Mrs Boots

One More Chapter

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First published in Great Britain by HarperCollinsPublishers 2020

Copyright © Deborah Carr 2020

Cover design by HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd 2020

Cover images © Richard Jenkins Photography

Deborah Carr asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work.

A catalogue copy of this book is available from the British Library.

This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.

All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins.

Source ISBN: 9780008363314

Ebook Edition © February 2020 ISBN: 9780008363307

Version: 2019-11-12

Table of Contents

Cover

Title Page

Copyright

About This Book

Dedication

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

Chapter 22

Chapter 23

Chapter 24

Chapter 25

Chapter 26

Chapter 27

Chapter 28

Chapter 29

Chapter 30

Chapter 31

Chapter 32

Chapter 33

Chapter 34

Chapter 35

Chapter 36

Chapter 37

Author Note

Acknowledgements

Also by Deborah Carr

About the Author

About the Publisher

About This Book

This ebook meets all accessibility requirements and standards.

I’d like to dedicate this book to Florence Boot and to all strong women who help others to recognise the best in themselves

Chapter 1

August 1885 – 27 Queen Street, St Helier, Jersey

Florence Rowe waved at Emile, the boarder from the chemist at number 29 who had raised his hat in a friendly salute. As usual at this time of day, Queen Street was bustling with shoppers and shop assistants out on their errands. She didn’t mind waiting for her good friend, Albert, to finish wrapping the packet of tea she had been sent to buy for her father’s stationer’s shop, which was situated between the chemist and the tea merchants. She loved her job in her father’s shop, on the bustling street, but it was always nice to step away for a few minutes to catch up with Albert’s news and share her own with him.

‘I had a customer in here yesterday,’ he said, tidying away the small weights he had used to calculate the correct amount of tea leaves. ‘He’s an artist from Birmingham. He came to the island last week to stay with relatives for the rest of the summer. He was telling me that it was reported in his local newspapers about a poor young woman on a roof.’

‘Sorry,’ Florence asked, confused. She was used to Albert’s catastrophising, but this story was a little odd. ‘What did you say?’

‘Someone heard screams in the middle of the night.’

‘Where, here?’

‘No, in Kidderminster.’

Florence realised she had no idea what Albert was talking about. ‘Maybe you should start again. From the beginning.’

‘The artist told me that just before he came to the island he read about a local woman, a young lady somnambulist, dressed only in her night clothes. She was still asleep when she climbed out of an upstairs window and onto the roof of her family home.’

‘How do your customers come to share such stories with you.’ She was struggling not to giggle. ‘They only come in to buy tea.’

‘Maybe they can see that I need a little drama in my life.’ A customer entered the shop just then and Albert lowered his voice and added, ‘We’ve been friends since we were children, Florence; can you remember a time when we had something worth being excited about?’

‘Apart from going to the theatre, or such like?’ she asked, not wishing him to become maudlin, which he could, if she ever let him.

‘Yes, those outings are fun, but not like the story the artist told me.’

Florence was always fascinated by Albert’s latest intrigue. Her father wouldn’t entertain the newspapers being read in their home. His only connection to them was caused by necessity when he advertised his stationer’s, W. H. Rowe. Albert was her connection to the sensational stories printed in them. He loved discovering the latest dramas occurring on the island and she loved that he took time to share them with her. She wasn’t sure though if it was the stories themselves, or his dramatised account of them.

‘Was she all right?’ she asked.

‘Yes, thankfully,’ Albert continued. ‘The girl’s father and a police constable threw a rope up to her. They managed to rescue her before she fell headlong to her death.’

Florence focused her attention on her purse so that he couldn’t see her amusement at his dramatics. ‘That’s a relief. Poor thing, waking up in such a predicament.’ She wondered how much longer he was going to spend wrapping up her tea.

‘That’s what I thought.’ He patted the neat package. ‘There you go.’

‘Thank you,’ she said, paying him and taking her tea.

‘It’s such a relief that the weather has improved, don’t you think?’

‘Yes. Father has been fretting about the stock not being delivered on time, as the ferries were cancelled due to the summer storms last week.’

Albert nodded, happy to have another drama to focus on. ‘We’ve had the same problem here,’ he said, putting her money in the till and giving her change. He folded his arms across his chest. ‘Thankfully we had a delivery brought in this morning. Now everyone is panicking that the weather will change again, so they’re all rushing to stock up on their favourite tea mixture before it does.’

‘That’s one of the downsides of living on an island, my father always says.’ Florence knew the problem well. Her own mother was always concerning herself with the boats’ arrivals at the harbour. ‘Hopefully it’ll stay nice and hot for a while now. It is supposed to be summer, after all.’

