Page 32 of The Winter Bride

It was exactly what Mrs Latimer had told her. ‘Hmm, then we’ll have to see if there’s anything we can do to improve that.’ Annie recalled Peggy telling her that a young boy from the courtyards had suffered with exactly the same thing and that his family had found a cobbler who had made him a built-up shoe so that his legs were the same length. She would speak to her about it and hopefully they would be able to do something similar for Nancy.

Nancy peeped at her from the corner of her eye. She was getting used to sleeping on her own now, although it had seemed strange at first after sleeping in a dormitory full of other young people. She was also realising that Annie had meant what she said when she told her that she wasn’t taking her to be a maid. More than once, she’d suggested that Nancy should go out and make some friends of her own age, although she didn’t encourage it after dark. Another poor girl had been found murdered with her throat cut just a couple of weeks ago. Nancy hadn’t yet taken her up on her offer, even in daylight. She was very self-conscious of her limp and was content to spend time with Annie at home.

She had now met all the people that Annie was close to: Eve and Davey, Susan, and Levi and Peggy, and they’d welcomed her like a long-lost member of the family. The only person she didn’t like was Monty’s brother, Reggie. They met him while taking Adam out for a walk one day and he looked her up and down as if there was a bad smell under his nose.

‘So, this is the waif you’ve taken under your wing, is it?’ he sneered. ‘I’m not surprised; you’ll have more in common with the scum that comes from the workhouse, seeing as you did too.’

‘Good day to you too, Reggie,’ Annie responded, walking away with her nose in the air.

‘Take no notice of him and try to keep out of his way,’ she told Nancy when he was out of earshot. ‘He’s Monty’s brother but you’d never believe it. They’re as different as chalk and cheese, as you’ve just seen. And he’s been worse since he was burnt in the war. He’s got a chip on his shoulder as big as a house brick. Unfortunately, his mother and father are little better. You’ve got the pleasure of meeting them to come. They’ve never thought I was good enough to marry their son because I came from the workhouse.’

‘Did you always live there like me?’ Nancy questioned.

‘Yes, I was left on the doorstep shortly after birth, so I’ve never known who my parents were. What about you?’

‘Well, me ma died when I were just a few days old,’ Nancy said sadly. ‘But accordin’ to the notes they had on her she’d worked as a maid an’ the man o’ the house took advantage of her then threw her out when he knew she were havin’ a baby.’

‘How awful.’ Annie shook her head. It was a story she’d heard all too often. ‘Did your mother never say who he was?’

‘Oh yes, him an’ his missus lived in a posh house in Swan Lane by all accounts.’

Annie felt a shiver run up her spine. ‘Really – and did your mother leave his name?’

‘No, she just told ’em he had two sons.’

Annie clutched the handle of the pram as shock coursed through her. If what Nancy was saying was true, and she had no reason to lie, it could well be that Nancy was actually Monty’s half-sister.

‘Right, I think we ought to head back now,’ she suggested suddenly, and happy to comply Nancy followed her trustingly.

For the rest of the day Annie’s thoughts were all over the place. Should she tell Monty what Nancy had confided, or should she keep it to herself? She was painfully aware that her father-in-law was more than capable of taking advantage of a young maid, for hadn’t he done exactly the same to Eve, with tragic consequences? He had got the poor girl pregnant and she had run away to live with Susan until returning to Nuneaton shortly before giving birth to a stillborn baby. But she didn’t want to cause Monty pain and so she decided to sleep on it before making a decision.

Chapter Sixteen

Monty came home one evening in mid-December with a huge Christmas tree and Nancy could hardly contain her delight. This would be her first Christmas away from the workhouse and she was looking forward to it. She’d already settled far better than Annie had dared hope, and Adam and Alfred adored her.

‘What do you think, girls?’ Monty smiled as he dragged the tree into the parlour, leaving a trail of pine leaves in its wake. ‘Will it do?’

‘Oh, it’s lovely!’ Nancy was jiggling from foot to foot with excitement. They’d always had a small tree in the day room in the workhouse, but never anything as nice as this.

‘I’ll dig out the baubles we got last year and you can help me decorate it this evening if you like,’ Annie told her.

‘Baubles?’ Nancy looked confused. The trees in the workhouse had always been decorated with crepe paper.

‘You can stand it in a bucket of earth for us after dinner,’ Annie told Monty. ‘But first you can come and sample Nancy’s mince pies. She helped me make them today.’ She’d been giving Nancy basic cookery lessons ever since she’d arrived and she was getting quite good at making certain things. In fact, Annie had to admit that Nancy’s pastry was far better than hers.

After dinner, Nancy helped Annie get Adam ready for bed, and once he was settled, they set to decorating the tree. Nancy was amazed at the beautiful glass baubles and was almost afraid to handle them for fear of breaking them.

‘Oh, don’t worry, I’m sure Adam will be doing his share of that; he’s into everything, and Alfred is just as bad,’ Annie chuckled as she placed the fairy on the top and they stood back to admire it.

‘You’ve done a fine job,’ Monty’s voice came from behind his newspaper and Annie and Nancy smiled at each other.

Annie was still in a quandary about whether she should tell Monty about Nancy’s father. She’d been keeping her suspicions to herself – after all she had no proof, and wasn’t sure if she ever would have. I’ll speak to Peggy and ask her advice about it tomorrow, she thought as she sat back and studied Nancy’s face. Was she imagining her nose was the same shape as Monty’s? Or that their eyes were exactly the same shade of blue?

With a sigh she went to make them all a cup of cocoa, leaving Monty to read his newspaper and Nancy to admire the tree. The week before, she’d taken the girl to a cobbler that Peggy knew who had agreed to make Nancy a pair of shoes with one heel higher than the other and she really hoped he could make them in time for Christmas. How lovely it would be to see Nancy walk without her limp.

With a smile she put the milk on the hob to heat up. Her biggest regret this year was that there was no sign of a little brother or sister arriving for Adam, but she certainly didn’t regret bringing Nancy to live with them.

The next morning, when Peggy arrived, Annie sent Nancy to fetch some shopping and over a cup of coffee, she told her what Nancy had said about her father living in Swan Lane.