Sentence of Marriage

by Shayne Parkinson

  ‘I’ll have to start charging you board if you keep coming for meals.’

  ‘Mrs Leith said I could.’ That was the wrong thing to say, too, Frank knew.

  ‘So you think my wife rules me, do you? Or are you trying to make trouble between me and her? Well, you’re wrong, Frank. I run this house, even if those women think they do. Understand?’

  ‘No, I didn’t mean it like that. I just sort of thought it was all right with you, too. Is it all right?’ he added, dreading the answer.

  ‘Oh, you’re asking me now, are you? A bit late, isn’t it?’ Arthur knocked the top off a thistle with a vicious swing of his stick. ‘I suppose it is. Especially since my womenfolk seem to enjoy your company so much.’

  Frank said nothing, and they walked on in silence for a few minutes.

  ‘You’ve gone very quiet all of a sudden, Frank. You had plenty to say for yourself before. Haven’t you got any more questions? No one else in your family who needs feeding up?’

  ‘Well… there was one more thing, Mr Leith.’ If he could only pluck up his courage to say it. He tried to ignore Arthur’s stick. It was a particularly sturdy looking stick.

  ‘Spit it out, then. Not another stupid question, I hope.’

  Why did it have to be today? He had never seen Arthur as grumpy as he seemed to be this afternoon. Would Lizzie really be upset if he left it for another day? Yes, she would. She’d be terribly upset, and she wouldn’t trust him any more.

  Frank shut his eyes for a moment and fixed in his mind the picture of Lizzie beaming at him in delight. The way she had looked when he had asked her to marry him. Before the momentary burst of courage that gave him could fail, he blurted out, ‘I want to marry Lizzie.’

  ‘What?’ Arthur sounded thunderstruck. Frank took a step backwards out of his range. ‘You want to marry my daughter?’

  It was too late to deny it. ‘Yes,’ Frank said.

  ‘What can you offer her?’

  Frank felt on surer ground now. ‘Well, I’ve got a half-share in the farm. Pa left it to Ben and me equally. Our farm’s four hundred acres.’

  ‘What did it earn last year?’

  ‘Eh?’

  ‘Your farm—what were your income and outgoings last year?’

  ‘Oh.’ Frank got a sinking feeling. ‘I couldn’t say, just like that. But… but there’s always plenty to eat. I could keep her all right.’

  ‘Keep her? I want more for my daughter than living on bread and butter. Could you provide for her properly?’

  ‘I… I think so.’ What was ‘properly’? he wondered.

  ‘What if I say Lizzie’s better off staying home? Why should I let you take her?’

  ‘I’m very fond of her.’ Frank wished that didn’t sound so feeble.

  ‘Fond? Fond!’ Arthur scoffed. ‘ “Fond” won’t give you a full belly, will it?’

  ‘No.’ Frank looked at his feet. ‘Lizzie wants to,’ he tried.

  ‘You asked her first, did you?’ Arthur pounced. ‘Before you asked me?’

  ‘Yes,’ Frank confessed. ‘But I’m asking you now.’ Arthur didn’t answer. ‘I guess you’re going to say no,’ Frank said resignedly, wondering how he was going to tell Lizzie. At least he had tried. At least Arthur hadn’t hit him.

  ‘Even if you could provide for her, she’s too young,’ Arthur said, startling Frank with his sudden shift of argument. ‘How old are you, anyway?’

  ‘I’m twenty-two.’

  ‘That’s barely old enough to know your own mind. You’re not trifling with my daughter, are you? What have you been up to with her?’

  ‘Trifling? No! I think a lot of Lizzie.’ He steeled himself for one last attempt, and made himself look Arthur in the face as he spoke. ‘Mr Leith, I want to marry your daughter. I want to do the best I can for her. It mightn’t be much, but I want to do it. Will you let me?’

  ‘Lizzie’s only seventeen. That’s too young to get married. She thinks she’s a grown woman, but she’s not.’

  This seemed to Frank a much weaker argument. He thought Arthur sounded less fierce now. ‘She won’t be seventeen for ever,’ he said carefully.

  ‘No, she won’t,’ Arthur agreed. Frank almost thought there was the hint of a smile playing around the edges of Arthur’s mouth. ‘You can have her when she’s eighteen.’

  ‘I can?’ Frank stared at Arthur until he realised his mouth was hanging open. ‘I… thank you, Mr Leith, thank you!’ he said, almost breathless with relief. He grinned broadly as he shook Arthur by the hand.

