Nobody’s Darling

by Nobody’s Darling (retail) (epub)

  ‘He killed my father,’ she muttered through her tears, ‘I should have known.’

  * * *

  ‘God in Heaven, what’s wrong, child?’

  Oliver Arnold jumped out of his comfortable chair when Cicely burst into the room. She was distraught and dishevelled. With a cry she fell into his arms.

  ‘You have to stop her,’ she begged. ‘He’ll hurt her, I know he will.’ In a torrent of words she told how she had watched Ruby come out of the shop and get into a cab. ‘She was wild because of what I told her.’

  She confessed to him then, about the awful things she had overheard between Luke and the manager, about how his son regularly beat her and then forbade her to leave the house. ‘Oh, and I told Ruby that he had her father killed.’ She was sobbing now. She had not seen the shock on Oliver’s face. ‘If anything happens to her, it will be my fault. You’ve got to stop her. Please, stop her!’

  When she gave a groan, he saw her face crumple in pain and feared she was going into early labour. Yelling for the housekeeper, he carried Cicely upstairs and laid her on his own bed. It was only a moment before the older woman came in at a rush. ‘Get the doctor quickly!’ he ordered. She saw how it was and, without acknowledgement, ran from the room to summon help. It was some ten minutes before the doctor arrived. By that time, Cicely was in the full throes of labour, and all but doctor and housekeeper were banned from the room.

  ‘She’s in good hands, sir,’ the housekeeper assured Oliver as he left.

  Satisfied that everything was in hand, he took his leave. Downstairs in the kitchen, he told the astonished scullery lad, ‘Go as fast as you can and send the authorities to the Eanam foundry.’ Excited, the boy went off at a run while Oliver hurried to the stables. Johnny was seated on a stool, repairing one of the hunter’s best saddles. It was only a matter of minutes before he had readied the carriage and was driving his master away at a furious speed.

  Seated up front, his dark eyes intent on the road, he wondered why the master would want to get to the foundry in such a rush. In all the time he had worked for him, he had never seen him so agitated. Something was very wrong, and that was a fact.

  * * *

  ‘Get out of here, you blasted fool!’ Ruby had forced her way into the office and now, frightened by her accusations, Luke was desperate to shut her up. The cowardly manager stood back while Luke grabbed Ruby and, twisting one arm behind her back, thrust her out on to the platform. ‘One more word,’ he warned, ‘and there might be the most awful accident.’ Gripping his fingers round her neck, he bent her head down. ‘See there,’ he laughed, pressing her hard against the railings and staring at the bubbling cauldron beneath. ‘You wouldn’t want to end up in that, would you now?’

  He cursed when the manager came up behind him. ‘Don’t be a bloody fool, man,’ he hissed, prodding Luke in the side. ‘The game’s up. I won’t be party to another murder. If your wife’s blabbed to this one, who else has she told, eh? Answer me that!’

  ‘Murderers, the pair of you!’ Ruby shouted defiantly. ‘You killed my father, and I swear I’ll see you hang for it.’ Enraged, Luke smacked a hard flat hand across her mouth. But she wouldn’t be silenced. From the corner of her eye, she saw one of the steel-workers staring up, wondering what was going on. ‘GET THE POLICE!’ she yelled. From the way she was struggling, the fellow could see that she was in some sort of difficulty, but her voice was lost in that great place.

  Outside, Oliver impatiently waited for the carriage to come to a halt. Quickly clambering out, he ordered Johnny to : ‘Come with me. There might be trouble here.’ The two of them strode across the yard and into the choking heat of the foundry. There, beneath the gantry, a group of men had gathered anxiously. Almost immediately Oliver and Johnny were approached. ‘There’s summat going on up top,’ one of the workers said. ‘Two of the chaps are making their way up now. Your son’s up there, and if I’m not mistaken I reckon that’s Ted Miller’s lass he’s got hold of.’ He cast his eyes upwards to indicate the spot where the struggle was taking place. When he looked down again, Johnny was gone.

  ‘LET GO OF HER!’ Johnny’s voice sailed above the rafters. He had climbed the outer platform and swung right above to where Ruby was fighting to free herself. She wasn’t afraid. She was too distressed at her father’s untimely fate to be frightened. But, oh, she was grateful to hear Johnny’s familiar voice.

