Sentence of Marriage (14 page)

‘No, Susannah, no! Please don’t say that—I just want to help—’

The door opened, and Jack hurried in looking anxious. ‘What was that crash? You didn’t—oh, it was only a plate.’ He looked at the remains of the plate with relief. ‘I thought you might have had a fall,’ he said to Susannah. He made to put his arm around her, but she stepped backwards out of his reach.

‘It’s her fault,’ she said, pointing at Amy. ‘She made me throw it—she’s been saying horrible things just to upset me.’

‘No I haven’t,’ Amy said, desperately hoping her father would see how irrational Susannah was being.

‘Yes you
have
,’ Susannah screamed at her. ‘She hates me, and she wants me to look awful so you’ll hate me too.’ Tears were streaming unchecked down her face, but she pushed Jack away when he moved to comfort her.

‘Susannah, no!’ Amy begged. ‘You know I don’t want that—I’m only trying to help you.’ She felt tears welling from her own eyes.

‘Oh, don’t
you
start, Amy,’ Jack groaned, and Amy wiped the tears away as best she could with the back of her hand. ‘Now, Susannah, tell me just what Amy’s done that’s upset you so much.’

‘She thinks I look horrible, and she wants me to wear a sack. You’ll have to beat her again—go on, take her away and beat her! You
have
to!’ She gave Jack a push, but he didn’t move.

‘What are you meant to have done, girl?’ he asked Amy.

‘I asked if I could make her a dress because that one’s too tight. That’s all I did, honestly Pa, I didn’t think it would upset her.’ She looked up at her father, pleading with her eyes for him to believe her.

‘Is that what’s annoyed you, Susannah? Amy offering to make you a dress?’

‘Yes! Yes, she keeps telling me what to do, and I won’t have it! You have to beat her so she’ll stop it!’ She pummelled at Jack’s chest.

Jack took Susannah’s hands in his, and held them firmly when she tried to pull away. ‘Susannah,’ he said slowly and deliberately, ‘I’m not going to hit my girl every time you get a fit of the vapours. Now, you just—’

‘You hate me too! You’re taking her part against me!’ Susannah screamed. Her body seemed to go rigid for a moment, then Jack let go of her hands and she collapsed into a chair. She flung her arms on the table, laid her head down on them and wept. ‘I hate it here… I wish I’d never come… I wish I’d never…’ The rest was lost in her sobs.

Jack sat down beside Susannah and put his head in his hands for a moment, then looked at his wife. ‘Amy,’ he said without turning his head away from Susannah, ‘go outside.’ Amy went as quickly as she could. Before she closed the door she heard Jack say, ‘Now calm yourself, woman, before you do yourself some harm.’

Amy stood by the gate in the hedge, wondering if she should try and find something useful to do outside. But it was nearly lunch-time, so she decided she would just have to wait until she was summoned.

John and Harry arrived a few minutes later, ready for their meal. ‘Don’t go in there,’ Amy said, putting her hand on John’s arm. ‘Pa’s talking to Susannah and he doesn’t want anyone else around.’

‘What about lunch?’ John asked.

‘You’ll just have to wait.’

‘They’re having a row, are they?’ Harry asked.

‘Not exactly. Susannah’s got in a state and Pa’s trying to settle her down, I think.’

‘Do you think he’s going to give her a hiding?’

‘Of course he’s not, Harry, don’t be stupid. No, she’s really miserable.’ She looked at the house and thought about the distraught woman at the table. ‘She’s annoyed at me again, too.’

‘What about?’

Amy sighed. ‘I don’t really know. I always seem to upset her when I say anything.’

The door opened and Jack looked out. ‘Amy,’ he called. ‘Come here, girl.’

‘I’m in trouble again,’ Amy said, trying to sound more confident than she felt as she turned to walk back up the path.

‘Do you want us to come with you?’ John asked. ‘I mean, you shouldn’t get in trouble over nothing, maybe we should talk to him.’

‘Yes, that’s right,’ Harry agreed.

Amy was touched by their support, but she shook her head. ‘I’ll be all right,’ she said, hoping it was the truth. ‘You two just wait out here a bit longer.’

