The Workhouse Girl (47 page)

Fitch was still protesting his innocence as Constable Barley led him from the room.

‘I ain't going nowhere with him,' Mrs Trigg said, folding her arms across her bosom. ‘He'd slit me throat as soon as look at me, and I ain't leaving until I've seen the body. I won't believe that my Trigg is dead unless I see him with me own eyes.'

Inspector Giles shook his head. ‘You're under arrest, madam. You have no choice in the matter. Take her away.'

‘Mr Moorcroft, sir. Don't let them do this,' Mrs Trigg screamed as she tried to fight off the two young constables who tried to lift her to her feet. ‘You're a man of the law. Do something.'

Nettie shook her head. ‘You don't deserve anyone's sympathy. You and that evil husband of yours made our lives hell in the workhouse. Not just me and Sarah but all the hundreds of men, women and children who passed through your hands. You knew who I was but you kept me a prisoner until you sold me to Mr Arbuthnot. You didn't know it then, but that was the best thing that ever happened to me. Now I want you to pay for what you did to us, you wicked old witch. I hope you rot in prison for the rest of your miserable life.' She turned on her heel and ran from the kitchen.

‘Go after her, Sarah,' Moorcroft said urgently. ‘I'll look after things here.'

She hesitated, casting an anxious glance at Davey. ‘You won't let them take Davey away will you, Mr Moorcroft? You know that he didn't do anything wrong, nor did Parker who was just following orders.'

‘I'll do everything I can to stop that happening,' Moorcroft said with a reassuring smile.

‘We'll leave the gentlemen to settle matters.' Mrs Arbuthnot shooed the children into the passageway. ‘Go along, my dears. As soon as the kitchen is free we'll have some breakfast. I'm sure you must be starving.'

Sarah found Nettie in the small parlour where the children kept their toys. She was sitting on the floor, cuddling Mary's doll and rocking to and fro with tears running down her cheeks. Sarah knelt down beside her. ‘Don't take on so, Nettie.'

‘I don't know who I am now. I've got used to being just Nettie Bean, a nobody from nowhere, and now suddenly I'm someone else.'

‘At least you know who your mother was, even if you never met her. She loved you always, and she proved it at the last when she changed her will in your favour. She wanted you to have what was rightfully yours.'

‘I suppose so, but I'm still an orphan. I'll never know who my father was.'

Sarah looked up to see Moorcroft standing in the doorway and she scrambled to her feet. ‘I think Mr Moorcroft might be able to help you there, Nettie. I'll leave him to explain.'

Moorcroft ran his finger round the inside of his stiff shirt collar. ‘I'm sure that Nettie won't mind if you stay, Sarah. You two have been friends for a very long time.'

Nettie brightened visibly. ‘What's all this about? I do love a mystery.'

The timbre of her voice and the way Nettie held her head brought Elsie vividly to mind, and glancing at Moorcroft Sarah realised that he was experiencing something similar. He had the look of someone who had discovered something so utterly wonderful that he could scarcely believe his eyes. She smiled to herself as she left them to get to know each other, and went to find Davey.

Grey's funeral, no longer a secret affair, was conducted next morning and to Sarah's amazement the village church was packed with people wishing to pay their respects to someone they had known since he was a child. The churchyard was blanketed with snowdrops, a sea of white shimmering in the sunshine, and there was a breath of spring in the air. The mourners crowded round the grave to toss handfuls of soil onto the coffin in their final farewell to a member of the Fitch family, and Sarah realised suddenly that the strength of their feeling was as much for the dynasty as it was for Grey. People came up to her, holding her hand and telling her how much Elsie was missed, and they begged her to take over where Elsie had left off in her mission to heal the sick.

‘You can't trust them fancy physicians,' Old Mother Perks said, shaking her hand. ‘They take your money and stick leeches all over you, but that don't do no good for a bellyache or a sore throat. The sooner you set up again the better for all of us.' She hobbled away to join her family, who were nodding with approval.

‘I never knew that you were so popular,' Nettie whispered.

‘It wasn't me, it was Elsie. Your mother was a remarkable woman.' Sarah looked round at the expectant faces of the people she had known since she was a child. ‘I think they're waiting for you to invite them back to the house. You represent the Fitch family now and it's quite a responsibility.'

