‘Aye, they’ll be salting ’em down now afore December sets in. But he brings home beasts regular to butcher in his back yard. Cleaning the raw tripe is worse. It smells like a slurry pit.’
‘I haven’t done that before.’
Biddy laughed and Annie slowed her pace for them to catch up. ‘You’d know if you had! Then you have the sheeps’ guts to clean. She’s got no shame, that butcher’s wife.’
‘What do you mean, “no shame”?’
Biddy grinned and raised her eyebrows at Annie. ‘She doesn’t know what sheep’s guts are used for.’
‘The same as pigs’, I suppose, for sausages?’ Daisy ventured.
Biddy giggled.
‘What then?’ Daisy pressed. ‘Why are you laughing?’
‘Ee, you don’t know much, do you? How old are you?’
‘Eighteen,’ she answered proudly, lifting her head. Well, she would be soon.
Biddy lowered her voice. ‘You have to get them really clean because the butcher’s wife sells ’em to the apothecary and he makes – you know—’
‘No, I don’t.’
‘You know.’ Biddy cast her eyes in both directions to make sure no one else was in hearing distance. ‘Things. Things for gentlemen.’ She giggled again.
‘What things?’ Daisy said and Biddy giggled even more.
‘You know,’ Biddy went on. ‘When they have a – you know.’
Daisy shook her head and Biddy added in a whisper, ‘A whore.’
Daisy blushed and her mouth dropped open. What on earth would a gentleman do with washed sheeps’ guts?
Biddy seemed to realise that Daisy had no idea what she was talking about and asked, ‘You do know what whores are for, don’t you?’
‘Yes. They fornicate. They are wicked and men go to them instead of getting wed like the Bible says they should.’
Biddy rolled her eyes. ‘You’d best tell her, Annie.’
Annie had been listening with a weary expression on her face. ‘Ee, Biddy, does your ma know you talk about these things?’
Biddy’s face fell. ‘You won’t tell her, will you?’
‘I will if you don’t shut up about it.’
‘About what?’ Daisy demanded.
Annie took a deep breath. ‘Well, I’ll tell you, but only because I don’t want you chattering on when we’re in the Abbey. And don’t you breathe a word to anyone that I told you. I have seen one. The gentleman puts it over his – y’know – before he – y’know – and it stops him catching the pox from her.’
Daisy’s eyes widened with shock, partly to hear Annie speaking of such things and partly because it was about fornication! She remembered a little boy being sent home from Sunday school because he’d used the word pox, and the teacher had put the fear of God into her about the wages of sin. The following week the sermon had been about evils from the Bible she’d never heard of and most of the congregation left with reddened faces muttering to each other. Daisy knew that fornication led to hell.
‘Well, it would serve him right if he did catch it,’ she responded, ‘because he’s not supposed to do that until he’s wed. That’s what his wife is for.’
Annie answered her kindly. ‘Ee, Daisy lass, you don’t know much at all, do you? Men have these urges and some will do anything to satisfy them.’
‘Well, they should get wed then, shouldn’t they?’
Annie shook her head and replied briskly, ‘Aye, well, they do and they still go to whore houses.’
What for, if they have a wife? Daisy thought, but didn’t ask. She didn’t want Biddy to make fun of her any more.
Biddy too had grown tired of the joke and said, ‘Well, if you don’t mind your hands in stuff that smells o’ sheeps’ droppings and cow pats, try the butcher’s wife. She’ll want a testa-, testa-whatsit, though.’
‘Testimonial,’ Annie said. ‘Daisy hasn’t got one.’
‘How come she got work here, then?’
‘It was a mistake at first and then they let her stay because we needed the hands. But don’t you go telling nobody or else there’ll be no more work here for you, my lass.’
Biddy shrugged. ‘The butcher’s wife won’t have her without one. She has some well-off customers on her books.’
Another dead end, Daisy thought. The smell from her polishing cloths was beginning to make her head ache and she held them behind her back. Annie went up some steps to a door that opened onto a plain wooden staircase. Daisy looked up and recognised it as the one that led to the indoor servants’ attics. She followed her for two flights then stopped outside a simple wooden door.
