by Dilly Court
‘We’ll never make it to the village,’ she said anxiously.
‘We won’t even try.’ Jay took her by the hand. ‘Come with me. It’s too cold to stand here chatting.’
Daisy had little chance to argue as he started off across the icy shingle and dived into the undergrowth. For a moment she thought she was going to have to fight her way through a tangle of brambles and hawthorn, but she found herself following him along a well-trodden path. Sheltered from the wind and snow, it was relatively easy going, although each laboured breath felt like shards of ice piercing her lungs and robbing her of speech. It seemed as though they were plunging into a dark forest, but suddenly they emerged into a snowy clearing in the midst of which was a white marble folly, designed to resemble a Roman temple. Daisy uttered a gasp of surprise.
‘Where are we?’
‘You’ll soon see.’ Jay led her up the steps so that they were under the vaulted ceiling supported by marble columns.
Daisy watched in amazement as he bent down and brushed away a pile of dead leaves to reveal a trap door, which opened after several tugs on an iron ring. A flight of stone steps led downwards, disappearing into the darkness.
‘Wait there a moment.’ Jay descended into the gloom and reappeared minutes later clutching a lighted lantern. ‘Give me your hand, Daisy. Mind how you go – the steps are slippery.’
‘Where does this lead?’
‘Don’t worry, I’ve been this way more times than I can count. You’ll be perfectly safe.’
She glanced over her shoulder and received a reassuring nod from Guppy. There was little alternative other than to put her trust in Jay once again and follow him into the unknown. To her surprise she felt a frisson of excitement as she held his hand and descended into an underground cavern. Guppy and Lewis followed close behind, although Daisy experienced a brief moment of panic when she heard the trap door close, and they were left with only the feeble beam of the lantern to light the way.
‘We’ll soon be warm and dry,’ Jay said cheerfully. ‘Light the other lantern, Guppy. We don’t want to be left in the dark if this one goes out.’ He led the way along a narrow brick-lined passage, his boots squelching in the mud. The smell of damp was masked by the odour of burning lamp oil. Water dripped from the roof, trickling like tears down the walls. Daisy was apprehensive but oddly comforted by Jay’s confident attitude. It was obvious that he knew where he was going, and the others seemed equally at home.
‘Is it much further?’ she asked breathlessly.
‘Feel the air,’ Jay said brusquely. ‘It’s getting fresher. Not far now.’
Almost as the words left his lips she could see a faint rectangle of light, which grew larger and larger until they emerged into a summerhouse that overlooked a snow-covered garden. The house beyond was instantly recognisable.
‘It’s the manor house.’ She grasped Jay’s arm. ‘Why have we come here? I think you owe me an explanation.’
‘It’s all part of my disreputable past. Let’s go inside and see if we can find Mrs Ralston. She’ll take care of you.’ He turned to Guppy and Lewis. ‘You know the drill by now. Enjoy your shore leave.’
‘Aye, aye, Captain.’ Guppy tipped his cap and winked. ‘Good day to you, miss.’
Lewis hesitated. ‘It was nice meeting you, miss.’
‘And you, Lewis,’ Daisy said earnestly. ‘Thank you for looking after me on board.’
‘My pleasure, miss.’ Lewis bowed and backed away as if in the presence of royalty.
‘You’ve made a conquest there.’ Jay tucked Daisy’s hand in the crook of his arm. ‘Let’s go inside and see if I’m welcome.’
‘You’re master of the house now,’ Daisy said, smiling. ‘You’re the lord of the manor and you don’t have to return to your old ways.’
‘Perhaps. We’ll see.’ Jay came to a halt, shaking his head. ‘No more back doors for me. We’ll enter through the front door, Daisy. I dare say I might get used to this, in time.’ He patted her hand. ‘Do you see yourself as lady of the manor?’
‘I see myself dying of lung fever if we don’t go inside soon. It’s snowing again, unless you hadn’t noticed.’
‘I see nothing but your beautiful face, Daisy mine.’
She snatched her hand free. ‘Don’t call me that.’
He slipped his arm around her waist. ‘You do realise that you’ve been on my ship for several days without the benefit of a chaperone, Miss Marshall. You’ll have to marry me to save my good name.’
