The Passions of Bronwyn

by Martina Martyn

  ‘Poor girl,’ Betty said, ‘she was probably only doing what she was told. Just think she was stuck in that basement for months not seeing anyone other than George Brompton, never going outside for any fresh air. I wonder why the letters were never sent.’

  ‘I expect George didn’t want her family to even know she was still here,’ said Wyn, it’s so sad. Oh my, she suddenly exclaimed.’

  ‘What is it?’ William asked.

  ‘Mrs Brompton isn’t going to like this,’ Wyn told them, ‘it looks like Charles Brompton helped his brother get the room in the basement ready for Mary and looked after her when his brother wasn’t around. There’s a letter here from Charles to George when he was on a visit to the plantation in Jamaica telling him how she was and that George should probably start thinking about coming back as it wasn’t too long before the baby was due.’

  ‘I’ve got another one,’ Betty said,’ it’s a bit later and it’s from George to Charles. George was back in London and Charles was at the country house. It’s telling Charles that the baby had got stuck and Mary had died and asking him what he should do.’

  ‘Are there any more?’ William asked them.

  ‘I can’t see any,’ Wyn told him ‘but there’s still a few more to look through.’ A bit later Wyn said, ‘here’s one, it’s from George to Charles telling him that he had taken care of the problem and that Charles was to put it completely out of his mind.’

  About an hour later Mrs Brompton was back. William took what they had found up to her. She told him that Dr Jenkins would be back at the house the next day and William was to take him down to the basement and show him the room they had found.

  ‘Oh, and while I remember,’ she told him, ‘I am expecting a visit from The Right Honourable Frederick Huxley-Chadwick some time so if he does come, please tell him I’ll see him.’ William showed her the letters they had found.

  ‘I don’t believe it,’ she exclaimed, ‘Charles knew about this all along but didn’t tell me anything, that poor girl has been lying down there all this time and her family know nothing. I wouldn’t of thought that Charles was capable of doing anything like this. When Dr Jenkins comes tomorrow, bring him to see me before he goes down to the basement,’ she told William, ‘there is no doubt that this is Mary and we have to let her family know so they can bury her properly. Go down to the kitchen now and tell Wyn and Betty that the Coroner will be here tomorrow. If he wants anything from them, they are to help him as much as they can,’ she added.

  William turned and walked down to the kitchen. ‘What’s happening?’ Wyn asked. William told them what Mrs Brompton had told him. ‘I don’t know how much we can help him,’ Wyn said, ‘we only know as much as you do.’

  The next day the Coroner arrived and William took him up to see Mrs Brompton. ‘Wait outside,’ she told him. ‘I won’t be long and then you can take Dr Jenkins down to the room in the basement.’ She shut the door and William could hear a faint murmur coming from the room as Mrs Brompton explained what she knew to Dr Jenkins. It was only a few minutes later when the door opened again and Mrs Brompton told William to take Dr Jenkins downstairs. Once they were in the basement room, Dr Jenkins gave William a large bag and told him to put all the bed clothes in it. William looked at the blood stained sheets and then looked at Dr Jenkins. ‘It’s alright,’ Dr Jenkins told him, ‘you won’t catch anything.’

  ‘Urgh,’ William thought as he gingerly picked up the first sheet and quickly put it in the bag. After that it got easier to do and in no time all, the bedding was in the bag.

  ‘Tie it up with this,’ Dr Jenkins said handing him a piece of string. William tied the bag up and gave it to Dr Jenkins. ‘If you thought that was bad,’ said Dr Jenkins, ‘it’s about to get worse. I’m going to take this upstairs and put it in my motorcar. When I come back I want you to help me carry the mattress up.’ William looked at the very badly stained mattress and shuddered, but didn’t say anything. While he was waiting for Dr Jenkins to come back down he looked around the room. Hmm, he thought, once everything is out of here it would make a very nice room for me to bring Wyn when we have some free time. I could make this look quite nice. When Dr Jenkins came back he threw a blanket over the mattress in case anyone saw it and took hold of one end while William held the other end. They carried it carefully up the stairs to the motorcar. William looked at the car doubtfully.

  ‘Will it go in here?’ he asked.

