‘Shut up, our Nathan. He’ll hear you. He said he was picking me up at twelve-thirty and it’s nearly that now.’ Lucy tried to swipe Nathan around the ear, but missed and swore as he put out his tongue at her, then ran upstairs to look out of his bedroom window at the man who was daft enough to court his big sister. ‘Oh Lord, he’s here. Now don’t anybody come to the door and gawp at him.’ Lucy picked up her small satin posy bag and glared at her parents, before going to open the door.
‘Now then, Lucy, are you ready?’ Reggie stood on the doorstep, cap in hand, and beamed at her as she opened the door to him. ‘I’ve treated us to my next-door neighbour’s horse and trap. I thought we’d go to Haworth in style. I’ll stable the horse at the Black Bull at the top of the high street while we have a stroll.’
‘So, who’s this then, our Lucy? He’s not leading you astray by visiting the Black Bull, is he?’ Bill rose from his chair by the fire and went and stood behind Lucy, and looked Reggie up and down, noticing everything about him.
‘Oh, Father, stop protecting me.’ Lucy sighed.
‘I’m not leading her astray, sir, just leaving the horse there. I’ll not be sampling a gill while I have your bonny daughter on my arm. I’m Reggie Ellwood, it’s a pleasure to meet you, sir. And thank you for letting Lucy walk out with me this fine day.’ Reggie held out his hand to be shaken and looked up at Bill, as he surveyed the lad up and down.
‘Aye, well, behave yourselves and have a good day. I’ll expect her back by six – that’ll be late enough. If you can’t decide whether you like one another, after staring into one another’s eyes for six hours, then the job’s a bad ’un.’ Bill shook Reggie’s hand hesitantly and turned back into the house, leaving Lucy shaking her head at her father’s forthrightness.
‘He’s alright, is your father. He says it how it is, and there’s nothing wrong with that.’ Reggie held Lucy’s hand as she pulled up her skirts and climbed into the trap. ‘Now isn’t this fine? A bonny Sunday afternoon, all day together and enough brass in my pocket to treat you to tea. The other month I was near despair, but now that the Baxters have been dealt with – thanks to Adam Brooksbank – my life’s taken a change for the better. It’s time I had a girl on my arm. And what a bonny one I have.’ Reggie turned and looked at Lucy and wondered if he dared risk a quick peck on the cheek, as he sat up next to her and urged the horse forward down the shady green road to Haworth.
‘It’s just a day out and tea together. Don’t get carried away, Reggie. It’s nothing more than that.’ Lucy looked at Reggie and saw the disappointment on his face. ‘But we’ll see how we get on.’
‘Are you still courting this other fella you say you’ve got, because it’s only right that I know?’ Reggie looked ahead, not wanting to hear that he was only being used for a day out at his expense.
‘Things are difficult at the moment. I think he’s got another woman. So no, I can’t say I am.’ Lucy felt her eyes fill with tears, thinking about Adam smiling and talking about the dreaded Ivy’s arrival, and how much he had missed her.
‘Ah well, what’s good for the goose is good for the gander. I’ll have to make sure we have a good day and that I win you over. I’ll give him a run for his money. And happen by the time I drop you off back at home, you’ll have forgotten about him.’ Reggie flicked the reins and started to whistle as they trotted along the blossom-filled hedgerows, thinking that he might stand a chance with the lovely Lucy, if he looked after her well.
The journey to the busy cobbled streets of Haworth was made up of polite conversation between Lucy and Reggie, both trying their best to be the person they wanted each other to be. Lucy was feeling a little bit guilty that, in her heart, she was leading Reggie on, when she knew he was not the right man for her. She was quite relieved when Reggie came out from the stables of the Black Bull, after stabling the horse, and linked his arm through hers without saying a word.
‘The street is busy. There are lots of people walking out in their Sunday finest – don’t they look smart.’ Lucy smiled and watched all the ladies, dressed in their tight-waisted dresses with flowing skirts, in all the different colours that could be imagined, with their husbands or beaus, walking arm-in-arm with them and promenading up the ancient cobbled streets.
‘Aye, and there’s a lot of normal everyday folk, with not a lot of money, watching them. Not everybody’s wealthy in Haworth. In fact it’s quite the opposite, and everybody’s scratching a living from carding wool, farming or working in the iron foundry or mills. Don’t let these few posh folk who walk out in their Sunday best fool you. They are only showing off, like us two,’ Reggie said as he looked around him at the small cottage dwellings and the many businesseses that filled the narrow, dark streets of the old mill town.
‘I know, but other folk seem to have so much more than I do. I’d like just a bit of what they’ve got. All I’ve ever done in my life is look after my sister and brothers, and be known as the lass from the flay-pits, which is not the best place to come from. It smells seven days a week and there are rats in the yard, and nobody worth anything looks the side I’m on,’ Lucy moaned.
‘Hey, your family love you, and you
