She Will Make Good Her Right - Episode 21

The carriage made much steadier and more substantial progress, now that the original horses were back in harness.  Clarence, Dolly, the infant Henry (or possibly Clarence), Gwladys and Aefelthrith were all inside the carriage, which made things a little on the snug side. 

Jarvis and Cocker, the bailiffs, had insisted (not unreasonably) on keeping control of the carriage and horses, and were driving.  Their two horses, now relieved of their carriage-hauling duties, and looking visibly pleased about this, were tethered to the rear of the carriage and trotting along behind.

“I must say, you two showed incredible speed of thought today” Clarence whispered to Gwladys and Aefelthrith, “didn’t they, Dolly?”

Dolly was staring intently at the passing scenery.  Clarence nudged her.

“Huh, what?” She scowled.

“I said that Gwladys and Aefelthrith did remarkably well, earlier”

“Oh, right, yeah, I suppose so” Dolly admitted, grudgingly.

“Having us as dupes of that rascally sea-faring gent was certainly helpful” Clarence grinned.

“Well, yer see, yer ‘ad to be seen to be just borrowin’ the coach an’ ‘orses, not takin’ it fer good an’ all.  Otherwise, yer could ‘ave been lookin’ at the end of an ‘angman’s rope” Gwladys pointed out.

“As I said, quick thinking.  We’re enormously grateful, aren’t we Dolly?”  Another nudge.

“Hmm?  Oh yeah, course”

Aefelthrith seemed to have ‘won’ the child-minding duties again, and she and Henry (or possibly Clarence) eyed each other warily.

“We’re comin’ up to a junction, ‘ere, do we…” Jarvis asked.

“…turn right, turn left…” Cocker continued.

“…or go straight on?”  Jarvis finished.

“Turn right, please gentlemen” Clarence shouted out of the window, “we’re very close now.  Soon have a nice warming meal inside you and a foaming pint”

They had been making excellent progress, thanks largely to having the correct horses in place and having two experienced hands on the reins.  After about another half hour of travel, another junction appeared and this time, there was an inn at the side of the road.

“This is it, gentlemen!”  Clarence said, triumphantly, “just pull up and we’ll get everything unloaded”

The carriage turned off the road and parked up by the entrance to the inn.  Clarence jumped out of the carriage and looked about him with a beaming smile, hands on hips.

“Well done, gentlemen.  We’ve made excellent time.  I’ll get Glad and Ethel to unload our luggage and take the horses to the rear for food and water.  If you gentlemen would like to follow me?”

Gwladys and Aefelthrith looked at each other with raised eyebrows.

“Hang on!” Dolly shouted, before propelling herself out of the carriage, “I’ll go in first”

Grabbing Clarence by the sleeve of his clerical garb she hissed “I’ll need to explain to my mum and dad why I’ve suddenly got a man of the cloth in tow!”

Picking up her skirts, Dolly walked confidently to the front door and tried the handle.  There was some agitated rattling of this, before she turned and announced,

“It’s locked!”

“Surely not, my dear” Clarence replied, a little too heartily, “perhaps it’s just a little stiff?”  He joined his wife at the door and shoved with his shoulder.

“That’s what people say about you, you know!”  Dolly sniffed.

After they had both tried, and failed, to open the door, they stood back and looked puzzled.

“I ‘ate to mention it, but it looks to me like it’s been closed for a while” Gwladys observed, nodding toward the curtained windows and the dirt-smeared glass.

Dolly gave her a vicious look and then began pounding on the front door.  The noise seemed to echo around the building.  Eventually, there was the sound of footsteps in the distance, and then a voice bellowed,

“Clear orf, we’re shut!”

“Dad?”  Dolly yelled.

“Dolly?”  The voice replied, hesitantly.

“Dad, it’s me!  We’ve come home!”

There was the sound of locks being turned, with some difficulty, and bolts being withdrawn.  Eventually, after what seemed like an age, the door opened a tiny amount and a pair of eyes peered, suspiciously, through the crack in the door.

“It is you!”  The voice said, eventually.

“Of course, it’s me, you daft beggar, what do you think you’re doing?  How come the inn’s shut?”

The door opened wider and a scruffily dressed old man shuffled, blinking, into the daylight.