‘You are ridiculous.’ They were both laughing when Molesworth opened the door to the main entrance. His eyes widened and his mouth dropped open.
‘Good day to you, Molesworth.’ Jay ushered Daisy into the hall. He stopped to gaze at his surroundings. ‘So this is what it’s like to be lord of the manor. I’ve always had to creep in through the servants’ quarters.’ He took off his hat and greatcoat and handed them to the startled butler, while a young maidservant hurried up to take Daisy’s cloak and bonnet.
‘We weren’t expecting you, sir,’ Molesworth said stiffly.
‘Well, as you see, I’m here and so is Miss Marshall. Unfortunately the weather seems to be closing in again, so you’d better ask Mrs Ralston to have rooms made ready for us.’
‘There’s a fire in the drawing room, sir. Shall I inform Mrs Tattersall that you are here?’
‘Mrs Tattersall?’ Jay stared at Molesworth, a frown puckering his brow.
Daisy grasped Jay’s arm. ‘Your mother must be here, Jay. I was hoping that the girls could persuade her to move in.’
‘Lead on then, Molesworth. I’ve been here dozens of times but I confess I’ve never been above stairs before. You’ll have to show me round.’
‘I know where to find them,’ Daisy said hurriedly. ‘Perhaps Molesworth could arrange for us to have some refreshments. My hands and feet are frozen and I’d love a cup of tea.’
Molesworth’s disapproving expression softened slightly. ‘I’ll inform the kitchen, miss.’
‘Thank you, Molesworth,’ she said, smiling. ‘Come along, Jay. This time I can show you the way.’
There was something different about the old house. Perhaps it was the log fire that blazed up the chimney at the far end of the entrance hall, or maybe it was the vases spilling over with holly and ivy that had been strategically placed so that the splashes of colour broke up the austere wainscoting. As they made their way to the drawing room there were signs that children were residing in what had previously felt like a house of doom. A hoop and stick had been abandoned in the passageway together with a bat and ball, and someone had put a top hat on the head of an alabaster bust of Julius Caesar with a striped woollen muffler tied around his neck. Jay did not seem to notice as he strode along at her side, but Daisy sensed his eagerness to see his family and she quickened her pace. When they reached the drawing room she threw open the double doors. Jack was sitting on a rug by the fire playing cards with Judy Begg, while Molly kept Pip and Nate occupied by pushing them round the room on a battered-looking wooden horse that someone must have unearthed from the attic. Mary and Hilda were seated on either side of a roaring fire, but Mary leaped to her feet and ran to throw her arms around her son.
‘Jay, my boy. You’ve come home.’
Daisy smiled to see mother and son reunited, and she went to sit beside Hilda on the sofa. ‘Is everything all right at Creek Hall?’
‘Yes, as far as I know, miss. We came with Mary because she didn’t want to stay here on her own.’
‘What about Dove and Linnet?’
‘They’ve got their positions to think of. Dove likes working for the doctor and Linnet is happy where she is. I think she’s got her eye on the schoolmaster.’
Daisy frowned. ‘But I thought that Dove and Elliot would make a match of it.’
‘Everything seems to have changed since that dreadful disease took so many lives. I believe Linnet has been comforting Mr Massey since he lost his mother, and Dove spends all her time helping
the doctor. She’s had to step in where you left off.’
Daisy stared at her in astonishment. ‘Are you telling me that there’s something going on between Dove and the doctor?’
‘It’s not my place to say, miss.’ Hilda jumped up to rescue Nate, who had fallen off the toy horse and was howling miserably.
Jay and his mother were deep in conversation and Daisy sat by herself, feeling suddenly alone. The news that Nick might have an interest in Dove had come as a shock. She realised now that she had taken his devotion for granted, assuming in the back of her mind that one day they would join together in matrimony as well as a working partnership. But did she love him? Or was her affection something that had grown from shared values and being thrown together in the desperate fight against the epidemic that had brought misery to so many?
‘Daisy, come and speak to my mother.’ Jay’s voice broke into her reverie. ‘Ma says she’s not sure she wants to live here.’
‘You surely can’t wish to go back to the tiny cottage, Mary.’ Hilda sat down with Nate on her knee, giving him a cuddle. ‘I wouldn’t if I were you.’
