The captains daughter, p.25
The Captain's Daughter, page 25
Their lovemaking came to an abrupt halt and Daniel looked down as if in shock. The baby kicked twice in quick succession and Daniel felt it clearly in his palm once more. He withdrew his hand, balling it into a fist to take away the sensation of its touch.
‘You won’t hurt it.’ Janey smiled, taking his hand to feel the baby again. She hoped this would be the chance for him to feel more bonded with the baby he was to call his own, but his hand recoiled from hers.
‘Did you know Edna had eight children?’ he said, staring at her belly.
‘No, I didn’t.’
‘She lost each one before her seventh month.’ He eased the straps of her nightgown onto her shoulders again so she was no longer exposed to his eyes. She felt like an unwanted gift being handed back. ‘I have spent the last eight years being blamed for someone’s death. I will not have you blame me should you miscarry.’
He pulled the covers of the bed back and told her to get in, and she did, in a state of shock at how things had suddenly changed. ‘We will wait until after the birth. I have waited long enough, I can wait a few more weeks.’ He lay down beside her, his hands cradled behind his head, staring up at the ceiling whilst Janey lay beside him. There was less than two inches between them but it might as well have been a chasm. She knew she should feel grateful that he was protecting her baby’s health but as she lay beside him, just on the brink of experiencing something wondrous with the man that was her husband, all she could feel was a sense of utter rejection. It seemed even on their wedding night James Brockenshaw was still coming between them.
Chapter Eighteen
On the surface their marriage appeared to flourish as Janey settled into the life of a farmer’s wife. Edna taught her how to gut the poultry that Daniel reared for their table, whilst Janey returned the favour by sharing cooking secrets from the cooks she had worked under as a kitchen maid. Together, they prepared the spare bedroom for the baby and whilst Janey baked, Edna would sit by the range, warming her toes and knitting for the new arrival as if it was to be her own.
Under Janey’s instruction, David dug up patches of the front garden so Janey could plant shrubs and flowers that would add, she insisted, colour and interest. Daniel found the idea amusing that she would want to waste her time growing plants that had no use, but she knew, come the summer, he would take as much pleasure in seeing the garden transformed as she would. She also commandeered a small patch of Daniel’s vegetable garden at the side of the house to nurture back to health the herbs that Amy had grown.
Daniel didn’t know where she got the energy from as the inside of the house began to transform before his eyes. The furniture now shone with beeswax polish, the windows gleamed in the sunlight and the air always smelt fresh as she had a habit of throwing the windows open each morning. She also got into the routine of beating the carpets weekly and cleaning the slate floor each morning. Even David joked that they needn’t bother with plates as they could just eat off the floor. Daniel felt a sense of peace that at the end of his working day, he came home to a clean, well-organised home with good cooking waiting for him, a warm fire in the grate and laughter and chatter to make him smile.
The changes, however, did not stop there. After encouragement from Janey, Daniel set about transforming one of the outbuildings to a dairy for butter and cheesemaking. After searching the sale pages and visiting several markets he eventually found all the equipment they needed. There were two specific days that made Daniel feel that his dream of expanding the business was finally going to become a reality. The first was arriving home with the cheese presses. Janey, Molly and Edna watched as he and David unloaded them from the cart and installed them in the dairy. As the men stood back to rest from the exertion, the women, led by Janey, broke into a spontaneous applause. Daniel smiled, pleased that there were others as excited as he was about the new business venture.
The second time happened when he and David brought a small herd of new cattle home from the market. Only Janey was at home but he saw her look out of the window then quickly disappear again as they made their way down the lane. She came out into the garden and watched them go by with a big smile on her face.
‘They’re beautiful. What are they?’ she called to him.
‘They are South Devon cattle. They are docile, hardy and live for a long time, which means they will not need replacing as quickly as some breeds. They also mature quickly so I can breed from them sooner.’ Daniel patted the curly, light red coat of the nearest cow to him. Janey’s smile was infectious and he couldn’t help but return it with one of his own. ‘They also produce creamy milk. Just right for cheesemaking. It will put our cheese and butter one step ahead of the others.’
