by Dilly Court
'Ellie's father owned four sailing barges, a couple of lighters and some wherries. Ham had married a penniless girl, and I think that he had simply grown tired of her. He saw that Ellie was not only desirable, but whoever married her would inherit her father's business. He had ruined her reputation, and that made it almost impossible for old man Carpenter to object to the match. He would have gone through with the bigamous marriage if the truth had not come out. Barnum walked away without so much as an apology for the hurt he had caused.'
'No wonder you hate him, Papa. But you still loved Mama, and you married her.'
Edward tossed the broken pipe out of the window. 'Not immediately, poppet. Ellie was naturally distraught and her father was beside himself with rage. He sent her to the country for a while, to get her away from the gossips. But in the time she was absent he suffered ill health, and he seemed to have lost interest in the company. I was master of the Ellie, and I did what I could to keep the business going, but he was in financial straits, and the bank foreclosed on him. He was forced to sell all the vessels, but one. In the end, I went to the village near Colchester where Ellie was staying with an elderly aunt, and I brought her back to London. We were married shortly afterwards and we took rooms above the milliner's shop in Ratcliff Highway. Bertha had worked for the Carpenters for years and she came to join us to look after your mother while I was away on the river.'
'I don't remember my grandfather. Did he get better?'
'He was a broken man, Rosie. When my blessed Ellie lost her life so soon after you were born, he simply gave up and died. He left this house to you. You will inherit the property on your twenty-first birthday, together with the ownership of the Ellie May.'
She stared at him, too stunned to take it all in at once. 'I don't understand. Why did he not leave the house and the ship to you?'
'Your grandfather wanted you to be secure. He had seen his daughter's life torn apart by a ruthless man, Ham Barnum, and he wanted you to have some independence. He knew that I could be trusted to keep the business going, and that I had your best interests at heart. In three years' time you will be a woman of property, my dove.'
'Why did you keep all this from me until now, Papa?'
'No one knows any of it, except for Bertha and me, and now you, of course. I didn't want fortune hunters chasing after my girl. Heaven knows, the business is struggling and Ham Barnum is largely to blame for that. He's never forgiven me for marrying Ellie. I just thank God that you have a young man like Harry Gostellow, who is wealthy enough in his own right not to be interested in your small inheritance.'
'No, Papa, I won't have that. Harry is just a friend. You mustn't start reading anything else into what is little more than an acquaintanceship. I like Harry, he's very entertaining, but that is as far as it goes.'
'It may be so on your part, poppet.' He reached over to clasp her hand. 'But I've seen the way the young fellow looks at you. I'm just surprised that you didn't ask him round to supper tonight.'
'Harry was out of town on business, Pa. And as he's obviously forgotten that it's my birthday, I'm very glad that I didn't invite him.'
Edward squeezed her hand. 'I didn't mean to upset you, my dear. And I wouldn't have told you about your mother and Ham Barnum, but perhaps it's best out in the open.'
She rose to her feet. 'I'm glad you've confided in me at last.' She leaned over to kiss his forehead. 'It's been a long day and I'm tired. I think I'll go to bed now.'
'I'll stay up a while longer.'
'Goodnight, Papa. You will be all right on your own, won't you?'
'I will, Rosie. You get your beauty sleep, and I'll find my second-best pipe and smoke some of that fine baccy that you gave me.'
'Will you promise me one thing, Papa?'
'If I can, darling.'
'That you'll let bygones be bygones, and stop this feud with Captain Barnum, for all our sakes.'
Edward shook his head. 'I don't know that I can make such a promise. He has much to answer for.'
'I'm sure that my mother would not have wanted all this ill feeling between you.'
'I know that too, but she is in heaven, and every time I see that man I am in hell.'
Next morning, after Bertha had dragged every last detail concerning the events of the previous night out of her, Rosina was glad to escape from the kitchen before her father put in an appearance. There would be a few harsh words bandied about when Bertha got her hands on him, and home truths would be flying around like mad magpies. She did not want to be caught in the middle of a heated argument. It would cool down as quickly as it had erupted, but Rosina had witnessed too many spats between Papa and Bebe to want to endure another one. Oddly enough, they never bore a grudge against each other, and even seemed to get some grim satisfaction from their verbal battles. There was no understanding some people. Rosina went to find Walter.
As usual he was seated behind his desk in the counting house. He rose to his feet when she entered the room. 'Good morning, Miss Rosina.'
She could not repress a gurgle of laughter. 'Oh, Walter! What a lovely black eye.'
'It looks worse than it is.' His swollen lips twitched and he grimaced with pain.
'I'm sorry. I didn't mean to be unkind, but it really is a shiner.'
