Children of Fortune
Val Wood
* * *
CHILDREN OF FORTUNE
Contents
CHAPTER ONE
CHAPTER TWO
CHAPTER THREE
CHAPTER FOUR
CHAPTER FIVE
CHAPTER SIX
CHAPTER SEVEN
CHAPTER EIGHT
CHAPTER NINE
CHAPTER TEN
CHAPTER ELEVEN
CHAPTER TWELVE
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
CHAPTER NINETEEN
CHAPTER TWENTY
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
CHAPTER THIRTY
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT
CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE
CHAPTER FORTY
CHAPTER FORTY-ONE
CHAPTER FORTY-TWO
CHAPTER FORTY-THREE
CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR
CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE
CHAPTER FORTY-SIX
CHAPTER FORTY-SEVEN
CHAPTER FORTY-EIGHT
CHAPTER FORTY-NINE
CHAPTER FIFTY
CHAPTER FIFTY-ONE
CHAPTER FIFTY-TWO
CHAPTER FIFTY-THREE
SOURCES
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
AUTHOR’S NOTE
About the Author
Since winning the Catherine Cookson Prize for Fiction for her first novel, The Hungry Tide, Val Wood has become one of the most popular authors in the UK.
Born in the mining town of Castleford, Val came to East Yorkshire as a child and has lived in Hull and rural Holderness where many of her novels are set. She now lives in the market town of Beverley.
When she is not writing, Val is busy promoting libraries and supporting many charities. In 2017 she was awarded an honorary doctorate by the University of Hull for service and dedication to literature.
Find out more about Val Wood’s novels by visiting her website: www.valwood.co.uk
For Daphne Glazer
Writer and novelist, for her wise and inspirational words, who began this journey with me so long ago. A light has gone out, but her work will remain.
Have you read all of Val Wood’s novels?
The Hungry Tide
Sarah Foster’s parents fight a constant battle with poverty – until wealthy John Rayner provides them with work and a home on the coast. But when he falls for their daughter, Sarah, can their love overcome the gulf of wealth and social standing dividing them?
Annie
Annie Swinburn has killed a man. The man was evil in every possible way, but she knows that her only fate if she stays in Hull is a hanging. So she runs as far away as she can – to a new life that could offer her the chance of love, in spite of the tragedy that has gone before …
Children of the Tide
A tired woman holding a baby knocks at the door of one of the big houses in Anlaby. She shoves the baby at young James Rayner, then she vanishes. The Rayner family is shattered – born into poverty, will a baby unite or divide the family?
The Gypsy Girl
Polly Anna’s mother died when she was just three years old. Alone in the world, the workhouse was the only place for her. But with the help of a young misfit she manages to escape, running away with the fairground folk. But will Polly Anna ever find somewhere she truly belongs?
Emily
A loving and hard-working child, Emily goes into service at just twelve years old. But when an employer’s son dishonours and betrays her, her fortunes seem to be at their lowest ebb. Can she journey from shame and imprisonment to a new life and fulfilment?
Going Home
For Amelia and her siblings, the grim past their mother Emily endured seems far away. But when a gentleman travels from Australia to meet Amelia’s family, she discovers the past casts a long shadow and that her tangled family history is inextricably bound up with his …
Rosa’s Island
Taken in as a child, orphaned Rosa grew up on an island off the coast of Yorkshire. Her mother, before she died, promised that one day Rosa’s father would return. But when two mysterious Irishmen come back to the island after many years, they threaten everything Rosa holds dear …
The Doorstep Girls
Ruby and Grace have grown up in the poorest slums of Hull. Friends since childhood, they have supported each other in bad times and good. As times grow harder, and money scarcer, the girls search for something that could take them far away … But what price will they pay to find it?
Far From Home
When Georgiana Gregory makes the long journey from Hull for New York, she hopes to escape the confines of English life. But once there, Georgiana finds she isn’t far from home when she encounters a man she knows – who presents dangers almost too much to cope with …
The Kitchen Maid
Jenny secures a job as kitchen maid in a grand house in Beverley – but her fortunes fail when scandal forces her to leave. Years later, she is mistress of a hall, but she never forgets the words a gypsy told her: that one day she will return to where she was happy and find her true love …
The Songbird
Poppy Mazzini has an ambition – to go on the stage. Her lovely voice and Italian looks lead her to great acclaim. But when her first love from her home town of Hull becomes engaged to someone else, she is devastated. Will Poppy have to choose between fame and true love?
Nobody’s Child
Now a prosperous Hull businesswoman, Susannah grew up with the terrible stigma of being nobody’s child. When daughter Laura returns to the Holderness village of her mother’s childhood, she will discover a story of poverty, heartbreak and a love that never dies …
Fallen Angels
After her dastardly husband tries to sell her, Lily Fowler is alone on the streets of Hull. Forced to work in a brothel, she forges friendships with the women there, and together they try to turn their lives around. Can they dare to dream of happy endings?
