A Mother's Courage

by Dilly Court

  Annie seemed oblivious to all this. She was a child of the city, Eloise thought. She quickened her pace to keep up as Annie danced along ahead with Joss shrieking with delight as he bounced up and down on her thin shoulders. She seemed to know the area well, and she led Eloise through a maze of back streets until at last they came to Guildford Street and the Foundling Hospital. It was a surprisingly pleasant-looking group of buildings surrounded by London plane trees with their summer foliage rustling and whispering in the breeze. Annie led them into the rose filled garden where families dressed in their Sunday best were strolling or simply sitting on the grass and enjoying the sunshine.

  Annie found a shady spot beneath a plane tree and she set Joss down on the grass. He began to race about madly, chasing butterflies and shouting with delight at his newfound freedom. Beth waved her arms, crowing excitedly as Eloise put her down on the grass beside Annie.

  'Ain't this a pleasant spot?' Annie said, taking Beth onto her lap. 'Sit down and take the weight off your feet, Ellie.'

  Her serviceable black serge skirt billowed out round her as Eloise lowered herself carefully onto the grass. Looking round at the well dressed merchants and their wives, she felt suddenly dowdy and out of place. Her good clothes were still packed away and she had not thought to change out of her workaday garments. Now she wished that she had, and this made her smile inwardly. She could hear Papa's stern voice telling her that vanity was a sin. Poor Papa, she had never quite managed to live up to his ideal of womanhood. If she had been more like Mama then perhaps he would have been able to love her more, although Eloise had always suspected that, if the truth were told, he had always wanted a son. She had been a disappointment from the start.

  'Penny for 'em,' Annie said, nudging her in the ribs. 'You was miles away, Ellie.'

  'I was just thinking what a pleasant place this appears to be, at least on the outside. What was it like for you living here?'

  'It's just a place,' Annie said, shrugging her thin shoulders. 'We was looked after and treated all right so long as we behaved ourselves. They trained us girls to do housework so that we could go into service, and the boys was brought up to go into the Navy or the army. We was used to the life so we didn't know no different, but I always thought me mum would come one day and take me away. If I close me eyes now I can picture her face. It's round like one of them angel's faces in the scripture books, and she has lots of curly golden hair, and she smells nice, like wallflowers in springtime. She has soft hands, not like mine.' Annie held up her work-worn, calloused hands and chuckled. 'I got hands like a washerwoman, and hair the colour of a rat's arse. No blooming angel am I, but she is, and I'll know her when I see her – the rotten cow, leaving me like that.'

  Eloise patted Annie's hand, but Beth chose that moment to escape and launched herself onto the grass, crawling as fast as she could towards Joss. He was so intent on chasing a cabbage white butterfly that he did not notice her and he ran across the path in front of a tall gentleman in a black frock coat and top hat, who was walking with a little girl by his side.

  Eloise scrambled to her feet and raced across the grass to pick up Beth before she was trodden underfoot. She caught her just before she reached the path and lifted her, protesting loudly, out of harm's way. Eloise laid a protective hand on Joss's small shoulder and she flashed an apologetic smile at the stern-faced gentleman. 'I beg your pardon, sir. My little boy was not looking where he was going.'

  'I suggest you keep him under firmer control, ma'am.' With a brief nod of his head, he walked on. The little girl hesitated, regarding Eloise with a curious expression on her pretty face.

  'Come, Maria.'

  The child gave Eloise a sweet smile and then skipped off to join the man, who Eloise assumed must be her father or her guardian. She stared after him with a mixture of curiosity and resentment. It had been the briefest of meetings but she was left with the impression of a coldly handsome man, whose features might have been carved by an Italian renaissance sculptor from a block of Carrara marble. His thick, dark hair waved slightly as it flopped over a high forehead, and in startling contrast his deep-set eyes were a clear periwinkle blue. Eloise turned away and began to walk slowly back to where Annie was sitting beneath the tree, but she could not resist taking a quick peek over her shoulder at the man who had virtually ignored her. He, however, did not look back, and she was both irritated and piqued by his apparent lack of interest in her. She might be shabbily dressed, but that did not make her any less of a person. Eloise was unused to men passing her by without a second glance, and if she were to tell the truth, her pride was hurt. 'What a rude man,' she said angrily. 'Who does he think he is?'

