‘Of course it isn’t your fault,’ Mary snapped, her anger rising once more. ‘Haven’t I dinned it into her until I’m dizzy that she should look to her own kind for a husband, not be setting her cap at the gentry? Someone like Stephen Dunsmore is only amusing himself with the likes of her. Taking her into a pub with no thought for her reputation. That tells you a lot, doesn’t it?’
Doubt and anxiety crossed Walter’s face, but then he said, ‘He’s only young too, Mary. Mebbe he just didn’t think.’
‘Didn’t think about her, you mean. She’s just a plaything to him. Nothing more. He’ll likely seduce her and bring shame on this family and care not a jot when he does it.’ Without allowing Walter time to protest any further, Mary turned back to Eveleen. ‘You’re not to meet him again. I forbid it. And if I catch you with him, I’ll – I’ll send you away. Yes, yes, that’s what I’ll do, I’ll send you away from here. Now get to your bed. No supper for you. If you’ve been drinking with the gentry you’ve no need of my supper.’
Eveleen glanced at her father, seeking his support, but for once Walter avoided meeting her gaze. Tears smarted behind her eyes and she bit down hard on her lower lip to stop it trembling. Then she turned and fled into the house and up the stairs to her room. Tearing the offending bonnet from her head she sat down before the mirror and in the half-light she stared at her reflection. Her brown eyes were large and round with distress, her cheeks pink, her bosom heaving and her hair flying wild and loose around her shoulders, and she was trembling all over.
Then she buried her face in her hands and sobbed.
Six
Eveleen kept to her room for the remainder of the evening and for the second night running she slept fitfully. By the morning, however, she had come to a decision.
Whatever her mother said, she would not stop meeting Stephen. She was falling in love with him and she did not want to stop herself if there was the slightest chance that he could possibly care for her.
As she dressed, shivering in the sharp early morning air, Eveleen’s resolve hardened. She would do her work, she would be dutiful to her parents in every other way, but in this one thing she would not obey them.
Downstairs Eveleen stoked up the fire, set the kettle on the hob and laid the table for breakfast before she went out into the cowhouse to milk the first of the cows her father would already have brought to the crewyard.
As she was finishing milking the last cow, a shadow appeared in the doorway and she heard Jimmy’s voice. ‘By heck, you’re for it now, aren’t ya?’ There was glee in his voice. ‘You ought to have had more sense. And if I catch him round here—’
A sudden spurt of anger made Eveleen stand up quickly. ‘Oh aye, Jimmy Hardcastle, and just what do you think you’re going to do, eh? Have fisticuffs with the master’s son so that you lose your job?’
‘Wouldn’t bother me. I’d go to sea. Just like I’ve always wanted.’ He glared at her defiantly.
‘Then what about our dad? Think about him. Do you want him to lose his job an’ all?’
The lad thrust his hands into his pockets and shrugged. ‘’Course not,’ he said, but his tone was nonchalant as if he didn’t really care one way or the other.
‘And we’d lose our home, don’t forget. Have you thought about that?’ Eveleen persisted.
‘Have you thought about what you’re doing?’ he answered her back. ‘You could be making as much trouble for us all as anyone.’
Eveleen stared at him, suddenly unsure. ‘How do you mean?’
‘Stephen’s got a hold over you, ain’t he? If you don’t do what he wants, he can have us all put out of a job. And,’ he added pointedly, ‘as you’ve just said, out of our home an’ all.’
‘Stephen’s not like that. He wouldn’t do anything so – so . . .’
Jimmy shrugged again as he turned away. ‘You think not. He’s a man, our Evie, ain’t he?’
Eveleen stood still, watching her brother cross the yard, whistling as he went.
‘He’s not like that,’ she murmured to herself. ‘I just know he’s not.’
Late in the afternoon, Eveleen ran up the hill towards Bernby Covert where she could see him waiting for her.
‘There you are.’ The delight was evident in his tone as he dismounted and came towards her, his hands outstretched to take hers into his own.
