The Cockney Sparrow

by Dilly Court

  ‘Yes,’ Clemency said. ‘And don’t forget Jack. That’s why you came here this morning, Dr Wilson.’

  ‘Yes. The reason I came was to tell you that the arrangements are all in hand. If you can have Jack ready within the hour, I’ve been instructed to take him to the clinic in Epping to begin his treatment.’

  ‘Excellent. Come with me, doctor. There are matters that we need to discuss.’ Jared held up his hand as Isobel tried to follow them. ‘In private, Izzie.’

  Lady Skelton took Isobel by the arm. ‘Put on your hat and gloves, Izzie. You and I are going shopping.’

  ‘But, Grandmama, I need to speak to Jared.’ Isobel’s mouth turned down at the corners as she watched Jared usher Nick into the morning room, followed by Augustus bearing the tray of coffee. She turned to Clemency with a mute plea.

  ‘I’m sure that your doctor can stand up for himself,’ Clemency said, smiling. ‘At least Jared didn’t pitch him down the front steps after Darcy.’

  Lady Skelton gave Isobel a gentle push towards the staircase. ‘Clemency is right, dear. I’ll send Augustus out to find us a cab.’

  Isobel looked as though she was going to argue, but Clemency left them to sort out their differences. Her main concern now was for Jack. She hurried to the kitchen, and found that the news had gone before her, as Augustus had already given them an account of the happenings above stairs. Fancy had gone to pack a bag for Jack, and he was sitting in his usual chair, smoking a cigarette. He smiled at Clemency, but she sensed his nervousness.

  ‘You’ll be in good hands, Jack.’

  ‘I know,’ he said, exhaling a cloud of smoke with a sigh. ‘You will see that Fancy is all right while I’m away, won’t you. Clemmie?’

  ‘Of course.’

  ‘And you’ll let Ma know about me treatment?’

  ‘I will. Miss Isobel is going shopping with Lady Skelton so I’ll be free to go round and see her this afternoon.’

  Ronnie looked up from peeling potatoes over a bucket of water. ‘I’m not playing in the band until this evening. I’d like to go with you, if I may, Clem?’

  ‘Ma would like that, Ronnie.’ Clemency went to Jack and kissed him on the forehead. ‘I’ll be thinking of you, love. You be a good boy and do everything they say.’

  He smiled ruefully, but she could see that his eyes were reddened, as if he was fighting back tears. ‘Give Ma my love. Tell her that the next time she sees me, I’ll be walking on me own two feet.’

  Clemency wrapped her arms around him and buried her face in his dark hair: it smelt faintly of tobacco smoke, and Calvert’s carbolic soap. She knew that she would miss him terribly: this would be the first time in her life that she had been parted from her brother. She could only hope and pray that the staff in the nursing home would be kind and considerate to his wants and needs.

  Ronnie cleared his throat. ‘We’ll all miss you, Jack.’

  ‘Well, I won’t, because I’m going with him.’ Fancy marched into the kitchen carrying a bulging carpet bag, which Clemency recognised as belonging to Ronnie. ‘Don’t look at me like that, Clem. I’ve made up me mind. I’ll sleep in the stables if they won’t let me stay in the hospital.’

  There was nothing that anyone could say that would deflect Fancy from her course. She stuck by Jack’s side like a burr on a dog’s coat until Nick agreed, somewhat reluctantly, to take her with them. The person who protested the loudest was Nancy. She objected to losing Fancy’s services as kitchen maid. She threatened to take the matter to Jared, and was only mollified by Clemency and Ronnie’s offer to take on the menial tasks themselves, and to help with the cooking. An hour later, Jack and Fancy left in the hired carriage with Nick. Clemency stood on the top step, waving until they were out of sight. ‘He will be all right, won’t he, Ronnie?’

  Ronnie patted her on the shoulder. ‘Anything is worth a try. Put it this way, he won’t be no worse off, and there’s a chance that they might be able to get him walking. You’ve got to stop worrying about him.’

  Clemency wiped her eyes on her sleeve. ‘I know, but I’ve looked out for him ever since I can remember.’

  ‘He’s a grown man, and he’s got Fancy to care for him now.’ Ronnie slipped his arm around her shoulder. ‘Let’s go and see Edie, and tell her what’s happening. You still got your ma to look after, and there’s always me and Augustus. We’re like family now, ain’t we?’

  ‘Of course you are.’

  ‘Then get your bonnet, ducks. We’ll slip out without anyone seeing us and we’ll get a bus to Carter Lane. I can’t wait to see Edie again.’

