Chapter 18

Mary ran down the stairs. She’d been late getting up after tossing and turning, thinking about William and Roger Birbeck. Her thoughts had run away with her as she’d lain in her bed, little things becoming all-consuming, worrying about what dress to wear and what she should say to William’s mother, who seemed to still hold a large sway in his life, no matter that he was a grown man. She was half-way down the stairs when she noticed William and a police officer coming up them.

‘Good morning, Miss Reynolds.’ William kept it formal as he stopped on the stairs. ‘I’m just showing this officer up to Roger Birbeck’s room – he needs to clear it and take Birbeck his possessions. Could you, before starting work, wait for me in my office, please?’ He smiled and then continued on his way, following the police officer up the stairs, leaving Mary wondering what he needed to speak to her about as she walked across the lobby and entered William’s office, sitting on one of the green leather seats that matched the green baize that topped the desk that William sat at each day, which was covered with the papers he had to deal with on a daily basis. On his desk, too, was a picture of his mother and father and Mary couldn’t resist picking it up and looking at the dapper couple who looked so happy on their wedding day. She looked particularly at his mother, whom she had never met. She knew that Thomas Winfield was a good man, but William’s mother was an unknown quantity. She was lovely, Mary thought, petite with blonde hair and a beautiful face – no wonder his father had fallen in love with her, regardless of her position in life. She quickly placed it back down on the desk when she heard William opening the door but he noticed her putting the photograph back in its place.

‘They are a handsome couple, aren’t they? And they are still as happy as the day they married – you can’t say that about a lot of couples. I’m glad that you agreed to meet them. My mother will make a real fuss of you and my Uncle Rob will no doubt chat you up – he’s the confirmed bachelor of the family but still has an eye for the ladies even at the age of sixty-five. He’s coming to dinner to view my father’s latest purchase, an automobile, would you believe? A Benz Motorwagon. I never thought I’d see the day my father would forsake his horses for a piece of machinery. Well, not that it could replace his horses just yet for everyday use, but he does love new things.’ William looked at the horror on Mary’s face as she thought of being chatted up by Uncle Rob and taking in the news that Thomas had purchased an automobile. ‘Don’t worry, Rob will just josh you, he’s harmless enough.’

‘Your father has bought an automobile? Have you ridden in it yet? What’s it like?’ Mary asked excitedly.

‘I’ve not been near it of yet but I’m sure he will be eager to demonstrate it to us and show off. So, be prepared for a ride in it. Now, my news today is a little disconcerting; as you saw, a police officer has been for Roger Birbeck’s belongings and that is because his brother has intervened in the situation. Not for the best, in Roger’s case – I think he would have been better standing trial and going to prison rather than what his brother has done to him.’ William sat down in his chair behind his desk and looked at Mary.

‘What has he done? Where’s Roger? He’s not been let out, has he? He’ll be coming to find me!’ Mary exclaimed, panicking. God knows what he’d do if he came near her.

‘No, no, no, my dear, I wouldn’t let him touch a hair of your head, let alone come anywhere near this place. No, I’m afraid Roger’s life of freedom has come to an end; his brother has decided to inter him in the lunatic asylum at Menston. More for his own sake than Roger’s. Being Lord Birbeck, he cannot have the scandal of his brother going around attacking women.’ William stood up from his chair and came round to Mary.

‘No! Not the asylum at Menston! I have heard that it’s a terrible place. Oh, Roger doesn’t deserve to be put in there. He just needs to stop drinking; I believe it brings out the devil in him when he takes too much.’ Mary shook her head and leapt to her feet.

‘It’s a case of out of sight, out of mind and no lord that sits in Parliament wants any family scandal, so he’s hushing the whole affair up. The policeman asked me if you were likely to go to the papers with your ordeal and I gave him the assurance that you would not. What good would it do? Only more heartache for everyone, so it’s best forgotten about.’ William put his hand on Mary’s shoulder and looked into her eyes.

‘No, I’d never tell the papers anything – they just make something out of nothing. I saw the damage they did when my friend’s father killed the baby of the family and when your fiancée told tales when she had no cause to.’ Mary bowed her head. ‘Poor, poor Roger – he will never be allowed out once he’s in there!’

