The Branded Man Read online

  She had always been sorry for her father. More so as the years had gone on and she had become wise in the way of men and realised that he quenched his appetites through eating, and that he now had to wear a corset to keep his belly in.

  Obediently, she followed her mother to Marie Anne’s room. And there she was, sitting up in bed, laughing, apparently at something the maid had said.

  The sisters stared at each other. From Evelyn’s standing position and Marie Anne’s sitting upright, their faces were almost on a level.

  ‘Are you feeling better?’ Evelyn’s voice sounded toneless, and it brought no response from Marie Anne. She wasn’t seeing her sister as she appeared at this moment, but lying on the ground with her thighs exposed.

  ‘Oh, we’ve lost our tongue again, have we?’ Evelyn turned and glanced towards her mother, as if to say, what did I tell you?

  ‘Well, you’ll likely find it, together with your legs, when you take to your mad-hare running and fighting stone walls.’ There was a thin smile on Evelyn’s face now as she added, ‘It’s a wonder you haven’t broken your neck before now.’

  Marie Anne’s arm swung wide and the flat of her hand caught the side of Evelyn’s face, causing her to emit a cry as she reeled back.

  Now there was pandemonium in the room; Marie Anne’s voice was screaming, ‘You’re filthy! You’re dirty! You caused me to break my leg! I saw you—’ which was cut off by her mother’s even higher scream of, ‘Be quiet, girl! Quiet! And you, get out! Get out!’ This was to Fanny Carter, as she grabbed the girl and thrust her through the doorway. Then banging the door shut she turned to Evelyn who was leaning heavily on the bottom rail of the bed, her face white, her eyes, showing something akin to terror, fixed on Marie Anne, who now was lying back on her pillows, panting as if she had indeed been running.

  Veronica Lawson was also staring at Marie Anne. She had the desire to grip her shoulders and shake the life out of her; but there was something here she must get to the bottom of. Bending slightly towards Marie Anne and her voice a low hiss, she said, ‘How dare you strike your sister and say such dreadful things! What did you mean? You’re mad, girl, you’re mad!’

  Marie Anne backed away from the close proximity of the face glaring at her, and although her voice was shaking it held no fear of her mother, for she spat the words back at her: ‘I am neither mad nor stupid, Mother. Ask her what I mean and ask her why you’ve had to force her to come and see me now. I’ve been in this bed for weeks and she dare not face me, for she wasn’t sure whether or not I had found out, because I had kept quiet. Now I know why you hate me, and through that I have grown to hate you. D’you hear? I hate you.’ She now beat her doubled fist on the eiderdown and, the tears springing from her eyes, she cried, ‘She caused me to break my leg that night, but I would never have spoken of it. No, I never would if she had come in here this morning and spoken to me in a kindly fashion. But no, she spoke to me as she always has done, in that haughty tone, looking down on me as if I didn’t belong here. And I don’t know how many times over the years she has used your own words to me, telling me that I would end up in a home. Well, I can tell you both now,’ her head nodded from one to the other, ‘at times, any home would be preferable to this one; and if it hadn’t been for Grandpa and Pat I might definitely have gone mad knowing that I wasn’t wanted and had never been wanted. I was outside the family, something that had to be put up with, suffered.’

  Veronica Lawson stared dumbfounded at her daughter. The girl had never before spoken out like this. Her response to her treatment had been tantrums and running away. Always running away. But now she had to recognise that here was someone who could think for herself, and as such she would become harder to handle in the years ahead, more so than had been the odd wayward child. She’d have to go to Aunt Martha’s and get the matter settled there. Oh yes, yes. And then there was this other business with Evelyn. Dear God! What was that about? She had been up to something…Oh, not Evelyn, surely.

  Without further words, she turned from the bed and, facing Evelyn, she said, ‘Come along.’

  Evelyn had a hand to her cheek. That slap had been a blow which would leave a mark. Well, what did it matter? When her mother got to the bottom of this, God knows what would happen. There was only one thing certain in her mind. If Roger could find a way to take her with him, she would go; but she hadn’t seen him for nearly a week and she was becoming worried.

