Calico Road (11 page)

He set his lawyer to make discreet inquiries about the state of the Goddbys’ finances and what he was told made Jethro smile.

On the day appointed for Perry to dine with him Jethro came home early and took his time getting ready. He sat and waited in the drawing room, a stark place compared to that in the Goddbys’ house. He would have to do something about it, he decided, but didn’t want it so full of frills and fuss he was afraid to move around in it.

When he heard a carriage draw up in the driveway, he said, ‘Ahhhhh!’ and sat up very straight, listening to the maid showing his visitor into the house. He hadn’t invited the fellow to stay the night because, if things did not go according to plan, it’d be too uncomfortable the following morning. Anyway, the moon would be nearly full tonight.

Only when the door of the drawing room opened did he rise to his feet and move across to greet his guest. ‘My dear Perry! I’m so glad you could come.’

The two men shook hands then Jethro gestured to the seat opposite his and moved towards the tray of drinks. ‘Care for a glass of brandy before we eat?’

‘Happy to.’

Jethro was surprised by how quickly the brandy vanished down Perry’s throat. Without comment, he took the decanter across and refilled his glass. They talked of the weather, and of the stupidity of trying to build a tunnel under the Thames where several men working on it had died when it collapsed. Afraid his guest would grow too drunk to talk sense, Jethro rang to tell the maid they would eat now and led the way into the dining room. A plain dinner of roast beef, fried chicken pieces and boiled potatoes drenched in butter awaited them, followed by Jethro’s favourite plum pudding with sweet white sauce.

‘We’ll serve ourselves if you don’t mind,’ he said to his guest, ‘then we can talk privately. This is a bachelor establishment so I don’t have all the frills that you’re used to. Here, let me carve you some beef.’ He had deliberately not provided wine with the meal.

By the time his guest professed himself satisfied, Jethro had come to the conclusion that the man was greedy. No wonder he was so plump. Well, greedy men wanted many things, not just food. Money would surely tempt this one?

It wasn’t until the pudding had been cleared away and a decanter of port brought in that Jethro raised the question he’d been itching to ask.

‘And how are your sisters? Beautiful women, both of them, but I found Sophia rather more – shall we say, appealing?’

Perry choked on his wine. ‘Oh. Ah. Yes. Sophia.’

‘They are both unmarried and unspoken for, are they not?’

‘Well, er – that is – in short, yes.’

‘Good. Then I’d like to ask for Sophia’s hand in marriage.’

Perry set down his glass and swallowed hard. ‘You’re quick to make up your mind.’

‘I had already seen her and felt attracted to her. That feeling only intensified when I saw her again.’

Avoiding his host’s eyes, Perry stammered, ‘Well, the thing is, Sophia has been – that is, she’s not exactly spoken for, but she’s been seeing a lot of young Easdale. Only there are some difficulties with his family because there’s no dowry . . .’

‘Then she must find a husband who doesn’t require one.’

Perry bent his head and fiddled with his glass. ‘Trouble is, she’s devilish stubborn. Thinks she’s in love with Easdale. I had a few words with her before I came – in case you expressed an interest. Have to be practical, don’t we?’

A man less practical than this one would be hard to find from all accounts, Jethro thought, already tired of beating around the bush. ‘We should indeed be practical, so I’ll lay my cards on the table. On the day after I marry Sophia, you will receive a draft for five thousand pounds. What’s more, as my brother-in-law, you can always be sure of my advice. I can, if you like the idea, help with your family’s finances or even take them over from you. I can assure you that you’d continue to benefit from our association.’

‘Five thousand!’

It took Perry a minute or two to pull himself together so Jethro took a tiny sip of port – he had never been a heavy drinker – and waited.

‘You couldn’t . . . consider Harriet instead, could you?’

‘No.’

‘Ah.’

Jethro forced himself to smile. ‘I am, as I said, very attracted to Sophia.’

‘I see.’

‘Why do you not think about it, talk to her, then let me know what she says?’

‘Yes. Yes, I can do that.’

The conversation limped on for another half-hour, then Perry asked for his carriage and took his leave.

