'He got into a fight, but he won't say who it was or what it was about,' Rosa said when Jack had taken himself off to bed.
'I had Mr Pertwee, a farmer near Alcester, in today complaining,' she said a week later. 'Jack was giving Mr Pertwee's young son orders to unload the waggon and not making any effort to help.'
'Isn't it Jack's job to unload?'
'Yes, of course, but Mr Pertwee said he was sitting up there like a sultan.' Her lips twitched. 'I don't know how he imagines sultans behave, and though I can't help being amused, it's worrying too. The business is dropping, and I'm sure most of it's to do with Jack's rudeness, because the other routes have maintained the same level for the past few months.'
'Can you drive with him one day and see how people behave towards him?' Max asked. 'If it's bad can you persuade him to stay in the office and employ another driver? After all, it's a lowly job for the owner of a business as big as yours is.'
'He won't. He enjoys the open air life.'
'You need to discover what the problem is first.'
Before Rosa could do that, however, more trouble erupted. It was the day she and Max were going to Birmingham again, using the tickets Celia had sent. Sid gave her the first news.
'Master Jack, he's gone,' the lad announced, coming into the office that morning.
'What do you mean, gone?' Rosa demanded, fearful of some repetition of Celia's disappearance.
'He just come in yard, though he wasn't drivin', not proper like, it were Mustard knowin' his way home. The waggon scraped the corner, and all Master Jack did was jump down and walk out of yard. When I could get past, for the wheel hub was jammed on the gate post and I 'ad to back Mustard up, he was nowhere in sight.'
Rosa tried not to let her concern show. 'He came back very early, so maybe he suddenly thought of some errand. Have you stabled Mustard?'
'Thought I'd best let you know about Master Jack first.'
'Thanks, Sid. Go and feed poor Mustard, and when you've done that just carry on. It'll be all right.'
Sid gave her a long look, then shrugged. Rosa wondered whether to go and search for Jack, but he was probably in a public house. Respectable women didn't go in these, especially not on their own, and even if she could steel herself to do it she knew it would simply make him angry. And she would not abandon this theatre trip with Max.
They arrived back late that evening, having had dinner on the way home, and were entering the kitchen when they heard a furious hammering on the front door. Rosa, with Max at her side, and a fearful Winnie hovering behind wielding the hastily snatched up kitchen poker, went to answer it.
A large, red-faced man stood there, holding a snivelling girl firmly by the arm. She was clutching a heavy old army greatcoat to her, but beneath it Rosa could see that her dress was torn in several places.
'I wants ter see that bloody crook what lives 'ere,' the man snarled.
'If you mean my brother he's not at home,' Rosa said firmly, but her heart was sinking. Now what had Jack done?
'Then we'll await 'is pleasure,' the man sneered, trying to push past a suddenly immovable Max. 'Yer might as well let me in. I've bin waitin' hours fer someone ter come 'ome, and I'm gonna wait all night if needs be, 'til 'e comes 'ome an' explains why 'e tried ter rape me daughter!'
*
'You were wonderful, Celia!'
Celia preened. 'It's so kind of you Agnes. I hope you enjoyed the play too,' she added, turning to smile at Mr and Mrs Rhodes who were standing behind Agnes in the doorway of the dressing room.
'Of course, my dear. We never expected to see our little Celia on a professional stage, did we, Mother?' Mr Rhodes boomed.
'I don't know how you manage two performances in a day,' Mrs Rhodes said with a sigh.
'Well, we only have a matinee twice a week, or it would become tiring.'
'Do you have time to come for tea with us?' Agnes asked anxiously. 'I've simply dozens of questions to ask.'
'I wonder why your sister didn't come? Most awkward,' Mrs Rhodes grumbled.
'Just let me change,' Celia said as she vanished behind the screen. 'Agnes, help me undo these hooks and eyes.'
'Why didn't Rosa come?' Agnes whispered. 'We thought she was coming with Adam, and he won't say why she didn't. Have they quarrelled?'
'Well, she's already seen the play once. I'm sure she'd be bored seeing it again,' Celia said quietly, 'so I sent her and Max tickets for a matinee in Birmingham. Now you can drive home with Adam. I said I'd help you, didn't I?'
Soon she emerged dressed in a fur coat and a red velvet cloche hat. 'I believe Rosa's still jealous of me for becoming a proper actress while she isn't even taking part in any amateur plays this winter, Mrs Rhodes. Where's Adam?'
