A Dorset Girl Read online

  ‘The barren state of his marriage to his late wife troubled him greatly. He needs to wed suitably and produce an heir before it’s too late.’ Richard threw a friendly arm around the young man’s shoulder as they headed towards the door. ‘You mustn’t become bitter, Daniel. The fact that Sir Edward has provided for you all these years clearly demonstrates he has your welfare at heart.’

  Daniel’s soft brown eyes hardened. ‘As you say, sir, but your own good self is more father to me than he is. For your efforts you have not only my gratitude, but my undying affection.’

  Daniel’s words pleased Richard, for he had no children of his own. ‘Good luck then, Daniel. As I am your cousin once removed, as well as being your godfather, you must allow me to help out in any way I can.’

  Daniel grinned. ‘For a start, you can ask me to tea again with your little clerk.’

  ‘Intriguing, isn’t she?’ Richard remarked absently, for his mind was already formulating his Sunday sermon. ‘If you come to church on Sunday, no doubt you’ll see the child there, for your father insists that his workers and their families attend without fail.’

  Child? Daniel chuckled as he walked away. If his godfather thought Siana resembled a child, his eyesight was surely fading.

  3

  Elizabeth Skinner, mother of Daniel, former mistress of Edward Forbes and wife to Tom Skinner, gazed at her sister-in-law and hoped her dislike didn’t show in her expression.

  She wished Hannah would go home. The less she had to do with the Skinners, the better she’d like it.

  The dislike was mutual. Elizabeth’s beauty made Hannah feel ugly and awkward. Elizabeth’s skin was pale and unblemished, her eyes were like bluebells and her hair shone like the fur of a fox in the sunlight.

  Hannah didn’t recognize her feelings as part of the envy endemic to her nature. If her brother hadn’t insisted she visit Elizabeth and report back every little thing the woman said and did, she wouldn’t bother coming.

  Sucking at her tea she swallowed noisily, smacking her lips in satisfaction and staring at her sister-in-law in silence. Feeling inadequate, Hannah didn’t know quite what to say to her. Then her eyes darted to Elizabeth’s arms and she smirked. ‘Our Tom be right handy with his fists. You should put some witch hazel on them bruises. They’ll heal quicker.’

  Elizabeth didn’t want them to heal. She wanted everyone in the district, especially Edward Forbes, to know what a bully Tom Skinner was.

  Edward had lied to her when he’d promised her respectability. All those years she’d made herself available to him, whilst his wife fought a losing battle with the madness to which she’d finally succumbed. She’d had respectability in abundance until she’d met him and fallen in love. Elizabeth had borne Edward a fine son in that time, and never in her wildest dreams had she imagined that he’d evict her from the Dorchester house and marry her off to a crude peasant. The other alternative had been the whorehouse.

  ‘That boy of yours thinks he’s too good to dirty his hands by being a farmer,’ Edward had said to her. ‘He gets his grand ideas from you, Elizabeth. Croxley Farm must be worked and Daniel could have had the deeds. He insulted me. Refused them, by God! Now I’ll only offer you a roof over your head for life and a strong man to work the farm in exchange for his education. Take it or leave it. You get nothing more from me.’

  And to think she’d loved Edward Forbes. Elizabeth, the only daughter of a parson, had been employed as a teacher in a charity school when she’d first met the squire. He’d been so dashing, quickly stealing her heart, her maidenhood and her reputation. As a result, her family had disowned her.

  Now, over twenty years later, Edward had discarded her too, his promise of undying love being empty. She’d married Tom Skinner because nobody would employ her. One day, she would accumulate the means to leave him – if she didn’t kill him first! The only thing stopping her was the fact that Tom Skinner wasn’t worth hanging for.

  When Hannah cracked her empty cup back onto the saucer, Elizabeth winced. It was made of the finest Staffordshire bone china. She should have used something of lesser value, but some part of her refused to reduce herself to Hannah’s level and she gained a perverse pleasure from watching the woman struggle with the basic niceties.

  Sometimes she hated herself for feeling that way, telling herself that Hannah was only a product of her background. It was Edward Forbes who reaped the benefit from keeping these people poor and uneducated.

