‘Give me your handkerchief; I have a bottle of water in my bag. I’ll dampen it for you.’ She did so. ‘There, hold it to your eye. The cold and wet will help.’ She leaned over him solicitously suggesting he rest his head back against his seat. ‘I had to do this for my eldest son once. He suffered in silence like you. Being a stoic helped him get through the war, I believe, although he lost his life just before the Armistice . . .’
Russ closed his other eye. He was in agony; not capable of conversation.
Later, when he left the station and was wondering what to do, he was directed to a chemist, where his eye was examined by the proprietor, soothing drops applied and a pink celluloid eye-patch provided. The advice was to keep this on at least overnight.
He caught a bus to the theatre, hoping to arrive there before the matinée began.
*
‘Miss Short’s dressing room?’ the stagehand repeated. He spotted Jack Dawes and his son Ronnie backstage. ‘Mr Dawes,’ he called. ‘This gentleman is asking for Miss Short.’
Jack came over immediately, held out his hand. ‘I’m Jack Dawes, the theatre manager, and you must be Russell, Sadie’s brother. She advised me you were coming. I’ll take you to her. Ronnie, put the seats out in the wings, please.’
When Jack tapped on her door, Sadie opened it immediately. ‘I might as well come with you now, Jack.’ She put a finger to her lips, whispered to Russ, ‘She doesn’t know. Go in. She’s tidying up behind the screen. I’ll see you later.’ Then she was gone.
Russ closed the door quietly behind her. He waited, irresolute, for a few seconds, then cleared his throat. It had the desired effect: the screen folded back and Rose Marie was revealed, in a pair of Sadie’s old practice tights and an oversize jumper with holes at the elbows. Her hair was ruffled, her face pink, and she clutched a brush and dustpan.
‘More glitter than dust,’ she said in a matter-of-fact sort of way. ‘Sequins and discarded dancing pumps . . . What took you so long, Russ? I’ve been waiting for you to come and find me! Why on earth are you wearing an eye-patch? You look like a pirate!’
‘You might show some sympathy. I got a smut in my eye from the train!’
Rose Marie dropped the brush and pan with a clatter, held out her arms.
‘D’you want me to kiss it better?’
‘That might help.’ He moved slowly towards her. ‘You’re still wearing your ring!’ He sounded almost accusing.
‘Well, I was going to send it back, as I said, but I forgot.’
His arms went round her compulsively and he almost squeezed the breath out of her.
‘You didn’t forget, did you?’
‘No,’ she whispered. ‘How could I?’
‘What was so terrible that you couldn’t tell me? Why did you run away like that?’
‘Sit on the couch and I’ll tell you. Sadie got it out of me and she made me realize that you wouldn’t love me any the less because of it, Russ.’
They sank down on the couch still holding on to each other. ‘I do love you. I forgive you. Did you realize that today should have been our wedding day?’ he asked her.
‘I’ve been crying on and off all morning about that; look at my puffy eyes! I could do with an eye-patch, too.’ Her voice trembled. ‘I need kissing better, like you . . .’
‘Is anyone likely to disturb us?’
‘Not for some time. Oh, Russ, can we ever get back to the way we were?’
‘I know we can,’ he said simply.
Later, they sat together in the wings and watched Sadie dance. She came breathlessly off stage to embrace them both.
‘Let’s go back to the dressing room, we can’t talk here!’ Sadie urged.
When they were ensconced, Russ told her, ‘I’m taking Rose Marie home tomorrow.’
‘I’m sorry to let you down. I’m so grateful for all you’ve done for me,’ said Rose Marie.
‘It meant I could keep an eye on you, make sure you were all right, for Russ’s sake as well, and for Florence. She’s been through a lot, too.’
‘I know. I do know . . .’
‘When I said about going home,’ Russ said, ‘I meant you must go straight to Florence.’
‘I don’t know how I can make it up to her; what to call her now—’
‘Florence. Just as you always have.’
*
‘I shall miss you, you know,’ Sadie said after breakfast next day. ‘I’ll be back for your wedding of course. I have to make sure Mother doesn’t buy an unsuitable hat! But I hadn’t realized until you joined me how lonely my life can be. Perhaps I should settle down too . . .’
