The Bondage of Love

by Catherine Cookson

  There hadn’t been a smile on her face as she related this. And now she went on, ‘Anyway, Mam said there was a lot of hustle and bustle in the house after that, and what should happen but the doctor was sent for again. The old ’un had had a seizure. Perhaps the solicitor had brought it on, some said, because there was something fishy. They had known before the girl came to the house that the old man was guardian of her money, and that she couldn’t touch a penny of it until she was sixteen. Yet, as my mam said, the Pearsons’ lifestyle, you know, as it’s called, changed after their son was killed. The old girl would go tripping out into Cardiff like she had never done in her life before, and come back loaded with parcels. The village had been good enough for her before.

  ‘Well, anyway, when, a fortnight gone Sunday, not one of them entered the chapel all day, the pastor arrived to enquire if they had all caught the rash from the girl, and there was Mary Pearson, tearful, saying that Owen and his Betty had gone away for a time, but they’d be back. Yes, they’d be back. Then the next thing my mam sees is the young thing there’—she pointed to Mamie—‘in the garden emptying a bucket of ashes. And she said, she had never got such a surprise in her life, for it was about a year since she had last clapped eyes on her. She said she walked like a ghost. And when the girl saw her, she dropped the bucket and came running to the gate, and there she began to gabble, and my mam couldn’t make sense of it at first. She said she put her arm around her and told her to talk slowly, and what she was saying was, would my mam write to her uncle and aunt and ask if she could come back; she would do anything if she could come back, and that she was frightened. When my mam asked her what she was frightened of, she did what she’s doing now, drooped her head onto her chest and wouldn’t say. Mam then told her that she would write to you, or better still she would phone. But the girl couldn’t remember your number. Well, it’s another long story after that. Oh!’ She looked towards the door where Nell was coming in, pushing a trolley on which there were not only five cups of tea, but, on the lower shelf, a plate of some buttered scones and a cake.

  ‘This is Mrs Ormesby,’ Fiona said, ‘a friend of mine.’ And at this they both answered simultaneously, ‘Please to meet you.’

  And now speaking for the first time, Bill asked, ‘Have you come all the way from Wales today?’

  The man nodded, saying, ‘Yes, we left Cardiff this morning.’

  ‘By, that’s a long drive! Did you have many stops?’

  ‘No, only one.’

  ‘You must be pretty tired.’

  The man smiled, then wagged his head a little before he said, ‘We’re not so tired as stiff. But it’s no distance to Morpeth now, and we should be there before dark.’ He looked at his wife and she nodded at him. Then, turning to Bill, she said, ‘Yes, we would like to be there before dark. They’re expecting us, you see.’

  ‘Oh yes. Yes.’

  They both said, ‘Thank you. Thank you,’ to the cup of tea that Nell handed to each of them. And when she asked, ‘Would you like a scone or a piece of cake?’ they both answered, ‘No, thank you. No, thank you.’

  Nell was standing in front of the girl, whose head was up now, and she was looking at Nell who said quietly, ‘Hello, Mamie.’

  ‘Hello, M…M…Mrs Nell.’

  ‘Drink this tea…Would you like a scone?’

  The girl glanced quickly at the woman as if asking permission. Then again looking up at Nell, she said, ‘Yes, please. Oh, yes, please.’

  Nell brought her a buttered scone and a piece of cake, and when she laid a napkin over the girl’s knee, the girl took hold of it and fingered it as if it were something strange, which prompted Nell to turn quickly away.

  When the man looked at his watch, the woman said, ‘We’ll have to be away. But I can tell you this: my mam went to old Mrs Pearson and she put it to her straight that, if she didn’t let the girl come back here and see if she could stay, she would go to see the solicitor man in Cardiff and tell him what had been happening to her, and it would be a court case. The girl was nearly out of her mind. So, here she is.’ She put out her hand towards the couch, and Mamie, who was chewing on her last bite of cake, swallowed quickly and coughed as if she were going to choke. Then her hands were gripping each side of the empty plate and she was looking from Bill to Fiona, and her voice seemed to be a whimper as she said, ‘If…if you don’t have me to stay, I…I won’t go back there; I’ll go some place.’