'He went to book a table at the hotel. Come on, Celia,' Agnes demanded impatiently as Celia paused before the mirror and dabbed powder on her nose.
Celia glanced sideways at her. 'Are you so anxious to be with him again?' she asked softly. 'Poor Jack!'
Agnes flushed. 'Jack's been behaving oddly lately,' she complained as they followed her parents along the dimly lit corridor to the stage door. 'There have been rumours of fights with other carriers, and poor Rosa must be at her wits' end.'
When they caught up with the others they found Mr and Mrs Rhodes fretting about the evening.
'We ought to cancel our visit to the Barclays,' Mrs Rhodes was saying. 'Now that Rosa isn't here it means Agnes will have to go home alone with Adam.'
'She could come with us,' her father said with a fond look at his daughter.
'Mummy! You know I can't bear all that talk about the war, and that's all the Major ever wants to talk about. It makes me feel positively ill to listen to his stories about the horrors of the trenches, and how his men suffered from the gas.'
'I know, my dear, but they are very old friends.'
'So you'd disappoint them if you didn't go,' Celia put in. 'Surely you're not suggesting Adam wouldn't be a proper escort for Agnes?'
'Of course not.' Mrs Rhodes turned a dull red. 'It's just – well – unconventional for a young girl, who's been as sheltered as Agnes has, to drive alone in the dark with a young man. I mean, actresses are different. Oh dear, I didn't mean anything impolite, Celia.'
Celia was laughing. 'I know you didn't, but you can trust Adam to behave like an absolute gentleman, and most modern girls would think nothing of it. You don't want Agnes to look old-fashioned, do you?'
Mrs Rhodes looked uncertain. She glanced at her husband, but he had an abstracted expression on his face. 'Father, what do you think?' she asked loudly.
'I think we should trust the young people,' he said decisively. 'It's not as though we haven't known young Adam all his life.'
Celia smiled into her cup, then began to chatter about the tour and the opening in London two weeks later. This would serve Rosa right for not insisting that Jack shared his part of the business with her too.
*
'Jack did what?' Rosa exclaimed. 'I don't believe it!'
'Was you there?' the man demanded. 'Me daughter was, an' she knows.'
Rosa gulped. 'I'm sure there's some explanation,' she said faintly. 'Are you hurt?' she asked the girl. 'Come and sit in the parlour, and my brother will be home soon. Winnie, perhaps you could make a pot of tea.'
'I'm not leaving you with this madman,' Winnie declared, though Rosa was thankful to see she'd lowered the poker. No doubt she'd had second thoughts about how effective she could be, using it as a weapon.
'I think Mr Higham will be protection enough,' Rosa said, casting a pleading glance at Max.
'Don't worry, Winnie, I won't leave Rosa.'
The visitor gave a harsh laugh. 'Yer've no call ter fear I'll 'urt the lass, but I can't promise not ter throttle 'er brother if 'e dares show 'is face.'
'Please, Winnie. I need a cup, and I'm sure Miss – I'm sorry, I don't know your name, but the young lady would like one.'
Winnie went reluctantly. Rosa turned to the man.
&
nbsp; 'Can you tell me what happened?' she asked quietly. 'I don't have any idea how long my brother will be, he didn't say where he was going.'
The man looked uncertain, but Rosa's cool manner calmed him. Haltingly he began to explain.
'Me name's Joshua Bloor. I'm a tenant farmer, out Henley way. Mr Thorn's me landlord. Yer knows 'im?'
Rosa nodded.
'Aye, well. It's like this, see. Yer brother comes wi' the waggon most weeks, bringin' feedstuffs an' such. I was 'edgin' this mornin', an' Bessie 'ere was out in barn, lookin' fer eggs.'
'I never did nothin', I swear,' Bessie sobbed, 'but Ken won't believe me.'
'Who's Ken?' Rosa asked, bewildered. 'What happened?'
'Ken's 'er lad, gettin' wed termorrer, ain't they?'
Bessie gave a wail of despair. 'If 'e still wants me,' she howled.
'You said Jack tried to rape your daughter,' Max said carefully. 'He didn't succeed?'
'Not fer want o' tryin'. If me axe 'andle 'adn't 'a' broke I'd 'ave still bin in fields, layin' me 'edge, an' God 'elp my Bessie. Though if the 'andle 'adn't bin broke I'd 'ave used it on the bugger!'
