The Constant Heart (4 page)

'Very pretty, dear. But if you visited the bird shop, it means that you went to Ratcliff Highway today. You know I don't like you wandering around that place on your own.'

'Papa, you're as bad as Bebe. I really can take care of myself.'

'You're too trusting, Rosie. You're just like your dear mother. Ellie always saw the good in people – she was a saint.'

'That I am not,' Rosina said, chuckling. 'I think I take more after you . . .' She broke off. He was no longer listening to her. His attention was fixed on something he could see from the window. 'What is it, Pa? What do you see?'

'There he is, the blackguard. Look at him, strolling along as though he hasn't a care in the world.' Edward leapt to his feet. 'I'm going to have it out with Ham Barnum, once and for all.' He stormed out of the parlour.

'Oh, Lord!' Rosina ran after him, but she was hampered by her long skirts and he was out of the house before she had even reached the front door. She almost collided with Walter as he stepped out of the office.

'What's going on?'

'Pa's gone chasing after Captain Barnum. I'm afraid he's raring for a fight. We've got to stop him.'

'Stay here. I'll go.'

'No. I'm coming too.' Rosina followed him, quickening her step to keep up with his long strides. The lamplighter had just finished his rounds and he walked past them with a cheery nod. In the flickering gaslight, Rosina saw her father disappearing into the Black Eagle pub. As they reached the entrance, Walter stopped and caught her by the hand.

'Let me go in, miss. It's not a fit place for a young lady.'

'Oh, Walter. Not you too!' Rosina jerked her hand free and marched into the taproom. A wave of noise hit her and the fuggy atmosphere, thick with tobacco smoke and the mixed fumes of beer and strong spirits, almost took her breath away. The punters were mostly men: dockers, sack-makers, seamen and labourers; the only other females present were the kind that Bertha described as 'loose women' and a few who might once have led decent lives but were now shambling, snuff-stained wrecks who had succumbed to the temptation of jigger gin and grog.

'Please go home,' Walter hissed in her ear.

Ignoring his plea, she pushed through the crowd, following the sound of raised voices. She could hear her father shouting at Ham Barnum even before she had managed to squeeze through the forest of burly men, who had formed a ring around them like onlookers at a bareknuckle fight in the street.

'You're a lying, cheating bastard.' Edward squared up to his opponent, fisting his hands.

Captain Ham Barnum was taller by a good head, and broad-shouldered into the bargain. He stood his ground, folding his arms across his chest. 'Take care, old man. I don't let anyone accuse me of cheating. You were beaten fair and square.'

'Says you, mister!'

'Says I. You're a poor loser, sir.'

'Only when I'm cheated out of winning a race and you stole my cargo, Barnum. What's more you saw to it that the one I got was rotten with mould. I'll be lucky if I can get half its worth.'

'Hit him, guvner.' A voice from the crowd called out.

'Settle it like men.'

'Fisticuffs, outside.'

'No!' Rosina's clear treble shrilled above the deep bass of the men's voices. 'Pa, leave him be, and come home.'

Captain Barnum turned his head and gave her an appraising stare. 'Well, now. If it isn't your girl, Captain May. And a pretty little thing she is too – just like her mother . . .'

With a mighty roar, Edward lunged at him, butting Barnum in the ribs and knocking him to the floor. He went down on him, flailing his fists and landing punches wherever he could find a sensitive spot. Momentarily winded, Barnum gasped for breath, and then, recovering quickly, he twisted his body so that Edward was now helpless on the ground. He pummelled him mercilessly, much to the enjoyment of the crowd. They roared their approval, smacking their clenched fists against their hands and cheering as each blow landed.

'Stop them,' Rosina screamed. 'He'll kill my pa. Walter, do something.'

Walter took off his glasses. 'Hold these for me.' He dived into the fray, but Barnum punched him in the face and tossed him aside with an angry roar. He went back to throttling Edward, who had turned blue in the face.

'You're killing him,' Rosina cried, wringing her hands. 'Someone stop them, please.'

Walter scrambled to his feet, wiping a trickle of blood from his lip. He hooked his arm around Barnum's neck, dragging his head backwards so that he was forced to loosen his grip. Edward lay on the floor with his eyes closed, gasping for breath. Rosina threw herself down on her knees beside him. 'Papa, speak to me.'

'I'll kill him next time.' Barnum struggled to get free but the landlord came from behind the counter, rolling up his sleeves.

'Not in my pub you won't, Captain Barnum. Leave him to me, lad.' He pushed Walter aside, and grabbing Barnum by the collar and the seat of his pants he frogmarched him out of the building.

Walter bent down to help Edward to his feet. 'Let's get you home, Captain.'

'What are you all staring at?' Rosina demanded, turning on the crowd. 'The show is over, no thanks to you. I'm ashamed of you all, standing by and watching two old men fighting each other.'

'Who are you calling an old man?' Edward muttered as Walter led him outside. 'I'll have a little more respect from you, my girl. And what d'you think you're doing, Walter? Bringing her into the pub like that. It ain't no fit place for a young lady.'

Rosina handed Walter his spectacles. 'I made him bring me. Anyway, Pa, you should be grateful to him. Captain Barnum would have killed you if Walter hadn't pulled him off.'

'Bah!' With an irritated twitch of his shoulders, Edward stamped off in the direction of home.

'They'll kill each other one day,' Walter said, wiping the blood from his cut lip on the back of his hand.

Rosina took a hanky from her pocket and handed it to him. 'Here, use this.'

