Going Home (26 page)

Scott rose slowly from his chair. He had an unlit cigar in his hand and he rolled it gently between his fingertips. ‘Really?’ he said ‘What kind of business?’

Ralph took a deep breath. His mouth was dry and he wished with all his heart that it hadn’t come to this. ‘I have reason to believe, sir, that you are my father.’

SCOTT LOWERED HIMSELF
gradually into his chair, then tapped the cigar several times on the desk. He laid it down and said, ‘Sit down, Hawkins, and tell me why you should think such a thing.’

Ralph pulled up a chair and sat down. He cleared his throat. ‘I have researched into my mother’s past. Her name was Rose Elizabeth Scott, and I know that she was sent for trial at York County Court on a charge of attempted murder of her husband, Edward Scott.’ He paused. ‘The same name as yours, sir. It is not an unusual name, I know, but my enquiries have led me to discover that my mother was in the confectionery trade before her marriage and so, of course, were you.’

Scott stared at Ralph and slowly nodded his head. ‘It is true,’ he said, ‘that my wife did attempt to murder me and was transported for the offence. It is an episode that I prefer to forget.’

He looked down at his desk and pursed his
lips and Ralph had an intuitive feeling that he was working out his next move, as if he was playing a game of chess. ‘What is rather strange, however,’ Scott continued, ‘is that I didn’t know that she was expecting a child. Rather odd that she wouldn’t have told her husband, don’t you think?’

‘Ah!’ So perhaps I was another man’s child, Ralph considered. I think I would prefer it if it was so. Yet he remembered that Henderson, the accountant, had said that Mrs Scott was with child when she was transported. If he knew, then Scott must have known too.

‘But I am not saying it is not possible,’ Scott went on. ‘Have you not managed to track down any other living relatives?’

‘No, sir, there is no-one else.’ As he said it, some information, vague and shadowy, slipped into his mind. But so indeterminate he couldn’t recall its substance.

‘I see! Well, shall we work out some dates, the trial, the voyage, your birth?’ Suddenly Scott was extremely affable and giving Ralph a broad smile, got up, and leaning across the desk, put out his hand. ‘I would be delighted to think that I had a son after all these years.’

He’s lying, Ralph thought. He must have known. But if I am not another man’s child, what was the reason for the offence? ‘Why did your wife attempt to kill you?’

Scott looked sorrowful. ‘I’m not sure if you will want to know this, if in fact your mother and
my wife are the same person, and it is looking extremely likely. But,’ he shook his head despairingly, ‘I had a terrible life with her. She was, I’m sorry to say, a very wicked woman.’

Ralph stood up and started to pace. ‘But she surely must have had some cause to commit such an act? A quarrel perhaps?’

‘Of course you wouldn’t wish to believe that your mother was wicked! But, a quarrel, yes. She was an extremely quarrelsome woman. Wanted everything her own way. Wouldn’t take no for an answer.’

Henderson had said that there was violence within the marriage, Ralph remembered. ‘And – and did you ever strike her?’ he asked.

Scott looked shocked. ‘Strike a woman? Never!’

‘But there must have been a reason – ’

‘Why she picked up a knife?’

‘A knife? I didn’t know the weapon, sir.’

‘A paperknife. It was lying here on the desk. Look,’ Scott brought from beneath a sheaf of papers a slender silver knife. ‘This very one.’

He kept it! Ralph thought. I would have wanted rid of it. He stared down at the implement. The handle was shiny but the blade was dull and rounded. ‘Were you badly injured?’

‘It was not the injury,’ Scott said in an aggrieved voice, ‘but the intent. But yes, I have a scar on my neck to this day.’

‘Were you not told that she had died on the voyage?’

‘Yes, I was notified,’ he said briefly. ‘I suppose she caught some disease? Those convict ships must have been breeding grounds for every kind of illness.’

Ralph fixed him with a look. ‘She jumped overboard. She didn’t die of illness, she killed herself!’ He felt a sudden deep pain of sorrow for his mother, that she had been married to this heartless man. ‘Her life must have proved unbearable at the end.’

Scott was silent for a moment, then he muttered, ‘Yes. It must have been.’ He returned Ralph’s stare. ‘Let’s trust she repented of her sins.’

‘Good afternoon, Mr Mungo. How very nice to see you!’

Jack turned at the sound of the voice. ‘Miss Fielding!’ He touched his hat and bowed. ‘This is an unexpected pleasure.’

Elizabeth Fielding flushed shyly. ‘Are you alone in York? Is Mr Hawkins not with you? Or Miss Linton?’

