by Linda Finlay
‘Correction, Carne, I ordered you to bring her to see me,’ Fenton pompously pointed out, bringing her back to the present. Picking up a pen with his soft, white hands, he sat and studied them. Evidently he didn’t intend doing any manual work, Colenso thought, taking in the cut of his charcoal suit and matching silk kerchief in his top pocket. And his manners were sorely lacking too for, despite there being two other chairs, he didn’t invite them to sit.
‘I hope you are settling in …’ her father began.
‘I didn’t ask you here to talk about my well-being, rather to discuss the matter of theft from my premises,’ Fenton replied crisply.
‘I’ll have you know I am not a thief,’ Colenso cried. ‘I only took the cuttings I was told I could have.’
‘Quiet, girl,’ Peder ordered.
‘Quite, Carne. Now,’ he said turning to Colenso. ‘I’m in charge here and do not recollect giving you permission to remove anything from the premises.’ The eyes that surveyed her were as grey and forbidding as the granite cliffs. Clearly grey was his colour, she thought and would have laughed if her stomach wasn’t tying itself into knots. ‘The first thing I did when I arrived was to have all the materials checked, and it would appear there are quantities unaccounted for. Now, empty out your basket,’ he ordered, gesturing to the space in front of him. Colenso looked at her father, who shrugged. Slowly she placed the small sack of cuttings she’d collected on Saturday, plus brooches and buttons she’d recently fashioned, on the desk before him.
‘As you can see, there are only a few offcuts and trinkets …’ her father began.
‘You can go about your work now, Carne,’ Fenton cut in. ‘An important order needs shipping out tonight so you’d better look sharp. You don’t want your wages docked more than necessary, I’m sure.’
‘Yes, sir. No, sir,’ Peder stuttered. Three bags full, sir, Colenso thought as he hurried from the room like a schoolboy anxious to please his teacher.
Once the door had closed behind him, Henry Fenton sat back in his seat and studied Colenso thoughtfully.
‘Tell me a bit about yourself, my dear,’ he said, his voice softer now. Colenso frowned, suspicious at the change in his demeanour.
‘Do you have any brothers and sisters?’ he asked.
‘Um, five, sir.’
‘Five?’ he repeated incredulously.
‘Well, two brothers living and three sisters in the churchyard.’
‘Your sisters live in the churchyard?’ he asked, his brows rising.
‘Yes, sir, two were born dead and one lived for six months.’
‘Oh, I see. And you live at home with your parents and brothers?’
‘Yes,’ she replied, wondering where this was leading.
‘How old are you, Miss Carne?’
‘Seventeen but I don’t think …’ she began, but he continued speaking.
‘I expect a handsome young lady like yourself has many followers?’ he asked, nose twitching as he looked her over like she was a prize filly. Buxom she might be but handsome? Was he having a laugh at her expense? But that gleam sparked in his eyes again, making her shiver.
‘Only the one,’ she mumbled.
‘Goodness, the young men around here must be blind,’ he exclaimed, leaning forward and picking up one of the trinkets she’d fashioned. As he did so, she noticed a shiny spot on the top of his head. Why, he was going bald, she thought, stifling a giggle.
‘You find all this amusing, Miss Carne?’ he asked brusquely, his eyes turning hard again.
‘No, sir, I’m just feeling a bit faint, having been stood outside in the cold for so long.’
Impatiently he gestured for her to take a seat. Her eyes widened in surprise but she did as he bade.
‘I see some of these have been turned – and expertly too,’ he said, studying a rounded stone fashioned into a brooch. ‘Tell me, are you a marble turner perchance?’ His lips curled into one of his sneers and she knew he was mocking her.
‘No, sir, but you …’
‘So presumably you have help from one,’ he cut in. ‘And presumably that person is employed here at the works?’ He turned his penetrating gaze upon Colenso but determined not to give anything away, she didn’t reply.
‘I see,’ he replied. ‘Well, Miss Carne, you should be aware that as manager, I will make it my business to find out everything about the people employed here. In the meantime, perhaps you’d tell me what you do with these, er, trinkets,’ Fenton asked.
‘Sell them to the tourists,’ she murmured.