William put his hand gently under Mary’s chin and raised her face to look at his. ‘That’s why you are so special, Mary Reynolds, you always see the best in people, but at the same time you are nobody’s fool. I’m so glad my father found you …’ William bowed his head and felt Mary tremble as he gently pulled her near and placed his lips on hers, kissing her tenderly. ‘I’ve been wanting to do that for some time but I thought that you would think I was taking advantage of you …’ He put his hand on her cheek and looked at her with passion.

‘I’d never think that – and I’ve been wanting to do that too but fought against it for the opposite reason. I thought you’d think I was a gold-digger and a common tart,’ Mary whispered and looked up into William’s eyes.

‘You are neither, believe me. You are a true lady, my Mary, I knew that from the minute you and I sat down together looking at the plans for the Palace. You showed more interest in me and this place that day than Faith ever did. When I looked at you, I was smitten – but at that time promised to Faith …’

Mary slipped from his grip and looked at William. ‘I’d better go – my girls will be waiting for me and we still have a little catching up to do after the busy day yesterday. Oh, William! I feel guilty feeling the way I do about you – I’ve never felt this way about anybody before.’

‘Nor I, but Mary, there is no reason to feel guilty for this can’t be wrong as it seems to make us feel happy.’ William watched as Mary left his office and he smiled; every time he saw her his heart missed a beat and he’d never felt like this when he was courting Faith!

‘Oh, have you something to tell us, Mary?’ Shona asked cheekily when she saw Mary come into the bar, flushed and smiling, and grinned across at Leonard, who was idly playing the piano, waiting for the drinkers to arrive.

‘You know I’m in charge of you lot? And yet you have no respect for me!’ Mary looked crossly at her girls and the grinning piano player.

‘He’s so good-looking, is Mr William Winfield. I wish it had been me that he had swept off my feet – and he looked like a really good dancer last night. Did he whisper sweet nothings in your ear while he was holding you close?’ Molly asked cheekily and then, giggling, went back to washing the few glasses that had been left the night before after the long day of celebration.

‘He’s extremely light on his feet – and, as for the rest, you’ll have to be content with your own imaginations because I’m not telling you girls anything!’ Mary said and made herself busy.

‘Mmm, he’s a really good catch, is Mr Winfield, but you also marry the job, you know – that’s what Faith Robinson didn’t want,’ Beth said as she dried the glasses that Molly passed her.

‘Well, that’s no problem for our Mary – she loves this place anyway,’ Molly replied.

‘Will you all shut up? I am here, you know! We are just friends, nothing more, so now get on with your work,’ Mary snapped. She would not have her private life discussed by one and all. It would all end in tears anyway, when she met his family on Saturday, which was approaching too quickly for her liking.

Thank heavens it was the Saturday that she was scheduled not to work, Mary thought as she took her clothes off in the communal bathroom at the end of the staff bedroom corridor. Most of the live-in staff were busy at work, so no one would notice her bathing and pampering herself, ready for the evening in front of her. She’d washed, styled and dried her hair the previous night – and that had caused enough comments at breakfast because she had kept her hair down and the full length of it had been seen by the staff. She sighed. The only problem with living and working in the same place was that everybody knew your business and there was no privacy. She’d seen the staff smirking and heard giggling from some maids when she had been seen discussing business with William, so her three bar girls and Leonard had obviously spread the gossip and now everyone was putting two and two together.

Mary lay full-length in the bath, making sure her hair didn’t get wet, and she was frightened the damp would take the curl out of her hair so didn’t lie too long after she had washed, stepping out of the bath and drying herself and dressing as quickly as she could. Usually, a bath was something she wallowed in, a real luxury after never being used to having hot water on tap. However, today her stomach was churning with anxiety and her heart pounded as she tightened her corset and pulled on the dress she had chosen to wear to her dinner with William and his family.

She left the bathroom and quickly walked along the passage to her room. There she stood in front of the full-length mirror and looked at herself. She sighed; the dress was the wrong colour – it didn’t show her at her best. Nobody in their right minds would want their son to be seen with her, she thought as she sat down at her dressing table and looked at herself yet again. She closed her eyes and breathed in; this was stupid! William saw her every day and his father had seen her when she was at her worst as well as her best and the blue dress, with its high neck, was of good quality. She calmed herself down and attached a silver brooch with a lovebird flying through a horseshoe to the high neck and then added a pair of jet earrings to her ears before adding just a touch of rouge to her cheeks. There! She looked quite presentable, not bad at all for a lass who had come from nothing, she tried to tell herself as she picked up her small beaded blue bag.