The man’s a fool, Jethro thought, as he listened to the sounds of horses’ hooves and rattling wheels fade away into the night. We’ll see if his sister is also stupid. She didn’t have a stupid face.

In the meantime, he had a fancy to go and claim his pot of free beer up the Calico Road before the month was up. Jethro’s father might have been sanguine about what Fletcher would get up to, but he intended to leave nothing to chance. He wanted, no needed, to see for himself. In the hands of a man of sense that inn could be made into a thriving establishment – only was his bastard brother that sort of man? Jethro hoped not. He didn’t want a man with a face so like his own getting known as a local innkeeper. Why the hell did the two of them have to look so alike? And why did Toby have to be taller than he was?

Sophia stared at Perry in horror. ‘I hope you told him no? As if I would allow myself to be bought by a man like him!’

He glanced sideways at his mother, who wore the glassy smile with which she usually confronted trouble. No help to be had there. Taking a deep breath, he explained to Sophia how bad things really were, how only the five thousand pounds Mr Greenhalgh had offered as a marriage settlement would allow the family to stay in their home, and how, if Jethro Greenhalgh made good his additional promise of helping them manage their finances better, they might even be able to provide a dowry for Harriet later on.

He watched as the bad news sank in and Sophia sat staring at her clasped hands, every inch of her body betraying her unhappiness. Impatience at her stupidity made him snap, ‘You have no choice but to accept his offer.’

She raised her eyes to his. ‘How can you do this to me? You know my affections are already engaged.’

‘
I
didn’t do it; Father did. He lost more money than we realised in his foolish investments. And I’ve no turn for business, know no way to pull us out of the mire without this marriage and, we hope, a similarly advantageous one for Harriet.’

‘Then let
her
marry Mr Greenhalgh.’

‘He doesn’t want her. I suggested it.’

She swallowed back the tears that threatened. ‘I must see Oswin first. I can’t accept Mr Greenhalgh’s offer until I’ve seen Oswin.’

Her mother cleared her throat. ‘You’ll see him here, well chaperoned. We daren’t risk anything else at this stage.’

Sophia looked from one to the other, then rose to her feet. ‘I’ll write him a note.’

‘I’ll take it over to him,’ Perry said at once.

She had the note written within minutes, but had to wait three hours for Perry to return with an answer. Her heart sank when she saw that he wasn’t accompanied by Oswin.

She walked slowly downstairs as her brother came into the hall. ‘Was he not at home?’

‘Yes, he was.’

Sophia’s final hope vanished and she felt sick to the soul.

‘I gave him your note and explained what had happened, about the offer you’d received. Oswin said to tell you his father is obdurate and won’t countenance a marriage with you or any other penniless female. He sent his regrets and his best wishes for a happy future.’ He wrinkled his brow in thought for a moment, then added, ‘Says he’ll always remember you fondly.’

The words came out in a whisper. ‘Couldn’t he even come and tell me that himself?’

‘I suggested it. I’m not quite as heartless as you think, old girl. But he refused. Said there was no point in it. Sophia, wait!’

But she had gone running up the stairs, skirts flying, one hand pressed to her mouth to hold in the sobs.

And when Mrs Goddby went up to offer her daughter what comfort she could, she found the door locked.

Sophia did not emerge until morning, sitting in icy silence over breakfast, saying nothing but, ‘It seems I have no choice but to accept Mr Greenhalgh’s offer.’

Her mother and brother sighed loudly in relief. Harriet glared at them all.

6

J
ad Mortley, the overlooker at Beardsworth’s mill, was in a foul temper that day and when one of the children couldn’t keep up, beat her until she could only moan, after which he threw a bucket of water over her and ordered her to get back to work. Only she couldn’t move. When he dragged her to her feet, she gave one thin scream and fainted.

The women working in that section muttered under their breath but didn’t dare raise their eyes. Only when the overlooker kicked the child did one woman break ranks and run forward to stand protectively in front of her daughter.

‘Leave her alone! You’ve beaten her till she’s near out of her senses. She’s nobbut eleven. Do you want to kill her?’

For answer he clouted her about the ears. ‘Get back to your work. You’ll be fined for this. How I deal with the young ’uns is my business. Doesn’t matter what their ages are. If they don’t do their work properly, they’re in trouble.’