Janey leaned over the granite hedge at the bottom of their garden to watch the gentle giants walk past. He felt a surge of pride and pleasure at his achievements and that Janey was there to witness them. He would have liked to have run over to her, picked her up and swung her around in appreciation of her support, but he did not. He had a small herd of cows to control, he told himself, so instead he just nodded at her in acknowledgement and passed her by.
‘I really think you are the best to sell it. They won’t buy from me.’
‘Nonsense,’ said Janey, pinning her hat on her head, ‘but if that’s how you really feel, I will.’ She looked at Daniel’s shirt and instantly recognised it as the one he wore at the dance. The pocket had been expertly mended by Edna, but the button was still missing. ‘Wait, I’ll be back.’
She disappeared for some minutes before returning with a sewing basket and something in her hand. She ordered him to sit. ‘I should have mended this shirt ages ago,’ she said, threading a needle and kneeling before him.
‘Don’t kneel down.’ He patted his leg. ‘Sit here.’ She looked around embarrassed but Edna and David were nowhere to be seen. Not wanting to offend she sat down primly on his lap. Daniel watched her at work. ‘That’s lucky. It matches the others exactly,’ he said.
‘That’s because it’s the one that is missing,’ replied Janey.
Daniel frowned. ‘Where did you find it?’
‘When I tore it, it came away in my hand.’
His eyes narrowed. ‘And you kept it all this time?’ His scrutiny of her actions took her by surprise and she blushed. She finished the sewing, cut the thread with her scissors and stood up.
‘I hate to throw things away.’ She busied herself packing her sewing box away. ‘Besides, I thought I might return it one day.’
Her answer did not satisfy Daniel, but it did give him hope. ‘I would have thought returning a button to me would be the last thing on your mind when you fled Bosvenna estate, Janey,’ he said, in a gentle tone.
Janey straightened and hugged the sewing box to her chest. She dared not look at him, preferring to take an interest in the polished wood in her hands.
‘You were never far from my mind, Daniel. I did not want to leave it behind.’ She turned and gave him a shy smile. ‘Now, we must hurry. The shop owner is expecting us and we must create a good impression by being on time.’
Arthur Jones greeted Janey with a smile and looked warily at Daniel as he entered his shop behind her. Ignoring the mixed greeting, Janey put out her hand and, a little surprised, Arthur Jones took it.
‘Thank you for seeing us, Mr Jones. I am Janey Kellow. I believe you know my husband, Daniel.’
Daniel, not used to mixing with the villagers, followed his wife’s lead and shook the shopkeeper’s hand.
‘We have arranged this meeting as we have something you may be interested in selling in your shop.’
Janey took out her samples of butter and cheese for the shopkeeper to try. The samples were not from their first batch. It took several attempts and tasting sessions, involving everyone at Boscarn Farm, before they were happy with it. To ensure they made the best quality product, Janey and Molly had attended a dairy course in the nearby town of Camelford. They could not persuade Edna to join them.
‘I ’ave not travelled further than two miles outside this ’ere village an’ don’t intend to start now!’ she had told them, and nothing Janey or Molly could say would change her mind. However, their own successful participation had resulted in them both gaining a dairy certificate, which Janey proudly showed the man standing before her.
‘These cheese samples are from our mild cheese range and this is our butter,’ said Janey, laying out her samples. ‘They are both made from South Devon cattle which produce rich creamy milk. We will be able to produce medium and mature cheeses over time. It’s the age of the cheese that determines the maturity, as I’m sure you know.’
The shopkeeper nodded and selected a sample of butter, moving it about his mouth to taste the full flavour. He then reached for a cube of cheese and took a bite. He took his time as he savoured it on his tongue. Daniel and Janey held their breath.
‘They are very good,’ said the shopkeeper, reaching for another. ‘It melts in the mouth.’