  Edith was in the pub kitchen preparing a large piece of steak for the pot. She looked up with a delighted smile as they entered through the scullery. Clemency was still wary of walking through the bar, just in case Hardiman had grown bold enough to frequent his old haunts. Edith rushed over to give her a hug. ‘This is a lovely surprise.’ She glanced at Ronnie beneath her lashes. ‘And you too, Ronnie. This is an honour, I’m sure.’

  ‘It’s good to see you again, Edie.’ Ronnie grasped her hands, despite the fact that they were covered in blood.

  Clemency eyed them in surprise. Ma was actually flirting with Ronnie, and he was responding as if he liked it. She had grown used to seeing Ma as she had been in the old days, a poor victim of drink and vice. Now she seemed changed almost beyond recognition; she was plumper and prettier, quite stunningly so considering all that she had suffered. Ronnie seemed to think so too. He was smiling down at Edith with an almost boyish look on his lined face – a mixture of shyness and admiration.

  Clemency turned with a start as Nell came bustling in from the parlour. ‘Well, this is a nice surprise,’ she said, unconsciously echoing Edith’s words. ‘You’re looking so fine these days, Clemmie. Quite the young lady.’

  ‘And you’re looking well too,’ Clemency said, smiling. ‘As to Ma, well, I’ve never seen her looking better.’

  ‘She’s certainly bloomed since she come here.’ Nell’s smile faded and she pursed her lips. ‘She attracts the punters like flies round jam. Ned says it’s good for business, but I like to keep her out of the bar. We don’t want that sort of thing going on in a respectable pub.’

  Edith turned away from Ronnie and hurried over to the table. ‘Don’t talk soft, Nell. I don’t encourage them silly old sods.’

  ‘That fellow Hardiman hasn’t been back, has he?’ Ronnie’s voice was sharp with concern.

  ‘No. My Ned would throw him out if he dared to show his face.’ Nell’s expression lightened as she mentioned her son. ‘He’ll be pleased you’ve come to visit, Clemmie. Why don’t you go through to the bar and give him a surprise?’

  Clemency decided that her news could wait until they were all together, and she went through to the bar, where she found Ned serving a customer. He looked over his shoulder as she came up behind him, and his face split into a pleased smile.

  ‘Clemmie.’

  ‘Hello, Ned.’ She reached up and brushed his cheek with her lips. It seemed so natural to greet him as she would Jack, but she realised immediately that it had been a mistake. He thrust the tankard into the customer’s hands and snatched the money without taking his eyes off her. She had seen that hot look in other men’s eyes, and she lowered her gaze as she felt a blush rising to her cheeks. ‘Can you spare a moment, Ned? I’ve got something to tell you all.’

  ‘What is it?’

  There was an anxious note in his voice, but she could not look him in the eye. ‘Come into the kitchen and I’ll tell you.’

  He followed her, demanding to know what was so urgent, but Clemency did not answer. She was more concerned about how Ma would take the news, and she made her sit down on a stool next to Ronnie before she told them about Jack’s consultation with Mr Chance, and his admission to the private clinic in Epping. Edith’s eyes widened and she fanned herself with her apron. ‘Well, I never did.’

  ‘Is that all you can say, Ma?’

  ‘I’m flabbergasted! I dunno what t
o say.’ Halfway between tears and laughter, Edith clutched Ronnie for support. ‘I never thought he’d be able to walk again. My poor little Jack. My crippled boy.’

  Ronnie pulled a crumpled hanky from his pocket and gave it to her. ‘There, there, don’t take on, Edie. It’s good news.’

  ‘It’s the best news I could have. When my Cyril left me, I thought nothing would ever come right again, and then I fell in with that bugger Hardiman. Life can be so cruel at times and then something like this happens.’ She mopped her streaming eyes with the hanky.

  ‘Cyril! You never mentioned his name before.’ Nell said with a sharp edge to her voice. ‘My old man was called Cyril.’

  Ned hooked his arm around her shoulders. ‘It’s just a coincidence, Mum.’

  ‘And he was a publican too.’ Nell glared at Edith.

  ‘There must be hundreds of pub landlords called Cyril,’ Ronnie said stoutly.

  ‘Yes,’ Clemency added. ‘And my dad was called Cyril Skinner. Your old man was Cyril Hawkes.’

  ‘And my Cyril was the landlord of the Pig and Whistle pub in Wapping.’ Edith crumpled Ronnie’s hanky into a ball, staring nervously at Nell.

