Arian (7 page)

‘Thank you, sir.’ Arian’s tongue felt thick in her mouth and it was all she could do to get the words to pass her stiff lips.

‘I know it almost choked you to say it but don’t feel in the least bit obligated,’ Calvin said. ‘You shall receive only your board and lodge for the time being, there will be no more wages until you have repaid me.’ He turned away and Arian was dismissed.

Downstairs, Arian sat at the table with Mrs Bob and Bella and told them a little of what Calvin had decided.

‘So you’re to keep accounts, that sort of thing?’ Mrs Bob said in disbelief. ‘Mrs Richards isn’t going to like that at all, not at all.’

‘I can’t help that,’ Arian said, ‘In any case, I’ll be answerable to Mr Simples, the new steward.’

‘Oh, aye, the new steward,’ Mrs Bob allowed herself a small smile. ‘I think Mrs Richards is having her nose put out of joint in more ways than one.’

The changes that took place at Stormhill Manor caused everyone, with the exception of Calvin Temple himself, tremendous cause for concern. Bella fretted that her rightful place as upgraded chambermaid might be usurped in some way; she was even a little hostile to Arian.

‘You’re sure you will work in the … office?’ she asked uncertainly, ‘cos we’ve never had an
office
at Stormhill before.’

‘Bella, I’m positive,’ Arian said, ‘I’ve got the day off to go out and buy clothes so that I’ll look the part. Don’t worry so much.’

Mrs Bob was worried about the new maid. She claimed that Bella had taken a long time to train and what if the new maid didn’t pull her weight? But it was Mrs Richards who, predictably enough, was the most agitated of all the staff.

‘I’ve never heard such nonsense!’ She sat for once at the kitchen table with Mrs Bob and the two younger girls, her pointed nose practically quivering with disapproval. ‘A steward to replace
me
, it’s an outrage. Is his lordship insinuating that I can’t do my job properly?’ She looked at Arian.

‘And
you
, are to help him, to work alongside this new steward. It isn’t quite proper, if you ask me.’

Arian saw no point in replying. In any case, she was too excited about the prospect of going to town to buy her new outfit to worry about the housekeeper’s traumas. Mrs Richards had always been standoffish; she had eaten from a tray in her room, being far too good to break bread with the likes of Arian Smale who had been brought in from the streets, so to speak. And now, in a stroke, Arian had been elevated to a higher position in the household than even the housekeeper, it wasn’t proper.

Mrs Richards stared pointedly at Arian, ‘Perhaps it’s his lordship’s bed you are interested in, serving his special needs, so to speak,’ she said icily. ‘High ambitions you have, my girl, you’d better watch your step. I’ve heard enough about your background to make a decent woman’s hair curl.’

Arian took a deep breath. ‘Of course,’ she said carefully, ‘you’d know all about the needs of men, wouldn’t you
Mrs
Richards?’

The woman’s colour rose, it was common knowledge that her title was merely a courtesy one, Mrs Richards was a spinster down to the last little fingernail.

‘At least I don’t throw myself at all and sundry,’ she said, her cheeks suddenly pink.

‘It wouldn’t do any good, if you did,’ Arian said coolly. ‘I find that men are usually much more discriminating than they are given credit for.’

She rose from the table. ‘Well, I’m off out to spend his lordship’s money on a new outfit,’ she said intending and succeeding in shocking Mrs Richards even more. She leaned forward, speaking to the housekeeper in confidential tones. ‘I’d be careful, if I were you. You have already been demoted. If I’m warming his lordship’s bed, your next move might well be out the door.’

She left the room then, aware that Bella was suppressing a giggle with her plump fingers while Mrs Bob busied herself pouring more tea. Mrs Richards was as red as if she was suffering a fit.

Serve the spiteful old biddy right, Arian mused. What did she know about Arian’s background? How
could
she know what Arian had gone through? The pain and outrage and sheer loss of self-respect were more than anyone could understand, certainly not a dried-up spinster like Mrs Richards. Still, Arian had made an enemy and she was well aware of it.

She strode out from Stormhill at a brisk pace, determined to forget what the woman had said, determined to forget Price Davies and her sordid past. She must live now for the future and the future was looking brighter than it had done for a long time.