And now, tongues would really wag, she thought, when she met William in the lobby as arranged and took his arm and they made their way to his horse and carriage. Their secret would truly be out and there would be even more tittle-tattling behind her back … She shook her head; she didn’t care, just as long as William was being true to her and not using her, like so many men in power did with lower-class women. But he couldn’t be, not William; he was a gentleman and had always acted as such …

William stood in the lobby and looked up at Mary as she walked down the stairs towards him. She looked stunning, and so beautifully dressed, just right for the first meeting with his mother.

‘You look beautiful,’ he said as he offered her his arm, making the staff behind the lobby’s desk forget what they were doing for a brief second. ‘I can’t wait for my mother to meet you – and my father already knows that you are joining me. When I told him he just looked at me and gave an annoying, knowing smile,’ he said ruefully and grinned.

‘If I know your father, at least, accepts me as your guest, it makes me less nervous.’ Mary took his arm and glanced around her, seeing that all eyes were upon them as they walked out of the main entrance of the hotel and climbed into William’s personal carriage.

‘Stop worrying, Mary. My mother and Uncle Rob are harmless and they will make you more than welcome. Just enjoy the evening – I’m certainly going to! I can’t wait to see my father’s car, I’m surprised he hasn’t been to visit us and shown it off outside the hotel as of yet.’ William took Mary’s hand. ‘Now, sit back and enjoy yourself. I’ll be there to look after you, no matter what.’ William squeezed her hand and leaned over and kissed her cheek.

‘I’ll try to. Do you not need special clothing to ride in this automobile? It may be dangerous in long skirts and I’ve heard they can reach up to fifteen miles an hour, that is really too fast.’ Mary decided to keep her fears at bay by talking about Thomas Winfield’s new purchase but found herself chattering with nerves as the carriage took them to the outskirts of Leeds and to the new upper-class housing of Roundhay, where they pulled into the drive that led up to William’s house. It wasn’t a stately home by any means, but it was newly built in the latest style, detached, two-storeys high, square-set with double-fronted bay windows and a pillared archway in front of the main door. She knew that it was one of the most desirable houses in the area, with well-tended gardens on either side of a beautiful green lawn – and, standing in pride of place in the drive was the machine that was Thomas’s pride of joy, the automobile, shining in the summer evening’s sun.

Hearing the sound of the horse’s hooves, Thomas and his brother Rob came out and stood on the steps that led up to the door into the house.

‘Now, what do you think of that, my lad? Isn’t she fine?’ Thomas smiled, not bothering to welcome Mary and his son, so besotted was he by his precious automobile.

‘Aye, and William’s lady friend is a bonny one too,’ Rob whispered in Thomas’s ear but was ignored as Thomas ran down the steps and slapped his son on the back as the horse and carriage drove away.

‘So, the reprobate has brought you along for company, Mary, or could it be to show off this magnificent machine? After all, our automobile will be one of the few in the country. But you mark my words, the streets will be full of them before long, because they are marvellous machines.’ Thomas went and stood next to his precious purchase and stroked it with as much care as he would a woman.

‘Lord, Thomas, are you not going to introduce me to this divine creature? Or does she have to do it herself – because it seems that she has a rival in that fearful contraption by the way you two are gazing at it with such passion? Never mind, I’ll introduce myself.’ Rob smiled and held out his hand. ‘I’m Thomas’s brother, Rob, and, for my sins, uncle to this wastrel.’ He turned and grinned at William who, once he had walked around the automobile, joined Mary at the foot of the steps.

‘Glad to meet you, sir. I’m Mary, Mary Reynolds.’ She glanced up at Rob, aware of him looking her up and down.

‘Drop the sir – it’s Rob to everyone I know. After all, I’m the black sheep of the family, according to my big brother here. Now, William, you have found yourself a very bonny filly in this one; she looks a lot more appealing than that mealy-mouthed Faith you were smitten with.’ Rob grinned and William visibly winced at his outrageous speech.

‘Mary and I are just friends – and she is my guest here tonight, so you behave yourself,’ William said and grinned as he turned to her. ‘You’ll have to excuse my Uncle Rob, he says it as he sees it, and hence he has earned his Black Sheep title many a time.’