  ‘Be careful, Johnny,’ she warned. She couldn’t see him, but knew he was somewhere above. And there was no doubt in her mind that Luke Arnold was insane and desperate. The men below had long suspected his underhand dealings and now some were already on their way up, their faces like stone, and every one of them out for his blood.

  ‘KEEP BACK OR I SWEAR I’LL SEND HER TO A FIERY DEATH!’

  To make his point, he edged her closer to the railings. Ruby hadn’t been afraid until now but when she saw that great open-mouthed cauldron bubbling with white-hot metal directly below, her heart came into her mouth. ‘I MEAN IT!’ Luke yelled again, twisting his neck to see where Johnny was coming from. Like a trapped rat, he glared at the workers who had climbed to the far end of the platform. And, sensing a real danger that he would topple Ruby over the railings, they stopped where they were.

  Emerging through the cluster who had found their way up, Oliver Arnold stood before them, his eyes seeking out his only son. ‘Give yourself up,’ he coaxed. There was no love in his heart for this man who now seemed like a stranger, had always seemed like a stranger to him. But he knew he must not let his loathing show through. ‘You don’t want to hurt her, do you?’

  He glanced down. Uniformed officers were infiltrating the area, fanning out like ants below. ‘It’s too late, don’t you see?’ he said in a controlled voice. ‘There mustn’t be any more bloodshed.’ He began walking towards Luke. ‘I know what’s been going on. But we can talk. You and I can talk it through. What do you say?’ All the while he advanced he was aware of Johnny, slowly descending behind the trapped man. He knew he had to hold Luke’s attention. ‘Look below, son. The authorities are here. If you give yourself up, it’ll go easier for you.’

  ‘Liar!’ He twisted Ruby’s arm and laughed aloud when she winced. ‘Don’t take me for a fool. If I’m going, she’s going with me.’ Suddenly he was crying, blubbering like a baby, ‘You’re two of a kind, you and her. You never wanted me either. All my life you’ve treated me like an inferior. You never gave me a proper chance to prove myself. Everything I’ve ever done has been for you. DON’T YOU KNOW THAT?’ Swamped by his own memories, he was unaware that one of the officers was climbing the platform immediately behind him.

  ‘You’re wrong, son.’ Oliver kept advancing. ‘I’ve done everything a father could do for you. But it’s not too late. Maybe we can put it right?’

  In that moment, Luke suspected they were quietly closing in. ‘I did warn you!’ he yelled, pushing Ruby further over the railings. The intense heat came up to her in relentless waves. She felt her senses going and feared she would never leave this place alive.

  Suddenly, all hell was let loose. Johnny had seen the officer’s intention of leaping on to his unsuspecting prey and the fear of God shot through him. ‘NO!’ he yelled. But it was too late. The officer sprang. Luke spun round and, as he went to throw both himself and Ruby over the top, the whole platform lurched sickeningly to one side. There were shouts as the men ran for their lives. Ruby felt Luke’s grip loosen, then as he tumbled past, he took her with him.

  The last thing she saw was the mouth of that horrifying crater looming up towards her. She heard Johnny’s frantic cry, and Luke’s mind-splitting scream as he slid beneath the sizzling surface. All around her was mayhem. And then nothing at all. Only the searing heat and the white bubbling liquid. In that last moment the faces of her loved ones flashed through her mind. There was no terror, only bitter regret.

  Part Four

  December 1895

  Going Home

  Chapter Eighteen


  ‘There’s a fella at the door, Mam.’ The twins came bounding in from school, red-faced and excited. ‘He’s got out of a posh carriage an’ all,’ Frank went on. He slapped Ralph hard when the lad pushed himself in front to tell Lizzie, ‘And the dirty old horse plopped in the street right outside our door.’

  Lizzie had been playing with Lottie on the rug in front of the fire. Snatching the infant into her chubby arms, she said impatiently, ‘There’s no “posh” fella coming here, I can promise yer that.’ Putting the young ’un to the floor, she told it to: ‘Behave yerself while yer mammy gets the tea, eh?’ When it giggled and hugged her skirt, she laid a gentle hand on its head. ‘Aw, yer a little darlin’, that yer are,’ she declared. Swinging round, she demanded of the twins, ‘Where’s our Dolly?’

  ‘She’s talking to that posh fella,’ Frank said proudly. And Ralph added indignantly, ‘She’d talk to anybody, that one!’ There was a sudden sharp knock on the door and the two of them soon scooted out of the scullery and down into the yard. ‘We ain’t done nothing wrong, honest our mam,’ wailed Frank as Ralph dragged him out.