She threw herself against him. ‘Stephen,’ she began, breathless from running. She felt the familiar lurch of pleasure at the sight of him, at being near him. ‘Stephen,’ she said again, savouring the name. Then she tilted back her head and looked up into his eyes. ‘They know about our meeting yesterday. About the Horse and Jockey – everything.’
His mouth tightened as he muttered, ‘Damnation take the fellow.’ He looked down at her. ‘I presume it was young Morton?’
Eveleen realized suddenly that although she was standing very close to him and clutching at him, he was now making no effort to hold her. She let her arms fall and took a step away from him.
‘Sort of,’ she said guardedly, anxious that he should not blame Ted. ‘Ted told my brother that – that he had seen us together. But he wouldn’t see any harm in that. He wouldn’t know.’
‘Mm. I’m not so sure.’
‘Ted doesn’t know about us. Only my family.’ Before she had stopped to think what she was saying, the words spilled out. ‘It’s my precious brother we’ve to thank for that.’
Stephen raised his eyebrows sardonically and drawled, ‘Is it indeed? Then we’ll have to do something about him, won’t we?’
She moved closer again and put her hands, palms flat, against his chest. ‘Don’t let’s waste time thinking about him. I can’t stay long.’
As he pulled her beneath the shadows of the trees and into his arms they both heard the sound of a twig snapping. Stephen stared beyond her, over her shoulder, and then he thrust her away from him and plunged towards where the trees grew closely together and the undergrowth was thick. A moment later, Eveleen was horrified to see him hauling her brother out from among the bushes by the scruff of his neck.
Stephen was taller and broader than the younger boy, but Jimmy was wiry and strong. He kicked and hit out at his captor until Stephen, with a cry of pain, was forced to let go of him. But as Jimmy made to escape, Eveleen grabbed him. ‘Oh no you don’t. Just what do you think you’re doing, spying on us?’
Jimmy’s face was ugly as he faced her. ‘Wait till I tell our dad about this. Just wait till he hears about his precious, darling daughter. You’ll not be his favourite for much longer.’
Despite her anger, Eveleen was filled with a sudden sadness. ‘This hasn’t anything to do with me and Stephen, has it? You’re just jealous of me.’
‘Huh! I couldn’t care less.’ Jimmy’s tone was deliberately offhand, but Eveleen could see the hurt in his eyes.
As her grip loosened, Jimmy pulled himself free and began to run. Only then did Stephen shout after him, ‘You’re sacked, Hardcastle.’
Jimmy stopped, turned to face them and shook his fist at Eveleen. ‘See? I told you so. See what you’ve done now?’
Then he was gone, crashing through the undergrowth.
Eveleen turned to Stephen and wound her arms about him, burying her face against him. ‘Please don’t sack him. Oh please say you didn’t mean it.’
He was breathing hard, his chest rising and falling against her cheek. Then he bent his head and began to kiss her hair, her forehead, the tip of her nose and finally her mouth, murmuring as he did so, ‘That all – depends on – how nice – you are to me.’
As his mouth came down hard upon hers and he pressed her to the ground, it was not only the sudden breeze rustling through the trees that chilled her heart.
‘Jimmy? Jimmy, are you in here?’ As soon as she arrived back at the farm, Eveleen went in search of her brother. As her eyes became accustomed to the dim interior of the barn, she could see him sitting on a mound of hay, staring into space, a resentful expression on his face.
<
br /> ‘Shouldn’t you be fetching the cows in?’
‘He can fetch ’em himself,’ Jimmy muttered.
‘Who? Dad?’
‘No. ’Im. If he’s sacked me, I aren’t doing another thing.’
Eveleen crossed the dirt floor and sat down beside him. ‘He hasn’t sacked you. He was just angry.’
‘Oh aye. Persuade him to change his mind, did you? What did you have to do? Lift your skirts for him?’
‘No, I didn’t,’ Eveleen said hotly. ‘Don’t you dare think such a thing about me.’
‘Pull the other one, Evie. You must have done something. Something,’ he added maliciously, ‘that Dad wouldn’t like to hear about.’