‘Indeed. And do these tourists pay well?’ he asked, sitting back in his chair and eyeing her speculatively.
‘Quite well, sir,’ Colenso replied, not sure where this new line of questioning was leading.
‘And tell me, Miss Carne, how much of the sale price you receive do you give back to the works?’
‘Give back?’ she murmured. ‘I don’t understand.’
‘Well, it stands to reason that if you sell property belonging to Poltesco then any profit should be given back, should it not?’
‘But they are only odd cuttings you would otherwise dispose of,’ she sputtered, her nails biting into her hand as she strove to keep calm.
‘Cut offs, cuttings, edges, edgings, what’s in a word?’ he shrugged. Then he leaned forward, his eyes narrowing. ‘The fact remains that you have been taking materials that belong to the works here. Works that I am now managing, Miss Carne.’
‘But I was given permission to take them,’ she protested, rising to her feet.
‘Not by me, you weren’t. As far as I’m concerned, you have taken property that doesn’t belong to you. Worse, you have been profiteering from it. The question is, what am I to do about it?’ he asked. There was something about the way he was studying her, almost as if he was assessing her, that made her feel increasingly uneasy.
‘I don’t like the word profiteering, sir,’ she protested, endeavouring to keep her voice steady.
‘Nor do I, Miss Carne, and I shall have to give serious thought to the matter. Be on your way. You’ll hear from me further when I have decided what action to take.’
‘Action?’ she cried.
‘Indeed,’ he agreed, that gleam sparking in his eyes as he once again addressed her chest. Angrily she began to collect up the cuttings and trinkets, only for him to shake his head.
‘Leave those here where they belong,’ he added, before waving her away. Remembering the long hours she’d toiled polishing the rock until it gleamed with colour, she opened her mouth to protest, but he’d already turned back to the papers on his desk.
Feeling sick to the stomach, Colenso left the office, instinctively heading for the workshop. Then fearful that Ferret Fenton might be watching, she veered sharply towards the track. It wouldn’t do to get Kitto into trouble. Besides, it was Monday, the day she helped Emily Tucker with her sewing and she couldn’t let the old lady down. At least the work would be indoors, she thought. Like most women in the village, she was adept at juggling different jobs to earn a few extra pence, only knowing what day of the week it was by where she was meant to be.
As experienced dressmakers, Emily and Clara had built up a thriving business visiting ladies in their houses and measuring them for their new clothes. Sadly, Clara had recently succumbed to influenza, leaving Emily snowed under with unfinished orders. Knowing Colenso to be a dab hand with the needle, her mamm had offered her services in return for a few shillings and offcuts of material. Offcuts, the word kept sounding in her head as she sped down the lanes of Ruan. How dare that horrid man Fenton accuse her of stealing.
By the time she let herself into Emily’s stone cottage with its thatched roof badly in need of repair, Colenso was red with rage. The front room that best got the light had been turned into a sewing room, and Emily, silver tendrils escaping her bun, and customary tape around her neck, was already about her work, a roll of crêpe cloth on the stool beside her. She looked up from a swathe of black serge spread out
on the table in front of her.
‘Ah, there yer are, Colenso. I thought yer weren’t coming,’ she muttered through a mouthful of pins.
‘I’m sorry but I had to …’ Colenso began.
‘Tell me later, lover. Got a new order, as if I haven’t enough already,’ she moaned good-naturedly. ‘Lady Carwell’s mother died at the weekend and I’ve been commissioned to make her mourning outfits. Her driver is calling for them later today so if yer can sew a veil to the back of that whilst I finish here that would be grand,’ she said, waving her hand towards a fur hat on the dresser that was somehow squeezed into the corner of the room.
‘Everyone wants things yesterday,’ Colenso grumbled, still out of sorts after her visit with Fenton.
‘Well, the poor woman didn’t ask to die,’ Emily replied with a reproving look.
‘No, of course not,’ Colenso murmured and, feeling chastened, settled down to her task. She began stitching, her needle stabbing in and out of the fabric as if she was poking that horrid Ferret in the eyes. She didn’t know what was worse, his creepy staring at her chest or being accused of theft. After a while, her nerves began to settle and she found herself sewing in time to the ticking of the little ormolu clock on the shelf above her.
