The Silver Touch (11 page)

His concentration was broken abruptly when he was told Master Harwood wanted to see him immediately. Untying his leather apron, he hooked it forward into place. Slipping his waistcoat over his shirt-sleeves to make himself more presentable, he set off for the office.

When he knocked, Master Harwood’s voice bade him enter.

As soon as he saw Jack Needham in the office apprehension gripped him and he knew something was terribly wrong. He guessed at once that what was to be said had been arranged, because when Jack, whose expression was one of intense rancour, leaped up from a chair to take a threatening step towards him, Master Harwood waved him back to his seat with an authoritative gesture. Jack obeyed, muttering to himself.

‘Bateman,’ Master Harwood began heavily, ‘an extremely serious accusation has been made against you. I’m hoping to hear it is without foundation, but I want the truth and nothing but the truth. Do I make myself clear?’

‘Yes, sir.’ He could make a guess at what was coming. His whole future was hanging in the balance and waves of shock were coursing through him.

‘I had to remind you once before of the rules of apprenticeship, which strictly forbid fornication. Do you recall my words?’

‘I do.’

‘Then let me put this to you. Have you any reason to suppose you might be the cause of Master Needham’s sister, Hester, being in a state of pregnancy?’

There was only one reply that could be given. John’s jaw set rigidly, a nerve leaping on one side. ‘I am responsible.’

The statement seemed to echo in the quiet office. Jack’s features congested menacingly and again he shifted his weight, checked once more by Master Harwood, whose own expression had become savagely hostile. ‘From what I have been told, you have abandoned the girl. Is that correct?’

John felt a rush of anger at whatever twist of circumstances had defeated the conspiracy of silence that he and Hester had hoped to maintain. ‘Hester is my wife. We were married three months ago at the Fleet.’

He watched out of his own fury and despair the reaction of the two men in front of him. Both were astonished. Jack immediately mollified to a degree, Master Harwood developing a gleam of murder in his eyes while he spoke in a controlled and deadly manner.

‘Well, Bateman, that information will have changed everything for Master Needham.’ He turned in his chair to address Jack with no change of tone. ‘I suggest you return to the Heathcock now. There will be an opportunity for you to talk to your new brother-in-law later. At the present time I want to continue this interview on my own with him. He is still my apprentice.’

Jack had no choice but to leave. He stood up, looked uncertainly at John and then bowed to Master Harwood. ‘I trust this affair will make no difference to your esteemed patronage of my tavern —’

‘Good day to you.’

‘Er — good day, sir.’

No sooner had the door closed when Master Harwood gave full vent to his wrath. ‘Not only have you disobeyed me, Bateman, but you have deceived my daughter! You accepted my hospitality under false colours. As a married man you continued to play with Caroline’s affections, leading her to believe, as I did, that your intentions towards her were trustworthy and honourable. What have you to say about that?’

‘Caroline was under no illusion. We are friends and I value that friendship.’

‘The devil you do! At least there is an end to it now and she’ll be better for being rid of you.’ Pushing back his chair, he got up and went to a filing cabinet. He took from it a parchment document that John recognized as his contract of apprenticeship.

‘I have only a short time left to serve!’ he exclaimed hoarsely.

Master Harwood unfolded the contract and held it open wide as he looked menacingly at it. ‘Three months and two weeks and one day to be exact.’ Then deliberately he tore the contract in two.

John gave a furious roar of protest: ‘No!’

With equal anger, his hard face flushed and nostrils dilated, Harwood shook one half of the contract at him. ‘By your marriage you forfeited your right ever to be a master craftsman! And I promise you that I shall see to it that the registration of your apprenticeship with me is erased from the records of the Goldsmiths Hall! What’s more, I shall personally get you blacklisted from any workshop of renown in the whole of London. Now pack your belongings and get off my premises before I have you thrown out.’

John had never felt hatred for another human being before now. Even in the heat of the moment he could accept that the termination had been brought about by his own actions, but the humiliation and further penalties inflicted on him were a sheer injustice, a total misuse of power by a vengeful man. His grandfather’s rearing came to the fore without his being aware of it. He bowed as gentlemen did at the time of defeat, his dignity totally unimpaired, untouched and uncontaminated by the questionable tactics of his adversary. Square-shouldered, he went from the room.

Anyone glancing up as he went back through the workshop was able to see by his gaunt expression that some disaster had occurred. Opening his tool-box he began to pack away his tools, taking them from his workbench and from the racks on the wall nearby. They were the most precious possessions of any craftsman, having such meaning to those who worked in precious metals that they were only ever bequeathed to another of equal talent. His had been brand-new, a gift from his grandfather at the start of his apprenticeship, and they had become part of his hands, an extension of his fingers and his brain, the fount of his skills. Now he would be an ordinary journeyman for the rest of his life like thousands of others in his trade, able to register his punchmark if ever he should have the finance to set himself up as a goldsmith, but without the prestige of the Freedom, which he had lost for ever. And for what? An untimely rush of passion for a girl whom he could have possessed at any later date and whose face he could barely call to mind at the present angry moment, not having seen her for over three months.

‘Has the old man really given you the boot?’ It was Robin who had come from another part of the workshop, his broad face bearing a look of baffled disbelief. ‘Why? What happened?’

‘He found out that I’m a married man.’

‘What?’ Robin’s yell of astonishment was lost in the rattle of treadles worked by the women on nearby polishing machines. He followed John into his living-quarters, gesticulating wildly. ‘Who’s the girl? Is it Hester Needham? When did this happen?’

John gave him a short explanation as he packed his clothes and other belongings into a valise. ‘You’d better get back to your bench,’ he advised, ‘or else you’ll be in trouble. I can’t take my books with me now. There are too many. I’d appreciate it if you would bring them to me as soon as I have an address.’

