Twelfth Night at Eyre Hall by Luccia Gray

Author:Luccia Gray [Gray, Luccia]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Goodreads: 25815513
Publisher: Lucia Garcia Magaldi
Published: 2015-08-27T16:00:00+00:00

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Chapter XVII – Helen’s Mother

I tried in vain to contain my anger as I approached the servants’ quarters at Eyre Hall. Daisy was helping cook on the stove while Beth and Simon prepared the trays of food to be carried upstairs to the drawing room for the mourners. I bid them all good morning. They stopped their work and welcomed me warmly, offering me food and drink, which I turned down. They told me how upset they all were with Mr. Mason’s sudden death, and complained about the endless stream of visitors to the house.

I approached Jenny who was sewing by the kitchen window. “I would like a word with you, Jenny.”

“Well, good morning, Lieutenant. ‘Tis a good day for you, ain’t it?”

“Now. In private.”

“My, is it my lucky day today, too?”

I grabbed her arm, squeezing tightly enough to hurt her.

She smiled. “Want it rough do you?” I pulled her out of the kitchen and down the stairs to the scullery, in the basement, where I knew we would not be heard. She rushed to the corner behind a table laden with scrubbing brushes, next to some shelves where the bottles of soap were kept.

“What do you want? Keep away. You’re frightening me!” I ducked as she threw some bottles across the room.

“I only want to talk to you.”

When she had run out of bottles to throw, I continued. “I have been to London to visit a lady who calls herself Mrs. Banks.”

She screamed, threw a brush at me, and tried to rush to the door, but I caught her.

“Let go! You’ll break my arm! You brute!”

“I shall break more than your arm if I have to.”

“I ain’t done nothing wrong. I did what they told me.”

“Sit and listen.” I pushed her onto a discarded wicker rocking chair behind the door.

“Are you going to hurt me?”

“That will be up to you.”

“What do you want?”

“Nell is not your daughter, and you know it. You knew who her mother was, and you kept her.”

“I was hired as wet nurse and then told to take her to London and leave her there. I didn’t ask no questions.”

“Your daughter died in London, not Jane’s.”

“I looked after Nell! They didn’t want her!”

“A fine way of looking after her! You barely fed her, and had her working all day in the fields as a scarecrow!”

“It was their fault my baby died. If I hadn’t of gone to London she wouldn’t of died. I’d already lost my little boy when I went to Jamaica with Richard, after Annette was born. They took my two babies away!”

“You went to Jamaica with Annette and Mason?”

“When the madwoman had the baby, they needed a wet nurse, so he took me with him to Jamaica. I had a little boy, but I left him behind with my husband. When I came back, they had both died. I had nothing. I lost everything I had because of them. They used me and threw me out. I had to work at the hotel in Millcote.

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