Luckily, it wasn’t raining and they could sit outside on the top deck. Toughie enjoyed it as much as Gladys. They laughed and waved at the people they passed, who usually waved back. Some even made a gesture as though holding up a glass of ale and shouted back, “’Ere’s to you!”
They stayed on the bus for an hour and then found a pleasant little restaurant where the wine was as satisfying as the food. When they finished their meal, they ordered more wine, and Toughie began his story.
He started by telling her that his Uncle Victor had returned to Italy from Australia only to learn that Toughie’s grandfather had passed away and his mother, Victor’s sister—a promising young opera singer—had run off with Toughie’s father, Hugh Matthews.
Hugh was English, a common labourer, and not a Catholic—three sound reasons for Maria’s parents to refuse to accept him as a suitor for their daughter. Against their wishes, Maria left home and married Hugh in London. She wrote home often but never received a reply. Then, when she and Hugh fell upon hard times and were forced to move to Old Nichol, she was too ashamed to tell them and stopped writing.
Her mother had never opened any of the letters, but she couldn’t bring herself to destroy them. When she gave them to Victor, he insisted she listen while he read them aloud. When she heard that Maria had a son whom she had named Angelo, after her father, his mother broke down and cried from both grief and guilt.
Victor held her until she stopped crying. He promised her he would find them and bring them home. Taking Maria’s last letter with him, he left for England the next day.
“It took my uncle a year after he began searching to discover that we had moved to Old Nichol. Even though the filth and the stench sickened him, he continued his search, walking the streets day after day asking everyone he met if they knew us. He was just about to give up when he came to our street. Luckily, Mr Scott, the butcher, heard that there was a stranger looking for a Hugh and Maria Mathews and their son Angelo, and he remembered my father.
“I guess the reason he remembered Dad was because he had saved a little girl from burning to death. Of course, Mr Scott didn’t know that my name was Angelo, but when he saw Uncle Victor, he knew we were related because we look so much alike.
“As soon as Uncle saw me, he knew I was his nephew. When I told him that Mother was dead, he was so heartbroken that I never told him how she died or how much she suffered. When he said he was taking me to Italy to meet my grandmother, I was happy to go with him. As Mr O told you, I gave the junkyard to his son, Rod. If it hadn’t been for Mr O, I don’t think I would have survived.”
Gladys took hold of his hand and said, “And if it wasn’t for you, I’m sure I wouldn’t have either.”
When they finished their wine, Toughie suggested they buy a bottle of sherry to take back to the flat where he would continue his story. Once they were back in the apartment, Gladys poured them each a drink, and Toughie said, “Now, where was I?”
“You had just left Old Nichol with your uncle. Did he take you to Italy?”
“He did, and I’ll never forget how excited I was the day we left. Uncle said I behaved like a proper gawker. We boarded a boat, but it wasn’t a very big one compared to the big ships that were beside it, but I didn’t care. I had never seen a boat before and didn’t mind what size it was. I stayed out on deck for the whole trip. I never knew anything could smell as wonderful as that salt air.”
“I know what you mean!” Gladys exclaimed. “I had almost forgotten the day I left London and how wonderful it was to smell fresh air. It was even sweeter when we arrived in Dover. I remember asking a man what the smell was, and he said, ‘Why that’s good salt air, my dear.’ But do go on, what happened after you went to Italy?”
“Well, we lived with my grandmother, who was so determined to put flesh on my bones with huge meals that I had to run up the hill behind her house every day so I wouldn’t get too fat. She really is a clever woman. She can speak English and French almost as well as she speaks Italian. She was also a talented musician, so it was easy to understand how disappointed she was when Mother ran off and didn’t continue with her singing career.
“Uncle and I only stayed in Italy for two months. You see, he had been with a troupe of Shakespearean actors for years in Australia and wanted to form a group of his own, so he decided go to England, find enough actors, and take them to America. He wanted me to join him, but I wanted to find a job and earn my own way. I came as far as here with him and found work on the docks. That way I sometimes found work on the boats going to Italy and could visit my grandmother from time to time.
“I courted a girl or two during the next five years, but I always compared them to you and couldn’t settle down.
“Then, two years ago, Uncle Victor came back from America with his troupe of actors. One of them became sick and died, and he needed someone to take their place. When he asked me if I would do it, I felt I owed him so much that I couldn’t refuse. I didn’t think I would ever be able to memorize so many lines, but I was doing quite well until the night you called out.”
“I am so sorry, Toughie,” Gladys said softly.
“Well, I’m not. If you hadn’t come and recognized me, we may never have met again. What did you think of my performance, by the way?”
“You were the most handsome and talented performer on the stage,” Gladys smiled.
Toughie smiled back at Gladys before replying, “You, milady, are not only beautiful but you also have excellent taste.”
“And you, sir, have developed a much larger head since you left Old Nichol. But tell me, when did you meet Rosa?”