  ‘I heard tell he’d taken another pub, but I never knew which one.’ Nell’s bosom heaved and all her chins wobbled. ‘Cyril left me for another woman. He never told me her name, but suddenly I’m thinking it might have been you Edith.’

  ‘Mum, that’s just a wild guess.’ Ned gave her a hug. ‘Like Ronnie says, it’s just a coincidence.’

  ‘She had red hair,’ Nell insisted. ‘I know, because someone saw him with the whore shortly after he abandoned us. You was only two at the time, Ned. So you don’t know what went on.’

  ‘This is madness,’ Edith protested. ‘I never took your old man, Nellie. I met Cyril when he come into the pub where I worked. It must be twenty years ago, or more. He was so handsome and he fair turned me head with his charming ways.’

  ‘He was tall and dark with a dimple in his chin,’ Nell said angrily. ‘And he had a tattoo on his chest.’

  Edith’s mouth worked silently for a moment. She stared at Nell, wide-eyed. ‘It – it were a red rose.’

  ‘That it was – and you stole him from me, you bitch.’

  Nell broke away from Ned and lunged at Edith, but Clemency leapt between them. ‘Stop it, both of you. This is silly. Why, it would make Ned and me …’ She stared at him in horror. ‘It would make us half brother and sister.’

  His eyes opened wide with shock and the colour drained from his cheeks. ‘It can’t be true.’

  ‘There’s one way to prove it.’ Nell barged past him and disappeared into the parlour. Sounds of drawers opening and closing echoed round the silent kitchen. Annie put her head round the scullery door and drew back again, like a startled tortoise retreating into its shell. Seconds later, Nell erupted into the kitchen holding a framed daguerreotype, which she thrust under Edith’s nose. ‘There. That’s my Cyril. Now tell me that ain’t your man. Deny it if you can.’

  Edith collapsed against Ronnie’s chest in a dead faint.

  Clemency turned to Ned and was startled by the look of fury and disgust in his dark eyes. ‘Ned, it’s not our fault. None of us knew.’

  He went into the bar and the door slammed behind him.

  Nell threw herself onto a chair with tears flooding down her cheeks. Clemency went to her and laid a tentative hand on her shoulder. ‘Nell, I’m so sorry. But it wasn’t Ma’s fault. She couldn’t have known.’

  ‘She must have guessed that he was some woman’s husband, but that didn’t stop her. I’ve tried to overlook the fact that your mum was a drunken slut, but now I can’t abide the sight of her.’

  ‘Here,’ Edith shrieked. ‘Who are you calling a drunken slut? I ain’t touched a drop since I come here, even though it’s there for the taking. I worked hard to repay you, you fat old cow. It weren’t my fault that Cyril preferred me to you.’

  Ronnie placed a restraining arm around Edith’s waist as she threatened to scratch Nell’s eyes out. ‘Come now, Edie, love. This won’t solve nothing.’

  ‘You heard what she called me, Ronnie. What sort of man are you to let her call me names?’ She struggled in his arms, but unable to break his grasp, she tore off her mobcap and tossed it at Nell. ‘No wonder Cyril left you.’

  Nell half rose from her seat and then collapsed back onto it, choking on a sob. ‘Get her out of me home. I don’t never want to see any of you again.’

  Clemency could see that it was useless to argue. She wanted to go through to the bar to make things right with Ned, but instinct told her that this was not the right time. She patted Nell’s heaving shoulder. ‘We’re leaving. I’m so sorry.’

  ‘Just go.’ Nell buried her face in her apron.

  ‘Is it all right if I go upstairs to collect Ma’s things?’

  Edith broke free from Ronnie’s grasp. ‘I wouldn’t stoop so low as to take anything what she give me. I’d sooner run naked through the streets of London than wear her old cast-offs.’

  ‘And I doubt if it would be the first time you’d done so.’ Nell uncovered one eye and glared at Edith.

  Clemency and Ronnie made a grab for Edith’s hand just in time to prevent her from attacking Nell. Together they managed to get her out through the scullery, past Annie who was cowering in the corner and whimpering. When they reached the back yard, the fight seemed to leave Edith and she collapsed against Ronnie’s chest, weeping. ‘It weren’t my fault, Ronnie. I never knew he was married.’

  He stroked her tumbled auburn locks back from her forehead. ‘Of course you didn’t, love. He was the one in the wrong, the wicked sod.’ He rocked her in his arms until her sobs subsided. ‘Clem,’ he said softly. ‘See if you can find a cab. I got just enough money to get us home.’

