A Place to Call Home

by Evie Grace

‘What did this lady do to you?’

  ‘She told me that she returned my sentiments in full measure. I promised her marriage and a happy and contented life, but I discovered not long after my declaration that she was in love with someone else, and intending to continue their liaison while married to me. When she met me, she thought she’d found gold.’

  ‘I’m sorry,’ Rose said.

  ‘I don’t require your pity. I had a lucky escape. If I’d married her, I’d never have travelled to England. I’d never have met you, Rose.’

  ‘I’ve never been in love before,’ she said, meaning before she’d met Freddie.

  ‘Oh? Feelings can grow,’ he said hopefully.

  Rose looked at him, really looked at him, her face burning.

  ‘You mean, you’re asking about my feelings for you?’

  He nodded. ‘I hope you aren’t offended by my declaration, and you don’t think me presumptuous. I’ve tried to be patient. I’ve given you time, but I can’t keep quiet any longer. I am in suspense. Do you think there is any way that one day you could love me in return? I know it’s a lot to expect, and this has come as a shock to you …’

  ‘It isn’t much of a surprise,’ she said softly, as the chestnuts began to pop. ‘Minnie has always said you have shown an unusual interest in me.’

  ‘In a good way, I hope,’ he said with a wry smile.

  ‘Oh, of course. She’s very fond of you. We both are.’

  ‘For me, it was love at first sight, but I fear that to my dishonour I didn’t offer you the full truth. I am a coward – I had been open before and had my heart broken. Since then, I’ve learned that there are times when you have to take a risk and this is one of them.’

  Was he about to propose? she thought, her breast filled with a mixture of joy, despair and panic. It was what she wanted, but she couldn’t let him go on without revealing her secret, one that could jeopardise her chance of making a good marriage.

  ‘I need to say something,’ she said quickly.

  He frowned. ‘Why do you always assume I’m doing things for you out of respect for your grandfather? I’m not. This time, I’m doing it for you, for us. I love you. I’ve loved you since I first set eyes on you.’

  ‘Let me speak,’ she said. ‘There is something that could alter your intentions, if not your feelings towards me.’

  ‘There is nothing—’

  ‘Listen to me. It’s important.’

  ‘Well, go on,’ he said impatiently. ‘I know about Minnie and her child. What is it?’

  ‘You know much of my family’s history, but not perhaps that my parents, Ma and Pa Cheevers, were never married, and that my father by blood was the son of a baronet.’ She stared at him as a shadow of doubt or confusion crossed his eyes. She’d done it now, wrecked her chances by speaking the truth, but she couldn’t have it on her conscience to keep it from him. Her heart broke as she watched him stand up, take the skillet from the fire and place it on the stone hearth in front of the brass firedogs.

  After a pause, he turned and fell on to one knee in front of her.

  ‘It doesn’t matter to me where you came from. As you know, I didn’t have the most auspicious start to life. What’s important is the here and now, and the future, not the past.’ He took her hands and clasped them in his. ‘Rose,’ he said, looking into her eyes, ‘you are my star. You guide my every move. Everything I do is for you.’

  Her heart was beating in her throat as he went on, ‘Will you do me the honour of becoming my wife?’

  She felt his fingers tremble as he held her hands.

  ‘Yes,’ she whispered. ‘Yes, I’ll marry you.’

  ‘My dearest Rose …’ He smiled, his teeth gleaming in the dimly lit room. ‘May I kiss you?’

  ‘I think you should …’

  He leaned in towards her and pressed his lips gently against her mouth.

  ‘Again?’ he murmured, his voice filled with heat and passion.

  Smiling as she felt his arms around her waist, she responded, ‘As many times as you wish …’

  Minnie burst into tears of joy when Rose and Freddie told her of their engagement at breakfast the following day.

  ‘I knew it,’ she cried. ‘I knew it all along. When will you be married?’

  ‘As soon as possible,’ Freddie said lightly. ‘I’m not going to give your sister time to change her mind.’

  ‘She won’t,’ Minnie said, getting up from the table. ‘Wait here a moment. I have something for you.’

  ‘Not now,’ Rose said. ‘Your eggs will get cold.’ But it was too late. Minnie limped out of the dining room, returning a few minutes later, holding something behind her back.