“Rosa is the sister of my Uncle Victor’s wife, Carlotta. Uncle met Carlotta in America, and now they have three-year-old twin boys. Rosa has never been very well, and Carlotta has looked after her ever since their parents died. Carlotta is a strong-minded woman, and she was so determined that I should marry Rosa that before I realized what was happening, she had announced our wedding. I know that sounds like an excuse, Gladdy, and maybe it is, but it made Rosa so happy that I couldn’t break her heart and tell her I didn’t love her, so I went along with it. Now she is going to have our child and she isn’t very well, so I must stay with her. I have no choice.”
Along with feeling jealous, Gladys couldn’t help but feel betrayed, even though she knew that until yesterday he had no idea she was alive. “I know, Toughie, but to lose each other now after all these years is almost unbearable.”
“I know, but I promise you I will never truly love anyone but you, even though we may never see each other again.” Then he put his hand on his heart and vowed, “I shall go to my grave with your name on my lips.”
“And I shall die with yours on mine,” Gladys answered solemnly. The theatrical tone of their vows added a touch of drama and romance to their rendezvous, and they laughed in spite of their imminent separation.
They reminisced for hours, and the bond they had when they were growing up in Old Nichol grew stronger with each memory. Gladys wanted to know about their childhood friends, Billy and Mick, who were both orphans, and Toughie told her that Billy had died. “After you left, Gladdy, things in Old Nichol became even worse, and they couldn’t both leave the coal bin they slept in at the same time or someone would chop it up and take it away for fire wood.
“Poor Billy wasn’t very well, so Mick did most of the foraging for food, but one day Billy insisted that he do his share and he left Mick and went out to find something to eat. He begged all day and had no luck, so he stole a sack of nuts from outside Mr Goodrich’s store and ran down the street. Mr Goodrich saw him and ran after him. Goodrich later told Mick that Billy would have gotten away, but his heart just gave out and he dropped dead right in the middle of the street.”
“Oh no,” Gladys cried. “Poor Billy. How did Mick find out?”
“Mr Goodrich picked Billy up, put him in his woodshed, and cov
ered him with some sacks until he could give him to the cart when it came around to pick up the bodies the next day. When Billy didn’t come home the following day, Mick left the bin and started looking for him. Mr Goodrich saw him and he took him in and showed him Billy’s body.
“Mr Goodrich was a good man, and he felt responsible for Billy’s death because he was chasing him, so he hired Mick and gave him a place to stay. You remember, Glad, how Mr Goodrich had lost all his family except for his daughter, Maud, the crippled one? Well, the last time I saw Mick, he looked like he was well and happy and he said that he and Maud were going to be married.”
“I am glad at least Mick is doing alright, but I sure feel sad that poor Billy is dead,” Gladys remarked. Talking about their childhood reminded Gladys of her mother, and she began singing one of Bert’s favourite songs while dancing around the room. Toughie clapped his hands and wanted more. She said she would sing another one if he would dance with her. He had never danced before, but with Gladys’s help, he managed to twirl around without falling down.
When they finished the dance, he kept his arm around her waist. “My God, Gladdy, you are beautiful,” he moaned as he pulled her close and kissed her. It was a kiss that had waited twelve long years to happen, and one they both wished could last forever. “I have to go,” he said as he broke away.
Gladys nodded her head but didn’t speak as he picked up his coat and hat. He had his hand on the door knob when he heard her softly say, “Don’t go, Toughie.”
“Are you sure, Gladdy?”
“Yes, my darling. Quite sure.”
Morning came too soon. They both knew their goodbye this time would be final, but their night together had surpassed their expectations and somehow made their parting a little easier to bear.
Gladys left for home early in the morning after she said goodbye to Toughie. James and Percy were still suffering with colds, but they were so anxious to hear what she thought of the play that Percy had come to Four Oaks around noon to wait for her return. James sent Jenkins to meet the afternoon train while he and Percy sat in the library together sipping brandy until Gladys arrived. They allowed her time to put her things away and to spend five minutes with Dolly before sending for her.
As soon as she entered the library, they began their inquiry without wasting time with salutations. They were disappointed when she lied and told them she hadn’t gone to the theatre, but Percy promised they would take her to another one of Shakespeare’s plays before too long. She managed to cheer them up by giving comical descriptions of some of the people she had seen on the train and describing the goods she had bought in London. When she was finished talking, she ordered a hot toddy for each of them and left to see to her duties.
For over a month after she returned from London, Gladys had a glow to her countenance that everyone noticed. James said the trip must have done her a lot of good and suggested that she should get away for a day or two once every few months.
Dolly had managed to keep up with the few duties Gladys had given her to do while she was away, but she wasn’t sorry to see her mother return. Although she didn’t spend a lot of time with Mother, she had missed her. Ever since her Gamby had been killed, Dolly felt an inkling of dread every time Gladys left home.
The memory of her night with Toughie was still vivid in Gladys’s mind as the weeks went by. Even if they never saw each other again, she was thankful they had that one night to remember.
All rational thoughts flew from her mind though when she realized she was pregnant. For a moment, she was overjoyed and thought about how wonderful it was going to be to have Toughie’s child. Now he would be a part of her life forever, even if he was married to another woman. She imagined the baby would be a little boy that looked just like Toughie and could picture how happy Dolly would be to have a baby brother or sister to fuss over. The three of them could take long walks. She still had Dolly’s pram. She was trying to remember where she had stored it when the realization of her present situation hit her and shattered her dreams.
