A Dorset Girl Page 10

  Richard gently belched behind his hand. ‘I’m afraid not. The squire doesn’t take me into his confidence.’

  There was no uncomfortable gluttony for Siana. The workhouse kitchen provided a stolid fare of coarse bread to dip into a thick pea soup. This had the addition of onion for flavour.

  It was brought in in a pail, which was carried by a young woman heavy with child – a woman Siana recognized.

  Leaving Daisy, who was now in a laudanum-induced sleep, Siana crossed to where the woman stood. ‘Aren’t you, Peggy, Will Hastings’s widow?’

  The woman avoided her eyes. ‘That I am.’

  ‘I’m Siana Lewis.’

  Resentful eyes met hers. ‘I knows who you be. Tom Skinner’s sister.’

  ‘No, I’m not his sister. He was my stepbrother.’

  Her expression grew a little friendlier. ‘Well, I’d disown him too if he was my stepbrother. He’s a bad lot.’ She shrugged. ‘I heard tell that Bill Skinner and your mother died.’

  ‘Yes . . .’

  ‘In here, then, are you? It’s not too bad a place if you don’t mind sleeping on straw and picking oakum most of the day. At least you get to eat.’

  ‘My sister’s been taken ill. I’m just helping out,’ Siana explained. She started filling the bowls and distributing them to the sick, stopping to help feed them where necessary. The sound of lapping tongues filled the air, as if the place were full of hungry dogs.

  Peggy’s glance went to the small, still form on the bed. ‘You’d better eat your sister’s share. She doesn’t need it. Dying, isn’t she?’

  ‘No,’ Siana said vehemently, ‘I promised my mother I’d look after her.’

  Peggy shrugged. ‘How? Times is hard. Nobody wants to hire a woman with a child to look after. Best if she dies now.’

  ‘I’ll manage somehow,’ Siana said fiercely. ‘I’m employed by Reverend White and he’s been good to me. He might let Daisy stay.’

  ‘I wouldn’t bank on it. Men says one thing when they really means another.’ Peggy’s glance was speculative. ‘Still, with your looks . . . ? The vicar’s a widower, isn’t he?’

  Shock hit Siana. ‘He’s a lot older than me,’ and she softly giggled as the ludicrous thought took root. ‘He doesn’t give women a second glance.’

  Peggy stared at her. ‘You could try and make him give you a second glance.’

  ‘Don’t be silly. He doesn’t attract me in the least, besides . . .’ She bit down on her tongue, remembering her relationship with Daniel was supposed to be kept a secret. ‘I’d rather wait until I love somebody.’

  Bitterly, Peggy said, ‘It didn’t do me much good. My Will didn’t do it, you know.’

  ‘Didn’t do what?’

  ‘Set fire to that bleddy haystack. It were your Tom.’

  ‘Tom?’

  ‘I walked out with him once or twice.’ She shuddered. ‘He couldn’t keep it inside his trousers. Tried to force hisself on me when I refused. Luckily, my dad came along and knocked him senseless with his cane. I finished with Tom after that, started going out with Will.’

  Siana stared at her, horrified. ‘How do you know Tom set fire to the haystack?’

  ‘I just knows. He swore he’d get even with me. What do you think he was doing over Winterborne way? He knew my Will had gone visiting and was lying in wait for him. When he saw him coming, he set the haystack alight. Will didn’t own no lantern. He’s a mean cuss, your Tom.’

  ‘I know.’ Siana sighed in despair, remembering the way Josh was being treated by him. ‘Can’t your dad help you out?’

  Peggy sighed. ‘Stomach flux took him off last winter. I’m all alone now. I don’t know what I’m going to do once winter’s over. I’ll apply for a discharge and head off to London, I reckon. I might be able to find some fancy needlework in one of the shops if the babby dies.’

  ‘When’s it due?’

  ‘Any day now.’ She placed her hands over her rounded stomach and smiled. ‘He doesn’t ’alf kick hard. I don’t really want him to die. He’s the only thing left of my Will. I don’t know how we’re going to manage, though.’

