A Mother's Wish Read Free Page B

you, Ben. I’ll remember that.’
    ‘Ben, come here. I want a word with you.’ The shrill voice that Effie remembered only too well as belonging to Ben’s wife, Maggie,made Ben turn with a guilty start. ‘Coming, my love.’ He patted Effie on the shoulder. ‘Enjoy your food, ducks, and don’t leave it so long before you call in again.’
    Effie’s attempt at a smile was met with cold disdain from Maggie, who appeared in the doorway, beckoning furiously to her husband. Ben followed her into the depths of the pub like an obedient hound.
    Poor Ben, Effie thought sadly. He was such a good-natured man and he didn’t deserve a vinegar-tongued wife who watched his every move and no doubt nagged him half to death. From the first moment she had met him, when as bedraggled runaways from the workhouse she and Tom had arrived at the pub looking for work, Effie had always liked Ben. He had taken them in when no one else was willing to help two half-starved youngsters and he had been a kind and generous employer, but Maggie was possessed of a jealous nature. She had been convinced that Effie was a threat and nothing would persuade her to think otherwise. She had spied on Effie and had accused her husband of flirting with their young barmaid. Ben had fended off her hysterical outbursts with casual good humour, refusing to admit that the situation was making life difficult for Effie. Then one day Owen had walked into the taproom. Effie found it hardto believe that the handsome young boatman had fallen in love with her at first sight. Things like that only happened in fairy stories and not to a poor girl from the workhouse. But Owen was not to be denied, and he had wooed and won her with his kindness and gentle adoration.
    Effie had not been sorry to leave the Prince of Wales tavern when she married Owen. Even though he must have suffered strong opposition from Maggie, Ben had given them a good send-off. The bar had been garlanded with wild flowers and there had been food aplenty. Ale had flowed like the River Lea in full spate and Morris men had danced on the green. It had been midsummer and Effie had spent her wedding night lying with her husband on the deck of the
Margaret
Grey
with a canopy of stars above their heads. She would never forget how gentle and tender Owen had been on that magical first night, or the joy she had experienced in their rapturous union. It had been a long, hot summer and they chose to sleep on deck rather than in the close confines of the cabin, making love in the moonlight with the musical sounds of the water and the nightingales singing their sweet songs above their heads. But as the days grew shorter so Owen’s life had begun to ebb away.
    It had been a cold and frosty night, butOwen had insisted that he wanted to sleep beneath the stars once more. Effie had wrapped him in a patchwork quilt and lain beside him, holding him close. He had died in her arms, slipping away so peacefully and silently that he might have been asleep. It was then that she had felt the first flutter of their child in her womb, and even in the depths of her grief she had taken comfort from the knowledge that the love they had shared would produce a son or daughter who would carry something of Owen into the future.
    ‘Well now, what’s that sad face all about?’ Toby demanded, setting Georgie down on Effie’s lap. ‘You’ve not finished your breakfast, Effie. Are you all right?’
    Jolted out of her reverie, Effie wrapped her arms around Georgie and received a sticky kiss on her cheek.
    ‘Honey,’ Toby said, chuckling. ‘The woman who does the cooking took a fancy to young Georgie and gave him some honeycomb to suck.’
    Effie smiled. ‘That sounds like Betty. She was always good to me.’
    ‘She said she remembers you well, and you were a lovely bride. I only wish I’d been here to drink your health, or maybe I don’t. I always thought you were too good for this place and should have thrown you over mysaddle when I