Let Her In Constancy - Episode 23

“Well, I think that looks really splendid, don’t you Dolly?”  ‘John Thomas’, the new landlord of the Crossroads Hotel (it wasn’t a hotel yet, but he had ambitions) looked around him with a sense of pride.

“Not half bad, I suppose” Dolly conceded, grinning.

‘John Thomas’ was the new identity Clarence had adopted for his innkeeping role, neither Parson Brown nor Captain D’Arbanville being quite suitable.  Gwladys had nearly choked on her breakfast when he told them, but decided to keep her opinions to herself.

“We’re very grateful to you Glad and Ethel for all of your hard work.  It’s thanks to you that we can have our grand reopening, tonight” ‘John Thomas’ beamed.

“I think I might have had something to do with it an’ all, don’t you?”  Dolly gave him a penetrating stare.

“Of course, my dear” ‘John Thomas’ smiled sweetly at his wife, “you have been our guiding light”

“Right girls, we’ll be opening shortly, so we won’t be needing you down here.”  Dolly folded her arms and studied her staff, “Ethel, you can go and see to Henry…”

“Clarence!” ‘John Thomas interrupted, automatically.

“…and Glad, go and see if my parents need anything doing.  Then, when you’ve done that, you can both give the upstairs rooms a good going over”

“We don’t get to see the inn reopening?”  Ethel asked, open-mouthed.

“No, there’s no call for you to be down here.”  Dolly shook her head, “‘John’ and me can manage this.  We’ll give you a shout if we need you”

Aefelthrith stomped off, upstairs, with Gwladys in hot pursuit.

“I’ve just about had it up to here with her” Aefelthrith steamed as they entered their room, “so, all I’m good for is to look after their brat, all night, while she’s swanning around being the charming hostess!  Not to mention cleaning the rooms up here!  As if we haven’t been cleaning all day, every day, as it is!”

“Hush now, lovey, don’t want to upset the neighbours, do we?” Gwladys put a finger to her lips and nodded toward the next-door room, currently being used as Dolly’s parents’ sitting room.

“To hell with the neighbours” Aefelthrith snarled, “you know what’s going to happen, don’t you?  The only time we’ll get called down there is when everyone’s gone home and they need the place sorting out for tomorrow!”

“It’s just the way it is!” Gwladys shrugged, “not sayin’ it’s right, it just comes with bein’ in service”

*****

From downstairs arose a babble as the customers streamed in.  ‘John Thomas’ had been on a charm offensive in the surrounding villages during the day and that, plus the offer of cheap drinks to celebrate the reopening, had resulted in a good turn-out.  His charm offensive had also happily led to the reinstatement of beer deliveries, despite the monies still outstanding.

Outside the Crossroads Hotel, there was a melee of carts, horses and traps.  A further, rather grand, black carriage joined the throng, drawn by two black horses with two white horses tethered behind.

“Bit livelier than last…”  Jarvis noted.

“…time we was here” Cocker agreed.  “We’ll never get ‘old of ‘im with this lot inside”

“Just ‘ave to bide our time, won’t we?  ‘E’s bound to ‘ave to go down the cellar sometime, an’…” Jarvis said.

“…we’ll be waitin’?”  Cocker asked.

“Too right, we will” Jarvis grinned.

*****

Gwladys came back from tending to Dolly’s parents to find Aefelthrith tearing around their room, hurling things onto the bed from the drawers.

“What are yer doin’?”  Gwladys asked.

“I told you, I can’t do this anymore!”  Aefelthrith snapped, “I’m getting out”

“Oh, come on lovey!  There’s no need to be like that!  Why don’t yer sleep on it, eh?  It’ll all look better in the mornin’”

“It won’t!”  Aefelthrith snarled, “this is how it’s going to be for ever and ever” She slumped down on her bed and started to cry, “it’s because she knows I used to be betrothed to my L…Clarence.  She’s jealous, that’s what it is, and she’s determined to make my life a misery”

“Now, now, lovey” Gwladys sat down beside Aefelthrith and patted her hand, “I dare say there’s a bit of that goin’ on, but she’ll get over it soon enough”

“No, she won’t” Aefelthrith sobbed, “she won’t be happy until she’s completely humiliated me and driven me out”

“But where would yer go?  What would yer do?”