The Long Walk Home
When Mikey Quinn’s mother dies, he is determined to find a better life for his family – so he walks to London from Hull to seek his fortune. He meets Eleanor, and they gradually make a new life for themselves. Eventually, though, they must make the long walk home to Hull …
Rich Girl, Poor Girl
Polly, living in poverty, finds herself alone when her mother dies. Rosalie, brought up in comfort on the other side of Hull, loses her own mother on the same day. When Polly takes a job in Rosalie’s house, the two girls form an unlikely friendship. United in tragedy, can they find happiness?
Homecoming Girls
The mysterious Jewel Newmarch turns heads wherever she goes, but she feels a longing to know her own roots. So she decides to return to her birthplace in America, where she learns about family, friendship and home. But most importantly, love …
The Harbour Girl
Jeannie spends her days at the water’s edge waiting for Ethan to come in from fishing. But then she falls for a handsome stranger. When he breaks his word, Jeannie finds herself pregnant and alone in a strange new town. Will she find someone to truly love her – and will Ethan ever forgive her?
The Innkeeper’s Daughter
Bella’s dreams of teaching are dashed when she has to take on the role of mother to her baby brother. Her days are brightened by visits from Jamie Lucan – but when the family is forced to move to Hull, Bella is forced to leave everything behind. Can she ever find her dreams again?
His Brother’s Wife
The last thing Harriet expects after her mother dies is to marry a man she barely knows, but her only alternative is the workhouse. And so begins an unhappy marriage to Noah Tuke. The only person who offers her friendship is Noah’s brother, Fletcher – the one person she can’t possibly be with …
Every Mother’s Son
Daniel Tuke hopes to share his future with childhood friend Beatrice Hart. But his efforts to find out more about his heritage throw up some shocking truths: is there a connection between the families? Meanwhile, Daniel’s mother Harriet could never imagine that discoveries about her own family are also on the horizon …
Little Girl Lost
Margriet grew up as a lonely child in the old town of Hull. As she grows into adulthood she forms an unlikely friendship with some of the street children who roam the town. As Margriet acts upon her inspiration to help them, will the troubles of her past break her spirit, or will she be able to overcome them?
No Place for a Woman
Brought up by a kindly uncle after the death of her parents, Lucy grows up inspired to become a doctor, just like her father. But studying in London takes Lucy far from her home in Hull, and she has to battle to be accepted in a man’s world. An even greater challenge comes with the onset of the First World War; will Lucy be able to follow her dreams – and find love – in a world shattered by war?
A Mother’s Choice
Delia has always had to fend for herself and her son Jack, and as a young unmarried mother, life has never been easy. In particularly desperate times, a chance encounter presents a lifeline. Delia is faced with an impossible, heart-wrenching choice. Can she bear to leave her young son behind, hoping another family will care for him? What else can a mother do to give her son the life he deserves?
A Place to Call Home
When Ellen’s husband Harry loses his farm job and the cottage that comes with it, they have to leave the countryside they love in order to survive. Harry sets out to find a job in the factories and mills of nearby Hull, and Ellen must build a new life for her family on the unfamiliar city streets. But when tragedy threatens Ellen’s fragile happiness, how much more can she sacrifice before they find a place to call home?
Four Sisters
With their mother dead, four sisters and their father form a close bond. But when tragedy suddenly strikes and their father disappears on his way to London, the sisters have no way of knowing what has happened to him – only that he hasn’t returned home. With little money left, they’re now forced to battle life’s misfortunes alone …
The Lonely Wife
Beatrix is just eighteen when her father tells her she is to marry a stranger – a man named Charles, who shows little interest in his young wife. Soon, the only spark in Beatrix’s lonely life is her beloved children. But then Charles threatens to take them away. Can Beatrix fight against her circumstances and keep what is rightfully hers?
CHAPTER ONE
1864
Alicia, her blonde hair blowing in the sharp breeze, took a deep breath and in a wavering voice called out at the top of her voice, ‘Mama! Mama! Where are you?’
From the top step outside the front door of Old Stone Hall her voice was intended to reach a fair distance, but the ten-year-old’s words didn’t carry far. The heavy front door opened and Dora Hallam, her mother’s right-hand companion, arms folded, looked out. ‘Miss Alicia,’ she warned. ‘Please don’t shout. It’s not ladylike, and your mama will think there’s something wrong; and then she’ll hurry, which she shouldn’t.’
‘Oh, I’m so sorry!’ Alicia turned tragic blue eyes towards her. ‘I really am, Dora – I mean Mrs Hallam. Do I really have to call you that? I’ve known you for years!’
