The Girl from the Tanner's Yard

by Diane Allen

  ‘I didn’t know you were thinking of buying their land until I overheard my father telling my mother. It will make a difference to your workload – are you sure you will be able to cope?’ Lucy looked across at Adam as he went into the far room, which was hardly ever used, but where the desk containing his cheque book and savings were kept.

  Adam returned and smiled. ‘Yes, I will manage, although I might pinch Archie completely from your father’s employment. I’m sure he would rather be farming than working at the flay-pits. But, I haven’t secured the property yet. I’m sure there will be more than just my interest in the land and house. It will depend on how much everyone else bid for the property. It would benefit me – or should I say “us” – the most, so I’m hoping that my offer has been successful.’

  ‘I hope you come back with a smile on your face, after securing what you want.’ Lucy watched as Adam stopped in the doorway, before setting off to ride Rosa into Keighley to see the magistrate.

  ‘I’ve secured the one thing I wanted most, when you walked in through the door this morning. The land and house at High Ground I can live without – unlike having you in my life. If I’m successful, I will be happy, but I think I am already more than blessed this morning.’

  Lucy watched as Adam rode down the hillside towards Keighley, before she returned into the kitchen. There she sat down in the chair and looked around her. She breathed in deeply and smiled. In a few months, or perhaps even weeks, this would be her home, and she would no longer be the maid. She would be Adam’s wife, and the house would be her domain. Her days at the flay-pits would be at an end, and she would always be smelling the clear moorland air of Black Moss. Her wedding day could not come soon enough for her liking.

  Adam stood outside the magistrate’s chamber and looked at the deeds in his hand. He’d been one of only a few to bid for the Baxters’ confiscated assets, with the money generated by the sale going back into the coffers of the Crown, to replace the counterfeit coinage that old man Baxter had been issuing. It was the Baxters’ loss, but Adam’s gain, and although it had made his bank balance a whole load lighter, he was happy with his new assets.

  His life was changing for the better. He now had a good large farm, and he also had the heart of a young woman whom he would always love and cherish. He looked up towards the spired tower of St Andrew’s. He had one more thing to do before he returned home, and that was to visit the grave of his beloved Mary, at rest in Haworth churchyard. To go and seek her blessing to get on with his life, and hope that she would understand his needs, in whichever world she was now. It was time to put the past behind him and look to the future.

  26

  ‘Bill, I swear these cracks are getting bigger.’ Dorothy stood with her hands on her hips and looked up at their bedroom ceiling. ‘And have you noticed the one running up the front of the house? You can nearly put your hand in it, in parts.’

  Bill moaned and looked up. ‘Aye, I think you are right. Kenny Lawson and Jim Willan was at me the other day about the state of their houses, and I noticed the same in Thomas Farrington’s old house when I went to look round it yesterday. The whole row seems to be crumbling.’

  ‘It had better not crumble on our heads. Don’t you think you should get somebody to look at what’s going on, before we’re left with just a heap of bricks and nowt else?’ Dorothy lectured.

  ‘I know what’s wrong. I don’t need anybody to tell me. Trouble is, I don’t know what I’m going to do about it. We haven’t the brass to do what’s needed.’ Bill sighed.

  ‘What is it, then? Is there nothing we can do?’ Dorothy asked with concern, thinking that she and her family were living in a hovel already, without it collapsing around their heads.

  ‘My grandfather used to say there was underground workings around here – coal or copper, or something of the sort. He always told my father that he’d made a bad buy when he bought this row of houses and the flay-pits. I think his words are coming true and it’s subsidence that’s causing these cracks. The row is sinking, Dorothy, and there’s nowt me and you can do about it. The houses are buggered, but the flay-pits will be alright.’ Bill shook his head and looked at the worry on his wife’s face. ‘We’ll have to move, and the fellas that rent from us will either have to move out or stay until their house falls around them. It might be years or it might be months, but we’d better look for somewhere else as fast as we can. But with not a lot of brass in the bank, we’ll have to rent, and it will have to be nearby.’

