The Girl from the Tanner's Yard

by Diane Allen

  ‘Oh, Father, stop protecting me.’ Lucy sighed.

  ‘I’m not leading her astray, sir, just leaving the horse there. I’ll not be sampling a gill while I have your bonny daughter on my arm. I’m Reggie Ellwood, it’s a pleasure to meet you, sir. And thank you for letting Lucy walk out with me this fine day.’ Reggie held out his hand to be shaken and looked up at Bill, as he surveyed the lad up and down.

  ‘Aye, well, behave yourselves and have a good day. I’ll expect her back by six – that’ll be late enough. If you can’t decide whether you like one another, after staring into one another’s eyes for six hours, then the job’s a bad ’un.’ Bill shook Reggie’s hand hesitantly and turned back into the house, leaving Lucy shaking her head at her father’s forthrightness.

  ‘He’s alright, is your father. He says it how it is, and there’s nothing wrong with that.’ Reggie held Lucy’s hand as she pulled up her skirts and climbed into the trap. ‘Now isn’t this fine? A bonny Sunday afternoon, all day together and enough brass in my pocket to treat you to tea. The other month I was near despair, but now that the Baxters have been dealt with – thanks to Adam Brooksbank – my life’s taken a change for the better. It’s time I had a girl on my arm. And what a bonny one I have.’ Reggie turned and looked at Lucy and wondered if he dared risk a quick peck on the cheek, as he sat up next to her and urged the horse forward down the shady green road to Haworth.

  ‘It’s just a day out and tea together. Don’t get carried away, Reggie. It’s nothing more than that.’ Lucy looked at Reggie and saw the disappointment on his face. ‘But we’ll see how we get on.’

  ‘Are you still courting this other fella you say you’ve got, because it’s only right that I know?’ Reggie looked ahead, not wanting to hear that he was only being used for a day out at his expense.

  ‘Things are difficult at the moment. I think he’s got another woman. So no, I can’t say I am.’ Lucy felt her eyes fill with tears, thinking about Adam smiling and talking about the dreaded Ivy’s arrival, and how much he had missed her.

  ‘Ah well, what’s good for the goose is good for the gander. I’ll have to make sure we have a good day and that I win you over. I’ll give him a run for his money. And happen by the time I drop you off back at home, you’ll have forgotten about him.’ Reggie flicked the reins and started to whistle as they trotted along the blossom-filled hedgerows, thinking that he might stand a chance with the lovely Lucy, if he looked after her well.

  The journey to the busy cobbled streets of Haworth was made up of polite conversation between Lucy and Reggie, both trying their best to be the person they wanted each other to be. Lucy was feeling a little bit guilty that, in her heart, she was leading Reggie on, when she knew he was not the right man for her. She was quite relieved when Reggie came out from the stables of the Black Bull, after stabling the horse, and linked his arm through hers without saying a word.

  ‘The street is busy. There are lots of people walking out in their Sunday finest – don’t they look smart.’ Lucy smiled and watched all the ladies, dressed in their tight-waisted dresses with flowing skirts, in all the different colours that could be imagined, with their husbands or beaus, walking arm-in-arm with them and promenading up the ancient cobbled streets.

  ‘Aye, and there’s a lot of normal everyday folk, with not a lot of money, watching them. Not everybody’s wealthy in Haworth. In fact it’s quite the opposite, and everybody’s scratching a living from carding wool, farming or working in the iron foundry or mills. Don’t let these few posh folk who walk out in their Sunday best fool you. They are only showing off, like us two,’ Reggie said as he looked around him at the small cottage dwellings and the many businesseses that filled the narrow, dark streets of the old mill town.

  ‘I know, but other folk seem to have so much more than I do. I’d like just a bit of what they’ve got. All I’ve ever done in my life is look after my sister and brothers, and be known as the lass from the flay-pits, which is not the best place to come from. It smells seven days a week and there are rats in the yard, and nobody worth anything looks the side I’m on,’ Lucy moaned.

  ‘Hey, your family love you, and you have a roof over your head and a full belly. Plus who says nobody looks the side you are on? Whose arm are you on today, and who doesn’t give a damn where you are from? Stop feeling sorry for yourself, you moaning Minnie.’ Reggie stopped in his tracks and looked long and hard at Lucy. ‘I’m not the one you want, am I? There’s somebody who’s stolen your heart, and I can’t compete.’