‘I don’t know if I can forget who I was,’ Mary said soulfully. ‘I’ll always be the scullery maid, disgraced by the master of the house. He’ll haunt me for the rest of my life.’
Daisy rose to her feet. ‘If you allow him to influence your decision it means you’re letting him win. He can’t hurt you or anyone now, and he must have had a glimmer of a conscience or he wouldn’t have married you.’
‘He only did it because he was afraid of hellfire,’ Mary said gloomily. ‘Everyone knows that I’m not really the lady of the manor.’
Jay put his arm around his mother’s shoulders. ‘Does it mean so much to you, Ma?’
Mary dashed tears from her cheeks. ‘Yes, love. No one knows what I went through before and after I married Lemuel. He called me a whore and he treated you so badly that you took to crime.’
‘Yes, my stepfather treated me badly, and I hated the way he spoke to you, Ma. But it was the squire who started me on the road I took.’ He led his mother to the sofa that Daisy had just vacated and sat down beside her. He patted the space at his side. ‘Come and sit by me, Daisy. You know the story, but Ma doesn’t.’
Daisy took her place at his side, and he curled his fingers around her hand. She gave him an encouraging smile. ‘Tell your mother everything, Jay. She deserves to know the truth.’
‘Go on, son,’ Mary urged when he remained silent.
‘When I came out of prison Molesworth met me at the gates. I was taken to an inn where I met with the squire, and what he offered me sounded reasonable enough. After all, what chance would an ex-convict have of finding useful employment?’
‘What was this offer?’ Mary asked suspiciously.
‘The squire owned a ship, the Lazy Jane, and I paid for my freedom by doing the squire’s dirty work. He made a fortune from free trading, as he liked to call it, and I have to admit that I enjoyed the excitement of keeping one step ahead of the authorities.’
‘That’s how you knew about the tunnel,’ Daisy said slowly. ‘You brought smuggled goods here.’
‘And people, too.’ Jay chuckled. ‘The squire didn’t care how he made his money or who suffered as a consequence of his greed. Although why he chose me to carry out his plans I’ll never know.’
‘Perhaps he took pleasure in the fact that he could make you do what he wanted.’ Daisy raised Jay’s hand to her cheek. ‘I don’t know how he could have treated his own flesh and blood in such a callous way.’
‘He was a cruel man.’ Mary laid her head on Jay’s shoulder. ‘I’m so sorry for all that you’ve suffered.’
‘It wasn’t your fault Ma.’ Jay gave her a hug. ‘You did your best for me. Although I’ll never understand why you married the old devil.’
‘I did it for you. I thought I was doing the right thing by pretending that Lemuel was your father. I wanted to give you a better chance in life, but I know now that I was wrong.’
‘I can look after myself, Ma,’ Jay said tenderly. ‘The squire and Lemuel Fox treated you badly and both of them let you down. You were the one who suffered most and now you deserve better.’
‘I know what you’re saying, Jay, but this place feels haunted,’ Mary said, shuddering. ‘I see ghosts everywhere. I remember myself as a young and innocent girl with my whole life before me, and it was ruined by that man.’
‘Not all of it. You’re still young enough to have a good life, and I’ll see that you do. I’ve been a bad son, but I’ll do what I can to make up for the years when I should have been taking care of you.’
Hilda took her hanky from her pocket and blew her nose loudly, and Daisy had to wipe a tear from her eyes.
‘Will you give up the evil trade, son?’ Mary asked softly. ‘I can’t live here if you’re paying for it by risking arrest and imprisonment or even transportation to a penal colony.’
‘Your mother’s right,’ Daisy said hastily. ‘Surely the squire must have left a fortune, even if it was gained from his illicit dealings.’
‘I’ll think about it, but I’m not making any promises.’ Jay rose to his feet as the door opened and the parlour maid entered carrying a tray of tea and cake. ‘Anyway, it looks as if we’re going to be marooned here for some time, unless there’s a sudden thaw.’