  ‘This is my gift to you and Freddie. I hope you like it.’ With a grin and a flourish, she unfurled the patchwork she’d been making. ‘I’ll have to add the date of the wedding, and have it made up into a quilt for you.’

  ‘It’s beautiful.’ The pattern of pink, green and cream cottons blurred in front of Rose’s eyes.

  ‘Thank you, my dear sister,’ Freddie said, jumping up from his seat. ‘I hope it won’t be very long before I can call you “sister-in-law”.’

  He and Minnie folded the patchwork together.

  ‘Keep it safe until we’ve set the date,’ he said.

  ‘It will have to be on a Wednesday,’ Minnie said.

  ‘Why is that?’ Freddie asked.

  ‘There’s a rhyme that Ma told me when Arthur and Tabby were planning their wedding. “Monday for health, Tuesday for wealth, Wednesday’s the best of all. Thursday brings crosses, and Friday losses, and Saturday no luck at all.”’

  ‘I’m surprised you remember that,’ Rose said, wishing that Ma and Pa had been around to share their good fortune.

  ‘Then a Wednesday it will be,’ Freddie said. ‘We don’t want any bad luck.’

  ‘You don’t believe—’ Rose stopped when Freddie winked at her. He wasn’t superstitious – he was humouring Minnie, and she loved him for it.

  Rose called at Wanstall Farm to invite her grandmother to their impending nuptials. She found her in the farmyard, feeding the hens and geese. Mr Carter offered his congratulations and returned to negotiating the sale of a pair of carriage horses to a client.

  ‘My husband took against Mr Wild when he first turned up in Overshill,’ Mrs Carter said. ‘He couldn’t make him out, not being one of us, and I’ve since learned that he gave him the cold shoulder when he revealed his connection with our family. Do you know of it? Only I’m not sure if it’s my place to say.’

  Rose nodded.

  ‘Stephen didn’t mention it at first, thinking to protect me from the sorrows of the past, but he’s never been any good at keeping secrets, and one day he let slip that Mr Wild had come to look for Agnes. Finding my long-lost grandchildren has been a great delight to me, and hearing of my daughter has been painful and a joy at the same time. And now I am touched beyond measure that dear Matty never forgot our child, even when he was far away from home. I trust that you have received your share of his inheritance?’

  ‘It’s being settled at the moment,’ Rose said. Freddie had agreed to her proposal that she allocated a share of the money to Minnie, and some to Donald to be held in trust until his twenty-fifth birthday. She knew he wouldn’t like it, but she needed to be sure he wouldn’t throw it away.

  ‘Then your future is secure. That is a great comfort to me, as it must be to you.’ Mrs Carter paused before continuing, ‘Tell me. There’s no delicate way of putting this, but is our Minnie in the family way?’

  ‘She is. There’s no point in trying to hide it. Soon it will be obvious to everyone.’

  ‘You will encourage her to keep the child?’ A tear glistened at the corner of her grandmother’s eye. ‘It would be a tragedy to separate them.’

  ‘Don’t worry. It’s already been decided that Minnie and the baby will remain at Churt House.’

  ‘Mr Wild is a good man,’ Mrs Carter said.

  ‘I know �
� I’m the luckiest woman alive. Now, I must get back. I’ve got lots to do – the wedding is in a few weeks. You will join us?’

  ‘Nothing will stop me,’ she smiled.

  They married quietly on a Wednesday one month later in the Church of Our Lady in front of a small group of well-wishers, including Aunt Marjorie and some of the servants from the house. The Reverend Browning officiated, Minnie was bridesmaid, and Mrs Carter and Jack were witnesses.

  Wearing a pale blue dress, stole and veil, Rose walked down the aisle with Minnie at her side, to join her beloved Freddie who couldn’t contain his excitement, beaming from ear to ear, as they said their vows and he placed the ring on her finger.

  ‘You may kiss the bride,’ the vicar lisped.

  ‘Was there ever a more beautiful couple?’ Aunt Marjorie sobbed loudly as Rose and Freddie headed into the chapel to sign the register, and when they returned outside into the bright winter sunshine, she showered them liberally with rice.

  Freddie was still picking the grains from his coat as he and Rose walked arm in arm back to Churt House a little behind the others, who appeared to be in a hurry to get out of the cold and partake of the wedding breakfast.

  ‘This is the best day of my life, Mrs Wild,’ he declared.