  ‘I hope so,’ was the reply. Dr Jenkins put his end in the front of the car while William was still holding it. ‘Push it right down,’ said Dr Jenkins. William pushed the mattress right down into the well of the car. It stuck out a bit at the top but Dr Jenkins told him that it would do. ‘Go and get the pillows,’ he said, ‘and then we are finished.’ William went back down to the basement, picked up the pillows and went back to the car.

  ‘Right that’s it,’ said Dr Jenkins, ‘I’ll take these with me now but if I have any further questions I’ll come back. Tell Mrs Brompton I’ll let her know when she can contact the family so that they can bury her.

  ‘Can I ask you a question?’ William asked. Dr Jenkins looked at him and nodded.

  ‘Can I clean the room up now?’

  Dr Jenkins gave him a look as if to say I don’t know why you’d want to but replied, ‘yes it can be cleaned up now. I don’t need anything else from there.’ William thanked him and Dr Jenkins then squeezed into his car and drove off.

  William walked up the stairs, knocked on the drawing room door and went in to tell Mrs Brompton all that the Coroner had said. ‘See if you can find Mary’s family’s address,’ she told him. ‘I want to be ready to write to them once Dr Jenkins says I can. That girl has been unburied for too long already. Ask Wyn and Betty if they found anything when they were looking through the study,’ she added.

  William went down to try and find Wyn. He found her cleaning the scullery on her own. ‘Where are Mrs Davis and Betty?’ he asked her.

  ‘Mrs Davis isn’t feeling well and is having a lie down and Betty is cleaning Mrs Brompton’s bedroom,’ she told him.

  ‘Oh so we are alone,’ he said seductively. He put his arms around her and kissed the back of her neck. Wyn laughed and shivered as a tingle ran down her back.

  ‘Get away now,’ she told him. ‘I’ve got work to do.’

  ‘Alright,’ he said reluctantly, ‘it’ll keep. Mrs Brompton wants to know if you found any address for Mary’s family when you were going through all the papers.’

  ‘No,’ she replied, ‘but there are a few more letters to go through. I’ll have a look this afternoon when I’ve finished cleaning.’ William pulled her close, gave her a long kiss then sighed and left.

  Wyn finished her cleaning and then prepared lunch. While they were eating she asked Betty if she had finished her cleaning. ‘Yes why?’ asked Betty.

  ‘There are still a few letters to look through in the study,’ Wyn told her. ‘Mrs Brompton wants the address for Mary’s family so that she can let them know what happened to her. Do you want to help me look?’

  ‘Oh yes,’ Betty told her, ‘I feel so sorry for that poor girl, I’d like to help her to rest in peace.’ Once they had cleared all the lunch dishes away and washed them up, they both went up to the study and started looking through the remaining papers. There were letters from a lot of people Charles Brompton owed money to and ones to people who owed him money. Wyn suddenly dropped a letter she was reading.

  ‘What’s wrong?’ Betty asked her.

  ‘It’s from the new Manager of the plantation in Jamaica,’ Wyn told her. ‘I think it’s my half-brother. He’s thanking Mr Brompton for giving him the chance of starting a new life with his family in Jamaica because he never wants to go back to Penarth in Wales where he comes from. There’s only one Henry Williams from Penarth. I wonder if he’s told my parents where he is, not that I really care, he can go rot in hell as far as I’m concerned. At least I know where he is, he can’t touch me from there.’

 
They went through a few more mundane letters until Wyn suddenly shouted, ‘here it is, I’ve found an address for Mary’s family.’

  ‘Oh that’s good,’ exclaimed Betty, ‘they’ll finally know what happened to their daughter. It was so cruel of Mr Charles to go along with his brother and keep it all a secret. I wonder what would have happened if she’d given birth to a live baby,’ she pondered.

  ‘I dread to think,’ replied Wyn, ‘he couldn’t have kept her and a baby hidden down there forever, someone would have noticed eventually. Let’s take this to Mrs Brompton. She’ll be relieved that she can put an end to this whole unhappy story.’

  They went along to the drawing room where Mrs Brompton was having coffee and knocked on the door. Come in they were told. They went in and handed the letter over to Mrs Brompton.

  ‘I think this is what you wanted,’ Wyn told her.

  Mrs Brompton looked at it and said ‘yes it is. That’s very good, once Dr Jenkins has finished I can arrange for Mary to be taken back to where she belongs for a proper burial. I would like all of you to attend with me. I know Hampshire is quite a long way from here but it can be arranged. Would you be willing?’ she asked them.

