DELIA COLLAPSED SOBBING into a chair and the only sound in the room was of her weeping, until her father turned towards the door. ‘Ten minutes,’ he barked, as he brushed past her. ‘I’ll give you ten minutes to get your things together, then be off wi’ you.’
‘Da!’ Matthew started to say. ‘Let’s talk about this.’
‘Mr Drew,’ Rosa began.
He put up his hand to silence them but as he came towards Jim, who was blocking his way, Jim stopped him. ‘Hold hard a minute, Da,’ he said quietly. ‘Don’t be hasty. She’s your daughter and our sister and you can’t just turn her out.’
‘Can’t I though?’ his father said savagely. ‘She might be your sister but she’s no daughter o’ mine.’
‘She is your daughter and you know where she’ll finish up if you turn her out?’ Jim stared him in the face. ‘She’ll finish up in ’streets of Hull – or in a brothel!’ His last few words dropped to a whisper so that Rosa, who was contemplating Delia’s future if her father refused to have her at home, didn’t quite catch what he was saying.
But James Drew did and he blinked rapidly and opened and closed his mouth. Then he composed himself. ‘She can go to ’devil for all I care,’ he muttered.
‘Aye,’ Jim said softly. ‘Well, isn’t that where we’ll all meet up? It’ll not be in heaven, that’s for sure.’
His father pushed past him and went out of the room, but Jim followed him, giving a quick glance at Matthew as he did so, and putting up his hand to stop him following.
‘Where shall I go?’ Delia moaned. ‘Who’ll have me?’ She appealed to Matthew. ‘Do you think our Maggie’ll let me stop with her?’ Her face was blotched with crying and her eyes red and swollen.
Rosa’s eyes were drawn towards the window. Jim had his hand raised in a fist as he was talking, and although she couldn’t hear what they were saying, she could see that his father was angry as he too was waving his arms about.
Presently Jim returned to the house. ‘You can stop for a bit till we decide what’s best to be done.’ His voice was shaky but he had a set determined look on his face.
Delia started to cry again and Rosa said to her, ‘Why don’t you go up to your bedroom until things calm down. Of course your da is angry. He’s had a shock. He’s upset.’
She nodded and rushed upstairs and Matthew asked Jim quietly, ‘How did you manage to make him change his mind?’
‘He hasn’t changed it!’ Jim gave a deep sigh and sat down and started to drink his now cold tea. ‘I’ve just reminded him of a few things. It’s a temporary reprieve, that’s all.’
‘Reminded him of what things?’ Matthew asked curiously.
‘Nowt that concerns you.’ Jim’s face was creased with tension. ‘Just summat that happened a long time ago. I needed to refresh his memory that none of us is perfect.’
‘I thought Da was,’ Matthew said cynically. ‘At least that’s ’impression we were always given.’
‘Jim!’ Rosa butted in. ‘It seems that your da will listen to you, more than he’ll listen to Matthew and certainly more than to me. So I was thinking. Will you tell him that if he won’t let Delia stay, then I’ll leave because there’s too much for one person to do, and he’ll have to get a housekeeper and a girl in to do for you. He won’t like that,’ she added. ‘He won’t want strangers in the house.’
Jim nodded. He appeared strained after the heated discussion with his father. ‘Aye, I’ll tell him when he’s cooled down a bit.’ He looked up at her and his eyes searched her face. ‘But don’t think that he won’t listen to you. He will. He has you on his conscience.’
‘On his conscience? Whatever do you mean?’ She was totally puzzled. James Drew had never shown her any concern.
‘Never mind,’ Jim said abruptly. ‘I’ve said too much already.’ He rose from his chair. ‘Come on, Matthew. We’ve work to do before supper.’
‘Conscience!’ Matthew exclaimed with sudden enlightenment as Jim went out of the door. ‘Yes. That’s it! That was ’word I was searching for that day we went to see your gran – years ago, don’t you remember, Rosa? And then we went to Marsh Farm and frightened Jim out of his wits? I said there was another reason why Da said you should live with us, but I didn’t know ’word for it then. I couldn’t explain myself!’