‘Now listen to me,’ Annie said. ‘Once we’re through that door there’s no talking unless you have to speak to me. You won’t see any gentry because they are all at a reception and luncheon in the other wing. Every piece of wood and gilt on the staircase must be gleaming. I’ll be following you and checking. Understood?’
Daisy was literally speechless when she went through that simple wooden door and into the majestic splendour of the Abbey proper. She was standing on a long carpeted gallery with one wall panelled in polished wood and carrying a row of ornately framed portraits. Pieces of heavy furniture lined the wall for sitting on or supporting a decorative vase or small sculpture. The opposite side was taken up by a railed banister which curved down a wide wooden staircase descending to the ballroom below her.
It was magnificent. She traced her fingers over the handrail and gazed at three glass chandeliers sparkling before her eyes.
‘Stop staring, Daisy, and keep close to me.’
Daisy started on the landing, dusting and buffing until her arms ached. At one point she heard a door open and footsteps echoing on the marble floor beneath her, and the black-gowned housekeeper came into view.
‘Who is up there? Announce yourself immediately.’
‘Brown, madam, to finish the stairs.’
‘You’d better hurry. The footmen will be here to polish the floor in an hour.’
Daisy heard the swish of silk skirts and caught sight of black lace ribbons streaming from her dainty cap. ‘I wish I could be here to see the dancing,’ she whispered.
Annie put her finger to her mouth. ‘Me too. The parlour maids sneak in to watch.’
‘Can we do that as well?’
‘It’s not for the likes of us. We belong t’other side of yon door. Come on, you two. Look sharp. I’ll give you a hand with the staircase.’
Daisy glanced at the number of carved wooden rails stretching away and bent to her task. From time to time, a liveried footman would walk across the ballroom below carrying folded linens or a piece of furniture. She could hear their footsteps quite clearly and even heard one of them curse as a chair slipped in his grasp.
When they reached the bottom Annie sent them scuttling back upstairs while she checked every last nook and cranny of the carved gilded woodwork for a speck of dust. Daisy was sitting on the landing carpet peering through the banisters when two gentlemen entered the ballroom and lingered just inside the door. They were speaking urgently to each other and even Annie moved out of sight along the landing. But Daisy stayed to listen, putting her fingers to her lips as their conversation floated upwards. It was Master James and an older gentleman, quite portly with a florid face.
‘Keep your voice down, Pater. Does Stanton know you’re here?’
‘I haven’t seen him. Where is he?’
‘He’s helping the butler with the reception. I should be there with my uncle. Not that he’ll notice. They had to carry him downstairs in his Bath chair and he won’t be at luncheon.’
‘He can’t hold out for much longer. When I am Lord Redfern, life here will be very different. I’m surprised Stanton doesn’t realise that.’
‘He follows orders, Pater. He’s a good steward for the estate.’
‘Well, I’ll need you by me, son, not him.’
‘Will you bring Mater to live here?’
‘She is too sick to travel.’
‘I wish y
ou’d tell me where she is so I could visit her sometime.’
‘You’ll make her worse. She doesn’t know you.’ He gesticulated circling movements in the air around his head.
‘Tell me honestly. Is she in an asylum?’
‘Not yet. Forget her, James. I have asked you not to speak of her.’
‘She is my mother, sir.’
‘Shut up about her! I wish I’d told you she was dead. She is to me!’
‘You sound like his lordship. At my quarterly interviews he does not allow me to ask questions or even speak of you or Grandmamma. The headmaster at school told me when Grandmamma died.’
‘She should have had longer. She should have lived to see me installed at the Abbey. Well, her uncle will be dead and buried soon and it is your future that concerns me. I have no other sons and we must secure the bloodline as soon as possible. Your grandmamma knew how important it is and she said you ought to marry as soon as you are one and twenty.’
‘But I am to do the Grand Tour as soon as I finish my university education. I shall be travelling in Europe for three years. Stanton has advised it.’
His father’s agitation increased. ‘Damn Stanton! He is not your father. I am.’