  ‘A haystack were fired the other night,’ Hannah said with an almost avid importance. ‘Our Tom were over Winterborne way at the inn, and caught the man. Will Hastings it were . . . him from the bottom end of the village. Squire was right pleased with Tom for catching him, I can tell you.’ She sniggered. ‘Will said it wasn’t him what done it. Said he’d been over to Winterborne to visit his mother. Said it were already burning when he went over to investigate.’

  ‘Perhaps it was?’

  ‘Well, he would say that, wouldn’t he? Tom told the squire he saw Will light it from his lantern.’

  Elizabeth’s blue eyes narrowed in thought. So that’s why Tom had smelled of smoke when he’d arrived home that night, and with coins jiggling in his pocket. Her memory provided her with an image of Will Hastings, a rather thin, but pleasant young man who’d just married and whose wife was expecting an infant. She couldn’t imagine him doing something so criminal.

  ‘’Tis quite likely the squire will have Will hanged as an example.’

  Elizabeth gasped. Surely Edward would not be so cruel, but deep down she knew he was. It was not wise to cross him too often. ‘Will’s only a young man. Who will look after his wife and child?’

  ‘She’ll go into the workhouse, like as not.’ Hannah’s mouth twisted into a sneer. ‘That flirty-eyed cat were walking out with our Tom long before Will moved into the district. No doubt she’ll live to rue turning him down.’ Her glance touched on Elizabeth’s bruises and her smile was malicious as she inadvertently provided Elizabeth with the motive for the accusation. ‘Anyone who crosses our Tom does so at their peril.’

  A shudder racked Elizabeth’s body and she closed her eyes for a moment. Tom had taken a stick to her last night, then forced intimacy on her. Fortunately, he’d had too much drink in him to sustain the assault, eventually pushing her aside with a muffled curse and rolling across the bed to snore like the pig he was.

  She remembered being sickened by his rank odour and staring down at his naked body, perspiring from his efforts but awesomely powerful and well muscled, and thinking: All I need do is fetch the carving knife from the kitchen drawer and drive it into his heart. Would that she’d had the courage.

  Hannah was making preparations to go. Elizabeth noticed that the silver teaspoon had disappeared from her saucer. It had probably been slipped into Hannah’s pocket, and would end up in the pawnbroker’s shop on the next market day.

  Thank God she’d had the sense to hide the jewellery Edward had given her over the years. Not that it amounted to much in the way of financial value. They were trinkets containing semi-precious stones, but set in gold or silver all the same.

  There was also a small stash of coins put by, for Edward had always insisted she look her best for his visits and although her allowance hadn’t been generous, it had been reasonable and he’d never asked for an accounting.

  Prudently, she’d drawn all of her allowance each month, saving any excess in a bank account she’d opened in Poole. It had accumulated into a useful sum. The biggest blow had been losing the house in Dorchester – a house which had been her home for over twenty years and which now stood empty by all accounts. When she’d finally agreed to marry Tom, Edward had given them a sum of cash as a wedding present. Her dowry had kept Tom in drink for a month, she thought bitterly.

  If Tom ever found out about her secret hoard he would thrash her. But he never would. Apart from herself, only Daniel knew where she kept it hidden.

  The chair scraped across the floor when Hannah stood up
, her hands easing her back. She was a tall, large-boned woman with dirty straw-coloured hair and blue eyes. The infant she carried was concealed by the folds of fat about her waist.

  ‘Our Tom said you had an old skirt I could cut up to make clothes for the babby.’

  He must mean the garment he’d ripped from her body last night, Elizabeth thought, a delicate cotton gown with puffed sleeves and a scalloped and embroidered collar and hem.

  ‘You fancies yourself to be a real lady in this, don’t yer?’ he’d spat in her face. ‘But you’re a whore underneath, same as all the other whores. You opens your legs to any man who pays yer enough. Well, just remember, you’re mine to do what I likes to, when I likes and if I likes.’

  Even if the gown could be repaired, Elizabeth knew she’d never wear it again now he’d defiled it.