She went to say something else, but, as she glanced out the window, all thoughts of what it was disappeared as she noticed one particular lady marching up the pavement on the opposite side of the street, her lady’s maid at her side laden with various bags and boxes. Florence could not help feeling sorry for the young woman scuttling along slightly behind her mistress, who was, by the determined expression on her lined face, on her way to give some poor soul a scolding.

Florence groaned.

‘Whatever is the matter?’ Albert asked. ‘Are you unwell?’

She shook her head. ‘No, look.’ She pointed out of the window. ‘She’s paused. I think she’s about to cross over to this side.’

He stepped forward, peered out at the focus of her concern and shivered theatrically. ‘I hope she doesn’t come in here. She’s a monstrous woman. She always has something, or someone, to complain about.’

Florence doubted that Mrs Wolstenholm would be buying her own tea. She probably left that job to one of her servants. Her heart dipped as she realised that the route the woman was taking was to W.H. Rowe next door.

‘Oh, no. She’s going into Father’s shop. I’d better hurry back. Thanks, Albert,’ she shouted over her shoulder.

She ran out of the shop, following the lady’s maid in through the open shop door, the jangling of the brass alerting her father and sister Amy to their arrival. She closed the door quietly behind them, Mrs Wolstenholm oblivious to Florence coming in behind her. The lady tapped her silver-topped walking stick noisily on the wooden floorboards.

Dropping the packet of tea quickly behind the counter, Florence skirted around the woman and her servant, a smile she did not feel fixed firmly on her face.

‘Mrs Wolstenholm, how delightful to see you today.’

The woman waited for Florence to come directly in front of her before looking her slowly up and down as if she had never seen a specimen quite like her before. ‘I don’t take to modern women,’ she sniffed, glancing at Florence’s bustle. ‘All those ruffles and draping material, it’s too fanciful if you ask me. I believe unmarried women should wear plainer clothing.’

Florence had not asked her. She hid her irritation, determined not to give the woman satisfaction of knowing she had annoyed her. Florence liked wearing a larger bustle, despite the discomfort it brought to her. She loved fashion and was not going to be dictated to about her clothing by anyone else, especially not this rude woman.

‘Is there anything I can help you with today, Mrs Wolstenholm?’ Florence asked, ignoring the insults being thrown at her; she knew better than to annoy her father’s best, but rudest, customer or give her any cause to be angered further.

Mrs Wolstenholm waved her gloved hand as if swatting an annoying fly. ‘Where is your father? I wish to speak with him.’

‘Are you certain I will be unable to assist you?’ Florence asked, aware that she knew all there was to know about the workings of this shop.

Mrs Wolstenholm rested both hands on the top of her walking stick and glowered at Florence. ‘I will not be served by a girl. I have asked for your father; he always serves me.’

Frustrated by the woman’s rudeness, Florence forced a smile. ‘Would you like to take a seat while I fetch him for you?’ she asked, indicating the smart cushioned chair her father had brought into the shop for his less than sturdy customers.

‘I shall not be waiting long enough to take a seat,’ she barked. ‘Hurry now, girl. I do not have time to dawdle.’

Florence heard footsteps and turned her attention to the storeroom door, relieved to see her father’s arrival. He was wearing a similar forced smile to the one she felt sure she had on her face.

‘I’m most dreadfully sorry to have kept you waiting,’ her father said, hurrying in to join them. He glanced at Florence and tilted his head briefly indicating that she take his place unpacking the latest delivery. ‘We’ve only a moment ago been delivered of an order that was delayed.’

‘Yes, yes, man,’ she snapped. ‘I am not here to discuss your business. You sent word that you had several books you believed might suit my taste.’

Florence reached the doorway at the back of the shop leading to the small room they referred to as the storeroom, although it really was not much bigger than a large cupboard. She couldn’t help feeling angry on her father’s behalf to hear the dragon of a woman address him so rudely. She turned to watch him.

‘I do.’ He hurried over to behind the counter from where Florence saw him take a bundle of five books.

He raised his right hand to catch Florence’s attention. ‘Fetch one of the new books by Mr Thomas Hardy that I asked you to put aside for Mrs Wolstenholm.’

Wanting the grumpy customer out of their shop as soon as possible, Florence hurried to do as he asked. She leant into the trunk and took out one of the immaculate copies of The Mayor of Casterbridge that she and many of their customers had been waiting weeks to read. She could not help thinking how unfair it was that someone as horrible as this woman was always first in line for everything she wanted, simply because of her wealth.