She vaguely remembered, but it was a very long time ago and somehow it didn’t seem important. Not when there were so many difficulties looming ahead.
Yet, strangely, there was never any further discussion on Delia’s future and so she stayed. But her father didn’t speak to her, neither would he eat at the same table. Delia took her food alone, either before or after everyone else had eaten. Rosa felt sorry for her but tried not to show it and Delia never commented on her exclusion, but grew silent and discreet in her father’s presence as if trying to be invisible.
‘Should I take her to see ’doctor?’ Matthew asked Rosa one day, some weeks later. ‘I’ll drive her over in ’trap. And mebbe we should tell Maggie and Flo?’
Rosa agreed. No-one else had been told and Delia had kept to the house and yard, never venturing even into the fields during harvest time in case anyone should see her and comment on her being at home.
‘I’m going to ride into Hedon tomorrow,’ she told him. ‘The pedlar hasn’t been and we need some things for the house. I’ll call on Maggie and tell her myself.’ She didn’t know what was needed for a pregnant woman when she began in labour, but thought that Maggie being an eldest daughter might know. She would ask her anyway. They needed to be prepared.
Maggie was in sparkling form and delighted to see Rosa, who had not visited her in her neat little house before. ‘Come in and I’ll show you round,’ she said, and took Rosa into her tidy kitchen and cosy parlour. Then she led her through the staircase door and up the wooden stairs to the bedroom. There was another door in the bedroom and through it was another very small room. It smelled of new paint, and Maggie showed her the flowered curtains she was making for the windows.
‘Can you guess why we’re preparing this room, Rosa?’ she asked, and half covered her face with her hands as she hid a smile.
Rosa shook her head. ‘Expecting visitors?’
‘Not visitors,’ Maggie said. ‘Someone permanent.’
‘Permanent? Who? Oh! Not a baby?’ She gazed at Maggie, who was oozing suppressed delight. ‘Oh, Maggie! I’m so pleased for you.’ And how can I tell you now of Delia? she reflected. I can’t spoil your happiness by bringing you news of your sister’s disgrace. ‘When?’ she asked. ‘When will it be?’
‘Sometime in January, ’doctor thinks. I would have come over to tell you but Fred has been busy and he won’t let me drive ’trap on my own, not now. He’s like a dog with two tails, Rosa! Though he said he wasn’t bothered one way or another when we wed, he’s that proud now and he runs around after me, won’t let me do a thing and makes me sit with my feet up!’
‘I’m so glad for you, Maggie, and for Fred.’ And so sorry for Delia, she considered, who has no-one to love her or think well of her baby. ‘And of course you must take great care of yourself.’
‘I know. ’Doctor says I’m in good health and very strong and even though I’m old for a first babby, he says if I rest a bit each day, I’ll be all right.
‘I’m scared though, Rosa,’ she confessed. ‘I remember when Ma had Matthew, she nearly died, and then she went on to have Delia. I wish she was here,’ she said, suddenly tearful. ‘She’d tell me what to do.’
‘She would have been so glad for you,’ Rosa said, and added, ‘So what kind of things do you need? I mean, perhaps I can get them for you?’
‘Oh, bless you, that’s all arranged. I’ve got lying-in sheets and a crib, and ordered a layette, though I haven’t collected it, it’s supposed to be unlucky to do that before ’babby is born. And ’midwife has been to see me already.’
‘A midwife! Of course!’ Rosa pondered. She hadn’t thought about a midwife and she doubted if Delia had either. But then Delia hadn’t discussed her forthcoming confinement at all. And of course she wouldn’t. She couldn’t discuss it with her brothers or her father. So there’s only me, and she has never liked me. But there, she thought. We will both have to forget our differences and plan for the future.
She had tea with Maggie and then set off back on the long road to Sunk Island. As she reached the village of Ottringham a waggon was coming towards her. As it drew near she saw that Fred was driving. She greeted him and gave him her congratulations.
He beamed. ‘Aye, it’s grand news. Best yet. So! What news from Sunk Island? Or have you given it all to Maggie?’
