It was a very fine morning, the sun shone brightly, the fields, hedges,
and trees were covered with snow, which, as the air was very cold, did
not melt, but sparkled and glittered most beautifully. I gazed with much
pleasure on the scenery as we passed along, and should have been
cheerful, but I was with strangers, who took very little notice of me,
scarcely speaking to me the whole day, so that I could not help feeling
sorrowful, and sometimes even wished myself back again with Mrs. Dawson.
About seven o'clock in the evening we stopped at a small shop in one of
the cross streets in the Borough. There I was told that we were at home.
We entered, and I gave a curious and somewhat fearful glance round the
place. The shop was set out partly with umbrellas and partly with shoes,
but everything seemed dirty and in confusion. Shoe-lasts,
umbrella-sticks, and a large quantity of whalebone, were lying in heaps
about the floor, while in one corner stood a large pan of dirty water
in which they soaked the leather, and which, not being often changed,
sent forth a most unpleasant smell; the floor did not appear as if it
was swept once in a month. We entered the parlour, which was in the same
state of dirt and confusion as the shop. Three dirty children, whose
ages I was afterwards told were thirteen, eleven, and nine, came to meet
their parents. Their frocks were dirty and ragged, their stockings with
holes in them, their shoes slipped down at the heel, while they wore
strings of coloured beads round their necks, that did not seem as if
they were washed oftener than once a month. They were clamouring round
their parents to know what they had brought them from the country, and
who I was.
Their father gave them a basket with cakes and fruit in it, and told
them to take that, and ask him no questions till he was at leisure to
answer them. The master's sister, who had taken charge of the house
during his absence, was dressed much in the same style as the children,
her stockings being dirty and with holes in them, her gown unripped in
several places at the seams, and on her head a dirty cap, with a fine
lace border and ornamented with pink ribbon. The room and furniture were
in the same untidy condition, and as I looked around me I could not but
fear that my situation in this house would be very uncomfortable.
We were all of us both tired and cold. The sister made tea, of which
Mrs. Smith gave me a good basinful, and a thick slice of
bread-and-butter. They then began talking among themselves, and me and
my little history was the subject of their conversation. They were all
much amused at my being called Lady Anne. Mrs. Smith declared that she
would either call me Anne or Nancy, and Mr. Smith insisted that I
should have my full title.
'I tell you what, husband,' said she, 'you may call her what you please,
but I shall call her Nanny.'
'And I tell you what, wife,' returned he, 'I shall call her Lady Anne,
and so shall the children, or I'll strap them well, and you ought to
call her so. Who knows but that girl may be the means of making our
fortune? If she really is an earl's daughter, her father may come into
our shop some day to look at an umbrella or a pair of shoes, and when he
hears us call her Lady Anne he will, of course, inquire the reason; then
we shall tell him her history, he'll make us a present--a handsome one,
too--not less than a thousand pounds, I should think, or, if it is not a
handsome one, I'll send him in a swinging bill for her keep, so that I
will have it one way or another.'
'Why, you know that we must keep her,' replied his wife; 'she is our
servant, and will soon be our 'prentice, if she can do our work.'
'You know nothing about it,' returned her husband. 'If she is bound to
us, we shall be bound to keep her; but if she is not, whenever we find
her father we can send him in a good bill for her keep, and make him pay
it too, that is my opinion of the matter.'
'And so,' answered his wife, 'for the sake of this fine dream you mean
to lose the 'prentice fees, do you?'
'Aye, do I,' replied he, 'and you'll thank me for it too, when his
earlship gives me the thousand pounds.'
'And in the meantime,' asked his wife, 'what is to be done with her
ladyship? Is she to be kept for looking at?'
'You may look at her as much as you please,' answered her husband, 'but,
as she will eat, so she must work or starve, and now give me a glass of
gin and water, for tea is not worth drinking, and I have talked till my
throat is dry.'
His wile brought out and mixed the liquor, repeating to herself: 'And so
for this fine castle in the air we are to lose the 'prentice fees.'
Mr. Smith now had a pipe, and sat smoking and drinking, his wife and
sister talked on indifferent subjects, and the children amused
themselves by repeatedly coming to me, and saying, 'How do you do, Lady
Anne? I hope you are very well,' and the like idle expressions. Their
father laughed, and said they had learned their lesson already, but
their mother, who was vexed at losing the apprentice fees, after some
little time told them to be quiet, or she would send them to bed. This
command released me from their silly questions; they got different
playthings, and seated themselves on the floor near the fire, while I
sat on a stool on a distant part of the room, but glad at any rate to be
free from their questions.