Janey smiled and released the breath she had been holding.
‘So you will be happy to sell our cheese and butter in your shop?’
‘Now I didn’t say that. Mrs Tholly makes my cheese and Hawkens makes the butter. The locals are used to their products,’ he said, glancing sheepishly at Daniel.
Janey couldn’t believe what she was hearing, or rather what he wasn’t saying. The shopkeeper did not want to do business with Daniel Kellow, despite the cheese and butter being a far superior product to the ones he sold at present. From the look on Daniel’s face he was thinking the same.
‘Mr Jones, our cheese and butter taste better than any I have tasted for a very long time. I’m sure the villagers would prefer to buy ours.’
‘That is your opinion.’ Arthur Jones showed them the door. As far as he was concerned the meeting was over.
Daniel stepped forward. ‘Mr Jones, I understand you are wary of doing business with me, sir. If I was in your shoes I would feel the same.’
The shopkeeper eyed him suspiciously.
‘I know I have a lot to prove, but I feel that the product we are producing is far superior to anything available in this area at the moment. We plan to sell to St Mabe, Port Wella, Bodmin and Wadebridge in the coming months, however we wanted the local village shop to be the first to have an option to buy and to offer you privileges the other shops will not have.’
‘Privileges you say? Such as?’ Daniel had secured Arthur’s attention.
‘Such as a short notice order delivery privilege and a ten per cent discount. As our first buyer you are important to us.’
Janey felt pride for her husband surge through her. He was talking to the shopkeeper as if he had been doing negotiations for years. However, Arthur still remained doubtful.
‘You still seem unsure,’ Daniel said. ‘I am willing to provide the first block of cheese free and you will have one hundred per cent profit from the sales. When it is a success, which I have no doubt it will be, will you do business with us?’
‘A free block of cheese and a ten per cent discount on all future orders?’
‘Yes, Mr Jones. I give you my word our products will remain pure, with no bulking additives and our deliveries will be reliable. As our first customer you will always be special to us.’
Arthur thought for a moment, as he selected another sample of cheese and popped it in his mouth.
‘Of course, Mr Kellow, you know as well as I do it will sell before the week is out.’
‘I have no doubt it will, Mr Jones.’
The shopkeeper nodded in resignation. ‘I believe we have a deal,’ he said, offering his hand. The deal was confirmed with a firm handshake.
As a young woman Janey always thought she would fall in love in a romantic setting, perhaps watching the red sky of a perfect sunset or dancing to the sound of a waltz. She never envisaged that it would be in a crowded little shop with the smell of cheese filling her nostrils. She watched Daniel’s lips move as he spoke to the shopkeeper but she no longer heard his words. It seemed every day she was discovering a new side to Daniel Kellow. Daniel, the serious, stubborn and aloof man who had dipped in and out of her life over the past two years, had today conducted himself in a polite, self-assured manner. His behaviour had been akin to a gentleman. She wondered how long she had been in love with him. Mary had seen a spark between them from the very beginning. Perhaps she had been in love with him all along. The truth of the matter was she simply didn’t know. She did know, however, with a certainty that she would stake her own life on, that in the dimly lit shop, surrounded by sacks of flour and holding cheese samples in her hand, she had realised that she loved her husband – and it felt glorious.
Edna turned the handle of the mangle as Janey carefully threaded the wet clothes through the wooden rollers. There was something rewarding about seeing the water squeezed out of the washing and drip into the bucket below. Janey was approaching her eighth month. She was beginning to tire and Daniel had insisted on taking on extra help in the dairy as orders were beginning to build. The first batch of cheeses was nearly mature and ready for delivery but the shops who were willing to sell them had also expressed an interest in their butter samples.
The first Kellow butter was delivered to the outlets last week with a resounding success and the cheese and butter making was becoming a full-time job. So when Daniel arrived with two of Matt’s younger sisters, Janey couldn’t help feeling a little relieved. While they did most of the work, she and Edna supervised, tested for quality and prepared the orders. Daniel and David then made the deliveries. It was a small business but one that was fast growing a good reputation for reliability and quality. Daniel soon realised that, if it continued to grow at the same rate, they would need more land to accommodate a bigger herd.
