A Mother's Courage (43 page)

'Mama?' Eloise said faintly. Although it was
morning, it was dark outside and torrential rain
was lashing down, but she would have recognised
the figure silhouetted in the doorway
anywhere. For a second, Eloise thought that she
was dreaming, but when Grace raised her tearstained
face she was smiling with joy.

'Oh, Ellie, darling. I thought I'd never find
you.'

'Mama!' Eloise ran to her, wrapping her arms
around her mother and hugging her with Joss
sandwiched in between them until he protested.
Eloise loosened her grasp just enough to let Joss
down safely, but she held on to her mother's
hand, gripping it tightly for fear that she might
suddenly disappear again, and this would all
prove to be a dream. 'Mama, I can't believe it.
You're really here. How – I don't understand . . .'

'Don't cry, Mama,' Joss said in a very grownup
manner. 'It's my nana.'

'He remembers me. I thought he would have
forgotten his nana.' Grace smiled through her
tears. She reached into her reticule and pulled
out two lace-edged handkerchiefs. She gave one
to Eloise. 'I came prepared, my love. I knew you
wouldn't have one of your own.'

Halfway between tears and laughter, Eloise
clutched the scrap of lace and cotton to her face
and inhaled the familiar scent of lavender. 'Oh,
Mama! This is too good to be true. Is Papa with
you? How did you find me? Why aren't you in
Africa? Oh, I'm so happy to see you.' Still
clutching her mother's hand, Eloise led her to a
chair by the fire. 'Let me take your cape and
bonnet, they're soaking wet. Sit down, darling
Mama. Tell me everything.'

Grace wiped flour and remnants of bread
dough from her hand. 'All in good time, my
love.' She took off her bonnet and cape and
passed them to Eloise. 'Let me look at you, Ellie.
Are you well, darling? You look so pale and
thin.'

'I'm fine, Mama.' A shaft of fear clutched
Eloise's heart. Her mother's lovely face was
thinner and there were fine lines radiating from
the corners of her eyes. 'You're not ill, are you? Is
that why you came home so unexpectedly?'

Grace sank down on the chair and lifted Beth
off the floor, sitting her on her knee. She glanced
up at Eloise with a reassuring smile. 'No, I'm not
ill. By some miracle I escaped the disease that
laid your father and Janet so low.' She chuckled
as Beth made a grab for her earrings and she
covered her granddaughter's face with kisses.
'My little darling, how you've grown. You were
just a baby when we left England, and now look
at you.'

'Me too,' Joss said, climbing onto her lap. 'I'm
a big boy, Nana.'

'You are a very big boy, Joss. Just wait until
your grandpa sees you. He will get a surprise.'

Eloise drew up a stool and sat at her mother's
side. She had to touch her again, just to make
certain she was real. 'I can hardly believe this,
Mama. I've missed you so much.'

'You couldn't have missed me any more than I
have missed you, my darling,' Grace said
tenderly. 'You were in my thoughts night and
day.'

'And now you've come home. But why,
Mama? Why have you come back to London so
soon and how did you find us?'

'I'll explain everything; just give me a few
moments to enjoy cuddling my grandchildren.'
Grace was still smiling, but there was concern in
her pansy-brown eyes as they scanned Eloise's
face. 'I can see that you have had a hard time,
Ellie.'

'I'm fine now that you're here, but I still can't
quite take it in.' Eloise stood up and reached for
the kettle. She could never keep anything secret
from her mother for long, but she was not yet
ready to tell all. 'I'll make us some tea while you
tell me what miracle brought you to Magpie
Alley.'

'Kitten, Nana,' Joss cried, leaping off her lap
and making a grab for the unfortunate kitten,
which had just woken up and was stretching and
yawning, exposing a pink tongue and pointed
white teeth. It dangled helplessly from Joss's
grasp as he thrust it in front of his grandmother's
face, and Beth struggled to get off her lap,
holding her hands out in a vain attempt to snatch
the unhappy animal.

'It's a lovely kitten,' Grace said, setting Beth
back on the floor. 'Why don't you play with him
while I talk to your mama?'

Eloise set the tea to brew and she returned to
her seat. 'Well, Mama?'