  ‘You’d better go and tell her you didn’t make a complete hash of it,’ Arthur said. ‘Go on, she’ll want a full report.’

  Frank nodded, and he turned to run up to the house.

  ‘Oh, Frank,’ Arthur said, stopping Frank in his tracks. Had Arthur changed his mind again so quickly?

  ‘Yes, Mr Leith?’

  Arthur sighed and shook his head. ‘I thought you were never going to ask.’

  *

  Amy carried the last dish of vegetables to the table and sat down quickly, anxious to get her guilty bulge under the shelter of the overhanging tablecloth. The exertion had brought on a coughing fit, which she smothered as well as she could. She wished her seat was not so close to Susannah’s.

  ‘Well, I can’t get over Arthur letting Lizzie get married,’ Jack said as he helped himself to the food. ‘She’s only a child.’

  ‘I do wish you’d stop going on about that girl, Jack,’ said Susannah. ‘You’ve hardly talked of anything else the last three weeks. Can’t we eat our dinner in peace?’

  ‘I just can’t get over it, that’s all. She’s only sixteen—’

  ‘Seventeen, Pa. Lizzie’s seventeen,’ Amy put in. She regretted having spoken as soon as she saw the eyes of her family on her. She concentrated on her food until she sensed they had looked away.

  ‘Is she? I thought she was sixteen. Anyway, that’s still too young.’

  ‘She’s not getting married till next year,’ Susannah said. ‘Do we have to hear about it every day between now and April? What does it matter, anyway?’

  ‘She’s too young to know her own mind.’

  Susannah pursed her lips. ‘That girl has always struck me as knowing her mind quite well. Anyway, what difference does it make to her? She’s going to move a couple of miles down this horrible valley to another draughty house. It’s not as if she knows any better life.’ She glared at her husband.

  ‘I’d forgotten she was that much older than you, Amy,’ Jack said. Seeing his eyes on her made Amy nervous, and she coughed again. Although she tried to muffle it with her hand, her father looked anxious. ‘You’ve got a nasty cough there, girl,’ he said, frowning.

  ‘It’s just a tickle in my throat.’

  ‘It doesn’t sound like just a tickle. It sounds like a real hacking cough. Susannah, can’t you look after her better?’

  ‘What am I supposed to do?’ Susannah demanded. ‘I’m not a nurse. Haven’t I got enough to do, running this house and looking after the children? She’s got a cough, it’s nothing to make a fuss about.’

  ‘I hate hearing that noise, like you’re struggling for breath.’

  ‘Amy, try and make less noise,’ Susannah said with heavy sarcasm. ‘You’re annoying your father.’

  ‘I’m sorry.’ She smothered the next cough.

  ‘Can I have some more butter?’ John asked. Amy fetched it from the bench, then hurried back to her chair and the cover of the tablecloth. Susannah was looking at her with a puzzled expression.

  ‘I suppose she’ll want you to be a bridesmaid, Amy,’ Jack said. Amy looked at him in alarm.

  ‘I don’t think so, Pa.’

  ‘Why not? You’ve always been like sisters.’

  ‘I… I don’t know. Maybe she will.’

  Jack smiled affectionately at her. ‘At least I’m not going to lose you for a long time, am I? I know you’re too young to be interested in getting married.’ Amy said nothing as she struggled aga
inst both tears and another cough.

  ‘Stop talking like that, Jack,’ Susannah complained. ‘Really, you do talk a lot of nonsense to Amy. No wonder she’s so difficult for me to manage.’

  ‘I’m just saying I’m glad she won’t be rushing off getting married for years yet,’ said Jack.

  Amy felt a sob rising up in her throat. It came out as a cough. ‘I… I’m not very hungry tonight,’ she said. ‘I don’t think I want any more of my dinner.’

  ‘Can I have yours?’ Harry said promptly.

  Amy pushed her plate over to her brother, then stood up. ‘I’ll just go and do some sewing for a while, I’ll come out and do the dishes later.’ When you’ve all gone into the parlour.

  ‘You should eat your dinner, girl,’ Jack said. ‘You need your food, especially when you’re not well.’

  ‘But I’m not hungry, Pa.’ She longed to escape from the room, but she couldn’t walk away while her father was speaking to her.

  ‘Don’t force her to eat if she doesn’t want to,’ Susannah said. ‘It wouldn’t hurt you to cut down on your food, Amy. You’ve been putting on weight lately.’ Amy felt a stab of alarm, and her head swivelled towards Susannah.