‘He is Lord Redfern’s closest advisor here. He runs this estate. Do calm yourself, Pater. Remember what your physician has told you.’
There was a long silence and Daisy thought they must have left, although she had not heard footsteps. Finally, Master James said, ‘I cannot be absent from the reception any longer. Where did you leave your horse?’
‘He’s inside that folly, the one across the park on the way to the stables. No one will notice me as there is tree cover quite near and the stables are busy with all the extra carriage horses.’ The older gentleman paused before asking, ‘Have you spent all your allowance yet?’
‘I shouldn’t think so. Lord Redfern is very generous towards me.’ There was another silence, a shorter one this time. ‘How much do you want, Pater?’
‘Two hundred guineas would do.’
‘As much as that?’
‘You think a sheep farm in the Dales provides for a future lord?’
‘Well, doesn’t it?’
Master James’s father grunted. ‘Your grandmamma mortgaged it before you were born to pay for my education. The bank has owned it for years and any income it makes goes directly to them.’
‘Then what did Grandmamma live on?’
‘The same bank that has been funding me since Lord Redfern’s lawyers acknowledged me as heir. I owe them thousands, but they know that the Redfern estate will be mine one day.’ He gave a harsh laugh. ‘Even they did not expect my great-uncle to live so long. Dear God, I wish he would hurry up and die.’
‘Pater!’
Daisy shuffled quietly along the landing to get a better view of Master James. Her eyes were drawn to him. She didn’t know why and she knew she shouldn’t but she couldn’t stop herself. What was it about him? He was very handsome in a formal suit of grey clothes with a high-collared white shirt and necktie, but there were plenty of other handsome fellows at the Abbey. There was something about Master James that attracted her; his voice, the way he moved, she didn’t know what it was but it wasn’t because he was the young master, for it was only when she remembered who he was that she pulled herself together and told herself to stop being foolish. A door opened and closed and Daisy glanced up at Annie and raised her eyebrows. Annie whispered, ‘Some family feud or other. Don’t you two repeat any of it. The gentry are full of them.’
No more than the lower orders, Daisy thought wistfully. Perhaps James’s grandmamma had behaved wickedly. She liked the sound of the word ‘grandmamma’ and repeated it in her head. As Daisy made her way down the dingy back stairs she thought Master James had sounded quite sad when he spoke of his mother. She supposed he missed having a mother and felt quite sorry for him even though she wouldn’t wish a mother like her own on him. Daisy chewed on her lip because she considered she was sinful for not loving her parents as the Bible said she ought. But she didn’t miss her cruel mother and father one little bit and was constantly alert for Father arriving to take her home. Annie Brown had been more of a mother to her in a few short months than her own mother had been for over seventeen years.
Daisy took her dinner early so she could wait on the other servants for theirs. She was hungry and ate her boiled bacon and cabbage quickly then filled up on apple pudding. She yawned as she drank a mug of tea to finish.
‘Take a nap in your hour off his afternoon because you’ll be awake half the night clearing up.’
‘Will I get to see any of the ladies and gentlemen?’
Annie looked stern. ‘You are not to go in the Abbey under any circumstances.’
Daisy took Annie’s advice and after her nap put on her best – her only – gown that wasn’t Abbey uniform. She covered it well with one of Annie’s huge aprons, for the main event of the day was the banquet and the ball until midnight. Dancing was followed by a cold supper and then carriages home for those not lucky enough to be staying at the Abbey. The kitchens and sculleries were a cacophony of clatter until the dining room was cleared and the music had begun.
Every servant seemed to be rushed off his or her feet but Daisy found it fun because one of the footmen brought round wine for them to taste. He even came into the scullery with proper wine glasses full of wine that was fizzing with bubbles.
‘Try this,’ he announced. ‘It’s Champagne from France.’
‘Ooh la la,’ Annie laughed and lifted the front of her skirt to kick her legs.
Daisy followed Annie outside to drink her wine and cool off. In the distance, flares lit up the driveway lined with waiting carriages. She heard the strains of violins and a pianoforte mingled with chattering voices and laughter through open windows in the Abbey.
