The Passions of Bronwyn

by Martina Martyn

  Wyn wasn’t sure how she’d feel about going back to the basement room but told Betty she’d show her. Wyn finished making the tea and took it up to Mrs Brompton. ‘Thank you,’ she said, ‘now rest for the remainder of the day, you’ve been through a lot recently.’

  ‘Thank you,’ Wyn replied as she left the room.

  When Wyn got back down the stairs Betty was waiting for her. ‘Come on then,’ she said impatiently, ‘show me where you went, maybe me and Ned could use it.’

  Wyn wasn’t sure how she felt about that but said, ‘come on then, I’ll show you.’ She grabbed a couple of candles and led Betty down the basement stairs.

  ‘Oh!’ exclaimed Betty, ‘it didn’t even cross my mind that it would be down here, I thought it would have been up in the attics.’ Wyn led her to the hidden room and lit the extra candles they had left in there. She heard Betty give a sharp intake of breath as she took in the look of the room. ‘Oh my,’ she said, ‘you’ve made this room look very cosy and nice.’

  Wyn was just standing in the doorway looking at the bed, memories of how it had been with William were running through her mind, she could see Betty’s mouth moving but wasn’t listening to a word she was saying. She walked over to the bed and picked up the pillow where William’s head had been and put it to her face. She could smell him on it and held it tightly to her body. Betty stopped talking and watched her with concern. Wyn sat down on the bed still cuddling the pillow and ran her hand down the length of the bed, she lay down sobbing and calling William’s name.

  ‘Oh I’m so sorry I got you to do this,’ Betty told her, ‘I didn’t think how it would upset you. Come on let’s leave now and get you upstairs, it must be time for dinner now.’

  Wyn didn’t move just kept sobbing.

  ‘Come on Wyn,’ Betty said, ‘it’ll make you ill if you keep on like this, think of the baby, you’ll upset him.’

  The sobbing stopped abruptly at this and Wyn sat up. ‘Yes,’ she said, ‘you’re right, I’ve got to think of William’s baby now, not just of myself.’

  Betty blew out the candles and led Wyn out of the room. ‘I don’t think Ned and me will be using this room after all,’ she told Wyn, ‘it means too much to you.’

  ‘No, please use it,’ Wyn replied, ‘it’s a happy room, I’d like to think it’s still being used as a love nest. Make it yours and Ned’s room.’

  ‘Alright,’ Betty told her, ‘I’ll take Ned down there and see what he thinks, if he likes it, we’ll make it our own.’

  ‘Good, that’s that settled then,’ Wyn said, ‘because I’ll never come down here again.’ She took one more look around and walked up the stairs.

  After dinner Wyn went up to her room and sat down at a table that was in front of the window. She looked out at the street below and thought about how her life was about to change again. She picked up her pen and started to write the most important letter of her life. I hope this works she thought, I don’t know what I’m going to do if it doesn’t. When she had finished writing she took it downstairs and put it on the hall table. Ned picked up the post there every morning and took it to the post office. As she was walking back up the stairs, she saw Ned kissing Betty goodnight outside the kitchen door. Betty had just shown him the basement room.

  ‘What did he think?’ Wyn asked her when Ned had left.

  ‘He liked it,’ replied Betty. ‘We’re going to get our own bed linen for the bed and put a couple of pictures Ned has on the walls so it will be our room.’

  ‘That’s good,’ Wyn told her, ‘I’m glad it’s still going to be used but be more careful than I was, you don’t want to end up like me.’

  ‘I know I’ll be careful,’ Betty replied. ‘Come and sit down for a while with me,’ Betty said, ‘I won’t be able to talk to you every day for much longer.’

  ‘No, but you’ll have Ned and the new maid,’ Wyn replied.

  ‘I know,’ said Betty, ‘but it won’t be the same without you. We’ve been through a lot of things together, especially at the house in the country.’

  ‘Oh yes, I’d forgotten about that,’ Wyn said, ‘a lot went on then with murder and suicide’

  ‘And don’t forget Miss Catherine being kidnapped,’ put in Betty.

  They both laughed as Betty reminded Wyn about seeing Mr Charles naked in the barn with the farmer’s wife.

  ‘What a sight that was,’ said Wyn still laughing. Just then Mrs Davis came in.

