Battles Lost and Won

by Beryl Matthews

  ‘I don’t intend to. I’m going to Kent tomorrow to see that our daughter’s name is cleared. And I’m not leaving there until the real culprit is found!

  ‘Do you think the maid Ruth mentioned is the one who took the brooch?’

  ‘It seems likely, and I shall demand she be questioned, along with the rest of the staff. Ruth should have told them about her, but you know our daughter, she would never harm anyone if she could avoid it. I know how she feels, but her reputation is at stake, Daisy, and I’ll do whatever it takes to put this right.’

  The next morning Steve sent a message to say he would have to take the day off because of a family crisis, and then he caught an early train to Kent.

  The house was just as Ruth had described it, but he didn’t care how impressive it was, he was here to sort out this mess. No one was going to accuse his daughter of being dishonest. It had torn him apart to see her so frightened.

  Steve banged on the front door, and the man he guessed was the butler immediately opened it. ‘I’ve come to see Captain Russell, or his wife if he isn’t here.’

  ‘The captain is still away, and Mrs Russell isn’t seeing visitors.’

  ‘This isn’t a social call. I’m Ruth’s father and I’m not leaving here until someone talks to me!’

  Green stood aside. ‘Come in, Mr Cooper. I’ll tell Mrs Russell you are here.’

  He waited in the hallway for ten frustrating minutes before the butler returned.

  ‘Mrs Russell will see you, Mr Cooper.’ He hesitated, and then said quietly, ‘How is Ruth, sir?’

  ‘Devastated! I’m not usually a violent man, but the treatment of my gentle daughter has been disgraceful. She is the kindest girl you could ever meet, always caring about other people, and she most certainly would not steal anything! I will not leave this house until the true culprit has been found.’

  The butler nodded. ‘Follow me, please.’

  He was shown to a comfortable sitting room where two women were waiting for him. Steve knew the older woman was the captain’s mother, and the younger one his wife, who was pale and clearly ill at ease. He also noted that the butler had remained in the room.

  The older woman spoke first. ‘We deeply regret that Ruth had to be dismissed—’

  ‘Regret?’ Steve had promised himself that he would contain his anger, but this haughty attitude was too much. ‘Is that all you can say? When Ruth told you she hadn’t stolen the brooch, you didn’t even bother to find out who might have put it in her room. You threw her out! How dare you? I demand this be cleared up at once!’

  ‘What is going on here?’ At that moment the captain strode into the room and went straight to his wife’s side. ‘Why are you here shouting at my wife and mother, Mr Cooper?’

  ‘They accused Ruth of stealing, and they threw her out without bothering to look into the matter properly. My innocent daughter is terrified the police are going to come and put her in prison. No one treats my child like that! I don’t care who the bloody hell they are!’

  The captain’s expression darkened as he faced his wife and mother. ‘Is this true?’

  ‘One of my brooches was missing,’ his mother said. ‘I had left it in Emma’s private sitting room, and the girl had been working in there. When I went in there to collect it later, I couldn’t find it. A search was made and it was found in the girl’s room. We dismissed her at once without pay. You cannot have a thief in the house, Benjamin.’

  ‘My daughter is not a thief?!’

  Alarmed by Steve’s angry tone, the butler stepped forward and caught his arm. He shook it off. ‘Don’t you dare touch me!’

  ‘Let’s all calm down,’ the captain ordered.

  ‘I’ll calm down when we find out who put that damned brooch in my daughter’s room.’

  ‘And how are we to do that?’ the captain’s mother asked. ‘All your daughter would say was that she didn’t take it. She made no attempt to defend herself.’

  ‘She couldn’t speak because she was terrified!’ Steve fought to rein in his anger. ‘Let me tell you something about my daughter. She sees the best in people, no matter their faults, and she will go out of her way to help anyone. If you had taken the trouble to ask the rest of the staff you would have found out that there is someone here who has been nasty to Ruth, accusing her of taking the job she should have had. It is possible she would do something like this to get her out of the way, but Ruth would not tell you who it was, even to save herself. To hurt anyone is not a part of my daughter’s character, and she certainly would not take anything belonging to someone else. We may be poor, but we have brought our children up to be honest. You judged too quickly and acted too harshly!’