  ‘We’re going to play in the cellar,’ he informed Lizzie, ‘And we ain’t coming out for nobody!’ She had threatened them both with hell and high water after she discovered that they’d played truant last Friday week. They hadn’t played truant since, and they hadn’t forgotten her warning either. Every time there was a knock on the door they feared it was the ‘man from the Church school, come to take ’em away’.

  Lizzie laughed when she heard the cellar door bang behind them. The smile didn’t live long on her face though, because here was Dolly telling her, ‘There’s a gentleman come to see you, Mam.’ Dolly was growing fast, making a lovely girl. She spoke with a soft refined voice that put Lizzie in mind of Ruby.

  ‘Come to see me?’ she asked. ‘Are yer sure, lass?’ She was saddened by the way her family was growing up so frighteningly fast.

  It was a man’s voice that answered. ‘Yes, Lizzie,’ it said. ‘I’ve come to see you.’ Jeffrey Banks’s figure seemed to fill that humble little parlour.

  ‘God bless and love us!’ Lizzie exclaimed, unconsciously patting her dishevelled hair. She still had her old pinnie on which was slightly stained where the flour has showered it when she was baking the bread. Momentarily flustered, she told Dolly, ‘Take Lottie into the scullery, sweetheart. She can help you butter the scones for tea.’ Dolly gave her a little smile then took Lottie by the hand and walked her into the scullery, closing the door behind them.

  Taking his trilby off, Jeffrey laid it on the chair. ‘You have a delightful family, Lizzie,’ he said. ‘They’re a credit to you.’

  Lizzie’s heart was going nineteen to the dozen. Jeffrey Banks! Here, in her own little house. What did he want? Suddenly she was fearful, not knowing if she should ask him to sit down or to leave. She chose to ask him, ‘Come in, sir. Sit yerself aside o’ the fire. There’s no need to stand on ceremony in this house.’ When he was seated, she offered, ‘Would yer like a brew?’ It was a strange thing, but whenever she was in this good man’s company, her shyness was short-lived. He’d always had that effect on her. She watched his expression change. At first he too had been self-conscious, but now he was smiling with a warmth that soothed her heart. His hair was greyer than when she had last seen him, and he stooped more at the shoulders. But then, like the rest of them, he had suffered a blow. Cicely was widowed, and her new son was without a father – but then, happen no father at all was better than the one who spawned him, thought Lizzie bitterly. In one way or another, Luke Arnold’s badness had touched all of them.

  No, thank you, Lizzie,’ he said softly. ‘It’s only a short visit before I take my daughter and grandson away for a while.’

  ‘How is the lass?’ Lizzie came to seat herself opposite.

  ‘She’s bearing up very well.’ He shook his head in disbelief. ‘When I think what she went through with him… well, it doesn’t bear thinking about. What hurts is that she couldn’t bring herself to confide in me, her own father who loves her.’

  Lizzie smiled knowingly. ‘That’s what yer call pride,’ she explained sadly. ‘It’s a shocking thing, but we all let it rule us at some time or another.’ She was remembering how it was with Ruby, and how she had let her down badly. All these years Lizzie had believed it was shame that set her against the gentry and made her loathe Ruby’s driving ambition to raise herself up in the world; an ambition that had come from this man. It was only lately that she had been made to wonder whether her bitterness wasn’t born out of foolish pride and not shame – a pride that had been deeply wounded when this man persuaded her into his bed. He didn’t force her. She went willingly. And ever since Ruby was born, that poor lass had been made to pay for her mother’s disgrace. Even now, Lizzie couldn’t fathom her own feelings. All she knew was that they had caused her darling Ruby so much pain and Lizzie would regret that for the rest of her days. ‘What is it yer want with me?’ she had to know.

  He gazed at her, searching for the right words for he knew how proud Lizzie was. ‘I want to help,’ he said in a whisper. ‘For Ruby’s sake, and because it was my son-in-law who left you widowed. I have more money than I know what to do with.’ Seeing the indignant look on her face he bowed his head. ‘I’m sorry.’