  ‘Come on you two,’ she said, ‘time you were both in bed.’ They both said goodnight and walked up the stairs still laughing. ‘Goodnight,’ Betty said as they reached her room. ‘Goodnight,’ replied Wyn kissing her on the mouth.

  ‘I won’t be doing that with anyone else,’ Betty told her.

  ‘Me neither,’ agreed Wyn.

  CHAPTER TWENTY ONE

  The next day was very busy with people coming to the house for the vacant positions. Mrs Brompton employed a young laundry maid called Molly and a new Butler whose name was Patrick Broome. Molly was sixteen years old and came from the east end of London. She had a mop of red hair with freckles all over her face and seemed very jolly. Mr Broome was very tall and slim with dark hair and didn’t have any kind of accent when he talked. Betty told Wyn all this when they met up in the kitchen.

  ‘Did you see Mrs Brompton today?’ she asked her, ‘she’s out of mourning dress and is dressed in much brighter clothes. The gloom that has hung over this house for months is finally lifting and with any luck things are going to get much happier around here.’

  ‘I hope so for your sake,’ Wyn told her.

  ‘Oh I’ve just remembered, Mrs Brompton wants to see us after lunch’ Betty told her.

  They could hear laughter coming from the kitchen as they went down the stairs for lunch. As they walked in Mrs Davis was laughing at something Molly had just told her. Wyn and Betty looked at each other in surprise. Mrs Davis wasn’t known for her sense of humour.

  After lunch they were all called up to the sitting room where Mrs Brompton was waiting for them.

  ‘I just wanted to tell you what the new situation is regarding your duties,’ she told them. ‘As you know we now have Molly and Patrick Broome working here. Molly will be working in the laundry room doing all the household washing and ironing, Betty, you will now be doing all the cleaning around the house which leaves Wyn, as you are having a baby, your duties will be a lot lighter. You will spend all the remaining time you have before you leave us, in the kitchen helping Mrs Davis with the cooking.’ She looked at Mrs Davis, ‘I take it this is alright with you.’

  ‘Of course it is,’ Mrs Davis replied, ‘I’ll be glad of the help.’

  ‘I think you’ll need help,’ Mrs Brompton told her with a smile, ‘as I’m no longer in mourning I intend to have a lot of house parties and receptions. This house is going to be happy again. There is one more thing, as we still don’t have a lot of maids in the house, each of you will be responsible for cleaning your own rooms except of course for Mr Broome. As he is the butler I would like Betty to clean his room for him. Have any of you got any questions?’ None of them did so she said, ‘alright go and carry on as normal.’

  The days and weeks passed quickly, Wyn was getting larger and was finding it harder to do anything. She also needed to rest a lot and knew it wouldn’t be long before she would have to leave the house which made her feel very sad. She’d had a reply to her letter but hadn’t told anyone yet what had been arranged for after the baby was born. Then the day she had been dreading arrived and Mrs Brompton called her up to her room.

  ‘You know you can’t carry on much longer,’ Mrs Brompton told her. ‘I know it’s getting harder for you so I’ve arranged with Martha that you will move in with her in two weeks time.’ Wyn’s head dropped sadly but she agreed that she would be ready to go then. ‘Ned will take you and your belongings in the car and we will have a small get together before you leave.’

  ‘Thank you for everything,’ Wyn said, ‘I don’t know what I
would have done if it wasn’t for you, I’ll never work for anyone as nice as you.’ Mrs Brompton looked embarrassed at this and told Wyn to go now and rest.

  The day before Wyn was due to leave, Mrs Brompton gathered them all together to say goodbye to Wyn. Mrs Davis had prepared a few snacks for them and Mrs Brompton provided them with a glass of sherry. ‘You know we are here to say goodbye and good luck to Wyn,’ she said giving her a parcel. ‘This is from me she told her, it’s just something I kept from when Catherine was a baby, it might come in handy for you.’ Wyn opened it to find a whole pile of baby clothes.

  ‘Oh thank you,’ she said ‘this is so good of you. I hadn’t even thought about baby clothes yet.’

  Betty also gave her a gift of clothes. ‘These are from Mrs Davis, Ned and me,’ she told her. Wyn had tears streaming down her face now and could no longer speak. ‘Thank you,’ she whispered, ‘you’re all so kind.’