  When her mother’s hand gripped her arm, she muttered, ‘All right. All right,’ but as she followed her to the door she cast a look on Marie Anne, which, had it been possible, would have killed her there and then …

  In Veronica’s bedroom, her mother actually thrust her into a chair, exclaiming, ‘What’s all this about? She saw you with a man, didn’t she? Who? Who was it? I…I can’t believe it. To my knowledge, you haven’t been out; it must have been after dark. Look. Tell me. What’s it all about?’

  Seeming to have recovered herself completely now, Evelyn pushed at her mother and got to her feet, saying, ‘Yes, Mother; I was with a man, and it was at night because, tell me, what other time have I to meet anyone whom you would approve of and not frighten away by thrusting marriage at him before he is hardly in the door. So, yes, I have been seeing a man on my own,’ and now she stressed, ‘of my own choosing, d’you hear? And at night. And I am no longer a girl, Mother; I am nearly twenty-five years old and should have been married these last five years and had a family now, so don’t come heavy-handed with me any more. I dislike that girl. I’ve never considered her to be my sister, and who’s to blame for that?’

  Veronica Lawson was amazed and appalled by this onslaught for, if she had shown love and affection to any of her children, it was to this daughter whom she saw as being so like herself in many ways. It did not strike her that, in fact, her daughter was taking a course of action similar to that which she herself would have taken under the circumstances, yet she came back with, ‘How dare you speak to me like that, Evelyn! You, above all people. Even your father has never—’

  ‘Oh, please! Don’t bring in Father, or I might say something I’ll be really sorry for. Anyway, now you know. I am seeing a man—’

  She got no further, for her mother came at her again, her voice a hoarse whisper now, ‘To judge by what your sister spewed at you, you weren’t only seeing him but lying with him.’

  When this brought no response whatever from Evelyn and she had to watch her turn away disdainfully and stare out of the window, she almost whimpered, ‘My God! My God,girl!’—she put her hand to her head—‘that maid, she heard every word. She…she’ll have to be stopped. Look at me. D’you hear what I said? That maid heard—’

  ‘Yes, Mother, I heard every word you said, and the maid heard too, as well as every word that Marie Anne said and what she did, and likely she is downstairs now spreading the news.’

  ‘Well, don’t you realise what that could mean?’

  ‘If you use your usual tactics, Mother, you will now speak to the girl, and should she repeat anything she saw or heard she’ll be made out to be a liar. But not dismissed. Oh no; you won’t be foolish enough to do that.’

  Veronica Lawson could not believe her ears, nor could she take in the fact that this woman, because she was a woman, standing by the window looking at her with almost dislike, was her daughter. But she was right about the maid. My God! Yes. She must see to that. She almost ran from the room. The next minute she was pulling the cord in her own room to summon the housekeeper …

  At that moment, Fanny Carter was standing in the butler’s pantry nodding at Robert Green, as she finished, ‘I tell you, those were the words she actually said, “You’re filthy! You’re dirty! You caused me to break my leg. I saw you.” And then she took her hand and she gave her a wallop across the face that sent Miss Evelyn flying. Eeh! You should have heard them, the noise and the shouting. I knew that the mistress was terrified I should hear more, and she practically threw me out of the room. I’m telling you. Marie Anne
must have seen something that shocked her and made her run, gallop, even, for her to go into a stone wall. Poor girl. I’ve always been sorry for that one.’

  Now bending towards her, Robert Green said, ‘Well, look. You’d better keep this to yourself, because if you make your mouth go you could lose your job. They’re capable of doing anything to hush up a scandal. And I’ll tell you this, Fanny…you know Katie Roberts along at The Little Manor? Well, I understand that Maggie Makepeace told her if she didn’t keep her mouth shut she would be sent packing, because she had said that she saw Miss Evelyn running towards the wood twice in one week. You know, she’s courting Bobby Talbot, the river man. Well, she must have been out on the sly and old Maggie Makepeace got wind of it and scudded her ears, supposedly not for being out but for saying that she had seen Miss Evelyn in the wood, and Katie came back at the old girl and dared to say she hadn’t only seen her once, she had seen her twice, the second time with a man. Although she couldn’t tell who it was, she said if she saw them, Bobby Talbot must have, an’ all. Anyway, keep your mouth shut. If there’s any bad news to break here, let it be from The Little Manor, not this house.’