‘What next, Annie?’
‘They’ll be dancing until late. You’ll hear the music stop when the chef has laid out supper and you’ll be needed in the sculleries again. Cook will lay out something for us too. Put your feet up for an hour. You won’t get much sleep tonight.’
‘But I don’t feel tired now. Could I go over to the stables and see Boyd?’
‘I don’t see why not if you stay with him. There’ll be a late supper for the visiting coachmen, valets and ladies’ maids in the servants’ hall. Tell him to bring you back for that. As long as I know where you are when the work starts again.’
‘Thanks, Annie.’ Daisy set off in the dark to the stables.
Chapter 25
The horses were housed about half a mile away in long low buildings arranged as a square. Well, they only seemed low in comparison with the Abbey for there were two floors of rooms to house outdoor servants over the horse boxes. Daisy followed the sounds of voices until she reached an area behind the stables that was cluttered with more carriages. Visiting servants, men and women with tankards of ale or cider in their hands, stood around lanterns, talking to each other.
One of the men turned as she approached. ‘Who’s that?’
‘Daisy Higgins, sir. I’m looking for Boyd.’
Boyd loomed out of the darkness and she darted forward, unsettling one of the nearby carriage horses and causing the carriage wheels to strain against its brakes.
‘Steady on, Daisy. We don’t want a stampede.’
‘Sorry. Oh I’m so pleased to see you. I’ve been inside the Abbey today. You should see it, it’s magnificent.’
‘So I’m told. Mr Stanton says they haven’t had a gathering as big as this for years. Some guests have travelled for more than a hundred miles.’
‘Master James must be very important. Will you show me where you work?’
‘If you like. It won’t be for long, anyway. I’ll go back to Home Farm when all the guests have departed.’ Boyd picked up a lantern and they went through the carriage arch to the front of the buildings inside the huge quadrangle. Daisy followed him to one of the stable houses. There were six stalls
and they strolled in front of them, admiring the horses that nosed curiously over wooden gates. Boyd stroked their noses and patted their necks fondly. ‘I’m looking after these. They’re ponies but they are beautiful, aren’t they?’
Daisy agreed. ‘Are you allowed to ride them?’
‘I have to, to get the feel of them. If any of the young ladies join Master James and his friends tomorrow I shall select her mount.’
‘How lucky she is. I wish I could ride.’
‘You shall, one day. I shall teach you.’
‘Really?’
‘Yes, I promise. Here.’ Boyd dug in his jacket pocket and handed her some pieces of carrot. He led her to the end stall in the corner. ‘This little filly would suit you. Why don’t you get to know her?’
Boyd showed her how to feed the docile animal and Daisy lingered in the quiet enjoying the appreciative snuffling of the pony as it nibbled the carrot from the palm of her hand.
‘Do you mind if I take the lantern down the other end?’
Daisy shook her head and Boyd left her alone to busy himself clearing spilled straw and checking the gates were secure. Boyd was really happy working with horses, she thought. He mustn’t give it up for her. She didn’t mind hard work but no matter how hard she worked Annie couldn’t keep her on. As it was, she was lucky to be here in the first place.
‘Happy early birthday, Daisy.’
‘Oh! Oh, Boyd, it’s beautiful!’
Boyd had made her a wooden travelling box with a brass lock and key and rope handles on each side to carry it.
‘I thought you could keep it in your dormitory and put your things in it.’
‘Oh yes. Oh it’s perfect. Oh Boyd, I want to kiss you. Please can I give you a hug? No one will see us.’
He placed her box on the floor and took her hand. ‘It’s not that, Daisy.’
‘I know. We’re not children any more.’ She lifted his hand to her lips and kissed it. ‘I do love you.’
She could not see his face in the dim light. ‘I love you too, Daisy.’ He sounded weary as though it was a burden to him and she wondered, again, if the responsibility for her was holding him back from the things he wanted to do. He picked up her box and added, ‘I’ll keep this safe until I can bring it over for you.’
The Lost And Found Girl Page 22