where are you going? Supper will be ready.’ Ellen gazed up at her husband in some alarm.
‘I’m going to drive to Anlaby to see my brother and his precious wife, and find out just what is going on!’
She placed her hand on his arm to stay him. ‘Not tonight, William, it’s late. Wait until tomorrow. Don’t go when you’re feeling angry. You’ll say something that you’ll be sorry for. You know how Mildred always irritates you. Have supper and we’ll talk about it, and then – and then, in the morning, perhaps I could go instead?’
He looked down at her. ‘You’re trying to twist me around your finger, Ellen. And as for you, young woman,’ he turned to Sammi and shook a finger at her, ‘this time you have gone too far. No. I mean it. Don’t smile at me like that, you’re as bad as your mother. We cannot keep this child. We have problems enough of our own, without taking on other people’s, even if they are family. Like it or not, he has to go back.’
Ellen dropped Sammi off at the mill house the next morning as she had requested, and told her that she would collect her later in the day when she returned from her visit to Mildred.
That lady isn’t going to be pleased to see me without an arrangement
, she thought grimly as the carriage rocked along the Hull road. She and Mildred had very little in common, save that they had married two brothers.
Poor Isaac
, she mused.
We all thought that Mildred would be good for him; she seemed loving and kind, and he neededsomeone strong to give him a push. But we didn’t realize what a tartar she would turn out to be
.
She wasn’t looking forward to this confrontation.
For no doubt, that is what it will be
, she pondered.
And the whole atmosphere in that house makes me feel creepy
.
Being a farmer’s daughter brought up on the Wolds, and marrying William who farmed on the plain of Holderness at the edge of the sea, she was used to open spaces and an abundance of brisk fresh air, and Garston Hall, which had been her well-loved home for nearly twenty-five years, since William’s parents had welcomed her as a young bride, with its spacious rooms and muslin drapes enhancing rather than obscuring the view of the garden and cliffs below, suited her very well.
Mildred was a banker’s daughter who had been brought up in a town house. She had an aversion to draughts, and kept her windows draped with nets and laces and heavy hangings to keep them out, but excluding also any natural light, so that the rooms were gloomy and dark even during the day.
It was noon before Ellen left the suburbs of Hull and the horses began their swift trot towards Anlaby. Such a pretty village. She echoed unconsciously Sammi’s thoughts from the previous day as they passed the grand mansions and large country houses which had been built, some on the common land where once sheep had grazed.
But she sighed and a sadness descended on her as she observed the progress and development of the land, here to the sheltered west of Hull. Not a sadness such as Sammi had experienced in her concern for the child, nor even for Victoria, her youngest daughter who was so frail, and certainly not for her merry son, Billy; but for her husband William. For William and her eldest son Richard, who were losing their livelihood, day by day, week by week, as the sea took its toll on the land which they all loved.
* * *
‘Please be seated, Ellen, and I’ll ring for refreshment. You are very fortunate to find me at home. I was expected at Mrs Beadle’s of Hessle this afternoon, but she has just this half hour ago sent a message to say that she is unwell and cannot receive me.’ Mildred fussed and prattled, plumping up cushions, straightening the numerous pictures on the walls, rearranging the bric-a-brac and ornaments which decorated the tables and what-not, and moving infinitesimally the glass dome which held an arrangement of waxed flowers to the exact centre of the table.
Ellen waited patiently. Mildred
‘I’m going to drive to Anlaby to see my brother and his precious wife, and find out just what is going on!’
She placed her hand on his arm to stay him. ‘Not tonight, William, it’s late. Wait until tomorrow. Don’t go when you’re feeling angry. You’ll say something that you’ll be sorry for. You know how Mildred always irritates you. Have supper and we’ll talk about it, and then – and then, in the morning, perhaps I could go instead?’
He looked down at her. ‘You’re trying to twist me around your finger, Ellen. And as for you, young woman,’ he turned to Sammi and shook a finger at her, ‘this time you have gone too far. No. I mean it. Don’t smile at me like that, you’re as bad as your mother. We cannot keep this child. We have problems enough of our own, without taking on other people’s, even if they are family. Like it or not, he has to go back.’
Ellen dropped Sammi off at the mill house the next morning as she had requested, and told her that she would collect her later in the day when she returned from her visit to Mildred.
That lady isn’t going to be pleased to see me without an arrangement
, she thought grimly as the carriage rocked along the Hull road. She and Mildred had very little in common, save that they had married two brothers.
Poor Isaac
, she mused.
We all thought that Mildred would be good for him; she seemed loving and kind, and he neededsomeone strong to give him a push. But we didn’t realize what a tartar she would turn out to be
.
She wasn’t looking forward to this confrontation.
For no doubt, that is what it will be
, she pondered.
And the whole atmosphere in that house makes me feel creepy
.
Being a farmer’s daughter brought up on the Wolds, and marrying William who farmed on the plain of Holderness at the edge of the sea, she was used to open spaces and an abundance of brisk fresh air, and Garston Hall, which had been her well-loved home for nearly twenty-five years, since William’s parents had welcomed her as a young bride, with its spacious rooms and muslin drapes enhancing rather than obscuring the view of the garden and cliffs below, suited her very well.
Mildred was a banker’s daughter who had been brought up in a town house. She had an aversion to draughts, and kept her windows draped with nets and laces and heavy hangings to keep them out, but excluding also any natural light, so that the rooms were gloomy and dark even during the day.
It was noon before Ellen left the suburbs of Hull and the horses began their swift trot towards Anlaby. Such a pretty village. She echoed unconsciously Sammi’s thoughts from the previous day as they passed the grand mansions and large country houses which had been built, some on the common land where once sheep had grazed.
But she sighed and a sadness descended on her as she observed the progress and development of the land, here to the sheltered west of Hull. Not a sadness such as Sammi had experienced in her concern for the child, nor even for Victoria, her youngest daughter who was so frail, and certainly not for her merry son, Billy; but for her husband William. For William and her eldest son Richard, who were losing their livelihood, day by day, week by week, as the sea took its toll on the land which they all loved.
* * *
‘Please be seated, Ellen, and I’ll ring for refreshment. You are very fortunate to find me at home. I was expected at Mrs Beadle’s of Hessle this afternoon, but she has just this half hour ago sent a message to say that she is unwell and cannot receive me.’ Mildred fussed and prattled, plumping up cushions, straightening the numerous pictures on the walls, rearranging the bric-a-brac and ornaments which decorated the tables and what-not, and moving infinitesimally the glass dome which held an arrangement of waxed flowers to the exact centre of the table.
Ellen waited patiently. Mildred
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