'How is the captain?'
'I haven't seen him yet this morning, but he wasn't badly injured, thanks to you. I think his pride was hurt more than anything.'
Walter picked up a sheaf of papers. 'I need to see him urgently.'
She knew by his tone of voice that something was wrong, and a cold shiver ran down her spine. 'What is it?'
'It's nothing for you to worry about, miss. But I do need to speak to the captain.'
'You're as bad as the rest of them. You all treat me like a child.'
The shuttered, stubborn look that she had come to know so well made Walter's face an impassive mask. 'It's business, miss.'
'And the Ellie May will be mine when I'm twenty-one. Papa told me so last night, and I mean to start taking an interest in how it runs. So you see, Walter, it is my business.'
'Harry Gostellow has refused the cargo. I met him on the wharf early this morning and I was with him when he examined the hay. He said it had been affected by a mould which makes it unfit for animal fodder and causes disease in humans. He said it must be taken away and destroyed.'
'The whole cargo?'
'I'm afraid so.'
'Is it completely valueless, Walter?'
'Unscrupulous dealers might buy it at a knockdown price and sell it for bedding, or even for fodder, but it is unfit for anything. I'm only surprised that Captain May did not see it himself.'
She had never before heard Walter utter anything close to a criticism of her father and a shiver ran down her spine. 'And Captain Barnum's cargo – is that diseased too?'
Walter shook his head. 'No, it is perfectly clean.'
'But my papa accepted the rotten hay. He should have known better, or else he was tricked into taking the unsaleable cargo.' She paced the floor, wringing her hands. It was simply not possible that Papa, with all his past experience in the trade, could have been fooled into taking on a worthless cargo. She had been aware that his health was failing, but surely not his judgement? She turned to Walter, who was standing quietly watching her with a guarded expression in his eyes. 'Don't just stand there, Walter. You must have a fair idea of what happened. Tell me what you think.'
'I think that this is a matter for your father, miss. It really is none of your concern.'
'How dare you! It is my business, and I think I know who is to blame for this disaster.' She slammed out of the office, intent on sorting things out with Captain Barnum.
Walter followed her. 'Just wait a moment.' He laid his hand over hers as she was about to open the front door. 'Please calm down and think it through. You'll only make matters worse.'
'You don't know what I have in mind.'
'I think I do, and I'm telling you again, that you won't win with Cap
tain Barnum. And your father won't thank you for interfering.'
She pushed his hand away, meeting his eyes with a determined lift of her chin. 'Thank you, Walter. You've said your piece, now stand aside and let me do this my way.'
For a moment she thought he was going to do as she asked, but he folded his arms across his chest and leaned his shoulders against the door, making it impossible for her to leave the house. She stamped her foot. 'Let me out, Walter.'
'This isn't the way.'
'And who are you to tell me what to do?'
Walter closed his lips and said nothing.
She angled her head. 'Please, Walter.'
'Rosie.' Her father's voice from the top of the stairs made her spin round to face him as he came down them, plodding like an old man. 'What's all the noise about?' He stopped short when he saw Walter's face, and he laughed. 'Good God, man. You look as though you've done a few rounds in the ring.'
'He got that black eye on your account, Pa,' Rosina said, stung by the unfairness of her papa's laughing at Walter's misfortune.
'And so he did, poppet.' Edward modified his tone and the laughter faded from his eyes. 'But that don't answer my question. Why are you two going at each other like a pair of turkeycocks? I could hear you all the way upstairs.'
Walter stepped away from the door. 'It was nothing, sir. But I need to speak to you urgently.'
'I'm stiff and sore all over thanks to that brute Barnum. Can't it wait until I've had my breakfast?'
'No, sir. I don't think so.'
'All right, if I must. We'll go into the office. Rosie, love, go and make your poor old pa a cup of tea, if you please. I can't seem to catch me breath this morning. In fact, I think I must have caught a chill from those damnable Essex marshes.'
By the time she had fetched the tea, Rosina had calmed down considerably. She did not dare let on to Bertha about the spoiled cargo; she would leave that to Papa. But, as Bertha always said, there's more than one way to skin a cat. With that thought uppermost in her mind, Rosina fetched her new bonnet and her best shawl, put on her white crocheted gloves, and she set off for the Barnum's house just a hundred yards or so along Black Eagle Wharf. It was identical in size and architecture to her home, but the Barnums were considerably more affluent and a great deal of money had been spent on the decoration and furnishings.
