‘Hello there’, called Miss Claremont, waving her hand, ‘I’m so glad I’ve see you. Do you like it here? I’m not so sure, myself’.
Ellie had only spoken to the nurse on two other occasions, and had always suspected that the nurse considered a scullery maid to be ‘beneath’ her. Nevertheless, Ellie smiled at the nurse and said, ‘you mean you don’t like being in this lovely place, with its lovely fresh air and beautiful countryside?’
‘Oh I like it well enough. I used to live here, when Mister Barnstable was alive, it’s just that all my friends are back in Leeds and there’s little to do here, except look after the children’, she said, bending down to pick up Samuel’s toy dog which he had seen fit to throw out of the perambulator. ‘Beth has gone with Grandma and Grandpa, to visit friends and Samuel has caught a cold again, poor love. He’s a little unsettled today’.
Ellie peered at the little tot and tickled his chin. Samuel looked back at her with dull, disinterested eyes. She must admit she didn’t like the look of the child at all. She couldn’t say, exactly, what it was that worried her but she was not happy about him.
‘Is his pallor always so bad?’ she asked, observing the child, ‘he seems to be a little sallow’.
Miss Claremont looked sharply at the maid quickly turning around to retrace her steps.
‘He’s a little off peek, that’s all. I’m sure he will be much improved by tomorrow. It’s his cold, you know’. She went off, walking at a brisk pace.
‘Well’, said Ellie, ‘clearly, that’s the end of that conversation’.
Kate smiled, quizzically, ‘what was all that about Ellie?’
‘I don’t know Kate, I don’t know’, she answered, thoughtfully.
Lying in bed, that night, with Kate’s arm resting on her waist, Ellie thought again about the child, and almost immediately, it came to her. She knew, almost without doubt, what was wrong Samuel and, not only did she abhor the situation, she knew she could not live with it on her mind.
The next day the girls were up at six and down for breakfast at six forty thirty. Ellie was in a quandary about what to do about her suspicions.
She worked until nine thirty, all the while, worrying about Victoria’s child, and then, suddenly, it all got the better of her. She knew that her first priority had to be for the child’s well being, so she should have no qualms about the nurse. With this decision made, she asked for a quiet word with Missus blunt.
‘Are you absolutely sure Ellie? It’s important that you are, otherwise, you are going to be in a lot of trouble’, said Cook, worrying not only about the girl but her own position. She didn’t know about these things, having never had children of her own and couldn’t be sure that Ellie was right.
‘I am as sure as I can be Missus Blunt. The child is being poisoned. I’ve seen this before, but I never thought it went on in the upper classes. Anyway, if I am wrong, I will have to live with the consequences. What I can’t live with is being right and not doing anything about it’.
‘Well Ellie, be it on your own head. I will go with your story to Missus Barnstable and let her decide’.
She took off her apron and went towards the door, turning to add, ‘oh Ellie, I do hope you know what you’re doing?’
On the other hand, Ellie hoped she was wrong. If she was right it would cause quite a stir and she would be at the centre of it and that’s the last thing she wanted. And besides, if she were mistaken, it would mean that little Samuel was not in danger.
She didn’t have to wait long for Cook’s return. She dashed into the kitchen, upset and flustered, ‘Ellie, you’re wanted in the Dining room. Missus Barnstable said you were to go to her immediately’.
Ellie took off her apron and, trembling at what was to come, she left the kitchen, leaving Kate wondering what all the fuss was about.
Ellie found Victoria, sitting in her invalid chair by the table, her breakfast untouched.
‘Sit down please’. She indicated the chair nearest to her.
‘Ellie isn’t it? Now tell me what you told Missus Blunt. And please, leave nothing unsaid. Don’t worry if your fears prove unfounded. I love my children and I appreciate your concern’.
Ellie hesitated, fleetingly, and then relayed to Missus Barnstable her fears.
‘When I was growing up in Canal Street, there were women who lived there who my mother would not even speak to. They were the ones who drugged their babies so they could go out to the alehouse every night. All they had to do was go to the Apothecary and ask for medicine for that purpose. They would be provided with a substance, which has in its makeup, Opium. It can be sold quite legally, but is considered by some, to be highly dangerous, especially, for infants. I think that your son is showing symptoms of this poisoning. And that’s just what it is Ma-am, poison. I thought you ought to know about it’.
Victoria's own pallor changed as she listened to Ellie. The girl obviously knew what she was talking about. ‘Yes Ellie, you were right to tell me. Now tell me of the symptoms’.
‘The child’s eyes are dull, and often, the lids are drooping. The skin changes to a grey-like colour. You have probably found that Samuel is well behaved at night?’ She paused waiting for an answer.
‘Yes. He is so good; I hardly know I have him. But Beth was the same as a baby. I just thought how lucky I was to have such a good nurse’.
‘Well Ma-am, He’s good because he is doped to make him sleep. And I think it’s wrong to do that to a child’.
‘Thank you Ellie. You may go back to your work and please be assured that I will get to the bottom of this’.
‘Thank you Ma-am’, said Ellie, dipping her knee and making for the door.
