The Shoemaker's Daughter (23 page)

She must have dozed because she was roused by the sound of vomiting from Letty’s room. Sighing, Hari forced her tired limbs into movement, there was work to be done.

She picked up the jug of elixir, it was almost empty, she glanced through the window, it was dark outside, the market would long since have closed, she would not be able to get any more herbs till morning.

Hari bit her lip, she had two patients and only enough elixir for one, what could she do? Uncertainly, she made her way to Emily’s room and stood staring down at her. In the flickering light of the candle, it seemed that some of the yellow had gone from Emily’s skin and, by now, her breathing was definitely easier.

And yet hadn’t the doctor warned her that a period of recovery might be followed by a relapse? Hari had to choose who should have the last of the elixir and suddenly the burden seemed too great.

Suddenly, Emily’s eyelids fluttered and then she was looking up at Hari. ‘Thank you,’ her lips framed the words and Hari felt relief flow through her, Emily had regained consciousness.

Hari felt tears burn her eyes, she lifted Emily’s head and held the cup to her lips. ‘Drink this, Emily, it will make you feel better,’ she said.

Obediently, Emily drank and then sank back against the pillows exhausted. Hari sat beside her and took her hand.

‘You are going to be all right, now,’ she said infusing confidence into her voice. ‘I want you to rest and in the morning I’ll feed you some gruel.’

As she returned to the kitchen, Hari wiped away the tears and yet she knew, somehow she knew, that Emily was going to get well.

She heard footsteps on the stairs and sighed, William had come back in spite of all she’d said.

‘Craig!’ He came into the room and immediately held his arms out to her and, with a small moan, she went into them. The tears came then, hot and fast, tears of weariness and of hope.

Craig held her silently, his cheek resting against her hair and Hari knew that whatever happened in the future, she would be grateful to Craig for his kindness to her when she most needed him.

‘Sit down,’ he said at last, ‘let me make you some tea, you look exhausted. Why didn’t you ask for help, Hari, you must know I would have come.’

Hari watched him in silence as he brewed the tea and it reminded her of the days in World’s End when Craig had been a fugitive from the law. In spite of everything, they had been good days.

‘How did you know?’ she asked as he handed her the cup and sat close to her, his face full of concern.

‘I read about the sickness in the papers and I came home right away.’ Craig reached out and touched her cheek. ‘I always knew you had courage, Hari, but to manage alone was foolish of you.’

He stood up abruptly. ‘You must go to bed now, I’ll look after Emily, the maid too, you catch up on some much-needed sleep.’

Hari rose to her feet, for a moment being in Craig’s arms, seeing the concern in his face, she had imagined he cared but it was Emily he had come to see. She left the room and sank on to her bed, how silly she’d been to believe even for a moment that a man like Craig Grenfell could fall in love with a shoemaker’s daughter.

She slept the sleep of the exhausted and a pale light was streaking the room when she woke to find Craig beside her. He sank down on to the bed and smiled warmly.

‘You look like a little girl there with your hair all tangled over your eyes.’ Gently he brushed away the curls and, leaning forward, kissed her gently.

At first the kiss was a salute but then his lips became hot, searching. Hari found that she was responding to him, her arms were around his broad shoulders, she was pressing him close to her as though she would never let him go.

‘Hari, my beautiful, lovely girl.’ His mouth moved to her neck and Hari closed her eyes, wanting to hold him and possess him, to be one with him.

When his hand touched her breast, she felt a momentary sense of panic, how could she give herself to Craig without a word of marriage spoken between them and with no ring on her finger?

But that was absurd, tomorrow she might well die of yellow fever and, for now, all she wanted was to be in Craig’s arms and to learn what it was like to be a real woman.

The force of her feelings almost frightened her, she wanted Craig as she’d never wanted anything in her life. She clung to him, not protesting when he loosened her clothing, losing herself in the heat of the passion that flared between them.

She heard herself moan his name as unknown sensations drowned her, she felt the silk of his skin against hers as she moved with him like the waves of the sea reach for the shore. And then rational thought deserted her and she gave herself up to the sheer joy of the moment.