  ‘It’s about time you told us what your plans are,’ Betty said, ‘I want to know you’re going to be alright.’

  ‘It’s all arranged,’ Wyn told them, ‘once the baby is born and old enough to travel, my sister and her husband are going to come and take him back to Wales to live with them. They have been trying to have a baby of their own for a long time but nothing is happening, so I asked them if they wanted to adopt my baby and they really do.’ Her voice broke a bit but she carried on, ‘I don’t want mine and William’s baby to have a poor life and I know I wouldn’t be able to give him much. At least this way I’ll know he is well looked after and will be able to see him sometimes.’

  ‘Will he know you’re his mother?’ asked Betty.

  ‘No, he’ll think I’m just his aunt,’ replied Wyn. ‘It’s for the best.’

  By now Wyn was really sobbing so Mrs Brompton whispered to Betty that she should take Wyn to her bedroom and let her have a lie down quietly by herself. Once she was in her room Betty gave her a long hug until she had stopped crying, then kissed her on the lips and left her to sleep.

  The next day Wyn was standing in the hall with all her belongings waiting for Ned to come with the car. Betty, Mrs Davis and Mrs Brompton were all standing with her.

  ‘I’ll say goodbye now,’ Mrs Brompton told her, ‘I’ll leave Betty to see you off.’ She kissed her on the cheek, ‘take care of yourself and your baby,’ she said, ‘I’ve told Martha to let me know how you get on.’

  Mrs Davis kissed her as well and said, ‘I’ll leave you too, good luck with everything, I hope you find happiness in your life.’

  Then there was just Wyn and Betty. They hugged and Betty said, ‘I’ll come and see you soon. Ned will know where you are.’ Just then Ned came in the door and told them the car was outside.

  ‘Come on,’ he said, ‘don’t hang around, it’ll only make it harder to leave.’

  Betty kissed her again and ran up the stairs crying. Wyn looked around for one last time. ‘Alright I’m ready now,’ she told Ned. Ned put all her belongings in the car and helped Wyn in. As the car moved off, Wyn didn’t look back but stared straight ahead dry eyed.

  CHAPTER TWENTY TWO

  Wyn didn’t take any notice of where they were going as she spent the whole journey in tears. When she felt the car stop she wiped her eyes, sat up and looked around her. ‘Where are we?’ she asked Ned.

  ‘North London,’ he replied, ‘to be exact, Willesden.’

  ‘How far away from the house is that?’ she asked.

  ‘Far enough,’ he told her.

  ‘How’s Betty going to visit me if it’s that far?’ she asked him tearfully.

  ‘It’s alright,’ Ned soothed, patting her hand, ‘I’ll bring her now I know where it is.’

  Wyn turned and looked at the front door as she heard it open. A very plump, jolly looking woman was standing on the front step with a wide smile on her face. She came down to greet them. ‘You must be Wyn,’ she said giving her a huge hug, ‘I’m very glad to see you. I’ve been looking forward to you arriving, I get quite lonely by myself. It’ll be nice to have company for a while until you get yourself sorted. Come on in, you must be exhausted. I’ll show you your room,’ she turned to Ned and told him to follow them with Wyn’s belongings. She lived in a small neat and tidy looking terraced house with a well scrubbed door step. Wyn walked in to a very bright and clean hall. There were stairs to the right of the door that Martha now led Wyn and Ned up and flowered wall paper on the wall up the stairs and along the landing. At the top of the stairs Martha walked past the first door and opened the second. ‘This is your room,’ she told Wyn. ‘The bathroom is the door down the end of the landing. That’s all you need to know for now. Put your things away, there’s plenty of cupboards to put things in, then when you’ve finished come down, I’ll make you a cup of tea. Wyn thanked her then looked around the room.

  ‘It’s nice isn’t it? Ned asked her.

  Wyn jumped as she’d forgotten he was still there.

  ‘Yes it is,’ she replied.

  ‘I know it’s all very strange but you will get used to being here,’ Ned said, ‘she does seem very nice.’

  ‘Yes I know,’ Wyn replied, ‘but I’m going to miss all of you.’

  Ned pulled her towards him and hugged her. ‘We’ll miss you too,’ he said, ‘but we will come and see you.’