‘Well, you’ve had a firm offer,’ Rose Marie said in her old mischievous way.
‘Ah, Jack. D’you really think I should accept?’
‘You’d be daft if you didn’t! He doesn’t expect you to give up your dancing, though you’d have to give Stan the boot, and you could be a fairy in the Christmas pantomime!’
‘You’d all come to cheer me on, would you?’
‘Of course! Don’t hang about, Sadie. I know it’s not what you dreamed of when you first went on the stage, but, now you’ve caught the right person, don’t let him escape!’
‘Not quite the way I would have put it,’ Sadie said drily. ‘Oh, Rose Marie, it means so much to me to see you happy again, and everything sorted out.’
‘Well, I still have to face Florence, and try to put things right between us.’
They were waiting in the hotel foyer for Russ to alert them that the taxi had arrived.
He came hurrying up. ‘The baggage is aboard!’
‘Not yet, I’m not,’ said Rose Marie. ‘I want to say goodbye and thank you for everything to Sadie first.’ As she hugged his sister, she whispered, ‘You’re going out with Jack and Ronnie later on, aren’t you? Say yes today! Don’t forget.’
‘I won’t. I might race you to the altar!’ Sadie added. ‘Not a great romance for me, eh?’
‘You could be pleasantly surprised! I know Florence was. Must go!’
*
‘Someone coming up the stairs,’ Manny warned Florence, as she nursed the baby by the fire.
‘Go and find out who it is then, while I make myself respectable!’
He opened the door, could hardly believe his eyes, then called out, ‘Florence, it’s Rose Marie and Russ! Come quick!’
Florence emerged from the sitting room in a fluster, babe in arms.
‘Rose Marie, oh, my dear, you’re back!’
‘Pass Flynn to me, then you can give her a proper welcome!’ said Manny. ‘Russ and I will have a chat in the kitchen. Why don’t you two go in the other room?’
‘Let me have a good look at you,’ Florence said, when the embracing was over and they were sat down. ‘You seem more . . .’ she hesitated.
‘Grown-up?’ Rose Marie suggested. ‘You look younger, being a mother suits you!’ Then she realized what she’d said. ‘I suppose, well, I might have believed you were my sister, but you were always a mother, really, to me.’
‘I’m glad. I don’t expect you to call me that, you know.’
‘I wasn’t intending to. Can we just go back to where we were? Talk things over like sisters do? We’ll know the truth, of course. That’s what matters.’ She bit her lip to hold back sudden tears. ‘Can you ever forgive me, Florence, for leaving you in the lurch?’
‘If you can forgive me for deceiving you.’ Florence wiped her own eyes. ‘I thought I’d ruined everything for you, that you’d cancelled the wedding because of my confession.’
‘I thought I’d spoiled your big moment – having your baby – by going off as I did.’
‘I was distraught, I must admit . . .’
‘So was I, Florence. All this could have gone on longer, if Russ hadn’t come to me and told me he wanted me back, and he was sure you did, too.’
‘You’ll be married after all?’ Florence had to know.
‘Of course we
will! As soon as it can be arranged. Manny must give me away, you’ll be the mother of the bride and Josefina will get her wish to be our bridesmaid! Any chance of your famous Bombay toast for supper, I wonder?’
‘Manny’ll make it, if I ask him nicely,’ Florence said. ‘First, let’s call the others in and discuss the arrangements!’
At eight o’clock, Russ rose reluctantly to leave.
‘You don’t have to go, you know,’ Florence said unexpectedly. ‘You can stay here.’
‘I think I should.’ He looked at Rose Marie.
She nodded. ‘Yes, you have to tell your mother what we’ve decided about the wedding. You’ve to go to work tomorrow, and I want to catch the early tram to Belling’s, to ask very humbly if I may have my job back! I’ll see you out.’
At the foot of the stairs, they kissed. ‘No night of passion,’ he whispered regretfully.
‘We’ve many more of those to look forward to,’ Rose Marie said.
