by Dilly Court
She was smiling at the thought and without realising it she had quickened her pace arriving back at the Foundling Hospital much earlier than she had intended. It was an hour until the children's teatime, and now it was an established routine that she went to help Phoebe when her day's work was done. Whether or not the governor had had words with Miss Marchant on the subject, Eloise did not know, but if Matron knew about it, she turned a blind eye. As she entered through the gates, Eloise glanced automatically up at the windows of the governor's house, and she thought she saw a small child peering out. She smiled and waved but the little girl merely stared at her and then turned her head, as if someone in the room had summoned her away from the window. It occurred to Eloise at that moment that Maria Caine must be a lonely child. She had no mother to care for her and no siblings to play with. Her father was preoccupied with his job and she had had a succession of nannies who could not cope with her bad behaviour. A wave of sympathy washed over Eloise and she found herself wishing that she could do something to help the spoilt but unhappy little girl. She stopped to admire a deep crimson rose with petals that looked as though they were made of velvet. Just as she bent her head to inhale its sweet scent, she caught a movement out of the corner of her eye and turned her head to see Annie standing in the middle of the lawn with her arms outstretched and a look of delight transforming her plain features.
'Mum,' Annie shrieked. 'You've come. It's me, your Annie.'
Eloise looked round and realised with a shock that they were alone in the gardens and Annie was racing towards her with an expression of pure joy on her face, which was wiped away as she drew close and replaced by a look of puzzlement. 'Ellie! Is it really you? I thought – I mean, the sun was behind you and in me eyes – I thought for a moment that she had come for me.'
'Oh, my dear Annie. I am so sorry, it's just me.' Eloise held out her arms and Annie ran into them, hugging her round the waist and then she pulled away, wiping her eyes on her sleeve.
'Silly me. I dunno what come over me. But it's good to see you, Ellie. Where've you been all this time?'
Eloise slipped her arm around Annie's thin shoulders. 'It's a long story, but I am so happy to see you again. Come and sit down and I'll explain, and you must tell me what has been happening to you at Mrs King's.'
'Oh, her!' Annie said, wrinkling her snub nose. 'She never changes. She's still a mean old cow and I hates her. If me mum don't come and find me soon I think I'll run away from Nile Street and take me chances somewhere else. I might even go on one of them big ships to Canada or Australia. I'll bet there's plenty of work there for girls like me.'
Acting on a sudden whim, Eloise plucked the damask rose and gave it to Annie. She grinned with pleasure and buried her face in the soft petals. That smells so good. It's how I imagine me mum will smell when she comes to find me. I'm sure she will come one day, and perhaps we'll get on that ship together.'
'That's a happy thought,' Eloise said, not wanting to spoil Annie's impossible dream.
'She will come for me. I know she will.'
Eloise smiled. 'I hope so, Annie. Let's sit down for a while and you can tell me what's been happening to you.'
'Never mind me. I'm dying to know what's been going on. And where are the little 'uns? I ain't going until you've told me everything.'
They sat on a bench in the sunshine and Eloise talked while Annie listened in wide-eyed silence. When Eloise had finished, Annie blew her nose noisily on a corner of her pinafore. 'Well I never did. And now you're living in here,' she jerked her head towards the hospital building, 'just like I did, and no one knows that the nippers belong to you. Why, it's my story all over again.'
'It is, almost, and you must never give up hope, Annie. Sometimes it's all we have to keep us going.' Eloise paused at the sound of childish laughter and her attention was diverted by the sight of Maria Caine skipping towards them along the path. Caine strode along behind her and he called out to Maria, but she ignored him and ran up to Eloise, stopping in front of her with her hands clasped behind her back.
'I saw you from the window,' she said conversationally. 'And you smiled at me. You looked nice and I wanted to speak to you, so I made Papa bring me out into the gardens.'
Eloise rose to her feet, meeting Caine's stern gaze with an apologetic smile. 'I'm sorry, sir. I didn't mean to distract your daughter from her lessons.'
Caine tipped his hat. 'That would not be difficult, since Maria has just sent her latest governess into a fit of hysterics. I think we will find that Miss Trinder has her notice written out by the time we return to the house.'