But the mother wouldn’t, couldn’t, move and crouched to cradle her child in her arms.

He laughed and sent for the husband. ‘Your wife and daughter won’t work. See if you can do better with ’em. I’m only giving you this one chance. I want both of them back at work in five minutes.’

The man looked down at his sobbing wife, saw his daughter’s bruised and bloody back and attacked the overlooker. It took three men to pull him off, for all he was much smaller than Mortley.

‘I’m calling in the magistrate and having him arrested for assault.’

‘It’ll be the last thing you ever do then,’ a voice called from the back, artificially high to disguise the identity of its owner.

Another high, unnatural voice repeated the same threat from a different part of the big spinning shed.

With a curse the overlooker turned to the trio, the man now with his arm round his wife and a bruise darkening his cheek where Jad had punched him. ‘It’s not worth bothering with the magistrate. You and your family are to be out of your house by nightfall.’ He raised his voice to add, ‘Anyone as gives you shelter will be thrown out as well. Now get back to work, the rest of you.’

As they did so, the man picked up his daughter and carried her home.

In spite of the overlooker’s threats, help was given as the family made frantic preparations to leave. A handcart was found in which the child could lie on top of their bedding. Pennies were collected to give them a start and the general advice was to get across the moors and as far away as possible.

They all knew that Jad Mortley would go after them and exact revenge one way or another because it had happened before.

‘Take the Calico Road,’ people said. ‘If you can get there, they’ll help you. They’re good folk in Calico.’

Toby was locking up for the night when the group came round the corner into his stable yard. A man, a woman and six children of differing heights, all shivering. A groan drew his attention to the cart and to his horror he saw a thin girl lying in it on her front, exposing a bloodied back.

‘What happened?’

‘Mr Beardsworth’s overseer beat her senseless. He likes beating childer, Jad Mortley does.’

The woman said, in a voice ringing with pain, ‘He went mad today. Doesn’t usually hurt ’em this bad because they can’t work afterwards. I couldn’t let him go on kicking her, so I left my work and went to stand in front of her. He threw us all out. Only he comes after you, if he’s angry enough. Other folk have disappeared.’ She looked over her shoulder as if she expected to see the overlooker appear any minute.

Toby closed his eyes for a moment, sickened by what he saw, then opened them again and said briskly, ‘You’ll need somewhere to spend the night then, and I’ve got just the place for you. Wait there.’ He went into the house and called for Phoebe, explaining what had happened, then he took the family through to the back place. ‘No one will know you’re here and you can stay till the lass is fit to travel. Mortley will have stopped looking for you by then.’

‘Mr Beardsworth will go mad if he finds out you’ve given us shelter for so long. The pair of them will come after
you
then,’ the man said. ‘If we can just stay this one night, that’ll be enough.’

‘You’ll stay till she’s better. And I’ll feed you while you’re here.’

There was a hue and cry up the hill the next day for a family who were supposed to have stolen goods from their employer.

Toby went into the public room, listened to the tale being spread by two brutish-looking men and shook his head as if disgusted. ‘I’ve not seen them here, but then, they could have passed through during the night and we’d not have known. Would you like a pot of beer to set you on your way?’

Beardsworth’s men nodded enthusiastically and Toby stood chatting to them while they drank then escorted them to the door, watching to make sure they didn’t try to search his outbuildings.

Only when he came inside did his face show what he really thought of them. A pair of ruffians if ever he’d seen any.

Ross Bellvers came up to him. ‘Can I have a quiet word about this?’

Toby took him into the house place. ‘Yes?’

‘You’ve seen that family, haven’t you?’

‘Why do you say that?’

‘I saw Phoebe’s face and the way she slipped in here to get out of them two’s way.’

‘If you’d seen the child’s back, the way she’s been beaten, such a little lass too . . .’

Ross laid one hand on his arm. ‘It’s happened a couple of times before. I gave one lot shelter myself. Only it was a young woman who’d been raped that time. Mortley did it. The man’s vile.’ He nodded to Toby. ‘I don’t think anyone else noticed Phoebe and I shan’t let on that you’re hiding anyone. What’s more, I’ll set my son to watching out for them two sneaking back.’