Poppy's Dilemma

by Nancy Carson

  He gave a polite little laugh. ‘Indeed, yes, Aunt.’

  ‘How are your dear mother and father? I trust they enjoyed the party as well?’

  ‘Oh, indeed, Aunt. As did Oliver and Clare. No doubt they will send you a note.’

  ‘No doubt.’ Aunt Phoebe wanted to say that no doubt that was all she would get. Certainly not a visit. Neither was she fooled by Bellamy’s calling tonight with roses. ‘Would you like a cup of tea or coffee, Bellamy? Or even something stronger?’

  ‘Do you have chocolate, Aunt?’

  ‘I believe so.’

  Esther entered, responding to the bell, and looked enquiringly at her mistress.

  ‘Esther, would you take these roses that Mr Crawford has kindly brought and make an arrangement of them? But first, bring us hot chocolate and Poppy. Mr Bellamy is dying for one or the other.’

  Esther smothered her amusement. ‘Yes, ma’am.’

  ‘Thank you, Aunt,’ Bellamy said when Esther had gone. ‘Of course, both will be welcome. But it would be odious of me to declare which will be the more so.’

  ‘Oh, I think I can hazard a guess. As I was saying, it was good to see you all at Poppy’s party. I see all too little of the Crawfords these days.’

  ‘I shall try and correct that oversight, Aunt, given your permission.’

  Poppy put her head round the door and smiled, wide-eyed, when she saw Bellamy.

  ‘We have a visitor, Poppy,’ Aunt Phoebe announced. ‘Or more accurately, I think, you have a visitor.’

  ‘Poppy …’ Bellamy looked her up and down admiringly, and a lump came to his throat as he stood for her. ‘No, my eyes did not deceive me on Saturday, even though my memory has been playing diabolical tricks. You are just as lovely as I thought you were.’

  ‘Thank you, Bellamy.’ She blushed becomingly.

  ‘But, for the life of me, I couldn’t remember what you looked like, you know … Have you ever experienced that, Aunt? You meet somebody. You know she is divinely lovely, but you can’t seem to remember her face. That’s how it was with my memory of you, Poppy.’

  ‘Fancy.’ Poppy was not sure how to respond to this compliment.

  ‘I’ve just asked Esther to bring us chocolate, my dear.’

  ‘Oh, thank you, Aunt Phoebe. I love chocolate.’ Poppy sat on the sofa opposite Bellamy, wearing one of the many everyday dresses she now possessed, her hands demurely in her lap, her back erect. ‘I’ve just written a note to your mother and father, Bellamy, to thank them for the lovely Bible they gave me for my birthday, which was chosen by Robert’s fiancée. If you’ll take it with you when you go, it’ll save me posting it in the morning.’

  ‘Of course, Poppy. Happy to oblige.’

  ‘I was just about to ask Bellamy, Poppy, what news from Robert?’ Aunt Phoebe turned to Bellamy. ‘I barely had an opportunity to ask your mother.’

  ‘His last letter told us he was well. He lost one of his colleagues to yellow fever, you know. I think that rather made him wonder at the logic of going to such a backward, disease-ridden country in the first place.’

  ‘Do you think he might catch it as well?’ Poppy asked, concerned. ‘This yellow fever?’

  ‘Let’s hope and pray he returns unscathed, Poppy, and sees the sense in joining the family firm. It seems idiotic not to when there is no doubt that he will wed upon his return.’

  Poppy’s heart sank. ‘Has he said so in any of his letters?’

  ‘Not in so many words. But, reading between the lines, I should say he’s anxious to get back. That can only mean he’s missing his fiancée. And why not? She’s such an angel, and they’re such an appropriate match … for both our families.’

  Aunt Phoebe flashed a concerned glance at Poppy, trying to read her reaction.

  ‘In what way is it such a good match?’ asked Poppy, uneasy at this information.

  ‘Because they are both good and kind people. And for no other reason than because our two families are inextricably linked financially.’

  ‘Forgive me a moment,’ Aunt Phoebe said, tactfully rising from her seat. ‘I’ll go and see what Esther is up to. I have an awful feeling she will make a dog’s dinner of the roses, unless I show her how it’s done. And Poppy hasn’t seen them yet, have you, my dear?’

  ‘No, Aunt.’

  For a few long seconds after Aunt Phoebe had left the room, Poppy and Bellamy were stuck for words. She smiled at him unsurely, the similarity in his looks poignantly reminding her of Robert. If only it was Robert sitting there looking at her so covetously.

  ‘It’s a foul night outside,’ he said at last, stymied for more stimulating conversation. ‘Had it been fine and dry, I would have ventured to ask if you’d care to take a walk with me.’

