The Girl from the Tanner's Yard

by Diane Allen

  Laburnum House

  22 New Street

  Kendal

  2nd June 1857

  My Dearest Adam,

  How surprised I was to hear that you are back in the country, and living at your old home too. I am so sorry to hear that the war in the Crimea has not been kind to you and do hope that your wound is healing. It must have been the most dreadful time for you and your fellow soldiers-in-arms.

  I tried to keep abreast of affairs, but the news of our brave boys having to fight in such conditions made me feel so helpless, every time I read the newspapers. All those souls freezing and hungry on the Russian Steppes, and all for nothing really. No wonder you have chosen to return to the sanctity of your old home. Your mother and father would be so proud to know that at long last you are back where you belong.

  Anyway, my darling, I too have got some news, but I will tell you it when I see you in person. It is partly the reason why I am late in replying to your letter, which filled my heart with joy at the news of your return. As you suggested, I aim to visit you, and perhaps stay a day or two, towards the end of next week, catching Wednesday’s coach from Kendal and arriving in Keighley around 12 noon on the Thursday. Would you be able to meet me, my dear?

  Please let me know post-haste if this is not agreeable to you. Otherwise, I will look forward to sharing a few glorious days with you, come Thursday.

  With love and affection,

  Yours in this world and the next

  Ivy

  Adam smiled. Dear Ivy, he should have known that she would not have deserted him. They’d always been close, ever since they were small and she got teased for playing with the boys instead of the girls at school. She’d always been a tomboy, so what had she been up to now, which had kept her from writing to him sooner? No doubt all would be revealed on her arrival on Thursday, but before that, he must tell Lucy to prepare for a visitor – a visitor who was very dear to him and had to be made most welcome.

  20

  ‘I can’t wait to see Ivy again. It’s been so long, and we have been such close friends all our lives.’ Adam smiled at Lucy as she cleared away his breakfast things and watched as she waved through the window at Archie, when he went about his work of cleaning out the cow shed. The warmer weather had finally arrived, and the cow had been turned out into the front pasture to feed on the lush growing grass.

  ‘She must be important to you. You must have said her name ninety times since I arrived an hour ago,’ Lucy commented, but didn’t bother turning round to acknowledge Adam speaking to her. She was angry, as the first words Adam had said were that his beloved Ivy was coming to visit, and he was still wittering on about her.

  ‘I’m sorry. I’m just glad that she’s agreed to visit. We can at last catch up with one another, and Ivy might be willing to hold a seance, like she used to, so that I can speak to my Mary, whose words were of such comfort to me. I realized Mary had not left my life, simply gone into another room, which wasn’t accessible to those of us who are still alive.’ Adam hung his head and went quiet.

  ‘She’s a medium? This Ivy is a medium? One of those folks who prey on people’s pain and grief, and tell folk exactly what they want to hear? Oh, I’ve no time of day for them. It’s all a load of bunkum, and you want nowt with dabbling into that sort of thing.’ Lucy shook her head and turned to look at Adam.

  ‘It’s not bunkum. Ivy told me things that only Mary and I knew. Ivy said she could see her, and that Mary was happy and I’m not to worry, because she was in a better world, with her parents and relations around her.’ Adam scowled.

  ‘She told you what you wanted to hear, that’s all. That’s what they all do. Con folk into paying them, for nowt,’ Lucy scoffed.

  ‘No, I’ll not have you saying that. Ivy is as straight as a die. She’s a good woman, and you’ll treat her right while she is under my roof.’ Adam looked across at Lucy. She was speaking out of turn about his friend, and he was not willing to put up with it.

  ‘Hmm! Well, if you believe in that sort of thing, you do, but you won’t convince me.’ It seemed to Lucy that Adam was smitten with Ivy and that, no matter what she thought, he’d not hear any wrong of her. ‘I’ll go out and weed the garden today. I need the fresh air and it’s a grand day – the sun’s shining and everything’s growing.’ Lucy made an excuse to get out of her master’s way. She was in no mood to be pleasant to him.

