Old Sins Long Shadows (7 page)

Janey would never forgive Miss Petherbridge for trying to make trouble
for her. She refused to shed tears but her mouth remained set with anger at Miss Petherbridge’s behaviour. For the past week Janey had felt down at James’ sudden departure. The days now seemed long and dull without the hope she may catch a glimpse of him, or he may spring out of nowhere and speak to her. It may have meant nothing to him but to Janey their encounters made her float with excitement. She knew it was silly but her feelings seemed to take on a life of their own where he was concerned and she had trouble controlling them. It affected her appetite, her heart rate, her breathing and her mood. Unfortunately where his presence affected them to the positive, his absence did the exact opposite and she was left wishing her days away until he returned. Tonight gave Janey something else to focus on and she realised just how much she had been looking forward to it when Miss Petherbridge made her announcement with the aim of ruining it for her. Lizzy and Charlotte started to look back at her and, after some nudging and whispering from them, so did Mary. Eventually they fell back to fall in step with her.

Mary, who was
the self-appointed spokesperson and interrogator, angrily asked, ‘Did Miss Petherbridge speak the truth?’ To their surprise Janey said it was.

‘
It’s true that her ladyship would like to know how the evening went and it is true she wanted me to go so I might tell her. However, it is one thing to relay back the music that is played, the food that is served and the dances I may have, it is quite another to relay back who got drunk, who kissed who and what gripes the staff have about work.’

Mary’s eyes narrowed,
‘And what information are you going to scurry back to her ladyship with?’

‘Nothing you should worry about, Mary,’ she looked around to the rest of the group who had started to turn and listen, ‘or any of you.’ She opened her arms wide, ‘I want to have a good time. I want everyone to have a good time. I have no intention of spoiling anyone’s fun or getting anyone in trouble. Please be reassured anything I speak to Lady Brockenshaw about this evening will not be derogatory.’  Confused faces looked back at her,

‘
What does derogatory mean?’ asked Mary suspiciously.

‘
Spoil anyone’s reputation,’ explained Janey. A short silence followed as everyone took in what she had said and eventually Mary smiled and appeared happy and, much to Janey’s relief so did the rest of the staff.

‘
Well that’s alright then,’ smiled Charlotte linking Janey’s arm whilst Lizzy linked to the other. ‘Let’s have some fun.’  They trudged on towards the village. ‘We thought Miss Petherbridge was mean to say that in front of everyone. She’s just jealous she isn’t coming.’

‘
I can’t imagine her dancing,’ added Lizzy with a giggle and the others started to laugh with her.

‘
Are you and Alfred going to dance together?’ Charlotte asked Mary.

‘
I’ve gone off Alfred,’ she replied watching the gardener up ahead, ‘I’ve got my eye on someone else tonight, and no, I’m not telling!’ No matter how the girls tried to persuade her she refused to elaborate. Eventually their voices trailed off as the sound of music and laughter reached them which was long before the cosy lights from the village hall windows could be seen in the distance.

People from the village and surrounding farms made their way to the lighted hall like moths to a flame
. Excitement started to build as the group neared and at the entrance the girls removed their patten shoes and lined them up neatly outside before entering the joviality and warmth of the dancing villagers within.

Janey had never attended a dance
like the one that greeted her within the walls of the hall. Before starting her life in domestic service she was a child of a middle class family and dances like this were not part of their social scene. Since entering domestic service opportunities like this were rare and did not correspond with her one afternoon off a month. Servants forming relationships were not encouraged and this side of life seemed to have passed Janey by. So it was something of a shock for her to see men and women having fun dancing, laughing and talking together. These people all knew one another, some had lived in the village for generations, some were linked by friendship and others by blood. Janey soon realised that many of the Bosvenna staff came from the village and surrounding areas. The lively music was provided by the Willis brothers, middle aged identical twins who, as Janey found out later, were well known in the area. Their fiddle playing was mesmerizing for they played with such skill and speed that to watch them was entertainment enough. They began sober and in harmony but as the night grew older they became competitive and tried to put one another off by knocking the others hat off or nudging the other out the way. The more competitive they became the more they drank from their own secret stash of alcohol until the alcohol dampened their competitiveness and they started to laugh and sway to the music, all the while never dropping a note or spoiling the dancing. Eventually, and without warning, they would both collapse in a drunken stupor and need to be carried home, each clutching to their chest their precious fiddles and transported on a tide of men out the door into a waiting wagon. This was their routine and the locals knew how much longer they had to dance by observing the behaviour of the Willis twins and what state of drunkeness they were in. Janey had never seen adult identical twins before. It was rare for twins to both survive birth or childhood yet here were two grown men who looked so alike with their red hair, beards and bandy legs. It was like one was looking in a mirror. She could have sat and watched them all night, and most probably would have too, as no one had yet asked her to dance. Mary, Charlotte and Lizzy soon left her as they spied friends in the crowd and it was not long before they were dancing and laughing with the others. Janey, on the other hand, was left to wander the room and try to look inconspicuous. She bought herself a glass of fruit drink, the only drink available, and used it to hide behind as she watched the others dance. She longed to have a go but no man had asked her yet. It was not that she hadn’t been noticed, several men were looking in her direction. It was because she was a stranger, a very pretty stranger, and no man was brave enough to be the first to ask her.

‘
I don’t believe we have met before,’ said a cheerful voice from behind her. Janey turned to see a silver haired man with a friendly smile and a clerical collar. ‘Allow me to introduce myself. I’m Reverend William Smith, the vicar here and the organiser of this little festive celebration to raise funds for the church roof.’  Janey shook his hand,

‘
I’m pleased to meet you, sir. There seems to be a good turn out.’

‘
Indeed there is, particularly from the Methodist chapel. Are you from the manor?’

