‘People would never pay more than that!’ laughed Sonny.
‘You’d be surprised at what some people will pay for a portrait of their favourite horse,’ smiled Lewis. ‘Especially from an artist of your calibre, unknown or not.’
‘But how do I get these commissions if no one knows me?’ protested Sonny.
‘They soon will, once you’ve exhibited at my gallery,’ replied Lewis. ‘I don’t like to see talent going to waste. You’ll soon make a name for yourself. Here’s my card, should you wish to get in touch before I see you again. Good day.’
William passed the man on his way out. Finished with his coffee roasting he was visiting the counting house before he went home. ‘I see we’ve sold another.’ He nodded satisfiedly at his grandson. ‘How much?’
‘Ten guineas,’ Sonny informed him.
‘Ten … bloody ’ell, he must be puddled! Ten bloody guineas for a picture?’
‘Aye, it took me by surprise as well,’ laughed Sonny and turned to his mother. ‘Ten guineas!’ Then the significance of the piece of paper in his hand made him pensive. He had been wondering how to ask for time off to go and see the bank manager and now he had been given the excuse.
‘D’you think it would be all right for me to nip to the bank and pay this in? I’d sooner not have it lying around the shop.’
‘Afraid it’ll find its way into the till, are you?’ asked Thomasin.
‘He wouldn’t be far wrong, I’ll bet,’ mocked her father.
‘Eh, you’d better hop it before I dock your wages,’ warned Thomasin, then grinned at Sonny as the old man left with a rude retort. ‘Oh, I’m really pleased for you, Son. It’s time you had some good luck. Go on then, you’d better take it to the bank so it doesn’t get lost.’
‘Oh, thanks.’ He moved to the door.
‘Er, if it’s not too much to ask would you find me that price before you go?’
He laughed and clapped a hand to his face. ‘Sorry! I clean forgot about it. I’ll do it now.’ He was gone about thirty seconds and bounced back into the counting house. ‘It’s one and three ha’pence! God, I still can’t believe this … I can’t wait to tell Peggy.’
She wrote down the price, then laid aside her pen. ‘Well, if you just can’t wait tha’d best go now.’
‘But you need me here, don’t you? I’d feel so guilty …’
‘Guilty be tickled! You’ll be no use to me whatsoever till you’ve got this out of your system and I’m sure I can cope for one afternoon. Go on! Take that cheque to the bank then go home and tell milady all about it. I’m sure anything to do with money will alter her features and that’ll benefit us all.’
He was her loving son again. ‘Oh, thanks, Mam!’ and knocked her head sideways with a rough kiss before dashing off.
At the bank he paid in his cheque, but found that the manager would be engaged for some hours yet and so made an appointment for the following Monday when he knew his mother would be round at the other store doing the weekly ordering. Then he caught a cab, the sooner to be home and tell his wife the great news. This was just what they had been waiting for. Now he was no longer dependant on his mother!
Chapter Forty-Four
But sadly when he arrived home there was no sign of Peggy. Never one to ring for a maid when his legs would serve him just as well, Sonny went through to the kitchen to question Josie.
All three domestics, who had been taking a short break from their chores, stood at his entrance. He waved them down, but Josie maintained they had been chatting long enough and sent the underlings on their way. They giggled as they passed him, knowing how their master was coveted by their superior.
‘I just came to ask if you know where my wife is,’ said Sonny, having the grace not to comment on her blushes – perhaps because he never noticed them.
She turned away to lift a heavy tin from a shelf and place it on the table in the centre of the kitchen. There was a note of disapproval in her answer. ‘She’s gone out, sir. She usually does of an afternoon.’
‘Oh … she’s gone to the park, I suppose. There goes my surprise.’ He watched her struggle to open the can with hammer and chisel. ‘Here, let me do that.’ She passed over the implements and complimented him on his deft opening of the can. ‘You’d think somebody would invent a better method of opening cans than this, wouldn’t you?’ he said, passing back the tin. ‘You could do with me in here all the time I’ll bet; have me on a shelf alongside the tins so’s every time you needed to open one you’d only have to lift me down.’
