A Second Chance

by Shayne Parkinson

  ‘I’d rather not say. I don’t want to talk about it.’

  ‘I’m afraid you don’t have a choice in the matter, my darling. You’re going to have to tell me exactly what he said to you. Because, you see, I won’t leave you in peace until you have told me, and I’m quite prepared to sit here all night repeating the question if necessary. I need to know it all. How can I protect you properly if I don’t know the complete story?’

  ‘Protect me?’ Amy said in confusion. ‘What do you mean?’

  ‘He’s clearly upset you, and I don’t intend to let it happen again. Now, tell me what he said. It can’t be any worse than what you’ve already told me tonight.’

  Amy had come to know the futility of arguing with Sarah when her mouth had that particular set to it. ‘All right, then, if you must hear it. He… he wanted me to stay on in Auckland. So that he could…’ She looked down at her hands. ‘He wanted me to be his mistress.’ She glanced at Sarah to see whether she had understood the word; the anger on Sarah’s face answered her. ‘I think he thought I’d be pleased to be asked. Grateful, even. He thinks I’m no better than… a bad sort of woman. He even… he even thought I might want to have another child for him,’ she finished in a whisper. ‘To give him an heir.’

  They sat in silence for some moments, then Sarah said, ‘Well, I was wrong. I’d believed I couldn’t possibly think any worse of that man. I’m sorry, Amy.’

  ‘What for?’

  ‘For almost letting him come between us. For almost driving you out of my house.’

  Amy took Sarah’s hand between both of hers, then voiced the thought that was nagging at her. ‘I think perhaps I had better go home, Sarah. I’m worried he could cause trouble for you.’

  ‘How could he do that?’

  ‘He said he wants to see me again. He knows I’m staying here, and he might come here after me.’

  ‘Don’t you worry about that. If he calls, we won’t be at home. No, I don’t mean we’ll stay out all day,’ Sarah said, seeing Amy’s puzzled expression. ‘We simply won’t be “at home” to Mr Taylor. I’ll instruct the maids accordingly. If he sends you any notes or letters, we’ll return them unopened—though I doubt if he’d do that,’ she added thoughtfully. ‘He wouldn’t want to risk such a thing falling into his wife’s hands. I don’t think you should go out alone any more, though. I don’t want him accosting you again. I’ll start going with you on some of those walks of yours.’

  ‘I’d like that—if you’re not too busy.’

  ‘When I can’t get away, you can take one of the maids. And if they’re both busy, you could always take young Walter. I’m sure he’d be only too pleased to get out of working in the garden to squire you around town.’

  ‘I don’t want—’ Amy began, but Sarah held up a warning hand.

  ‘Let there be no talk of being a nuisance. The function of my staff is to keep the household running smoothly, and to make my life comfortable. I won’t be comfortable unless you’re happy. So by looking after you they’re only doing their job.

  ‘You’ll be safe enough at public events, like the theatre,’ she went on. ‘I’ll be sure not to leave you alone at such functions.’ She smiled at Amy. ‘If I’m to make good his promises, I believe I owe you a few outings yet. As for private functions like dinner parties, I’ll ask for a guest list before we accept.’

  ‘Can you do that?’ Amy asked in surprise.

  ‘Oh, yes. It’s not something I’ve made a habit of, but I believe I do have the social status to make such a request. Don’t look so shocked, dear.’

  ‘It just doesn’t seem quite… polite.’

  Sarah gripped her hand. ‘Believe me, Amy, when it comes to protecting you I’m prepared to take measures a good deal more drastic than requiring a guest list.’

  *

  David went out to meet Beth when she arrived at the farm on the day they had agreed must be their deadline. One look at her face told him there had been no last-minute release. ‘We’d better go and tell them, then,’ he said.

  ‘Now?’ Beth said nervously.

  ‘We said we’d do it today. No sense putting it off, Beth. We’ll only get more worried if we sit around thinking about it. Come on, let’s go right now.’

  ‘Couldn’t we have a cup of tea first?’ She rested a hand on his arm and looked up into his face, a plea in her eyes. ‘I think I’d feel more up to it if we did.’

