All the dear faces by Audrey Howard Read Free Book Online Page B

so."
    “ There's no suppose about it, Annie. Everyone 'as to 'ave a name. What were yer Ma called?"
    “ Lizzie," and for a brief moment, hurriedly put away, her mother's haggard face flowed sorrowfully across Annie's vision. No, not Lizzie, nor Elizabeth which, Annie presumed, was her mother's true name, though she was not sure of it. She did not want her beautiful daughter to bear the name of the woman who would always, in Annie's mind, be connected with degradation and shame, with grief and pain and hopelessness. She could hear her father's voice, when he did not call her 'woman', shouting for 'Lizzie', and that made it even worse.
    “ No, she ain't a Lizzie," Hesper said equably. "What were yer Granny called? ”
    Granny? She didn't remember ever having one of those but she did recall her mother telling her that her mother, who had come from Scotland, had been named Catriona.
    “ Catriona."
    “ Eeh, that's lovely. Catriona. Catriona Abbott. That's nice, that be."
    “ We need a 'and in bar, Poll," Seth roared one night when, two coaches having come in at the same time, every passenger on board wanting a hot meal or a hot toddy, or both and at once, the place was in uproar. It was February by then, cold and damp and with no hint of spring about it which surely should be just round the corner in this Midland county.
    “ Well, Hesper can't manage it. She's busy with them pies an' I'm up to me eyes with the goose. It'll 'ave ter be Annie. ”
    She was an instant success. Her lovely face became flushed and lively and she found her brief training as an actress, and as a `hander out' of handbills, and the repartee which was part of the job, had bestowed on her a saucy tongue to which the customers responded, demanding more drinks than they would normally have, just to be served by the pretty barmaid. She was quick and light on her feet, watching for Seth's signals on where she was needed and the tips she received which she was ready to hand over to him, were hers to keep, he told her, his huge grin telling her how well she had done .
    She brought in custom. She learned to be bold without being vulgar. How to smile and tease without being coarse. How to give the impression that each man was her especial favourite while at the same time allowing no liberties to be taken with her person. Which was fine and perfectly acceptable to Polly until she discovered it was her Seth who was the worst culprit, doing his best to urge the red-faced and vehemently protesting Annie into the larder, his hand already up her skirt .
    Polly said nothing then, being a wise woman, merely making an unnecessary clatter to warn them of her approach. She and Seth had a thriving business and she wanted no bad blood between them. He was an old fool, but that was all. A man, like the rest of them, who could not resist a pretty face but she was not about to jeopardise her marriage, her livelihood, her future, over a temporary flush of youthful lust which had come over her Seth .
    Catriona Abbott was six months old when Polly Pearsall told Annie, regretfully, that she would have to go. It was June, the day fine and bright, the honeysuckle which climbed up the wall at the side of the inn melting into pink and cream, its sweet fragrance as heady as wine. Yellow irises bloomed in the little stream which warbled through the inn's back garden, threaded with the yellow and orange flowers of mimulus. Linnets were nesting under the eaves and above the sound of the stream their twittering could clearly be heard. The washing Annie was pegging out snapped in the breeze and Annie sniffed at its good clean smell, then sighed in content .
    She turned in amazement when Polly spoke at her back. "Leave? But why? What have I done?"
    “ Nothin', me duck. You've bin a good, 'ard-workin' lass an' it's not your fault you've been blessed wi' that bonny face of yours, nor the shape of yer. I say 'blessed', but perhaps 'cursed' would be a better word. There's Hesper who's as plain