She felt her heart beating faster as she entered the house and closed the door. Susannah was no longer in the room. ‘Yes, Pa?’ she said, trying to gauge her father’s mood from his expression.

‘You’d better finish getting lunch on, I—’ He stopped when he saw the look on her face. ‘Amy,’ he said, and she thought he sounded hurt, ‘why are you looking at me like that? You’re not frightened of me, are you?’

‘I just thought…’ She could not think how to finish.

‘You are frightened. Amy, listen to me.’ He put one hand on her shoulder, and with the other tilted her chin so that she was looking up into his face. ‘Didn’t you hear what I said to Susa—your ma before you went out? I’m not going to hit you just to please her. I’m not sure I should have done it that other time, either.’

He let go of Amy and sat down heavily. ‘I don’t know what’s wrong with her, and I don’t know how to make her happy. She’s in a bad way—to tell you the truth, girl, I’m starting to think I didn’t do the right thing by her, bringing her here. But what can I do about it? She’s my wife now, and I’ve got to do the best I can for her—whatever that is.’ He sighed. ‘I don’t know, it’s beyond me. Your ma—your real one, I mean—was never like that.’

He looked so troubled that Amy’s heart went out to him. She put her arm around his neck. ‘Pa, I know I’m not meant to talk about this, but… well, I remember Lizzie saying Aunt Edie was sort of strange when Ernie was coming. Do you think that’s the trouble with Susannah?’ She did not add that Edie’s strangeness had consisted of being even vaguer than usual, threatening to faint once or twice, and having one fit of weeping in late pregnancy when she was worn out by the February heat.

Jack looked more hopeful. ‘Maybe you’re right—though I don’t remember your ma being that bad. Of course it’s a long time since I had a broody woman around. Well, what do you think I should do about it?’

‘Perhaps if Aunt Edie had a talk with her? She’s the most likely one to be any use.’

‘That’s a good idea!’ Jack leapt at it. ‘I’ll mention it to your uncle, he’ll get her to pop over. What would I do without you, girl?’ He squeezed her hand.

‘You’d get your own lunch, for a start,’ Amy said, pulling her hand away. She went to the door and called her brothers; seeing that they looked at her with concern, she gave them a smile and whispered as they walked into the room, ‘It’s all right’.

April 1882

Susannah stayed in bed the rest of that day. Neither Jack nor Amy was keen to disturb her, so they both kept away until the evening. When the table was set for dinner and Susannah still had not appeared, Amy asked her father what she should do about Susannah’s meal.

‘Shall I put something on a tray for her?’

‘I suppose you’d better. Yes, take it in to her.’

‘Ah… Pa, I think it might be better if you took it to her. She won’t want to see me.’

‘Well, she’s got to put up with seeing you. I’m not carrying her meals about for her.’ Amy could see that her father was very aware of John’s and Harry’s eyes on him, and she wished she had brought it up before her brothers had come in. Reluctantly she took the tray herself.

‘Excuse me, Susannah, I’ve brought your—’

‘Go away,’ came a muffled voice from the bed.

‘I’ve brought your dinner.’

‘I don’t want it. Take it away.’

‘You might want it later. I’ll just leave it here.’ Amy put the tray on the bedside table.

Susannah’s head emerged from under the sheet, and she reached a hand out to the tray. ‘Take it away or I’ll push it onto the floor.’

‘No, you won’t.’ The voice came from behind Amy. She jumped, and Susannah stared, as Jack entered the room. ‘You’ll sit up properly and eat that, and thank Amy for bringing it to you.’

‘I don’t
want
it,’ Susannah insisted.

‘You’ve got to eat, Susannah, and you’ve had nothing since breakfast. Now you get that down you.’ He walked past Amy and lifted the tray, then sat on the bed. ‘Come on, sit up.’

Amy waited for Susannah to shout, but instead her stepmother sat up very meekly and took the tray onto her lap. ‘Now thank Amy for bringing it in.’ But Amy was already walking quickly through the doorway. She had no intention of giving Susannah a fresh grudge against her.