‘I'm scared, Sarah. I'm a stranger here. They don't know me and I certainly don't know them.' Nettie clutched her hand. ‘What shall I do?'

Moorcroft moved to her side. ‘Will you allow me to do the honours, my dear? I think that you ought to be introduced to your audience.'

A smile banished Nettie's worried frown. ‘My audience. Of course, I hadn't thought of it that way. Go on then, Pa. Introduce our double act.'

Moorcroft stepped forward. ‘Ladies and gentlemen, you've probably heard that this young lady is Elsie's daughter, and I'm proud to announce publicly that she is my daughter too. Sadly we have lost Elsie and Tobias, but their spirit lives on at Blackwood House and I hope you will follow us there now so that we may raise a glass to those who are no longer with us.' He held up his hand as a murmur of assent rippled round the congregation. ‘And you all know Sarah, who learned everything she knows about herbal medicines from Elsie. She tells me that her dearest wish is to become even more proficient as a pharmacist so that she can come back and work amongst you when she is fully qualified. Knowing Sarah I don't think it will be long before she returns to Blackwood to continue Elsie's good work.'

A round of applause sent a clamour of rooks flying skywards from the tall elm trees that surrounded the church, protesting noisily.

Sarah felt the blood rush to her cheeks. ‘You shouldn't have said that, sir. I have to earn my living. I can't afford to study for the examinations that will soon become compulsory before anyone can practise.'

‘We'll talk about that later, Sarah.' He glanced over his shoulder. ‘But in the meantime I suggest we lead the way back to the house. These people look in need of refreshment.'

‘But Pa,' Nettie protested, tucking her hand in the crook of his arm, ‘we haven't anything to give them. Not like Mr Arbuthnot's wake where Cook had been slaving away in the kitchen for a couple of days.'

‘Why do you think that Sophia and Mary remained at home, my dear? Parker liberated a keg of brandy and one of sherry wine before Mrs Trigg's ruffians arrived at the house, and Sophia will have mastered the range by now and no doubt created some little fancies to feed the masses.' He beckoned to Davey who had been standing at a respectful distance. ‘Come along, my boy. You and I have matters to discuss that will not wait.'

Davey fell into step beside them as they left the churchyard. ‘Really, sir? I can't think what interest you might have in what happens to me and my family.'

‘I already think of Sarah as my daughter and we had a long talk last night, after the police had taken the villains away.'

‘And they didn't find the body,' Sarah added, smiling for the first time that day. ‘Grey would be pleased about that if only he knew. Parker did a good job of covering his tracks.'

‘But will Mrs Trigg let matters lie?' Davey opened the lychgate. ‘She's not the sort to give up easily.'

Moorcroft stood aside to allow Nettie and Sarah to pass. ‘That woman will almost certainly be sentenced to a long term of imprisonment. When she gets out she'll have to survive by her wits. I don't think she'll trouble us again.'

‘And what about George Fitch?' Nettie asked anxiously. ‘Do you think he'll contest Elsie's will?'

‘I'm quite certain that he'll also spend a considerable time in prison, and his house in Spital Square is heavily mortgaged, I know that for a fact. I imagine that his wife will have to sell up and live modestly or return to her family. George won't have much to look forward to when he's released, and that's only if he survives life behind bars.'

‘I almost feel sorry for him,' Sarah said, slipping her hand into Davey's as they walked side by side.

‘Well, I don't. Even if he is my uncle I don't want anything to do with him.' Nettie smiled up at Moorcroft. ‘We're going to be a proper family, aren't we, Pa?'

‘Of course we are, my dear. And that's another thing I want to talk to you about, Nettie.'

‘Really, Pa? What is it?'

Walking behind them, Sarah squeezed Davey's hand. ‘I think I know what he's going to say.'

He gave her a smile that sent her heart fluttering inside her chest. ‘I love you, you clever girl.'

She laid her finger on her lips. ‘Shh. Not now.'

‘Definitely later.'

‘Yes, definitely.'

Nettie uttered a whoop of glee. ‘Oh, you are a one, Pa. I should have seen it coming.' She stopped, turning to Sarah with a wide grin. ‘He's going to ask Mrs Arbuthnot to marry him. What do you think of that?'