  Chapter Eleven

  That's Mr Barton Caine,' Annie said in an awed tone. 'He's the governor of the Foundling Hospital. A very important man.'

  'A self-important man,' Eloise corrected. 'I don't think I've ever met such an arrogant, unmannerly person.'

  'He's handsome, though,' Annie said, taking an increasingly fractious Beth from Eloise's arms and giving her a cuddle. 'I'd say he was the best looking cove I've ever seen, even if he is old.'

  This statement drew a reluctant smile from Eloise. 'To someone your age, anyone over the age of twenty is old. I'd hazard a guess that your Mr Caine is not a day over thirty. If he weren't so full of himself and he was not so haughty, I daresay he might be quite presentable, but I haven't any patience with a man of his standing who considers himself to be so much better than anyone else that he cannot be civil.' Eloise beckoned to Joss who was now playing with a slightly older child who had a puppy on a leash, and all three were gambolling about on the grass. 'Joss, come here, darling.'

  'Let him be,' Annie said, chuckling at their antics. 'He can't come to no harm while we're watching and it looks as if Mr Caine has gone home. He lives in a big house in the hospital grounds.'

  'Well, I hope he is more pleasant when he is at home. I feel sorry for his poor wife.'

  'She died,' Annie said simply. 'Five years ago, when Maria was born. The poor lady did not survive the birth. I was only a little nipper then, but I remember how sad it made everyone in the hospital. She was a kind lady, his poor wife. She used to play the pianoforte and sing to us sometimes after supper. She was beautiful too, a bit like I imagined my mum would be, with golden curls and a lovely smile.'

  'If that's so, I am truly sorry for him,' Eloise said sincerely. 'But that still doesn't give him the right to be discourteous. I lost my husband less than a year ago but I don't take my grief out on others.'

  'I'd put him out of me mind, if I was you,' Annie said with a sagacious nod of her head. 'You ain't likely to run across him again, so why worry?'

  'You're right, of course, and I'm very glad of it too. I shall be quite happy never to cross his path again.' Eloise shaded her eyes with her hand as a commotion in the gardens caught her attention. 'What's going on over there, Annie?'

  'It's the hokey-pokey man,' Annie cried, rising to her feet and jumping up and down with excitement. 'It's the Eyetie ice cream man. I'd give anything for a penny lick.'

  Eloise put her hand in her pocket. She had very little left of the money that Harcourt had given her, but she could not deny the children this small treat. She took out three pennies and jingled the coins, smiling. 'Go and fetch Joss, and you shall each have an ice cream.'

  While the children were busily occupied in the serious business of licking ice cream from small glass pots, Eloise sat on the grass leaning her back against the trunk of the plane tree. If she closed her eyes she could almost imagine she was back in the Dorset countryside, sitting on the village green with the joyful sounds of the May Day celebrations going on about her. She could visualise Mama wearing her white muslin gown and her favourite straw bonnet with blue ribbons and pink silk roses beneath the brim. She would be smiling as she handed out cakes and buns to the children, while Janet poured homemade lemonade into pot mugs, and the men lingered in the refreshment tent drinking ale and cider. Eloise could almost h
ear the lively music played by the village band on their fiddles, a battered old cello and a slightly out of tune concertina; in her mind's eye she could see the energetic movements of the young men and women as they danced a jig or performed the intricate movements of Gathering Peascods, and Goddesses. It was all a far cry from the harsh realities of steamy London and the uncertainty of her present situation, but in her heart she knew that it was just a pleasant dream; a way of escaping to a safer, kinder world, which might exist only in her imagination.

  Someone tugged at her hair and Eloise opened her eyes to see Joss beaming into her face. 'Wake up, Mama.' He waved the licked clean glass pot in her face. 'More, please.'

  She gave him a hug. 'Not today, darling. One day you will have all the ice cream you can eat, but not now.' She took the tiny glass pot from his hand and passed it to Annie to return to the hokey-pokey man.