She giggled. ‘Oh, Mr John you are funny!’ He was in high spirits today, Josie thought and she knew the cause of it. When Abigail had made Miss Peggy’s bed she had found Mr John’s clothes in a pile on the carpet and had taken great delight in telling Josie. Well, at least he’s happy again, thought the young housekeeper, and if he is then so am I … No, I’m not! I could smack her stupid face, messing him about like she does.
‘Well, as I’m not to have the company of my wife I must find something else to occupy me,’ said Sonny. ‘It’s a pity she takes the children with her; I haven’t had a game with them in ages.’
‘Oh, she doesn’t take them with her any more, Mr John,’Josie informed him, thankful for the excuse to speak on the subject. ‘Miss Peggy says too much exercise is bad for them. She’s taken to putting them to bed for the afternoon.’
‘Well, yes – I suppose that’s sensible. Still,’ he winked, ‘I can’t see it doing much harm if I wake them for once, and I’m sure they’ll be glad to see me.’
Josie was about to add something as he made his exit from the kitchen, but decided not to bother, anticipating his swift return.
When he did reappear his face was worried and puzzled. ‘I couldn’t rouse them. I know it was wrong of me but I even picked Rosie up by the shoulders and shook her and still she wouldn’t open her eyes. She was just like a little rag doll – Nick, too. D’you think I ought to call the doctor?’
She caught her lip between her teeth. He noticed her reluctance to speak. ‘Do you know what’s the matter with them? Come on, girl! If you do then say so, for Heaven’s sake. They look dreadful.’
‘There’s nothing exactly wrong with them, Mr John,’ she began.
‘Is my wife aware of their malady?’ he asked. She didn’t respond. He became stem. ‘Josie, if you know what ails those children I demand that you tell me now!’
‘It’s really not my place …’
‘Tell me!’
‘Well … oh, I shouldn’t say this.’ She put a hand to her cheek. ‘Miss Peggy’ll think I’ve been spying on her. I didn’t mean to find it, honestly. I thought it were just a bundle o’ mucky washing – then I felt summat hard and found the bottle wrapped up in the bundle.’
He sprang to the wrong conclusion and his face was aghast. ‘D’you mean to tell me my wife’s been drinking?’
‘Oh no, sir … It was a medicine bottle. I took the stopper off an’ sniffed it. It smelt o’ treacle. Then I remembered she – that’s Miss Peggy, sir – she asked me for some treacle a long time ago. I thought it were a strange request but I gave it to her. Of course, I didn’t know what it was she wanted it for then.’
‘Josie,’ he shook his head perplexedly. ‘What is all this leading to? All this nonsense about treacle?’
‘Well, you see, Mr John, I heard that sometimes when babies are fractious people dose ’em with treacle an’… an’ summat else.’
He sighed exasperatedly at her longwindedness. ‘What summat else?’
She hesitated, then said, ‘Opium, sir.’
‘Op … Jesus, Mary an’Joseph! How long has this been going on?’
‘A couple o’ months at least, Mr John,’ replied Josie, then blurted, ‘An’ if you don’t mind my saying so I don’t think it’s right. Not right at all. I grant it could’ve been partly my fault, but…’ Here he interrupted to ask for an explanation. ‘Well, sir, when Miss Peggy took to leavin’ the bairns at home I told her they
was being a nuisance. I didn’t mean it,’ she told him hastily, ‘I just made it an excuse so she’d start takin’ ’em again. They missed their walks. I don’t know why she stopped taking them all of a sudden. They can be little devils I know but… Anyway, she didn’t take the bait, just started putting them to bed. I didn’t catch on at first, kept wonderin’ why they were all listless at teatime, and their breath smelt…’ she screwed up her nose, ‘… well, not normal, like. Then when I found the bottle I knew straight away.’ She reached out and clasped his arm unthinkingly. ‘You must stop her, Mr John. She doesn’t know what harm she’s doin’. I tried to tell her but you know what she thinks of me.’
He laid his fingers over those resting on his arm, and for an instant she felt the heat from his skin transfer itself to her. Then he released her and said resolutely, ‘Thank you for telling me, Josie. I shall put a stop to it, of course. And if my wife has some reason why she can’t take the children with her when she goes out then I must put a stop to that, too.’