‘Regrettably Miss Linton is not in York, and Mr Hawkins is on business elsewhere, but he will be joining me later in the day. I have been enjoying the delights of this most unusual city.’

‘Would you – ’ Elizabeth hesitated and then decided to be bold. ‘Would you and Mr Hawkins care to have supper with us this evening? A gentleman friend of Harriet’s and his father will be joining us.’ She indicated her basket. ‘I
have just been buying provisions – only a simple supper,’ she added. ‘Nothing elaborate, I’m afraid.’

‘So very kind,’ he murmured. ‘I would be delighted and I am quite sure that Mr Hawkins will be too. You must allow me to buy wine for the occasion.’

‘Oh,’ she demurred. ‘There is really no need. Harriet and I rarely take wine and Mr Thacker and his son only occasionally.’

‘I have given up grape and grain completely, Miss Fielding, but perhaps on this occasion you could be persuaded?’ He smiled as he spoke and she agreed that perhaps just this once she could be coaxed into having just one glass of wine.

After a few more pleasantries, they said farewell and Jack went off to make some small purchases. Thacker, he deliberated as he bought flowers, I have heard that name recently.

He bought chocolates too and cigars for the gentlemen, though he himself did not smoke, and then went back to the inn to await Ralph’s return. He heard the sound of his footsteps on the stairs and opened the door of his room to greet him.

Ralph came in and threw his hat onto Jack’s bed and, sitting down on a chair by the fire, put his head in his hands. Jack took the other chair. ‘So! He is your father?’ he said quietly.

Ralph gave a huge sigh. ‘Yes. There is no doubt about it. Everything fits, although he says
that he didn’t know that his wife was expecting a child.’

‘He’s lying,’ Jack murmured. ‘Henderson said that she was.’

‘He did, didn’t he?’ Ralph looked up; his face was pale and drawn. ‘I thought that was what he’d said. But why would Scott lie?’

‘It wouldn’t look very good, would it, admitting that your wife was carrying your child when she was about to undertake a life sentence?’

‘I wish that I had never started this,’ Ralph muttered. ‘No good will come of it.’

‘You don’t know that,’ Jack replied. ‘You can’t see into the future, you can only see what has gone before. There may be great advantages before you. Be patient.’

‘You’re such an old sage, Jack,’ Ralph grumbled. ‘But you are usually right.’ He got up and stretched. ‘I’m going to my room to get changed and shake off the aura of Scott from me, then we’ll go out and have a slap-up meal, shall we? To celebrate my good fortune in finding my father,’ he added cynically. ‘He wanted me to stay for supper, but I made the excuse I had arranged to meet friends.’

‘Which is what we are to do,’ Jack interrupted. ‘We have been invited to sup with the Miss Fieldings and their guests.’

‘Oh! Have we?’ Ralph was slightly chastened. ‘I’m not sure I shall be very good company for those delightful ladies.’

‘Well, I will charm them with my wit and you
can make polite conversation with their friends, the Thackers.’

‘The Thackers? Man and wife?’

‘Father and son.’

‘We had better buy wine and flowers then, oh and cigars. I do believe the ladies are in straitened circumstances.’

‘No sooner thought than done, brother,’ Jack laughed. ‘We are of the same mind.’

‘Elizabeth! Are you sure the food will stretch to six?’ Harriet was in a tizzy when Elizabeth told her of their two extra guests.

‘I hope so. I felt it only polite that I invite them. After all, the Lintons were so very kind to us in inviting us to their home, and Mr Hawkins and Mr Mungo were very pleasant towards us even though we did not have a great deal of conversation with them.’

‘Of course. You are quite right and it will not be at all improper if Mr Thacker and Thomas are here to dine also.’

‘Quite so,’ Elizabeth answered. ‘Although I am such an old maid now that I fear my days of being improper are almost over.’

Harriet sighed. ‘And mine too, dear Elizabeth. I think that Thomas and I are doomed to grow old in single companionship only.’

Elizabeth chopped the rabbit she had purchased and divided it up into portions. She poured over it the last of the sherry which Mr Thacker had brought at Christmas, and then
chopped several onions, a bunch of parsley and a potato and put it all in a pie dish and into the oven whilst she prepared the pastry to go over the top.

Harriet scrubbed potatoes and whilst they were boiling, she shelled new peas and set the table in the parlour. It was not dark but she lit a candle on the table and the lamp on the dresser, then put another log on the fire. ‘There,’ she said. ‘See how cosy it looks. No-one would guess how very poor we are, Elizabeth.’