  ‘I would have to ask Aunt Phoebe’s permission first, Bellamy,’ she responded.

  ‘Actually, the flowers were intended for you, Poppy, but I could hardly not include Aunt Phoebe.’

  ‘Oh, it’s good of you to include her. She’s the one who deserves them, not me.’

  ‘I … enjoyed your company enormously on Saturday night, Poppy. Our dancing together. Our chat.’

  ‘So did I.’

  ‘There’s a refreshing frankness, a candour about you that seems to be lacking in other girls I’ve met. You have no airs and graces, yet you are all graciousness. Besides which, you’re such fun and so easy to talk to.’

  ‘It’s good of you to say so.’

  ‘Not at all …’ He paused, looking self-consciously at the patterns in the burning coals. ‘I wrote to you, you know …’

  ‘When? I never got a letter.’

  He laughed with self-derision. ‘I know. I threw the damned thing in the fire. I felt it better to come and ask you face to face.’

  ‘Ask me what?’

  ‘Oh … Ask if you would care to accompany me on a drive … On Sunday. After dinner, perhaps? Always assuming the weather is not too inclement. It would give me the greatest personal pleasure if you would consent …’

  ‘That would be very nice, I’m sure, Bellamy. But I must ask Aunt Phoebe first.’

  ‘No, no, Poppy. If you are agreeable – and it seems you are – then I will ask Aunt Phoebe. It’s my place to ask.’

  ‘All right,’ she said brightly. ‘But where will we go?’

  ‘Anywhere you’ve a fancy. Do you have a fancy for anywhere in particular?’

  ‘From my bedroom window I can see the Clent Hills. They look ever so green and inviting now spring is just around the corner. So different from the filthy drabness of the slag heaps and the sooty sky. I’d love to go there, just to see what it’s like. If it’s not too far.’

  Aunt Phoebe returned at that, carrying a cut-glass vase containing the arrangement of roses. ‘There. Aren’t they beautiful, Poppy? Intended primarily for you, I suspect.’ She looked benignly but knowingly at Bellamy.

  ‘Aunt Phoebe …’

  ‘Yes, Bellamy?’

  ‘Aunt Phoebe … Do I have your permission to take Poppy for a drive on Sunday afternoon? She is quite agreeable to the suggestion, so long as you give your permission.’

  Aunt Phoebe turned her gaze on Poppy. ‘If Poppy is of a mind to accompany you, then I have no objection.’

  ‘Thank you, Aunt Phoebe. Thank you. Shall we say two o’clock on Sunday, then, Poppy?’

  Poppy grinned, complimented by his attention. ‘Yes. Sunday.’

  The following evening, while Aunt Phoebe was instructing Poppy on the lineage of the Stuarts, another admirer paid a visit.

  ‘My dear Cecil!’ Aunt Phoebe greeted when he was shown into her sitting room. ‘How lovely of you to call and see us, it being only last Saturday that we saw you last.’

  Captain Tyler chose to remain indifferent to his cousin’s mild sarcasm, realising what she was implying. ‘Good evening, Phoebe. And good evening to you, Miss Silk. I came to thank you both for the wonderful party the other evening. A splendid do.’

  ‘So you enjoyed it. Pray, do sit down,
Cecil. Let me offer you a drink. Would you like tea?’

  ‘I’d prefer something stronger if you have it, Phoebe. You know me.’

  ‘Whisky?’

  ‘Whisky’s fine. Thank you.’

  Aunt Phoebe smiled, glad of the opportunity to get out the whisky bottle a little earlier than she normally would.

  ‘Poppy, would you be so kind as to pour Captain Tyler a glass of whisky, please? And I’ll have a small one myself.’

  ‘Of course, Aunt,’ Poppy replied biddably, and stepped over to the drinks cabinet.

  ‘Poppy and I were just discussing Charles the Second,’ Aunt Phoebe said conversationally.

  ‘Then no doubt she will be glad of some relief,’ Captain Tyler replied dryly. ‘Shall you partake of a little whisky yourself, Miss Silk?’

  Poppy looked up at their guest and smiled politely. ‘I seldom drink spirits, Captain Tyler.’

  ‘I don’t blame you. Ruins the complexion, drinking spirits. And you, my dear Miss Silk, have a fine complexion that is far too precious to ruin. Has she not, dear Phoebe?’

  ‘I had such a complexion myself when I was younger.’

  ‘Would you like water in that, Captain Tyler?’ Poppy asked, holding the glass up to show him.