Later, when the guests had left, weaving their somewhat tipsy way home, Sarah and Nettie were in the kitchen amongst piles of dirty glasses and crockery. They had sent Mrs Arbuthnot to her room to rest after her labours, and Mary was keeping an eye on the score as the boys played a rather soggy game of cricket with Davey and Moorcroft on the lawn, which was now neatly cropped by the goat, although it had also munched on all the woody plants and shrubs within its reach.

‘What do you really think about Moorcroft wanting to marry Mrs Arbuthnot?' Sarah asked as she poured boiling water into the teapot. ‘Does it upset you to know that he's fallen in love?'

Nettie sat down at the table, making a space amongst the detritus left by the wake and resting her elbows on the wooden surface. ‘No, not at all. He deserves to be happy after the life he's had. I'd be a mean bitch to deny him that, and I'm just glad to know that I've got a dad who cares about me. That won't change when he marries Sophia.'

‘If she accepts him.' Sarah stirred the pot and left the tea to brew. She searched the dresser for clean cups. ‘So will you live here and become lady of the manor?'

‘It's all happened so quickly, Sarah. Yesterday I was just Nettie Bean with a walk-on part in a big London production, but now I'm Nanette Fitch, heiress to a bloody fortune and I'm responsible for this house and goodness knows how many acres of grounds. Worse still, half the village seems to think I'm a bigwig and they'll want me to wet-nurse them. That's not the life for me. I want excitement and glamour. I want to breathe in the smell of greasepaint and smoky old London with its overflowing sewers and rotten rubbish. I don't like fresh country air and the stink of cow shit.'

‘You still want to be an actress?' Sarah could hardly believe her ears. This old house and its grounds and indeed the whole way of country living was, she realised now, her idea of heaven. She would always be a Londoner at heart, but if she could live and work in Blackwood she would be happy to return to the city for long visits. She poured the tea into two cracked and chipped cups that she found at the back of the shelf. ‘Here's your tea.' She stared at Nettie, angling her head as a sudden thought struck her. ‘I suppose your urgent wish to return to London wouldn't have anything to do with a handsome Frenchman, would it?'

Nettie's cheeks bloomed pink and she snatched the cup from Sarah's hand. ‘I dunno who you mean.'

Sarah pulled up a chair and sat down. ‘Come on, Nettie Bean. This is me you're talking to. I mean Gaston Fournier, of course. He lives and works in London, doesn't he?'

‘I think so.' Nettie sipped her tea, refusing to look Sarah in the eye. ‘Well, yes, as a matter of fact he does.'

‘And you've seen him again?'

‘He came to the theatre during rehearsals and we went for supper afterwards. Where's the harm in that?'

Sarah chuckled. ‘You're blushing, Nettie. You like him, don't you? What happened during that trip home from France? Did you get to know him very well?'

‘I dunno what you mean.' Nettie pushed the cup away and stood up. ‘I'm going to find Parker. He can clear this lot up. I'm the lady of the house now.' She flounced out of the kitchen, leaving Sarah on her own amidst the chaos.

She finished her tea, rolled up her sleeves and went outside into the yard to fetch water from the pump.

‘Here, let me do that.'

She turned with a start as Davey took the bucket from her. ‘You'll have to work the handle,' he said ruefully. ‘I feel like a cripple with a useless arm.'

She pumped valiantly and water splashed into the bucket. ‘It will get better, and anyway you haven't got a boat at the moment so you can't go back to sea.'

‘That's not exactly true,' he said mysteriously. ‘Whoa, that's enough.'

She released the handle. ‘What's not true?'

Davey carried the overflowing bucket into the scullery and emptied it into the sink. ‘Is there any hot water in the boiler?'

She nodded. ‘Yes, but I'll fetch it when you've told me what's going on. Why the mystery?'

‘There's no mystery, my love. Mr Moorcroft had a chat with me while we were waiting for Jonah to find the ball that I'd lobbed into the shrubbery. Not bad for a one-armed batsman.'

‘You're being deliberately annoying, Davey Hawkes. What did he say?'

‘He's offered to lend me the money to fix the boat up, and I'm to repay him out of my earnings. I should be fit enough to take it to sea by the time the work is finished. Then I can ask you to marry me.' He frowned. ‘What's the matter, Sarah? You don't look too pleased. Isn't that what you want?'