“We didn’t know you were comin’, you should ‘ave written or summat” Dolly’s father grumbled.

“Fine welcome that is, I must say!”  Dolly frowned at him, “we’ve promised these gentlemen a meal and a drink or two”

“You’ll be lucky, I say, you’ll be lucky!”  Dolly’s father shook his head.

“And I’ve brought Clarence here to see you” Dolly nodded to her husband, who strode forward with his hand outstretched.  Dolly’s father looked him up and down, clearly unimpressed.

“’E dunner look owt like ‘e did when the two of you took off?”  He observed.

“He’s taken the cloth, dad” Dolly said through gritted teeth, “I’ll explain, later.  Where’s mum?”

“She’s round the back, makin’ us a bit of broth”

“Only, I’ve got summat to show her, and you” Dolly marched over to Aefelthrith and snatched the baby, “say hello to your grandson, Henry”

“Clarence!” Clarence interjected.

“Bloody ‘ell!”  Dolly’s father scratched his head, “yer’d better come in” He opened the door, wider, and ushered the party in to the dark recesses.

Dust covered the tables and the floor and cobwebs hung from the rafters.

“Margaret!”  He yelled into the gloom, “Margaret!”

A curtain at the rear, parted and a little old lady, almost bent double, shuffled out.

“Dolly?”  She asked, hesitantly.

“Hello mum” Dolly beamed, and ran to her mother, “this here’s your new grandson!”

“Oh, our Dolly!”  Margaret hugged her daughter and cooed over her grandson.

“Why is the inn not open, sir?” Clarence asked Dolly’s father.

“Been shut fer a while, now.  Couldn’t make ends meet, yer see” He shook his head, miserably, “when Dolly went orf with you, a lot of the reason why blokes came ‘ere went with ‘er, if yer get my drift?”

“But we can find these fine gentlemen something to eat?”  Clarence asked, hopefully, nodding toward Jarvis and Cocker, who were looking around at their surroundings with a certain amount of foreboding.

“Might run to a bit of broth” Dolly’s father conceded, reluctantly, “providin’ they ain’t expectin’ no bread or nowt”

“Gentlemen, I do apologise for this unexpected situation” Clarence began, blushing slightly.

“Look, I reckon…” Jarvis said.

“…if it’s all the same to you…” Cocker continued.

“…we’ll just get the ‘orses a drink…”  Jarvis jerked a thumb at the carriage outside.

“…and be on our way” Cocker nodded.

Dolly bustled up to Clarence and whispered,

“They’re on their uppers, me mum just said.  Got no food, nor nothing!”

Clarence scratched his head and looked dejected.

“I can only apologise, gentlemen.  I never intended to mislead you.  Here, please have these few coins to pay for some food and drink at the next inn you find.”  He produced a small bag and poured out a handful of coins, “meanwhile, there’s a trough at the side where the horses can drink”

He led Jarvis and Cocker out of the room.  Jarvis was counting the coins, carefully, and biting the odd one, occasionally.

“Well, this is a pretty pass and no mistake!”  Dolly sighed, “right, Glad, Ethel, get the bags down off the carriage, then you can give me an ‘and cleaning up in here.  We’ve got our work cut out if we’re going to get this place open again!”

Gwladys looked meaningfully at Aefelthrith, who sighed and said,

“Right, Dolly”

“Oh and Ethel?”  Dolly put her hands on her hips and stared at her ‘nanny’.

“Yes, Dolly?”

“I think we’d better start as we mean to go on, don’t you?  So, it’ll be ‘ma’am’ when you address me, and ‘sir’ when you speak to Clarence, is that clear?”

Aefelthrith felt the anger rising inside her but spotted Gwladys’s warning stare and swallowed hard.

“Yes, ma’am” She managed, and dropped a slight curtsey.

“That’s better” Dolly smiled, thinly.

“Nice deep breath” Gwladys whispered, as they set out for the carriage, “and try countin’ to ten, it’s always worked fer me”

“Ninety eight, ninety nine, one hundred…” Aefelthrith muttered under her breath.

Misssed out on the story so far?  Pop over to the whole epic in the Collection via the link below:

Chronicles of a Young Lady (and her Maid)