  By the time they reached the house in Finsbury Circus, Edith had regained much of her composure, although Ronnie’s handkerchief was sodden. Clemency felt numbed with shock at the realisation that Ned was her half brother, and even more disturbed by the fact that he had harboured feelings for her that were not at all brotherly. Once, a long time ago, she might even have returned them, but that was all in the past. She was just thankful that Jack had left for Epping. By the time he returned she would be able to face him with the startling news. At least she would be spared that particular ordeal for a few weeks.

  They entered the house through the servants’ entrance, and found Augustus and Nancy in the kitchen, drinking tea and talking earnestly.

  Nancy looked up, barely registering surprise when Edith followed Clemency into the room. ‘Oh, hello, Edie. Nice to see you, ducks. Have a cup of tea.’

  Edith sank onto a chair and Clemency was alarmed to see the colour drain from her face. ‘Are you all right, Ma?’

  Edith nodded. ‘It’s just hit me, Clemmie. I got nowhere to live. I suppose I could go back to Flower and Dean Street. I always got on well with old Ma Blunt.’

  ‘What’s this?’ Augustus peered at her over the rim of his teacup. ‘I thought you was happy at the pub.’

  ‘Not now,’ Ronnie said hastily, taking a seat next to Edith. ‘It’s a long story. Best leave explanations until later.’

  ‘Fetch more cups, Clem,’ Nancy said. ‘Maybe this will all work out for the best. We’re short of help now that Fancy has gone off to the country with Jack. I’m sure Mr Stone wouldn’t object to you staying here at least for a while, Edie. That is, if you don’t mind rolling up your sleeves and doing a day’s work?’

  ‘You’re very kind,’ Edith said tiredly. ‘To tell the truth, I weren’t too keen on going back to Mrs Blunt’s lodging house, just in case he’s still hanging around.’

  Nancy shot a curious look at Clemency, but she was not in the mood for long explanations. ‘I’ll go upstairs and make sure it’s all right with Jared,’ she murmured, and hurried from the kitchen. She was about to mount the stairs when the front door opened and Isobel marched into the hall, slamming the door behind her so that th
e crystal chandelier tinkled a merry tune. But the look on her face was anything but happy, and Clemency could see that she was bristling with indignation. ‘What’s up?’

  ‘I thought it would all work out nicely,’ Isobel stormed, tossing her parasol into the umbrella stand. ‘With that idiot Darcy Fairbrother discredited, I thought that Grandmama and Jared would have changed their minds about forcing me into a convenient marriage. I thought that now they’ve met Nick, they would see what a truly wonderful man he is.’

  ‘And they didn’t?’

  ‘Well, yes. Grandmama acknowledged that Nick is a worthy person, but she still insists that he isn’t a suitable match for me. What do they think I am, Clemency? A bloody princess?’

  Clemency stared at her aghast. She was used to hearing men and women using much worse language than that, but it was quite shocking coming from Isobel who was normally so proper and ladylike.

  Isobel glared at her and stamped her foot. ‘Bloody, bloody, bloody!’

  ‘Calm down, Izzie. It can’t be as bad as all that.’

  ‘Oh, can’t it? Well, Grandmama has forbidden me to see him again. She explained so nicely that she didn’t want to see me struggle for the rest of my life, but she just wouldn’t listen to my side of things. It’s so unfair.’

  ‘I’m sure she was just thinking of you, and maybe they’ll come round.’

  ‘I thought you would be on my side,’ Isobel cried passionately. ‘Of all people, I thought you would understand. Well, I won’t listen to you or them. I’m not giving Nick up, and I’m going to continue going to the meetings of the women’s movement. So there!’ Isobel raced up the stairs, sobbing with rage.

  Clemency sank down on the bottom step. Poor Izzie, she was such a child. She had led a sheltered existence, and had no idea of the hardships and tribulations that were suffered by other people. She huddled up, wrapping her arms around her knees, and resting her chin on them, as thoughts tumbled through her mind. The father she had never known was a cheat and a liar who had left Nell and taken up with Ma, only to repeat his callous behaviour, abandoning his children and leaving them to fend for themselves. She could never forget the poverty they had suffered in Stew Lane, which had forced her onto the streets as a common thief, and the dark menace of Hardiman that had loomed over them for so long. Had he really gone for good? Or was he still somewhere in the background? Was he lurking in the shadows like the Ripper, who still roamed free? She was so deep in her thoughts that she had not heard Jared’s footsteps on the stairs and she jumped as he laid his hand on her shoulder.