  ‘It’s all right. It’s all right.’ Fiona went to the couch and sat down and, loosening one hand from its grip on the plate, she repeated, ‘It’s all right, Mamie, it’s all right. You may stay.’

  They watched the girl close her eyes tightly, open her mouth wide as if she were about to yell, then close it as tight as her eyes were. Then dropping back in her seat she sat gasping for some seconds, until Fiona said again, ‘Now don’t worry. Don’t worry. It’s going to be all right.’ And her own voice was breaking now, for her mind was in a turmoil, denying the guilt, saying, don’t forget what she was like, and she wanted to go. She wouldn’t stay with us. She wouldn’t have stayed with us in any case, if we would have had her. But we couldn’t, not after that, could we? No. And she could have been the death of Sammy. But…but look at her. She seemed to be still a child then, but this person is no longer a child…she’s no longer a girl. Her face looks old, as if through age. Dear God! What has she gone through to appear like this?

  She turned her head quickly to hear the man, who had now risen to his feet, saying to Bill, ‘Could I have a private word with you, sir?’

  ‘Yes. Yes, of course. Will you come this way?’ Bill walked towards the door, and the man followed him along to Bill’s study; where Bill pointed to a chair, and said, ‘Sit down.’

  ‘Time’s getting on,’ the man said, his head bobbing now, ‘and I just want to say a few words. It’s this: I think you should have a doctor to her straight away. Between you and me something happened to that girl and it was to do with that upstart, Owen. He’s neither worked nor wanted in his life. And…and as I understand it, she’s to come into money in a very short time, and from what she let drop to my mother-in-law, things would happen to her if she didn’t sign papers. Then she was supposed to have fits and to have fallen downstairs, and apparently she was kept on bread and water for days. But then it seems they stopped asking her to sign papers. But she said she became more frightened still. One thing at least is certain; that fellow Owen did something to her that has put the fear of men into her, not of God as they had intended, but the fear of men. Well, you saw what happened when you put your hand on her shoulder. So, as I said, sir, I would have her examined. You know what I mean?’

  ‘Yes. Yes, indeed, I know what you mean. And I thank you for bringing her. She left here in very difficult circumstances. I suppose you know why.’

  ‘No; we never got to the bottom of it.’

  ‘Oh, well, you might as well know. She got into some very bad company and was shoplifting and taking drugs. And when my adopted son followed her, he surprised a gang of drug distributors and they overpowered him and drugged him and bundled him up, and threw him into a lot of coal slack, expecting the tide to either take him out or bury him further.’

  ‘Dear Lord! Dear Lord! Was that it?’

  ‘Yes, that was it. So, you can understand why I insisted on the grandfather taking her away from here. It was either that or she would have gone into a reform home, or wherever it is they send the young offenders. And if Sammy, my boy, had died, then I don’t know what we would have done with her. So that is why I insisted the grandfather should take her. Legally I was responsible for her, but I had never touched a penny of her money.’

  ‘You hadn’t?’

  ‘No. No.’

  ‘Dear, dear!’ The man shook his head. ‘Well, it wasn’t said openly, but it was suggested that she had been paid for to be brought up by you all those years.’

  ‘The old devil!’ Bill bridled now, and the man said, ‘Another thing, sir, the soli
citor has made a number of visits to the house during the last two weeks, and has been accompanied by another man. We feel it can only be to do with the girl’s money. So, if I were you, sir, well, I needn’t tell you, a businessman, what you should do. But on her behalf, I think it should be looked into.’

  ‘Indeed it should. Indeed it should. And it will be. Take my word for it. And thank you very much indeed for taking this trouble over her.’

  ‘Oh—’ The man now looked down towards the floor as he said, ‘If I’d had my way, I would have probed sooner than this. But not living in the village any more and no longer a member of the chapel, I had little say. However, although I prompted my mother-in-law, and she, I know, opened her mouth as she is apt to do, to the minister, I got the impression that she was told not to interfere with people’s private business. In fact, it was I who went to the old woman and told her what we were going to do. And, you know, she didn’t protest. This was yesterday. But she said a strange thing. She said, “I knew it would come to an end some time. And God will judge and He knows I did try.” So, what can you make of that, sir?’

