Tyringham Park (11 page)

The knock came just as she was thinking Lady Blackshaw was delaying the interview until the morning.

“It’s not you she’s after, it’s Nurse Dixon,” said Sid. “I done all I could to delay, but she says she’s got to talk to Dixon this afternoon.”

“You didn’t say anything?”

“Not a word.”

“Thank you, Sid. I knew I could rely on you.” They smiled at one another. There was still an underlying spark between them even though Sid was a happily married man with six sons.
“What kind of mood is she in?”

“Pretty good, considering.”

“I hate to be the one to ruin it but it has to be done.” She took a deep breath. “Wish me luck.”

Edwina was standing in the library flicking through
Horse and Hound
. She often boasted that she’d never read a book in her life.

“I thought I told Sid to send in Nurse Dixon, not you,” she said when Miss East entered the room.

“So he told me, ma’am. I’ve come to inform you that Dixon won’t be coming in because she’s gone, ma’am.” Get it over with quickly.

“Gone? Where?”

“I don’t know. She refused to tell anyone where she was going.” Not that anyone asked.

Edwina sat down slowly. “What happened?”

“I told her to leave.”

“You what? Who gave you the right to do that?”

“You did, ma’am. Putting me in charge before you left.”

“I can’t believe this. Are you actually telling me you dismissed Dixon? That she’s not here at the Park at this moment?”

“Yes, ma’am, that’s what I’m saying. She has left the estate.”

“You have managed to surpass yourself. I meant for you to run the house as you normally do and take messages for me, not exercise an authority you don’t have. When did she
leave?”

“The day after you left for London.”

“A whole month ago? She could be halfway to Australia by now to join Teresa Kelly and Victoria and here are we left with no address and no clues. We wouldn’t even know where to start
looking for them. Do you realise what a catastrophe this is? Do you?”

Miss East made no response.

“All the time I was in London, especially when my husband came up with nothing, I kept saying to myself that at least Dixon knows Teresa Kelly’s address and I’ll get it out of
her one way or another. But what’s to be done now? She was the last link and now I’ll never be able to find Victoria.” Edwina sprang to her feet. “I should never have left
you in charge, you stupid, stupid woman! Have you
any
idea what you’ve done? Why didn’t you wait for me? What was so urgent that couldn’t wait a month?”

“Charlotte wasn’t eating and seemed to be fading away. I thought Nurse Dixon was withholding food as a punishment.”

Edwina snorted. “Is that all? You dismissed her for that?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“And you didn’t presume that Dixon had her reasons, and that Charlotte could do with the loss of a half stone or more? You’ll have to come up with a better explanation than
that.”

“I judged the situation to be serious and did what I thought was best.”

“Did you indeed? Best for whom?” A nasty look came into Edwina’s eyes. “Dixon always said you wanted to take the children away from her. She said you suffered from
‘child hunger’. The way she spoke about it one would think it was a medical condition. It looks as if you managed to get your hands on one of them at last by waiting until my back was
turned.”

“I was thinking only of the child’s welfare. Dr Finn agreed with me that there was something seriously wrong with Charlotte and he was anxious on her account.”

“Of course you were. Of course he was,” Edwina sneered. “What a pair of experts deciding the fate of my child and interfering in the running of the estate! An ignorant country
doctor and a frustrated old maid. Of course the quack would back you up after he was fed malicious tales by you. You don’t seem to realise what a terrible blow you two ignoramuses have dealt
me.” A gleam of hatred came into Edwina’s eyes. “And while we’re on the subject of your superior ways, where did you pick up that affected way of speaking? Anyone would
think you were the mistress of the Park rather than one of its lackeys.”

Miss East took a step back as if pushed by the force of the malice in Edwina’s tone.

“I think I should leave,” she said in as mild a tone as she could manage.

“Stay where you are. I’m the one who tells you when you may leave, in case you’d forgotten in my absence.”

There was a sound behind Miss East. Charlotte flew through the door, momentarily freezing at the sight of her mother before edging towards Miss East and putting her arm around the housekeeper,
burying her face in the folds of the woman’s apron.

Edwina looked on with distaste.

Miss East bent down to whisper to Charlotte, who shook her head and clung tighter.

“Stop acting like a baby and come here and shake your mother’s hand like a civilised human being,” said Edwina.

No one moved. Miss East bent down again and whispered to Charlotte who shook her head more emphatically.

“She’s shy,” said Miss East to fill the vibrating silence.

“She’s what?” Edwina’s response was low and clipped, with the ‘t’ on the end of ‘what’ sounding like a spit. “Shy of her own mother? Miss
East, if ever I want an opinion on
my own child
, I’ll ask for it, but until then I’d be obliged if you would keep your mouth firmly closed. You’ve done enough damage with
that mouth of yours to last you a lifetime.” She advanced on Charlotte and missed catching an arm as the child dodged behind Miss East. “This kind of conduct is not acceptable,”
she said, retreating. “Dixon would never have allowed her to get away with such wilful behaviour.” Edwina’s mouth twisted into an ugly shape.

“No, ma’am.”

Edwina stared at the pair, considering.

“Very well,” she said at last. “Seeing as you two are getting on so well together it would seem a shame to split you up.” Her smile was not friendly. “Here it is
nearly September and with all the upheaval,” (Victoria’s disappearance an ‘upheaval’? thought Miss East) “I forgot to hire a governess or enrol Charlotte in a prep
school for the year. So you can continue to look after her for twelve months, Miss East, on top of all your other duties, and I advise you both to keep well out of my sight for the year.”

