The Royal Lacemaker (17 page)

‘I've no idea. Rupert
Mountsford didn't tell me.'

‘Hmm, just you be careful,
Lily,' he said.

She was about to ask him what he meant,
but they'd reached the lodging house. Clutching her precious testimonials, she
took a deep breath and rang the doorbell.

‘You'll be fine,
love,' encouraged Tom. ‘Just think what fun we'll have when
you've got your own room.' He winked suggestively at her, but before she
could respond the door opened and Miss Chicke stood there glaring at them.

‘Good afternoon, Miss Chicke.
I've brought the testimonials you requested,' Lily said, but the
woman's eyes narrowed and, turning up her nose, she sniffed.

‘Oh, have you indeed?' she
said, putting her nose even higher into the air.

Lily glanced at Tom.

‘I believe you said Lily could
have the room if she provided two testimonials, Miss Chicke,' he said quietly
but firmly.

‘Yes, but that was when I thought
she was decent,' Miss
Chicke said, narrowing her eyes at
Lily. ‘You can sling your hook, missy, I'll not be having any criminals
in my house, thank you very much,' she spat and slammed the door in their
faces.

‘Well, of all the
bare-faced …' Tom began, but the words died on his lips when he saw
Lily's white-faced look of disbelief. He raised his fist ready to bang on the
door, determined have it out with the old biddy, but she shook her head.

‘No, don't bother arguing
with her. I wouldn't want to lodge with a sour-faced, prejudiced woman like
that anyway.'

‘But she called you a criminal and
that's not right. You were acquitted fairly and squarely.'

‘I know. It does rather prove my
point about folk thinking there is no smoke without spark, though, doesn't
it?' she said, taking his arm and urging him away from the house. The sun was
lowering in the sky and she shivered.

However, he wasn't ready to let it
go.

‘But this is different, Lily.
It's your character we're talking about here,' he declared,
turning to face her.

‘Precisely, Tom, and as I said
earlier, people like to think the worst.'

‘Maybe some, but not me,
Lily,' he told her. ‘I love you and know you're an honest woman.
If you'd trusted me enough to tell me about the squire's improper
behaviour, I'd have gone to see him and then it mightn't have come to
this.'

As she listened to his declaration of
love, a warm feeling curled its way through her body, melting the ice that
had encased her insides since she'd first heard the
squire's accusations. Relieved that everything was going to be all right
between them, she couldn't resist teasing him.

‘And what would you have done?
Challenged him to a duel at dawn?'

‘No, that would've been too
good for him,' he grinned. ‘I'd have punctured his privates with
my fishing hooks.'

‘Heaven forbid,' she
giggled, and Tom, relieved to see she was feeling better, pulled her into the shade
of a spreading oak tree and kissed her on the lips.

‘Oh, Lily, my love, if only we
could set up home together right now, I'd be able to look after you
properly.'

She sighed and, forgetting about
propriety, snuggled into him, enjoying the feeling of being cherished.

‘It's right torture being
this close to you, yet not close enough, if you get my drift?' he
murmured.

Feeling the heat of a blush spreading up
her cheeks, she moved away, but her heart was pounding so crazily he must surely
hear it.

However, instead of the pounding easing,
it seemed to be getting louder. It was only when Tom pointed down the hill that she
realized the noise was Doris, clip-clopping towards them. Robert was holding the
reins with Aunt Elizabeth sitting alongside, and the cart looked laden as it
laboured towards them. Then, when it drew alongside, she saw it was piled high with
all their belongings.

‘Oh, Lily, we're so sorry we
couldn't make it to the court in time. The squire sent his land agent to the
cottage to carry out another inspection and make sure we left. By the time he
decided we hadn't taken anything that wasn't ours, it was too
late,' Robert explained.

‘Odious
man!' Lily exclaimed, looking indignant.

‘Hush, Lily,' her aunt
chided, mindful of the curious stares they were attracting.

‘We were glad to hear you were
rightly acquitted, Lily. Mrs Goode had already heard the news when we called in to
say goodbye to Beth,' Rob said.

‘Yes, Grace says you're not
to worry about Beth. She'll take fine care of her and you are welcome to visit
any time you can. You will go and see her soon, won't you?' asked Aunt
Elizabeth, looking troubled.