‘How very cosy,’ Ralph said as he was shown into the parlour. ‘And can I smell rabbit pie?’

‘You can, Mr Hawkins,’ Elizabeth said. ‘It is a favourite of ours.’

‘And mine too,’ he said. ‘My mother makes it very often. Now you have made me feel quite homesick, Miss Fielding!’

‘Oh, I am so sorry,’ she began, but then on realizing he was teasing, said, ‘but you must be enjoying your stay with the Lintons? I have recently written to Miss Linton. They are such a delightful family, so very hospitable.’

They were interrupted by the doorbell and introductions were made as Thomas Thacker and his father James came into the parlour. They were seated immediately as the room was too small for them to stand around, and Ralph asked if he might be allowed to pour a glass of wine for everyone.

‘And are you in a profession, Mr Thacker?’
Ralph addressed the younger man as he gave him a glass of wine.

‘Trade, Mr Hawkins. I am a clerk in a confectionery company. A lowly position, I’m afraid.’

‘Were you in a similar occupation, sir?’ Ralph now addressed Mr James Thacker. ‘The confectionery business in York appears to flourish.’

‘Indeed I was, I had a prominent position with one of the larger manufacturers, but alas, ill health forced me to retire early.’

Ralph heard Jack draw in a short sharp breath and turned his head slightly. Jack’s eyes flickered from Mr Thacker to himself and back again, but he didn’t understand the meaning of the intense glance.

Elizabeth brought in the pie and Harriet the vegetables, and they all exclaimed appreciatively at the aroma and the golden crust of the pie, and when their hostesses were seated, began to eat.

‘Do you find York interesting, Mr Mungo?’ James Thacker asked. ‘It will be quite different from your native land, although I do believe that your culture must go back much further than ours?’

‘I am surprised and pleased to hear you acknowledge that, sir,’ Jack replied. ‘So many people do not consider that the Aborigines have any culture at all, whereas in fact it is very ancient.’

‘Ah, well, since my retirement I have much time on my hands, and I make it my business to
read as much literature as possible in order to keep my mind from stagnating.’ He put down his knife and fork. ‘I have read of the advancements of the New World, but it seems to me that as the native Australian was already on that continent when the white man arrived, he must have been there for some considerable time. But how he got there I couldn’t begin to imagine. One day, I am sure, there will be studies done.’

‘What brought on your interest in Australia, sir?’ Ralph asked. ‘Politically it has always been controversial.’

‘Indeed it has.’ James Thacker glanced across at Elizabeth. ‘But a very dear friend of mine journeyed there many years ago and I was curious to know what kind of country it was.’

‘And in what part of the country did he settle?’ Ralph asked. ‘Sydney? Melbourne?’

‘Regretfully I do not know. We lost touch unfortunately.’ He picked up his knife and fork again and, turning the conversation, asked Ralph, ‘And is your interest in York in a tourist capacity, Mr Hawkins? Or are you on business here?’

‘Neither of those things, sir.’ Ralph felt a deep depression coming over him as he realized that he now had a commitment to Scott. ‘I came here to look for family connections.’

‘Oh, how very interesting.’ James Thacker popped a piece of rabbit into his mouth and chewed thoughtfully. ‘I take it then that your family were immigrants. Were they from York?’

There was a sudden hush around the table. Both Harriet and Elizabeth stopped eating and looked at Ralph expectantly, and Jack waited, his breath tight in his throat, for Ralph to impart the tidings of his past to James Thacker. What Ralph had to say would, Jack was convinced, prove without doubt that Scott was Ralph’s father.

‘Excellent pie, my dear Elizabeth,’ Thomas interrupted enthusiastically. ‘The best I have ever tasted.’

‘Thank you, Thomas.’ Elizabeth smiled at him, then turned her attention back to Ralph. ‘I understand, Mr Hawkins,’ she said, ‘that you think your father was a York man?’

Ralph nodded. His appetite seemed to have vanished and he pushed a piece of piecrust around his plate. ‘That’s right, and now I have found him and today I have advised him of my existence.’

Thomas looked up. ‘You mean he didn’t know? How is that?’

‘He claims that he didn’t know that his wife, my mother, was expecting a child.’

‘How very odd,’ Thomas exclaimed.

‘Indeed, very odd, though there could be some truth in it. You see, my mother was transported to Australia as a convict. Perhaps she didn’t tell him, though it seems unlikely.’