Daisy’s Betrayal

After lunch, Mrs Cookson sent for Daisy again. ‘Sit down, Daisy.’ Her voice was as sharp as a shard of glass.

‘Thank you, ma’am,’ Daisy said, trying to keep her voice even, quaking with apprehension.

‘Daisy, I am profoundly disappointed in your younger sister but, quite frankly, I am even more disappointed in you. Sarah has shown incredible stupidity in being persuaded by some scallywag to part with silver that is the property of Mr Cookson. Of course, she must be punished. I appreciate that she was duped and she is not wilfully criminal. However, I am unable to allow her to continue her employment here. Furthermore, my husband might well wish to press charges. We must not set any precedent and appear to the rest of the staff to be too lenient. If we were, we would risk others’ further exploitation. Do you see, Daisy?’

‘Yes, I see, ma’am. But do you really have to press charges?’ She sat without moving as a shaft of weak sunlight was suddenly cast across the table between them. ‘I think that is being rather harsh, if you’ll pardon me for saying so. After all, she was not the criminal element, as you have yourself implied, ma’am. She was duped.’

‘And I suspect that that is the reason you tried to shield her, Daisy.’

Her eyes dropped to the floor and she looked absently at the rug that lay beneath her feet. ‘Sarah is just a poor misguided girl who failed to use her common sense, ma’am. She’s young and innocent. She’s not a felon. She’s made a silly mistake. You could hardly expect me to betray her when there was a chance she might not be blamed.’

‘So you betrayed me instead, your employer. That really doesn’t impress me, Daisy. Your loyalties should lie with those who provide your bread and butter.’

‘Ma’am, I am sorry …’ Daisy could hear the indignation rising in her own voice, but was unable to control it. ‘But if you think that you, or any employer for that matter, should come before any member of my family, then you neither know nor understand me. Certainly I will never stand by and see my sister’s regretful lapse blown out of all proportion. That can only mean resentment and mistrust are going to fester between us. I don’t believe I could work here in such circumstances, ma’am.’

‘Do I understand then that you wish to resign as housekeeper?’

‘I honestly don’t believe I have an alternative, ma’am,’ Daisy said.

Daisy left Baxter House that evening and so did Sarah. At first she thought she was in a bad dream and that soon she would wake up and escape the sudden shame and anxiety. Sarah was beside herself with humiliation and remorse, mostly that her blind stupidity had cost Daisy her position. She was not so concerned about herself. They deposited themselves upon their mother and father and shared the tiny boxroom that Sarah used to sleep in before she started work. Daisy still had almost all of the money left that she had won on her bet, but it would not last forever. Finding as good a position in another house would not be easy, especially if Mrs Cookson was reticent about giving her a good character. But she decided to put such worries behind her until she had talked things over with Lawson next day, the evening of which they had laughingly, frivolously agreed would be so romantic as he wined her and dined her at his renovated house. The last thing on her mind by this time, however, was romance.

She met him as usual at three o’clock outside the Saracen’s Head. They headed for the Dudley Arms Hotel, a Sunday afternoon routine they had slipped into since their very first tryst.

‘I’ve got some bad news,’ she said as soon as he delivered their drinks to the table. She explained in detail what had happened while he listened carefully, twisting his whisky tumbler around in his fingers.

‘Well, well,’ he said thoughtfully. ‘What a to-do.’

‘But do you think I was right to put Sarah first, even though she’d done wrong?’

‘Blood’s thicker than water, Daisy. It’s no surprise to me that you did.’

‘But I couldn’t see the poor child hurt more, Lawson. She’s the world to me. If she hasn’t got me to stand by her, who has she got?’

He drew his mouth down at the corners and nodded pensively. ‘Well, it seems to me we have something to celebrate.’

‘Celebrate?’ She looked at him curiously. ‘What on earth is there to celebrate?’

‘The fact that you’re a free woman. That’s what there is to celebrate.’

Daisy continued to look puzzled.

‘You know what I reckon we should do?’ he said.

‘What?’

‘Get married.’

She gasped with pleasure. ‘Get married? Oh, Lawson, are you sure? I’d like nothing better.’

‘So will you marry me?’

‘Yes, yes. Of course I’ll marry you.’ Her eyes sparkled with happiness. Not only would her future be assured but it would help alleviate so many problems at home. Then she frowned with apprehension as another thought struck her. ‘You’re not teasing me, are you?’

