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Back Sisters of Gold
Chapters (64)
  1. Cover
  2. Title page
  3. Dedication page
  4. A Week’s Work in Birmingham
  5. I
  6. One
  7. Two
  8. Three
  9. Four
  10. Five
  11. Six
  12. Seven
  13. Eight
  14. Nine
  15. Ten
  16. Eleven
  17. Twelve
  18. Thirteen
  19. Fourteen
  20. Fifteen
  21. Sixteen
  22. Seventeen
  23. Eighteen
  24. Nineteen
  25. Twenty
  26. Twenty-One
  27. Twenty-Two
  28. Twenty-Three
  29. Twenty-Four
  30. II
  31. Twenty-Five
  32. Twenty-Six
  33. Twenty-Seven
  34. Twenty-Eight
  35. Twenty-Nine
  36. Thirty
  37. Thirty-One
  38. Thirty-Two
  39. Thirty-Three
  40. Thirty-Four
  41. Thirty-Five
  42. Thirty-Six
  43. Thirty-Seven
  44. Thirty-Eight
  45. Thirty-Nine
  46. III
  47. Forty
  48. Forty-One
  49. Forty-Two
  50. Forty-Three
  51. Forty-Four
  52. Forty-Five
  53. Forty-Six
  54. Forty-Seven
  55. Forty-Eight
  56. Forty-Nine
  57. Fifty
  58. Fifty-One
  59. Fifty-Two
  60. Fifty-Three
  61. Acknowledgements
  62. Further Reading
  63. About the Author
  64. By the Same Author

I was pleased to receive your note saying that you are safely arrived in Birmingham. Please convey my greetings to Ebenezer and Harriet. I know that having imposed yourselves upon them you will do everything in your power to be considerate and helpful to them. I do not suppose I shall be calling on them myself.

It has been hard to explain your absence and I have had to rely on Alice Lamb a good deal. This has forced me into a position of untruths, since CB is convalescent under my roof. I’m sure you will be gratified to hear that our patient is recovering well. He seems to remember nothing of what has passed and was at first at a loss in finding himself abed in our house. He is quiet and at peace and has not spoken of the incident at all.

‘Well, how could he!’ Annie burst out, her face alight with fury.

Their father seemed to have been working himself up as he wrote.

I am only thankful that your good mother is not here to witness the events of the past days. Never, in all my days as a father, have I thought to feel such shame on behalf of my offspring for the bitter lies with which you have presented me. I feel the devil prowling about my home like a wild beast.

I only pray that you will soon return both to your home and your senses, governed by the contrition that these shameful events demand. It is a further humiliation to me that you have put other family members to such trouble on your behalf.

I shall not persist in writing to you. You know my view on what has happened.

Until you see fit to return,

Your father,

William Hanson

‘“The devil prowling about my home”,’ Annie said, her fury evident in every line of her body. ‘That’s because he’s got that black soul under our roof.’ She slapped the letter back into Margaret’s hand. ‘Mother would have believed us. Oh, Maggs, don’t! You mustn’t take this on yourself – he’s arrogant and wrong!’

Margaret found her sister’s intense gaze fixed on her and was touched to see tears in Annie’s eyes as her own also filled once again. The letter had torn at her inside. In all of this, their father, the father she had idolized, had felt such sorrow for, had betrayed them and this was the most painful thing of all.

‘Are you absolutely sure he didn’t see you?’ she asked, her lips close to Annie’s ear. ‘That he didn’t know it was you?’

‘I don’t think so,’ Annie said. ‘How could he have? And what does it matter? He can’t say anything even if he did.’

Annie wiped her eyes fiercely on the backs of her wrists. ‘I’ll have to go. See you later.’