Her first stop would be the shoemakers in World’s End; Will Davies’s shop was becoming known as the place where fine individually designed shoes could be bought at a price a working man could afford.

Eline, it seemed, far from being brought down by her husband’s rejection of her, was beginning to flourish as she’d done in the days when Arian had worked for her. She was rebuilding her reputation as a designer, selling her more expensive footwear to the gentry of Swansea.

There might be some element of curiosity in the minds of her customers, the desire to see the woman who had cuckolded Lord Temple and then had the effrontery to set up an illicit relationship with a poor cobbler but her fame as a shoemaker was spreading, of that there was no doubt.

Eline was a talented woman and Arian envied her, she was in love with Will Davies and had found the necessary courage to live with him in spite of the gossips.

Arian’s spirits rose, it would be good to smell the leather again, good to talk with people who worked it. Eline always had a fund of ideas and Will – well, Will Davies was a cobbler who had trained with the famous Hari Grenfell.

Arian walked purposefully towards World’s End, her footsteps light. Suddenly life was opening up for her, she was filled with hope for the future and if there was an irony in the fact that it was Eline’s husband who was the source of that hope then Arian had little choice but to ignore the fact.

Eline heard the sound of the door opening with a dart of delight, her heart began to beat so fast she could almost hear it. She looked up from her drawing and saw Will framed against the pale sunlight. She rose to her feet uncertainly and then he was coming towards her, his arms open, ready to enfold her.

She closed her eyes and felt him draw her close, the scent of him, the familiar touch of him, it was all so dear that tears rose to her eyes.

‘I’m sorry,’ he said, ‘I’m the worst kind of fool to be jealous of you. I just couldn’t bear the thought of you being anywhere near Calvin Temple. I’m afraid I’ll lose you again, Eline, so afraid.’

‘Will, my love, would I be here with you if I wanted Calvin? Sit down, we’ve got to talk about this, there’s air to be cleared and it must be done now.’

She drew Will to the table and sat opposite him, her hands reaching out to hold his. ‘I know Calvin turned me away from his door, I didn’t have the courage to walk out on him of my own accord, he forced the issue. But did I come to look for you? Think Will, I found a job, I was willing to take care of myself and the baby without anyone’s help. It was
you
who came to find
me
.’

Will stared at her. ‘That’s part of what worries me, you didn’t come to me voluntarily, I took you into my home when you were vulnerable.’

‘And I came with you because it was what I wanted, I ignored the fact that my good name would be in the dust. Separated from Calvin I would be no more than an object of pity, the cast-off wife and no one would have known any more than that.’ She paused and squeezed his hands, ‘By living with you openly I’ve shown the world the reason why Calvin cast me aside, I’ve become a woman to scorn in the eyes of some people. I think I’ve proved that I love you, Will.’

‘You’re right, of course. Forgive me.’ He raised her hand and kissed the calloused palm. ‘You could have encouraged Calvin, gone back to him, shared the comfort of his mansion but you came home to me. I was a fool to doubt you.’

He knelt at her feet, wrapped his arms around her waist and touched her throat with his lips. ‘I love you so much that it’s like a pain inside me.’

Eline put her hands on his cheeks and kissed his mouth. ‘Prove how much you love me,’ she whispered with her lips still against his. He rose at once and swept her up into his arms and gently set her down on the bed.

The shop in World’s End, approached from the back, turned out to be little more than a shed, and within was a rough workbench, cluttered with bits of leather, hob nails, a last and other implements of the cobbling trade. Will Davies sat at a bench, hammering a sole into place on a leather boot. He looked up and smiled. He was a handsome devil but no more handsome than Calvin Temple, Arian mused.

‘Hello,’ she said, ‘I’m looking for something special; a nice pair of boots, must be dainty, mind, something preferably designed by Eline herself.’

‘You want to speak to Eline?’ Will said rising from the bench. ‘I’ll give her a shout – she’s inside the house coping with our son.’ The pride in his voice was apparent and Arian could see a little of the charm that had induced Eline to leave her husband.

‘Arian Smale!’ Eline came forward, her cheeks flushed. She had the look of a happy woman about her. ‘There’s nice to see you! What are you doing in town, shopping is it?’

‘I’m looking for a special pair of boots,’ Arian said, smiling, envying Eline’s obvious contentment. ‘I’m going to work as a book-keeper, at least for the time being and my boss wants me to look the part.’ She didn’t think it politic to mention that she was still working for Eline’s husband.