‘Willingly, my friend.’ Robin shook hands with him solemnly. ‘I know I speak for Tom too when I wish you luck.’

‘I thank you.’

John shouldered his tool-box and with his valise in his other hand he walked back through the workshop. Every-one watched him go. Tom, unable to leave a piece of work that was at a vital stage, gave him a comprehending nod from a distance. Somebody opened the door for him. Instead of turning for the flagged passageway that was the route out of the house used by those employed in the workshop, he went on into the main entrance hall. Since he was leaving after nearly seven years it should be with some grace. He would write to Caroline later. Her shock over this turn of events would be as great as his, for she had his well-being at heart.

It was for this reason, in spite of Hester’s decision that nobody should be told, that he had disclosed his marriage to Caroline. He had not felt able, in all honour, to let her go on believing that something might come eventually from their close relationship. She had reacted with extraordinary courage and without spite or vindictiveness of any kind, for that was not in her nature and he knew it. He had also known she would keep his secret, for she was an exceptional woman in every way. Another letter he would have to write was one that he dreaded to pen, knowing what a bitter disappointment it would be to his grandfather to learn that after all the sacrifices made on his behalf, he had thrown his whole career away.

He crossed the entrance hall and swung his tool-box down from his shoulder to open the door and lift it through on to the top step outside. He was about to close the door after him when Caroline called his name, coming at a run from the direction of the stairs. She crossed the threshold in a rush and flung herself against him, full of distress.

‘I just heard. Oh, my dearest John! I feel I’ve failed you somehow. I should have found a home for your wife somewhere in the country and then nobody would have discovered your secret marriage until the time was safe.’

He held her by the waist, looking fondly at her. ‘It’s too late to think of that now. Most probably the result would have been the same. The truth has a way of coming out if fate has decreed it.’

‘What will you do? Where will you go?’

‘In spite of your father’s threats, I’ll find work somewhere.’

Her head sank forward on to his chest. ‘How I shall miss you!’

‘I shall miss you.’

She raised her distraught face again. ‘Let us see each other again sometimes.’

‘That will happen. I don’t intend to leave London.’

Abruptly she linked her fingers behind his neck and used her weight to jerk his lips down to hers as she propelled herself upwards, her kiss of farewell ardent and abandoned, awakening the same response in him for all that had been between them. Then, with a sob, she flung herself away from him into the house, the door swinging shut after her.

With a sigh he shouldered his tool-box again and took up his baggage to go down the steps and turn right along the pavement. A heavily pregnant young woman was leaning in exhaustion against the railings. It crossed his mind that she must have caught every word that was said even as recognition dawned. ‘Hester.’

‘Jack found out about us,’ she explained unnecessarily, struggling against the stitch in her side. It had plagued her most of the way from the tavern, slowing her progress. When she had spotted him coming out of the Harwood establishment she had found the strength to run the last few yards, the presence of his baggage showing her that she had arrived too late. Her one thought had been to comfort him. Then she had been stopped in her tracks by Caroline’s sudden appearance and all that had ensued. ‘I had hoped to get here in time to tell Jack we were married. I failed.’ Anguish twisted down the corners of her mouth. They were facing each other like strangers instead of reaching out their arms. He had not even set down his possessions. She closed her eyes and turned her face away, continuing to clutch the railings for support. ‘I’m sorry.’

‘No one’s to blame, you least of all.’ He up-ended his tool-box on to the pavement. ‘Sit on this for a few minutes and rest. Did you hurry all the way from the Heathcock? That wasn’t good for you.’ He took her arm and helped her to the seat, which she accepted thankfully. ‘As soon as you feel rested I’ll see you back there.’

Her head shot up, her eyes alarmed. ‘I’m never going back to live in the tavern again! My place is with you.’

Fumbling in her pocket she brought out her wedding ring and pushed it on to the finger of her laundry-reddened hand.

Her action made him feel trapped as never before. He tried persuasion. ‘It would be best for you to stay at the Heathcock until after the baby is born. I have no work, no roof and only a few shillings in my pocket. I may have to sleep rough for days, even weeks perhaps.’

She was bewildered. ‘Why should that be? With your education there will be openings for you in banking, merchandise and insurance and much else that you will know of better than I.’

His eyes were steely on her. He was appalled that she should have so little understanding of him. Although Caroline had questioned him, she had known without voicing it that he would continue in his craft along a lower path. ‘Firstly I should need letters of introduction and recommendation, and I have neither. Secondly, I would never desert my skills. They are part of me. I’ll live and die a worker in precious metals. Nobody could ever persuade me to do otherwise.’

It was a warning to her not even to try and she accepted it, swallowing hard, aware that she was fighting for her very existence, for if she let him go now they might never come together again. ‘I’m your wife. I’m going to be at your side always. If we have to sleep in a park that won’t matter to me as long as I’m with you. But it should not come to that. I have a little money saved, which should be enough to keep us housed until you get work.’

Immediately she saw she had made another mistake. That curious arrogance peculiar to the upper classes, which she had never previously glimpsed in him, came to the fore. ‘Do you imagine I should allow us to stay in accommodation for which I was personally unable to pay?’

‘But as your wife everything I have is yours. Think of my small savings as my dowry since I have nothing else.’ To her relief that appeared to be acceptable to him. The stitch in her side eased and she gave him a little smile. ‘I feel better now and so will you when we have organized ourselves. Let’s start looking for a place straight away and afterwards we’ll visit the Heathcock to collect my belongings.’

He was too raw from his dismissal to be touched by her optimism, too ripped apart to be heartened by a few encouraging words. Her determined presence weighed him down and his lost bachelorhood seemed like a sweet dream. Without intending it, he spoke brusquely. ‘Let’s go then if you’re ready.’