Maria looked up at him with a mischievous grin. 'But I don't like her, Papa. And she makes me sit still and stitch my sampler all afternoon when I want to come out and play.'
'It is all part of your education, young lady,' Caine said with a reluctant smile. 'And I have work to do.'
Eloise stared at him, fascinated by the change that a smile wrought in his set countenance. 'I still have half an hour left, sir. I would be happy to look after Maria until teatime. Perhaps she could come to the nursery and take tea with us. She could help to feed the babies if she wishes.'
Maria jumped up and down, clapping her hands. 'Oh, Papa. May I? That sounds so much more fun than practising embroidery stitches. I hate sewing and I hate Miss Trinder.'
Caine's smile turned into a frown, and the lines between his eyes deepened. 'I have an important meeting, which I left at Miss Trinder's request, Maria. I am not sure that you deserve to be let off your lessons.'
Maria clutched his hand and held it to her cheek. 'Please, Papa. I promise to be good if you will only let me stay with this person.' She turned to Eloise, angling her blonde head. 'I don't know who you are.'
'I am Ellen. I work in the Foundling Hospital, and this is my friend, Annie.'
Maria gave Annie a cursory glance and did not look impressed. She reached out to grasp Eloise's hand. 'You will look after me, won't you, Ellen? Then Papa can get back to his silly old meeting and I can help look after the babies. I'm never allowed into the hospital to play with the children, but I can see them from my window and I can hear them laughing when they are allowed out to play.'
'I will look after her, sir,' Eloise promised, squeezing Maria's hand.
'Very well,' Caine said reluctantly. 'I must get back to the meeting, but I'll have words with you later, Maria. And you be good, or Miss Monk will tell me and you will be punished.'
Annie nudged Maria with her elbow. 'I'd be good if I was you, young 'un. He looks like he means business.'
Eloise cast a nervous glance at Caine, thinking that he might take offence at Annie's careless remark, but she saw to her surprise that his lips twitched, although he managed to keep a straight face as he regarded Annie. 'Is that rose from this garden, young woman?'
Annie whipped it behind her back. 'I never took it, guv. It weren't me. I don't steal.'
'It's all right, Annie,' Eloise said, patting her on the shoulder. 'It was me, Mr Caine. I couldn't resist picking it and I gave it to Annie.'
'Do you like roses, Miss Monk?'
Eloise nodded. 'Who doesn't? They are everything that anyone could wish for in a flower.'
'Quite so.' Caine cleared his throat and turned his attention to Maria. 'I will allow you to stay with Miss Monk, but only on condition that you behave yourself, young lady.'
'I will, Papa. I promise.' Maria threw herself at him and he patted her on the head, as if she were an over-boisterous puppy, then he turned on his heel and strode away along the path and out of the gardens.
'He didn't remember me,' Annie said with a note of disappointment in her voice. 'But then why would he? I was just one of the many, as I am now. No one notices a foundling child.'
'Well, that's just not true,' Eloise said firmly. 'I noticed you from the start, Annie. You have a personality all of your own and when you are grown up you will be a very striking young woman. You are brave and you are loyal, and I am proud to have you as a friend.'
Annie's small face crumpled up and she covered her face with her pinafore. 'No one's never said nothing so nice to me before.'
'Why are you crying, girl?' Maria demanded. 'Are you a bit simple?'
'Hush, Maria,' Eloise said, shaking her head. 'Of course Annie isn't simple. She has not had your advantages in life, that is all. Now you wanted to play in the gardens, so you'd better enjoy it while you can. It will soon be time to go indoors.'
Maria skipped off, running round the gardens like a small white butterfly.
'I ain't simple,' Annie sniffed. 'I ain't.'
'Of course not,' Eloise said, giving her a hug. 'Maria is just six years old. She doesn't know what she's saying.'
'She needs a spanking,' Annie muttered.
Now where have I heard that before? Eloise thought wryly. Perhaps she does need a firm hand, but maybe she just needs an outward display of affection, and that seems to be something sadly lacking in her father.