She pictured some of the young women who entered the shop, like poor Nelly Cooper, so desperate to be able to enjoy books, but having neither the time nor the money to do so. She would appreciate the book so much more and she deserved to read it more than this woman too, thought Florence, hearing Mrs Wolstenholm’s grumbling coming from the shop. She picked up one of the pristine copies and hastily took the book to the shop and placed it onto the counter.

Leaving her father to serve the woman, Florence returned to the storeroom just as her sister Amy arrived from the family’s flat above the shop. Florence was older by just one year and enjoyed working with her sister who was also a shop assistant. Many times, she had dreamt aloud to Amy about owning her own shop one day, but they both knew that it would take many years for either of them to be able to afford to do such a thing, if indeed they could ever find a way to save up enough money to do so.

‘Did I hear Mrs Wolstenholm’s dulcet moaning?’ Amy whispered.

Florence covered her mouth to stifle her giggles. ‘You did. I can’t fathom how that poor maid of hers can stand hearing her constant insults to everyone she meets.’

‘We’re very lucky to be shop assistants for someone as dear as Father.’ Amy peered around Florence at the offensive woman. ‘I overheard our parents speaking the other evening when I passed the living room. They were saying how that woman in there is only a shopkeeper’s daughter. She’s no better than we are.’

Florence widened her eyes, stunned. ‘You’d never know it to watch the way she treats people of a lower station than her own, would you?’

‘No. She’s from the same background as we are. Her father was a shopkeeper too, so you would think she wouldn’t speak down to Father like she does.’

Florence mulled over her sister’s words. Somehow it seemed even more appalling that this woman who spoke to their father so abruptly had come from a similar background. What right did that woman think she had to talk down to decent people like her father? Somehow, this woman’s rudeness seemed worse coming from someone who, Florence assumed, must have also been on the receiving end of another’s patronising behaviour. She surely must remember how it felt to have less than others and have to silently accept their ill manners simply because she was not in a position to put them in their place.

‘Do you know, Amy,’ Florence said, having to remember to keep her voice down despite her anger, ‘when I get my own shop, I’m going to remember this particular customer and how she makes me feel when she addresses our father in the way that she does. It’s shameful the way she is putting him down. How dare she?’ Florence knew full well that the woman dared because she could afford to go elsewhere to spend her money, whereas their father could not afford to lose his best client. ‘I’ll never forget where I’m from. I’ll also never speak down to people like her. Ever!’

Chapter 2

‘Florence, where are you? Mr Boot will be here at any moment.’

She could hear her mother calling but didn’t answer immediately. She only had half an hour before the end of her lunch break when she was expected back at her father’s shop below their flat. Why couldn’t her mother leave her in peace to read? Just this once.

Florence flicked through the pages of her book in frustration, forgetting momentarily that she had only borrowed the book from her father’s shop. There were only a couple of pages left until the end of the chapter. Desperate to discover what happened next, Florence read on, entranced by the new book from Mr Thomas Hardy. She couldn’t bear to wait a moment longer to absorb this book.

Biting the side of her fingernail, she read on, shocked by the unforgiveable behaviour of Michael Henchard drunkenly selling his wife and baby daughter for five guineas at a country fair.

‘Horrible man,’ she mumbled, gasping in shock and almost dropping the book when her bedroom door burst open and her sister Amy walked in.

‘I might have guessed you were hiding in here with a book,’ she said with a knowing smile on her face. ‘Didn’t you hear Mother calling for you? Father’s guest is arriving soon, and he wants us to meet him.’

Florence closed her book slowly and sighed. ‘I don’t know why he wants us to meet the man. Isn’t he a chemist? What could we possibly have to say to him?’

Amy snatched the book from Florence’s hands and read the description. ‘Actually, he’s a druggist.’

Florence was surprised her sister knew this about Mr Boot, but, determined to distract her sister from telling her off about borrowing the book, she asked, ‘That’s as maybe, but I still don’t see why we need to spend time with him. Anyway, how do you know this about him?’

Amy stared at her and Florence could see she was amused to have surprised her in this way. ‘I heard Father speaking about him to Mother earlier.’

‘What’s the difference between the two jobs then?’ she asked, intrigued.

‘Apparently a druggist manufactures and sells drugs and medicines, whereas a chemist specialises in the science behind the chemistry.’ She thought for a moment. ‘I think that’s what Father meant.’

‘I heard he owns shops,’ Florence said, trying to work out why this man was so important to their father. ‘Maybe that’s why he wants us to meet him when he arrives.’

