Dilly Court - The River Maid

Captain Falco slapped their host on the back. ‘Giacomo welcomes you all to his humble hostelry,’ he said grandly. ‘Unfortunately he does not speak English, but you will find him very accommodating.’

Lady Alice was suddenly all smiles. ‘Thank you so much, Capitano. You’ve been very kind, but we must not detain you. I’m sure you have much more important things to do than looking after us.’

‘There is nothing more important than taking care of a beautiful lady,’ Captain Falco said, taking her hand and raising it to his lips. ‘We will be in port for several days and I hope to see you again.’

Essie glanced at Sadie, who was watching open-mouthed. ‘Perhaps we ought to see our rooms,’ she suggested tentatively. Raven was looking bored and frankly sceptical and she was afraid he might say something to offend the captain, and then they would lose the help of the only person who spoke English fluently. She tapped Lady Alice on the shoulder. ‘You should go inside, my lady. The sun will ruin your complexion.’

‘Indeed it will.’ Lady Alice clicked her fingers to attract the landlord’s attention. ‘I want a bath tub filled with hot water, my good man. And I need the services of a dressmaker who can work quickly.’

The landlord turned to the captain, shrugging and holding his hands palm upwards with a bemused look on his plump face. Captain Falco drew him aside and after a brief conversation the landlord went indoors shouting orders to his employees.

‘Come along Alice,’ Raven said impatiently. ‘You’ve caused enough of a stir amongst these good people. Let’s go inside and I’ll order a meal.’

‘Bath first, food later.’ Lady Alice marched into the inn, her fatigue apparently forgotten, and Essie hurried after her with Sadie following close behind.

The interior was dark but surprisingly cool, and a flustered maid led them up a narrow wooden staircase to the first floor. The rooms were small, clean and sparsely furnished but after enduring the confines of a tiny cabin for over a week it seemed like heaven to Essie, even though she still had to share with Sadie. There were two beds, set against opposite walls with a chest of drawers beneath a window that overlooked the harbour. A rag rug was the only splash of colour in the room where everything was white, including the bedspreads.

‘I wonder if Lady Alice has got her bath,’ Sadie said, grinning. ‘I hope she lets us use it because I know I smell something chronic.’

‘Me, too.’ Essie sat down on the bed and took off her boots, wriggling her toes. ‘I think Lady Alice is used to getting her own way. She’s probably got a dressmaker in her room as we speak, and I wouldn’t be surprised if she had a new gown by this evening.’

‘I feel like a ragbag.’ Sadie glanced down at her grimy skirt with its frayed hem and a small tear where she had caught it on a nail. ‘Mrs Dent wouldn’t approve at all.’

‘Stay here,’ Essie said firmly. ‘I’ll go and speak to her ladyship. I know she said we could have new clothes, but I need to remind her.’ Essie left the room and marched along the corridor to knock on Lady Alice’s door.

‘Enter.’

Essie opened the door and stepped into the room, which was larger than the one she shared with Sadie. It was furnished with a brass bedstead, covered with a multi-coloured patchwork quilt, a painted wooden washstand and a clothes press. A large window overlooked countryside and distant hills. A bathtub had been placed in the centre of the floor and it was already half full.

‘Unbutton my gown, Essie. I can’t reach.’ Lady Alice stood stiffly to attention while Essie undid the tiny, fabric-covered fastenings. ‘I believe I have a dressmaker coming shortly.’ Lady Alice glanced over her shoulder. ‘Maybe she can do something for you and the girl as well. I can’t be seen with servants who look as though they’ve been dragged through a hedge backwards.’

‘I’m not your servant, my lady.’

‘You work for me, don’t you?’

‘That was different. I was helping you and Raven, and I became embroiled in your affairs, but it wasn’t my choice to be here.’

‘Nor mine, come to that.’ Lady Alice stepped out of her gown. ‘You can unlace me while you’re here. What did you want, anyway?’

‘It was to ask if we might have the bath water after you, and I was going to remind you that both Sadie and I are desperate for new clothes.’

Lady Alice turned to face her and her petulant expression melted into a charming smile. ‘Of course you may have the bath after me, in fact I insist upon it. I just hope they have some decent soap because I have a sensitive skin. As to clothes, if this woman is any good with her needle we will all have new gowns, although Sadie’s will be suitable for a child of her age, and mine will be grander than yours, which is only fitting.’

Essie threw back her head and laughed. ‘You are priceless, my lady. Here we are, miles from home, on the run from the law, which makes us equals, but you still think you’re better than us.’

Apparently unabashed, Lady Alice raised a delicate eyebrow. ‘And I am, naturally. My late father was the Earl of Dawlish and we can trace our family tree back to William the Conqueror. Your papa is a boatman.’

‘And you can’t dress yourself without someone to help you. Maybe there’s a lesson to be learned there somewhere.’

Lady Alice recoiled and for a brief moment her smile faded, then a gurgle of laughter escaped her lips. ‘All right, Essie. Given our situation perhaps we are equals, but that will change when we get back to England.’

‘When we return home we will probably be thrown into jail.’

‘But I will have a better cell, and I can afford to hire a good lawyer.’

Essie was saved from replying by a knock on the door and she went to open it. A flustered maidservant stepped into the room carrying a ewer filled with steaming water, which she emptied into the tub. She bobbed a curtsey and hurried from the room.

‘Enjoy your bath, my lady, and please don’t allow the water to get cold.’ Essie left the room, chuckling to herself. Title or no title, money or lack of it, they were sisters under the skin.

It was only later, when she was bathed and had washed the salt from her hair, that the reality of her situation came crashing in on Essie. She was alone in her room, sitting on the bed, wrapped in a skimpy towel, when she had a sudden vision of her father pacing the floor at home. He would be wondering what had happened to her, or more likely, he was in the bar at the Grapes, drowning his sorrows in rum punch. Then there was Ben. She could not begin to imagine what he must be thinking, but one thing was for certain, Ben would be distressed by her sudden disappearance. The boat had sunk, and Pa would be out of a job – but there was nothing she could do about it now. Her fate and Sadie’s seemed to be inextricably tangled up with that of Raven and Lady Alice, and there was nothing to be done other than to see the adventure through to the bitter end. Essie combed her hair, staring out of the window at the sun-bleached scene. During the sea voyage Captain Falco had provided them with necessities from a seemingly limitless supply of combs, hairbrushes and hand mirrors, which led Essie to suspect that they were not the first female passengers he had entertained on the Santa Gabriella . If he had produced a gown or two it would not have come as a surprise.

Essie jumped at the sound of someone tapping on the door. ‘Come in.’

The maid who had supplied the bath water entered the room, this time carrying a bundle of garments. She dropped them on Sadie’s bed. ‘ Capitano Falco .’ She stood, arms akimbo, eyeing Essie curiously.