The Girl with the Creel (51 page)

Waiting a short time in case Meggie came back for something, Lizann opened the back door and took a few deep breaths of the honeysuckle-scented air. Then she set off, but was only halfway down the path to the burn when a triumphant voice cried, ‘I ken't it! I ken't you'd sneak out as soon as my back was turned, you two-faced besom!'

It was so unexpected, and so shameful to be caught, that Lizann burst into tears. ‘I wasn't doing anything wrong. I was just …'

‘I ken fine what you were doing, but you're not getting away wi' it. You're not getting your claws into Mr Fordyce.'

‘But I wasn't …'

‘You needna think I've been blind to what's been going on. Making up to him, and maybe sneaking into his bed, for all I ken.'

‘No, no!' Lizann was bitterly hurt that the woman could even think such things.

‘It maybe hasna reached that stage yet, and it never will now. I'll make damned sure you never get him!' Meggie grabbed Lizann's arm and shoved her roughly towards the open door, and one last vicious push sent her sprawling on the kitchen floor.

Coming out of the sitting-room on his way to bed, Dan almost fell over Lizann, who was on her knees in the hallway, her head bent over a pail. ‘God Almighty!' he exclaimed. ‘I could have broken my neck, and yours, too. Why in God's name are you scrubbing the floor at this hour of the night?' It struck him suddenly that she hadn't lifted her head, and his tone softened. ‘What's wrong, Lizann? Are you sick.'

‘No,' she mumbled, her hand going up to her eyes.

‘Look at me,' he ordered, ‘and tell me what's wrong.'

She still didn't look up. ‘Nothing's wrong.'

Bending, he hoisted her to her feet and turned her to face him, her swollen eyes making him long to kiss away her troubles, whatever they were. Not yet sure of how she felt about him, he put an arm round her waist and led her into the room he had just left. Closing the door, he said, gently, ‘Tell me, Lizann.'

‘It's nothing,' she gulped.

‘You wouldn't be crying for nothing. Come on, my dear, tell me.'

‘It's nothing,' she repeated, but his sympathy was too much for her, and the tears she'd tried to keep him from seeing flooded out again.

She leaned against him gratefully as his arms went round her. ‘My dear sweet girl,' he murmured, patting her shoulder, ‘it surely can't be as bad as that.'

‘It's Meggie,' she sobbed. ‘She's being awful to me.'

‘You should have told me. I'd have put a stop to it.'

‘I thought I could put up with her, but I can't, not any longer.'

Now she had started, it all came hiccupping out. ‘She must have seen us … that last night you came walking with me.'

He looked bewildered. ‘There was nothing to see.'

‘You kissed my cheek … and called me your dear, sweet Lizann because I'd told you … your lady friend might marry you if you asked her.'

‘I have no lady friend,' he said, quietly.

She was too fraught to take this in. ‘It all started the morning after that … so she must have seen you.'

‘What started?'

His voice was so harsh that she knew Meggie was in for more than just a telling-off, but she could do nothing except carry on; she would have to leave the farm anyway. She told him that the housekeeper made her pay for the things she broke, and made her work late every night, at which he said, ‘So that's why I haven't seen you for so many Thursdays.'

She went on to tell him about the one time she had gone out and the housekeeper had been waiting for her. ‘She started accusing me … Dan, it was awful.'

‘What exactly did she accuse you of doing?'

‘She said I'd been …' Lizann couldn't bring herself to repeat the vile thing the old woman had suspected. ‘She said I'd been making up to you, and I wasn't, Dan. I wasn't!'

Dan's anger at his housekeeper was building up, but he kept his voice gentle. ‘Go on, my dear.'

‘She gave me such a shove when we were coming in, I fell on the floor and skinned my knees. And I knocked against the table, and the willow pattern tureen I'd washed after dinner fell off and smashed. She said it was your mother's favourite dish, and she lifted the ladle and hit me on the face. I'd the mark for weeks.'

‘She actually hit you … with the ladle?' He was boiling with fury at Meggie, but tried to keep it under control so that he wouldn't distress Lizann any further.

‘And she's been punching my back every time she goes past me … and I'm all black and blue.'