‘A book-keeper is it? Well, I’m glad to see you getting on. I was always pleased with your work, mind, I gave you quite a lot of responsibility and you carried it well, fair play.’

But Price Davies had soon put a stop to that, Arian thought bitterly.

‘Well you’ve come to the right place if you want nice boots.’ Will Davies’s voice broke into Arian’s thoughts. ‘Eline has been designing again, she’s done so well that we’ve expanded our premises,’ he smiled ruefully. ‘Come on in. Right along the passage there you’ll find our shop.’ He led the way and Eline took Arian’s arm, ‘It’s not much, mind, but to us it’s a big step forward.’

William flung open a door and gestured round the large room with the big window facing the front. ‘Our landlady has actually let us use this part of the house as a shop instead of us having to sell from the back yard.’ He pointed to a row of roughly made shelves.

‘Would you like to see some examples of what Eline has done?’

‘Will, don’t be so pushy. Take no notice of him.’ Eline was actually blushing. ‘The stuff here is quite ordinary, I’m trying to build up a stock, you see.’

‘Well, that’s what I’m here for, to see some boots. Come on, Eline, don’t be modest. Show me something hard-wearing and smart.’

It was fun to sit on a stool and try on the boots Eline spread out on the floor before her. They were fashioned in leather that was fine even by Arian’s high standards and she rubbed her fingertips over a pair of boots in brown, polished leather with kid inserts on the front, admiring them openly.

She eventually found a pair that fitted her perfectly and she didn’t hesitate. ‘I’ll take these.’ She paid for them and smiled at Eline’s somewhat bemused expression. ‘They are worth every penny, don’t look so surprised. Where did you buy the leather?’

‘I’ve found a small supplier on the outskirts of Neath,’ Will said. ‘Why do you want to know? Thinking of going back into the shoemaking business yourself, are you?’

‘Maybe,’ Arian said, ‘the leather fascinates me, I must admit. I know how to spot the difference between good stuff and leather that’s lacking in quality.’

‘Well, Mr Clifford lives in the Cimla,’ Will said. ‘He’s got a small warehouse there, little more than a shed really but he doesn’t mind small customers. I suspect that it’s people like me provide him with a living.’

‘That’s interesting.’ Arian made a mental note to go to see this Mr Clifford – he could well prove useful to her. She watched as Will parcelled up the boots, and as she took them she smiled at Eline.

‘I wish you luck with your designs and I shouldn’t be surprised if our paths cross again sometime.’

Outside in the clear air, she took a deep breath. That could have been a tricky encounter. If Eline and Will had asked if she was still working for Calvin, she would have had to tell them and she was sure they would not have been so helpful. She felt a little ashamed of her duplicity but what good would it have done anyone if she had told Eline who was actually paying for the boots?

She spent most of the day shopping and returned to Stormhill with an armful of parcels feeling she had spent the money Calvin had allocated her as wisely and frugally as possible. She had bought a sensible skirt in dark serge and several crisp white blouses and to top them a coat of warm merino wool – she would need it when winter came.

Mrs Bob greeted her excitedly. ‘Arian, the new steward, he’s here and he’s ever so handsome.
Duw
, if I was twenty years younger I’d set my cap at him, that I would.’

Arian was not interested. She’d had enough of men and she never wanted to be close to one again. She hurried to her room and set down her parcels almost dreamily; there were
some
parts of her chequered past that she enjoyed remembering.

The first to make love to her was Eddie Carpenter. He’d been young, as nervous as she was, but he’d treated her almost with reverence. Their affair had been passionate; he had loved her and wanted to marry her, but even then she knew that he was not the man she wanted to spend her life with.

By now, Eddie might well have qualified as a doctor up in London somewhere. And that turn in Eddie’s life, she remembered with warmth, had all been due to Calvin Temple’s generosity. Eddie had looked after Eline when she’d been taken sick one day while shopping in Swansea. His gentle assurance and his knowledge that nothing ailed Eline other than the normal reactions of a woman expecting a child had impressed Calvin to such an extent that he had offered to pay for Eddie’s training. Calvin, Arian realized was something of a philanthropist. What’s more, he was a very attractive man.