He stared doubtfully at the scrap of cotton lawn with her initials embroidered in one corner. 'Bloodstains will ruin it.'

'Don't be silly, Walter. You probably saved my pa's life tonight, so why should I worry about a mere handkerchief? Come on, let's go home and I'll put some salve on those cuts and bruises. You'll have a real shiner by morning.'

'It's all right. I'll see to it when I get back to my place.'

As they walked slowly back towards the house, Rosina shot him a curious glance. 'You are a puzzle, Walter. You must have worked for Papa for at least two years, and yet I know little or nothing about you.'

'There's not much to know, miss.'

'I'm sure that's not true. For example, where do you live? I've never thought to ask you before.'

'Not far away.'

'That's no answer. Why are you being so mysterious? Do you live with your family? Or are you secretly married and have ten children?'

'I have a room in a lodging house in Angel Court. I have no family and I'm not married.' He stopped outside the front door. 'There is no mystery.'

'What a pity. There's nothing I like better than a good puzzle. Goodnight, Walter.'

He hesitated. 'I'm sorry your birthday was spoilt.'

'It would have ended up much worse if you hadn't been there to stop the fight.' She reached up and kissed him on the cheek. He was standing with his back to the street lamp and she could not make out the expression on his face, but when he did not immediately make a move to leave, she gave him a gentle push. 'Go on home, Walter. I'll lock up, so there's no need for you to worry on that score. I'll see you in the morning.'

'Goodnight, miss.' He began to walk away but she called out to him.

'Walter. Thank you so much for the breastpin. I love it.'

He glanced over his shoulder, and she thought she saw the shadow of a smile on his face before he disappeared into the darkness.

Having locked up and made everything secure, she was halfway up the staircase when Bertha appeared on the landing. She was dressed for bed in a voluminous white calico nightgown and her hair was confined in a mobcap. In the flickering candlelight, she looked like a rather substantial ghost. 'What's going on? I've just seen his nibs go into the parlour. If I didn't know better, I'd say he'd been in a fight.'

Rosina hurried up the stairs. 'It's all right, Bebe. Papa got in an argument with Captain Barnum in the Black Eagle, but it's all settled now.'

'It will never be all right between them two.' Bertha gave her a searching look. 'And what was you doing in the Black Eagle? I'll have a few words to say to the captain on that score.'

She made a move towards the parlour, but Rosina caught her by the arm. 'Not now, Bebe. I'll explain everything in the morning. Go to bed, there's a dear.'

'All right, but you haven't heard the last of this.' Bertha mounted the staircase that led to her bedroom at the rear of the second floor. The treads creaked beneath her weight and the candle smoked, leaving the scent of hot wax in its trail as she took the light with her. Left in the dark, Rosina went into the parlour. To her intense relief she found her father slumped on the window seat, scowling like a grumpy schoolboy, but he seemed to have suffered nothing worse than a bruised neck and hurt pride.

'You should have let me teach him a lesson,' he grumbled, with his pipe clenched between his teeth. 'I could have beaten Ham Barnum with one arm tied behind my back.'

'Of course you could, Papa. But what good would that serve? You may not get on well with Captain Barnum, but he is our neighbour. I've grown up with Sukey and her sisters, and I may not like Mrs Barnum very much, but she's always been civil to me.'

'I know, poppet. But I could wish that you had picked another friend. Ham and I have old scores to settle.'

She went to sit beside him on the window seat. 'Why do you hate him? What did he ever do to you that made you bear such a grudge?'

Edward took the pipe from his mouth and tapped it on the windowsill, watching the ash fly up in the air and float away on the gentle breeze. 'It's not something that I like to talk about, but I think you're old enough to understand, Rosie.'

'Understand what, Papa?'

'We were boyhood friends, Ham Barnum and I. We went to the same school and we served our apprenticeships working for the same barge owner, old man Carpenter. He had a beautiful daughter and we were both sweet on her.'

Rosina's breath hitched in her throat. 'Mama?'

Edward patted her hand, smiling. 'Yes, your dear mama. Ellie was the loveliest girl for miles around.'

'And you both fell in love with her?'

'I did, for certain. I can't speak for Barnum. He was always ambitious, and, when he had finished his apprenticeship, he moved to another and bigger company. He went to live away from Black Eagle Wharf, and by the time he returned a few years later I was courting Ellie. But Ham still fancied her: he turned her head with his smooth talk and he showered her with presents. He convinced her father that he was a better man than I, and he asked for Ellie's hand in marriage.'

'But she married you, Pa. She must have seen him for what he was.'

He barely seemed to hear her. 'She was so young and trusting. A sweet and guileless girl.'

Edward stared down at his pipe, twisting it between his fingers and frowning. 'It wasn't her fault, poppet. Ham flattered and cajoled her into thinking that he adored her, and then he took advantage of her innocence. He persuaded her to go on a day trip to Southend. He said they had missed the train home, but I know that he planned her seduction. He convinced her that spending the night together was all right because they were soon to be married. I could have killed him – but he seemed intent on standing by her and the wedding date was fixed.' The stem of the pipe snapped in two between Edward's taut fingers. A speck of blood oozed from a small cut on his hand but he did not seem to notice the pain. His voice broke as he continued. 'He was married all along, Rosie. He had a wife in Kent, and a child. It all came to light when his father-in-law turned up at the church to denounce him. There she was, in her wedding finery, my little Ellie, broken-hearted.'