing
anger now and the triumphant look in Ephraim's
eyes scared her more than all his ranting. 'I – I
won't listen to you.'

'Then you don't mind if I tell my friend Mr
Pike that you and your kids are living under my
roof?'

Eloise tightened her grasp on the bedpost,
clinging on to consciousness as a wave of
dizziness almost took her feet from under her.
'Wh-who is he?'

'Pike and I were warders at Newgate long
before I went to work at the House of Detention.
He left to become a private investigator and he
came to call on me this afternoon, but it weren't
for old times' sake.' Ephraim paused, chuckling
deep in his throat. 'I can see you get my drift,
girlie. Can you guess why Mr Pike knocked on
my door?

Eloise could not speak, and she shook her
head, although she already knew what her
tormentor was going to say.

Ephraim's eyes glittered with malice. 'My
friend Pike followed that little skivvy from the
lodging house in Nile Street. He had a notion
that she knew more than she was telling him. We
had a cup of tea and a chat about old times, but
more important, my lady, he told me that there's
a price on your head. Your in-laws up north have
offered a reward for anyone turning you and the
brats in to them. If you don't give up the boy,
they'll make him a ward of court and he'll be
taken from you all legal and proper.'

Eloise licked her dry lips. 'And you told him I
was here?'

'No, but I will if you don't do exactly what I
want. One false move from you, girlie, and I'll
hand you over to Pike. Do you understand me?'

'You can't do this. I'll tell Agnes and Mrs
Jarvis. They're women too; they must be on my
side.'

'Agnes knows all about it. She's been with me
long enough to understand that she's secure just
as long as I'm happy. If I'm not, then I can turn
her out on the streets any time I like, and who
would take on an old harpy like Agnes Smith?'
He uttered a mirthless laugh. 'Don't stare at me
like I'm a piece of shit. I'm your master, girlie,
and don't you forget it. I'll have you whenever I
feel like it and you'll be nice to me or you know
what will happen.'