  ‘Don’t say that, Susannah,’ Jack protested. ‘Amy could do with putting on a bit of flesh, she’s always been a bit too thin.’

  ‘She’s not thin now. She’s getting quite plump. That dress looks tight on you, Amy. Do you need a new one?’ Susannah reached out to twitch at Amy’s skirt.

  ‘No!’ Amy slapped at Susannah’s hand, fighting a rising tide of panic. ‘This dress is all right, you leave me alone.’ I should have told Pa before.

  ‘What’s wrong with you?’ Susannah sounded affronted. ‘Jack, see what happens when I try to look after her?’

  ‘Amy, watch your tongue,’ Jack said. ‘There’s no need to talk to your ma like that.’

  ‘She shouldn’t say I’m fat. I can’t help it.’

  ‘Look at you—your dress is cutting in under your arms. You’ll have to get a new one. Why ever have you put on so much weight?’ Susannah again reached out towards Amy’s dress.

  ‘Leave me alone,’ Amy screamed. Her distress brought on another fit of coughing. She doubled over from the force of it.

  ‘Susannah, she’s really sick,’ Jack said, rising from his chair and moving towards Amy. Susannah also stood up and advanced on her. Amy looked from one to the other of them in fear.

  ‘I’m not sick,’ she said, taking a step backwards. ‘I’m a bit tired. I’ll have a lie-down. Leave me alone.’

  ‘Stop carrying on so stupidly,’ Susannah said. ‘Just because I said you’ve put on weight, there’s no need to make such a fuss. Let me look at your dress—it’s so tight, that’s probably making your cough worse.’ Two more strides brought her within inches of Amy. She took hold of Amy’s arm with a firm grip, while her other hand reached out towards Amy’s bodice.

  Susannah looked down at Amy from her height advantage of eight inches, and her hand wavered. Her glance shifted lower. She flashed a look of disbelief at Amy’s face before her eyes shot back to the girl’s abdomen. Amy tried to twist out of Susannah’s grip, but her arm was being held too tightly. Susannah’s free hand snaked out and grasped the firm bulge of Amy’s belly. Her eyes grew wide.

  ‘Oh, God,’ she said, her voice shrill with alarm. ‘Oh, God!’

  26

  July 1884

  Without another word, Susannah dragged Amy by one arm out of the kitchen and down the passage.

  ‘Let go, you’re hurting me,’ Amy said. But Susannah kept hold of her arm until they were in Amy’s bedroom, Jack following at their heels.

  ‘What’s wrong with her?’ he asked. ‘Susannah, what’s wrong with Amy?’

  ‘Get out,’ Susannah said, not turning her head away from Amy.

  ‘But—’

  ‘Get out of here,’ Susannah roared. Jack went as if he had been kicked. Susannah followed him to the door and closed it firmly behind him, then turned to Amy. ‘Take your dress off,’ she ordered.

  ‘No.’ Amy’s voice trembled as she spoke.

  ‘Do you want me to take it off for you? I will if you don’t do as I say.’ She made to reach for the buttons of Amy’s bodice; Amy turned away to undo them herself. She pulled her dress off over her head and stood shivering in her chemise and petticoat while Susannah looked her up and down in silence.

  At last Susannah spoke, in tones of utter disgust. ‘You silly little bitch. You’ve really done it now, haven’t you?’

  Amy looked at the floor, biting her lip to try and keep back tears, but they spilled from her eyes despite her efforts.

  ‘Whose is it?’ Susannah asked.

  ‘What do you mean?’

  ‘Who’s fathered it? Do you know? Or could it be just about anyone’s?’

  Amy looked at Susannah in astonishment. ‘Of course I know whose it is! It couldn’t be anyone else’s. It was Jimmy.’

  She took a step backwards as Susannah flew at her, took hold of her shoulders and shook her. ‘Don’t you dare say that! Don’t you dare tell lies about him! You sly little devil, don’t think you can blame it on my brother. I won’t let you.’

  ‘It’s true, it’s true,’ Amy jerked the words out between shakes.

  ‘It’s not!’ Susannah gave her another vicious shake. Her fingers dug into Amy’s shoulders so harshly that Amy cried out in pain.

  ‘Stop it, you’re hurting me.’

  ‘Admit you’re lying. Tell me who it really was.’

  ‘It was Jimmy. It was Jimmy,’ Amy sobbed. She screamed as Susannah’s nails bit at the thin flesh of her shoulders.