  They stood looking at each other and Bill said, ‘Well, if I have my way, somebody will judge her before God, and the other two when they are found. As for her grandfather, if he’s had a stroke, his deserts are starting now.’

  ‘That indeed could be true. That indeed could be true.’

  The man now turned towards the door, saying again, ‘Well, I must be off, sir.’

  In the hall the woman was waiting for them. ‘It’ll be dark before we get there,’ she said, ‘and you know I don’t like driving in the dark.’

  ‘We are going now. We are going now. Have you said goodbye to her?’

  ‘I have. I have, and I have leave from Mrs Bailey to come and see her on our way back.’

  Bill saw them to their car and he thanked them again for what they had done. And the woman murmured, ‘Well, thank you for receiving us so civilly. Many a one wouldn’t. And it’s the most beautiful place you’ve got here, if I may say so.’

  Bill nodded at her and smiled, then watched the car drive slowly away.

  When he returned to the hall, Fiona was waiting for him, together with Nell, Sammy, Willie and Katie. It was Katie who said, ‘What’s it all about?’

  ‘We’ll tell you later, all of you. Where’s Daisy and Sep?’

  ‘They’re at the table, playing ping-pong.’

  ‘Well, don’t you think you should join them? Except you, Katie. You come in with your mother, and talk to Mamie; but you two’—he now looked at Sammy and Willie—‘don’t go near her. There’s a reason.’

  ‘A reason?’ Willie screwed up his face.

  ‘Yes, there’s a reason, a good reason. But she can’t stand…well, oh dear God! I’ll tell you all about it later. Get yourselves away. Nell, she’ll have to go into one of the guest rooms tonight. Can you see to it?’

  ‘Leave it to me.’

  When they entered the drawing room Mamie was sitting on the edge of the couch, her hands gripped between her knees, her tension expressed in the whole of her body.

  Fiona straight away took a seat beside her and said, ‘You…you remember Katie? She’s grown a lot since you last saw her.’

  ‘Hello, Mamie. Nice seeing you again.’

  The girl stared hard at Katie, then drooped her head slightly, and Katie and Fiona exchanged a look.

  On a high note, Katie said, ‘Well, take your coat off.’ And at this Fiona exclaimed, ‘Oh, my, my! Of course. What am I thinking of? Take your coat off, dear.’

  Mamie stood up and slowly unbuttoned the four buttons of her coat. As she took it off, Katie took it from her, then stood staring at her, as did Fiona. The coat had been drab-looking, but the dress that was hanging on the girl’s thin body like a brown sack was more so, for it was shapeless and the material looked rough. Again Fiona and Katie looked at each other. Then Mamie dropped back on the couch and covered her face with her hands, and as she began to sob she whimpered, ‘I won’t do anything bad. I promise. I promise. And I won’t go out. I won’t! I don’t want to! I don’t want to go out. No, never! Never!’

  ‘It’s all right, dear. It’s all right.’ When Fiona put her arms around her, the girl turned and pressed herself so tightly against her that Fiona almost overbalanced. And now she stroked Mamie’s hair, saying, ‘It’s all right now. It’s all right; you’re home, and quite safe.’ As she said the word she glanced up at Katie who was biting hard on her lower lip.

  When the sobbing gradually subsided and the girl leant limply against her, Fiona found that she, too, was unable to speak for a moment. It was Katie who said, ‘Come on upstairs, Mamie. Would you like a bath after that long journey? And look, as you haven’t brought any things with you, one of my shorties will likely fit you.’

  The girl now brought herself from Fiona’s arms, and when she rubbed her wet face with her hands, Fiona said, ‘Here, dear,’ and handed her a handkerchief. Then Mamie, turning to Katie, said, ‘Thank you,’ and slowly she pulled herself to her feet; then, about to walk down the room at Katie’s side, she suddenly turned and, going back to Fiona, who was sitting as if still unable to take all this in, she said, ‘I…I can…can stay then? I can st…stay for good?’

  ‘Yes, dear. Yes, you may stay; you’re back home.’

  ‘Oh.’

  Fiona watched the girl, this strange girl who carried no semblance of the Mamie she remembered, draw in a long breath before saying, ‘I…I can help, m…m…make myself useful.’

  ‘Go along, dear, and don’t worry any more. Go along.’

