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was far from easy, but to Harrison's way of thinking
this separation was far, far worse.
He brought his thoughts back to the present only
with an effort. If there was to be any future for his
friendship with Daniel, he was going to have to
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learn to be far more discreet than he had been in
the past, and to keep his emotions under better
control; otherwise, nothing but disaster lay ahead.
On his way back from the Post Office he
encountered his mother, Mrs Pritchard and Rebecca
leaving the outfitters' on the square. "You're not
finished already?" he exclaimed in astonishment.
He had expected their mission to take at least half
the day.
"They had everything we needed," countered his
mother, in a tone which told him that he should
really have known better.
Mrs Pritchard smiled at this exchange. "Why
don't the two of you stay and look around the town a
little?" she suggested, cheerfully. "The church is a
good place to visit; I'll see Rebecca safe home to
Mrs Rogers."
Elizabeth nodded her thanks, then spoke again
to Rebecca. "We're staying on for a few more days,
so if you are unhappy about anything please be
sure you come and tell us about it."
"Thank you, ma'am - and thank you, Mr
Calderwood," the girl curtseyed respectfully. They
watched her being led away, each of them carrying
an array of small and mysterious parcels.
"I need a cup of tea," announced Elizabeth, in a
tone that brooked no denial.
"Well, we could go to the Brine Baths," offered
Harrison.
"No, thank you. I would rather be somewhere
quiet and civilised, if you don't mind," and they set
off together to see what they could find. Eventually
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they decided on a tea shop further up the High
Street, where they quickly settled in and gave their
order to the young girl who attended them.
"I hope you didn't buy Rebecca too much this
morning," said Harrison thoughtfully, after the
waitress had gone.
"No, I don't think so. Nothing that would single
her out from among the other girls, anyway."
Elizabeth opened out her napkin. "How did you
spend the time, Harry?"
"I wrote a letter to Daniel," he told her, absently.
"Really? I hope you wrote to Alexandra as well?"
He had the grace to look somewhat embarrassed
at this. "I didn't even think about it at first," he
admitted, "but I remembered while I was at the Post
Office, and sent her a picture-card with a view of
Churche's Mansion for her collection."
"Good; she'll appreciate that," said Elizabeth,
recalling the half-timbered building, which Anne
had proudly pointed out as one of the oldest
buildings in Cheshire.
Harrison looked through the lace-curtained
window towards the muffled figures on the High
Street. "It's not really the weather for a holiday, is
it?" he remarked.
"No. And this isn't really a holiday, of course. I've
enjoyed seeing Anne very much, but I'll be glad to
be home again, too."
Idly, Harrison wondered whether his mother
suspected at all how much going home would mean
to him. In his madder moments, he had sometimes
considered confiding in her about his feelings for
Daniel, but returning sanity had always - so far -
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kept him silent, and his secret still a secret.
The days they spent in Nantwich were some of
the longest Harrison had ever experienced,
although the Pritchards had made them more than
welcome, fed them well and even took them round
the factory - including the apprentice hall where
Rebecca was working. Anne made sure that they
saw anything of interest in the town and generally
did her best to entertain them, but for Harrison the
desire to return home was like a tooth-ache;
whatever they did, whatever distractions were
provided, that one idea was still firmly rooted at the
back of his mind and simply would not be denied.
On their way home, though, he had not been able to
decide what to do; whether to wait and see Daniel
at the office, write to him, or simply call in at the
house on Duke Street unannounced. He had finally
decided that the easiest way would be to go and see
Daniel that same evening after dinner. It was just
his bad luck, though, that Todd also happened to be
dining at home; Caroline had gone with her mother
to visit a distant aunt, so for once Todd was
spending the evening at home with his family.
After dinner, when everyone moved into the
drawing-room so that Grainger could clear the
dishes, Harrison went over to kiss his mother
goodbye. "I won't be out late," he assured her,
quietly.
Alexandra looked up from re-arranging her
postcard collection. "I thought you would be staying
home tonight," she said disappointedly.
"Out where?" demanded Todd, as Harrison had
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known he would.
"I'm going to see Daniel and Joseph to tell them
about Rebecca," replied Harrison, making it seem
as routine and unexceptionable as he possibly
could.
Todd made no further comment, but Harrison
could tell from his expression that he did not
believe this was the real reason he was going to see
Daniel.
"Be careful," warned his mother softly.
"Yes," echoed Todd. "Be very careful." But his
tone was different altogether.
"I always am," returned Harrison, blithely, before
bidding them both goodnight.
The door to Daniel's lodgings was opened by the
landlady. "Mr Calderwood? I didn't know you were
expected this evening," she said, by way of
greeting.
"That's because I'm not, Mrs Foxley; Mr Harper
doesn't know I've arrived home, but I have some
news I'd like to tell him."
"Do you want me to go up first?" she asked,
obligingly.
"No, not at all." Harrison could hear shrieks and
laughter emanating from her parlour. "It rather
sounds as if you are needed in there," he observed.
"It's that parrot, Mr Calderwood; if only Mr
Harper would let me, I'd give it away to young
Joseph!"
"My grandmother had a parrot called Jane,"
Harrison told her, sympathetically. "Whenever it got
too noisy, she used to cover the cage."
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"This one eats the cover," was the rueful
response.
"Ah. It sounds to me as if you have an insoluble
problem, then."
Mrs Foxley couldn't help smiling at the gravity
in his voice. "Go on with you; Orlando's my problem
- not yours, and not Mr Harper's." He could still
hear her talking to the bird as he climbed the stairs
towards Daniel and Joseph's quarters.
Daniel opened the door in response to his knock.
"Harrison?" The surprise and delight in his
expression were more than welcoming, making
Harrison glad that he had run the risk of Todd's
displeasure to make this unexpected visit.
"May I come in?" he asked, although he had
little doubt of the answer.
"Yes, of course, come in; can you stay for a little
while?"
"If it's not inconvenient, yes, I'd like to."
"Not at all. Here, give me your coat."
As Harrison made himself comfortable, Joseph
immediately came over to claim a place in front of
the fire. "Have you come to tell us about Rebecca?"
he asked.
"Yes."
Daniel brought over a tumbler of whisky for him.
"To Rebecca and her new life," he suggested, raising
his own glass in a toast.
"Rebecca," repeated Harrison, before he took a
drink, then he looked down at Joseph. "As I told you
in my letter, Rebecca has a job in a clothing factory.
She has lodgings with a very nice woman in the
town, and before we left my mother took her
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shopping to buy her some new clothes."
"Is she happy?" Joseph asked him.
"I think so, as far as I know. She'll probably write
to you when she's settled."
After receiving this assurance Joseph managed
to think of an apparently endless stream of other
questions to ask, which Harrison did his best to
answer, but finally Daniel decided that it was past
time his son was asleep, and ushered him off
towards his bedroom - with many admonitions not
to get up again once he was settled - leaving [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]