  Siana didn’t know how she was going to manage either. But she intended to make a home for her brother and sister and give them everything they needed. If that meant marrying someone like the Reverend White, then she’d do it. It wouldn’t, though, because she’d find a way of coping until Daniel was ready.

  Her resolve was forgotten when Daisy took a turn for the worse. As her sister thrashed and whimpered in a fevered convulsion, the woman in charge sent for the doctor.

  ‘She can’t stand much more,’ he said, and Siana could have sworn there were tears in his eyes.

  The little silver cross glinted in the candlelight. Siana felt very humble as her hand closed around it. Please spare Daisy’s life.

  The cross in her hand grew warm and a cool breeze tugged at her skirt. The candle flickered. ‘Have faith in God,’ Reverend White always said. But something else pulled at her, something as old and wise as the earth. One had to trust one’s own instincts. The doctor was only a man and, although he was doing his best, it was not the right treatment for Daisy.

  ‘Opium is wrong. We must cool my sister with water and her convulsions will stop.’

  ‘Are you mad, girl? She’ll die from the chill of it.’

  ‘She will die from convulsions caused by the fever if she’s left. So she has nothing to lose. We must wet the sheets.’

  ‘I will not countenance such treatment.’

  ‘I’m not asking you to, Doctor.’

  ‘For God’s sake,’ he muttered, ‘what nonsense is this? Am I to follow the advice of a mere girl? The child has pneumonia. She’s dying, and you are suffering from extreme idiocy.’

  ‘No,’ Siana said flatly. ‘The fever is making Daisy convulse and the laudanum takes away her will to fight the disease. If we can cool her down it might save her life.’

  ‘An old wives’ tale, yet there’s a train of thought within the profession that you couldn’t possibly know about.’ He stared almost angrily at her for a few moments. ‘You do realize the probability of your sister surviving is remote? The laudanum will make her death easier to bear.’

  ‘I know, but my sister is not being given a choice, so I must make it for her.’

  He hesitated for a moment longer, then he sighed and nodded to the attendant. ‘Do as she says. I’ll take the child through to the consulting room and she can tend her there.’

  It was a long night. The tepid water brought goose-bumps up on Daisy’s body. The bed shook with the force of her trembling as she tossed and turned. When her fever increased and the heat from her body dried the sheets, Siana saturated them again. She bathed Daisy’s head and trickled teaspoons of water into her mouth.

  Daisy slept in fitful bursts. She shrieked and moaned, called out for her mama. Her teeth ground together as she tried to push the cold sheets from her body, then set up a clacking chatter as she shivered for long periods of time. Towards morning, she stopped resisting the treatment and fell into an exhausted sleep. I’m losing her, Siana thought.

  She laid her hand against the child’s stomach, finding her to be icy cold and clammy. The child was almost dead.

  ‘Don’t leave me, my darling Daisy,’ she whispered. ‘I promise I will never send you away from me again.’

  Wrapping her mother’s shawl around Daisy’s body, she drew her close, and began to sing the lullaby her mother used to sing to her.

  ‘Baby of mine, the sun has gone and the shadows creep in like a mouse. But safe in my arms I’ll keep you from harm till the morning light blesses our house . . .’ Exhausted, Siana closed her eyes for a moment . . .

  ‘Well, I’ll be damned, she was right,’ Francis said softly.

  His patient was awake. Sucking her thumb, her other hand was entangled in a length of her sister’s dark hair. A pair of solemn blue eyes regarded him.

  Siana was perched precariously on a stool. The upper half of
her body was supported by her folded arms but she was lying sideways and in danger of slipping to the floor.

  ‘So you made it?’ he whispered.

  Siana stirred slightly at the sound of his voice, then jerked awake when the child gave an alarmed cry. Her sideways motion was restrained by the arm he extended to stop her.

  For a moment she stared wildly at him, then straightened herself and turned towards her burden. Her eyes widened with disbelief as she stated the obvious. ‘She’s still alive.’

  ‘Aye,’ he said, and smiled. ‘You’re not going to go all weak female on me, are you?’

  ‘Certainly not,’ she laughed.

  ‘Good, because she’s not out of danger yet.’

  Her smile faded. ‘What must I do?’

