The Lady's Maid (35 page)

When the business of hiring was done, there was a fair held in the fields just outside the town. Jugglers, acrobats, fire-eaters and pedlars crowded between the tents and gypsy caravans. Kate wondered if Marko and his family were present at the gathering, but the milling crowds made it difficult to pick anyone out. She caught a glimpse of her father with Honoria on his arm as they strolled amongst the stalls selling everything from meat pies to china fairings. The afternoon stretched into evening and the sun was setting in the west, creating deep chasms of amethyst shadow. Naphtha flares were lit on the stalls, making bright pools of light in the
gathering
gloom, and music from a barrel organ filled with air. Sporting a red velvet jacket the organ grinder’s monkey jumped onto Edmund’s shoulder and shook a tin can in his face. He laughed heartily and dropped a couple of pennies into it. The animal chattered excitedly and leapt back to its place on the gaudily painted instrument.

In the distance, Kate could see a merry-go-round, and the strains of a Dutch organ were competing with the tuneful barrel organ and the sounds of merry-making from the milling crowd.

‘Are you enjoying yourself, my dear?’ Edmund had to bend his head close to hers in order to make himself heard above the din.

‘Yes, thank you, Edmund. It’s quite magical.’

He smiled indulgently. ‘See, over there, the gypsy caravan painted red and gold. The fortune-teller seems to be attracting quite a lot of interest. Why don’t you cross her palm with silver, or whatever they demand nowadays?’ He put his hand in his pocket and took out some coins.

‘Why not?’ Kate was feeling reckless, or perhaps it was the plate of frumenty which she had just shared with Edmund in the refreshment tent that had made her feel quite light-headed. The addition of rum had made it extra tasty, and Edmund had assured her that it was good for keeping out the chill of evening.

As they made their way towards the circle of people gathered around the caravan, Kate saw Josie, looking every inch the grand lady in her elegant silk gown, with a ridiculous confection of flowers and feathers
perched
on her coronet of silky dark curls. She was walking just ahead of Sir Joseph and Lady Damerell, but Kate could tell by the expression on her face that she was not particularly happy.

‘Look, Edmund. There’s Josie. I’d like to have a word with her.’

‘Of course, my dear. Make way there.’ He led her through the throng, which parted respectfully as people recognised the squire.

Kate tapped Josie on the shoulder. ‘May I speak to you for a moment?’

Josie turned to stare at her. ‘What do you want?’

Kate recoiled slightly at her brusque tone, but she knew Josie well enough to realise that all was not well with her. ‘You look absolutely splendid.’

Josie smiled reluctantly. ‘I’m sorry, Kate. I was being horrid, but I just can’t help it. I hate Joseph and I can’t wait to get away from the place that was once my home.’

‘Have you named the day yet?’

‘It was to be at the beginning of June but Harry keeps finding excuses to postpone it. Anyone would think that he didn’t want to marry me.’ She tossed her head, and her bottom lip trembled. ‘I don’t suppose you’ve heard from Sam?’

Kate shook her head. ‘No. Not a word. I’m so sorry, Josie.’

‘Hush, the old gypsy woman is going to speak.’ Josie pointed to an old Romany woman seated in front of a crudely made wooden table on which rested a crystal ball. ‘Perhaps she’s going to tell us that we’ll be blessed with health, wealth and happiness, and all that rot.’

The Romany woman rose to her feet, casting her eyes round the assembled crowd. ‘I see that there are many amongst you who would like to know what the future holds for them. Who will be the next one brave enough to hear what Madame Zolfina has to foretell?’

‘Hold on to your purses, my good people,’ Sir Joseph said in a loud, clear voice. ‘The old crone is out to fleece the unwary.’

Zolfina turned her head to stare at him with narrowed eyes. ‘You are a fine gentleman, or so you think, master. But others know you better.’

‘What impertinence is this?’ Sir Joseph flushed scarlet to the roots of his hair. ‘Do you know who I am, woman?’

‘Aye, master. I know who you are and what you are.’

‘Come away, my dear,’ Hermione said, clutching at his arm. ‘Please don’t make a scene.’

‘He makes more than that, lady,’ Zolfina said, chuckling. ‘Your man may have a fine title but he’s like a rutting stag when it comes to innocent young girls.’

There was a moment of shocked silence and then a ripple of laughter went round the crowd. Someone started clapping and it was taken up in a welter of applause and a few muffled boos.

Hermione uttered a faint scream and closed her eyes. ‘Take me home, Joseph.’

Ignoring his wife’s plea, he took a step towards Zolfina with his fists clenched at his sides. ‘Shut up, you foul-mouthed old hag.’