Richard entering the Dining room prevented her from going. He was surprised to see her there, as he knew that her work was usually in the kitchen.
‘Hello Ellie, I hope you are well?’ He thought she looked a bit ‘peeked’.
‘Quite well, thank you Sir’, she said.
He stepped to one side so she could pass him but not so far that he could not smell the scent of her. She slipped passed him and out of the room.
‘What did Ellie want?’ he asked his sister, ‘she looks as if she had something on her mind’.
‘She did Richard and I’m grateful to her for bringing the matter to my notice’.
She thought for a moment and then said, ‘and what is your interest in such a girl, Richard? She’s a pretty little thing. Could it be that you hope to bed her?’
His face took on an expression of incredibility, ‘what scullery maid? How low do you think I am?’
The instant the words were said, a great feeling of guilt came over him, and he knew how low he really was. He also knew that Ellie must never have anything to do with him. He could ruin her life.
Instantly, Richard took is guilt feelings out of his sister. ‘I won’t be having breakfast today, Vicky, I can’t stand the company’, and without a backward glance he bounced out of the room.
‘Richard. ... I’m sorry ............’ she called, but he was gone.
Some ten minutes later, Victoria consulted her mother and father. They were astounded by what Ellie had told their daughter.
Her father was angry, and bellowed, ‘and what could a mere slip of a girl know about such things? You had better be sure before you do anything drastic, which you may regret’.
Her mother agreed. ‘She is an exceptionally good nurse dear and you may not want to risk losing her’.
‘Is no one listening to me?’ cried Victoria, ‘my children are in danger and all you seem to think of is ‘spare the nurse’. I will dispense with her services at once, and get another nurse to care for the children, as soon as we return home’.
Edward could see that his daughter was distraught, and who could blame her? Taking into account what this ‘Ellie creature’ had said to her, it was understandable. She must be mistaken. He would find out, for certain, before finally deciding what to do. ‘Drat the girl’, he thought.
&
nbsp; ‘Victoria’, he said, ‘just give me a few hours and I will get all the information you want, by lunch time today, then you will know what steps to take. Then, whatever you decide to do, I will back you completely. Do you agree?’
Victoria was beside herself, with worry, but her father was right, she really couldn’t act hastily and regret it later. However, something about Ellie had impressed her. The girl had been genuinely concerned and had seemed to have knowledge of the drugs.
‘Yes Daddy, I agree to wait, but only until twelve o’clock. I can’t afford to wait any longer. You understand Daddy, don’t you?’ She gave her father a look, which told him that his ‘little girl’ was relying on him.
‘Yes my dear, of course I do. You’ll see it will be a big fuss about nothing. Woe betide that girl if that is the case’.
Edward took the horse and trap and made his way to the centre of York. He was acquainted with a man who ran an Apothecary there.
He tethered the horse in ‘The Shambles’, where the shop was situated and entered, to see his friend, Michael at the top of a lofty set of stepladders.
‘Good morning Michael. Have you a moment to spare me? I need a little advice’.
The man surveyed Edward, over the rim of his spectacles, ‘ah Edward! You are here for another of your visits, I presume?’
‘I am, indeed, Michael and very nice to be here too. A week is never enough but I need to be back at the mill by the weekend. You can only rely on Managers for so long, and then you start to worry’.
‘There’s nothing to prevent your family staying on, is there?’ reasoned Michael.
‘No, nothing at all, but Louise insists that we may live anywhere I please, but always, together. I don’t know what she thinks I will get up to if she leaves me in Leeds, even for one night without her’. He said this with a wicked smile, and then went on. ‘However, Victoria would find life here very satisfying and the air would do her good. Of course, the memories are not all good, there was the accident, you know.’
For a moment, he looked saddened by his reminiscences, and then continued, briskly.
‘But there is another matter which is bothering my daughter, and that is the main reason I am here today’.
Michael listened carefully to what Edward had to say and, as the story unfolded, he showed his concern by shaking his head whilst his brow furrowed from time to time. When Edward had finished, his friend was quite upset and advised him to get rid of the nurse, ‘and have no qualms about it’, he said, firmly. Edward was surprised at his friend’s venomously but listened intently, as he went on.
‘The children will not be affected, permanently. Not if you dismiss her now. But should this state of affairs persist, then they would be in grave danger, especially, the young one’.
Edward’s expression changed from one of shock, to anger, ‘you mean the nurse would do this sort of thing, deliberately?’
‘Oh yes. No doubt about it. I have been in this profession all my life and have known of many practices which would turn your hair white overnight. There is no question of its legality. There is no law, which prohibits the sale of such medicine, but I make it a rule, that the purchaser should not intend to administer it to a child. Of course, I cannot always be certain that this is adhered to. I can only do my best and, perhaps this way, I may help the situation a little’.
Edward was quite distraught now, but Michael, a nurse? Surely she would know better?’
‘I’m afraid, Edward, that nurses and governesses are the worst offenders, being in charge of children is often tiresome so they see this as lessening their work load. The employers consider them to be exceptionally good at what they do, or they think their children are particularly well behaved. It occurs, mostly in upper class households, such as your own’.