  ‘I’m sorry, Reggie, you are right. I shouldn’t have walked out with you. It’s not fair on you. But I’m aiming too high and I can’t have who I want, because he’s already spoken for. Instead I’m feeling sorry for myself and spoiling your day.’ Lucy bowed her head.

  ‘Never mind. You never know, I might just win you over from this fella, who obviously doesn’t know what he’s got. Whoever he is, he’s a fool. Now, a cream tea is calling to me, and I can’t wait to get my gnashers into one of those cream scones in that window over there. I might not be the right fella for you, but we might as well enjoy one another’s company. And seeing as I’ve got two bob in my pocket, we’ll have a good day on it. Friends is what we will be, and if anything else comes of it, then it will be a bonus.’ Reggie tugged on Lucy’s hand and opened the door into a small, intimate tea-room. ‘Sit back and think of yourself as Lady Muck, and I’ll be Lord Muck, and we’ll enjoy every mouthful and pretend that we eat cream cakes every day of the week.’ Reggie grinned and pulled Lucy into the shop. ‘Your chair, mi’lady.’

  Lucy smiled at Reggie as he offered her a seat next to the window. If only she could get Adam out of her thoughts, Reggie would be the perfect partner. She was glad he understood, as she hadn’t wanted to hurt or deceive him. He might still be right: feelings might grow between them, she thought, as he winked at her and ordered a cream tea for two – something he could barely afford, and she knew it. But her head was still set on winning Adam’s heart, regardless of Ivy Thwaite’s intervention.

  ‘Well, how did it go? Your father said he didn’t look a bad sort, and at least he was polite.’ Dorothy Bancroft looked at her daughter and noticed a flush on her face, as Lucy placed her bonnet on the kitchen table and sat down to unbutton her boots.

  ‘We had a lovely day together, Mother. He treated me to a cream tea in Hattie Thorpe’s Tea-Rooms and then we strolled around Haworth. It was a very pleasant day.’ Lucy sat back and watched her mother smile.

  ‘And will you be walking out with him again? He’s brought some colour to your cheeks, if nothing else,’ Dorothy said. She remembered when she had first walked out with Bill; she’d known from the very first moment together that he would be the man she would marry. She hoped it would be the same for her Lucy, after Bill had given Reggie his seal of approval.

  ‘We might meet again, but just as friends, Mother – before you start insinuating anything more. He’s a nice lad, a bit cocky, but he’s good company. So don’t say any more about it, Mother, because we will be keeping it at friends; nothing more.’ Lucy shook her head as her mother sighed.

  ‘Well, that’s how all relations start out, and then they develop. It’s a shame he’s not got any money, though. I’d have been happier if he had. I wanted better for you.’ Dorothy looked down at Bert, asleep in her arms.

  ‘Mother, we are friends. I will not be marrying Reggie: not now, not ever,’ Lucy said firmly as she walked away, leaving her mother with no doubt that a marriage was not in the offing, at least not between Lucy and Reggie.

  21

  It was Thursday morning and the farmhouse at Black Moss was as clean as a new penny. The stone kitchen floor was scrubbed to within an inch of its life, and polished so well that the pegged mat placed near the fire was prone to slipping when walked upon. On the kitchen table was a bunch of dog-daisies in a vase, while upstairs in the spare bedroom a vase of red roses took pride of place next to the iron bedstead, which was immaculately made up and
waiting for their most important guest, who was about to be met at Keighley that lunchtime.

  Lucy stood with crossed arms and watched as Adam looked at himself in the mirror. Not a hair was out of place, his sideburns were beautifully shaped, and he smelled of the new soap he’d bought the day before in Keighley.

  ‘How do I look? Do you think Ivy will recognize me? I haven’t seen her for so long.’ Adam turned around and smiled at Lucy, who looked annoyed and had been moody all week.

