Tom caught her arm as she turned to go into the house. ‘Have you been seeing Luke Reedbarrow?’
She shrugged. ‘What if it is? I can see who I like, it’s nothing to do with Mark – or you,’ she added defiantly.
‘Da wouldn’t like it, you know that perfectly well.’ He stood with his feet apart and arms folded, barring her path.
‘Well,
I
like it! So there’s an end to it. It doesn’t mean anything, Tom,’ she added pleadingly. ‘He’s just somebody else to talk to, to flirt with. I never seeanybody, I don’t go anywhere. Don’t tell Da. Don’t spoil my only bit of fun.’
‘Betsy, you don’t understand!’ He took hold of her by the shoulders. ‘Luke will think you’re egging him on. He’ll read more into it than you intend. Men are like that. Don’t be such a little fool. Look, if even James can get a girl into trouble—’ He stopped, embarrassed by having to talk this way to his sister. ‘I’ll get Aunt Ellen to talk to you.’
‘Aunt Ellen!’ She burst out laughing. ‘What makes you think that Aunt Ellen can tell me anything I don’t already know? Oh, Tom, you’re as green as the rest. I haven’t lived all of my life in the country not to know how things are! But you needn’t be concerned. I won’t tie myself to someone like Luke Reedbarrow for the rest of my days. Credit me with a little sense. No, he’s purely for my amusement until someone better comes along.’
Laughingly, she left him staring after her, shocked by her outspokenness. They had always, brothers and sister, been treated as equals by their father, until the day when Betsy was about thirteen; then he had brought the boys together and told them that their sister had come into womanhood, and was therefore to be protected. They’d understood immediately, and each in their own way had kept a watchful eye on her. She was escorted to any village function, and any predatory male was given a silent warning by their presence.
He was bewildered by her attitude. She wasn’t grateful for their concern, rather she was irritated by it. Betsy, it seemed, was going to live her life the way she wanted to.
How strange women are
, he thought, then reflected that he hadn’t known enough women to be able to judge. Even Sammi, who, as a high-spirited child, would usually listen to reason, had behaved in a manner which had surprised him. She had defied the adults in the family and made her own decision aboutbringing James’s child to Holderness. He breathed out a sigh. He had been so startled by Aunt Ellen’s words in their kitchen, not an hour ago. ‘James has fathered a child and Sammi has brought it home.’
He had stared in confusion as he saw a very different Sammi from the young cousin he had always known. Sammi, with tears streaming down her face and wisps of red hair escaping from her ribbons had, by defying her elders, become an adult, and for a brief, tormented second only, he had misunderstood and thought that the child was hers.
7
Billy dampened his fair hair in an attempt to hold it down, and vowed, as he looked in the bedroom mirror of his lodging house, that he would have it cut shorter, as most of the young men in Hull appeared to be doing. The house where he lodged was situated in a small court just off The Land of Green Ginger, a street so called because of its association with spice merchants many centuries before, and where, on warm muggy evenings, the residents would lift their heads and declare that they could still smell the aroma of nutmeg and ginger drifting about them.
Mace’s Court had houses with railings around their small front yards, and polished brass knobs and knockers on their doors. Thick lace curtains and half-drawn blinds allowed but a glimpse of the numerous ornaments and potted plants set upon the wide window-sills and the gleam of dark, polished furniture in the neat interiors.
Yet not one hundred yards beyond this desirable neighbourhood were overcrowded courts and alleys, packed
She shrugged. ‘What if it is? I can see who I like, it’s nothing to do with Mark – or you,’ she added defiantly.
‘Da wouldn’t like it, you know that perfectly well.’ He stood with his feet apart and arms folded, barring her path.
‘Well,
I
like it! So there’s an end to it. It doesn’t mean anything, Tom,’ she added pleadingly. ‘He’s just somebody else to talk to, to flirt with. I never seeanybody, I don’t go anywhere. Don’t tell Da. Don’t spoil my only bit of fun.’
‘Betsy, you don’t understand!’ He took hold of her by the shoulders. ‘Luke will think you’re egging him on. He’ll read more into it than you intend. Men are like that. Don’t be such a little fool. Look, if even James can get a girl into trouble—’ He stopped, embarrassed by having to talk this way to his sister. ‘I’ll get Aunt Ellen to talk to you.’
‘Aunt Ellen!’ She burst out laughing. ‘What makes you think that Aunt Ellen can tell me anything I don’t already know? Oh, Tom, you’re as green as the rest. I haven’t lived all of my life in the country not to know how things are! But you needn’t be concerned. I won’t tie myself to someone like Luke Reedbarrow for the rest of my days. Credit me with a little sense. No, he’s purely for my amusement until someone better comes along.’
Laughingly, she left him staring after her, shocked by her outspokenness. They had always, brothers and sister, been treated as equals by their father, until the day when Betsy was about thirteen; then he had brought the boys together and told them that their sister had come into womanhood, and was therefore to be protected. They’d understood immediately, and each in their own way had kept a watchful eye on her. She was escorted to any village function, and any predatory male was given a silent warning by their presence.
He was bewildered by her attitude. She wasn’t grateful for their concern, rather she was irritated by it. Betsy, it seemed, was going to live her life the way she wanted to.
How strange women are
, he thought, then reflected that he hadn’t known enough women to be able to judge. Even Sammi, who, as a high-spirited child, would usually listen to reason, had behaved in a manner which had surprised him. She had defied the adults in the family and made her own decision aboutbringing James’s child to Holderness. He breathed out a sigh. He had been so startled by Aunt Ellen’s words in their kitchen, not an hour ago. ‘James has fathered a child and Sammi has brought it home.’
He had stared in confusion as he saw a very different Sammi from the young cousin he had always known. Sammi, with tears streaming down her face and wisps of red hair escaping from her ribbons had, by defying her elders, become an adult, and for a brief, tormented second only, he had misunderstood and thought that the child was hers.
7
Billy dampened his fair hair in an attempt to hold it down, and vowed, as he looked in the bedroom mirror of his lodging house, that he would have it cut shorter, as most of the young men in Hull appeared to be doing. The house where he lodged was situated in a small court just off The Land of Green Ginger, a street so called because of its association with spice merchants many centuries before, and where, on warm muggy evenings, the residents would lift their heads and declare that they could still smell the aroma of nutmeg and ginger drifting about them.
Mace’s Court had houses with railings around their small front yards, and polished brass knobs and knockers on their doors. Thick lace curtains and half-drawn blinds allowed but a glimpse of the numerous ornaments and potted plants set upon the wide window-sills and the gleam of dark, polished furniture in the neat interiors.
Yet not one hundred yards beyond this desirable neighbourhood were overcrowded courts and alleys, packed
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