She hesitated. Should she give Fred the news of Delia, so that he could tell Maggie at a suitable time? She decided that she would, she had always found him to be a responsive man. He drew into the side of the road when she said she wanted to talk to him, and she slipped down from the saddle and with the horse held on a long rein, she climbed onto the waggon seat next to Fred.
‘It’s not good news,’ she began. ‘And I didn’t tell Maggie because she’s so happy and I didn’t want to spoil things for her, but—’ She told him as plainly as possible of Delia and her trouble, and that she was at home, on Sunk Island.
Fred’s expression hardened. ‘And this man won’t marry her?’
‘Can’t.’ Rosa’s voice was low. ‘He’s married already.’
‘She’s been consorting wi’ a married man?’ he said heatedly. ‘Did she know he was married?’
‘I don’t know,’ Rosa confessed.
‘Well, if she did, I’ve no sympathy for her! None at all and I’m not sure that I want my wife to be in her company!’
Rosa was taken aback. She had not expected sympathy for Delia, but some compassion at least.
‘Shameful behaviour such as this reflects on everybody, Rosa.’ He was quite emphatic. ‘It brings disgrace on ’whole family.’
‘That’s what her father said,’ Rosa answered. ‘He won’t talk to her, won’t let her eat at ’same table with him.’
‘But he’s let her stop? He hasn’t turned her out? There’s many a father wouldn’t have her in the house. But then, he’s a good church-going man is Mr Drew.’
‘He said at first that she had to leave, but Jim persuaded him to let her stay,’ she explained. ‘He said that he’d reminded him that none of us is perfect.’
‘Well, that’s true,’ Fred admitted. ‘But it doesn’t alter ’fact that what she’s done is wrong.’
‘And what about the man?’ Rosa asked. ‘Hasn’t he done wrong too?’
‘Well, yes, of course he has, and if it was my daughter I’d search him out and give him a beating.’ Then he became thoughtful. ‘It’s funny, you know, but when you’re about to be a father your ideas change. If I have a daughter and she goes astray—’
‘Yes,’ Rosa said. ‘What would you do?’
He was silent for a moment. ‘I don’t know. I really don’t. I’d need to be sure that I’d allus been honourable and just, in order to cast ’first stone. And I know that I haven’t allus been.’
He gave a deep sigh, then said, ‘I’ll not tell Maggie yet. Like you say, she’s very happy right now and I don’t want to spoil that. But in a week or two I’ll bring her over to visit and Delia can tell her for herself. It’s her disgrace so she can impart it.’
After Rosa had left that morning, Delia cleared the breakfast things, washed the dishes, built up the fire and fetched in more wood. She only half filled the basket for it was heavy if it was filled to the top. Jim had caught her carrying it one day and had told her not to, that she had to ask him or Matthew to bring it in for her. But she knew that Rosa filled it and carried it every day and she didn’t want to be beholden to her, or for Rosa to think that she was shirking.
They hadn’t had much conversation, she and Rosa, but Delia admitted to herself that she wasn’t patronizing or condescending towards her as she had thought she might be. She didn’t care for her any more than before. She didn’t like Rosa’s efficient manner, nor the way she was so independent and would go off on her own whenever she wanted to. Delia had never been interested in the river and its moods nor in gazing at the swaying corn in the moonlight, as she had seen Rosa do. But I’m going to need her if Da lets me stop at home to have ’bairn. I can’t have it on my own so I’d better try and be nice to her, she thought.
She prepared the midday meal for when her father, brothers and the two farm hands, Bob and Harry, came in. She set the table ready so that they could help themselves, and she would disappear out of sight when they arrived. She knew that in her father’s eyes she was a fallen woman, no longer fit to be included in his family. But she would abide by his rules. She would put up with his moralizing and hide from his sight, if only he would let her stay. For where else could she go?
There was a knock on the back door and she stiffened. No-one was expected, so who could it be? She had not answered the door since she came home, Rosa always did that, and not all of the families on Sunk Island knew that she had returned. She peered out of a corner of the kitchen window. A man was standing there. A youngish man, not anyone she knew. Should she answer or let him go away? But what if it was someone with a message for her father? She had seen and heard his wrath on previous occasions when her mother had not been there to take a message for him.