All romantic thoughts were replaced by fear, and she wished she had never gone to London. The realization of how foolish she had been plagued her. She knew what James would think of her when he found out. He would think she was a harlot, and she could hardly blame him. He was bound to tell her to pack her bags and leave. She and Dolly would be homeless, and she knew no one hired a pregnant woman with a child.
During the following weeks, she had trouble sleeping at night and was often cranky with Dolly and the servants. Even James had noticed the difference in her demeanour. She seemed reluctant to spend time with Percy and him and made up excuses to prevent taking part in any of their activities. She also appeared to be losing weight, but since they didn’t dine together, he had no idea if she was eating her meals or not. He had begun to worry that she may be seriously ill when he happened upon her one afternoon as he was strolling around the garden.
She was sitting on one of the garden benches with her head buried in her hands and didn’t see him approach. When he spoke, she tried to hide her tears but couldn’t.
Sitting down beside her, James waited until she had control of her emotions before he asked if he could help in any way. He said it with such compassion that she decided to tell him what was happening. Besides, she knew he would have to know sooner or later.
With no doubt that she would be discharged no matter what she told him, she decided to make a complete confession and began by telling him that she had gone to the theatre that night in London and of her reunion with Toughie.
“I thought I would never see him again. You see, we were both born in a terrible place they called Old Nichol. When Toughie’s parents died, he was only five and left to fend for himself. Luckily, a kind man named Mr O’Brian let him sleep in his barn, but he had to forage for his own food.
“I was lucky in that my parents had a junkyard and a shack to go with it so I had a roof over my head. But when I was born, the water in the neighbourhood was so vile that my parents drank ale and other kinds of liquor instead. By the time I was four, they were so addicted to alcohol that they seldom paid any attention to me. If it wasn’t for Toughie, I don’t think I would have survived. Toughie was like a leader among the orphans, and he did his best to help them all, but many died of starvation or sickness anyway.
“I guess I loved Toughie from the first day I met him and he gave me a piece of the bun he was eating. I cannot begin to tell you how utterly poor the people in the slums were. Most of us had been born in the slums, and we had no idea what the outside world was like, but there was one special lady, Sally Tweedhope. Sally taught me to read and write. She wasn’t from the slums originally and she was well educated.”
James had never met anyone who came from the slums before, and he could hardly believe Gladys’s story. “My God,” he exclaimed as he stared at her. “I cannot believe it! Why, you have impeccable manners and are as talented and gracious as any of the highborn ladies I know. I cannot comprehend how anyone born in a place so horrid could accomplish such a transition. From a guttersnipe to a beautiful lady. Tell me, how did you manage to leave there?”
“Well, you see, Sally’s husband also had a junkyard, and when they had a chance to leave Old Nichol, they gave their business to Toughie and he planned on building a place for us to live. I think he would have done it in time, but my parents became so terribly sick with alcohol that they couldn’t push the junk wagon anymore, and I could not push it alone. Soon we no longer made enough money to pay our rent. That’s when my mother made a pact with the devil. That is exactly what our landlord was—a devil. He was a horrid, despicable person. He gave my mother money to have his way with me.”
“How could any mother do a terrible thing like that?”
Gladys didn’t know why, but suddenly she felt the need to defend her mother. She resented James’s criticism, but how could she make someone like him, who never had
to drink putrid water, understand what it was like? Sally had known enough to boil the water they got from the communal pump, but unfortunately, Gladys’s mother hadn’t and she had substituted it with alcohol. She knew he would never understand, so she just said, “She was too sick to know what she was doing.”
James shook his head and waited for her to continue. Telling Toughie what happened had been easy because he knew how desperate things could be in Old Nichol. She did her best to find the appropriate words to describe how afraid she had been when she first realized she was about to be raped by a monster. She must have been successful because James was so shocked he couldn’t speak.
When she had finished telling him of her escape, she said, “So you see, sir, that is how I managed to get to Dover where I eventually met Tom Pickwick and your brother Keith.”
Finally, James found his voice, “But why on earth did you not go to your friend Toughie instead of running away?”
“I didn’t tell Toughie because I knew he would run away with me, and if we were caught, he would be hung too. It broke my heart to leave him, but as far as I could see, I had no choice. You know the rest of my story, except I didn’t tell you that Peter had hired a detective in London and found out that I married Tom under a fictitious name. I was afraid that he might have found out that I murdered our landlord too, and that is why I didn’t protest when he insisted that Dolly and I leave Dover and never return.
“For a long time Toughie looked for me, but he couldn’t find me. Toughie’s mother was from Italy and when her brother, who had been away for years in Australia, returned home and learned that she had run away with an Englishman named Matthews, he began to hunt for her. Toughie’s parents had died, but his uncle found him and took him out of the ghetto not long after I ran away. Toughie’s real name is Angelo Matthews.”
“But that still does not explain why you are crying. If you still love each other, I should think you would be happy to be together once more,” James interjected.
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