  ‘Oh, indeed not, thank you, Miss Silk. I’ll take it as it comes. Neat whisky doesn’t scare me, you know.’ He grinned affably. ‘Comes from years of drinking gallons of dreadfully dubious liquors, veritable firewaters – especially in Ireland.’

  Poppy handed him his glass and he thanked her. She poured a small one for Aunt Phoebe and sat down again primly. Conversation swung between the health of Captain Tyler’s ailing mother and the prosperity of the factory which Aunt Phoebe owned. Until Aunt Phoebe saw fit to let him know that Poppy had had a visitor the previous evening, merely to discourage him from thinking he could unreservedly pursue her charge himself. He was much too old for her, after all.

  ‘Young Bellamy Crawford called on Poppy last evening, you know, Cecil. It was such a surprise to see him … And yet no surprise at all when you consider the similarity in their ages, don’t you think?’

  ‘Indeed,’ Captain Tyler replied nobly, picking up the hint. ‘I gained the distinct impression that he was full of admiration for Miss Silk … May I call you Poppy, Miss Silk? It’s so much less formal.’

  ‘Oh, please do, Captain Tyler.’

  ‘Thank you … And I was about to say, why shouldn’t he admire you if he’s so minded? You are a fine-looking young lady, Poppy. If I were him, I would have no scruples in indulging my admiration to the full.’

  ‘Well, he’s indulging his on Sunday afternoon, Cecil. Isn’t he, Poppy dear?’

  Poppy smiled pleasantly and nodded. ‘Except that I think maybe Bellamy is always likely to choose the wrong woman for himself.’

  ‘Oh, in what way do you mean?’

  ‘Just that if I were him, I would hardly be so impetuous. Besides, I would be looking for a rich girl … If I were him.’

  ‘I must confess,’ Captain Tyler replied, ‘that money would never enter into it where I was concerned. I consider a person’s character a much more important qualifier.’

  ‘You mean irrespective of their standing?’ Aunt Phoebe asked.

  ‘Financial or social. It matters not a jot. But things are somewhat different for a man. A woman, on the other hand, is prone to accepting the hand of her wealthiest admirer. If he’s handsome to boot, then so much the better for her.’

  The doorbell rang again and Aunt Phoebe glanced with puzzlement at Poppy. ‘Who could that be? Not Bellamy again, I trust.’

  As Esther answered the door, they listened. Besides Esther’s voice they heard only the voice of another woman, which Poppy recognised. The door to the sitting room opened and Esther announced that a Miss Catchpole had called to see Poppy.

  ‘Minnie!’ Poppy exclaimed and shot up eagerly from her seat to greet her friend. ‘Minnie, come in. What brings you here?’

  ‘Well, I got the right house, by the looks o’ things. Hello, Poppy. And you must be Aunt Phoebe …’

  ‘Miss Catchpole, how nice to meet you at last,’ Aunt Phoebe said, surprised at how decently dressed this young woman was for somebody of her background. She was thus more inclined to welcome her into her home. ‘I’ve heard so much about you.’

  ‘And I’ve heard a lot about you an’ all.’

  ‘This is my cousin Captain Tyler, Miss Catchpole … Captain, let me introduce you to Poppy’s friend, Miss Minnie Catchpole.’

  ‘Delighted, Miss Catchpole. So, you are a friend of Poppy.’

  ‘Oh, have bin for donkey’s years,’ Minnie affirmed with a grin. ‘I say, Captain, what’s that you’m a-drinkin’?’

  ‘Whisky. Do you like whisky, Miss Catchpole?’

  ‘Hey, I love whisky.’ She sat on the sofa beside the Captain. ‘And call me Min. I ain’t one for all this Miss Catchpole malarkey.’

  ‘As you wish, Minnie. And you can call me Cecil.’

  ‘Cecil?’ Minnie’s distaste for his name showed on her face. ‘No, I’d rather call yer Captain, I think. I like the sound o’ that better.’

  He grinned. ‘Then Captain it is.’

  ‘Would you like me to pour you a glass of whisky, Minnie?’ Poppy asked.

  ‘Yes, if you can spare a drop.’

  Poppy handed her a glass.

  ‘Ta, my wench.’ She took a good slurp.

  ‘You didn’t come to my party, Minnie. I wondered what had happened to you.’

  ‘I know. I’ve come to say sorry. I got me a lovely frock an’ all.’

  ‘So why didn’t you come? You’d have loved it.’

  ‘Well, to tell you the truth, it was ’cause I wun’t’ve knowed nobody else, only you, Poppy. And I knowed all the chaps would be wanting to dance with yer. I din’t want to be no wallflower.’