  The captain was now clearly furious. ‘Who is this girl?’

  ‘I believe you have a maid by the name of Betty.’

  ‘But she has been with us for five years.’ Mrs Russell was shaking her head. ‘And she does not clean my private sitting room.’

  ‘Nevertheless, we must look into this.’ The captain signalled to the butler. ‘Summon all the servants at once, Green.’

  The butler left the room and the captain’s mother said, ‘Benjamin, Ruth was the only one who could have taken the jewel.’

  Emma was now looking very distressed. ‘You could be wrong, Mother. The sitting room is never locked and anyone could have gone in there. At first I believed it was Ruth, but after seeing how shocked she was I began to have doubts. I was so upset that this should have happened in our house, and when you were so certain she had taken your brooch and told me to dismiss her, I did so without question. I was wrong.’ She looked up at her husband. ‘I’m sorry, my dear, I acted without proper thought.’

  Ben spun round to face his mother. ‘You are a guest in this house, Mother, and have no right to have staff dismissed. I make the decisions here, and when I’m away Emma is in charge. You appear to have forgotten that.’

  ‘I agree that Emma was reluctant, but in this case I overruled her. It was my brooch, Benjamin, the last present your father ever gave me, and I considered I had every right to take immediate action.’

  ‘You did not! In a matter as serious as this you should have waited for me to return! There is no telling what harm you have done to Ruth.’

  ‘You are talking as if the girl is innocent.’

  ‘She is innocent until proven guilty, Mother. You pronounced her guilty without proof.’

  Steve watched the captain handle his strong-willed mother, and approved. He guessed that he would deal with her very firmly in private, but for the moment he was happy about the way this was going.

  The butler returned. ‘The staff will all be here within five minutes, sir.’

  ‘Thank you, Green.’

  No one said anything else as the servants began to file into the room, and from what he’d seen so far, Steve was sure that the captain was a man who would handle this crisis fairly. It was a blessing he had arrived home at this time because dealing with the captain’s mother would have been difficult, to say the least.

  Ben came and stood next to Steve, showing that he was included in this discussion. Together they faced the servants. ‘You all know that Ruth was dismissed for stealing. There is considerable doubt that she was the culprit. Do any of you have an opinion about this matter?’

  ‘I’m certain she didn’t do it, sir.’ Jim stepped forward. ‘When I caught her up to give her a lift to the station—’

  ‘She was walking?’ Ben cut Jim off sharply.

  ‘Yes, sir, and she was in such a distressed state she could hardly stand. I wanted to take her to Mrs Trent’s for the night to recover, but she insisted on going home at once. I put her on the train myself.’

  ‘This is disgraceful!’ Ben glared at his mother, but said nothing else.

  ‘Who is that?’ Steve asked quietly.

  ‘Jim, my head groom.’

  Steve nodded. ‘Thank you, Jim. I’m grateful that someone had the decency to look after my daughter.’

&nb
sp; ‘She’s a nice girl, Mr Cooper, and I can’t believe she would steal anything. Begging your pardon, Captain Russell, but I can’t help how I feel, and I’m glad you’re now trying to find out the truth.’

  ‘I understand, and I would like all of you to feel you can speak freely.’ Ben’s glance rested on everyone in turn. ‘If Ruth didn’t take the brooch, then someone else must have done, and I intend to find out exactly what happened here.’

  There was an uncomfortable shuffling as the servants all looked at each other.

  ‘Cook, the housekeeper and the stable staff may all leave.’ There was a pause while those servants left the room, then the captain continued. ‘That leaves the housemaids, who have easy access to the entire house. Do you have anything to tell me?’

  ‘I never took the ruby brooch!’ one of them blurted out.

  Emma joined her husband, speaking softly. ‘Mother has many brooches, and we never said which one it was.’

  He nodded and dismissed the other two maids, leaving only one. ‘Only the thief would have known it was a ruby brooch, Betty. Why did you do it?’