  ‘You look very handsome. I’m sure she will recognize you straight away when she alights from the coach.’ Lucy wasn’t lying; Adam did look handsome. He’d spent time dressing himself that morning, and his white shirt and dark suit with his favourite stud in the collar made him look younger than his years. He looked nothing like the farmer that he was, most days of the week nowadays. Instead he had reverted to the ways of a gentleman, as he had been when he first arrived at Black Moss. She couldn’t help but stare at him as he made for the doorway. He was everything she wanted in a man, but he hadn’t dressed to win her heart. Instead this was all for Ivy Thwaite, and Lucy felt angry and hurt at Adam not realizing how she, standing there, felt about him.

  She watched as he walked across the farmyard and climbed into the donkey-cart to go and pick up his beloved Ivy from the centre of Keighley. She watched him go down the farm track for as long as she could, before turning back into the kitchen. There she sat down near the fire and burst into tears. She was going to lose him to Ivy and, to make matters worse, he’d no idea how she felt about him, and how hard it was going to be for her to serve and be polite to the woman who was her nemesis. Lucy hated every inch of Ivy’s body, even though she had never met the woman, and the coming few days were going to be the worst week of her life.

  Adam stood at the head of Church Green, awaiting the coach-and-horses arriving from Kendal, which was carrying his precious visitor. Ivy was his last link to his previous life, when he was married and happy. He was, therefore, looking forward to her arrival with a great deal of happiness, despite some discouraging remarks from Lucy. She knew nothing about Ivy and had no need to judge her, and he wouldn’t put up with any of her skulking ways, if she was not civil to his guest.

  He felt his stomach flutter and churn as he watched the coach and sweating horses arrive along the cobbled street. The coachman, looking red in the face, pulled his team of weary horses to a halt just outside the church gates, before climbing down from his perch and opening the door for his paying passengers to alight.

  Adam held his breath and watched. A small, rounded gentleman with a traveller’s case of goods was the first to appear, and then an elderly woman who was in need of assistance out of the carriage. And then finally, as Adam was starting to doubt that Ivy was on board the twice-daily coach into Keighley, he noticed her. There was no mistaking it was Ivy: she had on her head a hat set at a jaunty angle, decorated with the brightest of feathers, and her dress and bodice were of vivid purple – Ivy’s favourite colour, he remembered. She looked around her, before taking the coachman’s hand to steady her step down into the cobbled street. Adam pushed his way through the busy shoppers and called out Ivy’s name, as she took a carpet bag from the hands of the coachman and tried to spot Adam.

  ‘Ivy, I’m here!’ He pushed past the other travellers and stopped in front of her and smiled at the face he knew so well.

  ‘Oh, Adam, I didn’t think I was ever going to see you again.’ Ivy dropped her carpet bag onto the street and put her arms around the man she had known nearly all her life. ‘You haven’t changed a bit.’ She stood back and looked at him. ‘How come you never age, while Mother Nature has played her tricks on me and given me a few extra lines here and there?’ She took his hands.

  ‘Now then, Ivy, you are still the good-looking woman you’ve always been.’ Adam bent and kissed her on the cheek, looking at the dark-haired woman with deep brown eyes and immaculate skin, who was as old as him, but still very attractive. ‘Was your journey alright? The road from Kendal to here is not a good one. I take it that you stayed somewhere, to rest the horses last night?’ Adam bent down and took Ivy’s carpet bag, noticing that it was light, and not that full of clothes for her stay with him.

  ‘Yes, we stayed over at Long Preston, at the Boar’s Head. I was ever so grateful for a good night’s sleep. The seats in the carriage were not that comfortable, and the road leaves a lot to be desired, it is that rutted. It was such an early start this morning – it was barely breaking light when we started out – but still, it’s worth it, to be here and see you once again.’ Ivy linked her arm through Adam’s and started to walk down the road to where Rosa and the donkey-cart stood tethered to the churchyard railings, waiting patiently. She stopped for a second and looked at Adam. ‘You’ve got a limp. How long have you had that?’

  ‘It’s nothing; it is nearly better now, although I think I will always have a slight limp for the rest of my life. It’s due to my falling out with a Russian’s sword. Unfortunately, it left me like this, but he came out worse.’ Adam smiled and held out his hand for Ivy to climb into the donkey-cart and sit next to him.

  ‘Oh, Adam, life’s not been kind to you. Perhaps now that you are home and settled, life will be better for you. I was so glad to hear from you, and to hear that you were back living at Black Moss. How are you managing on your own?’ Ivy enquired, as Adam flicked the reins over Rosa’s back and turned her and the donkey-cart in the direction of home. ‘I never thought you were a domesticated man – most men aren’t.’