Rosina had abandoned the idea of speaking directly to Captain Barnum. Although she did not want to admit it, she knew that Walter had been right – if she tried to interfere, she would only make matters worse. Instead, she had decided to pay a call on Sukey to see if she knew anything about the ill-fated race and the rotten hay. She quickened her pace, smiling as she acknowledged the greetings from the men working on the wharf, and received a nod and a wave from the wharfinger himself as he came out of his office. She had barely reached the lodging house where Artie and Caddie lived when the sound of a horse's hooves striking the cobblestones at a gallop made her stop and turn to see who could be so foolhardy as to ride along the narrow wharf at such a breakneck speed. She leapt for safety into a doorway as the rider drew his mount to a slithering halt, just feet away from her. The horse's hooves struck sparks from the cobbles. For a terrifying moment, it seemed as though the rider had lost control, and all she could see was flailing legs and hooves as the animal reared above her. She closed her eyes, expecting the worst.
Chapter Three
'Good morning, Rosie. I must say that's a dashing bonnet you're wearing today.'
She opened her eyes and found herself looking up into Harry Gostellow's boyishly good-looking face. She leaned against the doorpost, fanning herself with her hand. 'You stupid idiot, Harry! You frightened me half to death.'
He leapt from the saddle and tossed the reins to a small urchin who was gaping at him openmouthed. 'Hold my horse, boy, and there's a penny in it for you.' He turned to Rosina, sweeping his top hat off his head with a bow from the waist and a rueful smile. 'I'm sorry. I didn't mean to scare you. I just saw you in that charming bonnet and I had to hasten to your side to tell you how stunning you look.'
'You ought to know better than to gallop that poor animal along here.' She went over to the horse and stroked its muzzle. 'Poor old Nero. He's in a lather and all because you wanted to compliment me on my bonnet. For shame on you, Harry.' She took a halfpenny from her reticule and pressed it into the boy's hand. 'Walk the horse slowly, and the nice gentleman will give you twopence when he returns.'
'Why, Rosie, I believe you like Nero better than you do me,' Harry said, grinning.
'Indeed I do. Horses have much more sense than men.' She tempered her words with a smile, and walked on.
'You are a hard woman to please.' Harry caught up with her, measuring his pace to match hers. 'Where are you going on this beautiful morning?'
'I'm going to see Sukey Barnum. Aren't you supposed to be at work?'
'But I am at work, or rather, I have been working. My father sent me to inspect the cargoes of hay that arrived in port last night.'
Rosina stopped and stared up into his face. She had heard the serious note creep into his voice, and she saw confirmation of her concern in his eyes. 'Is it true then?'
'It's serious, I'm afraid, Rosie. Captain Barnum's cargo is perfectly fine, but the hay your father carried is diseased. I can't offer him a penny for it.'
'I see.' She looked away, biting her lip. Of course she knew this already, but it seemed so final coming from Harry. She knew nothing of their finances – Papa and Walter dealt with all that – but to lose money on a whole cargo must be serious indeed.
'I am sorry. It's rotten bad luck.'
'Papa will make up for it, I'm sure. Don't give it another thought.'
'But I do, Rosie.' He clasped her hand. 'I don't like to think of you going without.'
'I don't lack for anything. My pa sees to that.'
'I would give you the moon and the stars too, if I had my way.' Harry pressed her hand to his heart in a theatrical gesture.
He looked so absurd that Rosina giggled in spite of herself. 'And yet you forgot my birthday. That's not a good start.'
'No! Damn me, when was it?'
She was not going to let him off so easily. She pulled her hand free and continued on her way towards the Barnums' house. 'I shouldn't have to remind a man who wanted to give me the moon and the stars.'
He hurried after her. 'No, really. That's not fair. You should have dropped a hint – reminded me, or something.'
She stopped outside the Barnums' door. 'It's all right, Harry. It really doesn't matter, but it was yesterday as it happens.' Satisfied that he was genuinely racked with guilt, she patted his cheek with her hand. 'You'd best get back to work before your father realises what a long time you've taken.'
'I'll make it up to you. Let me take you out for supper tonight, and maybe the theatre or a music hall.'
She rapped on the door knocker. 'That would be nice, but Papa won't let me go unless Bertha chaperones me.'
'Oh God, no. She doesn't approve of me, Rosie.'
The door opened and the Barnums' maid gave them an appraising glance. 'Well?'
'Will you tell Miss Sukey that I'm here to see her, please, Gertie?'
'I suppose so.' Gertie closed the door again.
'I'd sack that stupid girl if I was Barnum,' Harry said crossly.
'My goodness, you are crotchety this morning.'
'I'm sorry, Rosie. I'll be all smiles if you'll promise to come out with me this evening? You can bring the old watchdog if you must.'