“I don’t care!  I just need to leave here”

“’Ow about if I ‘ad a word with himself tomorrow, eh?  Maybe ‘e could do summat about it?”

“Can you honestly see him standing up to her?” Aefelthrith glared.

Gwladys gave this some thought.

“Nah, not to be ‘onest” She conceded.

“Will you…will you come with me?” Aefelthrith looked at Gwladys, hopefully.

“Me?”  Gwladys looked shocked, “I don’t mean to be funny, lovey, but, why should I?  I’ve got a roof over me ‘ead, three square (well, square-ish) meals a day and a bit of money in me pocket at the end of the week, or so they reckon.  I’d ‘ave to be barmy to walk away from all this, now wouldn’t I?”

“I thought we were a team” Aefelthrith sniffed.

“An’ we are, lovey, we are” Gwladys put her arm around her young colleague, “but I’ve got to look after mesen an’ all, and I’m alright ‘ere”

“Then I’ll go on my own!”  Aefelthrith stood up and went back to hurling things from drawers, onto the bed.

*****

Jarvis and Cocker had found their way down into the cellar and were currently hiding in the shadows, behind a barrel.  The journey into the cellar had not been without incident.  Cellar floors and steps are notoriously wet and slippy, and are lethal in the dark.  Jarvis had slipped down the steps, leading from the cellar hatch at the rear of the inn, causing Cocker to let go of the hatch lid, which hit him smartly on the head.  As of now, they were both nursing their injuries in the gloom.

“I ‘ope yer right about ‘im comin’ down, I’m goin’ to catch me death ‘anging around ‘ere” Cocker grumbled.

“Talk sense!” Jarvis snapped, “stands to reason ‘e’s got to come down when ‘e needs some jugs of ale.  Yer know ‘ow many there were goin’ in, when we got ‘ere”

“I ‘ope ‘e ain’t got ‘is sword with ‘im” Cocker said, with some trepidation.

“Now, why should ‘e ‘ave ‘is sword with ‘im?”  Jarvis shook his head, “’Ho, I’m just goin’ down to get some more beer, my dear, I think I’ll take my sword down with me for company’” He managed a reasonable imitation of Clarence.

“Alright, but we’re only threatenin’, right?  No rough stuff?”

“There won’t be no need for no rough stuff” Jarvis said, reassuringly, “once ‘e’s felt the point of me knife, ‘e’ll come quietly, you mark my words”

*****

There was a frosty silence in the room upstairs.  Aefelthrith was still thrusting items into bags in a haphazard way, Gwladys was sitting on the bed, watching her.

“I dunner see why yer’ve got to do this” Gwladys said, after a while.

“Yes, you do.  You just don’t want to” Aefelthrith said tersely.

“Where will yer go?  An’ ‘ow are yer gonner get there?”

“Don’t know.  I’ll have to walk, I suppose!  Unless my fairy godmother sends me a carriage and horses!” Aefelthrith smiled, grimly.

Gwladys sighed and rubbed her forehead.

“This ain’t fair!”  She said, eventually, “yer know damn well I can’t see yer trekkin’ off, down the country lanes, at this time of night, on yer own!”

“I don’t need anyone to come with me!”  Aefelthrith snapped.

“Yer might not think yer need no-one, but I’m tellin’ yer, yer do!”  Gwladys glared at her, “‘Ow long d’yer think it’d be afore yer ‘ad another set-to like that watchman in that alley, eh?”  Gwladys shook her head, “Pretty young thing like you, out on yer own in the middle of the night?”

“Then, you’ll come with me?”  Aefelthrith asked, hopefully.

“Don’t see as ‘ow I’ve got no choice” Gwladys grumbled, reluctantly dragging open a bag.

Get up to speed with the story so far, simply by following the link below, right here on ABCtales:

The Chronicles of a Young Lady (and her Maid)