  ‘Don’t be silly.’ Fanny pushed him. ‘What have I been telling you? Miss Marie Anne yelled it out.’

  ‘Yes. Aye, well. But go on, get yourself away. I’ll see you later tonight, if I can. You’d better not let the boss lady find you round here.’

  Fanny had just reached the end of the staff quarters when the boss lady herself appeared, saying, ‘What’re you doing? You’re supposed to be upstairs.’

  ‘I…I was looking for…I was looking for Carrie, Mrs Piggott.’

  ‘Well, you won’t find Carrie down here at this time in the morning, girl. Anyway, the mistress wants to see you immediately. Not back in the bedroom, but in her office. What have you been up to?’

  ‘Nothing, Mrs Piggott. It was the mistress who sent me out of the bedroom.’

  ‘Why? Why did she send you out of the bedroom? You’re supposed to be looking after Miss Marie Anne.’

  ‘I…I think they wanted a private conversation.’

  The housekeeper stared at her, then said, ‘Well, get yourself away.’ Then as Fanny made to go, Mrs Piggott caught hold of her apron strings and, pulling her back towards her, she said, ‘And report to me before you go back to the bedroom. You understand?’

  ‘Yes, Mrs Piggott. Yes.’

  Fanny found her mistress sitting behind the long, leather-topped desk. She was in the process of writing a letter, but she stopped immediately and said, ‘Since you left the bedroom, have you spoken to anyone else?’

  Fanny appeared to think a minute; then she said, ‘Yes, ma’am. I spoke to Mrs Piggott.’

  ‘No-one else?’

  Again she paused; then looking her mistress straight in the face, she said, ‘No, ma’am.’

  ‘Well, girl, listen to me carefully. What you heard Miss Marie Anne say in the bedroom this morning was the result of hysteria. You know what hysteria means?’

  ‘No, ma’am.’

  ‘Well,’ Veronica Lawson wetted her lips and groped in her mind for a moment. How to explain hysteria to this simple girl? She could not say it’s next to madness, because that would set the tongues wagging more than ever. What she did say was, ‘It happens when people lose their tempers and they say all kinds of things. The first thing that comes into their head. But never anything true. All fancies and make-up and lies. You understand what I’m saying, girl?’

  ‘Yes, ma’am. Yes. What you’re saying is that Miss Marie Anne was telling lies; it was all fancy due to her temper.’

  ‘Yes. Yes, that’s right. And she has a temper.’

  ‘Yes, ma’am, she has a temper.’

  ‘So you will say nothing about what transpired in the bedroom this morning. Nothing whatever. Not to anyone on the staff. You understand what I’m saying?’

  ‘Yes, ma’am. I haven’t got to talk about what Miss Marie Anne said.’

  ‘That’s right.’ She stared at the girl. Was she simple or wily? She couldn’t make out. You could never get to the bottom of the mentality of servants, not really.

  ‘You may go now.’

  ‘Thank you, ma’am.’ Fanny bent her knee, walked back a step, then turned and left the room.

  The housekeeper was waiting for her round the bend of the corridor, and she greeted her with, ‘Well?’ And Fanny, her voice low, said, ‘Oh, it was nothing; just that I haven’t got to talk about Miss Marie Anne having hysterics and losing her temper.’

  Mrs Piggott narrowed her gaze at the girl; then she asked quickly, ‘Well, what did she have hysterics about?’

  ‘I don’t know, Mrs Piggott. She was just shouting and yelling and crying like people do with hysterics. I’ve got to go now; I must get back, and I think the mistress is leaving her office.’

  She didn’t know whether this was true or not, but it caused the housekeeper to turn quickly away and make for the hall, leaving Fanny to go up to Marie Anne’s bedroom, the while thinking, Well, well! Well, well! The mistress has the skitters.