As the shadows began to lengthen, Annie departed for Nile Street, promising to return again on her next afternoon off, and Eloise took Maria into the hospital. They went straight to the nursery where Phoebe was at first aghast to think that the governor's daughter was going to join them for tea, and then when she grew accustomed to the idea, she admitted grudgingly that perhaps it wouldn't do any harm. The older infants seemed delighted to have Maria's attention and Joss in particular appeared to have taken quite a fancy to her. As Eloise watched them playing together, she wished that Mr Caine could see the change in his daughter, from spoilt brat to happy, well-behaved child.
Eloise was helping Phoebe to clear the table and Maria was organising the toddlers into a game of her own making when the door opened and Caine strolled in. He paused, taking in the scene with a look of astonishment on his face. Maria was so busy that she had not noticed her father's arrival. Phoebe snapped to attention, but Eloise continued to stack the dirty crockery onto a tray ready to take back to the kitchen. Beth had been allowed to join in the game, although she was still finding her feet and could only take a few steps before losing her balance. She chose this moment to take a tumble and began to howl dismally. Maria was at her side in an instant and she went down on her knees to give Beth a cuddle.
'Maria. It's time to come home,' Caine said in a stern voice.
'Not now, Papa. I'm busy.'
Eloise bit her lip to prevent herself from laughing out loud. Phoebe sucked in her breath, eyeing Caine nervously, but he seemed unperturbed.
'Now, Maria. Mrs Dean has your tea ready on the table.'
'I've had tea with the babies, Papa. Now we're playing a game and must not be disturbed.' Maria turned her back on her father and she took Joss by the hand. 'Come along, boy. I am your mother and we are going to the market to buy some apples.'
Eloise could see that this was going to turn into a contest between father and daughter and would inevitably end in tears. She hitched Beth onto her hip and stepped in between Maria and Joss. 'I think that the market will be closed now, Maria. Say goodnight to Joss and perhaps your father will allow you to come and play with him tomorrow.'
Maria stared up at her, pouting ominously, with her fair eyebrows drawn into a scowl so like her father's that again Eloise wanted to laugh, but she managed to control the impulse and she met Maria's angry gaze with a calm smile. 'I'm afraid he won't allow it if you disobey him, Maria. And Joss would be disappointed if you could not continue the game tomorrow afternoon.'
Caine made a move towards his daughter, but Eloise turned to him with a slight shake of her head and he hesitated. For a moment it seemed that Maria was going to argue, but then she held her hand out to her father with a beguiling smile. 'May I come here tomorrow, Papa? I have been a good help, haven't I, Ellen?'
'You have indeed,' Eloise said solemnly. 'I don't know how Phoebe and I would have managed without you.'
'You see, Papa,' Maria said, beaming. 'I am a good girl sometimes.'
Caine took her hand and he smiled down at her. 'I am very glad to hear it, and if you continue to be good you may come here providing that it doesn't upset the running of the nursery.'
Maria turned to Eloise. 'It won't, will it, Ellie? Tell him I may come again.'
'I wouldn't dream of telling Mr Caine anything,' Eloise said, smiling. 'But I'm sure that Phoebe and I would be very pleased to have Maria's help. Wouldn't we, Phoebe?'
Phoebe blushed scarlet and bobbed a curtsey. 'I'd be honoured, sir.'
'I can see that I'm outnumbered,' Caine said with a reluctant smile. His eyes flickered to Eloise and then he looked away. 'Come along, Maria. It's getting late.'
'Phew!' Phoebe said, breathing a sigh of relief as they left the room. 'I thought we was going to be for it then.'
Eloise said nothing. She had seen another side of Governor Caine that day and it had left her feeling confused and even a little sorry for him. He obviously cared deeply for his daughter, but he neither knew how to show his affection for her nor how to handle a small, wilful girl.
'Tell you what, Ellen,' Phoebe said, fanning herself with her hand. 'I could do with a break. Will you stay and get the nippers ready for bed while I take the dirty crockery back to the kitchen and get meself a cup of tea?'