‘Oh, my dear Lizann,' he burst out, ‘I never dreamt that she was ill-treating you.'

‘I thought she'd get tired of it … but it's been months and …'

She looked into his face now, so pathetically that he just had to kiss her trembling mouth, and having kissed her, he was lost. ‘Oh, my darling girl,' he moaned, ‘I'll make sure that she doesn't hurt you again.'

Fully believing that he was still consoling her, she gulped, ‘But you can't sack her. She's been here a lot longer than me, so it's me that'll have to leave. How much notice will I have to work?'

‘You are not going to leave. I want you to marry me, my darling.' His grey eyes searched hers for some sign of affection, even gratitude, but she stared back at him in dismay.

‘You can't marry me to stop Meggie hitting me. She'd think I made you do it, and she'd be nastier to me than ever.'

‘You don't understand, my dear. It has nothing to do with Meggie. I'm asking you to marry me because … I love you. I've loved you since the very first time I saw you – selling fish at my door.'

She gave a horrified gasp. ‘No, I don't believe that. I was an awful mess. You're just saying that to make me feel better, but I can't …'

His lips stopped her, and he tried to let his long tender kisses tell her that his declaration of love was genuine. ‘Now do you believe me?' he asked, when he let her go. ‘I love you with all my heart, and I'll go on asking you to be my wife until you say yes.'

‘No, Dan,' she protested, when his arms went round her again, but he kissed her until her senses reeled.

At that moment, the housekeeper walked in, coming to a dumbstruck halt when she saw the loving tableau. She soon found her tongue, however, her brows going down as she sneered, ‘So! She's got you at last, has she? I'm surprised you let her take you in, Mr Fordyce. And whatever she's been telling you, it's just a pack o' lies, for I never touched her.'

Still holding Lizann although she was struggling to get away from him, Dan said coldly, ‘Were you wanting something, Meggie?'

‘I wondered where she was.'

‘If you mean Lizann, I took her in here because she was so upset, and I'd be grateful if you would leave us. I shall talk to you later.'

Meggie was not easily intimidated, but she had never seen his eyes so icy before. ‘Oh … well …' she stammered, backing away, ‘just mind what I said, for she's trying to get you …'

‘Lizann has no need to try to get me,' Dan said, firmly. ‘She got me long ago without trying. Now, shut the door behind you.'

He waited until Meggie had gone. ‘I'm sorry about the interruption. I asked you to marry me, Lizann, and I'm still waiting for an answer.'

‘I can't,' she whispered. ‘I don't … love you. I like you an awful lot, as a friend, but it's not the same. I'm sorry.'

‘I have enough love for two,' he persisted. ‘I gave you this job in the hope that you would come to feel as I do, and I was prepared to wait until you did. I've spoiled it by springing it on you too quickly.'

She looked at him in deep distress, hating having to hurt him. ‘It wouldn't have mattered how long you waited, Dan, my answer would have still been the same.' She stroked his cheek to show how badly she felt about it. ‘It seems awful to refuse you when you've been so good to me, but I can't pretend to love you.'

His searching eyes gave up their quest for a sign of something more than liking. ‘No, my dear, I wouldn't want you to pretend, and you don't need to leave.'

‘I was going anyway, and I couldn't stay after this.'

‘What will you do? Where will you go?' The words were torn from him.

Recalling how she had felt when she and George had parted in Yarmouth, her heart went out to Dan, but she couldn't marry a man she didn't love, no matter how much she liked him, how sorry she felt for him. ‘I was thinking of going to Aberdeen,' she said gently. ‘I couldn't go before, when I'd no money of my own, but with you giving me a paid job …'

He gave a rather ironic smile. ‘I made it possible for you to leave? When all I wanted was for you to be here as my wife.'

‘I'm sorry, Dan.'

‘It's my own fault for taking things for granted. Will you let me do one last thing for you? Let me ask my sister to give you a room …'

‘Oh, I couldn't …'

‘Aberdeen is a big city. You would never find lodgings on your own. If you don't want to live with Ella permanently, she would help you to find somewhere else. She might even help you to find a job.'

