Authors: Freda Lightfoot
The Bobbin Girls (48 page)
‘Has she been here all along?’ he barked.
‘Of course.’ Rob looked puzzled. ‘Why would she not be? You may as well know, Father, Alena will soon be my wife. We mean to marry within the next few weeks.’
‘Wife?’ He could scarce form the word. James struggled to sit up, shock and outrage in his face. ‘You mean to
marry
?’
The sound was so terrible that Alena slid her hand into Rob’s. ‘We’re to have a child. Your grandchild, Mr Hollinthwaite. And we hope, in time, that you will welcome him or her into the family.’
He stared at her, his mouth working but no sound coming out, the veins on his scrawny neck standing out.
Rob said, ‘We mean to live in the end cottage on Birkwith Row. We shall need a warm place for the baby, when it comes. It used to be old Edith’s house, if you remember.’
‘Are you quite mad? My son, live in Birkwith Row? Is this Lizzie’s idea? What has she been saying about me?’
Rob and Alena exchanged a baffled glance. ‘My mother suggested it, yes, but...’
‘I knew it! She’s been poking her nose in where it’s not wanted,
again
. You belong here, boy. At Ellersgarth Hall. This is your home. And you will work for
me
, at the mill. You
promised
.’ James was thumping the arm of his chair with a clenched fist, could feel the all too familiar heat rising in his face, the iron bands tightening across his chest. The boy was as insolent and disobedient as ever. Even now he was shaking his head and smiling, displaying a typically irritating calm.
‘I promised to stay here in Ellersgarth. I never said I would work for you at the mill. I have a job already, in the forest. One I enjoy and intend to pursue. Oh, we’ll have to make some adjustments, with the baby and all.’ He smiled down at Alena with pride, then lifted his chin in a familiar gesture as he again faced James. ‘But you can’t control my life any more, Father. I shall make my own decisions in future. I may be your son but I’m also a free man with a mind of my own.’
‘Son? Dear God, what an idiot I’ve been! You’re no son of mine. You’re a useless lump of baggage who wasn’t worth the sacrifices I’ve made.’
Seeing Rob flinch, knowing how carefully he had prepared his little speech, Alena quickly stepped in with her support. Don’t reject him again, Mr Hollinthwaite. I know you and Rob have had your differences, that you didn’t approve of me or our love, but it’s time to put an end to all of that now. We belong together. Rob
is
your son, and soon he may have a son of his own. Don’t you wish him well? You surely don’t want to risk losing him, as you have lost Olivia?’
When he didn’t answer, only stared at her from eyes dazed with a fury he seemed unable to express, she moved quietly forward, kneeling beside his chair as she struggled to find words to express her own thoughts.
‘If trees are not properly tended and cared for, they choke to death for lack of air and sunshine. Love is like sunshine. It makes a person grow and be strong. Can’t you give a little to your own son?’
Now his lip curled with cruel contempt. ‘I’ve told you, he’s not my son. I’ve wasted my time trying to make him so. He was the child of some young chit who very nearly gave birth to him on my own doorstep.
You
are my child.
You
, Alena Townsen. All Olivia could manage, after her many failures, was one puling sickly girl whom we doubted would last the night. And I needed a
son
.’
Alena somehow got to her feet, staggering backwards to find herself leaning against Rob’s solid strength, though he was clearly as stunned as she. Gratefully she clung to him, doubting she could have remained upright otherwise. ‘What are you saying?’
James’s eyes were glazed, as if he were in some distant place, barely aware of their presence. ‘All I had to do was swap you for the healthy brat whose mother had so considerately passed away in my kitchen, then I could have the son I craved. No one would be any the wiser. Not even the doctor since the fool arrived too late. Only Stella was aware of the exchange, and I could trust her. Olivia was too numbed with opium after a difficult birth to understand what was happening. When I gave Rob to her, she believed he was her child. Why should she not?’
The pale eyes focused again upon Alena. ‘But
you
weren’t meant to survive the night, let alone remain in my sight as a constant thorn in my flesh, a reminder of what I had done.’
Rob, his voice barely above a whisper, was the first of them to speak. ‘Are you saying that was
my
mother you buried in the woods behind the house? Some young girl whose family may still be searching for her?’
‘I did what had to be done. I disposed of the body without anyone being any the wiser. The vicar said a prayer over her - that man would do anything for a bottle or two of whisky. What mattered was I’d solved my problem. I had the son I needed, thanks to this unknown chit who no one knew anything about.’
‘But you gave away your own
daughter
?’
James shrugged. ‘What are families anyway? Who needs them, or love? Olivia was always bleating on about it. Waste of energy, which is better spent on more important matters. I managed to survive without either love or a family when I was a child. Brought up in a boys’ home. But it didn’t stop me from making a success of my life, did it?’ He seemed to expect their agreement. When it didn’t come, he fell into a deep brooding silence and neither Alena nor Rob, still reeling from these revelations, attempted to interrupt. Then James gave an odd sort of smile as he lifted his eyes to his daughter’s.