*
‘I’d got used to not getting up at the crack of dawn,’ Rose Marie yawned over her porridge. ‘But it’s not so frantic in the kitchen nowadays, is it?’
‘Not since Manny and Buck make all the pies at the back of the shop. They’ve got a new assistant now, Annie. She comes in later, keeps the place tidy. You could say I’m a lady of leisure nowadays, well, almost. Flynn sees to that,’ Florence said ruefully.
‘He’s a beautiful baby, Florence! Does he look anything like I did?’
‘Something, I think. Just as imperious as you were, with his yells to see to his needs immediately!’ Florence looked at Rose Marie. ‘Father would remind me where my duty lay.’
‘Oh, Florence!’ Rose Marie glanced at the clock on the mantelpiece. ‘Well, time to go. I may be back sooner than I intended if Mrs Belling turns me down. But, anyway, Russ is coming after work, if that’s all right, because we’re going along to try to explain to the vicar . . .’
She dropped a quick kiss on Florence’s head, and then on Flynn’s, in his mother’s arms.
It was raining, a dampening drizzle, but Rose Marie hurried across the pavement to the waiting tram car, with her mackintosh collar turned up. Her stockings were splashed with the muddy water lurking in the gutter and her rubber overshoes squelched as she hopped aboard.
‘Nice to see you’re back again,’ the conductor observed, clipping her ticket. ‘Last time you travelled on the tram you had a suitcase with you. Had a good holiday?’
‘A change of scene, but it’s good to be back,’ she said.
Mrs Belling gave her an unexpectedly warm welcome. She didn’t ask ‘Why?’ She actually hugged Rose Marie and told her, ‘Plenty of work awaiting your attention, upstairs!’
‘No,’ she said later. ‘I didn’t engage anyone in your place. I had a feeling you’d return!’
TWENTY-THREE
‘NOW Lloyd George is leading the Liberals, things are bound to improve,’ Florence observed. She turned the pages of the Daily Mirror, spread out on the kitchen table. ‘They said we were sliding into a deeper Depression after the General Strike but unemployment’s dropping. Now, I reckon our young couple can start their married life this Saturday with hope for the future.’
‘What about us?’ queried Manny. ‘We’re celebrating our first wedding anniversary. We’ve got something to show for it too,’ he added proudly, as he dandled his son on his knee.
Florence looked up, smiled. ‘All that good sea air helped! I’d love to visit Hastings again, wouldn’t you? But we can’t take another holiday with the wedding to pay for. We’re lucky we’ve got our outfits from last year, eh?’
‘Rose Marie said you should have something new. I presume she’s given in?’
‘I told her, what a waste! I only wore the costume once, after all. Getting pregnant soon after we were married put a stop to that. Thank goodness I’ve got my figure back!’
‘I can see that,’ Manny said boldly.
‘And I intend to keep it that way, so don’t get any ideas about adding to the family!’
‘Yet,’ he murmured under his breath. He’d get round her, in a year or so, he thought.
‘Rose Marie, you know, is going to carry on at Belling’s. They’re not making so much haute couture, as they call it, but more clothes the working girl can afford. She’s modelling that line for them, next month. Right now, she’s putting the last touches to her wedding dress.’
‘She won’t be showing off any clothes if a baby comes along, as it did for us . . . I suppose you’ll want to get back to the old routine before too long, won’t you?’
‘You all seem to manage the pie shop very well without my help,’ she said ruefully. ‘But as for a baby, I think that’s far from Rose Marie’s mind, right now. Well, you’d better join the workers downstairs, no slacking, and pass the boy to me!’
Annie was serving the lunchtime customers and Buck was at the counter, when Manny returned. They made a good team, and her presence eased the wariness between the men.
She looked smart in her new patterned overall, with the matching cap restraining her blonde locks. Manny suspected she sometimes stayed overnight here, but he didn’t pry.
‘Wedding plans all in order?’ Annie asked, as she came into the back for more pies.