They spent the next few hours in each other’s arms and, afterwards, Hari slept once more, a smile curving her mouth, her naked arms were outside the covers and she slept softly in contentment.

When she awoke, she could hear Craig in the kitchen raking the coals. She rose quickly and washed in the water from the jug on the stand and quickly dressed in fresh clothes.

Timidly, she moved into the kitchen not knowing what to expect from Craig. He was placing coals on the fire and he looked up and smiled.

Hari hoped he would take her in his arms but he didn’t. ‘Sit down, have something to eat,’ he said, ‘you’re far too thin.’

She felt her spirits droop, this was not the response of a lover. She glanced down at her small frame, had Craig been disappointed in her, had she somehow failed him?

He put a plate of bread and cheese before her. ‘Now, take your time and eat it,’ he said, leaning across the table, his strong arms bare, his shirt sleeves rolled above his elbows.

‘I’ve seen to the invalids so you just think about yourself for a moment.’

Hari forced the food between her lips, the last thing she felt like doing was eating. She wanted to throw herself into Craig’s arms, to beg him to say he loved her, reassure her that she hadn’t just been a moment’s pleasure for him.

He did no such thing. He drank his tea and then rose to clear the table, putting everything neatly away before taking the cloth and folding it carefully.

Suddenly, he smiled at her. ‘You see, I’ve learned to be somewhat domesticated, a result of spending so much time with you, I suppose.’

Hari rose abruptly, she was sensing criticism in his every word, it was time she made herself busy. ‘I’ll go and see Letty, I suppose you’ve already checked on Emily,’ she said and quickly left the room.

Letty was lying completely still, her skin was even more yellow than Hari remembered and her eyes were wide open staring unseeingly upwards. Letty was dead.

Hari put her hand to her mouth, she had never been close to her and yet she felt devastated by her death. Hari had tried so hard to save Letty’s life but at the last she had failed her by not having enough of the elixir.

She felt Craig’s hand on her arm. ‘Come away, there’s nothing you can do now.’

Hari shook off his hand and, rushing into her bedroom, flung herself down on the cover and the tears came hot and painful.

Craig stood in the doorway. ‘Don’t blame yourself, Hari,’ he said softly, ‘and remember, you did save Emily’s life.’

Hari looked up at him, ‘How do you know, what’s to say she won’t die too?’

‘Go and see for yourself,’ Craig said and disappeared from the doorway.

After a time, Hari washed her face and, straightening her clothes, made her way to Emily’s room.

‘Hari,’ Emily held up a trembling hand, ‘I’m so grateful to you.’ The traces of jaundice had almost vanished and there was a light in Emily’s eyes that had not been there for some time.

Hari sat on the bed and, on an impulse, hugged Emily. ‘No need for gratitude, love, I only did what anyone would do,’ she said thickly.

Emily patted Hari’s shoulder. ‘No, not anybody,’ her voice was muffled. ‘It takes a woman of courage like you, Hari, to face death to help a friend.’

Hari became aware of Craig standing in the doorway and moved away from the bed. Emily looked up and then turned her face away.

‘Send him away, Hari,’ she said. ‘I don’t want to see him.’

Craig moved forward. ‘Emily,’ he said her name chidingly, ‘after being so sick, don’t you think our quarrels are trivial?’

Emily turned over in the bed and faced the wall and her hunched shoulder was a rejection of him.

‘Come on,’ Hari caught his arm. ‘Don’t worry her now, Craig, let her rest.’

In the kitchen, she picked up her shawl. ‘I’d be obliged if you would stay here until I’ve been to report Letty’s death and then I’ll call at the market for some herbs.’ She said not looking at him, ‘You’d better go back home, no point in you risking catching the fever.’

‘I’ve been out this morning,’ Craig said, ‘I’ve seen to all the arrangements regarding Letty, she’ll be taken out of here today, don’t worry.’

Hari moved to the door. ‘There’s good of you to think of it,’ she said, her hand on the latch, ‘but I still have shopping to do.’

Craig came up to her and took her shoulders. ‘Hari, why the coldness? You were happy enough in my arms earlier.’

She waited for him to go on, to tell her he wanted her for his wife, that their lovemaking was born out of his wish to have her with him always, but he said nothing.