Jay’s prediction came true. Snow was falling steadily and it continued intermittently for the next week with freezing temperatures and no sign of a thaw. Daisy was desperate to find a way to let her family know that she was safe, but the roads were impassable and as far as Toby and her friends in London knew, she had left the hospital and vanished into thin air. She could only hope that her aunt and uncle had not been informed of her disappearance, and she wondered how Nick would react. Would he be frantic with worry because he had tender feelings for her? Or would his anguish be on a less personal level, having lost a valued nurse? If what Hilda had said were true, it seemed that Nick had found comfort elsewhere. Daisy was puzzled, but she had little time to dwell on what might be happening in the outside world. Mary and Mrs Ralston had decided to utilise their enforced incarceration to open up and clean all the rooms that the squire had not used, and there were many. The servants were kept busy running up and downstairs with buckets of soapy water, mops and brooms, and Hilda was left to look after the children. Judy was considered old enough to help with the daily round of housework, but she had made firm friends with Cook and spent most of her time in the kitchen, learning how to prepare food and helping to knead the bread dough. Hilda also preferred to work in the kitchen, possibly because it was the warmest room in the house, and Pip and Nate were placed in the charge of the youngest housemaid, who was only a couple of years older than Judy.
Jay spent most of the day organising the outdoor workers to cut and collect firewood. The sound of an axe on the chopping block echoed round the grounds, breaking the eerie silence where every other noise was muffled by the thick layers of snow. Daisy accompanied them once or twice in an attempt to bring in as much greenery as possible, including large bunches of holly and ivy. It would be Christmas in a few days and it was important to make it a special occasion for all concerned, and in particular the children. Daisy even managed to persuade Jay to cut down a huge pine tree, which they planted in a barrel and placed in the entrance hall as it was too tall to put in the drawing room. That evening they drank mulled wine and played snap dragon, risking burned fingers by plucking raisins from flaming brandy. The adults joined in with the children in a riotous game of blind man’s buff, and then Jay whisked Daisy round the drawing-room floor to a tinny tune from an old musical box that Mrs Ralston had found tucked away in a cupboard. Their enjoyment seemed to be catching and soon everyone joined in, even Hilda, who was getting quite nimble on her artificial limb. The spirit of Christmas appeared to have overtaken the malignant influence of the squire, and when Daisy went to her room that night she felt that the house was happy at last. She sang as she
brushed her hair before plaiting it ready for bed.
The next day she spent hours cutting out stars from pieces of card, which she found in the squire’s study, and with Hilda’s help she made paper lanterns to hang on the tree. Judy and Molly cut out strips of wallpaper they had found while exploring one of the unused attic rooms, and Cook whipped up some flour and water paste so that they could make paperchains. In the same attic Mary discovered a box of toys that had been put away without ever being used, and a dusty portrait stowed away under the eaves, which Mrs Ralston identified as being Sophia Tattersall, the squire’s long-suffering wife, who died at a relatively young age. Neither Mrs Ralston nor Mary could give an explanation as to why the squire’s late wife had hoarded toys when she was childless, although Daisy thought privately that perhaps the poor woman had longed to become a mother and had refused to accept that it might never happen.
Daisy had the chest taken to her room. The toys might be outdated and covered in cobwebs, but they were in good condition, and that evening, when the children were in bed asleep, she took the smaller items to the kitchen where she washed each one carefully and set them by the range to dry. Wooden soldiers lined up in front of the fire as if on parade, and dolls with porcelain faces and wigs made from human hair, were naked beneath pieces of flannel, waiting for their lace-trimmed dresses and pantalettes to dry on a makeshift washing line stretched between two chairs. Daisy was replacing some brightly coloured building blocks in their box when Jay burst into the kitchen.
‘Hilda told me you were down here. What on earth are you doing?’ He gazed in amazement at the array of children’s toys. ‘Where did you get these?’
‘Mary came across them in one of the attic rooms, along with a portrait of the squire’s late wife. The poor lady must have been desperate for a child.’
‘And then I came along.’ Jay pulled a face. ‘I can imagine that didn’t make for a happy marriage.’
‘I think the squire ruined any chance of that simply by being himself. Anyway, the day after tomorrow is Christmas Eve, so I want to have all these wrapped and put round the tree for the children. We can at least give them a happy time.’ She smiled up at him. ‘And the tree is magnificent. We just need some more decorations to make it look even more beautiful.’