  ‘And mine.’ She couldn’t stop smiling and her cheeks ached.

  ‘I plan to travel again next spring: March and April. I wish to settle my business interests in a way that someone else can manage them on my behalf.’

  ‘Oh?’ Her spirits fell. She’d known he’d go away from time to time, but she hated the idea of it. ‘I’ll miss you terribly.’

  ‘I thought you’d come with me. I believe it’s customary for a husband and wife to accompany each other on their journey through life.’

  ‘Really? Freddie, that’s a wonderful idea. Of course I’ll come with you. I don’t want to waste a minute of our time together.’

  ‘That’s one thing settled then,’ he said, and they continued to walk towards the house.

  ‘It’s been an honour to meet the woman whom you call Aunt. She’s quite a character. Steely, I think, and very old-fashioned, but with the kindest of hearts. I saw her talking to Minnie and asking her about the expected month of her confinement. She wasn’t judging her. All she asked was to have the chance to hold the infant in her arms one day.’

  ‘I wondered if we might prevail on Aunt Marjorie to act as Minnie’s companion while we’re away, and to help Minnie out in the nursery. She’s had many years’ experience of nannying,’ Rose suggested.

  ‘It would be a way of supporting her in her retirement,’ Freddie said.

  ‘She’s looking old and weary, and she’s been complaining that her knees are giving her gyp ever since she arrived last week.’

  ‘We have more than enough space – she can have her own quarters on the same level as the nursery so she doesn’t have to keep struggling up and down the stairs. I’d noticed that she finds it hard to get around. Tell her she can move in as soon as she wishes.’

  ‘Are you sure?’

  ‘I’ll do anything to make you happy, Rose. I have no family …’

  ‘You do – you’re part of mine now,’ she said, then added ruefully, thinking of Donald, ‘For better or worse.’

  Freddie stopped on the drive and turned to her, taking both her hands. She could feel the heat of his skin through her fine leather gloves.

  ‘Panning for gold with your grandfather in the wilds of Tasmania taught me how the best things in life come to those who wait,’ he said. ‘When I found you in Overshill, I found what I’d been looking for, a nugget of pure gold. As I’ve said before, I love you.’

  ‘I love you too,’ she said. She was certain of that now. ‘Always and for ever.’

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Nothing Ventured, Nothing Gained

  The newlyweds spent three days in a hotel in Canterbury when they visited a school and set up a trust to fund the education of five street children, boys and girls, as well as paying a brief visit to Donald in gaol. In March, they travelled to New York, then in late May, Minnie was delivered of a healthy infant. The child, called Edith, was the sweetest little girl who looked like her mother with no trace of her father’s features or character, a relief to Rose who’d been afraid that she would be reminded of Abel and the brickfield whenever she saw her.

  Rose and Freddie celebrated the first anniversary of their marriage in December, then saw in the New Year of 1881 with Aunt Marjorie and a fair number of their neighbours whom they invited for dinner and dancing. It was a happy occasion, confirming that they’d become part of the community in Overshill. The only thing that would make her joy complete, Rose thought, was to see Arthur again. She often wondered how he and Tabby were, and what they were doing.

  The winter was a cold one. The stream was frozen, thick frost adorned the cobwebs in the hedgerows, and the ground was solid underfoot when Rose walked with Minnie pushing the pram around the grounds. The days were short, making her long for spring.

  January passed and February blustered in, accompanied by storms and rain.

  One morning, when the east wind had blown through, bringing down one of the chestnut trees in the park, Rose was in the parlour choosing the week’s menu at her meeting with Mrs Causton and Cook. Her confidence as mistress of the house was growing, thanks to Freddie’s faith in her abilities.

  ‘So the eggs florentine, veal and potatoes for Wednesday,’ Cook was saying.

  ‘Unless the butcher has another flitch of pork,’ Rose said.

  ‘Guess who’s come to see us!’ Minnie came rushing into the room.

  ‘Oh, Minnie, please knock before you come in.’ Rose smiled at how motherhood had made little alteration in her sister, her ways remaining very childlike. ‘Can’t you see that I’m with Cook?’

  ‘I’m sorry, but you might wish to alter your plans,’ Minnie exclaimed, her cheeks flushed pink. ‘You’ll never guess who’s at the door with his wife and children. Oh, Rose, it’s our brother, Arthur.’