At length nine o'clock came. Mrs. Smith gave each of the children a
slice of bread-and-butter, and I was in hopes she would have given me
one too, but I was mistaken. After the children had taken their supper
she said to me:
'Now, Anne, you will go upstairs with us, and I will show you where you
are to sleep. You must be up betimes in the morning, and let us see what
you can do for your living; for, I assure you, we shall not keep you in
idleness, though you are a lady.'
Without reply, I followed them upstairs into a large back attic, which
was in the same comfortless state as the shop and parlour. There was
only one bed in the room, and it had neither curtains or posts: it had
not been made that day at the least. Mrs. Smith merely laid it smooth,
while the children took off their clothes, which they threw in heaps
upon the floor, and then scrambled into bed, without either nightgown or
night-cap. Mrs. Smith then looked round the room, and said:
'I must now contrive a bed for you, child.'
I looked round, too, but did not see anything that seemed to me likely
to answer such a purpose. There were, indeed, several heaps of dirty old
clothes, but they did not appear to me fit for anything but to burn, or
to send away among the ashes. Mrs. Smith, however, approached one of
them, and said:
'Here, child, you may pick out plenty of clothes, and spread them upon
the floor, and I will give you an old blanket to cover you: then, I
think, you will do very well.'
I went to the heap, and my heart heaved with sickness and disgust as I
lifted up dirty old coats, trousers, waistcoats, and gowns. It seemed as
if all the old clothes of the family for the last ten years had been
collected into this room; and out of this mass of litter I was to make
my bed. This was, indeed, heart-breaking to me, for all my life I had
been accustomed to cleanliness, even when in the workhouse; for there,
though we lived hard and slept hard, yet everything was clean.
'What is the girl thinking about?' said Mrs. Smith angrily. 'Pick out a
few things and make your bed. I cannot stand waiting upon you for half
an hour.'
I did not dare to answer, but picked out a few of the things that looked
the least dirty, and spread them upon the floor. Mrs. Smith then went
downstairs, and in a few minutes brought me up an old blanket, which she
threw upon the floor, saying:
'I cannot stay any longer; it is moonlight, and you must make your bed,
and go to it as you can.'
She then went away, and I was no sooner alone than, seating myself upon
the floor, I wept most bitterly.
'How unhappy I am!' thought I. 'Every change I make is for the worse.
When I left my nurse I was worse off at the workhouse; and now I have
left the workhouse I am worse off here; and my father--I shall never see
him more, for he will never find me in such a dirty place as this.'
Again I wept, but, being overpowered with sleep, I wrapped the blanket
round me, and, laying myself upon the old clothes I had spread upon the
floor, I was soon in a sound sleep.
I was awakened the next morning at an early hour by Mr. Smith knocking
at the room door, and telling me to make haste down and light the fire.
This I did, and swept up the parlour, which I made look as tidy as I
could. After breakfast, of which I had but a very scanty allowance, I
was ordered into the shop, and Mr. Smith sat down, and began teaching me
how to make the covers for umbrellas. The shop-door was open, and my
hands were so cold that I could scarcely hold the needle; but I did as
well as I was able, and worked till I was called to my dinner, which was
not till the rest of the family had dined; then all the bits of fat and
scraps that they did not like were scraped together into a plate for me,
which, with a very small piece of meat in addition, and a few potatoes,
was my dinner. Complaint was useless. I had no choice but to eat it or
to go without. I then returned to my work till the family had taken
their tea, when a small basinful was given to me, and one slice of
bread-and-butter--not a slice all round the loaf, but half round it.
After tea, Mr. Smith went out, and his wife and sister, with two other
women that came in, spent the evening at cards. At nine o'clock the
children had their supper and went to bed. I was in hopes that I should
be allowed to go, too, nine o'clock being the hour when we had been sent
to bed at the workhouse. I accordingly folded up my work and went into
the parlour.
'Well, what do you want?' said Mrs. Smith.
'If you please, ma'am, may I have my supper and go to bed?'