‘No, Mr John I’d rather you didn’t! Oh, dear, I’m ever so sorry.’ She blushed. ‘I’m forgetting myself. It’s not my place…’
‘Forget about your place for once, Josie,’ he replied kindly. ‘What were you about to say? Come on, I regard you as a friend, you can speak your mind without fear of chastisement.’
A friend, she thought miserably – that’s the most I can hope for. ‘Well, sir, by all means put a stop to Miss Peggy dosing the children – that’s only right – but I’d rather you didn’t stop her going out. She … well, I think we both know that your wife doesn’t hold me in very high regard. If you cut off her pleasure she’ll take it out on me.’
He might once have answered: ‘Don’t be silly!’ But not now. He had got to know his wife too well. ‘But it doesn’t seem fair that you should have to look after the children, Josie – you’ve got your owm job. If my wife finds it too taxing then we must hire a proper nanny.’
‘Oh, no please!’ She started forward. ‘Don’t do that, Mr John. I’d never see them at all then, an’ I wouldn’t like that They’re wonderful bairns, I love ’em as much as anyone in this house. I can quite manage to fit in my own work between looking after them – even though that Miss Rosanna is like a drop o’ quicksilver.’
He smiled and patted her arm. The shiver went through her again. ‘Yes, I’ve noticed how fond you are of them, Josie and how well the three of you get on together. Very well, if it won’t be too much of an imposition … though I shall definitely speak to my wife about the opium. Don’t worry though, I shan’t say how I came to find out – and thank you once again for telling me.’
She flushed at the warmth of his voice. ‘Mr John, if you’ve nothing better to do I was just going to put the kettle on for a pot of tea; I’d be honoured if you’d join me.’
He was still in the kitchen when Peggy returned from her jaunt. When the bell sounded from the drawing room he begged leave of Josie – treated me just like a lady, she would think afterwards – telling her not to answer its summons for he wanted to speak to his wife alone.
He was stunned by her appearance as the surprised face flew up at his entry – her disarrayed hair and enlarged pupils, the flushed cheeks and bruised, pouting lips. He had only ever managed to produce that result once, but knew exactly what it meant. He did not need to ask now why she had left the children at home. She had been with a man.
‘Why, Sonny dear – I didn’t expect to find you here!’ She held out her arms and pecked his cheek. His nostrils flared at the musk that wafted from her heated body.
‘Mother let me go early,’ he finally stammered. ‘I came home to see you.’
‘Oh, what a shame.’ She found herself a seat. ‘I’ve been to visit my mother – she’s so ill, poor dear. I had to stay with her all afternoon.’
His gorge rose at this deceit but he fought it down. ‘Is that why you never took the children with you?’
‘Naturally. I didn’t want to subject them to infection.’
Oh, Peggy, how could you? he raged inwardly. After last night. Such a wonderful night. He had thought, hoped, that this was to be the start of their reconciliation. They had talked long into the night, discussing how they might soon be able to afford a place of their own; how they would add another child to their family.
‘Sonny, what are you staring at?’ she asked vexedly.
‘Nothing.’ He sat down before his shaking legs betrayed him. ‘Peggy, I want to speak to you about the children.’ He could not look at that mottled face.
‘What about them?’ she said carefully. ‘They haven’t been causing trouble, have they?’
‘They’d hardly be doing that in the situation in which I found them when I came in earlier. My intention, when I found that you had left them behind, was to spend the afternoon playing with them. Unfortunately I was unable to wake them.’
‘You should know better than to disturb a child’s sleep, Sonny,’ she rebuked, though still even-tempered.
He looked at her sharply then. ‘Had it been a normal sleep perhaps I wouldn’t have done. But I was worried for their safety.’
‘Safety?’ she laughed uneasily. Damn him, he knew! How had he found out?
‘Please, Peggy,’ he said wearily. ‘I know what you’ve been doing and I want it to stop.’
