Ruby looked at Daisy, and in answer to her unspoken enquiry, Daisy said flatly, ‘Drugs. He’s got all sorts up there for when his gambling pals get going. Finger in lots of pies, has Daniel.’
‘Not any more.’ It was the first time Howard had spoken and now he glanced at Ruby. ‘He’ll go down the line for this for a time however many strings he pulls and I wouldn’t want to be you when he gets out of gaol. I’d make meself scarce if I was you, disappear to pastures new and don’t let anyone know where you are. He’s a vicious so-an’-so when he gets going.’
Ruby stared back. ‘I won’t let him drive me away,’ she said bitterly. ‘He killed Ellie. Oh, he might not be the one who did the abortion, but he made her go there even knowing what this Aggie was like. He’s filth, scum.’
Daisy shook her head. ‘Be that as it may, you can’t fight someone like him, lass. You’re just a woman.’
Ruby didn’t reply to this. She was exhausted and sickened and heartsore, but what she did say was, ‘I want him to pay for his part in what he did to Ellie.’
‘He won’t do that.’ Howard avoided looking at her now as he spoke. ‘He’ll deny he knew anything and no one can prove he was involved.’
‘But you know, you and Daisy. If you tell the police—’
‘We’re telling the police nowt.’ It was unequivocal. ‘We’re leaving today and that’s that. The coppers have got enough on him to send him down for a stretch with what they found – you’ll have to be content with that.’
‘You’re frightened of him,’ Ruby said disgustedly.
‘Aye, you’re right, I am, and if you had half the sense you were born with, you would be too. Me an’ Daisy are going to make a new life down south. We might even tie the knot, eh, lass?’ he said to Daisy. ‘We’re done with Newcastle.’
It was no use, Ruby could see that. No matter what she said they were going to disappear, but she made one last appeal to Daisy. ‘Ellie was your friend. Don’t you want justice for her? Don’t listen to Howard, Daisy. Do the right thing even if he won’t.’
Daisy visibly bristled. ‘Howard helped us get Ellie to the hospital, didn’t he? He needn’t have done that. An’ I agree with him, if you want to know. Daniel Bell will go down the line now anyway an’ that’s all that matters. Old Aggie was the one who caused what happened to Ellie. I don’t want Daniel to come after Howard because he rats on him.’
It was a different world with a different set of rules. Daisy had spoken about Howard as though he was some kind of hero, not the man who had put her on the game and who lived off her earnings. Unbelievable, but she actually seemed to have an affection for him. The feeling that had taken possession of her mind and body when she knew Ellie was gone was stronger, and Ruby knew she would say something terrible if she was with these two a minute longer.
‘Stop here,’ she said. ‘I can catch the tram from here and you can get away.’
Howard reined in the horse immediately. He clearly couldn’t wait to be rid of her, but Daisy said uncertainly, ‘Are you sure? You look a bit peaky.’
‘I’m sure.’
‘Oh, all right then. Well, look after yourself, lass.’
She didn’t reply, couldn’t have replied, and once she’d scrambled down from the plank seat the horse and trap pulled away at once. Daisy turned round to wave but she didn’t respond, and after a moment the other girl settled herself closer to Howard and put her arm through his.
The snow was falling thicker now and Ruby stood and watched the horse and cart until it was swallowed up in the distance. She didn’t wait for the tram but began to walk and now her tears all but blinded her as her heart cried out, ‘Ellie, Ellie,’ with every step.
She was soaked through and her shoes were sodden by the time she reached Bath Lane Terrace. She had no sooner opened the front door and stepped into the hall than Mabel was there, cluck-clucking at the state of her before she noticed Ruby’s red-rimmed eyes. ‘What is it, lass?’ she asked worriedly, taking Ruby’s cold hands and drawing her along to the warmth of the kitchen. ‘Bridget said there’s a bad case at the workhouse but why did you have to stay? And all night an’ all. Taking liberties they are, if you ask me.’
‘It’s Ellie, Mabel.’
‘Ellie?’ Mabel pushed her down on a chair and removed her hat and coat as though she was a child, saying, ‘Get them shoes off and I’ll put some mustard in a bowl of hot water for you to soak your feet in. You’ll end up with pneumonia at this rate,’ before repeating, ‘Ellie?’
‘I should never have agreed to her coming to Newcastle with me. She didn’t like the bakery much and her da was a horrible brute of a man, but she’d still be alive if she’d stayed in Sunderland.’ That thought was tormenting her.
Mabel stopped her bustling. ‘What are you saying, lass? She’s not dead?’
Hearing it put so starkly caused Ruby to flinch. She nodded, she couldn’t speak for a moment.
Mabel stared at her, her mouth falling open, before she shut it with a little snap. ‘I’ll get that bowl sorted and a cup of tea – you need warming inside and out. Now sit quiet, you’ll feel better with something inside you.’
