mouth was bruised and twisted. ‘Can’t you see?’
Oswald cried out. ‘How did you do that?’
‘I caught Burton in the Crown talking to a woman. I lost my temper, and showed him up in front of everybody.’
‘Temper be damned.’ Oliver’s anguish brought more tears. ‘Look at her. You don’t do that to a woman, not for anything.’
She went to and from the pantry with none of her usual quickness while Oliver, weary after the day’s work and wanting a meal, poked ash from the grate and put sticks on embers that still had heat. Thomas used the bellows, set larger wood and then coal to bring the fire to a state for cooking.
‘Don’t say anything to Burton,’ she said. ‘It’s best if the whole thing blows over.’
‘Somebody’s got to.’ Oliver didn’t relish the role, knowing how it would end. ‘We can’t let him behave like that.’
‘Go upstairs,’ she told Thomas, ‘and get Edith and Rebecca to come down and help me with the dinner.’
‘Did you put anything on your face?’ Oswald asked.
‘Annie came with some witch-hazel after Burton had gone.’
‘You finished ours on me a few days ago,’ Oliver said. ‘It’s like being in a war, living in this house.’
‘It helped a bit. She came with some Collis Browne’s as well but I told her I wasn’t a baby who’d got colic. She said it might buck me up, and it did for a while. At least I’ve got a good neighbour.’
‘I’ll make sure he never lives this down,’ Oliver said.
Edith took knives and forks from the drawer. ‘You’ve seen what that old fucker’s done?’
‘Don’t swear like that,’ Mary Ann said, ‘or I’ll make you wash your mouth out with soap. I won’t have that sort of talk in this house.’
‘I can’t help it. He wants blinding, except that it would be too good for him.’
‘And don’t talk like that about your father, or God will pay you out as well.’
‘If He paid me out for saying anything against Burton there wouldn’t be any God.’
‘It won’t change him,’ Oliver said. ‘I can’t think what will. He won’t even alter after he’s dead and gone.’
Edith laughed. ‘Somebody ought to kill him. That’s what he deserves.’
‘He’s not worth hanging for,’ Oswald said.
‘Let’s get on with supper,’ Mary Ann told them, as if only eating would stop such talk. ‘He’ll be in directly, and if it’s not ready there’ll be hell to pay.’
‘Make it as hot as you can,’ Edith said, ‘and chuck it in his face.’
‘Now stop,’ Mary Ann said angrily. ‘You can give me some help. Crack the eggs for the pudding and beat them in the big yellow bowl.’ Her face pained, and two of her teeth were loose, alarming because she had always feared for her looks, but such murderous words from the children inclined her to take Burton’s side.
Конец ознакомительного фрагмента.
Текст предоставлен ООО «ЛитРес».
Прочитайте эту книгу целиком, купив полную легальную версию на ЛитРес.
Безопасно оплатить книгу можно банковской картой Visa, MasterCard, Maestro, со счета мобильного телефона, с платежного терминала, в салоне МТС или Связной, через PayPal, WebMoney, Яндекс.Деньги, QIWI Кошелек, бонусными картами или другим удобным Вам способом.