'Yes, I'll be glad to,' Eloise said, jumping at the chance of a few minutes alone with Joss and Beth.
'You're a glutton for punishment, that's all I can say.' Phoebe picked up the tray and Eloise ran to open the door for her.
Having had time to play with her children, and having taken care to include the other toddlers in their game, Eloise wiped their sticky hands and faces and began changing the infants into their nightgowns. She was just laying Beth in her cot when the door opened and Miss Marchant strode into the room. 'So, you're here, Monk. I was told that you would be.'
Eloise straightened up. 'It's my afternoon off, Matron. I was helping Phoebe.'
'You were seen in the gardens earlier. I saw you talking with Mr Caine and you brought little Maria into the hospital without my permission.'
'I – I'm sorry, Matron. Mr Caine agreed to it and I thought . . .'
'That's just it, Monk. You did not think at all. The reason we keep these new additions isolated here in the nursery is for the protection of all the children in the hospital. You might have exposed little Maria Caine to any one of a number of fatal childhood diseases.'
'But Mr Caine . . .'
Miss Marchant drew her neck back and her green eyes glittered with malice. 'You will not advance yourself by sucking up to Mr Caine. He might have singled you out for special notice, but don't think that makes you important in my eyes, Monk.'
'I have not gone out of my way to be noticed, Matron. If Mr Caine has shown me any kindness, it is just his way.'
'You presume to know your employer better than I do? You are impertinent, Monk. You put on airs above your station and I will not stand for it.'
'If the governor speaks to me I can hardly ignore him,' Eloise protested, stung by the unfairness of Miss Marchant's accusations. She had not gone out of her way to be noticed, and she had taken pity on Maria simply because she was a motherless child.
With an angry hiss, Miss Marchant raised her hand and struck Eloise on the face, causing her neck to snap backwards with the force of the blow. 'One more word out of you and you can pack your bags and leave this establishment. I won't have you speaking to me as if you were an equal, and I will not stand by and watch you making sheep's eyes at the governor.'
Joss had witnessed the slap, and that, together with the sound of raised voices, made him utter a loud howl of fright, and the rest of the children began to snivel in sympathy. Miss Marchant covered her ears with her hands and slammed out of the nursery. It took Eloise some time to calm them all and despite her sore face she managed to sing lullaby after lullaby until each one of them succumbed to sleep. It was dark outside and as she lit the night lights she wondered what had kept Phoebe so long, or perhaps she had simply taken the opportunity to finish early that eve
ning, and who could blame her? With one last check on the sleeping infants, Eloise leaned over the cot rails to kiss Beth and Joss, and then she crept out of the nursery, closing the door softly behind her.
The corridor was unlit and the long shadows seemed to shift about, creating eerie pools of darkness as Eloise made her way towards the staircase. A door that had not been secured properly swung on its hinges in the draught and the sound of it closing made her jump. She was not normally nervous of the dark, or of walking the deserted corridors alone at night, and she could only think that Miss Marchant's tirade and physical assault must have upset her more than she had thought possible. It might have been some primitive instinct that warned her of danger or perhaps a slight movement in the shadows, but as Eloise was about to pass the sluice, she realised too late that someone was lurking in the doorway. A figure leapt out at her, grabbing her by the arms and pinning them behind her back with a triumphant cackle of laughter. Eloise could smell the sour stench of a woman's unwashed body and she fought to free herself, but her attacker had the advantage over her, and no matter how hard she struggled Eloise could not prevent herself from being dragged bodily into the sluice. 'Who are you?' she gasped, wincing with pain as the pressure on her arms increased. 'Let me go.'
'We got our orders and it'll be a pleasure to take you down a peg or two, missis. I got her, Maud. Come and do your stuff.'
Eloise recognised the voice – it was Flo, one of the charwomen who had taken against her from the start. 'I don't understand. Why are you doing this to me?'
'Shut up, you.' Maud emerged from the back of the room brandishing a pair of scissors. The silver blades flashed in a shaft of moonlight as she advanced on Eloise, eyeing her with contempt. 'You took work from us, you stuck-up bitch, and you've upset the matron good and proper this time.'