  Seeing she had given herself away, she became defensive. ‘I didn’t want it for myself; I just wanted that girl out of the way. I should have had that job. After five years as a maid I deserved it.’

  Steve drew in a breath of relief. Ruth’s name had been cleared, and that was what he had come here for. It was up to the captain to deal with this mess now.

  ‘You are quite wrong. The fact that you were prepared to hurt an innocent girl shows your character to be flawed.’ The captain turned to Steve. ‘You have our sincere apologies, Mr Cooper. You may decide what happens to this girl.’

  This was the last thing he wanted, but there was no backing away from it now the captain had placed it firmly in his lap. He nodded and stepped towards Betty. ‘In my view what you did is unforgivable . . .’

  The girl started to shake with fear. ‘Please sir, I’m sorry. Don’t set the police on me. I need this job . . . my mum’s not well . . . please,’ she begged. ‘I’ll never do anything like this again. I promise. I was jealous . . .’

  ‘Nothing you say can excuse your actions. You have caused my daughter great distress and I cannot forgive you for that. However, Ruth is of a gentler nature and she would not wish you to lose your job.’

  ‘Thank you, sir,’ she whispered as tears trickled down her face. ‘I’m ever so sorry for what I’ve done. I should have owned up when Ruth was sent away, but I was too frightened.’

  ‘I’m glad you understand that, but of course, it is not up to me to say if you can keep your job or not. Captain and Mrs Russell are your employers, and the final decision is up to them, but you will write a letter of apology to Ruth, and I will take it with me.’

  When the maid nodded agreement, Steve joined the captain again. ‘Thank you for the way you have handled this. My daughter’s name has been cleared, and that is all that concerns me. How you deal with your staff is your business.’

  Before speaking Captain Russell gave a slight inclination of his head. ‘Because Mr Cooper’s daughter has so generously said she doesn’t want you to lose your job, you can stay – with the following conditions. You are no longer allowed in the main house. You must help in the servants’ quarters only, and do what work the housekeeper gives you. Is that understood?’

  ‘Yes, sir, thank you, sir.’

  Ben called the butler over. ‘Take Betty downstairs and wait until she has written the letter of apology, then bring it to Mr Cooper.’

  When the butler and maid had left the room, Ben turned his attention to his wife and mother. ‘You also owe Mr Cooper and Ruth an apology.’

  They did so, appearing upset and contrite about the way they had dealt with the theft. They both said they would write letters of apology to Ruth.

  ‘And I will also pay what is owed her,’ Emma said.

  ‘Now that is settled, will you stay and lunch with us?’ the captain asked Steve.

  ‘No, thank you, Captain Russell. As soon as I have the letter from the maid and Ruth’s money, I’ll leave.’

  ‘Please lunch with us, and then, with your permission, my wife and I would like to come with you. A very great wrong has been done to your daughter, and I do not consider letters good enough. Please allow us to apologize in person.’

  ‘I’m not sure about that. She was close to collapse when she arrived home, and very frightened.’

  ‘All the more reason for us to reassure her that the culprit has been found and she now has nothing to fear. At least give us the chance to put her mind at rest.’

  Steve pictured his terrified daughter and nodded. ‘Very well.’

  Voices could be heard in the scullery, so Steve took the Russells straight there. When they walked in, Ruth took one look at the couple with her dad, and shot to her feet. Seeing their big sister’s alarm, Eddie, John and little Sally clustered protectively around her.

  ‘You leave our Ruthie alone!’ John declared, standing right in front of her. ‘What did you bring them here for, Dad?’

  ‘It’s all right, sweetheart.’ Steve moved the kids out of the way and took hold of his daughter’s hands, smiling reassuringly. ‘The maid has admitted that she did put the brooch in your room, and the captain and his wife have come to apologize.’

  Mrs Russell spoke first. ‘We were wrong to dismiss you without looking into the matter thoroughly. Our treatment of you was harsh and we offer our sincere apologies. I am so sorry, Ruth. Would you please consider coming back with us?’