  ‘Oh Lord, Bill – that’ll mean no rent money coming in, and us paying rent to someone else for the first time ever. There’s little enough money to go round, without losing our home. Thank heavens Lucy will soon be gone; at least she’s one less mouth to feed, although we will be her wage down and all.’ Dorothy looked anxiously around her; nothing ever went simply in their lives, it seemed. ‘Talking of our Lucy, Adam Brooksbank and she will soon be here. She said to expect him coming down to see us about eleven this morning. He wants to do things properly and ask for her hand correctly, she said, and she assured me that he is honourable. He’s worried about me perhaps thinking he’s too old for Lucy, and he’s here to put me right, so she said. But he’ll not change my mind over that – he is too old and he can’t change that fact, no matter how much brass he’s got.’ Dorothy folded her arms and looked out of the bedroom window. ‘I know I’ve moaned about the smell of the yard, but we’ve had some good times here, and I don’t want to leave.’

  ‘Well, you are going to have to. And you are going to have to accept Adam Brooksbank as one of us, and wish them both the best. I’ll keep my ears and eyes open for somewhere to move to, but it might mean the five of us living in a one- or two-bedroomed house; it can’t be nowt grand.’ Bill put his arm round his wife. She moaned enough, but only when things were not right, and he wished he could do right by her more often.

  ‘Oh Lord, Lucy’s here – I can hear their voices in the kitchen. Does my hair look alright? Is my apron clean? I’ve got to look tidy for him, now that I know he’s seen the Queen and been honoured by her,’ Dorothy flapped.

  ‘It doesn’t make him any different from the man you spoke to before. He knows what we are. He isn’t marrying our Lucy for her money or, if he is, he’ll be sadly disappointed.’ Bill laughed at the panic on Dorothy’s face.

  ‘She’s got a full wedding chest; she’s been making quilts and cushions and rugs since she learned to sew. I hope he isn’t thinking of a dowry, because we can’t offer him a penny, especially now.’ Dorothy sighed.

  ‘He’ll not be here for that. He just wants our blessing, and then they are going to see the parson at Haworth. Now, come on. Don’t worry, something will sort itself out regarding the house. Let’s go and give those two love-birds our blessing, and welcome Adam to the family – money or no money.’ Bill squeezed Dorothy’s hand tightly. ‘Things will take a turn. Our luck will change – it has to.’

  Lucy looked nervously around her. At least the house looked tidy, her mother had made an effort, and baby Bert was asleep in the old drawer that served as a cot when he slept downstairs. Where Susie was, she didn’t know and, quite honestly, Lucy didn’t care, seeing as Susie had been the cause of a weekend of heartache, after giving her secrets away. And she knew the boys were at school.

  ‘I can hear my mother and father upstairs. They’ll be with us in a minute.’ Lucy smiled as Adam sat down at the table and looked around him.

  ‘I know it sounds daft at my age, but I feel nervous about asking for your hand, even though I blurted it out like a fool when I was talking to your father about my love for you.’ Adam glanced round the room. Providence Row was not the best of houses to live in. It looked neglected and crumbling, and he noticed a stain of damp down the back of the kitchen wall.

  ‘You’ll be fine. My father is in awe of you holding the Victoria Cross, and my mother has come round to me wanting to leave the family nest. I’ll be so glad to leave here – not only because I’m marrying you, bu
t because this house and yard are just terrible to live in. The smell and the damp get to you after a while.’ Lucy noticed Adam looking around him and comparing his now-spotless house to this one, and she hoped he wasn’t thinking twice about marrying a lass from such a humble background.

  ‘I can understand that. I’ve been wondering if—’ Adam cut his sentence short as Bill and Dorothy came down the stairs, with Bill smiling at him and Dorothy, as ever, reserved in her outward show of feelings.

  ‘Now then, Adam, it’s good to see you.’ Bill held out his hand and Adam shook it. ‘Put the kettle on, Mother, and butter us all one of those scones that I smelled you baking in the oven this morning.’ Bill sat down at the table, along with Lucy and Adam, and watched as Dorothy quickly made cups of tea and placed a plate of newly baked scones on the table, the butter dripping down the sides of them from their warmth.