  ‘Well… all right, then,’ David relented. ‘Just a quick one, though. Let’s just tether Jess here, that’ll save time later.’

  They walked towards the house, arms around each other’s waists. ‘I’m glad of the excuse to put it off, myself,’ David said. ‘I can’t say I’m in a rush to tell Uncle Frank about all this.’

  ‘It’s all right for you, Pa never gets wild about anything. But Ma’ll… well, I don’t know what she’ll do. But I know it’ll be awful.’

  ‘I don’t know, he might get a bit wild,’ David said doubtfully, but Beth shook her head.

  ‘No, I’m sure he won’t. You don’t need to worry about that.’

  The tea was made and drunk rather more quickly than Beth had hoped, and they set off down the road, riding side by side. She would have preferred to keep their horses to a walk, but David insisted on cantering much of the way. All too soon, they had drawn up to the fence in front of the house.

  They dismounted, and tethered their horses. ‘Pa’ll be looking at the new calves,’ Beth said. ‘Yes, there he is over by that shed.’ She pointed out the direction. ‘I suppose I’ve got to go and see Ma, then.’

  Shielded from view by the horses’ bodies, they squeezed hands briefly, then went their separate ways.

  Beth found Maisie alone in the kitchen. Directed by her, she went through to her parents’ room. Her mother had just dressed Benjy, and was encouraging the little boy to take a few steps, holding tightly to his chubby hands so that there was no risk of a fall.

  Lizzie looked up at Beth in surprise. ‘What are you doing back so soon, love? Did you forget something?’

  Beth took a deep breath. ‘No. I need to talk to you, Ma.’

  ‘Mmm? What about?’ Lizzie scooped Benjy up on to her hip and looked questioningly at Beth.

  ‘I…’ Beth looked down at the floor, then around the room. Her father had left one of his belts lying across the back of a chair. Beth’s eyes fell on it; she looked away quickly. David was right: best to get it over with.

  ‘It’s… it was… I—we—didn’t mean to, it just sort of happened…’

  ‘Whatever are you on about, girl?’ her mother said, halfway between amusement and irritation. ‘What’s happened? Did you break something of Aunt Amy’s? Is that it?’

  ‘No… I…’ Beth gulped down the sob that was tightening her throat. ‘I haven’t had my bleeding for ages now—I’ve missed two times. It hasn’t come since Dave and I started… I’m really, really sorry, Ma. I think… I think I’m going to have a baby.’

  Her mother’s mouth dropped open. For a moment she stared at Beth in shock, lost for words. Beth had expected that, and she fully expected to see the shock rapidly succeeded by anger. She cringed, waiting to see what form her mother’s wrath would take, and wondering just how painful it would be.

  Lizzie reached out blindly, and grasped at the bedpost. She sat down heavily on the bed, easing Benjy onto her lap as she did. She gave her head a small shake, as if to clear her thoughts.

  ‘Well,’ she said at last, ‘I never thought of that happening. I see now I should have, now it’s staring me in the face. Ah well, no sense going on about it. We’d better see how quickly we can get you two married.’ She looked at Beth in surprise. ‘What are you doing, standing there with your mouth open? Of course you’re getting married!’

  ‘I know, we really want to. It’s just…’ Beth hesitated, studying her mother’s expression to assure herself of the astonishing fact that she seemed in no danger of being punished. ‘Aren’t you wild or anything? I thought you’d giv
e me a hiding.’

  ‘Where’s the sense in that? It’s not as if it’d make any difference now. Anyway, we need to take things carefully with you having a baby on the way. I’m not saying I wouldn’t have given you a good one, mind you, if I’d caught on before things had gone that far. No, it’s my fault as much as anyone’s, leaving you two alone all that time and never thinking anything of it. I thought you and Dave were like brother and sister.’ She frowned. ‘Hmm, you’re cousins, come to that. Still, that can’t be helped now. And it’s only second cousins, that doesn’t really count.

  ‘Now,’ she went on briskly, ‘Don’t you breathe a word about this to your father. I’ll need to go carefully there, it’s going to take him a bit of getting used to. I’ll have a think about the best way to tell him.’

  ‘Dave’s telling him now. He came down with me.’