‘Ther’s done,’ Emily said some time later, shaking out the folds of the mourning dress and eyeing it critically. ‘Her Ladyship’s going to wear her black fur over it for the funeral tomorrow. If yer’ve finished that, yer can add some tulle to the neck and wrists,’ she said, passing over the folded garment while casting a critical eye over Colenso’s work. ‘Now, I’ll makes us a hot drink and then yer can tell me why yer were fuming like a chimney when yer arrived.’ Colenso watched as the woman got awkwardly to her feet. Judging by her red-rimmed eyes and stiff back, she’d been up working for hours.
‘Would you like me to do it?’ she asked, feeling guilty for bringing her earlier bad mood into the room.
‘No, ta, me lover. It’ll do me good to stretch me old bones. Besides I need the privy,’ she added with a girlish grin.
As Emily shuffled stiffly towards the door, Colenso unfolded the tulle and began pinning it onto the dress. Even plain black serge could look attractive when it was good quality and nicely trimmed, she mused. Her thoughts turned to what she was going to wear for her handfasting ceremony. A deep red would be in keeping and complement her dark looks, or perhaps purple with flowing sleeves. The ties that would bind her and Kitto together could be made in matching material. Perhaps Emily would advise her, though of course she wouldn’t say anything until she’d spoken to her mamm. With any luck her father would spend the evening in the hostelry and they could begin making plans in peace. Although it would be some time before Kitto finished his apprenticeship and his siblings were settled, it was exciting to think that one day she would become his wife.
‘Here we are, lover, chamomile tea to soothe your mood, though yer looking brighter now,’ Emily said, eyeing her shrewdly as she set the tray carefully on the shelf. ‘Best put yer sewing down, don’t want Her Ladyship’s dress getting stained. ‘Made us a bit of luncheon while I was at it.’
‘Thanks, Emily,’ Colenso said, pushing the dress carefully to one side. ‘I’m famished.’
‘Yer always is,’ Emily laughed. ‘Come on, eat up then yer can tell me what’s wrong. Looked like a dog who’d had his bone took earlier, yer did.’
They ate their bread and cheese in peace, each lost in their own thoughts. From the way Emily kept glancing at the empty chair beside her, Colenso knew she was thinking of her sister. She was sipping her tea when Emily got to her feet again.
‘By the way, yer can have these offcuts, if they’re any use,’ she said, passing over some squares of material.
‘Oh,’ Colenso muttered, her eyes filling with tears as she stared down at them.
‘I thought yer’d be pleased not upset. Yer don’t have to take them if yer don’t want,’ Emily frowned.
‘But I do. It was the word offcuts that reminded me …’ she broke off as a lump rose in her throat.
‘What’s up, lover? Come on, yer can tell Auntie Em,’ the older lady said, patting Colenso’s shoulder.
‘The new manager at Poltesco, he … he … called me a thief cos I collected the offcuts on Saturday. But I was told I could take them like normal,’ she shook her head.
‘No wonder yer was hopping,’ Emily murmured, passing her a clean kerchief. ‘Wipe yer eyes, I’m sure yer father’ll explain he’s mistaken.’
‘Huh,’ Colenso sniffed. ‘He was there and didn’t stand up for me at all. All he did was grovel like the manager was some kind of god. Then, when he’d gone, that horrid man accused me of profiteering cos I sell the trinkets I fashion to the tourists.’
‘But if they was odd bits of no use to the works then they’d just be thrown out, surely? I mean, these offcuts of material here aren’t any use to me, but they’d be the start of a lovely patchwork quilt if yer has the time to sew them together. I mean, I guess yer’ll be thinking of yer own nest now,’ she said, grinning wryly at the ring on Colenso’s finger.
‘Nothing gets past you, Em,’ Colenso said, her spirits lifting. ‘But you’re right, I shall go and tell Mr Fenton exactly that tomorrow. Now I’d better get back to my sewing or you’ll be docking my wages too.’
‘Only when yer’ve calmed down, lover. I were worried poor Lady Carwell’s hat was going to be full of holes the way you were stabbing that needle through it. A word to the wise though, I’ve heard that new manager stops at nothing to get his own way.’