‘Yes, take no notice, Mary,’ Thomas said, shaking his head at his brother. ‘Let’s go and join Jill – she’s been dying to meet you since William said you were joining us for dinner. I left her frowning and saying that the dress she had chosen would never do. It looked fine to me, but I know what you women are like and I’ve learned not to comment, no matter what my thoughts are.’ Thomas took her arm and walked up the steps into the hallway, which was filled with the scent of roses from the elaborate display of them on a hall table; they had obviously been freshly cut for the occasion. ‘We’ll go and sit in the drawing room until Jill joins us. Dinner won’t be long – I can smell good aromas coming from the kitchen and the dining room is set and ready for us – and after dinner, would you like a spin in my new baby? I’m sure you are curious about what it feels like.’ Thomas smiled as he opened the door into a sumptuously furnished drawing room.

‘I’d like that very much, but I must admit to feeling a little nervous about the experience.’ Mary looked at Thomas and then William for reassurance.

‘You’ve been on a train before, I take it?’ Thomas quizzed.

Mary nodded her head.

‘Then it is similar to that, but without the smoke and grime. You will enjoy it, believe me. Now, would you like a drink?’ Thomas moved over to a walnut sideboard and lifted a decanter full of whisky and motioned to a bottle of gin.

‘No, Mr Winfield, I don’t drink – or should I say I prefer not to drink?’ Mary turned to look at Rob as he let out a huge, roaring laugh.

‘Bloody hell, William! You’ve got a cracker here: bonny, good figure and she doesn’t drink. Get her wed, lad, before somebody else snaps her up.’ Rob poured himself a whisky and looked at his brother, who scowled at him. ‘Sorry, I’ll keep my thoughts to myself.’ He swigged a mouthful of his drink back and sat in one of the comfortable chairs positioned around the fireplace.

William raised his eyebrows as he caught Mary’s eye and then went to stand next to her in support.

‘Ah, there you are. I thought you must have gone into Leeds to purchase a new dress, the length of time that you’ve kept us waiting,’ Thomas joked to his wife as she entered the drawing room.

‘Oh, you are always exaggerating, Thomas.’ Jill Winfield smiled at her husband and then walked over to William and kissed her son on the cheek before turning and looking at Mary. ‘You must be Mary, my dear. I’m sorry that I’ve kept you waiting, but you know what we are like, we just want to look right when meeting someone special.’ She leant forward and gently kissed Mary on her cheek. ‘I must say you look absolutely beautiful – you put my efforts to shame.’

‘Oh, no, no, Mrs Winfield, you look so glamorous, I-I could never compare to you.’ Mary looked at the woman who was dressed in a truly beautiful dress, adorned by a single string of pearls, elegantly cut to show off, even at her age, her small waist. However, her voice told any listener where she originally came from and the strong accent of Leeds came through as she spoke.

‘Are you behaving yourself, Rob? And Thomas, have you bored Mary with the talk of that monstrosity that stands out in the drive?’ Jill Winfield turned again to Mary. ‘Don’t listen to a word either of them says – there’s only one man with any sense with us tonight and that’s my darling William. Today he’s excelled himself by bringing you to dinner with him and I look forward to learning about you when the boys go and play with their new toy after dinner. But for now, let’s see if Cook and the staff have done us proud. I believe it’s guinea fowl for the main course and Cook has promised me one of her delicious strawberry trifles as we have a glut of strawberries out in the kitchen garden.’ She linked her arm through her son’s, leaving Thomas to take Mary’s as they walked through into the dining room, where the table was set out with exquisite cut glass and the finest silver cutlery. As soon as they sat down, two waiters placed napkins on their knees and made sure they were comfortable.

‘There now, isn’t this lovely?’ Jill said as she looked at the bowl of soup placed in front of her and looked up at her son. She knew nothing about the girl he’d brought on his arm, although Thomas had reassured her that she was no gold-digger, that she was from a working-class background and was a hard worker. All she wanted was for William to be happy; it didn’t matter if the girl had no money, but if she was going to break his heart and take him for what money she could get out of him then it was her duty to know about it. She was certainly nothing like Faith Robinson, thank the Lord, she thought as she watched her eat her soup. Manners yes, good looks yes – but no money, you could tell that by the way she dressed, although she would give her credit for she had taken care of what she was wearing for their first meeting. By the end of the evening she would have found out all about her and then, if William was serious about the girl, she might just give him her blessing.