Hope for Tomorrow (28 page)

Dinner that evening was light given that the kitchen was also preparing two Christmas meals for the next day, one for the family and one for the servants.

Lucien tucked Hope into bed and read to her from Grimm's Fairy Tales, a book that he had brought from home. Some of the tales were a little gruesome but he thought that Hope was old enough for some of the milder ones. Indeed she was thrilled with his rendition of of Sleeping Beauty, which he remembered as being a particular favourite of his sisters when they were younger.

Later that night Martha stole into Lucien's room as she usually did when he stayed over and Lucien was thrilled to see her. She brought with her an alarm clock, a relatively new invention that she had read about in the newspaper. It meant that instead of leaving him before they fell asleep she could set the alarm for five o'clock, before the servants awoke, and remain with him for most of the night.

The chimes of the clock were not too loud and so they should wake no one else in the house. Still, Martha quickly stopped the chimes the next morning and turned to Lucien, who had also woken and was smiling at her.

“
Happy Christmas,” he said.

Martha smiled and kissed him.

“
How long until the servants awake?” he asked.

“
Perhaps half an hour.”

Lucien raised his eyebrows. Martha understood the silent question and laughed softly as she pushed him over onto his back.

When she finally took her leave and crept back to her room she could hear the sounds of life beginning below stairs and her heart raced as the thought of being caught entered her mind. Finally she closed her bedroom door behind her as quietly as she could and bit down on her bottom lip as a laugh threatened to escape her, for there was something exciting about courting such danger.

Breakfast was a simple affair after which they headed to church for the morning service. They had lunch at noon so that the servants might have the rest of the day to themselves, then they gathered around the Christmas tree and opened their presents. Most were simple, moderately priced tokens of affection but one large present had appeared overnight. It had been kept in the housekeeper's sitting room ever since Lucien had arranged for it to be sent and the servants had brought it upstairs overnight.

Hope tore the wrappings off to reveal the grey dappled rocking horse that Martha had ordered. She was very impressed with the animal.

Gus fell asleep before they had finished and Lucien caught the concerned look on Martha's face as she noticed, although she soon covered it before Hope saw. They played with Hope as she experimented with her new toys and tried not to make too much noise and wake Gus.

Dinner was a cold buffet after which everyone was feeling a little tired. Having fun could be awfully draining, you know! Most evenings Gus read out loud a little to entertain Martha and Hope but as he still looked lethargic, Lucien offered to read that evening. They were in the middle of Mary Barton, which Lucien wasn't familiar with, so after Hope (with a little help from Martha) filled him in on what he had missed, Lucien carried on.

He had heard of families reading to one another in the evenings but had never experienced it before. His father preferred to read to himself while his mother contented herself with her sewing. When the children were old enough to spend evenings with their parents, they seemed painfully stilted affairs with the children almost afraid to speak and break the silence. Over time his sisters settled to sewing or sometimes reading while Lucien followed his fathers example and read quietly.

Only when guests came to visit was there ever much in the way of social intercourse after dinner. Lucien had assumed that all families were like this and that the ones he visited who were lively were only so because he was a guest. When he wasn't there, he assumed the families were as quiet and uncommunicative as his own.

Now he could see a different way and he wanted to emulate it when Hope and Martha finally came to live with him.

As Hope began rubbing her eyes Lucien and Martha put her to bed, though her nanny came to say 'goodnight' even if she wasn't on duty this evening.

After that they had a final glass of mulled wine before retiring early to bed. Martha's lady's maid came to help her out of her dress and corset, though Martha insisted that she could take her own hair down and by the time she had finished she was confident that the hallway would be empty and crept along to Lucien's room much earlier than usual.

He was pleased to see her and thanks to the alarm clock, they spent another night together.

They took Boxing Day off from work too but the day after that they had to return to work. After the pre-Christmas rush, both the shop and workshop were quiet at this time of year so they finished early each day. Lucien spent the mornings catching up with his correspondence that he had brought with him and his afternoons with Hope, Martha and Gus, or any combination of the three.

As the New Year drew closer, Lucien knew that he would have to leave them again soon and so he arranged for them to have their photographs taken by a local photographer. His studio was at the top of his house where a glass roof let in as much light as possible but Lucien noticed that the steps seemed to be difficult for Gus, who required rests in between each floor.

Lucien began to regret asking Gus to come but Gus seemed to think that this was a very fine idea and was insistent that he would make it to the top.

Once there Gus was able to rest for a while with a glass of water as Martha and Hope posed first. The photographer took a series of daguerreotype images of Hope, Martha, Gus and Lucien, both alone and in groups. It was a laborious and time-consuming process as each plate had to be prepared and treated before the picture could be taken and then the model or models had to remain still for a full minute while the plate was exposed.

All in all though, it was a much faster and a much more accurate image than could  be achieved with portraiture. The finished images were only small, a few inches tall and wide, but that would be enough to keep Lucien's memory fresh in between his visits. In all they took fifteen photographs that afternoon.

The developing of the image was also time consuming and so the photographer offered to deliver the fixed and mounted photographs the following day.

When they arrived they were very good likenesses indeed. Lucien had asked for three to be mounted in leather cases, one of Hope, one of Martha and one of both of them so that he could keep them in his pocket if he wished.

The remainder of the images were mounted into frames and Lucien's favourite was the picture of him, Martha and Hope together.