The reference he gave Nurse Dixon was so glowing it could secure her a position with the Royal family, the steward told Edwina when she asked him about his part in the
nanny’s dismissal. It was the only practical way he was able to help the poor woman suffering the loss of her charge, and since he had never heard anything negative about her, and since that
rock of sense Miss East had been so sympathetic towards her, he thought he had done the right thing in her ladyship’s absence, and did she approve? Of course she did, but what she wanted to
know was had Dixon left a forwarding address or given any indication where she was going? He had to confess he hadn’t seen her personally before she departed, and that all details had been
handled by Miss East.

As expected, said Edwina bitterly, and did he have any idea what Dixon’s Christian name was? No, he’d never heard it and there was no mention of it in his records. He had used the
title ‘Nurse’ and hoped it would be acceptable to prospective employers.

Reasoning that Dixon, experienced in only one field, would be forced to seek a similar position to the one she’d filled at the Park, Edwina, at considerable expense, placed personal
advertisements in
The Irish Times
and the English
Times
and the various periodicals featuring ‘Hunting’ in the title seeking news of Nurse Dixon’s whereabouts.

She questioned a few selected servants, who said they had no idea why Dixon upped and left. One day she was there and the next she was gone without so much as a by-your-leave or word of goodbye,
odd behaviour even from her who was so stand-offish. What they did know was that she would have gone to Australia with her only friend Teresa Kelly if she hadn’t been in love with Manus,
staying on waiting for him to declare himself. Teresa Kelly had told them that personally so it must be true. They didn’t know what had happened between Dixon and Manus, though they could see
with their own eyes that he wasn’t especially interested in her.

Knowing glances passed among them. One bold one dared look up at Edwina’s face to see how she was taking this information but saw no change in her expression.

In the end, the servants said, Dixon had left only three weeks after Teresa, so it was all a bit of a waste of time.

A visit to the parish priest proved fruitless. Father O’Flaherty said he had written out the address of the old farmer for Teresa Kelly to give to her but hadn’t kept a copy for his
records as there didn’t seem any point. He couldn’t bring the address to mind as it consisted of a few long aboriginal words that didn’t lodge in his memory as they were so
unfamiliar to him. Teresa Kelly knew where to contact him if she needed further help, which he presumed she wouldn’t as she was so happy with the arrangement, so he was sorry but it
didn’t look as if he would be able to help Her Ladyship. He didn’t offer to supply Edwina with Teresa Kelly’s address if Teresa did happen to make contact.

There were no replies to the advertisements in the newspapers and periodicals.

Soon after that Edwina wrote to the Australian Embassy in London, outlining all the facts about the abduction, and asked what course of action she should take to secure the return of her
daughter.

No, I don’t want your personal opinion thank you very much, Edwina said aloud, not bothering to finish reading the letter. I’ll go to Australia myself. Beatrice will
come with me. We’ll find them. Wait and see. Just as soon as the baby is born and I have recovered sufficiently to show the county what I’m capable of on Sandstorm. Then I’ll
go.

Tyringham Park
1883

Waldron’s mother, who was called a dowager because of her hump rather than her situation, had been in need of a new personal maid at the time Waldron was a young man of
twenty-six. Following the Park’s tradition of not employing local people, she contacted her clergyman cousin in Yorkshire, as she usually did, to have one sent over from there. Over the years
he had supplied staff, mostly orphans, on a regular basis to Tyringham Park, and all had been deemed most satisfactory. The most recent arrival, young Sid Cooper, had proved to be a real
godsend.

Her preference for orphans, as well as reflecting well on her philanthropic reputation, suited her because they had no one to speak up for them if their wages were too low or the hours too long.
Added to that, there would be no disruption by parental illnesses, where the servant would be summoned home to nurse the afflicted one and then stay on to look after the remaining one.

As luck would have it, according to the Dowager who never tired of exclaiming over the “gratuitous sense of timing” whenever Miss East’s name was mentioned in later years,
fourteen-year-old Lily East’s mother had just died and left her an orphan in need of a position. True, on the day of the funeral Lily East was so poorly she looked as if she would be joining
her mother in the grave shortly: she was gaunt and pale, and her hand trembled when she handed the clergyman cousin a cup of tea. He took in the bitten nails, sparse hair, blotchy skin, convulsive
tic and her inability to stand for very long. He also noticed the hovering stepfather who kept preventing Lily from speaking to anyone for more than a minute.

When she arrived at Tyringham Park three days later she was in an even worse state. The Dowager, on seeing her, exclaimed in her penetrating voice to the housekeeper “Perfect!” She
even clapped her hands. “She’ll do very nicely. My blank canvas.”

Miss Timmins, the housekeeper, failed to catch Lily as she fell in a dead faint on the Turkish carpet under the Waterford crystal chandelier.

“I thought I’d specified ‘healthy’,” said the Dowager, lifting her skirts and heading for the door, making a semi-circular movement to avoid the collapsed figure.
“Deal with it, Miss Timmins.” She left, revising her ideas about employing an English orphan who had no family to come to collect her and look after her, and who might not be well
enough for a long time to make the journey back across the water.