  ‘Oh yes,’ they both replied, ‘we’d like to say goodbye to her even though we never met her, it’s so sad how she ended up’.

  ‘Was there anything else of interest in the letters you were looking through?’ Mrs Brompton added.

  ‘There were just some from people who owed Mr Charles money and who he owed money to,’ Wyn said. Mrs Brompton just sighed and told Wyn to bring them to her later. Wyn nodded as she and Betty left the room.

  ‘I feel quite sorry for her,’ Betty said as they walked back down to the kitchen. ‘Fancy having a husband like Mr Charles.’

  Wyn shuddered and said,’ no thanks, I’d rather not have one ever than have one like him.

  ‘Or his brother,’ Betty added.

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  It was a few days later that William answered the door to find The Right Honourable Frederick Huxley-Chadwick standing outside. William let him in and showed him into the downstairs reception room. ‘Please take a seat,’ he told him, ‘I’ll let Mrs Brompton know you’re here.’ He then went up to the study where Mrs Brompton was dealing with her correspondence.

  ‘The gentleman you were expecting is sitting in the downstairs reception room,’ he told her. Mrs Brompton slowly finished the letter she was writing before she turned at looked at William.

  ‘Please take him up to the drawing room, offer him some refreshment and tell him I’ll be with him shortly.’ William nodded and went back down to the reception room.

  ‘Please come this way,’ he asked Frederick Huxley-Chadwick, ‘Mrs Brompton will be with you shortly.’ Once he had sat him in the drawing room he offered some refreshment.

  ‘Get me a coffee,’ he was told.

  ‘Yes sir,’ William replied strongly as he walked out of the room. ‘What a rude man,’ he remarked to Wyn when he entered the kitchen. ‘He wants a cup of coffee, make it with dishwater or I’ll spit in it,’ he said.

  ‘You can’t do that,’ Wyn exclaimed.

  ‘Watch me,’ was the reply.

  Wyn made the coffee but looked away as she gave it to William so that she didn’t see what he did with it. William took it up to the drawing room.

  ‘I’ve got better things to do than sit here,’ Mr Huxley-Chadwick said as soon as William walked in. ‘Tell Mrs Brompton I do not like to be kept waiting.’

  As William turned to leave the room Mrs Brompton walked in.

  ‘It’s alright William,’ she said, ‘you can leave now.’

  William smiled at her sympathetically and walked back downstairs. ‘Phew!’ he exclaimed as he walked into the kitchen, ‘I don’t envy Mrs Brompton having to talk to him.’

  ‘Don’t you worry,’ Wyn told him, ‘I’m sure Mrs Brompton can hold her own against him. After all he owes her a lot of money.’

  ‘Oh yes, I’d forgotten that. That’ll take him down a few pegs.’

  It was about an hour later that the bell rang from the drawing room. William went up and opened the door.

  ‘Show Mr Huxley-Chadwick out and then come back up here,’ Mrs Brompton asked him. William looked at him, he was a different man than the arrogant one who had entered the house. He now had a pasty pale face and was very subdued, Oh dear someone’s had a shock he thought to himself. Serves him right. He took him downstairs and showed him out of the door. Good riddance William thought. William then went back upstairs to where Mrs Brompton was waiting for him.

  ‘There’s going to be a wedding,’ Mrs Brompton told him. William looked at her shocked. Mrs Brompton laughed and said ‘No, not me, I wouldn’t marry that awful man. He has a son, Harry, who is much nicer than his father. Catherine has known him since they were babies and has always liked him. They are more like brother and sister but I’m sure that will change. Anyway it’s all agreed and Catherine is lucky that any decent man will marry her in the circumstances. Please ask Ned to have the motorcar outside the front door at ten o’clock tomorrow morning as I will be travelling to Surrey to let Catherine know the situation. Oh, and ask Mrs Davis to come and see me after lunch as there is to be a reception next week to announce the engagement and she will have to provide a buffet.’

  William ran down the stairs, burst into the kitchen and said, ‘you’ll never guess what is happening now.’

  ‘Judging by the way you just burst in here, we must be on fire at least,’ Mrs Davis said. She, Wyn, Betty and Ned were all sitting at the table drinking tea. What on earth is it?’ asked Mrs Davis. William told them everything Mrs Brompton had told him. ‘Oh my,’ exclaimed Mrs Davis, ‘that poor girl, fancy having no choice in who she marries.’