‘We'll go and see her on the
Sabbath, won't we, Lily?' replied Tom. ‘We could take her and
young Harriet down to the beach for that picnic.'

Aunt Elizabeth brightened and Lily
smiled at Tom gratefully.

‘Thank you, Tom, that sets my mind
at rest. I'm sure Grace would appreciate a break from the girls, although she
assures me Beth's no trouble. Now, we've decided to make our way
directly to Ilminster earlier than planned. I've already sent word to my
brother by the stagecoach that, God willing, we should be with him by tomorrow. It
will take poor Doris some time to pull this laden cart. We've detoured via
Bransbeer to say farewell and to give you the few things I managed to pack for
you.'

Her aunt turned and rummaged behind her,
then handed Lily a small parcel wrapped in sacking. ‘It's just some
necessities to see you all right for a night or two. The rest of your things are
stored in the barn by the orchard. I'm to tell you they'll be kept safe
for the next seven days. If you haven't collected them by then, they'll
be disposed of.'

‘Mercy
me,' Lily whispered, shaking her head in disbelief.

‘Well, of all the callous—'
Tom burst out but Robert gently cut in.

‘I know, Tom. I feel that bad
myself, but we were in no position to argue. I'm just so glad Lily has you to
look after her. You will take care of my little sister, won't you?' he
asked, his voice thick with emotion as he looked at Lily.

‘Of course I will, Rob,' Tom
answered, putting an arm protectively around her shoulders and drawing her
closer.

‘We were relieved to hear that
justice was done, Lily.' Blinking back the tears, Lily nodded before reaching
up to kiss her aunt goodbye. ‘I'll be back to see you as soon as
we're settled. There was so much I wanted to say to you before we left,'
Aunt Elizabeth said, her eyes suspiciously bright as she pressed a few coins into
Lily's hand.

‘But you have already been so
kind, Auntie,' Lily said.

‘It's not much, my dear, but
perhaps you can treat yourself to some of that bright material you were talking
about. I reckon you deserve a treat after all you've been through,' said
Aunt Elizabeth, attempting to smile.

‘Oh, Auntie, thank you,'
Lily said.

‘And I'll not forget that
clock,' her brother said, pulling his cap back on. Then with a rueful smile,
he picked up the reins and urged Doris to walk on.

Lily and Tom stood watching as the
donkey-cart rattled its way up the hill. Then, as it turned the corner and was lost
from view, the tears finally fell. Hiding her face in Tom's shoulder, she
sobbed uncontrollably. Once again those she loved had left her.

‘Come on, chin up, Lily, my
love,' he said gently, taking
her parcel. Choking back her
tears, she smiled bravely. Lost in their own thoughts, they trudged down the
hill.

As they were nearing Mrs Bodney's
cottage, they heard a shout.

‘Hurry up, Tom. We can't
wait the boat any longer,' called Mikey, beckoning urgently.

Tom was about to answer that they could
sail without him, but Lily shook her head.

‘You go, Tom. You've missed
one trip already today. Anyway, I'd best go and see Mrs Bodney or she'll
think I've vanished off the face of Bransbeer.'

He eyed her doubtfully, torn between
staying with her and skippering his boat.

‘Go on,' she urged, quickly
kissing his cheek.

‘Well, if you're
sure,' he said, looking relieved as he handed over her things. She nodded,
watching as he raced down to the boat and set about hoisting the sails. The sun, now
a crimson globe, was sinking behind the horizon, its fire-spun fingers spreading out
to hug the bay.

‘Godspeed and come safely home, my
love,' she whispered before letting herself into the cottage.

Expecting all to be quiet at this time
of the evening, she was surprised to hear shouting coming from the workroom. Then
the door burst open and a figure rushed out, pushing past her and sending her
package flying.

‘Whatever's wrong,
Abigail?' she asked, noticing the tears streaming down her cheeks. But the
girl ignored her and shot out of the door.

‘There you are, Lily,' said
Mrs Bodney, bustling out of the workroom. ‘Come through to the parlour,
please. I'd like a word.' Stopping only to retrieve her things,
she followed the older woman through to her inner sanctum.