‘Yes, you must.’ Dora hid a smile and ushered her inside. ‘It was different when I was Miss Murray, as you know very well,’ she reminded Alicia, who did know, as she had been a flower girl at Dora’s wedding to Simon Hallam.
Simon was their estate manager, and Dora her mother’s long-time friend and confidante as much as her assistant. They had been married in the village church in North Ferriby, and although Alicia’s mother had had to wear a dark grey gown and a grey and black hat with raven feathers as she was still in mourning for poor Papa Charles, Alicia was allowed to wear a white dress with pretty blue ribbons and a large white lacy bonnet with a brim.
Alicia’s brothers Laurence and Ambrose acted as ushers and wore black knickerbockers with white shirts and black waistcoats, and Edward, who was now her new papa – she always felt a rush of pure happiness when she thought of him, for she loved him so much – had been Hallam’s best man.
Alicia had been nearly seven when her father Charles had died. She hardly remembered him, as he hadn’t often come home, preferring to live in London, and she had often wondered if perhaps he didn’t like children. Her mama had waited for two years after Papa Charles’s death before she married Edward, and she had told Alicia and her brothers that it was only right and proper to do so. It was a way of honouring his life.
Alicia had sighed when she heard this. She really wanted their mama to marry Edward at once so that she could be a bridesmaid again. Laurie remembered their father, as he was a year and a half older than Alicia, but had whispered to her that he hadn’t liked him much, although she wasn’t to tell Mama; Alicia had whispered back that she didn’t either, though she always pretended that she did, and was pleased when he went back to London because her mother always seemed anxious whenever he came to see them. Ambrose, the youngest, said he didn’t know who they were talking about, if anyone mentioned Charles’s name, and that Edward was their papa.
‘So what did you want to ask your mama?’ Dora asked.
‘I wanted to ask if I could go out on my pony by myself,’ Alicia piped. ‘Aaron is too busy to come with me. He says he’s waiting for a message and he might have to go out.’
‘You can ride in the paddock,’ Dora told her, ‘but not anywhere else on your own. Not today. Can you saddle up on your own?’
‘Yes, but that’s not fun!’ Alicia pouted. ‘I’ll just be trotting round and round in circles and, besides, the hens get in the way and they’re always squawking. I want to go up the road to see Granny Mags.’
‘Well, you can’t,’ Dora said firmly. ‘Not on your own, and not today,’ she repeated. ‘Your mama likes to know where you are. Otherwise she gets worried about you and we can’t have that, can we?’
Alicia shook her head. ‘Could I have some lemonade then? Please,’ she added.
‘Yes,’ Dora conceded. ‘Go outside again and sit at the table and I’ll ask Ambrose if he’d like some too and he can join you. Your mama won’t be long.’
‘Where is she?’ Alicia asked petulantly. ‘Why didn’t she ask me to go with her? I could have looked after her.’
Dora opened the door again and ushered her outside. ‘I don’t know where she is,’ she said, although she did. Beatrix Newby always made a point of telling Dora where she was going in case of an emergency with the children. This anxiety had developed in her former marriage, but it had lessened since Charles had died.
Dora had turned back from the door when she heard the sound of wheels on the drive and spun round again to see her mistress returning in the trap. Beatrix signalled to her to come and then gave Alicia, who had started towards her, a little wave.
‘Stay there, Alicia,’ she called. ‘We’ll have lunch outside.’
Alicia continued to run to her mother. ‘I’ll help you first, Mama,’ she said. ‘I’ve been looking for you.’
Dora hurried down the steps and saw that Mrs Newby was hesitating before stepping down from the
trap. ‘Give me your hand, Dora, will you, and yes, you too, darling.’ She stretched out her other hand to Alicia, who clutched it as her mother stepped on to the drive.
‘Are you all right, Mama? Where have you been?’
Her mother gave a little gasp. ‘Only – to see Rosie,’ she said. ‘She’s had – a new baby.’
‘Oh!’ Alicia jumped up and down on the spot. ‘What did she get? Can I see it?’
‘Not yet.’ Her mother seemed breathless. ‘A boy,’ she told her. ‘To add to the other three.’ She gave a half laugh, half gasp.
‘I hope you have a girl, Mama. I’ve got two brothers already.’
‘I’ll do my best, Alicia.’ Her mother sank unsteadily into one of the cane chairs on the lawn. ‘They don’t come to order, darling. We don’t get to choose, but perhaps we won’t have long to wait and then we’ll know!’ She looked up at Dora, who was hovering. ‘I’ll need someone to put the pony and trap away, Dora.’
‘I know where Aaron is, Mama,’ Alicia said. ‘Shall I run and fetch him?’
‘Please.’ Her mother took a deep breath. ‘But no need to run,’ she called as Alicia sped away. ‘There’s no immediate hurry.’