Amy stared down at the cover of the book in her hand before glaring at Florence. ‘Father will be furious if he discovers you’ve taken this from the new stock. You know we are forbidden to read the new stock. And there’s a long waiting list for this title.’

Typical Amy not to allow her to get away with doing something she shouldn’t.

Florence couldn’t help feeling embarrassed. She hated being caught out borrowing the books. Her father didn’t mind too much if they were from old stock but insisted that she and Amy never bought the new books to read, at least until the rush from their customers had ended.

‘I’m aware of that,’ she said trying to defend herself, ‘but I’ve heard so much about The Mayor of Casterbridge and I simply couldn’t wait any longer to read it.’

Amy closed the bedroom door and leant against it, lowering her voice. ‘That’s as maybe, but we can’t spare any copies of this one. You know only half the shipment arrived and we need every spare copy for those who’ve been waiting to read it.’ She shook her head. ‘I thought I’d spotted you taking a peek at the beginning of the story earlier when you were supposed to be unpacking the delivery.’

Florence felt her face reddening. ‘I had intended returning it by tomorrow.’

‘You shouldn’t have borrowed it in the first place. It won’t be new if it’s already been read.’

‘Yes, I know,’ Florence replied, irritated. ‘Stop being so pious. We both know you’ve done the same thing, many times. Anyway, I can’t see that I’ll have the opportunity to read it by tomorrow now. I’m meeting friends to see a play at the Theatre Royal later this evening.’

Amy narrowed her eyes. ‘And will Albert be one of those friends?’

Florence hated it when her sister teased her Albert. Amy knew well enough that they were merely friends and had been since childhood. He was fun to be with and made her laugh. She knew her mother suspected they were secretly courting, or maybe she simply hoped it was the case. Florence hated deception, but on this occasion if it kept her mother happy and also from trying to persuade her to find someone to marry, then it was worth it.

And Albert was fun to be with. He treated her as an equal and she knew they both enjoyed their mini debates on current events and novels. How many of her friends’ husbands could she honestly say that about, she mused. None, she was certain of that.

She thought of the downtrodden women of her age and younger that she’d seen coming into Rowes. Initially unmarried, then excited to be courted by a man they had hopes for. Florence thought of the many of them with fake smiles, hiding their disappointment of the future they had hoped to enjoy. Or she was being cynical, as Amy had hinted she might be.

She loved her father very much, but he was definitely the head of the household, as he should be, but the older she became the harder it was to be told what she could and could not do each day. Why would she swap one man controlling her life for another? It didn’t make any sense. As far as she was concerned, marriage was not a state to which she aspired.

She realised her sister had been speaking. ‘Sorry, what did you say?’

‘Will Albert be attending the play with you at the Theatre Royal tonight?’

She suspected she had missed something else her sister had said, but didn’t say so. ‘Yes, he will be.’

Amy handed the book back to her. ‘I think you and Albert are well suited. I know Mother is secretly pleased that you’ve finally seen sense about your intention to stay a spinster.’

Florence narrowed her eyes at her sister. ‘Stop it. You know there’s nothing of the kind going on between us.’

‘I do. However, you two shouldn’t forget that his mother is one of our mother’s oldest friends,’ she said, her tone one of warning. ‘When either of them do finally discover that there’s less to your friendship than they imagine … well, you’ll probably be facing a bit of trouble.’

She didn’t like to think of her mother being upset due to something she had done, but, as her mother kept reminding her, at twenty-three she was at risk of ‘being left on the shelf’. It was somewhere that did not concern Florence; the prospect of being married and dictated to by a man horrified her far more than an unmarried status.

‘You know full well that I have no intention of ever marrying.’ She scowled. ‘The thought of being any man’s chattel is too dreadful.’ She stared at her unmarried sister only one year younger than herself. ‘Why doesn’t Mother make such a fuss about you? It’s always me she seems to worry herself about. I don’t understand it.’

‘Because I wouldn’t mind finding a beau and she knows that. She simply worries about your need for independence.’

Florence couldn’t help feeling a little guilty for the concern she gave her mother, but she had made up her mind long ago that marriage wasn’t for her. The thought of asking permission from a man in order to make decisions was too ghastly. It was bad enough having to be told what to do by her parents.

‘Come along,’ Amy said, handing the book back to her and opening the bedroom door; ‘I can hear Mother’s voice getting more irate.’

Florence knew when she was beaten. She raised the book to her nose and breathed in the familiar scent. Surely there was no smell more heavenly than that of a book? Hearing her sister mumble something under her breath, she picked up the new bookmark that she had treated herself to from her previous week’s wages and slipped it between the pages. The Mayor of Casterbridge would have to wait.