  ‘Arthur! How can that be?’ Rose stood up, her heart overflowing with joy. ‘This will have to wait. I believe we will order the fatted calf and throw a few more potatoes in the pot.’ She almost ran after her sister out of the parlour and along to the hall where the butler, Rice, was standing with their visitors, a quizzical look on his face.

  ‘This is Mr Arthur Fortune, ma’am. He says he is a relative of yours.’

  She stared at her long-lost brother, dressed in a wool coat and polished leather boots, and holding a silk hat.

  ‘Arthur, I’m so pleased to see you,’ she said, throwing her arms around his neck. ‘After all this time.’

  ‘Rose, my dear sister.’ Arthur tossed his hat to Minnie and hugged Rose back. ‘As Pa would have said, it’s monsterful to see you.’

  ‘I can’t believe you’re here.’ Rose smiled as he turned to his companions, Tabby and two small children, a girl in her arms and a boy holding her hand. ‘Let me introduce you to my wife, our son Arthur, and daughter, Anne.’

  ‘So you did get married! How wonderful.’ Rose addressed the butler. ‘Rice, please take their coats. Have you any luggage?’

  ‘It’s on the doorstep,’ Arthur said. ‘Mr Wild invited us to spend a few days with you.’

  ‘Freddie did? How did he find you?’

  ‘Your husband did some detective work, and found us living in Greenwich. Is it true that he was your grandfather’s ward?’

  ‘Yes, he knew Ma’s father – they met on the other side of the world and now he’s here, living the life of an English gentleman, except that he’s better than any of them: kind, thoughtful and generous … Oh, I know it’s hard to believe, but he had proof of who he was: the other half of the sixpence that Ma left to me in her will. Why didn’t you come and find us before? I was worried about you.’

  ‘I’m sorry. I never stopped thinking of you and the twins, but I didn’t want to intrude by turning up at your grandmother’s. You remembe
r when we last saw each other when we were leaving Willow Place, how I said I felt I didn’t really belong, especially after Ma and Pa had gone.’

  ‘Oh Arthur, why didn’t you believe me when I said we were all part of the same family?’ Rose said. ‘We’ll always be brother and sister.’

  ‘I know,’ he said, smiling. ‘We have a lot of catchin’ up to do.’

  ‘What do you think of our home?’

  Arthur gazed around the room, open-mouthed. ‘You’ve gone up in the world.’

  ‘As have you, by the looks of it.’ She bit back tears of pride, realising how hard he must have strived to make a good living for himself, Tabby and their children. ‘Let Rice take your coats. One of the footmen will collect your luggage and take it upstairs. We will sit in the parlour and talk until we are all talked out.’

  ‘Where is Donald? Will he be back later?’

  ‘I’m afraid that his escapades caught up with him,’ Rose said awkwardly.

  ‘He is gorn?’ Arthur said, wide-eyed.

  ‘Oh no, he’s in gaol for thieving.’

  ‘The little tyke!’

  ‘Not now. Not in front of the littl’uns,’ Rose said quickly. ‘I’ll explain later. In the meantime, you must meet the newest member of our family. Minnie, go and fetch Edith.’

  Minnie hurried upstairs and came back down proudly holding Edith in her arms.

  ‘This is your daughter, Rose?’ Arthur said.

  ‘Oh no. She is Minnie’s daughter.’

  A frown crossed his face.

  ‘We wouldn’t be without her. She brings much joy into our lives, including Aunt Marjorie’s.’

  ‘Aunt Marjorie? This is too much to take in.’

  ‘She’s our honorary nanny. You see, the only person missing is Donald. Come and take the weight off your feet. Tabby, you’re welcome to use the nursery as you please. There are toys and games to keep the children occupied. I’ll ask Cook to prepare soup and cold meats for luncheon.’ Rose turned to the butler. ‘Rice, would you fetch my husband, please?’

  ‘Yes, ma’am,’ he said.

  Rose, Freddie and Arthur sat in the parlour while the others spent time in the nursery with the children. They took luncheon together and walked in the grounds before dinner. Rose found out that Bert had given Arthur work and a place to stay with Tabby. They’d married, and he’d completed an apprenticeship as a bricklayer before being promoted rapidly to foreman on various building sites all over London where the houses were springing up – in Arthur’s words, like mushrooms.