‘The woman will have to go of course’, said Edward, ‘thank you for your help and when I get this infernal business out of the way we must have an hour or two together, before we return home’.
Edward picked up his hat and went towards the door, ‘I will be in touch’, he called.
‘Good luck Edward, I hope you sort it out to your satisfaction’, said Michael.
He returned to the job, he had started earlier, and shook his head in despair. He was heartily sick of the, so-called, authorities that allowed such things, when they knew nothing, and cared even less about the consequences.
That same day, Miss Claremont was sent for and dismissed. She was astounded, when she was told of the reason and stared at Missus Barnstable, in disbelief.
‘But I did nothing wrong. I don’t understand. It is a common practice in my profession’.
‘Well Nurse, it will not be so, where my children are concerned. Not any more. Do you realize the harm you could have done?’
Victoria’s angry cry could be heard two rooms away. ‘You will pack your things and get out of this house immediately. You may pick up the rest of your belongings next week, when the Master and Mistress are back at the town residence. Perhaps, in your next position, you will take better care of your charges. Now get out of my sight’.
Miss Claremont almost ran from the room, her face streaked with tears. Victoria called after her, ‘do not ask for a reference for I fear, in all truth, I could not give one’.
Miss Claremont did not hear the comment. Within the hour she was climbing into a cab destined for the railway station.
Throughout that night, Louise was at her wit’s end. Samuel cried, constantly, and Beth slept restlessly. They seemed, positively, ill. It was she who went to them in the nursery; after all, she was their maternal Grandma and felt obliged to do so. She had to admit, though, that it was quite foreign to her, this ‘baby holding’ and ‘rocking’ of children. She had never had to do it for her own offspring and objected to having to do it now. However, for this one night, there was no other way.
At five o’clock, in the morning, Mable came to her, on tiptoe, and said, sympathetically, ‘Ma-am? Would you like me take over while you get some rest? I’m sure you could do with it’.
‘Oh Mable, would you? That’s so kind. I am rather tired’, she said, grateful for the offer.
‘Perhaps, tomorrow, we can work something out with the maids? It would take the strain, until we go back home, wouldn’t it?’ suggested Mable.
‘Yes, I’m sure that will be the best solution. I’ll rest now’, said Louise, relieved, at last, from her unpleasant duty.
As she left the nursery, she thought, it is not the kind of task the lady of the house should be expected to do’. But she could hardly expect poor Victoria to do it.
Arrangements were made, the following day, for a local girl to come in, as she often did when James was here alone. Her name was Katherine, and she was used to children, coming from a large family.
Victoria instructed her in the children’s routine and made it very clear that no medicines were to be given to them, at any time, without they are first discussed with her.
Katherine got on with her new job, the children settled down, and a great sign of relief swept over the household. Not least of all, in the kitchen.
The Mistress commended Ellie for her observations, and for her prompt action, in bringing the matter to their attention. Cook told Ellie, ‘this could do you a lot of good dear’.
‘I only did what I thought was right, Missus Blunt. I don’t want thanks, just to know that the children are all right’.
But Ellie was also relieved to know that she still had a position here. She didn’t think she could bear to go back to Canal Street and her previous life. True, she worked harder now, but she had good friends and good food and, sometimes, she had a glimpse into another world. A world, which her mother could only dream about.
During the country visit, James often went into the kitchen to have a word with the staff. It would seem that he was in the habit of eating there, when he was at the house alone, which was often the case.
‘I miss breakfasting in this room’, he confided to Cook, ‘but I�
��m instructed that I should eat with the family while they are here, and I suppose they are right. I do miss it though’.
He was entirely the opposite, of his brother, Richard. James was easy going, and friendly towards them all, and laughed at their witty banter, often joining in.
Cook asked him, ‘don’t you get a little lonely, out here, all by yourself Sir?’
‘Well Rose, I’m not really alone am I? I have little Katherine and the labourers. Sometimes I prefer their conversation to that of my peers’, he laughed and added, confidentially, ‘don’t let on I said so will you?’
Missus Blunt giggled, girlishly, ‘no Sir, not a word’.
Rose was very fond of James, and wished he lived in the town house. It is such a change to be treated like a friend by someone as important as the master’s son, she thought, not without a little pride.
‘Do you still see Miss Musgrove, Master James? asked Cook, now feeling quite ‘chatty’, ‘you haven’t mentioned her for a while’
‘Oh Lucy? Yes Missus Blunt, I see her often, when I’m in Leeds. While I am here at the farm, she writes regularly, and sometimes comes out here to stay’.
He smiled as he pictured sweet Lucy.
Cook had been very taken with her and commented, casually, ‘I think she’s a nice young lady Sir, if you’ll pardon my impudence. Can we look forward to a celebration at sometime in the near future?’
James laughed, good-naturedly. ‘You ladies, how you like to ‘match make’. I do not expect that she would be willing to put up with me for more than a day at a time’.
‘Oh go on, Master James! You only have to look at her to see that she is taken with you’.
Missus Blunt felt that she had gone far enough so said nothing more. She did think, though, they’re well suited and, after all, they had been seeing each other for some three years now.
The Windsor Girl Page 12