‘But she’s right, Mr Brooksbank. I do care deeply for Lucy. In fact I’d go as far as to say that I love her.’ Adam sighed. ‘It’s taken a dear friend of mine to make me realize it. But Lucy and I have grown close, over the last months that she has worked for me. I owe her my life, and I will always be beholden to her for that. However, it’s more than that; she brightens up my life and makes me feel young again, and I do feel for her with all my heart. But I know how it must look – after all, as you say, she’s my maid. You must be thinking the worst of me. But believe me, my intentions are honourable. I’d never do anything to hurt Lucy or take advantage of her, in the position she is in.’ Adam looked at Bill Bancroft, who sat taking into consideration what he had said. He had not felt so awkward for a long time. His confession of his love for Lucy was not made lightly, and he tried to remain calm at the thought of Lucy’s parent forbidding her to see him again.
‘Aye, that will sit badly with her mother. She thinks the worst, you see, only seeing you taking advantage of our lass. You hear it so often, with these maids who go into service and are taken advantage of and then cast aside. She’ll not believe that you think that much of Lucy. I must admit that I myself am not happy with the situation, and if you don’t mind me saying, we had set the bar high for the man who was to marry our lass. She’s a bonny one and turns many a man’s eye. She could have the pick of the valley, if she played her cards right.’ Bill shook his head. He was uneasy with the situation, and although it seemed that Lucy had told them the truth about the love that she and Adam had for one another, it still did not make it right.
‘But would she be happy with anyone else? I might be slightly older than Lucy, but that makes me wiser. And perhaps I’m not a wealthy quarry owner or have huge estates, but I do love her and I will respect her, which is more than some of those young bucks that drink in The Fleece would do.’ Adam said quietly as he watched Bill thinking it all through. ‘I don’t want to lose her as my maid, or as the love in my life. What if I was to say that I’d like to marry her and make her my wife? We have only just declared our love for one another, but if that would put both your minds at rest, then that is what I will do, for I know our love for one another is true.’
‘Now happen you are being hasty man, and are as light in the head as our Lucy. You might wake up in the morning and regret every word you’ve said. I didn’t come here today to wed her off to you. Just to tell you that she’d no longer be in your service.’ Bill glanced across at the man, who obviously loved his daughter as much as she loved him.
‘I’ll not regret my words. I know Lucy will mean everything to me until my dying day. It’s simply taken me this long to summon up the courage to say it. I’ve already lost a wife that I held dear, through my own pride in wearing my police uniform, but I’m not going to let myself lose Lucy. She’s right: I do love her and always will do.’ Adam bowed his head.
‘Then I’d better walk back down and tell my other half what we have said this morning. It’ll not please her, I expect. However, I can tell that you are a good man. You’ve looked after our lass well these last few months – perhaps a little too well, seeing as we are in this situation now. I’ve heard Archie Robinson talking highly of you, and he tells everyone what a good employer you are, and that you only show kindness towards him. You put me to shame, by the sound of it. I have to keep a firm grip on the motley lot that work for me in the flay-pits.’ Bill rose from his seat and looked across at Adam. ‘I never thought I’d come here and then go back and tell my old woman that you want to wed our lass. It’s a shock to me, let alone to her. I’ll not say anything in front of our Lucy, and then if you do happen to have a change of heart, she’ll not be hurt even more. We both love her, and we only want the best for her.’
‘So do I, Mr Bancroft, so do I. And I understand your concerns. However, love has no boundaries, and we can’t stop the way we feel for one another.’ Adam rose from his seat and accidentally knocked off the table the advertisement for the sale of High Ground, the Baxters’ reclaimed farm, which he had been reading.
Bill bent down and picked it up, glancing at it as he handed it back to Adam. ‘Are you interested in buying this place? Have you enough brass? It’ll fetch a pretty penny, seeing as the courts are selling it.’ He held out the leaflet in his shaking hand for Adam to take.
‘Yes, I placed my bid yesterday – it’s for sale by tender. The magistrate’s dealing with it. I hope to secure it, for the land really. It would more than double my acreage, making this one of the best farms in the district. The house I’d be looking to let. I’d be