  ‘You’d have been no wallflower, Minnie, I’ll be bound,’ Captain Tyler remarked amiably. ‘We’d have wanted to dance with you as well, us men. No doubt, you would have looked absolutely exquisite in your new dress. You could most certainly have marked your card with my name … several times over … had it pleased you to do so.’

  Minnie smiled interestedly at this man who was charming, a quality that had been missing in other men she’d known. And he was so much older than she was. ‘That’s kind of yer to say so, Captain. And I don’t see why I shouldn’t mark me card wi’ your name, neither. I bet you’m a good dancer an’ all, ain’t yer?’

  ‘Tolerably light on my feet, Minnie. I manage to get around the floor without too much stumbling.’

  Minnie laughed. ‘’Cept when you’ve had a few, eh?’ She gave him a friendly nudge.

  ‘Indeed, Minnie.’ Now Captain Tyler laughed heartily. ‘Except when I’ve had a few, as you suggest.’

  ‘Poppy, I bought yer a present for your birthday.’ Minnie felt in the pocket of her skirt and pulled out a smallish wrapped cube.

  ‘Thank you, Minnie. What is it?’

  ‘Open it and see. I thought it’d be useful.’

  All eyes were focused on Poppy as she opened the package. At last she removed all the wrapping and held it up to inspect it.

  ‘An ink stand!’ she exclaimed with joy.

  ‘Wi’ silver cap and base. Hallmarked, an’ all,’ Minnie added proudly, and took another swig of whisky.

  ‘Oh, thank you, Min. That’s going to be most useful.’

  Min licked her lips. ‘I reckoned as much, what with all the writing you must be doing these days.’

  ‘A fine gift,’ Aunt Phoebe confirmed, realising it must have been expensive. ‘It’s very good of you, Minnie.’

  ‘She’s worth it, Aunt Phoebe, my mate Poppy.’

  The four continued with enlivening conversation. Captain Tyler was struck by Minnie’s artless chatter and her unpretentious manner. He teased her gently and made her laugh, and she made the others laugh in turn.

  After about an hour, he said, ‘What o’clock is it, I wonder?
I’ve left my watch at home. I’ve no wish to drink you clean out of whisky, dear Phoebe, nor outstay my welcome.’

  ‘I got the time,’ Minnie said helpfully, and pulled out an old and dented fob watch from another pocket in her skirt. She scrutinised it closely. ‘It was me father’s, this. Trouble is, it’s generally either ten minutes slow or twenty minutes fast.’

  ‘And which is it now?’ Aunt Phoebe queried.

  ‘Lord knows, Aunt Phoebe. I can never be sure.’

  Captain Tyler chuckled. ‘There must be something wrong with its workings.’

  ‘You reckon, Captain? No wonder I’m either a mile too late or two miles too early for everything.’

  ‘Would you like me to have a look at it?’ he suggested. ‘I have a certain expertise with watches. I could let you have it back in a very serviceable condition in a day or two.’

  ‘Well, that’s very good of you, Captain, and no two ways,’ Minnie answered, delighted with the offer, for she would get to see him again when he returned it. ‘When it really plays up rotten I get a hairpin and give it a real good stir up inside.’

  He roared. ‘Good Lord. I’m surprised it works at all.’

  ‘No, it don’t seem to do it no harm. The thing generally behaves itself all right for a week or two after that, neither losin’ nor gainin’ more than five minutes either road. But then it falls back to its old ways.’

  ‘Inevitably,’ Captain Tyler said. ‘Well, Minnie, you’ve stirred me up, I’m quite prepared to admit. If you are also about to leave the kind hospitality of Mrs Newton and Poppy, I would be happy to convey you home.’

  ‘That’s very decent of yer, Captain. Save me poor little legs it would, and no two ways. Not to mention me shoe leather.’

  ‘The pleasure is all mine, Minnie.’ He finished his whisky, put his empty glass on the occasional table in front of him and stood up. ‘Phoebe, dear, it’s been grand to see you again. You, too, Poppy … No don’t bother the maid. I can see Minnie and myself out … If you are ready, Minnie?’

  ‘Yes, I’m all ready, Captain.’

  Baylies’s Charity School lay set back from the road in Tower Street, next door to a public house called The Lord Wellington and backing onto the glassworks in Downing Street. At each end of the early Georgian façade was a door, and set into the wall above each was an alcove in which stood a painted statue of a schoolboy wearing the uniform of blue coat and cap. The school was established in 1732 for the purpose of teaching and clothing fifty boys, chosen from some families of the town who could not afford to pay for their sons’ learning. Poppy, accompanied by Aunt Phoebe, was to meet the superintendent, Reverend James Caulfield Browne, the vicar of St Thomas’s.