  ‘You can put me some bread and cheese out for my lunch. I’m going up the moor on Rosa. I’m going to make that mire safe – fence it off – now that I’ve got my strength back. It should have been done before, then I’d not have fallen in. But I suppose some good came of it, with all the Baxters being sentenced. I’d rather you gave the house a really good clean, instead of doing the gardening. I need you to make the empty bedroom ready for Ivy, and we need to stock up on food and baking before next Thursday. I’ll go into Keighley and get what we need, if you put together a menu for her stay. It needs to be a bit more refined than what you usually feed me,’ Adam said as he got up from his chair and made for the door, not noticing the thunderous look on Lucy’s face, as he left her standing in the kitchen after parcelling him his lunch of bread and cheese.

  ‘Refined’ – she’d give him bloody refined! What did he think she was? He’d never complained before about her cooking; in fact he’d relished it. This bloody woman, why on earth had she raised her head? Lucy looked around her and opened the front door, letting the sunshine flood into the house. She’d still go into the garden, where she could vent her wrath upon the weeds and check how the lettuce and radishes were growing. One of the meals for Miss High-and-Mighty could be a good ham salad, followed by rhubarb crumble; the rhubarb was growing pink and strong in the corner of the garden, and was at its best at this time of year, and it cost nothing. Which was exactly how Lucy rated Ivy – not worth a lot of time and money – although she would have to be decent with her, if she meant so much to Adam, to keep her job. She’d bottom the house and get it all spick and span, just as he wanted it, and would keep her thoughts to herself, rather than fall out with Adam; and she’d keep her mouth closed, when it came to the precious Ivy Thwaite.

  Lucy looked around her. The sun was shining and she’d nobody to answer to all day. She untied her apron strings and placed her apron on the back of the chair. The housework could wait, as there was plenty of time before Thursday. The sunny day was calling her and she’d rather be outside, with the sun shining down on her. The mood she felt herself in might lighten with a bit of sunshine on her back. Because Lucy knew herself: she was not fit to be talked to, the way she was feeling. It was jealousy pure and simple – jealousy of a woman she had not even met yet, and of a friendship that she feared would come between her feelings for Adam and his for her, if he had any.

  The rows of purple-and-green sprouting beetroot plants had never been so clear of the weeds that surrounded them. The chickweed, which had sprung up almost overnight, had been cleared and discarded, and the ground hoed and made tidy. Now it was the turn of the feathery green carrots, which they were starting to grow and which needed thinning, to enable the stronger ones to grow plump and large. Lucy concentrated on the job, bending down and pulling out the young seedlings, oblivious to the visitor who had just entered the farmyard.

  ‘Now that’s a grand sight to see – somebody working harder than myself.’ Reggie Ellwood leaned on the garden wall and grinned at Lucy, with her hair in disarray and dirt on her face and hands.

  ‘Oh, I didn’t hear you there. I’m busy weeding; this chickweed gets everywhere, and I’m sure someone comes and plants it back in place overnight. I don’t seem to get any nearer with it.’ Lucy raised her head, stood up and pushed back her long blonde hair, which was hanging loosely over her shoulders. She looked at Reggie, whose dark hair shone in the summer sun, and who looked quite handsome in his checked waistcoat and white shirt with rolled-up sleeves, she thought, as she walked over to him. It was a pity he was a little too forward with his view
s, else she might have been attracted to him. But she’d lost her heart to Adam, whether he knew it or not, and whether he cared or not, and she’d no time for Reggie.

  ‘Tha’s a mucky devil. You’ve more muck on your face than in the garden.’ Reggie laughed and looked at Lucy’s face, with its streaks of dirt on it.

  She lifted her hands and wiped her face as she blushed and looked at Reggie. ‘I’ve been busy – a bit of muck doesn’t hurt you.’ She scowled. ‘Are you wanting Mr Brooksbank, because he’s not here; he’s up the moor, fencing. There’s Archie about somewhere. I think he’s finished cleaning the cowshed and now he’s in the stable.’ Lucy looked around her, hoping that Archie would hear their voices and come and rescue her from the gaze of the lad that she knew was sweet on her.

  ‘Aye, I came to see Mr Brooksbank, just to see how he’s done and to reassure him that I can buy half his lambs off him this autumn, now that I’m not paying as much for keeping a roof over my head. At least I know that they are well bred, and it would be good to have them back on my land. But that’s not the only reason I’m here. I’m not going to give up on asking you to walk out with me. I’ll not let you ignore me. I’ve got to admit you’ve taken my eye, and I mean to have you on my arm before this summer’s out, no matter what you think of me.’ Reggie looked up at Lucy as she leaned against the wall next to him and watched as she listened to what he said.