Eveleen stared at him through the gloom. Then slowly and deliberately she said, ‘As long as you promise not to tell Mam and Dad, you can keep your job.’
‘Oho, blackmail now, is it?’ Then, surprisingly, he laughed and there was even a note of grudging admiration in his tone. ‘Well, I’ll say this for you, our Evie. From being a right goody-goody, you’re certainly learning fast.’
He stood up and, dusting the bits of hay from his clothes, he glanced down at her. ‘Not sure I want his precious job, anyway.’ He sniffed. ‘I’ll be going to sea soon.’
As he left the barn, Eveleen could not stop the words escaping her lips as she called after him. ‘And what would Mam do then, without her precious baby boy?’
At once she was ashamed of her own resentment of the closeness between her mother and brother. ‘I’m as bad as he is,’ she told herself sharply.
Then she hauled herself up and went to start the evening milking.
Later, with their day’s work finished and about to go into the house for supper, Eveleen put her hand on her father’s arm.
‘Dad,’ she asked quietly. ‘Why is Mam so upset about me and Stephen?’
In the dim interior of the cowshed, she could not see Walter’s features clearly enough to read their expression.
‘Eveleen, there are things I cannot tell you – it would be breaking a confidence if I did. But you must believe me if I tell you that your mother has good reason to want to – to protect you. She doesn’t want to see you hurt.’
Eveleen’s sharp mind was running riot and then, with sudden clarity, she began to understand. ‘She was hurt like that, wasn’t she? Was it before she met you? Was it?’
‘Don’t ask me, love. And please . . .’ He took her hand and gripped it now. ‘Please – never, ever, ask your mother.’
‘Is that why she’s estranged from her family? Did they throw her out?’’
‘Eveleen,’ her father’s voice was firm now. ‘I’ve told you – don’t ask me, because I’m not going to tell you. I’ve said too much already.’
But Eveleen could guess enough to understand now. He had not denied her speculation, and if she had been far from the truth, he would have done so.
In a small voice she asked, ‘Dad, what do you say about me meeting Stephen?’
‘Oh, love, I don’t know. I really don’t. He seems a nice enough young man, but I can understand your mother’s fears. She’s afraid, him being our employer – or at least the son of our employer – that he’s only – what is it they say?’ Despite the gravity of their conversation, there was suddenly a hint of mirth in his tone. ‘He’s only trifling with your affections.’
Eveleen laughed. ‘That’s rather a grand expression for the likes of us, Dad.’
‘Well, that’s the trouble, lass. It is the “likes of us” and the “likes of him” that’s the problem. The two don’t mix.’ His voice was wistful for a moment as he added, ‘Not now.’
‘Are you forbidding me to see him too?’
‘I can’t exactly do that, can I? You’re bound to run into him and he’s every right to come here whenever he wants.’
‘That’s the bit that really worries me, Dad. They could turn us all out of our home if – if . . .’ She hesitated to tell him what had happened earlier in the woods when Stephen’s threat had sounded so real.
‘Don’t you worry your head about that,’ Walter was saying. ‘His father’s not likely to give me the sack just because my daughter won’t let herself be seduced by his son.’ Then his tone was completely serious as he added, ‘You won’t, will you?’
‘No,’ Eveleen said firmly. ‘Oh no, I won’t let that happen.’ But she could say no more. She could not give her father the promise he really wanted to hear.
She would not promise to stop seeing Stephen.
Seven
As the spring began to give way to early summer, the two young lovers continued to meet in secrecy, snatching brief moments together whenever and wherever they could.
Taking the cows back to the meadow behind the house after milking one evening, Eveleen heard, through the dusk, the call of an owl from Bernby Covert. It was his signal. He was there, waiting for her.
She took off her boots and stockings and paddled through the beck to race across the next field, up the hill towards the trees and into his arms.
‘I can’t stay long,’ she said breathlessly while he rained kisses on her upturned face. ‘It’ll soon be our suppertime. They’ll miss me. Or worse still, come looking for me.’