Janey nodded, wondering if there was a rivalry between the church vicar and the Methodist preacher in the village
.

‘
It was very kind of Lord and Lady Brockenshaw to allow us time to attend.’  To her surprise the vicar snorted.

‘
All is not what it seems, however I should not look a gift horse in the mouth.’ The vicar smiled at her, ‘I asked Lord Brockenshaw for a donation, instead he has made this offer. He’s a wise man. To all it looks like he has been generous and supportive, in reality any funds raised from allowing his staff to attend comes out of your pocket, not his. He has the public acknowledgment that he has been supportive but it has cost him nothing. At one time he was a generous donator to good causes, not any longer I fear. Do you think I sound ungrateful?’ Janey looked at him, he had a kind face.

‘
I think you sound disappointed in Lord Brockenshaw, Vicar,’ she replied.

‘
Indeed I am, but perhaps we all have expectations of people that are hard to live up to. Take me for example, people have very high expectations of their vicar, don’t you think?’

‘
I suppose they do,’ said Janey, not really sure where the conversation was leading.

The vicar tapped his glass,
‘This looks like fruit juice, does it not?’

‘
Isnt it?’ asked Janey. The vicar opened his jacket to show a silver flask within and tapped the side of his nose. Janey showed her surprise on her face.

‘
I may be a vicar but I like a tipple. As you can see I do not live up to high expectations either. Very few people in the world do and perhaps it is unfair to expect them to.’  Abruptly he changed the subject, ‘Why isn’t a pretty thing like you dancing?’ he asked quite affronted.

‘
No one has asked me, sir.’ The vicar immediately put down his glass and held out his hand in a dramatic gesture.

‘
Well we can’t have that,’ he smiled, ‘You and I share my dark secret,’ he said tapping his hidden flask, ‘From now on, should you require my counsel, you can depend on me to help. To mark this momentous bond we must seal it with a dance.’   Janey laughed in delight and joy as he swirled her onto the dance floor.

They danced the next two dances which in turn encouraged other men to ask her
. This resulted in Janey being rarely left without a partner for the next half hour. She started to enjoy herself immensely, picking up the steps of each Celtic dance with ease and a little help from each partner. Suddenly, she realised in horror, that at some point in the evening Daniel Kellow had entered the room and he was now watching her.

From gliding around the room and not making a mistake she started to stumble and miss her queues. When the dance came to an end it was with a sense of relief that she left the dance floor to hide amongst the crowd and away from his gaze
. Hateful man! Why did he have to spoil everything, she thought, buying herself another glass of fruit drink. She took a sip but the taste had changed and she eyed the old lady standing next to the bowl. Mary came to her side.

‘
Edith has been adding her home brew again, I see. Mark my words, by the end of the night half the people will be drunk and the other half trying their best to be. It’s potent stuff that,’ she said nodding to Janey’s drink. Janey turned and saw Daniel Kellow through the crowd and downed the glass in one. ‘Janey Carhart, I never expected that of you!’

‘
Well we can’t all live up to our expectations, Mary.’ She replied savouring the taste of the potent alcohol on her tongue which was already starting to affect her head.

Mary grabbed her hand,
‘Come on, my brother wants to dance with you.’

‘
I didn’t know you had a brother,’ shouted Janey through the noisy crowd.

‘
I have six, he’s the youngest.’ She swung Janey into view and Janey found herself facing a thin, pox marked lad of eighteen who was introduced to her as Matt. Matt looked a little surprised to have his sister fling a woman in his path but not at all disappointed. The man he had been talking to turned around to see what the commotion was about and she came face to face with Daniel Kellow.

‘
Janey wants to dance with you, Matt,’ announced Mary.

Janey looked at her
in surprise.

‘
That looks like news to her,’ replied Daniel. Mary made a face and ignoring Daniel spoke to her brother.

‘
Will you dance with her, Matt?’  Her brother looked surprised and Janey suspected he had never danced with a girl before. In fact he looked quite taken aback with a hint of horror in his eyes. She felt a little sorry for him. Daniel watched her with an amused look on his face.

‘
Daniel will dance with you,’ said Matt, looking sick with fear.

It was Janey’s turned to look horrified
. ‘I don’t want to dance with him!’ she blurted out.

‘
I don’t remember asking you,’ Daniel replied, silencing her with his words.

‘
You can dance with me,’ said Mary coyly looking up at her brother’s friend. Janey shot her a glance, understanding for the first time why Mary had engineered this. Daniel was the man she “had her eye on.” There was a short silence and Daniel reached out and took Mary’s hand. Smiling Mary followed him onto the dance floor leaving the other two standing side by side looking like rejects. Janey grabbed Matt’s hand.

‘
Smile, Matt,’ she said leading him to the dance floor, ‘We’ll show them how to dance!’

Unfortunately
, the dance was a nightmare. She soon realised that Matt really hadn’t danced before and was as co-ordinated as a new born foal. They bumped and slipped their way through the steps like a pair of jokers. Much to Janey’s annoyance Daniel and Mary knew all the steps and although Daniel did not dance but walked the steps, he did it with such athleticism and animal movement that if she hadn’t decided she hated him she would have found him incredibly mesmerising to watch. She tried not to look but found herself stealing glances in their direction, her annoyance showing at seeing him smile down at the delighted Mary. Eventually Matt and Janey collided heads with a bang which should have brought her to tears but had the complete opposite effect and they both burst out laughing. They returned to the edge of the floor still laughing when Daniel and Mary joined them. It was Daniel’s turn to look displeased and it gave Janey great pleasure to thank Matt for the dance and give him a quick kiss on the cheek for good measure before leaving him. Mary tried to do the same to Daniel but he turned his back to get another drink leaving her to follow Janey back to the edge of the room.