‘And you ain’t too particular about who you choose
to
fondle, are you, Sir Joseph Damerell?’ Zolfina turned to Josie who had been standing silently, wide-eyed with horror. ‘I’m sure that you can vouch for what I just said, little maid.’

Kate hooked her arm around Josie’s shoulders. ‘Please stop this, madam. You don’t know what you’re saying.’

‘Leave the old girl be,’ someone in the crowd called out. ‘Let her tell what she knows.’

‘Tell, tell, tell.’ The crowd took up the chant.

Sir Joseph held up his hands, a sickly smile painted on his face. ‘Come now, good people. This has gone far beyond a joke. I don’t want to have to call a constable, but I will if you threaten to become disorderly.’

Someone threw a half-eaten bun at him and it struck him on the nose.

‘Be silent, Uncle,’ Josie said in a low voice. ‘You’re only making matters worse.’

‘Why are you protecting him, maid?’ Zolfina demanded, moving close to Josie. ‘You are not a bad girl at heart and yet you allow this man to take liberties with you.’

‘You don’t know what you’re talking about,’ Josie muttered, blushing. ‘You’re making it all up.’

‘You may choose to deny it, but the truth is in your eyes.’ Zolfina pointed a finger at Sir Joseph. ‘I can see him touching you and caressing you, even though you tell him to stop. He cannot help himself where women are concerned and he does not know that you are his own flesh and blood.’

Josie raised her hand and slapped Zolfina across the cheek. The sound ricocheted off the surrounding gypsy caravans. There was a horrified intake of breath from the onlookers.

‘Well done, my dear.’ Sir Joseph puffed out his chest, smirking triumphantly. ‘That’ll teach the bitch to respect her betters. I’d have done it myself, except that I am too much of a gentleman.’

Zolfina glared at him, clutching her cheek. ‘You, a gentleman!’ She spat on the ground at his feet. ‘She is your daughter, Joseph Damerell. You have been abusing your own child.’

Kate stared at Josie in horror. ‘This can’t be true.’

Josie drew away from her. ‘Of course it isn’t. He’s my uncle. My father was Sir Hector Damerell, old woman. You are addled in the head.’

Hermione had fainted quietly away, but no one seemed to have noticed. Kate knelt down on the damp grass beside her. She cast a pleading look at Squire Westwood who had been standing close by. ‘Please put a stop to this, Edmund. This must not go on.’

He laid his hand on Sir Joseph’s shoulder. ‘Come away, Joseph. This spectacle is unworthy of your family name.’

‘You are a troublemaker, old woman,’ Josie cried, taking Zolfina by the shoulders and giving her a shake. ‘What you say is untrue. Admit that you lied. My father was Sir Hector Damerell.’

‘Stop this.’ A younger gypsy woman emerged from the shadows, pale-faced and trembling. She held her hands out to Zolfina. ‘Mother, please. Say no more.’

Zolfina was also shaking, but her face was contorted with rage. She seized her daughter by the shoulders and thrust her towards Sir Joseph. ‘This is my child, Dena, the Romany girl you took to your bed more than twenty years ago, Joseph Damerell. You fathered her bastard, and now you are trying to have your way with your own daughter. For shame on you.’

‘Shame, shame, shame.’ The cry was taken up by the delighted crowd.

Kate could bear it no longer. She leapt into the middle of the circle holding up her hands. ‘Please don’t do this. Some of you may know Josie, but there is not one amongst you who did not know Sir Hector. For his sake, please stop this now.’

‘Come away, Kate. Don’t get involved in this.’ Robert stepped out from the shadows. ‘You’re making a spectacle of yourself.’

‘Father, how can you say such a thing to me? I must stand up for what is fair and right.’

‘Let the little bitch make a fool of herself, Robert,’ Honoria cried. ‘Leave her. She is nothing but trouble to us.’

Squire Westwood helped Hermione to her feet, thrusting her into Sir Joseph’s unwilling arms. ‘Take your good lady home, sir.’

‘It is all a pack of lies,’ Sir Joseph spluttered. He gave Hermione a shake. ‘Pull yourself together, woman.’

Someone booed him and it was taken up in a low growling murmur.

‘Send for the constable,’ Joseph shouted. ‘Fetch the police.’

Dena moved to her mother’s side. ‘Say no more, I beg you, Mother.’

‘It isn’t true.’ Josie stared at Dena. ‘You can’t be my mother.’

‘Ask the woman in black,’ Zolfina sneered. ‘Ask the maidservant who placed you in the bed of the barren lady. Ask your widowed mother to tell you how she tricked Sir Hector into thinking that you were his child.’