‘Course I’m not teasing you, you fool. You’re a free woman, I’ve just had my house cleaned and redecorated from top to bottom … and, what’s more, we could employ Sarah as a maid.’

She sighed at his overwhelming but welcome impetuosity but there was a smile on her face again. ‘You, Lawson Maddox, are so unpredictable. You’ve been a bachelor all these years, yet suddenly you suggest marriage and you haven’t known me three months yet.’

‘I know. It’s absolute madness. But I’m in love with you. I’m besotted. I told you.’

She laughed joyously. ‘When shall we do it?’

‘What about Easter? I shall make all the arrangements. So, I propose that you come with me now, young Daisy, to see your future home.’

‘You mean your house?’

‘The same. I’ve hired a cook for the night as you know, and she is there right now preparing that lavish meal I promised. I don’t see the point in wasting it. Do you?’

‘Not really.’ Daisy’s lips curled into a smile of contentment.

‘I shall merely behave like the gentleman I am and, out of respect, refrain from seducing you afterwards.’ He laughed out loud.

‘Well, I’m glad you’ve not asked me to marry you just as an excuse to seduce me, Lawson. So … d’you think I should remain a virgin until my wedding night?’

A smile spread across his handsome face and she could see a warm light in his eyes. ‘Oh, yes … Of course you have to be a virgin on your wedding night. Oh, without doubt …’

He had speculated about her deflowering before, half serious, half joking, in very intimate and sensual whispers, and just talking about it had warmed her to the prospect. She knew Lawson would be gentle and considerate, and the very thought of all that tender intimacy made her temples throb. She would never admit as much, but she had been looking forward to it like nothing else. Because they were getting married so soon she would not have long to wait.

Daisy chuckled with delight. Her life had again switched from catastrophe to unbelievable good fortune in just one day. This time she was being delivered from spinsterhood, to become the beloved wife of one of the Black Country’s most eligible bachelors.

Lawson’s house was situated on Himley Road, in the area of Dudley called Sunnyside in the parish of St James. It was not a grand house – nothing like Baxter House – but it was a substantial family home nonetheless, a gentleman’s residence. It stood in its own grounds with a drive that ran in a wide sweep from the front gate to the stables at the rear. The garden was unkempt, as one might expect from a bachelor with no family ties, but its interesting lie offered good potential. Inside, Daisy envisaged filling each of the bedrooms with their children. Lawson had spent a small fortune on the interior, that much was obvious, including tasteful new furniture. Everywhere smelled of new paint and wallpaper. He’d even gone to the trouble and expense of having new linoleum laid all through and had bought some fine rugs that graced the floors. He led Daisy to the scullery where the glorious aroma of roast beef was already enticing. He introduced her to the hired cook who was very deferential and curtsied. Already Daisy felt like the lady she was about to become and could hardly wait to be mistress in what was to be her own kitchen. As they left her, the cook placed a pan of water on the hob to boil, ready for the potatoes, and hung the kettle over the fire on a gale hook, ready to brew a pot of tea.

Lawson took Daisy upstairs to show her the bedroom that would be theirs. It was large and airy, with a clean and inviting feather mattress on an intricate brass bedstead. The window looked out onto the road at the front and had an extensive view southwards over the innumerable pits and grey, miserable slag heaps of Russell’s Hall. The corporation catch pound was uncomfortably close. Beyond it, the middle distance was alive with locomotives huffing and puffing to and from a wharf on the mineral railway that connected it with the vast Himley Colliery at Old Park. Yes, it was a decent enough house, but the view … She was not going to live here for the view, though; she would happily live in a pigsty for the privilege of being Lawson’s wife.

‘As you might have expected, this was my father’s house,’ Lawson informed her as he showed her another bedroom. ‘Sarah could sleep in this room when she becomes our maid.’

‘We can’t have our Sarah as a maid, Lawson,’ Daisy said flatly. ‘It’s impossible.’

‘Why is it impossible? It’s not impossible. I want her as our maid.’

‘It’s not done, Lawson. No lady of any house would ever employ her own sister as a maid. It would betray her own roots. Don’t you see?’

‘My God!’ he exclaimed. ‘You’ve turned into a snob already.’

‘I’m no snob, but we have to protect our social standing. Your social standing. What would your friends think?’

‘Well, that’s settled then.’

‘I presume there are proper servants’ quarters, Lawson?’