  “’Tain’t your fault,’ she declared wisely. ‘Though I still blame you for paying Ruby all that money when she left your household. If it hadn’t been for that, she would never have bought into the milliner’s and never have left home. That money opened a door for her which I had always prayed would stay shut, ’cause I’ve lived long enough to know that there ain’t no happiness to be got from trying to be summat you ain’t.’ Seeing how sad he was, she brightened her tone. ‘All the same, it’s good of yer to come here and offer yer help, but like I say, this family don’t need it, thank you.’ Lizzie had already received a visit from the ailing Oliver Arnold, offering the very same. In the five weeks since the tragedy, that sorry man had aged a hundred years. Johnny even had to help the poor fellow up the steps to her front door.

  Now, Lizzie told Jeffrey Banks what she had told Oliver Arnold. ‘Folks like us don’t need no help from the gentry,’ she declared, and never was she more proud than at that moment. ‘I’ve managed all this time, and God willing I’ll manage again.’ She stood up, head high and her eyes bright. ‘Is that all yer came to say?’

  He knew he was being dismissed. ‘Ruby was always a good friend to Cicely,’ he said, then glancing towards the scullery door, lowered his voice. ‘Whether you like it or not, Lizzie… Ruby is my daughter as well. And I feel responsible.’ Almost as soon as the words were out of his mouth he knew he had said the wrong thing because Lizzie stiffened and her brown eyes darkened.

  ‘I thank you for your trouble, sir,’ she said, in a servile manner which made her the stronger of the two, ‘but this family looks after its own. Whatever needs to be done will be taken care of by us.’ Before he went, she had to make certain. ‘You once made me a promise,’ she whispered anxiously. ‘You told me that our secret would never be told.’ While she waited, her heart was in her mouth.

  ‘And it never will, Lizzie. Not by me, anyway.’

  ‘And not by me,’ she declared with relief. No one must ever know that Ruby was not her beloved Ted’s daughter.

  Like the gentleman he was, he took her hand into his and placed the softest kiss there. ‘You’re a good woman, Lizzie Miller,’ he murmured. ‘And, God forgive me, but I think I’ll always love you a little.’

  His action had moved her deeply, and she was too full for words. Instead she squeezed his fingers in her own. As he went out of the parlour, she said in a murmur, ‘God keep yer safe. Look after the lass and the bairn.’

  He looked at her for a moment before replying, ‘We’ll be gone for three months… coming back with the spring. That’s time enough for the wounds to heal, don’t you think, Lizzie?’ he asked hopefully.

  ‘Yer right,’ she told him wit
h a warm smile. ‘A good friendship will travel through all weathers, I reckon.’

  His fond gaze lingered on her, then he placed his trilby on his grey hair and departed. Before closing the front door he paused to look back down the passage, and there she was, lively and bright, her pretty brown eyes following his every move. He didn’t speak. Neither did she. But it was there, like a beacon burning between them, that special emotion that had drawn them to each other over twenty years ago. He knew now that they would always be there for each other, Lizzie and he. Once it was a burning passion. Now it was a gentler thing. But it would endure forever. It was enough.

  Chapter Nineteen

  Johnny’s eyes lit up at the doctor’s words. ‘Well, we’ve done our tests and the results are as we expected. The injuries to her left side are healing well, and she has almost full use of her arm.’ He added with a shake of his head, ‘I don’t need to tell you how lucky she is to be here at all. If she hadn’t been caught by the steel band that holds the cauldrons, well…’ He rolled his eyes upwards.

  Johnny knew only too well. When he saw Ruby falling through the air, he suffered emotions he would never want to feel again as long as he lived. And, oh, the enormous tide of relief and shock when her fall was broken by the steel cradle. Even so, it was a while before they knew whether she was alive. Like the others who watched it happen before their eyes, he was utterly helpless. The platform crumbled, and it was a miracle that more people hadn’t been killed. As it was, a young police officer was lost together with the man who had brought the whole tragedy upon them. There were those who said that Luke Arnold met the end he deserved. But Johnny had seen it, and he believed that no man, however evil, should have to die like that.

  Interrupting his thoughts, the doctor went on, ‘Of course, she will need to attend the infirmary for some time after she’s discharged. The nerves in her left side were severely damaged. An injury like that takes time to heal. But, thankfully she’s a woman of remarkable determination.’ He smiled, and in answer to Johnny’s earlier question, answered, ‘I see no reason why she shouldn’t go home by the end of the week.’ He knew his next words would lighten Johnny’s heart even more. ‘Perhaps you would like to give her the good news?’