'Let me get this straight. Bessie was in the barn when Jack came? Then what?'
'When yer brother saw 'er 'e went mad. That's the on'y explanation I can think of, 'e'd allus been respectful enough before though 'e never said much. 'E pushed 'er inter pile of 'ay, an' tried ter drag 'er dress off.'
'I dain't even smile at 'im,' Bessie protested. 'All I ever did was pass the time o' day, civil like, an' Ken can't prove no diff'rent! But 'e was like a wild animal, grabbin' at me.'
'If I 'adn't come back from fields my Bessie would 'ave bin ruined, she might 'ave bin dead! And now yer knows, Miss,' he finished, but the telling of the story seemed to have calmed him, and when Winnie appeared with the tray he accepted a cup of tea with a muttered word of thanks.
'Does Ken know about this?' Rosa asked.
Bessie began to sob. 'If 'e knows 'e'll kill me.'
'I'd have thought it more likely he'd want to kill Jack,' Rosa said frankly. 'But I find it so difficult to believe. Bessie, haven't you got lots of things to do for tomorrow, if it's your wedding day? Can you spare the time waiting here for Jack? He might not be in before midnight.'
Bessie sniffed. 'I still got the dough ter mix, ready fer mornin',' she admitted.
'And I'm sure you'd rather not have to face Jack, if it's true. You had a dreadful fright, but that was all. Wouldn't it be better for everyone if Ken didn't know about it? You do want to marry him, don't you?'
Bessie nodded. 'I don't want 'im ter know,' she said slowly.
' 'E's gotta pay,' her father broke in.
'Of course, if he did it. But he might say Bessie tempted him, flaunted herself, invited him into the barn. Why don't we agree to wait for a few days, until Bessie's wedding is over and I've talked to my brother? You, Mr Bloor, could come back on, say, Monday, and we'll talk with Jack. If he can't deny it I'm sure he'll want to give your daughter a wedding present. No one but ourselves need know. Ken needn't know, and there'll be nothing against Bessie's reputation.'
It took an hour of argument before Mr Bloor could be persuaded to follow this course, and Rosa was on tenterhooks for fear that Jack should walk in before she had sent her visitors away, and set off the whole argument again. But at last they left and she sank into the chair with a sigh of relief. Winnie brought more tea.
'Winnie, how dreadful. But surely Jack couldn't have done such a thing?'
'They were trying to con you, Miss Rosa. You'll see, there'll be threats if you don't pay up, and it's that hussy's word against poor Jack's.'
'But she'd lose too if it were made public. She did seem genuinely scared of what her fiancé would say. All we can do is wait and hear Jack's version.'
*
Max was finally persuaded to leave, and at two in the morning Rosa went to bed. Jack didn't return until the following morning, just as Rosa decided she must send Sid out with his waggon. He walked into the yard, hurled abuse at Sid because he hadn't yet hitched up Mustard, then stalked into the office to demand the day's list from Rosa.
She handed him the small sheaf of papers clipped together. 'Mr Bloor was here last night, complaining.' she said levelly.
'Who?'
'One of Adam's tenants. He brought his daughter Bessie. Now do you know who I mean?'
'Who the devil does he think he is to complain about me?' Jack demanded, thumping Rosa's desk with his fist. 'Peasant! Cretin! He should be gratified I even noticed the girl. Not that she was worth the effort, stupid little fool. You can tell him the silly bitch doesn't know what's good for her, and he needn't come whining to me for favours when I'm back where I belong. In fact he'll be off that farm before he knows where he is.'
Rosa blinked. 'Jack, you're talking nonsense. They say you tried to rape the girl! I don't believe them, so what really happened? Sit down and tell me.'
'Rape? What rubbish. Since the war these damned idiots expect to be treated as equals. What are Mr High and Mighty Bloor and his precious Bessie? Serfs! I'll show them. They'll see what happens to rebels.'
Before Rosa could recover from her consternation he stormed out of the office, forgetting the list of deliveries. Sid had hitched Mustard to the waggon, and Jack leapt onto the seat and cracked the whip. As Rosa ran out waving the papers he swung through the archway, scraping the wheel against the corner of the wall. Without looking for other vehicles, he urged Mustard into a lumbering trot and then a dangerous canter.
'He'll kill somebody!' Sid gasped.