‘I don’t have the slightest idea …’
Impatiently he grabbed her arm and marched her up to her room where, after a brief search of the wardrobe, he brought out the bundle of stockings containing the bottle of opium. ‘Now, deny that you’ve been doping them every day with this!’ He thrust it under her nose.
‘How dare you accuse me of such an act!’ she cried indignandy. ‘Dope my own children? Why, I had no idea that botte was even there. Who has been spreading malicious lies?’ She narrowed her eyes at his silence. ‘Why, it’s that maid, isn’t it?’
‘Peggy …’
‘Don’t you Peggy me! You knew exactly where to look. You believe the word of that trollop against that of your own wife.’
‘That’s not true. Josie has nothing to do with this …’
‘Don’t lie! I know her – she’s still trying to get her hooks into you by blackening my character. The truth is that it was most probably her who planted that bottle in my wardrobe just to vilify me. I can see it all now. She’s waited until my back was turned then doped the children to keep them out of her way. She was always complaining about them, and now she’s trying to blame it all on me.’
‘Don’t be ridiculous!’
‘I’ve caught her before rifling through my belongings, looking for things she can steal.’
‘She wouldn’t!’
‘Oh, no! of course she wouldn’t,’ sneered his wife. ‘She couldn’t do anything wrong, our dear Josie, could she? Only steal another woman’s husband!’
He seized her by the shoulders and shook her. ‘Peggy, you’re getting yourself all worked up over nothing. Josie doesn’t mean a thing to me; she’s only a friend. You’re my wife, I love you. Didn’t I make that clear last night?’
‘Then why won’t you believe me instead of her?’ she demanded.
‘Because … oh, I don’t know what to believe any more.’ He ran his fingers through his hair in an act of defeatism. ‘What’s happened to us, Peggy? We were happy once, weren’t we? It wasn’t all in my imagination – or was it^5^’ His eyes came up to confront her. ‘Was last night just a pretence? You go on about Josie trying to steal me, yet you don’t want me yourself, do you? Not really. Come on, admit it.’ He could not bear to say the rest; still felt sick at the image of another man’s hands on his wife’s beautiful breasts, her thighs …
She became afraid then, seeing the plentiful life slip from her grasp. Who would support her if Sonny should throw her out? Certainly not Edward. ‘I do want you, Sonny!’ she started to sob. ‘I do!’
‘Then why?’ he beseeched her. ‘Peggy, I know … I can see …’
‘See what?’ she flashed,
the tears miraculously dry. ‘If I am to be pilloried about some other crime then you must try to be more articulate. But I warn you, if it is another of that maid’s …’
‘I can see you’ve been with another man!’ he yelled at her. ‘Is that bloody articulate enough for you? How can you stand there and swear that you want me when you’ve just come from someone else’s bed?’
She glared at him breathlessly, her plump breasts heaving. ‘Tell me I’m wrong!’ he barked. ‘Tell me!’
Slowly, her enraged frown melted into futility. ‘I can’t,’ she said flatly, and turned her back on him.
He spun her round to face his attack. ‘I told you!’ he shouted. ‘Didn’t I say last night that if you were unhappy with me then you were quite at liberty to leave; that I wouldn’t hold you to this marriage? Why, why do you continue to live with me if you so obviously feel nothing for me?’
She gave up her pretence. ‘Do you really have to ask that? You’ve seen what sort of home I come from. Would you want me to go back to that?’
He was visibly shaken; even though he had been the one to bring it into the open he had expected her to deny it. ‘Are you telling me you only married me for what I could give you, and to give your child a name? Is that all I ever meant to you?’
She did not answer, just stared at him with those black treacle eyes full of nothing.
He made a little knowing sound in his throat. ‘Well…!’ He thrust his free hand into his pocket and stared down at the bottle in the other. Then, slowly, he turned and made for the door. There, he managed to accomplish his original command. ‘You may not care for your husband, but you will have a bloody thought for the health of our children. This is going where it belongs – in the dustbin. I don’t expect to find another in this house.’
Not even as he left did he remember he had not shared his exciting news. But later he would remember, and would cancel his appointment at the bank; he would not leave this house now.
For My Brother’s Sins Page 58