Gus seemed quite taken with his pictures as he had never had his photograph taken before. Martha seemed especially taken with the photograph of her, Hope and Gus as it would be a permanent reminder of their little family, even if she didn't want to think about why a reminder might soon be necessary.

On New Years Eve they attended a ball at the Grosvenor Hotel, which unfortunately Hope was too young to attend. Hope didn't seem overly concerned by missing out, nor could she see any reason to celebrate a new year as they came along with such regularly.

Gus insisted on going, saying that this might be his last new year and as such he wanted a party. Martha couldn't argue with that reasoning.

Although it was bad form to dance more than one set with a gentleman as dancing two sets was surely a sign that a couple were courting, Gus insisted that Lucien accompany Martha for the first and third set, his way of publicly giving his blessing to the union.

Martha felt embarrassed by the stares their second dance drew but it was because she didn't much like being the subject of gossip, not because she feared that she was unworthy of him and might cause Lucien a scandal.

When they weren't dancing with each other, their eyes frequently sought the other out, though they were careful not to offend their current partners.

In between sets they returned to Gus who chose to remain seated for most of the night. Thankfully many people made it a point to stop by and talk to him whilst he was left alone.

Martha and Lucien enjoyed the evening, though neither was very sorry when Gus asked to leave before midnight. The hostess understood and was not offended since Gus's bouts of breathlessness had done the usual gossip rounds and everyone was aware that he was ill.

They arrived home a little after midnight and found the house in good spirits as the staff had been having their own gathering in the housekeeper's sitting room. Only Sally, the nanny had declined to join them as she had to watch Hope, so she had also volunteered to greet the family when they returned home so that the others might enjoy themselves. She helped Martha to disrobe before retiring to her room which was situated next to the nursery.

Well aware that he had to go home in two days Lucien spent the next day with Martha and Hope, wanting to spend as much time with them as possible before he left.

Martha visited Lucien again that evening but when the alarm clock chimed the following morning, she didn't turn it off as quickly as she usually did. Lucien pulled her to him and noticed that she felt hot so he got up and lit a candle so that he could better look at her.

“
I'm fine,” she tried to assure him, wanting nothing but to go back to sleep but he was having none of it. She was hot to the touch but shivering, which he knew was never a good thing.

Knowing that there would be a scandal if she was found in his room, he somehow pulled her nightdress on then her dressing gown and carried her down to the parlour so that he could say he came across her after hearing noises. Then made his way to the servants' quarters and knocked on the first door he came to. After some shuffling from inside, a rather sleepy maid opened it in her dressing gown, drawing the garment tighter about her as she saw Lord Beaumont standing there.

“
Sir?”

“
Miss Aldercott is unwell,” he said. “I don't know a local doctor or I would have gone myself.”

The maid nodded. “Where is she?”

“
I found her in the parlour; I think she's a little delirious.”

“
Go and sit with her, I'll go for the doctor.”

The maid left her room and knocked on another door as Lucien headed back to Martha. A few minutes later he saw the maid running towards the front door and a few minutes after that the housekeeper came and joined him. Martha looked to be sleeping and the housekeeper felt her forehead.

“
Kate's gone for the doctor so we'd best get her back to bed,” the housekeeper said.

Lucien lifted Martha into his arms and followed her up the stairs. He could have kicked himself when she opened the door to Martha's room and he saw a pristine bed before him. Still, if the housekeeper thought that there was anything odd in her bed not having been slept in, she didn't say so as she flung the covers back and Lucien didn't have time to worry about it as he placed Martha between the sheets.

“
Do we build up the fire?” he asked.

“
Depends. Some fevers need breaking, others need cooling. We'd best wait for the doctor.”

It seemed to take an age before the maid returned with the doctor and by then the rest of the house seemed to be awake.

Lucien looked up as a man entered with a medical bag and stood up to greet him.

“
I'm Doctor Blackhall,” Thomas said.

“
Lucien Beaumont.”

“
How long has she been like this?” Thomas asked, as he began examining her. Martha repeatedly tried to push him away.

“
It's been about an hour since I found her. I don't know how long she was feverish before then but she was fine last night.”

Thomas felt her neck, opened her mouth to look at her tongue and throat, then turned her head to the side and pulled the neck of her nightgown down slightly.

“
Go away, I'm tired,” Martha said, once again pushing his hands away and pulling her covers higher.

“
Doctor?” Lucien asked.

“
Her throat looks ulcerated, her glands are swollen and her tongue is red. It's Scarlet Fever, often called Scarlatina but she hasn't developed the rash yet.”

“
What do we do?” Lucien asked.

“
We have to induce a crisis of fever. Build the fire up, cover her in warm blankets, keep the windows closed and pray that it's a mild case and that her fever quickly breaks.”

“
And if it isn't?”

Thomas turned to look at him and his expression said it all.

“
She will also be contagious. If you, Gus, Hope or any of the staff haven't had it, they will have to stay away from her.”

“
I caught it as a child,” Lucien said, glad that he would be able to stay with her.

“
I'm cold,” Martha groaned, her voice rasping in a way that Lucien hadn't heard from her before.

He quickly went to the fire and began to build it up.

Gus awoke after another hour and joined them, still in his pyjamas and dressing gown as was Lucien. Thomas quickly filled him in on what was happening. Gus stood at the end of the bed and watched her for a few minutes then, looking more melancholy than Thomas had ever seen, he turned and left the room.