Edna and Janey chatted about the success of the business as they worked, resting now and then to take a drink from the water they had drawn from the well, before returning to the laundry pile. Edna had begun to look upon Janey as the daughter she never had and told her just that. Perhaps it was this closeness that led Janey to confide in her about what was recently troubling her.
‘I worry about giving birth. What if something goes wrong?’
‘Things do go wrong, there’s no doubt about that,’ replied Edna matter-of-factly. ‘I carried all my babies for the first four months but after that date they would start to slip away from me. None lived past seven months. But you ’ave good child bearing ’ips an’ your time is nearly ’ere. We ’ave Bertha in the village, she delivers all the babies around ’ere an’ then there’s the doctor nearby who lives in the big ’ouse at the bottom of the ’ill. There’s ’elp at ’and.’
‘Did you have Bertha?’
‘In time, but I ’ad Agnes first. She was the midwife back when I ’ad my first. She was the wise woman of the village, tended all the deliveries an’ laid out all the dead. If she ’ad been born a ’undred years earlier she would be called a witch. ‘’Er ’ouse is full of concoctions for this an’ that, an’ she’s not averse to casting the odd spell or two. ’Owever, give ’er ’er due, she was a good midwife. If I’d taken ’er advice my babies may ’ave survived and I might ’ave ’ad a brood of my own.’
Janey sat down and Edna followed suit.
‘What was her advice?’
‘After my first miscarriage she told me to kill a bird and wrap it in cloth soaked in the blood from the afterbirth. She told me to ’ide it in the ’ouse. She said by offering the life of a small animal it would prevent further miscarriages in the ’ouse where it was buried. She said that all future babies born there would be ’ealthy and survive.’
‘But you didn’t do it.’
The old woman shrugged. ‘At the time it sounded like a lot of mumbo jumbo. We ’ad a big row an’ we never spoke again. I didn’t know I would ’ave seven more babies to bury but by then I was too proud and grief-stricken to make up with ’er. She still lives in the village but she ’asn’t delivered a baby for twenty years now. She got fed up with people knocking on ’er door at any time of the day and night. Bertha will be around. She will look after you. You need not worry on that score.’
The baby kicked inside her. ‘It’s kicking again, Edna.’
The old lady chuckled and reached over to feel the bump. ‘You’ve got a strong baby in there. I don’t think you need to worry about the birth. This little one is fighting fit.’
‘Daniel won’t feel the baby’s movements,’ Janey blurted out. She could hardly blame him but it concerned her none the less.
‘Men are funny sometimes. ’E will come around. When ’e sees the little one staring up at ’im ’e will be all over the baby. You just wait and see.’
Janey smiled weakly at Edna. ‘I hope so. I hope so very much.’ She stroked her belly but couldn’t help feeling a sense of foreboding about the month ahead.
Daniel felt the smack to his face before he was awake. Its suddenness wrenched him from his dreams and into reality with lightning speed. He sat up, rubbing his jaw, and looked down at his wife as she slept beside him. She was having another nightmare. She whimpered between bouts of fighting, flailing her arms as if it was for her very survival. The first time he had seen her like this he was at a loss what to do. He had tried to hold her tight to provide comfort but it only made things worse. In the end he had woken her but it took a long time for her to settle and he feared he had made things worse. In the morning he had asked her what she had been dreaming about but she had been evasive and did not want to talk about it. She had asked if she had spoken and appeared relieved when he said he could make no sense of her mumbling.
In the first few weeks of their marriage she had suffered these nightmares at least twice a week. They were occurring less frequently now but after the first he had resolved not to tell her. She had not wanted to share with him the contents of her dreams and if she remembered them she did not tell him. He no longer woke her. He had learnt that stroking her hair and whispering her name seemed to soothe her and chase the nightmare away.
