The Lady's Maid Read online

  Contents

  About the Book

  About the Author

  Also by Dilly Court

  Title Page

  Dedication

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Author’s Note

  Copyright

  About the Book

  In the quiet of a warm summer’s evening, two young mothers are forced to give up their babies. Whilst Kate grows up knowing only poverty and servitude, Josie’s world is one of privilege and luxury.

  Despite the differences in their circumstances, Kate and Josie have been friends since childhood. But their past binds them together in ways they must never know.

  Until a chance meeting forces Kate and Josie to confront the truth of that night nearly twenty years before – a truth that turns both worlds upside down and threatens to destroy their friendship forever …

  About the Author

  Dilly Court grew up in North-east London and began her career in television, writing scripts for commercials. She is married with two grown-up children and four grandchildren, and now lives in Dorset on the beautiful Jurassic Coast with her husband and a large, yellow Labrador called Archie. She is the author of fifteen novels and also writes under the name of Lily Baxter.

  Also by Dilly Court

  Mermaids Singing

  The Dollmaker’s Daughters

  Tilly True

  The Best of Sisters

  The Cockney Sparrow

  A Mother’s Courage

  The Constant Heart

  A Mother’s Promise

  The Cockney Angel

  A Mother’s Wish

  The Ragged Heiress

  A Mother’s Secret

  Cinderella Sister

  A Mother’s Trust

  For my good friend, Diane.

  Chapter One

  Maiden Castle, Dorset, September 1854

  ZOLFINA COULD TELL that the gorgio girl’s life was ebbing away on a crimson tide. She laid the naked newborn child on her mother’s breast. ‘You have a daughter, Clara. She is a fine healthy baby – a little small, perhaps, but she will soon grow.’

  ‘I will not live to see it.’ The words came out in a hoarse whisper as Clara wrapped her arms around her baby.

  ‘What sort of talk is that?’

  ‘I’m dying, gypsy woman.’

  ‘You are not dying, child. You must put these thoughts from your mind.’ A superstitious shiver ran down Zolfina’s spine, and she crossed herself as she glanced up at the towering ramparts of the Iron Age fort in whose shelter she had so recently brought two new lives into the world. It was a pagan place ruled by the gods of the ancients, but there was no mystic or magical power that could save the young mother. Zolfina had seen many a newly delivered woman bleed to death. She had skills in making herbal remedies, but there was nothing more she could do for this delicate fair-haired girl who was little more than a child herself. A doctor might have been able to save her, but they were at least a mile from Dorchester, the nearest town, and Clara was slipping away into the world of spirits. Zolfina turned to her daughter, Dena, who was sitting beneath a stunted oak tree nearby, cuddling her own newborn babe. Dena raised her eyebrows in an unspoken question and Zolfina shook her head.

  ‘Come closer, gypsy,’ Clara whispered. ‘I cannot see your face.’

  Zolfina knelt down beside her. ‘Save your strength, child.’

  ‘Promise me that you will take care of my baby.’

  ‘You will take care of her yourself, Clara. You have so much to live for.’

  ‘I’m not afraid to die. But I don’t want to leave her alone in the world.’

  Zolfina clasped her hand; it was cold and bloodless. She knew that it would not be long now. ‘I will see that she is cared for, but surely you have family somewhere? There must be someone close to you?’

  Tears welled from Clara’s blue eyes and trickled silently down her ashen cheeks. ‘I disgraced my family. They want nothing to do with me, and her father, Alexander, is dead – killed in action in the Crimea. We will be reunited soon in heaven, but I want you to give our child a blessing.’

  ‘I am not a priest. I am a simple Romany woman – I have no power for good or evil.’

  ‘I’m giving her to you. Promise me that you will find a good family who will love and protect her.’

  Zolfina took the mewling infant from Clara’s arms. ‘You have my promise.’ She reached for the bucket of water which she had fetched from the Winterbourne river at the onset of Dena’s labour. It was there, on the riverbank, that she had found the exhausted and heavily pregnant Clara. She had helped her back to the hollow at the foot of the earthworks where Dena and her baby now lay on a bed of dried bracken and straw. Romany law said that a woman in labour was impure, and birthing must be accomplished away from the main encampment: Zolfina had acted accordingly, but she had not reckoned on delivering two babies that day, let alone two girls. She beckoned to Dena. ‘Bring your babe here. We will name the little ones together.’

  It was dusk, and the flickering fire sent a fragrant plume of woodsmoke rising into the opalescent sky above the dark hump of the prehistoric fort. A barn owl flew overhead screeching its hunting call, and in the distance a dog fox barked. Then there was silence.

  Zolfina dipped her fingers in the bucket and made the sign of the cross on the baby’s forehead. The infant uttered a cry of protest as the cold water trickled down her face. ‘I name thee …’ Zolfina paused, looking to Clara for guidance. She had to bend closer to hear the whispered name.

  ‘Katherine – after my mother.’

  ‘I name thee Katherine. May God’s blessings go with you for all of your days.’ She gave the baby to Dena, exchanging her for her own granddaughter. ‘What name will you give your little one?’