Colenso felt the necklace stab at her chest and that feeling of foreboding settled over her once again.
Chapter 4
Having stayed late to help Emily pack up Lady Carwell’s mourning clothes ready for her driver to collect, it was dark by the time Colenso arrived home. The candle was flickering in the window and, despite it having been a long day, her heart quickened at the thought of discussing Kitto’s proposal with her mamm. A cosy evening by the warmth of the range making plans for the handfasting would be a welcome pleasure. She might even heat some elderflower cordial as a treat for them both.
However, when she entered the room, her spirits sank for her father was sitting in his chair. To her surprise he greeted her jovially, a smile replacing his usual sullen look.
‘Ah Colenso, there you are.’ She darted a look at her mamm who shook her head. ‘That nice Mr Fenton called me into his office and we had another chat about them things you’ve been making and …’
‘Look, Father, I’m no thief,’ she cut in, her temper rising again. ‘I only took the offcuts you said I could have.’
‘Calm down, maid. Seems the manager’s taken a shine to thee and thought of a way you can make it up to him.’
‘Make what up? I’ve done nothing wrong. If anything, he should apologize to me,’ she frowned, slamming her basket on the table.
‘No need for that attitude, maid,’ he grunted, tamping tobacco into his pipe. Ignoring him, Colenso turned to her mamm.
‘Do you need any help with supper or have I time to sort out my things?’ she asked. From the appetizing aroma filling the room she guessed they were having root stew and her stomach rumbled in anticipation.
‘Finish listening to what your father has to say,’ Caja replied, shooting her a warning look.
‘You mean there’s more?’ she asked turning back to face him.
‘There is, maid. Mr Fenton is prepared not to call in the constable if you go for afternoon tea at his house on Sunday. Play your cards right and the Carnes could be on the up,’ he crowed, rubbing his hands together.
‘I have no wish to set eyes on that man again, let alone be entertained by him,’ Colenso cried.
‘Now listen here, my girl, it’s either that or be sent to gaol for theft. Take your pick. Fenton also let slip his friend were Justice of the Peace at Falmouth,’ he said, giving her a hard stare.
‘Like I said, I’ve done nothing wrong so I’ll
take my chances.’ To her astonishment he smiled, his manner becoming conciliatory.
‘Look, maid, this is your opportunity. For some reason he finds you attractive. I’ve seen the way he stares at your …’
‘Father, please,’ Caja spluttered.
‘Well, if she has charms he wants then she should make the most of it. That’s how you women work, isn’t it? What’s that in your basket anyhow?’ he asked, leaning over and pulling out the bundle of material.
‘Offcuts, I mean remnants Emily gave me,’ Colenso said, making to take them from him.
‘Not so quickly, maid,’ he said, studying the cloth carefully. ‘This is good stuff. You can make yourself a nice top to wear on Sunday. Som’at to show off those, er, womanly assets,’ he leered.
‘I’ll have you know this material is to be the beginning of a quilt for when Kitto and I wed.’
‘Wed! You’ll not be wedding some apprenticed worker, not when there’s the chance of walking out with the manager of the works. Think about it, maid, you could be set up for life and see us all right too. After all we’ve done for you it’s the least you can do,’ he wheedled. Seeing the set of his chin, Colenso knew she was treading on dangerous ground but the subject was too important to let it rest.
‘Look, Father. Kitto is going to speak to you, ask for permission …’
‘Oh, so that’s what he wanted,’ he snarled, his demeanour changing. ‘Hanging around outside earlier, he was. Sent him packing with a flea in his ear, I can tell you. Told him never to darken my door again.’
‘But …’ she began then stopped as his eyes darkened, his hand going to his belt.
‘If you’ve been out sewing you’ll have been paid som’at, so give it here. All this jawing’s given me a thirst,’ he barked, holding out his hand.
Reluctantly, Colenso delved into her pocket and passed over the few precious coins Emily had given her.
‘Just look at them ’ands,’ Peder snorted. ‘You looks like a common washerwoman. Mother give her som’at to smooth them. A fine man like Fenton don’t want a woman with rough ’ands. And what’s this?’ he asked, his eyes narrowing as he took in the brass ring on her finger.