  ‘I could just manage. But no, I have a maid, Lucy. She’s a good lass, and she looks after me really well. I couldn’t wish for anyone better. I’ve also a farm man who comes and helps me two days a week with jobs that I find hard, so I have a perfect life – or so it would seem, to those looking in and not knowing me.’ Adam sighed as they started the journey home.

  ‘A perfect life, except that you are still missing Mary, I’m betting. Oh, Adam, you should learn to look to the future. She’d not wish your life to have stopped still since her death. You must learn to love again – it’s what Mary would have wanted.’ Ivy patted her close friend’s hand as he held the reins and looked forward along the heavily travelled road to Halifax. ‘Don’t give up on finding a person to take her place. It’s never too late,’ Ivy whispered and decided to say nothing more about his loneliness, as they both made tracks to Black Moss and Adam went quiet, remembering better days with Mary by his side. But he also wondered if Ivy’s words had a double meaning, and if his absence had made her heart grow fonder of him.

  Lucy stood on the doorstep of the farmhouse and watched as Ivy climbed down from the donkey-cart. She was everything Lucy had known she would be: tall, elegant, with striking features and a perfect figure. No wonder Adam had been so excited about his guest’s arrival. Lucy curtsied as Ivy walked towards her and said, ‘Welcome to Black Moss, Miss.’

  Ivy smiled at her and waited for Lucy to open the kitchen door. ‘Now, we’ll have none of that. No “Miss” or “Ma’am”. I’m Ivy, and I know you to be Lucy from the flay-pits. Adam has been telling me all about you on our way here. He tells me that he owes you his life, and that he will be forever grateful to you, as I am. I would hate to have thought that the wonderful Adam was left to his death, sucked down in the mire, when he had survived Sebastopol and many a blow from a thief, or even worse, when he patrolled Keighley and the district. He was always taking somebody on, fighting for justice and keeping the law. But it seems he’s still at it, since he’s also told me about these horrible neighbours of his, who have been dealt with as they deserve.’

  Ivy leaned forward and kissed Lucy on the cheek, before walking into the kitchen, which she had known since she was knee-high.

  ‘Oh, you have got this house looking lovely, Lucy. I’ve never seen it looking so beautiful.’ She turned and beamed at Lucy, then made herself at home by seating herself in a chair next to the table.

  ‘Thank you. I try and keep it tidy and clean.
It’s a lovely house, and the view from the windows is spectacular. I love working here.’ Lucy watched Ivy as she pulled a hat pin out of her hat and placed the elaborate headpiece on the table.

  ‘And of course you have the perfect master in Adam. He always was a gentleman.’ Ivy looked up at Lucy and smiled, before glancing over at Adam as he entered the kitchen, carrying her carpet bag full of her change of clothes. ‘You never told me that Lucy was so attractive – you kept that quiet.’

  Ivy grinned and made Lucy blush. She decided not to listen to Adam’s reply, and picked up the carpet bag from Adam’s hands and made for the stairs, to place the bag in Ivy’s room. She stood halfway up the stairs, trying but not wanting to make out Adam’s reply. But she only heard Ivy laughing, leaving her wondering what Adam had said about her. Ivy was a little forward with her eyes, and Lucy could easily see why Adam was fond of her. She had no edge to her, but at the same time she was confident and outgoing – everything that she thought herself not to be. Ivy was a better match for Adam than she ever would be, and more his age. Filled with despair, Lucy placed the carpet bag on Ivy’s made-up bed and decided to accept that she would never be anything more than Adam’s maid; not while Ivy was under his roof, and looking as she did. She knew her place in life and she’d been stupid to think that she could even dream of being anything other than Adam’s maid.

  Ivy yawned. It had been a long day and she was tired, but she still hadn’t found the right time to tell Adam her news and was amazed that he had not yet noticed the band of gold on her wedding finger. To be honest, she thought the conversation had been a little one-sided, with Adam constantly singing the praises of his maid, Lucy, and what he had done since his arrival back at his family home. She smiled as he said farewell to Lucy and came to sit back down beside her.