  Dena tossed her head. ‘I will not have her long enough to name her if you have your way, Mother.’

  ‘Keep your voice down,’ Zolfina hissed. ‘Can’t you see that the girl is not long for this world? Do you want to send her to her maker with angry words in her ears?’

  Dena hung her head. ‘Josephine. I want to call her Josephine.’

  ‘What sort of name is that for a Romany child?’

  ‘Her father was called Joseph and he was a gorgio. She may never know him, but she will be raised as one of his people. You have seen to that, Mother.’

  ‘Don’t blame me, my girl. You left me with no other choice.’ Zolfina dipped her finger once again into the water, but this time she was met with a silent, almost defiant stare from the baby’s dark eyes. Zolfina crossed herself – that was a bad sign. The child ought to have cried to cast the devil out. ‘I name thee Josephine,’ she said hastily. ‘May the blessing of God go with you.’ She gave the infant back to Dena. ‘Josephine and Katherine – I renounce the devil and give you both to God. May your lives be long, and may the good Lord give you the strength to deal with whatever ills may befall you.’ As the last words left her lips, Zolfina realised that Clara was trying to speak.
She leaned closer, taking her hand. ‘What are you saying, child?’

  ‘My ring.’

  Zolfina looked down at Clara’s left hand, which she raised with such difficulty, and her attention was captured by the heart-shaped emerald surrounded by tiny diamonds. ‘I see your ring, and it is beautiful.’

  ‘It is my engagement ring,’ Clara whispered. ‘Take it and keep it safe for my child when she grows up. I have nothing else to leave her. Promise me, gypsy.’

  ‘I promise.’

  Clara’s eyelids fluttered and closed. With her last breath, she whispered, ‘Alexander.’

  ‘What did she say, Mother?’

  ‘She’s gone to join him – her man. God rest their souls.’

  ‘Poor creature.’ Dena stifled a sob. It could so easily have been she who was lying there on the cold ground. She had been spared, but perhaps the pain of having her child taken from her was greater than death itself? She held her baby a little tighter; she was so small, so helpless and so precious.

  Zolfina slipped the ring off Clara’s finger and crossed the dead girl’s hands on her breast. She covered her with a brightly coloured woollen blanket. ‘We will never know who she was or where she came from, but those hands had never done a day’s work. Clara was obviously a lady and her man was a gallant soldier who gave his life for his country.’

  ‘It’s very sad.’

  ‘But she is gone now and we cannot leave her here for the crows to pick at.’ Zolfina handed the ring to her daughter. ‘Keep this safe, Dena. I must return to the camp and speak to Yoska. He will know what to do for the best.’

  Dena closed her fingers around the ring. It felt like a lump of ice in her hand and she shivered. ‘It is almost dark, Mother. I don’t want to be left alone.’

  ‘I won’t be long. You will have to stay here and look after the babes until I get back. We leave tomorrow for our camping ground on Hackney common, but at first light I’ll take Josephine to the big house, as we agreed.’

  ‘I want to keep her. I cannot bear to let her go.’

  Zolfina threw her hands up in despair. ‘No one knows about the baby, not even Yoska. Everyone in the camp thinks that you are still working as a maidservant for the Damerells. If Marko discovers that you have been with another man he won’t marry you – no man will have you – and our family will be disgraced.’

  ‘I would rather be disgraced and keep my baby.’

  ‘Don’t talk rubbish, my girl. You would be an outcast, reduced to begging on the streets. None of this would have happened if you had not gone with the gorgio. You stay here, and think about what you have done.’

  She disappeared into the night, leaving Dena alone with the sleeping infants and the body of the tragic young mother. She laid the babies down side by side beneath the tree while she collected twigs and brushwood for the fire. A grey mist was sneaking inland from the sea, which was less than eight miles distant; it moved wraithlike between the steep embankments, bringing with it a sudden chill. Looking up at the black silhouette of the earthworks against the darkening sky, Dena could hear the sounds of conflict: the cries of the women and children and the warlike yells of the warrior Durotriges as they fought their fatal battle with the Roman soldiers. She shuddered, wrapping her arms around her body and forcing the images out of her mind. She had inherited the second sight from her maternal grandmother, but it was an unwelcome gift.

  A whimpering sound from Josephine brought her back to reality and she hurried over to pick her up. The hungry mouth sought her breast and Dena sat down, leaning back against the gnarled tree trunk. She undid the buttons on her blouse and allowed the baby to suckle. The sensation was strange, but wonderful and yet bittersweet, for tomorrow she knew she must give her daughter up, never to see her again. Tears spilled from her eyes and ran down her cheeks unchecked. She was paying the price for that night of madness when she had lain with Joseph Damerell, the dashing brother of Sir Hector, who had come from London for a weekend shooting party. They had danced beneath the stars and drunk champagne from a silver goblet. He had made her laugh and had charmed her with his teasing smile and soft words. She had known that it was wrong, but at the time it had seemed so right – the laws of purity and the sanctity of marriage had flown out of her mind like a flock of migrating swallows. The result had shocked her; she had not imagined that she could conceive so easily or so quickly. She would never forget that magical night when they had hidden in the summerhouse and slept in each other’s arms. They had awakened to a cold and frosty dawn, making love again just as the sun was rising, but even as they parted with a lingering kiss, she had known that she would never see him again.