  ‘She must be watched carefully for the next few days and given plenty of fluids. When she’s strong enough, she must be purged of intestinal worms. Then her body must be built up with good, nourishing food. Can you supply all that?’

  ‘I’ll have to throw myself on the goodness of Reverend White.’

  ‘And if he isn’t as good as his calling suggests he should be?’

  Her chin lifted slightly. ‘I’ll do what I have to do to survive. I’ve told Daisy she will never be sent away from me again. I promised my mother I would care for her and I didn’t. Now I must.’ She kissed the matted hair on top of the child’s head and her voice began to wobble. ‘I’ve nearly lost her once. I won’t let it happen again.’

  May luck shine on you, then, Francis thought soberly. He’d seen many young women slide into a life of degradation under better circumstances than this one faced.

  She had no home. And although she was employed, he’d wager the good Reverend White would find some excuse to turn them out before too long. In Francis’s experience, the man rarely practised what he preached.

  You’re certainly going to need every bit of help you can get, he thought.

  8

  The first Daniel knew of Siana being in Poole was when he saw her gazing at ladies’ hats on display in a milliner’s window. Her eyes were wide with wonder as her breath steamed a round patch of mist on the windows.

  She looked tired, he thought, and he wondered what her business was in Poole. He experienced a moment of dismay. Surely she wasn’t about to visit him in his place of work? Just then, someone came out of the shop and spoke sharply to her. And no wonder. She looked like a beggar in her scruffy boots. Her skirt appeared to have been slept in.

  About to catch her up and greet her, he saw his employer coming across the road. He drew back into the shadow of a doorway until he’d passed by. Daniel was ashamed of his action, but he knew his association with a peasant girl like Siana would attract speculation.

  By the time it was safe to move, Siana had lengthened her stride. He quickened his pace and caught up with her just as she was turning into the gates of the workhouse.

  ‘Siana,’ he called out, ‘wait!’

  ‘Daniel?’ A smile lit up her face as she turned to gaze at him. Nervously, she tried to smooth her crumpled skirt. ‘I just came out for some air.’

  He glanced at the building, then back at her. ‘What are you doing here?’

  Weariness crept back into her expression. ‘Daisy is in the infirmary. The reverend brought us here a couple of days ago.’

  His mouth tightened. Why hadn’t his godfather mentioned it when they’d lunched together? ‘How is she?’

  ‘Over the crisis and improving. Dr Matheson has been so kind. He’s allowed me to stay with her. He said she’ll be able to leave in a few days.’ She shrugged. ‘I might have to stay here though.’

  ‘In the workhouse? But why?’

  She explained her dilemma.

  ‘I’m sure the reverend will allow Daisy to stay. I’ll have a word with him.’

  ‘Thank you, Daniel.’

  Drawing her behind the tall pillar which supported the gate, he gently kissed her cheek, smiling as he watched her blush. He daren’t kiss her mouth for it would affect his bodily comfort, but he couldn’t wait until he could make her his own. The male urge was running rampant in him and he wondered briefly whether he could persuade her to stray in that direction.

  But no. Daniel had come to the conclusion that despite her humble birth, Siana Lewis was not a girl who’d give her favours lightly to a man.

  ‘I’ve got something for you.’ He drew the amber ring from his waistcoat pocket and slid it onto her finger. ‘It belonged to my mother and I’ve had it engraved with your name. It will remind you of what we mean to each other, even when we’re apart.’

  Tears sprang to her eyes, making them glisten darkly. Her eyelashes quivered as she gazed at the stone, glowing like liquid gold in the silver setting. ‘It’s so pretty, like leaves in autumn. I shall treasure it, always.’

  ‘As I’ll treasure you always.’ His arms came around her, his chin rested on her head. ‘I wish we could be together now, but we can’t.’

  The sound of footsteps sent them leaping apart as the doctor rounded the corner. He gazed from one to the other, his eyes narrowing. ‘Ah, if it isn’t Daniel Ayres.’ He held out a hand. ‘I’d heard you’d finished your studies. I didn’t know you and Siana were acquainted.’

  ‘Why shouldn’t we be?’ Daniel blustered. ‘She works for my godfather.’

