Hope - Lesley Pearse [50]
Surrounded by doting women as a child, and overindulged, Sir William had never learned to be a real man. He might be charming and look gallant and handsome as he galloped around the countryside on Merlin, but in fact he was completely irresponsible.
Baines knew that the business interests in London and America which his master used as an excuse to be away from here so often didn’t really exist. He had a circle of friends there, but it was horses, card games, balls and parties he shared with them, not business.
Sadly, he wouldn’t give a damn if his gardener was ill-treating his wife and her sister. As long as the grounds continued to be admired by his friends, the man who was responsible could do what he liked.
Hope wriggled away from Nell’s ministrations and got to her feet. ‘I’m fine now, Nell, I only fell on the frosty drive,’ she insisted. ‘I must go and light the fires.’
‘Let me light the fires, Mr Baines,’ Rose begged. ‘Hope’s not right yet, that’s a nasty wound she’s got. Couldn’t Nell do what’s necessary down here and stay with her?’
Baines recognized self-interest; Rose was just scared of being left to do the cooking today.
‘Fair enough, Rose,’ he said gravely, for it was clear that Hope wasn’t fit for heavy work. ‘You run along and see to the fires. And make sure Ruby pulls her weight.’
The minute she’d gone, Baines turned to Nell. ‘I think it would be best for Ruth to come down here. Cook, God rest her, has no further need of her help and Ruth is a very able cook. You can get Master Rufus up and bathed before your duties for the mistress.’
Nell nodded, but she put her hand on his arm and drew him towards the scullery to talk more privately. ‘What am I to do, Mr Baines?’ she asked in a whisper. ‘I know it were Albert, even if Hope won’t tell me. I’m often afeared for myself with him, but I never thought he’d lay a hand on her.’
‘We’ll talk about this later,’ Baines sighed. ‘On top of all the usual daily tasks, I have to make arrangements for Cook’s funeral and talk to Lady Harvey about a replacement for her. Hope will be safe here with Ruth.’ He put one hand on Nell’s shoulder, wanting to reassure her he wasn’t dismissing her because he didn’t care. ‘We have to tread carefully, Nell, and weigh up the consequences.’
Once Baines had gone, Nell turned back to Hope, tenderly smoothing her hair back from her forehead. ‘Tell me the truth, my little love. It were Albert, weren’t it?’
‘No, I told you I fell on the drive,’ Hope lied.
Nell closed her eyes with exasperation. ‘Is that what you intend to tell Ruth and James?’
Hope nodded.
Nell fastened a piece of wadding over the wound on her sister’s head, then placed a mob cap over it. ‘I can’t hide those fingermarks on your neck so easily,’ she said pointedly. ‘But I’m sure you’ll be able to think of some excuse for those too.’
At five o’clock that evening, Nell walked down the drive to the cottage carrying a basket containing a loaf of bread and a meat and potato pie Ruth had made for her that afternoon. Her heart was thumping with fright, but she had never been more determined in her whole life.
Hope was staying in Ruth’s room at Briargate for the night. She had stubbornly stuck to her story that she just fell on the drive, and Nell knew it was her way of protecting her. But this afternoon Hope had vomited, and Baines had insisted she went to bed immediately and stayed there. Even Hope wasn’t brave enough to argue with him.
Nell hadn’t discussed Albert any further with Baines because he had been far too busy sorting out Cook’s funeral. But she had thought through all the possible lines of actions she could take and weighed up the consequences of each.
All of them were likely to bring her and Hope even greater misery. Legally she had no rights; a wife was a man’s property and she was expected to obey him. Nell suspected that the same law meant Albert could do anything he liked to