She smoothed her apron and hoped that her swelling waistline didn’t show too much, patted her hair and went to the door.
‘Good day to you, miss.’ The man took off his hat, his hair was a deep warm shade of red. ‘And a fine morning it is.’
Nervously she agreed that it was. ‘What can I do for you?’
He gave her a cheeky grin. ‘Well now, I’m sure there would be plenty that I could think of, but today I’m looking for Mr Drew.’
Delia smiled back. It had been a long time since she had had a flirtatious conversation with a man. But then her smile faded, as she thought of where such conversations had brought her. ‘He’s not here. He’s out somewhere.’
‘Ah!’ He seemed disappointed. ‘And when will he be back?’
She shrugged. ‘Dinner time, I expect. They’ll all be in then.’
He meditated, then said, ‘All?’
‘My brothers, and ’farm hands.’
‘Ah, so you’re one of Mr Drew’s lovely daughters?’
‘I, er – yes.’ She hadn’t meant to say.
‘Well, I have to say that the ladies of Sunk Island are a grand sight to behold. I met Rosa not so long ago. She lives with you, I believe.’
She frowned. Who was he? ‘Yes. Yes she does.’ She looked across the yard and saw her father and Matthew, leading two of the shire horses, coming down the track towards the house. ‘Here’s Da coming now,’ she said abruptly. ‘You’ll have to excuse me, they’ll be wanting their dinner.’
Matthew was surprised at his father’s curt attitude towards the stranger. He didn’t introduce him, but merely told Matthew to see to the horses and took the Irishman, for undoubtedly that was what he was, judging by his accent, to the other side of the yard, away from the house.
He washed his hands in the sink and could hear Delia clattering pans over the range in the middle kitchen and he called to her, ‘It’s all right, Da’s not in yet. He’s talking to somebody.’
‘Who is he?’ Delia kept a wary eye on the window so that she could scuttle away when her father appeared. ‘He sounds Irish.’
Jim came bursting through the door. ‘Who’s Da talking to?’ he asked sharply.
‘An Irishman,’ Delia and Matthew answered simultaneously. ‘Never seen him before,’ added Matthew, and wondered at the grim expression on his brother’s face.
Their midday meal was taken in silence, broken only occasionally by young Bob or Harry, commenting on what needed to be done that afternoon. ‘Get on and do it then,’ Mr Drew growled, ‘no use in just thinking on it.’
‘Thanks, Delia,’ Matthew called as he left the table and put on his coat to go out. He glanced at his father and Jim, but neither of them said a word.
‘Thank you, miss,’ young Bob called also, and Harry said in an aside that they didn’t see much of Miss Delia even though she was living at home.
It won’t be long, Matthew thought, before Harry puts two and two together. It would have been better if Delia had shown herself each day. Her weight increase would not have been as obvious as it will be if Harry catches sight of her now. And then it will be all around the island, especially if he tells his wife.
Out in the yard when they were alone, Jim confronted his father. ‘You were talking to John Byrne! Why has he come back? What did he want?’
‘He wants some help and came to us.’ His father didn’t look at him. ‘It’s just a small job! We won’t be involved. Just storing ’goods, that’s all.’
‘No! Not again!’ Jim’s face had lost all its colour. Defying his father wasn’t easy. But he had to make a stand. ‘We can’t. I won’t. You can’t bully me same as when I was a lad.’
His father looked up at him. ‘Bully you? Of course not. You must make your own mind up on such matters.’ He seemed to hesitate, and Jim felt there was a nervousness in his manner. ‘I’m not telling you that you have to help me, but I’m asking if you will. They – them two, they said they’ll go to ’law if I don’t help them with this job! They said,’ Drew took a deep breath, ‘that they’ll think up some cock and bull story about Carlos’s disappearance. They said that they’ll implicate us both if we don’t help with this job.’
‘How can they? They know nothing.’ Jim felt a terrible fear as his past confronted him.
His father pursed his lips. ‘Insinuation. A whisper that Carlos didn’t disappear of his own free will.’
Jim stared at his father. He was afraid. He would die if he was locked up.
‘They said . . .’ His father’s voice dropped low. ‘They said that they’ll accuse us of murder!’