  The door was flung open to admit Jack, startling Susannah into releasing her grip. Amy backed away from her and snatched up her dress. She fumbled as she turned it right way out again, trying to shield her modesty with her arms at the same time. Jack took in his daughter’s half-dressed state and looked away quickly. ‘What’s going on? What’s all the yelling about? For God’s sake, Susannah, tell me what’s wrong with Amy. Should I send for the doctor, or what?’

  ‘The doctor won’t be able to do anything for her. Use your eyes, man, it’s quite obvious. Look at her.’ Susannah strode over to Amy and took hold of the girl’s arms, wrenching them down to her sides so that Amy’s belly was exposed. ‘She must be nearly six months gone.’

  ‘What are you saying?’ There was a dawning fear in Jack’s eyes.

  ‘She’s with child.’

  Jack’s mouth dropped open. He stared dumbly at Amy. ‘She can’t be,’ he said at last. ‘It’s not possible.’

  ‘What do you call that, then?’ Susannah demanded, jabbing at Amy’s bulge with one finger. As soon as Susannah released her, Amy scrambled into her dress and clasped her hands over her chest, rubbing at her sore shoulders.

  ‘Amy, is it true?’ Jack asked, his voice shaking.

  Amy saw the distress in her father’s face as he took in her state, and felt her own misery as a stabbing pain in her chest. ‘I was going to tell you, Pa. I… I couldn’t find the right way to. I was scared.’

  ‘You should have thought of that before you got into this state,’ Susannah cut in. ‘Haven’t I told you, Jack? Haven’t I always said this girl needed correcting? God knows I never thought she’d prove me right like this, but I always knew she was willful. You’ve spoiled her all her life, and this is how she’s repaid you.’

  Jack did not seem to hear Susannah’s tirade. He continued to stare at Amy, his face full of confusion. Then he shook his head, as though to clear his thoughts. ‘Who did it to you?’

  ‘She doesn’t know,’ Susannah put in quickly. She looked menacingly at Amy, daring the girl to argue, but Amy refused to meet her eyes. Instead she made herself look at her father.

  ‘I do know, Pa, honestly I do. It was Jimmy.’

  ‘She’s lying!’ Susannah cried.

  ‘I’m not, Pa, I’m not. It couldn’t have been anyone else.’ She gazed at her father, ple
ading with her eyes for him to believe her.

  ‘Jimmy?’ he echoed. ‘You mean I invited him into my house and he’s done this to you?’

  ‘You mustn’t believe her! She’s lying—she’s doing it to shelter someone else.’

  ‘Are you telling me the truth, Amy?’

  ‘Yes, Pa. I promise it’s true. No one else has ever touched me.’

  ‘And I say she’s lying!’ Susannah said. ‘Are you going to believe her over me?’

  Jack looked from his daughter to his wife. ‘Yes,’ he said. ‘I believe Amy.’

  ‘Why? What have I done to deserve being called a liar?’ Susannah demanded.

  ‘She’s my daughter, and she’s never lied to me. I’m not saying you’re lying, Susannah. I’m saying Amy’s the only one here who knows, and I believe she’s telling the truth.’

  ‘She’s not! She’s trying to blame it on James to cause trouble. She’s always hated me, now she’s trying to get back at me.’

  ‘Don’t talk rubbish. Are you saying the girl’s got herself into this state to annoy you? For God’s sake, woman, I invited your brother down here to make you happy. Because you wanted it. All I seem to have done the last three years is try and make you happy.’

  ‘So it’s my fault, is it? You see—that’s why she’s saying it was James—so you’ll blame me. She’s a little slut.’

  ‘Shut up!’ Jack yelled so loudly that Susannah took a step back in fright. He walked to Amy and reached out towards her, then let his hand drop as if he were reluctant to touch her. ‘Amy, I want you to answer me honestly. Did he force you?’

  ‘So you’re saying he’s a rapist now?’ Susannah snapped, but Jack ignored her. All his attention was on Amy.

  Amy looked up at her father. He was wincing as if the sight of her hurt him, but she sensed he desperately wanted her to say yes. She knew that if she said she had been forced, she would in a moment be enfolded in her father’s arms to be soothed and comforted.

  ‘No, Pa. He didn’t force me.’ She closed her eyes to shut out the sight of her father’s pain.

  ‘Force her?’ Susannah broke in. ‘Of course he didn’t force her. Even she doesn’t have the audacity to pretend he did. She led him on, the little bitch.’ Her eyes glittered as the idea took hold. ‘Yes, that’s how it happened. She threw herself at him, and he didn’t know what he was doing. James was never even interested in girls till he came here. Then she was so shameless that she took him in.’