  She wiped her eyes on the back of her hand. The baby had stopped suckling and she hitched Josephine over her shoulder, rubbing her tiny back until she gave a satisfactory burp. She had often held other women’s babies and cuddled them, breathing in their milky scent, but she had never experienced the flood of emotion and protective love that she felt at this moment. She cradled the infant in the crook of her arm and Josephine stared up at her with a dark unfocused gaze. Who would have thought that this perfect little creature could have emerged from her womb? A shaft of fear stabbed Dena in the heart. She could not bear the thought of giving her beautiful baby to sour-faced, acerbic-tongued Miss Hickson, Lady Damerell’s personal maid. It was she who had noticed Dena’s swelling belly, and her condition would have warranted instant dismissal but for the servant’s determination to help her barren mistress. Miss Hickson had sent for Zolfina, and between the two of them they had worked out a plan to hide Dena away until her confinement while Lady Damerell acted out a phantom pregnancy. The irony of the situation was not lost on Dena; she might not have produced a son, but Josephine was a Damerell. She was being forced to give her baby to another woman, who would pass her off as her own, when all along the child was of the family blood line.

  Josephine slept, but now Clara’s baby had begun to cry. Dena did not want to suckle another woman’s child, but it seemed as though it was the only way to quieten the infant. She was shocked that she felt nothing for this helpless little scrap of humanity, but she could not allow her to starve for want of a mother. She had her own baby cradled in one arm, and Clara’s baby at her breast, when Zolfina came crashing through the undergrowth.

  ‘You’ll have to stop that very soon or you’ll have paps like a cow. I’m taking her to Miss Hickson in the morning. She wanted the babe as soon as it was born, but it’s too late to go tonight.’

  In spite of everything, Dena could not suppress a giggle. ‘I’m sure that my lady will be glad to deliver the cushion that she has been wearing stuffed beneath her corsets these past few months.’

  Zolfina scowled at her. ‘It’s no laughing matter, my girl. You’ll be hard put to convince Marko that you’re still a virgin when he claims you for his bride. At least the money from the Damerells will give you a big enough dowry to buy his silence if he does realise that you are spoiled goods, but you’ve still got to play your part.’

  Dena licked her lips. She had worked it out in her head and now she must convince her mother that she had the perfect solution. ‘Perhaps she will take the gorgio child instead?’

  ‘What are you talking about, girl?’

  ‘No one knows about Clara and her baby. And you said that she was a lady, so why not give her baby to Lady Damerell?’

  ‘Because, you silly girl, Clara’s child is going to be as fair as her poor dead mother. The Damerells are all dark-haired, which is why Miss Hickson and I worked out a deal which would benefit us all.’

  Tears spilled from Dena’s eyes. ‘But she is mine, and I love her. I cannot give her up.’

  ‘You have no choice.’ Zolfina modified her tone. She did not want to see her daughter suffer, but she must be firm. She must not waver now, for all their sakes. ‘Marko is a good man, and it’s fortunate for you that his travels have kept him away for many more months, because if he were to find out about this he would seek another bride
.’

  ‘I know that, Mother, but I can’t give my baby away.’

  ‘You will have many more babies, and they will be true Romany. We will leave tomorrow morning, at first light. You must say goodbye to her, and there will be no argument.’

  Dena bowed her head. Her heart was crumbling inside her breast, but she knew that she must obey her mother and Romany law. ‘Promise me one thing, Mother.’

  ‘And that is?’

  ‘That you will tell them her name is Josephine. It is the only thing that belonged to her real father that I can bestow on her.’

  Zolfina nodded in agreement. ‘I will try. Now get some sleep.’

  ‘But what will happen to Clara’s baby?’

  ‘I’ve thought of that and I think I have the solution.’

  Dena glanced at the shape beneath the woollen blanket. ‘And Clara?’

  ‘Yoska is going to see that her poor dead body is treated with respect. You need not worry your head about Clara. Nothing in this world can harm her now.’

  Next morning, Zolfina awakened as the first grey streaks of dawn appeared in the east. She crept over to where Dena lay sleeping beside the two infants, who were swaddled in woollen shawls. There was no mistaking Josephine, with her shock of dark hair, and Zolfina picked her up gently. She made her way stealthily from their makeshift camp, and set off to walk the two miles to Damerell Manor, the family’s country home.

  As arranged, Miss Hickson was waiting for her in the summerhouse by the lake. The black bombazine skirts of her dress swirled around her skinny body as she paced the floor, and her shawl flapped in the breeze, giving her the appearance of an agitated crow. Zolfina quickened her pace, terrified that the infant would awaken, start crying and draw the attention of the grooms and gardeners who were already beginning their day’s work. This transaction had to be done in the strictest secrecy if the servants were to believe that Lady Damerell had been delivered of a baby.

  ‘Where have you been?’ Miss Hickson demanded angrily. ‘I waited for hours last night, and I’ve been here since the crack of dawn.’