Jack lingered in the kitchen with Amy after her brothers had left the room. ‘She says she doesn’t want to get fat,’ he said, frowning. ‘She’s got a bee in her bonnet about those dresses of hers. I hope Edie can talk some sense into her.’

‘So do I,’ Amy agreed.

*

Edie bustled in the next morning soon after breakfast, with Lizzie and Ernie in tow. There was a gleam in her eye and no trace of her usual vagueness; she was clearly a woman with a mission. ‘Where’s your ma?’ she asked without preliminaries.

‘Still in bed,’ Amy said. ‘I’ll tell her you’re here.’

‘No, don’t worry about that, I know where it is. Don’t you girls disturb us. You can keep an eye on Ernie for me.’ She hurried down the passage.

‘Ma’s all fired up today—she loves anything to do with babies. She’s come to sort Aunt Susannah out,’ Lizzie explained.

‘I know,’ Amy said. ‘It was my idea.’

‘Oh, was it just?’ Lizzie was taken aback.

‘Yes. You’re not the only one who ever gets any ideas, you know.’

‘I never said I was. You’re not usually any good at getting people to do what you want, that’s all.’

Edie came out again after half an hour. ‘Well!’ she said. Amy thought her aunt looked tired out. Edie looked at the girls, chewing her lip as though she was struggling with a decision, then seemed to make up her mind. ‘Go outside and play with Ernie, Lizzie,’ she said. ‘I want to talk to Amy.’

Lizzie looked at her in amazement. ‘Why can’t I stay?’

‘Because you’re too young.’

‘I’m older than her! I’m fifteen, she’s only thirteen.’

‘Don’t argue with me, girl. Just go outside.’ Lizzie was so stunned at her mother’s unusual manner that she went without further argument.

When she had gone, Edie continued. ‘Amy, you’re a bit young for this, but your ma’s going to need your help, so I’d better tell you. She’s going to have a child.’

‘Really, Aunt Edie?’ Amy hoped she looked sufficiently surprised.

‘Yes. I’d say it’ll be around the beginning of August, so she’s got about four months to go yet. She’s keeping well enough, as far as I can tell, but she’s pretty nervy.’

‘I know, Aunt Edie. She gets very upset.’

‘That’s because she’s scared stiff.’

Amy no longer had to pretend surprise. ‘Scared? What of?’

‘Scared of having a child. Now, it’s nothing to be scared of, it’s the most natural thing in the world. She’ll know that after she’s done it once, but for now she’s frightened. I’ve told her a few things about what’ll happen and she’s calmed down a bit, but you’ll have to try not to let her get upset.’

‘What should I do, Aunt Edie?’

‘Don’t let her tire herself out, that’s the main thing, especially now she’s getting big. Most of all don’t let her lift heavy things. Has she had any fainting spells?’

‘I don’t think so. No, I think Pa would have told me if she had.’

‘Good. She admitted to me she’d kept lacing herself up pretty tight as long as she could bear to, I thought that might have made her prone to faints. Now, what else? She mustn’t go out any more, I’ve told her that. She grizzled about it a bit, but I think she sees the sense in it. I want you to tell your pa I said she’s to stay home, he’s the only one who can make her if she decides to be uppish.’

‘Aunt Edie, will I have to help her when… when the baby comes?’ Amy blurted out.

‘Look at that serious face of yours!’ Edie said with a laugh. ‘Bless you, child, of course you won’t—you’ll be kept well out of the way. No, she’ll have a nurse out from town to stay for a week or two. I’ll pop over too if she wants me. There, now you look happier.’

‘I do want to help Susannah. She seems so unhappy sometimes.’

‘She’ll be all right once the baby’s come. That’ll take her mind off her troubles. That’s a while away yet, though, and she’s got one more problem, Amy.’

‘What’s that?’

‘She’s nothing to wear. That’s why she hasn’t got out of bed since yesterday morning, but she can’t stay in bed till August. She should have got something organised before, she’s been a bit silly about it.’

‘She didn’t want to stop wearing her pretty dresses.’

‘I told her they’ll still be hanging in the wardrobe next year and she can wear them then. But she needs something to wear now.’

‘I could make her something, but she doesn’t want me to. She got really upset when I offered.’