‘Seems so,’ Manny told her. He had some other news for her. ‘Lilli and her family are coming for the wedding. They’ll be staying with Stella, Florence’s sister, for the weekend. Josefina wanted Yvette to be a bridesmaid, too. You and Buck, well, you’ll hold the fort here for us, of course, but you’re welcome to join us in the evening at about seven, after the meal. We’ll save you some cake! You’ll see Lilli then. We fixed the wedding for the afternoon, as Florence thought the baby was too young to take out to a restaurant.’
‘Thanks, that’ll be nice. Everything all right with Lilli?’
‘Seems so. She wrote Florence they’ve got a place of their own now.’
‘That’s good. I was wondering, Manny, what you’re going to do with Lilli’s flat?’
‘Let it again, I suppose. Why, are you interested?’
‘We might be. Me and Buck. Ain’t said nothing to him yet, though—’
‘Annie!’ Buck’s voice startled them. ‘Where’s them pies?’
Manny said quickly, ‘It’d have to be a proper arrangement, Florence would insist on that.’
‘So would I, whatever ideas you’ve had about me!’
Manny thought, as he peeled another lot of potatoes and hoiked out the eyes, I reckon she’ll be the making of old Buck. It’s rather dismal down in the basement, I reckon I can persuade Florence to let them have the top flat. Why shouldn’t he have his chance to move up in life as well, like me? I could forget about him and Florence that time, then.
*
‘I’ve decided to accompany Sadie back to Birmingham on Sunday. I want to meet this Jack Dawes she’s suddenly announced she’s going to marry at Christmas. She’s not doing so without my approval!’ Mrs Short told her son firmly.
‘Oh, Mother, he’s eminently suitable – a really nice chap! A few years older than Sadie, but he has a good home, a secure job, and they’re both in the same business, of course.’
‘What about the child?’
‘He and Sadie get on well. She says Ronnie reminds her of me at that age!’
‘I’m not sure whether that’s a compliment or not! You’ve been mysterious about your honeymoon, Russ. Can’t you give me a hint?’
He tapped his nose. ‘I promised Rose Marie I wouldn’t tell.’
‘Well, where are you going to live when you come back?’
‘I haven’t the faintest idea. We’ve been concentrating on the wedding, on being together. I suppose we’ll have to decide between staying in Paradise and here!’
‘I plan to stay with Sadie for a while. You can come back here after the honeymoon, eh?’
‘Thanks, Mother, I’m sure Rose Marie will agree that’s a good idea,’ Russ said.
‘Anoth
er thing, you haven’t said who your best man will be.’
‘Elmo, of course, he’s the one who helped get us back together! I never kept up with the chaps from school.’
Mrs Short suddenly wiped her eyes. ‘I’ve always said you’re too impulsive, but on this occasion you needed a push in the right direction. Rose Marie explained to me why she left like that, but I assured her we’re more enlightened nowadays. Florence is a splendid person.’
‘Then we can all look forward to the wedding without a care in the world,’ he said.
*
‘I’m not sure,’ Rose Marie sighed. ‘It was such a good idea having the wedding in the afternoon. All this hanging about, and having to dodge out of sight if someone calls.’
‘Keep still, do,’ Florence reproved her, as she hooked up the back of the wedding dress. ‘It must have taken you ages to sew these on, Rose Marie, but you can be proud of all your hard work, it’s a charming frock . . . unusual.’
‘Well, it was bound to be, as I designed it myself!’
The dress was the fashionable shorter length, in sumptuous palest pink satin, with swirls of tiny sparkling stones on the bodice, modest at the front, but low-cut at the back. With it, Rose Marie wore matching satin shoes with rhinestone buckles. The short veil would be positioned carefully on her head at the last minute, secured with pinned-on artificial rosebuds.
They were in Florence’s bedroom, with the door firmly closed. Flynn was being entertained in the kitchen by his father. Manny would be glad when the bridesmaids arrived!
Florence draped a protective cloth round Rose Marie. ‘Now for your hair . . .’
‘Those waves cost me a fortune at the hairdressers, be careful.’
‘D’you want a tap with the hairbrush?’ Florence joked. As she brushed, she gently pressed the waves back with her fingers.
When she took the cloth away, she told her, ‘Now look in the long mirror.’
For a long moment, Rose Marie stared solemnly at her reflection.
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