‘Sit down,' her employer
instructed. Noticing the woman's heightened colour, Lily carefully placed her
things on the floor and perched on the edge of a chair.

‘The court case earlier set me
thinking, Lily. If it wasn't you who took Lady Clinsden's things, then
who did? No one in their right mind would steal just the one glove, would they? No,
please don't interrupt,' she said, holding up her hand as Lily made to
speak. ‘I knew you were innocent of the charge. That was never in doubt.
However, someone entered my cottage on the day of your mother's funeral and
ordered the ladies to stop work.'

Lily looked up in surprise. In all the
turmoil of the past few days, she'd completely forgotten about that.

‘And that person was wearing a
black veil and leather gloves. Two leather gloves. That much I know for I questioned
Mary, who, in your absence, has taken the initiative in overseeing the work, and
very competently she's gone about it too.' Mrs Bodney paused and sat
staring gravely at her. Oh no, I'm going to lose my job, Lily thought.

‘Don't look so worried,
Lily, you're not about to lose your position, if that's what
you're worried about. No, Mary has nothing but admiration for the way you run
the workroom. She said everyone looks up to you.'

Lily blinked in surprise. ‘Oh,
that's all right then,' was all she could utter, but Mrs Bodney was
continuing her story.

‘A few days ago, Tilda was
brushing the steps when she found a leather glove behind the boot scraper and
brought it to me. It made me think about something Mary had told
me and the two things connected. Anyway, I took the glove to the courtroom this
morning and, as I'd suspected, it matched the one exhibited there.'

Lily frowned, not sure where the
conversation was going.

‘It appears that Abigail has got
herself into, shall we say, a predicament. Because of that, she was turned out of
the position she took when I dismissed her from here and, in desperate need of
money, she agreed to assist the squire in his little ruse. Wearing his wife's
veil and gloves, she was to turn up at the workroom saying she had a message from
you. The idea, of course, was to stop the work in your absence and then you would
lose your job and have to go to work for the squire. It was a clever scheme, too,
for it being the day of the funeral no one questioned her arriving attired in black.
Remember what I said about appearances and perception, Lily?'

‘Yes, Mrs Bodney,' she duly
answered, not really understanding at all.

‘Anyway, the girl was supposed to
return the clothes to the squire but, in her haste to get away, she carelessly
dropped a glove. Apparently, the squire was livid when he found out and threatened
to tell her parents of her predicament if she didn't retrieve it. But before
she had time to do that, he'd hatched another little plan, getting old Ned to
plant the other glove and veil on your donkey-cart.'

‘Goodness, is no one to be trusted
around here?' gasped Lily.

‘Not where money's
concerned. Most people hereabouts scratch a living and will seize any opportunity to
come by extra. You've led a somewhat sheltered life,
Lily, and need to learn to trust at your discretion.' Remembering her
brother's similar words, she looked down at the ground; then, seeing the state
of her boots, tucked them under her skirt. Glancing up, she checked in case Mrs
Bodney had noticed, but the other woman was still intent on her story.

‘I heard voices in the parlour,
and when I went to investigate I found Abigail asking Tilda if she'd found a
black glove. When I confronted her, she broke down and, after explaining everything,
rushed out of the cottage. Upon reflection, I should have realized Abigail might
bear a grudge for being dismissed, and she is slender in stature with hands to
match; hands that fitted the gloves.'

As she sat trying to take in everything
Mrs Bodney had said, Lily realized she had a lot to learn about life outside the
cottage. How she wished her father and mother were still alive. They'd been
such a happy family. Reminded she had nowhere to live, she stared down at the parcel
and testimonials and wondered what she was going to do.

‘Well now, tell me how you got on
with Miss Chicke? Did you secure the room?' Mrs Bodney asked, as ever seeming
to tune into her thoughts.

Lily shook her head.

‘What happened then?'

Lily told her about Miss Chicke's
reaction, and her employer clicked her tongue in exasperation.

‘She's a stupid, bigoted old
woman. Well, it's too late to find anywhere tonight. You'd better sleep
in my spare room. It's the door opposite mine. At least it will be more
comfortable than that donkey-cart,' Mrs Bodney said,
smiling.