  Lizzie gave a start. ‘What? Telling him on his own? You silly girl! What were you thinking of?’ She rose and hurried from the room, down the passage and through the kitchen (stopping only to thrust Benjy into the arms of a startled Maisie), and out of the house, Beth following in her wake.

  *

  ‘Dave! Nice to see you here,’ Frank said when he saw David approaching. ‘How’s calving going at your place?’

  ‘Pretty good. I’m getting quite a few heifers. Beth’s been helping me decide which ones to keep.’

  ‘Well, you couldn’t have anyone better—I tell her she knows more about calves than I do. She’s got a real way with animals. You want to have a look at this lot?’ He waved a hand to indicate the calves in the paddock.

  ‘Um, maybe a bit later. Uncle Frank, can I have a talk with you?’

  There was something in his tone that made Frank look more closely at him. He saw David cast an uncomfortable look around at the boys, who were watching with mild curiosity. So it was something David wanted to speak to him about in private.

  Frank was touched that David should come to him for advice, and glad to try and help, if something was troubling him. It was quite a responsibility for a boy of eighteen to be running a farm on his own. And with Charlie as his father, Frank knew that David had not had the easiest of childhoods.

  ‘Let’s take a stroll up there,’ Frank suggested, pointing to a paddock just above the house. ‘I’ve got a few calves in there, too. No need for you boys to come,’ he added. ‘I’ll just show the calves to Dave, then it’ll be just about morning tea time.

  ‘Now,’ he said when they were far enough away from the boys to be sure of some privacy, ‘what’s on your mind, Dave?’

  ‘I… I want to…’ David began, then trailed off. He looked at Frank, and quickly looked away.

  Something really must be troubling the poor lad, Frank thought. Whatever it was, David was embarrassed about it. ‘Is it anything to do with money?’ Frank prompted. ‘I know it’s not always easy keeping that sort of thing straight. I don’t mind telling you I got in a muddle that way myself once—when I was a fair bit older than you are, too, so I had a lot less excuse.’

  ‘No, it’s nothing like that,’ David said, still looking at the ground.

  ‘No? What is it, then? Come on, Dave, don’t be shy about asking. We’re family, right? If it’s anything I can help you with, I’m only too happy to.’

  David raised his eyes, and Frank thought he looked a little less anxious. ‘I do want to ask you for something, Uncle Frank. Something really big.’

  He looked so earnest that Frank had to make an effort not to smile. ‘Really big, eh? Well, we’ll see what we can do. What is it, then?’

  He saw David take a deep breath before speaking. ‘I want to marry Beth.’

  It was all Frank could do not to laugh out loud. He managed to turn his snort of amusement into a cough. ‘I can’t say I expected that!’ he said, unable to keep the smile out of his voice.

  ‘Now, Dave,’ he went on, trying to give the appearance of taking the outrageous suggestion seriously, ‘I suppose it’s not so surprising, with you spending all this time together lately, and her more or less keeping house for you. And the two of you have always been good mates, right from when you were little kids. But you’re both much too young to be thinking about getting married—you especially.’

  ‘We really want to get married,’ David said, looking more earnest than ever.

  ‘Well, I’ll tell you what,’ Frank said easily, ‘maybe in two or three years, if you still think that’s what you want, we might have a talk about it then.’ It was a painless enough offer to make. David and Beth had been playing house together, and that had put this silly notion into their heads. Frank was quite sure they would have all but forgotten it long before two years had passed. And in the meantime, he would see what he could do to help David improve that farm of his, so that when the boy was at a reasonable age to think about getting married, he might be in a position to ask a girl and hope to be accepted. Frank was fond of David, and he hoped it would be a nice girl, who would make him happy. But it would not be one of Frank’s daughters. He was comfortably sure of that.

  ‘No!’ David said, startling Frank out of his reverie. ‘No, Uncle Frank, we need to get married right now—really soon, anyway. You have to let me marry Beth. You have to.’

  All amusement drained out of Frank as he looked at David’s wild-eyed stare. His eyes narrowed. ‘What do you mean, I have to let you?’ he said slowly. ‘You got something to tell me, boy? What’s been going on? Eh?’