  The garden was gradually clearing of people as the shadows lengthened and they began to leave for home. Eloise rose to her feet and shook out her skirts. 'We'd best be on our way too, Annie. You don't want to get into trouble for being late back.'

  Annie pulled a face. 'I don't want to go back at all, but I got no choice.' She stretched her arms up towards the sky as if she were reaching up to touch one of the fluffy white clouds that had suddenly drifted across the wide expanse of cerulean blue. 'One day I'll be waiting here and me mum will walk through them gates. She'll come straight to me, no messing about, and she'll take me by the hand. She'll say, "Sorry I kept you waiting, girl, but I'm here now, and I'm going to take you home with me." We'll get on a bus and it'll take us to one of them leafy suburbs what the commercial travellers talk about. I'll never have to scrub another floor nor clean out another privy.'

  Eloise laid her hand on Annie's thin shoulder. 'I'm sure she will, dear. You keep your dreams, Annie. Sometimes they're the only thing that keeps us going.'

  Annie rubbed her knuckles into her eyes as if she were blotting out the impossible vision of happiness. 'We can come here again on me next afternoon off, can't we, Ellie?'

  'Well, I'm not sure . . .'

  A grin wiped away the sad look on Annie's cheeky face. 'You ain't likely to bump into the governor again, and if you do you can always cut him dead. That would take him down a peg or two.'

  In spite of everything, Eloise managed a smile. 'I'm sure it would, but our paths are extremely unlikely to cross again.'

  When they arrived back in Clerkenwell Green, Eloise bade a fond goodbye to Annie and Joss clung to her, giving her a smacking kiss on the cheek. Promising to come again soon, Annie bounded off in the direction of Nile Street and Eloise took the children round to the back of the house to enter by the yard. She could hear the raised voices of Agnes and Mrs Jarvis even before she opened the kitchen door. Their slurred speech and flushed faces indicated that they had consumed a large amount of Ephraim's brandy, and they appeared to be intent on going out to the nearest pub to consume even more strong liquor.

  'You'll see to his supper,' Agnes said, laughing drunkenly as though she had just said something extremely funny. 'You can spoon-feed the old goat with his boiled fish and cabbage. I feel sick at the thought of it.'

  'Yes,' Mrs Jarvis added, swaying on her feet. 'And see you do it proper like. I'm his nurse and I say – see you do it proper, or you'll have me to answer to.' She moved towards the door, rocking dangerously from side to side like a badly loaded wagon. 'Come on, Aggie. I fancy a drop more tiddley and a meat pie for me supper.'

  Joss clung to his mother's hand and Eloise could feel him trembling with fright at the sight of the two extremely tipsy old women as they blundered out of the kitchen and up the back stairs to the entrance hall. She could still hear their raucous laughter as they made their way to the front door, staggering and bouncing off the walls as they went. Then there was silence and Eloise heaved a sigh of relief. It occurred to her that Agnes must have taken the front door key from Hubble's pocket, but she put the thought out of her mind. It was none of her business.

  She fed the children with bread and milk before washing them and tucking them up in their beds. Then she went back to the kitchen to prepare Ephraim's meal. She was tempted to leave him to go hungry, but she could not afford to anger the person who would eventually pay her wages. She cooked a piece of haddock in some milk and cut thin slices off a loaf, which she buttered sparingly. She made a pot of tea and having arranged everything on a tray, she took it upstairs to his bedroom. She had to brace herself to enter, but she felt a little safer knowing that Mrs Jarvis would have given him a fairly hefty dose of laudanum.

  The room was in almost complete darkness. The bed curtains were half drawn and Eloise could only just make out the shape of Ephraim's head on his pillow. She tiptoed across the floor, intending to leave the tray on his bedside table and then make a hasty retreat. She had no intention of waking him. She put the tray down as silently as possible and was about to move away when a hand shot out and gripped her by the wrist. Ephraim snapped upright in bed with a triumphant cry. 'Gotcha.'

  'Let me go,' Eloise cried, struggling to free herself from his grasp, but his fingers tightened, digging into her flesh until she yelped with pain. 'I'll teach you, lady,' he snarled. 'No one makes a fool of Ephraim Hubble, least of all a chit of a girl who puts on airs and graces.'