  ‘No, I can’t do that. I would be terrified in case something else went missing because I don’t feel you would ever really trust me again.’

  ‘That isn’t so, Ruth,’ Captain Russell said. ‘We know you were not responsible for the missing brooch, and that you would never do such a thing. Please reconsider.’

  ‘No, sir.’ Ruth shook her head firmly.

  ‘I suppose it was too much to hope that you would forgive us and come back.’

  ‘You weren’t there, sir, so there’s no need for me to forgive you. Mrs Russell did what she thought was right at the time, but it hurt me badly. I expect I could forgive you in time, but I would never work for you again.’

  ‘No, I don’t suppose you could.’ Mrs Russell was visibly upset. ‘I am ashamed.’

  ‘What will happen to the maid?’ Ruth asked.

  ‘She will be kept on, but under strict supervision.’ The captain handed Ruth an envelope. ‘That is the money we owe you. Would you write to us now and again to let us know how you are getting on?’

  ‘Er . . . yes, if you want me to.’ She thought it was a strange request in the circumstances, but she would do as he asked.

  ‘Thank you. Now we will take our leave, and again, please accept our sincere apologies.’

  Steve saw them to the door, and then returned to his family. ‘Do you know, I feel sorry for that man. He has a mess to sort out at home, but as soon as he found out what had happened, he acted quickly and with honour.’

  ‘And that’s all we can ask of anyone.’ Daisy put the kettle on the stove. ‘I don’t know about you, but I need a strong cup of tea.’

  Seventeen

  Later that evening Steve noticed that the envelope the captain had given Ruth was still on the dresser, untouched.

  ‘Aren’t you going to open that?’ Steve asked his daughter as she helped to lay the table for tea.

  ‘It won’t be much. I wasn’t there for very long.’ But to please him, Ruth slit open the envelope and looked inside, gave an exclamation of disgust, and then threw it down on to the table. ‘Don’t they think I have been insulted enough?’

  Seeing Ruth’s furious expression, Steve picked it up and took out the letter, frowning as he read. ‘What’s this about a gown you altered?’

  ‘Mrs Russell was going to a regimental dinner with her husband and none of her gowns fitted her after the birth of her son. I let one out, that’s all. Why?’

  ‘Captain Rus
sell says the enclosed money is payment for your excellent work.’

  ‘Five pounds! That’s more than you earn in a week.’

  ‘It would have cost her more if she’d had to have a new gown made, sweetheart. I expect it was an expensive gown.’

  ‘Hmm, it was the most beautiful silk, and a challenge to work on.’

  ‘And was she pleased when she was able to wear it?’ Steve asked.

  Ruth nodded. ‘She looked lovely, and the captain was pleased because he said it was his favourite gown.’

  ‘Then you must accept the money.’ Daisy took it from her husband and pressed it into her daughter’s hand. ‘Don’t be too proud to take payment for a job well done. And don’t go spending it on the kids or us. You buy yourself something nice with it.’

  ‘Thank goodness that’s over.’ Emma placed a hand over her eyes. ‘In future I will always give someone the benefit of the doubt. You know, darling, sometimes when you’re hiring and firing staff for a large household, it’s easy to forget that these are people with hopes and fears, just like us. Your mother is our guest, and I was upset to discover something of hers had been stolen while she was in this house. But that is no excuse for allowing her to overrule me so easily. I liked the girl and should have been suspicious when the jewel was found so quickly. If she really had stolen it then she would have done a better job of hiding it. I was so upset at the time that I didn’t see that.’

  ‘It’s easy to see that now the truth is known. Mother was pressing you to take immediate action, and you bowed to her wishes. She always ruled her household with a fist of iron, dismissing staff for the slightest misdemeanour, but things have changed, Emma. I fought beside men of all ranks and stations in life. It didn’t matter where they came from; they were fighting and dying with courage. It brought home to me that the class divide is unimportant. Everyone has the right to a decent life, and I had hoped that things would change once the war was over, but all anyone appears to be doing is talking about improvements.’