‘But you wouldn’t go away. Every time I turned round, there you were. In my kitchen, in my garden, with my son, always under my bloody feet. Olivia encouraged you, she was always fond of you, and I...’ He put back his head and closed his eyes, fresh pain contorting his features, but whether it was because he still wished to deny a love he actually felt, or wished for a love he could not feel, Alena was unsure.
He addressed his next words to the ceiling. ‘You may have your heritage, Alena Townsen. Ellersgarth Hall is yours by rights. You can have it, the farm, and the bobbin mill. Everything I possess belongs to you, by right. Through your determination to live, and through the years of your childhood when you plagued me, and laughed, and were so happy and beautiful, you managed to make me regret - a thousand times - my decision.’
Alena was holding so tightly to Rob’s hand her fingers had gone quite numb. There would be pain later, for Rob more than herself perhaps, with new implications and problems to face, but for now she longed only to make one thing perfectly clear. She drew in a deep shuddering breath.
‘I don’t want anything from you, James Hollinthwaite. Not your house, your bobbin mill, your land or your misplaced sense of guilt. All I want is the love of your son, Robert. And he still is your son no matter what you may say, in every respect that matters. Rob is a fine man, one you should be proud of and accept as he is, not reject or decry because you failed to mould him into the son you craved.
I
am proud of him even if you are not. I hope that soon he’ll he my beloved husband, if he’ll still have me?’ She turned her face up to Rob, unaware of the tears streaking her cheeks until he wiped them away.
Then Rob put his arms about her, kissed her gently on the lips and led her from the house.
Also by Freda Lightfoot as ebooks
Dancing on Deansgate
9780957097865
They called it the Christmas Blitz, but there are no festivities for Jess, locked in the cellar by her feckless, tarty mother. And when Lizzie is imprisoned for shoplifting, Jess is sent to live with her uncle, a bullying black marketeer, who treats her like a slave. Jess’s natural musical talent offers an escape route - and the chance for love. But Uncle Bernie has never forgiven his niece for refusing to join his illegal schemes, and threatens to deprive Jess of her hard-won independence.
Lakeland Lily
9780956607348
Lily Thorpe is a spirited, ambitious fisherman’s daughter, desperate to escape the poverty of her Lakeland home. When the rich Clermont-Read family spoils her plans, Lily embarks on a personal quest for revenge and marries their only son, Bertie, a handsome indolent charmer. Rejected by his family, the young couple soon find themselves battling against the very poverty Lily had hoped to escape... A twist of fate brings her the freedom she craves, but the price Lily must pay is vindictive snobbery from Bertie’s mother - as well as another far greater one, finally leading to a passionate affair with Nathan Monroe, a local steam boat captain. Now it is Lily who must protect herself against the threat of vengeance and decide who is more important, her husband or her lover.
Luckpenny Land
9780956607300
Life is hard for Meg Turner. She lives on a lonely farm in the bleak but beautiful mountains of the English Lake District with a bully of a father who wants to keep her stuck at home. But Meg wants more than the kitchen sink, and turns for love to her best friend Kath, and to Lanky Lawson, who’s more of a father figure than her own father will ever be. But World War Two approaches and Meg soon discovers that the only thing she can really count on is her passion for the land she loves. Until one day a stranger arrives in the dale and her world changes for ever.
Historical sagas
Lakeland Lily
The Bobbin Girls
The Favourite Child
Kitty Little
For All Our Tomorrows
Gracie’s Sin
Daisy’s Secret
Ruby McBride
Dancing on Deansgate
The Luckpenny Series
:
Luckpenny Land
Storm Clouds Over Broombank
Wishing Water
Larkrigg Fell
Poorhouse Lane Series
The Girl from Poorhouse Lane
The Child from Nowhere
The Woman from Heartbreak House
Champion Street Market Series
Putting On The Style
Fools Fall In Love
That'll Be The Day
Candy Kisses
Who’s Sorry Now
Lonely Teardrops
Historical Romances
Madeiran Legacy
Whispering Shadows
Rhapsody Creek
Proud Alliance
Outrageous Fortune
Contemporary
Trapped
Short Stories
A Sackful of Stories
Available in print and ebook
Historical sagas
House of Angels
Angels at War
The Promise
My Lady Deceiver
Biographical Historicals
Hostage Queen
Reluctant Queen
The Queen and the Courtesan
The Duchess of Drury Lane
About Freda Lightfoot
Born in Lancashire, Freda Lightfoot has been a teacher and bookseller. She lived for a number of years in the Lake District and in a mad moment tried her hand at the ‘good life’, kept sheep and hens, various orphaned cats and dogs, built drystone walls, planted a small wood and even learned how to make jam. She has now given up her thermals to build a house in an olive grove in Spain, where she produces her own olive oil and sits in the sun on the rare occasions when she isn’t writing. She’s published 40 novels including many bestselling family sagas and historical novels. To find out more about, visit her website and sign up for her new title alert, or join her on Facebook and Twitter where she loves to chat with readers.
http://www.fredalightfoot.co.uk/
http://www.fredalightfoot.blogspot.com/
If you find any faults with this ebook please do contact the author so that it can be put right for future readers.
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