'It took so long for your letters to reach me,
Ellie. And when I read them I knew something
was wrong. Oddly enough it was Hilda who
alerted me to your plight. I don't think she meant
to do you any favours, but she wrote a long and
garbled letter about your ingratitude, and how
you had run away from Cribb's Hall, abducting
Joan's daughter who later died whilst in your
care. She said that you had gone back to the
fleshpots of London and that you were a disgrace
to the name of Cribb. Of course I knew that it was
a farrago of lies, and I also knew that you must be
in dire straits, especially when she added that
she had sent a private detective to seek you out.'

'And so you came home, Mama?'

'It was not easy to persuade your papa, but I
stood my ground, Ellie. I told him that you and
the children were more important to me than the
entire population of Africa. Anyway, he had
been terribly ill with malaria, and suffered
recurrent bouts of fever so that sometimes I
feared for his life. I sent a messenger to the senior
missionary in Mombasa, and when he saw how
ill your father was he agreed with me that we
should get him back to England as soon as
possible.'

'And he is here in London too?'

'He had to stay on for a while to settle in the
new man, but Janet is with him and they will
travel to England as soon as your papa can book
a passage.'

'And you travelled all that way on your own?'

Grace smiled and clasped Eloise's hands.
'Darling, when I knew you were in trouble
nothing could have made me stay in Africa. I
would have walked home if necessary.'

Eloise raised her mother's hand to her cheek.
'Oh, Mama, I've missed you so.'

'And I you, dearest girl. I thought of you and
the children constantly, and your father had to
agree that he was mistaken in sending you to
stay with the Cribbs. Can you imagine your papa
actually admitting that he was in the wrong?'

'No, Mama. Never.'

'Where's that tea, Ellie? I am parched.'

Reluctantly, Eloise let go of her mother's hand
and she poured the tea. She gave Joss and Beth
cups of milk, and, at Joss's insistence, poured a
little drop in a saucer for the kitten.

'I still don't know how you found us here of all
places, Mama,' Eloise said, handing her mother
the only cup in the Tranters' household which
did not have a chip out of it or a broken handle.

'When I reached London I booked into a small
hotel in Bloomsbury, and then I went straight to
the Missionary Society. They gave me the
address that you had left with them, and so I
went to the Foundling Hospital and had a very
interesting meeting with your Mr Caine.'

Eloise almost dropped her teacup, spilling
some of the contents on her lap. She jumped to
her feet, covering her confusion by grabbing a
piece of rag and mopping at her skirt. 'He's not
my Mr Caine, Mama. He was kind enough to
give me a job when I needed one.'

'You always were a poor liar, darling. He told
me everything, or at least as far as he knew your
story. Unless I'm very much mistaken, my dear,
Barton Caine is head over heels in love with you.'

'Did you – did you tell him about Joss and
Beth?'

'It came out in conversation.'

'And now he must hate me. You don't know
the whole story, Mama. There were reasons why
I couldn't tell him that Joss and Beth were my
children.'

'I think you should have trusted him, darling. I
can understand why you did what you did, but I
think you underestimated Mr Caine.'

'Did he tell you about Maria's mother?'

'As I said, we had a long talk. He is a most
remarkable man, Ellie. I don't wonder that you
fell in love with him.'

Eloise covered her hot cheeks with her hands.
'I never said so, Mama.'

'You didn't have to, darling. But you will have
a chance to tell him so yourself when he calls at
our hotel this evening.'

'I – I don't understand.'

'I've reserved a room for you and the children
at my hotel. Barton wanted to come with me this
morning, but I insisted that it was best if I saw
you on my own. He will have his chance later.'

'To tell me that it was all a mistake, no doubt,'
Eloise said bitterly. 'Why did you say I would see
him, Mama? And I can't afford to stay in a hotel.
Just look at me . . .' She glanced down at her
shabby blouse and skirt. 'These are all the clothes
I have to wear. I left the Foundling Hospital in
such a hurry that I left everything behind. I even
had to borrow a nurse's cape, which I must
return at some point.' She waved her hands in
front of her mother. 'Look at them – they're
the hands of a charwoman. I'm a mess, Mama.
What man in his right mind would look at me
now?'

