Cathy Sharp - The Barefoot Child

‘Do I go to the bath house first, missus?’

‘I’ll take you there myself – and then you can find your own way to the kitchens, I think.’

‘Yes, missus. I’ve been in ’ere afore …’

‘I am aware of that,’ Mistress Docherty snapped as she led the way to the bath house, where she unlocked the cupboard outside and gave Lil a bar of soap, a flannel and towel. ‘Those are your own to keep while you’re here – you should sew in a label with your mark so they do not get lost. If you come to my office later today, I’ll give you some labels.’

‘Thass new.’ Lil looked at her speculatively. ‘Do I give ’em back when I leave ’ere?’

‘You may be able to keep them; it depends on your good behaviour in the meantime. The guardians are trying to make life better for our inmates, but you must not take advantage. Stealing is still punishable and you would lose privileges for breaking our rules – but if you keep faith with us, we shall do our best for you. God forgives those who truly repent.’

‘Yer ain’t bad, missus,’ Lil said and grinned, showing gaps in her teeth. ‘No one ain’t ever looked out fer me. Me old man was at me afore I was ten – and me ma died when I were eleven, not that she ever done much but ’it me. I’ve ’ad to get on by meself – and it ain’t bin easy.’

‘I don’t expect it was, Lil,’ Mistress Docherty said looking down her long nose. No respectable woman wanted a whore in her home, and without a reference it was impossible to find a job as a servant in a decent house. ‘I am here if you want to talk – and when you’re ready to leave I’ll help you find a proper job, if you wish.’

‘Who would employ me?’ Lil asked. ‘I ain’t never done nuthin’ but skivvy or lie on me back – and I know which is easiest!’

Mistress Docherty pursed her lips in disapproval. ‘I could help you find respectable work, but it is hard work and would be entirely your choice. I am not here to judge you, only to help.’

Lil entered the bath house. The baths were made of zinc, several of them in a row and divided by a curtain, and they had to be filled from the large vat of hot water with a bucket. She discovered that drains had been installed since her last visit, which made it easier to empty the used water and clean the bath after use. Lil wondered what else had changed here, but had little expectation that things would have improved very much.

The strict rules meant that all inmates must wear the clothing issued, and they must do the work allocated to them, which could be hard. Everyone had to work, but they were all entitled to a hot meal in the evenings and a good breakfast of porridge or bread, with a break for a slice of bread and cheese midday, more than Lil had been used to of late. Water, a mild beer, and occasionally milk for the children, was served with the evening meal. Lil had heard from others that the inmates did not go hungry these days and so they did their work willingly and the workhouse earned money from some piecework that was sent in.

Lil had been told that the women were all granted the privilege of attending church every Sunday if they wished, and the children were given school lessons twice a week, learning to read and to write their names rather than making a mark, which was certainly not the case in every workhouse. Most guardians thought that girls needed only to learn how to do housework, sew, cook and, perhaps, weave if their fingers were nimble. Lil knew that since Mistress Simpkins had been sent away, the girls and some of the women, too, were being taught needlework and how to keep house and cook; the boys were learning carpentry, boot making and tailoring as well as how to repair buildings. All of these innovations had begun since the new regime. Lil had heard that most of the reforms had been decided between the new master and someone called Mr Arthur Stoneham. Mr Stoneham had suggested that the boys learn new trades when he’d discovered one of the older men living in the workhouse was a cobbler and another a tailor.

‘It seems only sensible to make use of inmates who have these skills, does it not?’ he’d asked the master of the workhouse and he’d grudgingly agreed, because Arthur Stoneham was the chairman of the Board and these days not many disagreed with him openly, though each reform had been hard fought for.

Dressed in her hated uniform, Lil made her way across the courtyard to the kitchens, clutching her belongings. She’d been allocated a room with one other unmarried pregnant woman, who also wore the badge of shame, and would take her damp towel there when she was ready, but she was hungry and she was hoping that Ruth and Cook would give her something to eat. However, when she reached the kitchen she discovered that the women who had been kind to her on previous visits to the workhouse were no longer there.

‘Went orf months ago, they did,’ Sadie muttered giving Lil a look filled with spite. ‘I’m in charge ’ere now and no one gets no favours, see. Put yer things under the table, get an apron on and start peeling them spuds and carrots. I’ve got three ’elpers and one of ’em is sick in the infirmary – so you’ll have to look sharp about it.’

Lil wasn’t feeling well and she would have liked a glass of ale and a bit of bread and cheese, as well as a chance to put her feet up, but she knew she’d surrendered her freedom by coming here. Those who said the spike was much better than being on the streets had it wrong, in Lil’s opinion; some of the bad things might have been stopped, but life was as harsh in here as it had always been.

‘I hope you do not mind my calling on you,’ Katharine Ross said as she was admitted into the neat parlour at the refuge for fallen women. ‘When Mr Stoneham told me you had taken over, I wanted to make myself known to you. Mr Stoneham may have told you that I have charitable interests in common with him?’

‘Yes, he has, Miss Ross,’ Hetty said and smiled at the fashionable young woman wearing a rather frivolous hat. ‘Please sit down. You are very welcome here.’

‘Please, call me Katharine.’ Katharine Ross looked pleased. ‘I do want us to be friends, Hetty – may I call you that?’ Hetty agreed and her visitor nodded. ‘You will be doing such good work here.’

‘I am glad to be of help where I can – though it was not the job Mr Stoneham intended, I think?’

‘No …’ Katharine frowned. ‘He very much wanted you to take over the workhouse in Farthing Lane, but another was chosen despite his arguments.’ She shook her head. ‘The way that awful Simpkins woman treated some of these children!’

‘He was so angry …’

‘Oh yes, I know how concerned Arthur was for those children,’ Katharine agreed. ‘Had it not been for his intervention, some of them would have been lost forever.’

‘Yes, indeed,’ Hetty agreed. ‘Thankfully, he was in time to stop them.’

Katharine nodded. ‘Mr Stoneham is a truly good and charitable man – do you not agree, Hetty?’

‘Yes, he is,’ Hetty agreed, ‘though he would not like to hear us say so for he does not think it.’

‘He may not think it – but we know, do we not?’

They smiled at each other in perfect agreement, and then Katharine said, ‘I have come to arrange when it will be convenient to commence the sewing lessons?’

‘I think two afternoons a week would suit us, if that is agreeable?’

Katharine said that it was and soon after took her leave.

Hetty was thoughtful after her guest had gone. Her love for Arthur was unselfish and she liked the young woman he had given his heart to. She hoped that they would find happiness together for both had suffered loss and unhappiness in the past.

Arthur flicked through the pile of post in his study. It had accumulated while he was out of town and most of it was unimportant. He could not be bothered to go through the pile himself and thought that he ought to have a private secretary to do such things for him. His butler normally placed those he thought important on top and Arthur answered his letters when he considered it necessary.