Lizann gave in. ‘All right, but just till I get other lodgings.'

He moved away from her. ‘I had better go and deal with Meggie.'

‘Please don't sack her, Dan. I think she was scared she'd lose her job if you took a wife. She was just trying to get rid of me.'

‘And she succeeded,' he said dryly. ‘I feel like throwing her out for what she did, but she's more to be pitied than punished.'

‘You're a good man, Dan, I wish I …'

‘I'll write to Ella in the morning, but if you don't feel up to facing Meggie again, you can stay up in your room until you go.'

‘She won't do anything to me when she knows I'm going away.'

‘Lizann, my dear, are you quite sure you …?'

‘Yes, Dan, quite sure.'

His deep sigh showed his despondent acceptance of her decision. ‘Wait here until I come back.' He swung round and went out.

In the kitchen, Meggie looked at him apprehensively. ‘I suppose you've come to tell me to get out, Mr Fordyce?'

‘I should send you packing,' he said grimly, but the fear in her old eyes made him hasten to add, ‘but Lizann pleaded with me not to. We both understand why you treated her so badly, so you will be relieved to know she has not accepted my proposal.'

‘She's refused you?'

He smiled sadly. The old woman obviously could not believe that any girl in her right mind would turn down his offer of marriage – a man who owned a large thriving farm. ‘So you see, Meggie, she wasn't out to get me. In fact, she is leaving in a few days and I doubt if I shall ever see her again. In the meantime, she is willing to keep working alongside you, but I must make it clear that you treat her properly, otherwise …'

He left the sentence unfinished, and Meggie muttered, ‘I ken I did wrong, Mr Fordyce, but I was that feared for my job …'

‘Yes, I know, but … well, I'll say no more. I will see about getting a replacement for Lizann … as a maid. She is the only woman I have ever wanted … will ever want, as a wife.'

As he went out, Meggie said, ‘I'm awful sorry, Mr Fordyce.'

And so she should be, he thought. If it hadn't been for her, he would not have revealed his feelings to Lizann until he was sure of her, but it was too late now. Going back to the sitting-room, he said, ‘You will have no more trouble from Meggie, my dear. She knows her job is safe.'

Lizann sighed. ‘I could have told her she'd nothing to fear from me. I'd better go and finish scrubbing the hall.'

‘It's all right as it is. Just empty the pail and go to bed.'

He sat down and picked up his pipe when she left him. It pained him to think of all the menial jobs she'd had to do, might still have to do in her next job. If only she wasn't so stubborn. She had admitted to liking him quite a lot, and given more time, he could have made her love him.

*   *   *

Three days later, Lizann bade goodbye to Meggie Thow then went into the dining-room to take her leave of Dan. He jumped up from the table and took her in his arms. ‘I'll be thinking of you every day,' he murmured, running his rough forefinger down her cheek. ‘And if you don't get a job in Aberdeen, or if you don't like it there, please come back. Meggie has got over everything.'

‘I know, she broke down when she apologized to me the day after …'

His kiss prevented her saying more, and when he released her, she turned away, unable to tell him that it wasn't the housekeeper who made return to Easter Duncairn impossible, it was his proposal.

Walking towards the main road to catch a bus, she recalled how she had felt when she made the journey from Buckie to Pennan. She hadn't nearly so far to walk this time, and she was in far better health than she had been at that time, but she had the same sense of not knowing what lay ahead. Her spirits lifted when she remembered that the money she had saved was in her pocket, plus what Dan had insisted on giving her. She also had his sister's address, so at least she would have a home. But Ella Reith, a countrywoman married to the headmaster of a city school, would know nothing about the fish houses which would be the only places offering the kind of work she could do.

Despite having kept house for the Laings for the best part of eighteen months, and working as housemaid at the farm for nearly a year, it did not occur to Lizann to look for domestic work. She had been born by the sea, her roots were by the sea, and it seemed to her that her place was by the sea. Besides, gutting fish would help her to remember her meeting with poor George.

PART THREE

1942–1944

Chapter Thirty

Dan opened Ella's letter with apprehension, but its contents made him smile.