  ‘You know there was no need for you to be this formal. After all, you made you intentions well known the other evening, and I think we all know how you both feel about one another, after this weekend’s upset. Your mother didn’t realize it was that serious between you, so she’s regretting being a bit hard on you both.’ Bill looked at Dorothy.

  ‘Yes, I didn’t realize that you, Adam, felt that strongly for our Lucy. I thought it was simply her dreaming and fantasizing. After all, you are her employer, and there is an age difference.’ Dorothy was determined to say what was on her mind as she looked across at the two lovers.

  ‘Mother!’ Lucy blushed and looked at Adam with concern.

  ‘I can understand your worries, Mrs Bancroft, but believe me, I do love Lucy. And hopefully my age will be an advantage to us in having a good, stable marriage. After all, I’ve my own farm and I am not short of money. She will not want for anything.’ Adam smiled and helped himself to a scone, as he watched Dorothy’s face for a sign of acceptance.

  ‘We can’t send her to you with a dowry. We don’t have that kind of money,’ Dorothy said sharply.

  ‘I don’t expect one. Your daughter’s hand and her heart are enough for me.’ Adam smiled and reached for Lucy’s hand. ‘In fact I was just about to tell Lucy a plan that I have been hatching and, if you accept, then that is my dowry to you, for letting me marry your beautiful daughter.’

  Adam glanced at both Lucy and her parents as all of them waited to hear what he had been planning, and what had made him want to visit them that morning.

  ‘I was successful with my offer for High Ground, so now I own an extra fifty acres, along with the large farmhouse there. The house is no good to me. I aim to stay in Black Moss because, after all, it is my family home. However, I wondered – as Lucy has often complained of the living conditions down here, being so near the flay-pits and her room being so damp – I wondered if I could possibly offer the farmhouse to you and your family to live in? It would be more roomy, and your family would be away from the flay-pits and the smell of them.’ Adam sat back and hoped he’d not insulted his new family, but it had been Bill himself who had said that Dorothy would love to live at High Ground, if they had the money. Well, now she could, and perhaps she could forgive him for being not quite suitable for their daughter.

  Lucy gasped and looked at both her parents, unable to judge by the look on their faces what they thought of the suggestion. Her father was a proud man, and Providence Row had always been his family home.

  Bill nodded his head slowly. ‘Aye, lad, I don’t know what to make of this. Me and Dorothy here have just come from upstairs, looking at a crack in the ceiling that’s getting bigger by the day. Likewise, there’s gaps appearing in all the houses along this row – the whole lot is subsiding. Do you know how grand your suggestion is to us? We were beginning to despair, and to wonder what we were going to do. But we will not take charity; we will pay you rent.’ Bill looked at Dorothy, who had tears running down her cheeks, and reached for her hand and shook it, while smiling at her.

  ‘No, I’ve pinched your daughter from you – the house is yours for as long as you and your family need it. It’s for purely selfish reasons, because at least I’ll know that nobody will steal my sheep. And perhaps, when they are older, Lucy’s brothers might help out around the farm.’ Adam relaxed and smiled at Lucy as she went and put her arm round her mother.

  ‘Don’t cry, Mother. You’ve always admired High Ground. I remember you used always to stop and look at it lovingly when we walked past it. Well, now you can live there.’ Lucy kissed her mother on the brow.

  ‘God bless you, Adam Brooksbank! You have caused me sleepless nights, when I worried about Lucy here, but you are our saviour this morning. And I must confess that our daughter could not be marrying a finer man – a hero not just to his country, but to our small family. I will not say another bad word against you for as long as I live,’ Dorothy sobbed.

  ‘As long as I have not offended you. But I was aware that all of you must suffer one way or another, living so near the tannery, and I’m glad my offer has come at such a good time.’

  ‘It takes a lot to offend this family. We’ve heard it all. After all, we are not in the most popular trade. You’ve done us a big a favour and, when it comes to marrying Lucy, you have our blessing. And we hope you’ll both be as happy as me and my old lass have been.’ Bill stood up and shook Adam’s hand. ‘We are proud to welcome you into our family, and I and Dorothy can’t thank you enough for your offer of a new home.’