'Thank heavens it's not a market day. Saddle Moonbeam, I'm going after him,' Rosa ordered. She didn't have time to change, but her boots were in the kitchen. Hastily she dragged them on, pulled a thick old jacket which had belonged to her father from the peg behind the door, and ran to help Sid buckle the girths. Within a minute they led out the mare, Sid helped her mount, and Rosa, oblivious to her short skirts flying out behind her, was mounted and fumbling for the stirrups. She rode as fast as she dared on the slippery cobbles, in pursuit of Jack.
*
The girl looked ill, Adam thought morosely. There were black smudges beneath her eyes, and her normally rosy cheeks were pale. Perhaps this wedding had been forced upon them by irate parents, as so many weddings were hastily arranged when the indiscretions of young lovers became obvious. Mr Bloor looked grim as he handed his daughter over to the young man who worked in Adam's stables. Then Adam felt a twinge of guilt as he recalled his own deliberate manoeuvrings to make love to Rosa. She'd trusted him when she'd agreed to stay at the Savoy after his mother had been ill, and he'd seized the opportunity of being alone with her to try and seduce her. If she'd given way to his persuasions then or since she might have become pregnant. He wanted to marry her, but he knew that a marriage under those circumstances would not be happy. Rosa would feel betrayed and he'd never be sure she really loved him.
He would have to persuade her into marriage before he could take her into his bed. He would drive into Stratford as soon as this wedding was over, and see Rosa. He'd stayed away since she'd made it plain she preferred Max's company to his, but it was silly to maintain an aloof silence if he truly wanted her. When he'd received Celia's letter and the ticket for her play at the Coventry matinee he'd thought Rosa would be going with Agnes and her parents. He scowled, recalling the drive home with Agnes. She made such obvious efforts to please him, and was so determinedly cheerful and understanding it cloyed. She'd told him that they'd supposed Rosa was driving to Coventry with him.
'That's what Celia said in her letter,' Agnes had insisted. 'It was her suggestion my parents could go on to visit the Barclays while I drove back with both of you. She knows I can't abide them.'
Adam's thoughts were whirling. Celia had plotted this, forced Agnes's company on him. Had Celia, who had always possessed a streak of mischief, been trying to separate him from Rosa? He'd go and see Rosa and try to sort it out.
The bride, now smiling
and looking more relaxed, walked down the aisle on the arm of her new husband. Adam gave them his best wishes and excused himself from joining the party at the farm. He thought Bessie looked relieved. As their landlord and Ken's employer he'd been expected to attend the wedding, but he knew they could behave with greater freedom if he didn't go to the wedding feast afterwards. He walked swiftly to where he'd parked his car under the ancient yew tree at the edge of the churchyard.
He was driving out of Snittersfield when he came across the wreckage of Jack's waggon.
***
Chapter 9
Rosa turned right as she came out of the yard. Jack had been heading along Windsor Street towards the Birmingham Road, and she would soon be able to catch up once out of the town. Mustard could not maintain that headlong pace for long. As she passed the Gasworks she caught a glimpse of the waggon rumbling along far ahead, holding to the crown of the road and forcing other vehicles to swing aside. Twice Rosa had to slow to a walk to pass irate drivers who had left their cars and carts sprawled untidily while they stood and shook their fists after Jack's retreating figure.
Then Jack swung right into a narrow lane, cutting dangerously across an approaching motor van, and setting the waggon rocking. Rosa groaned. If he met anything there it would be impossible to pass. Fortunately the twisting bends and the rough surface compelled a slower pace, and poor Mustard would be tiring. He wasn't accustomed to vigorous exercise.
The waggon took up most of the road, and though Rosa caught up with it she was unable to pass. 'Jack, stop!' she called, but he didn't appear to hear her. Then there was a slightly wider stretch with a grass verge alongside the hedge, and Rosa tried to overtake, hoping she might be able to catch at the reins or that her presence would halt Mustard.
'Jack, for pity's sake stop!' she shouted as she rode beside him. He cast her a wild glance and flicked the whip towards her. Rosa instinctively ducked, but the tip caught her a stinging blow on the cheek. She gasped with pain and astonishment, and her involuntary tug on the reins caused Moonbeam to rear in surprise.
By the time Rosa had regained control Jack was some way ahead, but the waggon was travelling at a more restrained speed, and she hoped he was coming back to his senses. And then as they careered round a bend she saw, at the bottom of a short hill, a cluster of cottages with a farmhouse and farm buildings on the slope beyond. And approaching them in the narrow lane was a smart pony and trap.
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