  Just then the baby decided to give a hefty kick, Ned jumped back and looked down at Wyn’s stomach in awe. ‘Oh my,’ he said, ‘he kicked me.’

  ‘He must like the sound of your voice,’ Wyn told him smiling.

  Ned put his hand on her stomach then kissed her on the cheek and said ‘I’ve got to go now, Mrs Brompton might need me.’ Wyn’s head sank to her chest, ‘I know’ she said in a small voice, ‘I’ll be alright, tell Betty I miss her already.’ She gave a slight smile as Ned turned round and left. She sank down onto the bed and put her head in her hands. Martha found her sitting like that when she came looking for her ten minutes later.

  ‘Come on lovey,’ she said putting her arm around her, ‘come and have some tea. It’ll be alright. Things will get better.’

  Wyn let herself be led out of the room and down the stairs into a very large kitchen. She looked around her with interest.

  ‘Not bad is it,’ Martha asked her. ‘It was the thing I liked best about this house when Mrs Brompton found it for me.’ Wyn sat down and found herself showing more interest in where she was and who she was going to be living with for the next few months.

  Over the next few days, Wyn got to know Martha and found her to be a very happy and friendly woman who would do anything to make her life easier. She knew she was going to be well looked after until the baby was born, although Wyn found life dragging a bit because she didn’t have a lot to occupy herself with. She hadn’t had any visitors yet and was really missing Betty and Ned. She even found herself missing being shouted at by Mrs Davis and all the work she used to have to do. Martha was trying her best to keep her mind off the loss of William and her friends by spending a lot of time with her but it wasn’t the same. After a couple of weeks of trying to keep her spirits up, Martha brought her cousin, Tommy Cliffe, back to the house with her as she thought that maybe he could keep Wyn company for a while. She had told him all about Wyn and what had happened to William. He was a little older than Wyn but she found that didn’t matter as he was such a nice person, and so handsome, she thought to herself. He owned a confectioners shop just around the corner and made her laugh with the stories he told her about the people that came in and the strange things they did. He made the days more interesting for her and she even found herself laughing, which was something she hadn’t done for a long time. He started coming round to the house more often and Wyn knew that he liked her a lot. He didn’t seem to mind that she was expecting a baby and wasn’t married. I really like him too she thought to herself.

  The next few weeks passed happily although Wyn could no longer see her feet and had trouble walking as she had got so big. The baby was due any time now and Wyn couldn’
t wait for it to be over as she was very uncomfortable. She was sitting in the parlour one day doing some sewing when she heard the front door bell ring. A few minutes later the parlour door opened and Wyn looked up to see Betty standing in front of her.

  ‘Betty,’ she cried, ‘oh I’m so glad to see you, I’ve missed you so much.’

  Betty put her arms around her to give her a hug.

  ‘Oh my!’ she exclaimed laughing, ‘you’ve really got big, I can’t even get my arms around you, but I’ve really missed you too.’ She gave her a big kiss.

  ‘Sit down, tell me what’s been happening since I’ve been gone,’ Wyn said. ‘Well, you won’t believe it, but Mrs Brompton is getting married again. She’s met a very nice man who loves her very much. We all like him and he’s not going to change anything in the house, so we’re all happy. She’s become a grandmother as Miss Catherine had a daughter who is very sweet. She’s very happy. Me and Ned are going to get married one day as well. Mrs Brompton has told us we can live in the flat above the garage and I want you to be my attendant.’

  Wyn clapped her hands in excitement, ‘ooh yes I’d like that,’ Wyn told her, ‘just tell me when and I’ll be there. I might even have someone to bring with me.’

  Betty looked at her in shock, ‘who?’ she asked. ‘How could you have met someone being stuck in here?’

  ‘He’s Martha’s nephew,’ Wyn told her, ‘and he’s very nice, you’ll like him. He owns a confectioners shop and I’ll be going to work there for him when this baby finally comes out. Martha has said that I can carry on living here with her. How long will you be able to stay?’ ‘I’m spending the night here,’ Martha arranged it all. ‘She’s putting a mattress in your room so we can spend time together,’ Betty told her.

  There was a knock on the door and Martha walked in with a tray holding a teapot, a couple of cups and saucers and some biscuits. Wyn struggled out of the chair, waddled over to her and gave her a hug.