'Don't be ridiculous, Ellie. Your hands will
soon heal and a little pampering together with
some new clothes will work wonders. Your
father has given me a generous amount of money
to keep us until he returns to England. I think his
illness and his experiences in the African bush
have made him see many things in a quite
different light.'

'You won't have to go back there, will you,
Mama?'

'No, darling. Your father hopes to be installed
in a country parish very soon and then we will be
a family again.' Grace stood up, taking Eloise by
the shoulders and giving her a gentle shake.
'Now, back to the present, Ellie. The first thing
we will do is get you fitted out with a new
wardrobe. Although you are so thin now that I
fear we might have difficulty in finding anything
ready-made that will fit. We will take the
children shopping, and buy them some new
clothes too.' Grace smiled down at Joss and Beth
as they played with the kitten. 'And I will buy
them each a birthday present, even if it is a little
late.'

'I can't just walk out of here, Mama. The
Tranters have been kindness itself to me.'

'Of course you can't. I owe them a huge debt of
gratitude, and when we are settled we must
invite them all round for tea, but for now, I think
you ought to go and find them and tell them of
our plans. I'll wait here for you.'

'Oh, Mama, it is so good to have you home.'
Eloise flung her arms around her mother's neck
and hugged her. 'Just one thing, though. How
did Barton know where to find me?'

'He didn't, Ellie. It was that strange little waif
called Annie. Apparently you insisted that he
took her in and he had given her a job helping
Mrs Dean in the kitchen. She brought a tray of tea
into the drawing room and was clearing it away
when she must have overheard part of our
conversation. She was only too happy to fill in
the gaps. She told us all she knew of your terrible
time in Clerkenwell Green and about Pike, the
hateful detective. She said that you had once
taken shelter with a family called Tranter who
worked a dust heap near King's Cross, and we
thought it was worth a try. I wonder that Barton
had not thought to interrogate Annie when you
first went missing, but my guess is that he was so
beside himself with worry that he was not
thinking straight. That man clearly adores you,
Ellie. Do give him a chance to prove it.'

Eloise stooped to pick up Beth who was
attempting to climb up her skirt. She rubbed her
cheek against her daughter's curly head. 'I have
to be certain, Mama. I have to put my children
first.'

Grace smiled. 'Quite right, but don't forget you
are talking about a man who has raised a child
who was not his own. He could have put Maria
out for adoption, but he did not. And Maria
misses you terribly, she told me so several times.'

Eloise nodded her head, but her throat was
constricted with tears and she could not speak.
Too many emotions were raging in her breast to
allow her to think clearly.

'I know, darling,' Grace said, patting her on the
arm. 'Everything will be all right. Trust Mama.'

'I – I still can't quite believe that you're here.
I'm afraid I might wake up any moment and find
that I am dreaming.'

With a gurgle of laughter, Grace pinched
Eloise's cheek. 'There, that proves that you are
wide awake, my darling. Now go and find those
wonderful friends of yours and tell them that
you and your mama are going shopping.'

Minutes later, Eloise stood in the entrance of
the dust yard, where puddles of rainwater had
enlarged to the size of small ponds. The great
glowering heaps towered above her and the
workers looked like an army of ants as they
sifted, sorted and carted away anything of value
from London's mountain of rubbish. With Beth
in her arms and Joss scampering on ahead as if he
had spent all his life on a dust heap, Eloise went
in search of Gertie and Peg.

'You will come back and see us, won't you?'
Peg asked with tears sparkling on the ends of her
eyelashes and slithering down her cheeks
leaving snail trails in the grime. 'You won't forget
us, will you, Ellie?'

Eloise hugged her regardless of the thin film of
grit which covered Peg from head to toe. 'Of
course not, Peg. I'll be godmother to your baby if
you will let me.'

Gertie wiped her nose on her sleeve and
sniffed. 'If she'll let you? She'll have me to deal
with if she don't. You come back any time, girl. If
your man don't treat you right you can always
come and live with us in Magpie Alley.'

Eloise felt the blood rush to her cheeks. 'It isn't
certain – 'I mean – 'I don't know if Barton will . . .'

Peg slapped her on the back. 'Course he will,
ducks. The man would be a bloody fool if he
didn't go down on his knees and beg you to
marry him.'