  ‘You are welcome, sir. I love your Lucy and I will always do right by her. We are to travel on to Haworth next and arrange a date with the parson there. I hope you don’t mind us getting married there, instead of Denholme. It’s just that the parson’s a dear friend of mine and I’d like him to take the service.’ Adam looked at the couple and smiled as Dorothy wiped away her tears.

  ‘No, we have no objections. Haworth will be a grand place for a wedding. We haven’t many relations, so there will not be many attending from our family.’ Dorothy glanced at Lucy. She was beginning to realize Adam’s attractions for her daughter. He was a gentleman and was more than worthy of her hand in marriage.

  ‘No, nor I. You can probably count the number of my guests on one hand. It’s better to ask the ones you love than those you think you are obliged to invite.’ Adam grinned.

  ‘You can both meet Ivy. She’s the one to thank, for us realizing how much we thought of one another. She predicted that she’d be coming to our wedding soon.’ Lucy looked at her mother and father, then went to stand next to her Adam and linked her arm through his.

  ‘Aye, she’s a lot to answer for, but we will forgive her – it’s all for the good. Now, get yourselves gone to Haworth. No doubt you’ll tell us the date and arrangements when you come home tonight, Lucy?’ Dorothy smiled at her daughter. She was still feeling guilty for thinking the worst of her daughter and Adam.

  ‘I will. I’m hoping – if Adam is in agreement – for a late-September or early-October wedding. The chrysanthemums in the garden will be flowering, and I can make my own bouquet.’ Lucy looked at Adam and beamed.

  ‘Whatever you want is right with me. We will have to see if Patrick can fit us in then, and we won’t know until we get to Haworth. So, my love, we must be away, and you can tell all this evening.’

  Dorothy opened the door for the handsome couple and gently took Adam’s hand as he passed her, and kissed him on the cheek. ‘Welcome to our family. And thank you for all your help with the house. We will never be able to repay you.’

  ‘There’s nothing to repay. You are my family now.’ Adam smiled down at the woman he knew had been against the marriage. His timing of a new home had swayed Dorothy, and now he was free to place a ring on her daughter’s finger.

  ‘So, Adam, you are looking for me to wed you.’ The parson looked at the couple sitting across from him and saw the happiness and love that flowed between them. ‘You’ve decided to look to the future instead of dwelling in the past.’

  Lucy looked down at her feet and felt uncomfortable in the parson’s ga
ze. His reputation, and that of his family, was well established in the district. He was a good man, and tragedy had made him stronger rather than weakening him, but she couldn’t understand how he kept his faith in God, after losing five daughters, a son and his wife at such early ages.

  ‘I have, sir. And I have been lucky enough to find Lucy, whom I love dearly. It would mean a great deal to me if you yourself would marry us. I befriended all your family, and I will always remember you marrying Mary and me here at Haworth. It was a joyous day, and I wish the same for Lucy and me.’ Adam glanced at Lucy and saw her drop her head.

  ‘Are you sure you want to wed here, for those very reasons? Aren’t the memories still too tender for you? And perhaps Lucy here does not want to follow in dear Mary’s footsteps?’ Patrick looked across at Lucy.

  ‘Oh no, sir. Please, I would like to marry Adam here at Haworth. It would be a great honour to be married by you, and it is what Adam wishes.’ Lucy looked at the elderly grey-haired parson and noticed him smile.

  ‘Marriage is a joint decision, my dear, and I’m willing to wed you both, as long as you are in agreement and the decision is not just Adam’s. Being married is all about a compromise between man and wife, and one should never be stronger than the other. I am glad someone has won Adam’s heart. He’s too good a man to live life on his own, and he needs a woman to be there for him and comfort him. You, my dear, will be exactly that in his life. God bless you both. Now, what date am I to look at? Of course the banns will have to be read in each parish, so I hope you are in no rush.’ The parson looked across at the couple in front of him and noticed Lucy blushing. He had to ask that, because so many couples came to him with the wife-to-be already with child and needed to be wed quickly.