  ‘Yes but she does know him well,’ William said. ‘Mrs Brompton said they’ve known each other since they were babies, it’s better than having to marry a stranger I would have thought.’ He turned to Ned, ‘Mrs Brompton wants you to have the car outside the front door tomorrow morning at ten o’clock to take her to Surrey to see Miss Catherine, she will be away overnight so you will be staying there and, Mrs Davis, she wants to see you this afternoon after lunch as there is to be a reception next week to announce the engagement.’

  At that moment the bell from the drawing room rang again. William stood up to answer it. ‘She’s obviously forgotten something,’ he said as he walked out of the door. Entering the drawing room he found Mrs Brompton slumped on the floor. He ran over to the bell and rang it urgently several times. Down in the kitchen Wyn and Betty looked at each other, ‘I’ll go,’ Wyn said and she ran out of the kitchen and up the stairs.

  ‘Bring smelling salts,’ William told her as she ran in the door. Wyn turned, ran back along the hall to Mrs Brompton’s bedroom and grabbed the smelling salts from the bedside cabinet. Then she ran back to the drawing room where William had picked Mrs Brompton up off the floor and put her on the couch. Wyn waved the smelling salts under Mrs Brompton’s nose. After a couple of minutes Mrs Brompton started coming round. ‘What happened?’ she asked groggily.

  ‘You fainted,’ William told her, ‘how are you feeling now, should we call for the doctor?’ ‘No,’ Mrs Brompton replied, ‘no doctor, I’m alright now. I think it must have been the stress of dealing with someone like that nasty Frederick Huxley-Chadwick, he’s not the easiest of people to deal with, but I soon took the smirk off his face.’ She smiled at them and said ‘it’s alright I’m fine now, help me up.’ When William helped her stand up she said ‘I’m actually very happy that Catherine will be settled. It’s a shame he will be her father-in-law but I think he’ll come off worst as she’s not an easy person to deal with either.’

  The next day Ned had the car outside the front door promptly at ten o’clock. As Mrs Brompton was walking out of the front door she suddenly turned to William, who was showing her out. ‘Oh my,’ she exclaimed, ‘I’ve forgotten to ask Wyn and Betty to get Catherine’s room ready for her
as she will be coming back with me. They also need to get one of the guest rooms ready as I think my sister, Constance, will be coming back with me and, as she never travels without at least one maid and a chauffeur, there will also need to be two servants rooms ready.’

  ‘Don’t worry Mrs Brompton,’ William told her. ‘Everything that needs doing will be done by the time you get back.’ Once the car had gone William went back into the house and told Wyn and Betty what Mrs Brompton had said.

  ‘Well at least we’ve got a whole day to get the rooms ready,’ said Wyn, ‘come on Betty let’s go up and see how much needs to be done. When they had gone upstairs William thought to himself, hmm, now’s my chance to have a good look at the basement room and see if I can do something to get it in a fit state for me and Wyn to use. He went down to the kitchen first to see where Mrs Davis was. As he walked into the kitchen he could smell the lovely smell of fresh baking. Mrs Davis was standing at the table kneading bread dough. ‘Get away with you now she told him, I’ve not got time for chatting.’ William smiled and left.

  He looked all around to make sure no-one was looking, then opened the basement door and went down the stairs. He had already hidden all the equipment he needed to clean the room in a small cupboard under the stairs which he now retrieved. Since the Coroner had finished with the room William had kept the key in his pocket so it was easy for him to open the door. He went in and cleaned the room from top to bottom giving special attention to the bed frame because he knew Wyn was going to be a bit squeamish about lying on it after what had happened to Mary. Once he had finished cleaning he removed all the cleaning materials, locked the door and went up the back stairs to the attic room. He had seen some old mattresses up there when they were doing the house search. He looked at them carefully and selected the best looking one. Taking it back down the stairs he had to duck suddenly behind a door as he heard someone coming along the landing. The person was coming nearer and he thought, oh no, I’m going to be seen, how do I explain the mattress. Just as the footsteps got to the door he was hiding behind, he heard a voice shouting, ‘Betty come quick, I need your help.’ The footsteps stopped and started going back the other way and William breathed a huge sigh of relief. That was close he thought, it would have spoilt the surprise if Wyn had seen me but what I would have told Betty I don’t know.