  Four

  Marie Anne had had toothache for two days and just an hour or so ago Doctor Ridley had given her a tincture, which had made her feel sleepy, but, although her eyes were closed and she was feeling more relaxed since the lessening of the pain as her toothache had eased, she wasn’t asleep, and so she heard Carrie Jones come into the room saying hurriedly, ‘They’re all in the dining room eating their heads off. I wanted to tell you the latest—it comes from Bill Winter. You know there were gypsies in the field the night Miss—’ She looked towards the bed, then said, ‘You’re sure she’s asleep?’

  ‘Yes. Yes, she has been this while. Go on, about the gypsies?’

  ‘Well, they went off the next day. He thinks they were frightened at being brought into this affair of her being knocked out. Anyway they’ve come back again. It’s now seven weeks and one of the gypsy fellows told him it was the branded man who found her and wrote the note.’

  ‘The branded man? I thought he had left this part.’

  ‘No; not for good. Bill Winter says he leaves his cottage for London now and again. Anyway, it was him who found her. But that’s over and done with; what d’you think about the latest? You know, Katie Brooks had a sister working up at The Grange. She’s a year younger than Katie, and bonny. Oh aye, I’ve only seen her but once. Tall she was, with lovely skin, big blue eyes. Anyway she’s got the push.’

  ‘Katie’s sister’s got the push?’

  ‘Yes; aye. And I’ll give you three guesses what lasses like her get the push for.’

  ‘No!’

  ‘Yes; aye. And who d’you think she’s named?’

  ‘The butler?’

  ‘Ooooh! No. She didn’t stoop as low as the butler. Only the missis’ cousin, Mr Roger Cranford.’

  ‘Never! Mr Cranford? Well, he came here. He came with a party of them one day.’

  ‘Yes; since you mention it, I remember too. He wasn’t very tall but still good-looking. Oh aye, good-looking. He had been ill or something, been out in India, I remember. Yes, I remember. Well’—she laughed now—‘he’s scooted back to India or some place and like a shot. Apparently, the master there had him up about it and he denied it flatly, but the master didn’t believe him, although his wife did. Well, he was her cousin, you see. And the outcome was he packs up and leaves, all within twenty-four hours, and there was a screaming match with Winnie. That’s the girl, Katie’s sister. Apparently he had promised to take her away. She must have been stupid, or up the pole, because it’s a joke that the lord of the manor will marry the kitchen maid. Some hope.’

  ‘Where is the girl now? Is she with Katie?’

  ‘Oh no, no; she’ll be for the workhouse. There’s no other place. They were orphans, you know, and they lived with their grannie in Gateshead until she died. And so it’s said she must be for the workhouse…Eeh! Miss Marie Anne’s stirring.’

  ‘It’s all right,’ Fanny reassured h
er; ‘the dose the doctor gave her would knock her out. She’s always very restless in bed. It’s her leg, you know.’

  ‘D’you think she’ll ever walk again?’

  ‘Oh yes, yes. Doctor Ridley’s sure of it. If it hadn’t been for the toothache he’d have had her up today and sitting on the long chair. I’ve got to keep massaging her legs and hips—he told me how—because he says her muscles will have stiffened and it’ll all help her to walk.’

  Carrie now asked softly, ‘Is it a fact that she’s for London?’

  ‘Yes; so I hear. As soon as she can walk she’ll be sent there. Anyway it’ll likely be a better life for her than this, ’cos she has no life in this house, you know.’

  ‘Look! She’s stirred again. I’ll go, but I thought you’d like to know, especially on top of the other rumours that have been floating around under the surface like. Bye-bye.’

  ‘Bye-bye, Carrie, and thanks for coming up.’

  ‘You’re welcome. I miss you on the floor; I’ll be glad when you’re back again.’

  They smiled at each other; then the door closed on Carrie, and Marie Anne, turning as far onto her right side as her left leg would allow, and under cover of the bed sheet she brought her hand up to her mouth and there held it tightly, her mind repeating Evelyn…Evelyn. He hadn’t taken her with him, and…and she had given herself to him. Oh yes, she had, and that other girl, too, who is going to have a baby. Perhaps he had taken Evelyn…Don’t be silly. Don’t be silly. She moved restlessly. She had heard Pat say only this morning that he was to have shown Evelyn over one of the ships today, but that she was in bed, feeling rather unwell. But being Evelyn, he said, she wouldn’t see the doctor. It was just a cold, she said.