  She fetched it from the bedroom and, bundling it up, thrust it into Hannah’s arms. Hannah’s work-worn finger stroked the delicate material for a moment. Her expression was almost wistful. ‘It must be nice to afford such things.’

  She wouldn’t be able to afford any more after the ones she already owned fell to pieces. ‘You’re not too old to bear a child yourself. Could be you’ll give our Tom a babby soon, then he won’t be so hard on you. He’d be right proud to have a son of his own.’

  Elizabeth shrugged, saying more bitterly than she’d intended, ‘I’d rather die than give birth to a child of his.’

  A wave of animosity filled the room. ‘If my brother be good enough to take on another man’s leavings, he be good enough to father a brat of your’n. If I know our Tom, he’ll keep at you until he puts one inside you. Just you be careful he don’t get himself one by another woman and turn you out, Mrs Hoity-toity.’

  ‘As far as I’m concerned, he can get himself one by lying in a sty with a sow,’ Elizabeth hissed. ‘I have ways and means to prevent such mishaps.’ She had been taking her own precautions to avoid pregnancy, making sure that anything Tom Skinner tried to plant inside her didn’t take root.

  When the door slammed behind her sister-in-law, she sighed with relief.

  ‘I didn’t think she’d ever leave,’ Daniel said from behind her.

  She turned, smiling ruefully at the sight of her son, who’d left the warmth of the kitchen to conceal himself in the parlour when Hannah had approached the farmhouse.

  ‘Neither did I. I’ll be glad when she has her infant to keep her occupied. The less I see of the Skinners, the better I’ll like it.’

  A smile slid across Daniel’s face. ‘I met her stepsister yesterday—’

  She kissed him. ‘If you dare mention the name of another of that family, I’ll slap you. As far as I’m concerned, they’re all vermin.’

  ‘This one only became one of them through marriage. She’s seventeen, has eyes the colour of pine needles and hair as dark as midnight. Her name is Siana. The reverend said her family name is Lewis, and it’s possible she’s descended from the marcher lords.’

  ‘Half of Wales claims descent from the marcher lords.’ Noting the expression on his face, Elizabeth frowned. ‘Where did you meet this girl, Daniel?’

  ‘At my godfather’s house. She works there as a skivvy and he’s teaching her. She’s such an amazing girl, so quick-minded. Richard said that although she’d only learned some basic letters at her mother’s knee, she was able to read fluently in four months. Imagine . . . she’s reading a book on Michelangelo at the moment.’

  ‘Imagine,’ Elizabeth said drily. ‘I wager the girl has good looks in abundance as well as being clever. You must be careful of your nature, Daniel. You’re swayed too easily by a pretty face.’

  His eyes took on a reproachful look. ‘You’d like her, Mother, really. She maintains a conversation well and has a thirst for knowledge. The reverend is going to offer her a job as his clerk, I believe. He thinks she could be helped out of the circle of poverty the estate workers fall into, and learn enough to better herself.’

  Elizabeth’s heart sank. With his dark brooding looks and trusting brown eyes, her son had always attracted women. But she’d never seen him so taken by one, and this Siana creature had certainly made a strong impression on him. She knew that one day he’d marry, but she hoped he wasn’t going to ruin his chances in life by bedding some ignorant little peasant girl who was out to use him to better herself.

  Then she realized she was being unfair in her bitterness, by judging the girl before she’d met her. ‘You sound as though you have some regard for her,’ she said lightly.

  Amazement flitted across his face, and then he grinned. ‘Good Lord, do I? What a strange notion.’

  ‘Don’t forget we intend to set up house together. You cannot impose on your godfather’s generosity for ever.’

  ‘I must stay with the reverend until I’ve established myself as a lawyer, for I’m not welcome to stay here. Besides which, he’s a useful man to know.’

  ‘Which reminds me, Daniel . . .’ and she told him about Will Hastings’s arrest, relaying her fears that there might be spite involved in the accusation. ‘Perhaps you could ask Richard White to investigate and plead with your father on Will’s behalf.’

  ‘I can try, but the landowners are sick to death of the constant rebellion.’

  ‘What can they expect when men are forced to labour from dawn till dusk for a nine-shilling pittance, especially when they have wives and children to feed?’