‘How I long to put you on my horse and ride off into the night with you, my lovely Eveleen,’ he murmured against her hair.
She shivered and though it was more with excitement than cold, Stephen wrapped his arms around her.
‘The beck was icy cold,’ she said. ‘It was snowing today. Did you see it? There were snowflakes floating on the breeze. They melted as soon as they touched the ground, but who would have thought it? Snow, in the middle of May.’
He was kissing her again and she forgot the cold. She forgot everything except his lips against hers and the feel of his arms around her.
‘Oh, Stephen,’ she breathed. ‘I do love you so.’
‘My lovely Eveleen,’ he whispered, his words a caress.
‘I must go,’ she said at last, pushing against him, but he held her fast and buried his face in her neck.
‘No, no, just a little longer,’ he pleaded. ‘Make up some excuse. Say you were at the Mortons’ place.’ His grip tightened on her. ‘I’m sure your dear mama wouldn’t object to you being in young Morton’s company.’
Eveleen gasped at his glib invention and her tone was sharper than she meant it to be as she said, ‘I’m deceiving them enough without telling more lies.’
‘Don’t be such a prude, Eveleen. I thought you had more daring than that.’
‘Daring’s got nothing to do with it. I don’t like deceiving my parents at all and lying to them only makes it worse.’
He released her. ‘Then you’d better go,’ he drawled. ‘I don’t want to be guilty of your consigning your soul to eternal damnation.’
She began to tremble and now it had nothing to do with the cold. Was he telling her it was over? Was it to finish so soon? All through some silly quarrel?
She put her arms around his waist and snuggled her head to his chest. ‘Please don’t let’s quarrel. We have such a short time together. It’s so precious.’
He seemed to hesitate for a moment, to hold back, but then, as he groaned deep in his throat and his arms came about her again, she knew that he could not resist her nearness. It was heady to think she had such power over him.
‘I do love you so,’ she murmured again, ‘but where is it all going to end?’
He did not answer but his eager mouth was searching for hers. The present was enough, she supposed, as she surrendered to the passion of his kiss. The future would take care of itself.
A while later, as she emerged from the woods, Eveleen heard her father’s voice calling her name in the distance.
‘Oh no,’ she breathed. Picking up her skirts, she began to run.
At the beck she pulled off her footwear again and stepped into the water, gasping at the cold. Scrambling up the bank, she called out, ‘I’m here, Dad. Over here.’
The words were slipping off her tongue before she could stop them. ‘Looking for Buttercup. She strayed across the beck.’
‘Buttercup did? You do surprise me. She’s never done that before. I didn’t think she liked water. Where is she now?’
‘Back with the others, I think.’ Eveleen gestured vaguely in the direction she thought the cows would be.
‘Come along, then. Let’s get you home and into the warm. It’s no weather for going paddling, even if it is the middle of May. I don’t want you taking cold, love. Here, have my jacket.’
His consideration was almost her undoing. In that moment she hated herself for deceiving him.
As they entered the house with Walter still fussing over her, Eveleen was aware of her mother’s suspicious glance. Mary was not so easily fooled.
Eight
The long, hot days of summer blurred into each other as Eveleen sped through her chores, living only for the blissful moments she spent in Stephen’s arms.
But, of course, it could not last.
‘What’s all this?’ Walter, weary from a long day’s harvesting, pointed to the supper table where only three places were laid. Already Jimmy was seated at the table, leaving only two chairs unoccupied.
Mary Hardcastle banged a stack of plates on to the table with a vehemence that threatened to break them. ‘She’s still meeting him. Creeping away to that old barn in Long Meadow. Jimmy’s seen them. He’s just told me. It’s been going on all summer. So, as far as I’m concerned, Walter, I have no daughter. For two pins, I’d turn her out.’ She leant across the table towards him, her face twisted with anger. ‘But I suppose you wouldn’t allow that, would you?’
‘Mary, love—’ he began, but his wife was not prepared to listen. She jabbed her finger towards Eveleen. ‘You’re blind where that girl’s concerned, aren’t you? But I’m not.’
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