  He was surprisingly strong for someone who was supposed to be an invalid. He dragged her onto the bed, tearing at the thin material of her blouse. Driven by fear and revulsion, Eloise kicked and struggled, but she was no match for him. In desperation she clawed her fingers and lashed out, catching him across the cheek. He let out a howl of rage and slapped her repeatedly about the face and head. The pain was excruciating and with a last desperate effort to free herself, she sank her teeth into his hand. With a yelp of pain, he gave her a mighty shove which sent her tumbling off the bed onto the floor. Eloise scrambled to her feet, clutching her torn blouse to cover her exposed flesh. 'You wicked, wicked man. I'll . . .' Her voice broke on a sob.

  'You'll do what?' Ephraim growled. 'I'll tell you what you'll do, girl. You'll keep your mouth shut and you'll go and fetch me something decent to eat. Now get out of here and make yourself tidy. You look like a trollop off the streets.'

  'I'll have the law on you,' Eloise hissed, too angry now to be frightened of him. 'I'll tell the magistrate what you did to me. I won't let you get away with it.'

  Ephraim eyed her through narrowed lids and he was not smiling now. 'You'll do no such thing, and who'd believe you if you did. It would be your word against mine, and I'm a respected person with a lifetime of public service behind me. You're a woman of no account.'

  'You are an evil old man.' Eloise gripped the bedpost for support. Her legs were trembling so violently that she could barely stand, but she was filled with hatred for the man who had so violently attacked her. 'I will speak to the vicar. He'll believe me.'

  Ephraim sat up slowly, rising from the pillows like a leviathan from the deep. 'You won't tell no one, girlie. You got away from me because I'm half drugged with laudanum for me pain, but next time you won't be so lucky. You put yourself in my hands, and you'll do my will or you'll be out on the street with your little bastards.'

  'I won't do it. You can't make me.' Eloise glared at him with a defiant lift of her chin. 'You offered me marriage, Mr Hubble. I'll sue you for breach of promise.'

  Ephraim's coarse laughter echoed round the dark room. 'Who'd believe a slut like you? Besides which, dearie, I know something about you that will keep you here as long as I care to shelter you and your brats.'

  'You're just saying that to scare me,' Eloise said with a catch in her voice. Fear was replacing anger now and the triumphant look in Ephraim's eyes scared her more than all his ranting. 'I – I won't listen to you.'

  'Then you don't mind if I tell my friend Mr Pike that you and your kids are living under my roof?'

  Eloise tightened her grasp on the bedpost, clinging on to consciousness as a wave of dizziness almost took her feet from
under her. 'Wh-who is he?'

  'Pike and I were warders at Newgate long before I went to work at the House of Detention. He left to become a private investigator and he came to call on me this afternoon, but it weren't for old times' sake.' Ephraim paused, chuckling deep in his throat. 'I can see you get my drift, girlie. Can you guess why Mr Pike knocked on my door?

  Eloise could not speak, and she shook her head, although she already knew what her tormentor was going to say.

  Ephraim's eyes glittered with malice. 'My friend Pike followed that little skivvy from the lodging house in Nile Street. He had a notion that she knew more than she was telling him. We had a cup of tea and a chat about old times, but more important, my lady, he told me that there's a price on your head. Your in-laws up north have offered a reward for anyone turning you and the brats in to them. If you don't give up the boy, they'll make him a ward of court and he'll be taken from you all legal and proper.'

  Eloise licked her dry lips. 'And you told him I was here?'

  'No, but I will if you don't do exactly what I want. One false move from you, girlie, and I'll hand you over to Pike. Do you understand me?'

  'You can't do this. I'll tell Agnes and Mrs Jarvis. They're women too; they must be on my side.'

  'Agnes knows all about it. She's been with me long enough to understand that she's secure just as long as I'm happy. If I'm not, then I can turn her out on the streets any time I like, and who would take on an old harpy like Agnes Smith?' He uttered a mirthless laugh. 'Don't stare at me like I'm a piece of shit. I'm your master, girlie, and don't you forget it. I'll have you whenever I feel like it and you'll be nice to me or you know what will happen.'