She looked him in the face. ‘Perhaps that is something we’d better both forget,’ she said stiffly.

She left the house and her thoughts were in a turmoil, she didn’t know what to make of Craig Grenfell, one minute he was caressing her, loving her as though he would never let her go and the next he was like a stranger.

But then hadn’t mam warned her long ago that men like Craig only wanted their fun with a girl like Hari, she wasn’t the sort he would ever consider marrying. The thought hurt.

She made her purchases in a daze, walking around the market hoping against hope that she could sort out her confused feelings. But she was still going over and over the events of the last few hours in her mind when she heard a warm voice speaking close to her ear.

‘Hari, I’m so pleased to see you.’ Edward Morris took her arm and smiled down at her in concern. ‘I’ve been so worried since William came to the house, I was about to come over to see you.’

‘Better for you to stay away but I’m grateful to you for taking William in, how is he?’ she asked anxiously.

‘Fit as a flea,’ Edward said, ‘but you, young lady, are looking decidedly peaky.’ He moved a little closer to her. ‘I know this is a bit sudden, we haven’t even been able to go out together but in the circumstances that doesn’t seem to matter. Hari, won’t you let me take care of you as well as William?’

Hari looked up at him uncomprehendingly and Edward smiled.

‘I’m asking you to become Mrs Edward Morris,’ he said, ‘is that so difficult to understand?’

Hari put her hand on Edward’s arm, she was warmed by his words, at least he didn’t consider her beneath him.

‘Thank you for the compliment, Edward, but I can’t seem to think straight just now . . .’ Her words stumbled to a halt as he held up his hand.

‘Of course not, how inconsiderate of me, just take your time and think it over, Hari, that’s all I’m asking. Now, how is Emily? I hear there’s an improvement in her condition.’

Hari nodded, ‘Yes, she’s over the worst,’ she said softly, ‘but poor Letty, I couldn’t save her.’

‘I’m going to call a cab to take you home,’ Edward said firmly, ‘you look far too weary to be tramping the streets. Go home and rest, Hari, and I’ll see you when you are not feeling so tired.’

‘You are such a kind man, Edward,’ Hari said, ‘there’s glad I feel to have you as a friend.’

‘I could be far more than that, Hari,’ Edward said, ‘but I won’t press you now.’

As Edward hailed a cab and helped her into it, Hari knew that she could never think of any other man as a husband now, she was committed to Craig even if he never asked her to marry him.

Edward kissed her hand and then stepped back as the cab jerked into motion. Hari leaned back against the cold seat and closed her eyes, how simple life would be if she had only fallen in love with Edward not Craig.

When she returned home, there was a pot of stew on the hob and a note pinned to the mantelpiece. It seemed that Craig’s brother had been released from prison. Spencer was sick with the fever and Craig had gone to bring him home.

Note in hand, Hari wandered round the rooms feeling lost and alone. Letty’s bed was empty, stripped of clothes, the undertaker had been very prompt.

Hari peered into Emily’s room, she was asleep, her shoulders hunched as if to ward off anyone who tried to wake her. The silence of the rooms closed in on Hari as she returned to the kitchen.

Downstairs, the showrooms were empty and silent, the doors locked against the public to protect them from the fever.

Hari sank into a chair and put her arms on the table, resting her head wearily. She had to face the facts full in the face, she had given herself to Craig and he had taken her lightly, to him she was nothing more than a tumble in the hay. The thought was bitter and yet Hari could not cry, it seemed that now, after all that had happened, she was beyond tears.

16

Craig stood in his new warehouse on the docks and stared at his alarmingly large stock of French calf, the venture, the buying in of all existing stock from abroad, though a good idea, had not worked out in practice and Craig had just discovered the reason why.

‘Damn all women!’ He moved into his office and seating himself at the desk took out his order book. He had precious few pages filled. Previously, the calf had been in great demand, the requests had poured in from all over the country, everyone had been anxious not to be caught without the leather that had been so popular. It was popular no longer, at least not in Wales.

He stared out of the window and a wry smile curved his lips, Hari Morgan was shrewd, no doubt about that and she had courage. Her bravery in the face of the yellow fever had more than testified to that.