‘Stop it,’ Kate cried. ‘These are wicked lies, old woman.’

Zolfina turned on her. ‘And you, my lady. You were born on the same day on that ancient mound, a monument to heathen gods. You are the child of a young gentlewoman whose man had died fighting for his country. The person you call father will tell you the truth.’ She pointed at Robert, as he comforted Honoria who had chosen this moment to have hysterics. ‘Ask him how he put you in place of his wife’s stillborn babe.’

‘Father, say it isn’t true.’ Kate held her hand out to him, but he shook his head.

‘Don’t listen to her, maidy.’

Honoria’s hysterics ceased immediately. She pulled away from Robert’s arms and advanced on Kate with narrowed eyes. ‘I knew it. You are a changeling, but it wasn’t the fairies who left you in the cradle. You are a little bastard, just like her.’ She pointed a shaking finger at Josie. ‘Two little bastards. You both deserve everything you get. As for you, gypsy woman …’ Honoria took a purse from her muff and tossed it on the ground at Zolfina’s feet, ‘you were worth every penny. Come, Robert. We’re going home.’

‘Father …’ Kate tried to follow them, but Honoria barred her way.

‘You have no home. You are not wanted on the farm, and you will move your things from the cottage. We have found a replacement for Loveday, and his sister. You can go together, and good riddance.’ She seized Robert by the arm and marched him off through the hissing, booing onlookers.

Kate raised her hand in a mute appeal as she watched them walk away. She was too stunned to comprehend the enormity of what had just occurred. This time it was Josie who put her arm around Kate. ‘Let them go. You can come home with me. That is, if I still have a home to go to.’ She glanced over her shoulder, but Sir Joseph had also left followed by a sobbing Hermione, and the crowd was melting away.

‘It can’t be true,’ Kate said, rubbing her hand across her eyes. ‘You don’t believe what they said about Sir Joseph, do you, Josie?’

‘Of course not,’ Josie cast a scornful look at Zolfina. ‘The old witch was just making trouble. Joseph isn’t my father. He couldn’t be.’

‘Are you satisfied, Mother?’ Dena demanded. ‘Why did you do it?’

Zolfina tipped the contents of Honoria’s purse into her palm. ‘Mean bitch. There’s barely three shillings here.’

Dena pushed past her with an exclamation of annoyance. ‘Miss Damerell … Josie. I don’t know what to say to you.’

Josie eyed her with a blank stare. ‘I don’t believe that you are my mother.’

Dena’s eyes brimmed with tears. ‘I was young, just like you. He was so handsome then, and charming. I was headstrong and I thought I was in love. I never wanted to give you away, child. But I had no say in the matter.’

Josie backed away from her. ‘If it’s money you want, then you are out of luck for I have none, and if this gets around you’ll ruin my chances of a good marriage.’

‘I want nothing from you.’

‘Then you won’t be disappointed,’ Josie snapped, tossing her head. ‘You’ve made a spectacle of my family, gypsy woman. I ought to have you arrested.’

‘Why should you believe me? Sometimes the truth is too painful to bear.’ Dena bowed her head. ‘I have lived with my shame for many years. I cannot blame you for not wanting to know your true identity.’

‘But I do,’ Kate said, clutching Zolfina’s arm. ‘Who am I? If half of what you say is true, then you must have known my real mother. Who was she?’

Zolfina tipped the money back into the purse and slipped it into her pocket. She eyed Kate with her head on one side. ‘You are the lady, child. Your poor mother was a gentlewoman and your father a serving army officer, killed in action in the Crimea.’

Josie uttered a derisive snort. ‘So, you are the lady and I am part gypsy. Isn’t that too funny for words? What do you think Harry would make of that, Kate?’

Ignoring this barb, Kate reached out to take Zolfina’s
gnarled hand
in hers. ‘My mother, do you know her name?’

‘Clara. That’s all I know. She did not live long enough to tell me more.’

‘Clara,’ Kate whispered. ‘I shall never know her by any other name than Clara.’

‘Come home with me, Kate,’ Josie said, linking her hand through her arm. ‘I don’t believe a word of all this. As far as I am concerned it’s all a pack of lies.’

‘I am sorry,’ Dena said, bowing her head. ‘I am sorry that you have had to suffer on my account. But just believe that I did love you, and parting with my baby was the hardest thing I have ever had to do.’

Josie eyed her coldly ‘I don’t doubt that you gave your baby away, but that child was not me. I am going home, and I don’t expect that I will ever see you again.’