The Winter Orphan. Cathy Sharp
‘Yes, sir. I know it was Jane’s child for there were no others in the house that night nor for some weeks after.’
‘Good – then I may ask you to sign your name to a paper for me another day. Will you do that?’
‘Yes, sir – though I can write no more than my name.’
‘That will be fine, Bella.’ He put his hand in his pocket and brought out a florin. ‘This is for you – I would give you more but you might be accused of stealing it.’
‘I’ve never had a coin before but I’ve seen one of these – Florrie had one from the lady she works for and she bought some plums for us all and shared them.’
Arthur nodded. ‘Is there anything more you can tell me, child?’
‘I’m not sure, sir.’ Bella looked puzzled. ‘Well, there was the boy that disappeared …’
Arthur’s brow furrowed. ‘A boy disappeared?’
‘Yes, sir – a few months back, in the autumn last year. He tried to run away and the master caught him and brought him back. He said he would be whipped and told us it was a warning to us all, but we never saw him again.’
‘What was the boy’s name?’
‘It was a bit like yours, sir – Arthur Meaks. But he was not meek, sir. He was always in trouble and being punished, and then he was gone.’
‘Did no one tell you where he’d gone?’
‘The mistress said he’d been sent to work for a master but I do not know where, for I never saw him again after the master dragged him away – and when I asked Florrie, she was upset and said it was best not to speak of it.’
‘Thank you,’ Arthur said. ‘You have helped me, Bella – and if ever you need my help, you may send word to me here.’
He handed her a small white card with some letters printed on it. The writing meant nothing to Bella but she tucked it inside her bodice with her precious florin. Other people knew how to read and something told her that one day she might want to contact this man again.
‘Thank you, sir.’ She hesitated but then did not ask for help, because where could she go if he took her away from here? Bella did not want to return to the workhouse and there was nowhere else for her to go. Here her master generally ignored her and Annie was sometimes kind; she thought there might be far worse places than the one she already had and so she held her thoughts inside.
‘Goodbye, Bella,’ Mr Stoneham said. ‘I will come to see you another day and if there is something you wish to tell me you may do so then.’
Bella watched as he left the kitchen and then set about gathering another kettle and some clean linen. Annie would want to wash and she would need a cup of tea.
‘He will expose us and then what shall we do?’ Mistress Brent cried and glared at her husband. ‘We shall be cast into prison and it is all your fault for selling those babies!’
‘You have been quick to take your share of the money,’ her husband grunted. He raised a knotted fist to her, clenching it in her face. ‘Stop your complaining, woman. This man can know nothing, for who would tell him? Only a child who is probably half dead by now. The new parents will not speak for they are equally guilty in this – and this business with that interfering fool will all go away.’
‘But what if they come here and search?’ she said and whimpered as he struck the side of her head. Her eyes were large and accusing as she looked at him. ‘I have sold children but you have done much worse and I will not hang for you.’
‘Be quiet, you fool!’ He rounded on her and struck her several times about the face and head, making her shriek and cower in fear. ‘Whatever I have done, you played your part and do not forget it. If they hang me you will hang too – for I’ll make certain you’re implicated in it all.’
Mistress Brent stared after him with resentful eyes as he left the room. When they’d first come here she’d thought it would be a good life, but he’d made it all go bad. She hated him and yet she feared to leave him. Walter was a violent man and he would never let her go because what she knew could hang him. She went to the little washstand in the corner of her room and bathed her face in cold water. There would be a bruise, which she would struggle to cover with powder and rouge.
She was frightened of the man who had come to investigate them, but even more terrified of her husband. If he thought she had betrayed him, he would not hesitate to kill her as he had those others … It crossed her mind that she might throw herself on Mr Stoneham’s mercy, confess her part and tell all in return for indemnity, but she could not bring herself to do it. Even if she was not imprisoned, she would never again find herself in a position of trust and plenty. She would be poor and homeless and the thought of ending her days in a workhouse like this terrified her.
No, she must remain silent as Walter bid her. Perhaps this Mr Stoneham would become bored and return to wherever he had come from …
Toby Rattan was waiting for Arthur when he returned to the inn later that day. Arthur greeted his closest friend warmly and shook his hand. The younger son of a lord, Toby had helped him with his charitable work many times and he had a feeling he was going to need his assistance before he was finished here.
‘It was good of you to come straight down, Toby.’
‘I came as soon as I got your note.’ Toby arched his brows wickedly. ‘How is it that you manage to get into a scrape whenever I am not with you?’
‘It must be fate,’ Arthur said, and laughed. ‘Would you believe it – I come fresh from having overseen a child delivered to the local chain-maker’s wife.’
‘Good grief!’ Toby looked thunderstruck. ‘You never cease to amaze me. Now tell me what is behind all this and what you were doing in that poor woman’s bedchamber in the first place.’
‘I went in search of a workhouse child I’d been told had been sold to the chain-maker.’
‘Ah, I might have known it would have something to do with a workhouse!’ Toby nodded in perfect understanding. ‘Pray tell me more. It was damned boring in London without you so I may as well give you a hand. What is going on down here?’
‘You stupid little wretch!’ Mistress Brent struck the child in a fury, sending her sprawling to the floor. She stood over the trembling girl and glared at her. ‘Get up and stop looking at me as if I were a two-headed monster. If you do not obey the rules, you will be punished.’
Florrie watched as Sophie scrambled to her feet and stood trembling before the mistress, expecting another blow and all because she had dared to ask for a second piece of bread at breakfast.
‘Get out of my sight or I will thrash you!’ Mistress Brent said, and the small child ran down the corridor and out of sight.
Florrie hesitated and then stepped forward. ‘That was not necessary, mistress. The child was given only a scrap of bread for her breakfast and she was hungry.’
‘She is a greedy glutton – and you had best mind your tongue, Florrie, or I may rescind your privileges.’
‘You do not own me,’ Florrie said and raised her eyes to meet those of her furious mistress. She was not sure where the courage to defy Norma Brent had come from, but she was no longer afraid of her. ‘I could find work elsewhere, as you well know. I stayed here because it suited me – but you sent Bella away and now you mistreat Sophie. You should be more careful, Mistress Brent. Inquiries are being made concerning you and the master – and some of us know things that you would not wish spoken of!’
‘How dare you threaten me!’ Mistress Brent raised her hand as if to strike Florrie, her eyes glittering with fury. ‘You would