  Daniel looked at her with some surprise. ‘Since when did you take up the cause of the poor?’

  ‘Since I joined them,’ she said bitterly. ‘There’s nothing like living with one of the lower classes to excuse the results of poverty. Do you think they smell because they’re dirty? No, it’s because they can’t afford soap to wash with. Have you seen the open gutters in the village? They stink because the cesspits and pig-pens overflow and leak into them. Edward doesn’t bother to maintain the cottages. When it rains, water seeps into the dwellings and takes the waste with it. Children are dying of starvation, of disease and neglect. Take a look at the faces of the women and children. They’re too tired to cry and their eyes are dull with despair. Can you wonder if the men rebel?’

  Daniel shrugged. ‘I can understand only too well, but I’ve chosen the law as a profession, so I cannot condone lawlessness. Neither of us is in a position to help them, but I’ll ask Richard to put in a word for Will.’

  Neither of them had heard Tom approach, and Elizabeth wondered how much he’d overheard when he sneered from the doorway, ‘Won’t do him no good. Will were taken before the local magistrate this morning. He was committed to the assizes, tried to escape and was shot to death.’

  Elizabeth’s cry of distress went unnoticed while Daniel demanded to know, ‘Who defended him?’

  ‘Don’t know nuthin about that, not being learned like you, and all. Squire brought the charges, though. Reckon that were enough to convict him without me having to be there.’ Tom hooked his foot around a chair, dragging it towards him. Clods of mud from his boots scattered the floor. He straddled the seat and folded his beefy arms along the back rest, gazing at Daniel with unblinking dislike. ‘Might have got away with transportation if he hadn’t proved himself guilty by trying to run.’

  Daniel stared defiantly back at him. ‘It was only his word against yours.’

  ‘Are you calling me a liar then, boy?’

  ‘You wouldn’t have needed to ask if I was.’

  Elizabeth’s hand went to her mouth. Although he was standing his ground, Daniel was nowhere near a match for Tom and she feared for him. Her husband’s physical power was backed up with a rat-like cunning.

  Tom’s mouth stretched in a grin as he took out his knife and ran his thumb along the edge. ‘You want to watch your lip, or someone might cut off your tongue.’

  ‘Not if you want to keep this farm. It belongs to my father.’

  ‘Your papa won’t stop me. I knows too much about his dirty little schemes.’

  Elizabeth gave a low moan.

&
nbsp; ‘Shuddup and fetch me something to eat, woman.’

  As Elizabeth scurried to do Tom’s bidding, Daniel frowned. ‘I’d prefer it if you treated my mother with a little more respect.’

  ‘Would you now?’ Tom nodded. ‘I can see that, you being the whore’s only bastard, and all. Got ideas above your station, you two have. I was talking to the squire just now. Sir, I sez, that by-blow of your’n needs a good thump around the ear, if you asks me. Guess what he sez?’

  ‘Mind your own damned business?’

  ‘Hah bloody hah. No. He looks down that great nose of his all haughty like. “As you’re his stepfather I’ll expect you to provide him with one, Skinner,” sez he.’

  Without further warning, Tom’s hand lashed out, sending Daniel crashing back into the door.

  Startled, Elizabeth screamed.

  ‘I thought I told you to shuddup, woman. Fetch me something to eat. As for you, boy, you git outta here before I loses me temper with you.’

  ‘Go,’ Elizabeth urged when Daniel hesitated, ‘I’ll be all right.’

  ‘Course you will, princess, just as long as you does what you’re told.’

  When the door closed behind Daniel, Tom turned to gaze at her. ‘I ran into Hannah on the way. She tells me you’re too proud to carry a son of mine, that you said I should lay with a sow in a sty if I want one.’

  Elizabeth said nothing, just slammed a plate containing raw onion, a wedge of cheese and a loaf of crusty bread in front of him. His teeth sank into the onion, sending juice trickling down his chin. It was unnerving the way he watched her, his eyes unblinking as he crammed in cheese and bread, then washed it down with gulps of ale.

  He belched, then stood up and stretched, his muscles bulging. As she turned to clear the table, his hand closed around her neck and he shoved her towards the door.