  ‘Aye, and I told you that I already have a fella and I’m not interested,’ Lucy answered back, but smiled at Reggie. He was a cheeky devil and she admired him for his persistence.

  ‘He’ll not be a match for me. I’d buy you flowers every week and show you off on my arm for everyone to see. Everybody would say, “What a bonny couple them two make.” And my home is secure now, so it’d be better than living down at the flay-pits.’ Reggie reached out for Lucy’s waist and squeezed it tightly over the wall top, before climbing over to join her.

  ‘You are a cocky one, Reggie Ellwood. First, you ask me to walk out with me, and then you have me wed and living with you.’ Lucy pushed him away gently.

  ‘Who said owt about getting wed? I only said living with me, and we could live over the brush.’ Reggie grinned and looked into her eyes. Both of them were oblivious to Adam walking up behind them, sweating with the heat of the sun, after pounding wooden posts and rails into the peat bog on the moor.

  ‘Bloody hell, Lucy! I ask you to get the house ready for Ivy’s arrival and here you are, flirting as usual, instead of working.’ Adam came and stood next to them by the wall. He was not only annoyed that Lucy had not started on the house, but also that Reggie Ellwood was chancing his luck yet again with his maid. He felt a strange pang of jealousy as he caught her gazing at him.

  ‘No, now don’t get cross with Lucy. She was busy gardening up to ten minutes ago. It was my fault, I distracted her. I made fun of her mucky face while waiting for you.’ Reggie saw the anger on Adam’s face and rose to defend Lucy.

  Adam looked at the newly weeded garden and at the muck on Lucy’s face and wished he’d not been so quick to judge. ‘Aye, well, that still leaves the house being neglected. I have got a visitor coming to stay next week and I want all just right for her,’ Adam moaned.

  ‘Her – a woman? So, you’ve got a woman in your life after all. I was beginning to think you were going to be living here on your own.’ Reggie grinned. ‘I’ve asked Lucy here to walk out with me, but she’s still insisting on saying no. Perhaps you could convince her differently, seeing as you obviously have charms of your own?’ he said and looked at both Adam and Lucy, as she bowed her head.

  ‘Actually, Reggie, I’ve changed my mind. I will walk out with you this Sunday, if you are available. Perhaps we could have a walk around Haworth and have tea in that nice little tea-shop halfway up the cobbled high street. That is, if you can afford it?’ Lucy lifted her head and looked at Reggie.

  ‘Bloody hell! I didn’t expect that. Aye, I’ll pick you up, and tea in Haworth it will be.’ Reggie smiled to himself.

  ‘Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’ll go and wash my face and get on with my work,’ Lucy said. ‘I’m sorry I’ve disappointed you, sir, in putting the garden before your guest’s needs. I’ll go and see to her bedroom immediately, and plan what meals we can have for her stay.’ She looked with steely eyes at Adam, as he’d shown her up in front of Reggie. She’d worked hard all day, and the housework would keep until nearer Ivy’s stay. She would walk out with Reggie Ellwood, to spite Adam’s assumption of her flirting with him, even though in her heart it was Adam she wished was on her arm. But that would never be, not now Ivy Thwaite was about to appear. Even Reggie had assumed that Ivy and Adam were lovers and not just friends, so how did she stand any chance to win her employer’s heart?

  Lucy could barely hold back her tears as she walked away from both men, entering the house and climbing the stairs to the spare bedroom, to make the spare bed up and dust the few pieces of furniture that were in the room. She wiped a tear away from her eye as she stood and looked out of the bedroom window, after opening it to let some fresh air into the unused room. The two men were leaning back on the garden wall, discussing sheep and no doubt other farming matters, unaware of how she really felt.

  She sniffed and blew her nose. Damn the pair of them, but damn Ivy Thwaite more! She was responsible for the bad feeling between her and Adam, even though Ivy had not yet arrived. Lucy pulled out the spare pillows from the dark oak wardrobe and plumped them up with her fists, imagining the as-yet-unknown face of Ivy as she did so, and regretting accepting to walk out with Reggie that coming Sunday. He might be attractive in his looks, but she didn’t find him attractive in any other way. She’d only agreed to make Adam realize that she was worthy of his love.