'Supper and go to bed!' exclaimed she. 'Pretty talk for a workhouse
girl! No, miss, you will have no supper. Three meals a day are enough
for you, I should think; and as for bed, you will not go till your
master comes home, and that will not be till twelve o'clock. So now, my
lady, go and sit down to your work again.'
I obeyed in silence, for, indeed, having no choice, I could not do
otherwise; but, being overpowered with sleep, I soon nodded over my
work. This Mrs. Smith observed, for, the upper half of the partition
between the shop and parlour being of glass, she could see all that
passed, and, seeing me nod, she came out, and shook and beat me till I
was thoroughly awake. At ten o'clock the shop was shut up by Mrs. Smith
and her sister, Mrs. Smith telling me that would be my work as soon as I
was tall enough to put up the shutters. I still kept to my sewing,
though two or three times I fell asleep over it, from which I was as
roughly awakened as at the first. At length, to my great relief, twelve
o'clock struck, the two visitors departed, and soon after Mr. Smith
knocked at the door. As soon as he came in his wife began scolding him
for spending his time and money at a public-house, and said that he
would bring them all to the workhouse. He retorted by saying that she
lost more money at cards than he spent at the public-house. They then
quarrelled violently. Blows were given on both sides, when Mr. Smith,
happening to see me, told me to be gone to bed, or he would knock me
down. I did not require to be told twice, but, hastening from the room,
groped my way upstairs (for I was not allowed any candle), where,
rejoiced at having escaped from the confusion below, I wrapped the
blanket round me, and, laying myself upon the heap of rubbish, soon fell
asleep.
The two succeeding days passed nearly as the one I have described. Then
came Sunday, which, instead of being a day of rest, of worship of the
great Giver of all good, and a day of innocent recreation, was, in this
misguided family, a day of complete slavery, for I found that it was the
only one in the whole week that was devoted to domestic business. The
whole house was to be cleaned. The dishes, plates, and saucepans, which
had been used over and over again without washing during the week, were
now all to be washed. The knives were to be cleaned, the boots and shoes
to be brushed and blacked, and all this it was expected I should do. I
did the best I could, and kept on working from six o'clock in the
morning till nine o'clock at night, without sitting down the whole time,
except the few minutes when I took my three scanty meals; but now,
overpowered with fatigue, I fainted away upon the floor.
I believe I continued insensible for rather a long time, for, when I
began to recover my hearing, I heard Mrs. Smith and the sister talking
together very earnestly, and as if they were fearful of getting into
trouble on my account. They were sprinkling me with water, and holding
hartshorn for me to smell, at the same time conversing in the following
manner:
'I wish we had not taken this girl,' said Mrs. Smith. 'She has not
strength to do our work. We cannot afford to keep her for nothing; and
yet, if she dies, people will say that we killed her. How white she
looks! I am afraid that she really is dead.'
'Pour a little gin-and-water down her throat,' said the sister. 'If she
has life in her, that will bring her to; and, to tell you my opinion of
the matter, I think you half starve her, and overwork her besides. But
get the gin, or she will be dead to all intents and purposes.'
Mrs. Smith, I suppose (for, though I could hear, I was still unable to
open my eyes), mixed the liquor, and poured a little of it into my
mouth. It acted like a cordial upon me, for I was soon able to open my
eyes, and I found myself supported in the arms of the sister, and Mrs.
Smith holding the liquor.
'What is the matter with you, child?' said she. 'Are you subject to
fits?'
Unable to speak, I burst into tears.
'Very well,' said she; 'you are better now. There, empty the cup, and I
will give you some bread and cheese, and then you shall go to bed.'
I did as I was desired, and, after I had eaten the bread and cheese, I
staggered, partly from weakness and partly from the effects of the
liquor I had taken, up into my room, where sleep soon made me forget all
my sorrows.
The weary week circled round, and the dreaded Sunday again appeared; but
this day Mrs. Smith obliged the children to help a little in the work.
What they did was but little, but to me every little was of consequence.
She also allowed rather more victuals; and at eight o'clock in the
evening she gave me a good slice of bread and cheese and a teacupful of
porter, which strengthened me so much that I did all my work, and at ten
o'clock was allowed to go to bed--my miserable bed, which at first I had
beheld with so much disgust, was now the only place where I found any
comfort, for there I was free from scolding and anger. There I slept
soundly, there I generally forgot all my sorrow, and sometimes even
dreamed that I had found my father.