  ‘Ah yes . . . the good reverend.’ His tone suggested he thought exactly the opposite.

  ‘I came to enquire after Daisy.’

  ‘The child’s doing quite nicely, thanks to her sister’s care . . . and your godfather’s entreaties to the almighty, of course. Like most of the unfortunates round here, she needs a solid roof over her head and a constant supply of nourishing food in her belly.’ The doctor doffed his hat. ‘Don’t keep the girl too long else she’ll miss out on her midday meal. There’s precious little of it to go round as it is.’

  ‘I was just returning to work,’ Daniel muttered, made suddenly aware of his uncomfortably full stomach. ‘Good day to you, Miss Lewis. I’m pleased to hear your sister is improving.’ And he was gone, striding off towards the town centre.

  ‘An attractive, but singularly shallow young man,’ Dr Matheson remarked. ‘He means well but he blows with the wind. Don’t let him turn your head, my dear.’

  But Dr Matheson didn’t know Daniel as well as she did. Daniel was fine and good, a gentleman in every way, despite his birth. But still there was unease in her. How could Daniel love her when she was so beneath him? And why had he moved away? She saw so little of him now, and being apart made her doubt, as if her feelings towards him were false.

  But when they were together, everything seemed real. Siana smiled as her fingers closed over the amber ring.

  On Sunday, Daniel was relieved to discover that Isabelle Prosser had returned to her own home to prepare for her wedding to his father. He liked these man-to-man sessions with his father. They were comfortably familiar and usually had something in them that was to his benefit.

  ‘It’s to be a grander affair than I expected,’ his father said gloomily after a splendid dinner consisting of several courses.

  They had retired to his father’s private sitting room, decorated with mellow wood panelling and redolent of polish. A matching pair of coach dogs rose from their position in front of the fire when they entered, baring their teeth and snarling softly in their throats until they recognized the intruder.

  A manservant placed a humidor of cigars and a tray containing a decanter of brandy and glasses on a low table, within reach of the squire’s elbow. He bowed slightly and retired.

  ‘No doubt I shall be paraded like a prize bull at a show for all her friends when the time comes.’

  Daniel, well fed and relaxed, accepted a snifter of brandy and chuckled. He selected a cigar with a connoisseur’s nose, for he enjoyed the finer things in life and liked to appear knowledgeable about them. His father looked on with approval and soon the pair were enjoying each other’s companionship in a haze of aromatic smok
e.

  ‘Damn women. They enjoy making a fuss over weddings,’ Edward grumbled.

  ‘Yes, I suppose they do.’ Daniel, who had been hoping to be acknowledged with a wedding invitation, was wondering whether there had been an oversight. He debated bringing the matter up.

  He discounted the idea. He enjoyed being in this big house in the exclusive company of his father and would do nothing to spoil the evening. An opportunity might arise later.

  ‘You may have been wondering why I invited you tonight,’ Edward murmured, smiling expansively at him.

  Daniel had been wondering no such thing. He considered these rare dinners with his father to be a right rather than a special event, even if they were few and far between. However, he wasn’t required to give an answer as his father continued talking.

  ‘I’ve been thinking, my boy. A young man like you should see something of the world before he settles down.’

  Daniel’s heart lurched. ‘What are you proposing, sir?’

  His father’s eyes came up to his, as mellow as wine. ‘The grand tour of Europe. Take a year out from your profession. It will give you a chance to make useful contacts and educate yourself in the ways of the world. At my expense, of course.’

  Edward chuckled when Daniel inhaled too much smoke and nearly choked on it.

  ‘You might even meet a rich widow.’

  Daniel’s mouth opened, then shut again when his father winked. ‘Not necessarily with marriage in mind, of course. I daresay there’s not much I can teach you about that side of life, eh!’

  Daniel laughed. It was best not to mention Siana to his father. A year was not very long, after all, and she would wait for him. A girl in her position wouldn’t receive a better offer. The chance of going abroad took his breath away, and to think it had just fallen into his lap.

  ‘Can you be ready to depart in two weeks?’

  ‘Two weeks?’ he stammered. No wonder he hadn’t received an invitation to the wedding. ‘So soon?’