  Adam stood at the farmhouse doorway. The light was dying and the moorland around him was quiet, apart from the odd bleating of a lost lamb from its mother, high above on the moor. He smoked his pipe and thought about the day he’d had, and the mood Lucy had been in all day. It wasn’t like her. She’d been surly since breakfast time and she’d been far from decent in manner when he’d mentioned that Ivy was coming to stay. Then, when he’d come back down from the moor, to find her flirting and carrying on with Reggie Ellwood, he’d lost his patience. What did she want with Reggie? Surely she knew that he’d no money and that a life with him would be no better than the life she had at the flaypits. Lucy could do so much better for herself. And it was only the other week that she said she wouldn’t be giving him the time of day.

  She’d hardly spoken all afternoon and had left that evening with barely a word, apart from giving Adam a list of meals that she thought appropriate for Ivy’s stay, and a snide comment of it being fit for a queen, if not for Ivy. If he didn’t know better, he’d say that Lucy had decided to slight his oldest friend, but she had no reason to do so; she didn’t even know Ivy, and Lucy had no reason to be jealous of her. He only hoped that when Ivy arrived at Black Moss, Lucy would make her welcome and that she’d not show the petty side of herself, as she had done today.

  There had been one good outcome of the day: the fact that Reggie had been able to rent his land at a cheaper rate, now the Baxters were in the jail. Reggie had also told him that the Baxters’ home, and the adjoining land to Adam’s, was to be sold. That was of great interest to Adam. He wouldn’t mind buying and owning further land, especially the adjoining land of the Baxters, although he had no use for the farmhouse. However, he could always rent it to some deserving soul, he mused, as he wondered if he had enough savings for his plan. He’d have to watch what he spent in the future, and then he might be able to scrape a decent amount together, he thought, as he ventured into his home for the night.

  ‘So who’s this lad you are walking out with this afternoon?’ Bill Bancroft looked at his daughter as she placed her best Sunday hat on her head, and dotted eau de parfum of violets on her wrists. ‘Is he worth all this bother? In other words, has he got brass?’ he growled.

  ‘He far
ms just above Ing Row. But no, he doesn’t have much brass. But he’s asked me out for tea in Haworth, so I’m going to make the best of it. Nowt will come of it, Father, so you needn’t worry. He’s not my sort of man.’

  ‘Then why are you walking out with him?’ Her mother looked up from her darning and glanced at her wayward daughter, as she preened herself for a lad she didn’t care for. ‘You shouldn’t lead him on, if you don’t care for him – it’s not right.’

  ‘Nay. And if he’s got nowt in the bank, then you can do better for yourself,’ Bill added.

  ‘Well, I’ve made up my mind now and he’ll be here in a second. A stroll around Haworth, finishing with a cup of tea and a slice of cake, will be a pleasant change from stopping in this godforsaken place.’ Lucy looked at herself again and felt her stomach churn. She didn’t really want to go with Reggie, but she’d no option now.

  ‘Lucy’s got a fella . . . Lucy’s got a fella . . .’ Nathan chanted and egged Susie to join him in his teasing, as he danced around the kitchen.

  ‘Shut up, our Nathan. He’ll hear you. He said he was picking me up at twelve-thirty and it’s nearly that now.’ Lucy tried to swipe Nathan around the ear, but missed and swore as he put out his tongue at her, then ran upstairs to look out of his bedroom window at the man who was daft enough to court his big sister. ‘Oh Lord, he’s here. Now don’t anybody come to the door and gawp at him.’ Lucy picked up her small satin posy bag and glared at her parents, before going to open the door.

  ‘Now then, Lucy, are you ready?’ Reggie stood on the doorstep, cap in hand, and beamed at her as she opened the door to him. ‘I’ve treated us to my next-door neighbour’s horse and trap. I thought we’d go to Haworth in style. I’ll stable the horse at the Black Bull at the top of the high street while we have a stroll.’

  ‘So, who’s this then, our Lucy? He’s not leading you astray by visiting the Black Bull, is he?’ Bill rose from his chair by the fire and went and stood behind Lucy, and looked Reggie up and down, noticing everything about him.