  When the door closed on them, Fiona brought her hands together and pressed them against her lips, and again she wondered what they had done. What had she done? Because she had been adamant that she couldn’t and wouldn’t stand that girl any longer, that not one of the family could stand her. But what had happened to her in those short two years? She had the appearance of a frightened animal. The door opened again and when Bill reached the couch and sat down beside her, he did not speak for a moment, nor did she; and when he said, ‘My God! Did you ever see such a change in a human being like there is in that child?’ she immediately said, ‘She’s been badly treated.’

  ‘Badly treated! Not only has her brain been washed, but her body’s been mauled.’

  ‘No!’

  ‘Yes. And I mean to get to the bottom of it, after the doctor’s had a look at her. And by what that couple said, I shouldn’t be surprised if her money’s nearly all gone. Why did those two abscond of a sudden?’

  ‘Will you go down to see?’

  ‘I can’t. I can’t at the moment, but what I shall do is get my solicitor to write to hers. And another thing: I’m sending my accountant down there for a couple of days. Gerry’s a very astute fella. If there’s anything fishy, he’ll dig it out. But first things first, I’m ringing Dr Pringle. I know it’s Sunday, but I’ll put him in the picture and he’ll likely come in first thing tomorrow morning, if not tonight. If she’s so afraid of men as not to let them near her, well…’ He nodded at her and left the sentence unfinished. But Fiona ended it for him, saying, ‘Oh, dear Lord! I hope not that. I feel bad enough as it is.’

  He now took Fiona’s hand, saying, ‘Look, dear, I know you are feeling just the same as I am at the moment; part of you is riddled with guilt, but we’ve got to look at it this way. What we did was necessary at that time. Anyway, dear, her presence won’t spoil your plans, will it?’

  She stared at him for a moment. She would have wanted to answer, definitely no, dear. Neither she nor anything else will spoil my plans. But now she wasn’t so sure. And that is what she said, ‘I’m not so sure, dear. Just let things hang; we’ll see how she behaves.’ Then she added, ‘Have you put the others in the picture?’

  ‘Yes, as much as I can. I related what that garrulous lady told me. But garrulous or not, it was good of her, and the mother, to take all this trouble. And I must write to her. Anyway, we’ll wait a bit and see h
ow things turn out.’

  ‘Her clothes are dreadful. That dress she had on looked as if it had been made out of brown sacks. She’s having a bath and Katie’s trying to fit her up now. Then I think she should come down into the recreation room and see how she reacts.’

  ‘Yes. Yes.’ And he nodded at her. ‘And anyway, we must stay for a while and watch Sep doing his stuff. And, of course, Willie showing off his prowess too. Presentable young fella, that Sep, isn’t he?’

  ‘Yes. Surprising: and in a way he was as entertaining as Daisy. It’s odd, isn’t it, that you should have three of her family working for you now?’

  ‘And you know what she said to me the other day…Daisy? She said, “Life’s funny, isn’t it? If I hadn’t met Willie, we’d all be still living on short commons in our house.” And I haven’t heard that expression for years. But there she came out with it; short commons.’ They were moving towards the door now when he stopped and, putting his hand on her shoulder, he said, ‘I wish you liked her.’

  ‘I do. I do,’ she was quick to protest.

  ‘Aye, you do, but you wouldn’t like her in the family, would you?’

  ‘Oh, Bill, that’s another subject.’

  ‘Yes, it’s another subject, dear. But you’ve got a tenacious son, and you wouldn’t want to lose him, would you?’

  ‘Bill!’

  ‘I’m stating a fact, Mrs Bailey. He’ll go where his heart beckons. It might tear him apart, but he’s set on her. If anybody was ever set on a lass, he’s set on her. The same as he was on Sammy; clings like a limpet. And in the last year I’ve noticed that she’s somehow changed her opinion about him being just a young kid; and from what he’s let drop to me he makes himself quite at home in her house, and he seems to have been accepted. Although he’s burning the midnight oil here working for his A levels he still spends time, I hear, helping the twin with his homework. And he’s a very bright boy, I’m given to understand. Well, he proved that, didn’t he? With our Sammy’s business. Anyway, how have we got on to this subject? Let’s get along and see what’s happening at the far end.’