The Forgotten Seamstress
When Caroline Meadows discovers a beautiful quilt in her mother’s attic, she sets out on a journey to discover who made it, and the meaning of the mysterious message embroidered into its lining.Many years earlier, before the first world war has cast its shadow, Maria, a talented seamstress from the East End of London, is employed to work for the royal family. A young and attractive girl, she soon catches the eye of the Prince of Wales and she in turn is captivated by his glamour and intensity.But careless talk causes trouble and soon Maria’s life takes a far darker turn.Can Caroline piece together a secret history and reveal the truth behind what happened to Maria?
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LIZ TRENOW
The Forgotten Seamstress
Copyright
AVON
An imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd
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First published in Great Britain by HarperCollinsPublishers 2013
Copyright © Liz Trenow 2013
Liz Trenow asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work.
A catalogue record for 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: 9780007480845
Ebook Edition © December 2013 ISBN: 9780007480852
Version: 2014-07-25
Dedication
To David who has, as ever, been a constant source of love and support.
Table of Contents
Patchwork (noun):
1 Work consisting of pieces of cloth of various colours and shapes sewn together.
2 Something composed of miscellaneous or incongruous parts.
Quilt (verb):
1 To fill, pad or line (something) like a quilt.
2 To stitch, sew or cover (something) with lines or patterns resembling those used in quilts.
3 To fasten layers of fabric and/or padding in this way.
From the Medical Superintendent
Helena Hall, 2nd April 1970
Dear Dr Meadows
Thank you for your letter in reference to your student Patricia Morton. We are always keen to support the work of bona fide research projects, and will certainly endeavour to provide her with the contacts and other information that she seeks.
However, before giving permission we would like your personal written confirmation that she will observe the following:
All interviews must be carried out anonymously, and no information which might identify the patient or staff member must appear in the final publication.
No patient may be interviewed without their prior informed consent, supported by their psychiatric consultant and, where appropriate, a key family member.
Any member of staff must seek the prior written consent of their senior manager.
In regards to former staff members and patients, Eastchester Mental Health Service has no jurisdiction, but we would seek your reassurance that Ms Morton will observe the same conditions of confidentiality as above. I am sure she will appreciate that, in terms of research data, existing and former patients may not be the most reliable of informants. Most, if not all, will have suffered from lifelong illnesses which may lead them to hold beliefs and opinions which have no actuality or validity in real life.
You will understand that while patient confidentiality precludes us from giving information about individuals, I would be grateful for the opportunity to provide Ms Morton with guidance in relation to specific interviewees. Please ask her to contact my secretary on the number above, to arrange an appointment at the earliest possible opportunity.
With kindest regards
Dr John Watts, Medical Superintendent,
Helena Hall Hospital, Eastchester
Chapter One
Cassette 1, side 1, April 1970
They told me you want to know my story, why I ended up in this place? Well, there’s a rum question and I’ve been asking it meself for the past fifty years. I can tell you how I got here, and what happened to me. But why? Now that’s a mystery.
It’s a deep, smoke-filled voice, with a strong East London accent, and you can hear the smile in it, as if she’s about to break into an asthmatic chuckle at any moment.
They’ve probably warned you about me, told you my story is all made up. At least that’s what those trick-cyclists would have you believe.
Another voice, with the carefully-modulated, well-educated tones of a younger woman: ‘Trick-cyclist?’
Sorry, dearie, it’s what we used to call the psychiatrist, in them old days. Any roads, he used to say that telling tales – he calls them fantasies – is a response to some ‘ungratified need’.
‘You’re not wrong there,’ I’d tell him, giving him the old eyelash flutter. ‘I’ve been stuck in here most of me life, I’ve got plenty of ungratified needs.’ But he’d just smile and say, ‘You need to concentrate on getting better, my dear, look forward, not backwards all the time. Repeating and reinforcing these fantasies is just regressive behaviour, and it really must stop, or we’ll never get you out of here.’