  ‘I’m really, really sorry.’ David looked on the verge of tears, but there was no room in Frank for sympathy. Not with the rage that was flooding through him.

  ‘What have you done to my daughter?’ he growled.

  ‘She’s… Beth’s going to have a baby.’

  Almost before he knew what he was doing, Frank had launched himself at David. He grabbed him by the shirt and swung his fist.

  If they had not been on sloping ground, with David standing somewhat below him, Frank would have had little chance of reaching higher than David’s chest. But the punch slammed into his face, knocking his head to one side. When Frank let go of his shirt front he took a step backwards, and raised his hands in a feeble effort to defend himself, but Frank’s next punch got through as easily as the first. Blood began running from David’s nose. He made no attempt to fight back or to escape. ‘I’m sorry, I’m sorry,’ he said helplessly, then closed his eyes against the sight of the fist once again coming at his face.

  Frank heard Lizzie’s voice, loud enough to carry easily. ‘Frank!’ she called. ‘Don’t you kill that boy, he’s got to marry Beth!’

  He turned aside from David to see Lizzie hurrying towards him, moving faster than she had in years. ‘He’s bloody not!’ he shouted back.

  12

  ‘Davie!’ Beth screamed at the sight of blood trickling down his face. She made to rush at him, but Lizzie caught her by the arm and took a firm hold.

  Frank saw David take a step towards Beth. ‘You stay away from her! You get off my farm right now, and don’t you ever set foot on it again. If I see you coming here trying to hang around my daughter, I’ll knock your bloody head off. Go on, get out.’

  David cast a helpless look in Beth’s direction and walked slowly to where he had left his horse tethered, looking over his shoulder as he went. ‘Stay here,’ Lizzie told Beth. She lifted her skirts and scurried off after David.

  ‘Lizzie!’ Frank called. ‘Don’t you go near him!’ Lizzie ignored him. ‘Lizzie!’ he shouted. ‘Are you listening to me?’

  ‘I’ll just be a minute,’ Lizzie called back. She reached David and talked rapidly for a few moments, while Frank fumed. After a quick glance at Beth, who was sobbing, he could not bring himself to meet her eyes. Instead he glared at the back of Lizzie’s head, which seemed to him to have a particularly defiant tilt to it.

  Beth stood where her mother had left her. She watched Lizzie talking to David, then allowed herself to be led back towards the house. ‘Davie’s got blood all over his face!’ she
wailed.

  ‘He’ll be all right,’ Lizzie said briskly. ‘It’s just a bleeding nose. I’m sure he got a lot worse from his father.’

  ‘But who’ll look after him now? Who’ll get his dinner on and everything?’

  ‘He’ll have to look after himself for a bit. That won’t kill him. Oh, don’t get in such a state over it, girl! He can go to his Uncle John’s for meals. Anyway, it won’t be for long, only a week or so. I told him to write to his ma and tell her to come home. I’ll write to her myself as well, to make sure she does. I might need her help to sort this out.’

  Beth looked over her shoulder at her father, who was staring grimly at David’s retreating form. She had never seen such an expression on his face. ‘Y-you always said,’ she choked out, gulping back a sob, ‘you always said if we were really bad Pa would get wild at us. But he never did. Maudie told me you were just saying it to make us behave. I thought that was right. I thought I’d never see Pa get wild. But now he has. And it’s because of me.’

  She dissolved into fresh sobs. Lizzie stopped in her tracks, took Beth by the shoulders and shook her; not roughly, but effectively. She waited for Beth to calm herself enough to pay attention. ‘Of course he’s wild,’ said Lizzie. ‘The one thing that could get him in a state like this is if he thinks someone’s done wrong by one of you kids. And that’s why you should have left it up to me to tell him about all this, not let Dave go blundering in saying Lord knows what. I’m going to have a beggar of a job with him now.’

  *

  Frank’s sons were not the most perceptive of boys, but they soon caught on that something was up. They had not witnessed the fight, but had seen how abruptly David had left, and they noticed their father’s silence and his uncharacteristically grim expression. They had the sense to keep quiet themselves; there were some jobs on the farm that were a good deal less pleasant than others, and none of them wanted to find himself assigned to digging out drains for the next few days.