Classic Bestsellers from Josephine Cox: Bumper Collection. Josephine Cox

in, Aggie. There’s summat I have to tell you, and it can’t wait no longer.’

      Intrigued, Aggie quickly did as she was bid.

      Bringing the tea, Aggie gave Lizzie her cup and sat herself on the chair beside her. ‘No, lass. Go an’ sit on the sofa where I can see you,’ Lizzie instructed.

      When Aggie moved to seat herself on the sofa opposite, Lizzie asked outright, ‘Do you think your Emily is happy, wed to Danny?’

      Momentarily taken aback, Aggie thought for a minute. There had been many a time when she had asked herself that same thing. ‘She seems happy enough,’ she said guardedly.

      ‘Does she ever mention John?’

      ‘Sometimes, when the two of us are on our own. Though I’m sure he’s on her mind all the time.’

      ‘Do you think she and John would have been happy together?’ Lizzie needed to find out the answers to what was plaguing her.

      Taking a deep breath, Aggie sighed. ‘She still loves him, I’m sure of that. But it’s no good speculating as to what might have happened, is it, Lizzie? If this … if that. What’s the use of it? John’s not here. Emily’s married to Danny, and they’re raising Cathleen as his daughter. Things would have been different, of course, if only John hadn’t done what he did. It was a great shock to Emily and I truly don’t think she’s ever got over it. But as far as I’m concerned, it’s all water under the bridge.’

      Lizzie paused before embarking on the truth. ‘It could ’ave been different, lass,’ she murmured, ‘if only I hadn’t interfered.’

      ‘Now that’s silly talk, Lizzie. You mustn’t blame yourself.’ Aggie thought it a strange thing for the other woman to have said. ‘I don’t see how you could have changed anything,’ she said forthrightly. ‘Your John did a bad thing. He got my Emily with child, then went off and set up with some other woman. That wasn’t your fault. You couldn’t have foreseen that, any more than I could.’

      Lizzie thought there was only one way to say it, and she did. ‘He did come back for his Emily. He loved her, y’see … still does, I reckon.’ She paused, knowing she would shock Emily’s mam with what she was about to divulge. ‘He didn’t go away on his own accord,’ she blurted out. ‘The letter I delivered to Emily was all a lie … there was no other woman. Y’see, it were me as sent him away.’

      ‘What?’ Aggie was suddenly bolt upright on the sofa. ‘What are you saying? I don’t understand. Why would he write that he’d found some other woman, if he hadn’t? And why did you send him away?’

      ‘It wasn’t easy, but he was shocked and hurt when he saw Emily with Danny and Cathleen. I lied to him. I told him they were happily married, that Cathleen was Danny’s child. I convinced him that going away was the only thing to do. I did it, because I didn’t want him taking on the responsibility of another man’s child.’ There! It was said and there was no going back.

      Aggie almost leaped out of her chair. ‘That’s nonsense and well you know it!’ Bearing in mind that the old woman was poorly, Aggie tried to keep calm. ‘Everybody knows the child was John’s.’

      Lizzie shook her head. ‘Gossip,’ she said. ‘Vicious gossip.’

      ‘Did John tell you that?’ Aggie asked angrily. ‘Did he claim he wasn’t the father?’

      ‘He thought the child was Danny’s.’

      Aggie was trying hard to keep control. ‘But why in God’s name would he think that?’

      ‘Because I told him so.’

      It was all too much for Aggie. Dropping back on the sofa, she said in a quiet voice, ‘Lizzie, tell me something, will you?’

      ‘That’s what I’m trying to do, lass.’

      ‘You’re saying that Cathleen is not John’s child, and that John believed Danny was the father. Have I got that right?’

      Lizzie nodded.

      ‘So John denied being the father, did he?’

      ‘He didn’t need to. I already knew he wasn’t.’

      ‘How could you possibly know that?’

      ‘Because Emily …’ Remembering her promise to the girl, she hesitated. Then: ‘Because your lass told me so herself. She made me promise I would never tell, but I reckon it’s time you knew the truth.’

      For a long, shocked moment, Aggie fell silent. Then she asked: ‘Is that the God’s honest truth? Emily told you herself that John was not the father?’

      ‘As God is my judge.’

      There was another long silence. Aggie simply could not understand why Emily should confess that to Lizzie, while all the time letting her own mother and family believe that John was Cathleen’s father. It was too upsetting. Moreover, it posed yet another question, which she had to ask. ‘So who is Cathleen’s father? Did she tell you that?’

      Lizzie shook her head. ‘No, lass. I did ask, but she wouldn’t tell me.’ Lizzie remembered the very day when Emily had cleared John of having got her with child. ‘All I know is, she stood in this very room and told me that John was not to blame. When I asked her who was the father, she sort of panicked.’ Lizzie recalled how Emily had rushed off, unwilling to stay and talk. ‘She seemed frightened – refused to be drawn on the matter, other than to clear John’s name.’

      Aggie leaped at the chance. ‘She could have been lying to protect him!’

      ‘No, lass. She was telling the truth. Besides, you know as well as I do that Emily is not given to lying.’

      Aggie was mortified. ‘You’re right. I’ve never known her to lie – about anything.’ She had another, more burning question. ‘You said she seemed frightened to talk. Are you sure about that?’

      ‘As sure as I can be, yes.’

      Now Aggie was out of her chair and pacing the room. Something had come into her mind and it was a terrifying thing. ‘God Almighty!’ She put her hand to her throat. ‘Oh, dear God Almighty!’

      Lizzie looked up to see an expression of sheer horror on Aggie’s face. ‘What’s wrong?’ she asked.

      Though her heart was beating too fast for her to breathe easily, Aggie tried to conceal her fear. ‘It’s nothing, Lizzie.’ She smiled, but it didn’t reach her eyes; instead it froze on her face like a mask. ‘It’s just that this whole thing has got me worried. Why didn’t Emily tell me? Why would she come to you instead of me? What reason would she have, and why did John desert her the way he did?’ The frantic questions tumbled out.

      ‘I already told you … it were me as persuaded him to go.’

      Aggie resumed her seat. ‘Look, Lizzie, I think you’d best tell me what happened, right from the minute she came through the door. I need you to tell me everything!’ she instructed. ‘Don’t leave out a single thing.’

      So Lizzie told her. She explained how John had saved almost every penny he’d earned while he was at sea. She revealed how he had come home that particular day. ‘Full of joy at being back and wanting to ask Emily if she would be his wife. Y’see, he had every intention of buying the debt from Clem Jackson and giving you back your farm.’

      ‘So why didn’t he stay?’

      Lizzie went on, more slowly now. Tears of remorse were gathering in her eyes. ‘As I recall, it was the child’s birthday. John was making his way across to your farm to see Emily, when he saw her … with Cathleen and Danny. They were laughing together, seemingly very happy in each other’s company. From the way the child ran to Emily, John could tell straight off that she was Emily’s. He didn’t know what to think, so he came to me, and I told him that Emily had cheated on him, and that