Ten minutes later, with her hat and coat gently steaming on the clothes line strung across the kitchen ceiling and her shoes drying in front of the range, Ruby had stopped shivering. Her feet immersed in hot, mustard-smelling water and a blanket round her shoulders, she struggled through the slice of toast Mabel insisted she ate, the cup of hot sweet tea going down easier. It was only when every crumb had gone and she was holding a second cup of tea, that Mabel said quietly, ‘Tell me.’
And so Ruby did tell her, omitting nothing, and when she had finished the sorry tale there was silence for a short while before Mabel said, ‘Hanging’s too good for scum like that Bell.’
‘He won’t hang, Mabel. Hopefully the police will be able to put him away for a time on account of the drugs they found, but without Daisy and Howard it would be my word against his regarding Ellie, and I wasn’t even there when he made her go to this woman.’
‘And there’s no chance her friend, Daisy, will change her mind?’
‘Daisy does exactly what Howard tells her, and he’s too worried about his own skin, both regarding Daniel and the police too. He clearly knew about the drugs and so on, and he’s Daisy’s pimp, after all.’
‘Dear, dear.’ Mabel clearly didn’t know what to say, which was a first.
She stayed with Mabel for a little longer before going upstairs to her room, ostensibly to get some sleep, although strangely, in spite of having been on the go for over twenty-four hours and feeling exhausted in mind and body, she knew she wouldn’t be able to drop off. Her mind was buzzing and going round and round in endless circles as she lay in bed staring up at the ceiling she and Ellie had painted together. She would give the world to be able to go back in time to the moment when she’d agreed that Ellie could come with her to Newcastle. No, even before that, to when she had stood in Snowdrop Lane and listened to Adam tearing her world apart. She should have gone home, packed a bag and left Sunderland that very night, and written to Ellie later. Different scenarios poured through her head, each one more extreme than the last, and at some point she must have fallen asleep because she awoke to a room filled with twilight and Mabel knocking on her door with a cup of tea.
And once she was alone again, she realized something had happened during the time she had been sleeping. She needed to go and see her mam and da, and yes, Olive too. She had been putting it off for a long time, but it needed to be done if she was ever really going to lay the ghosts of the past. Ellie’s passing was at the back of this decision but as to the reasoning she couldn’t search herself now; it was too painful, but it was all mixed up with Ellie being like family to her.
She sat on the bed sipping the tea as her thoughts began to clarify. She would take two days’ unpaid leave from the laundry and explain she had certain urgent family matters to attend to in Sunderland, which was the truth, after all. She n
eedn’t be more specific than that. And once she had been home, she would see about looking for a property where she could make the dream of her dress shop come true. There were too many painful reminders of Ellie connected both here with this room and with her present job. She would go stark staring mad if she didn’t have something to occupy her fully in the months ahead, and her position at the laundry no longer did that. She could have done the work in her sleep the last year or so.
She realized now she had never really believed that Ellie wouldn’t be part of the future. She had always imagined Ellie with her in her fledgling business, maybe talking to clients and taking measurements and making tea, things like that, because Ellie had never been any good at needlework at school. She’d always pricked herself with the needle so many times her fingers had resembled a pin cushion, and working the little sewing machine the class had taken turns on had filled Ellie with dread.
She shut her eyes tightly but still hot tears spurted beneath her lids and squeezed down her cheeks. She couldn’t believe that Ellie wasn’t in the world any more, that she would never see her again. It seemed impossible. And the way she had died . . . But she couldn’t think of that now. She had to carry on and if she thought of Ellie’s last days she wouldn’t be able to, it was as simple as that. And the baby, oh, the baby . . .
She got up swiftly and walked over to the window, opening it wide in spite of the flurry of snow that blew in her face and breathing in the cold air. Help me, God, she prayed silently. Help me to find a way through this. Help me to believe that Ellie and that tiny little girl are in a better place and that this life down here isn’t just some monstrous terrible joke, where the evil win and the innocent lose, because that’s what it feels like right now. Help me, God, because I feel like I’m losing my mind.
Chapter Fifteen
Edward Forsythe stared aghast at his sister. ‘What on earth were you thinking of to let her go back by herself?’
‘Edward, I’m Ruby’s friend, not her keeper.’
‘Why didn’t you tell me what she intended to do?’
‘Truthfully? Because I knew you would react exactly as you are doing now and Ruby didn’t need that on top of the distressing death of this girl, Ellie. I made it clear that I would be glad to accompany her and be at hand if she needed someone, but she was adamant this was something she had to do alone. She’s a grown woman, Edward, and one who has proved she is perfectly capable of looking after herself as you know full well.’
‘Oh, believe me, Clarissa, I’m under no illusions in that regard.’
‘And there’s no need for that attitude. Ruby’s independence and strength of character are to be applauded.’ Clarissa stared in exasperation at the brother she adored. Edward had just arrived from London for the weekend; this had been happening a couple of times a month since she had introduced him to Ruby and whilst she was always glad to see him, it worried her that the feeling he had for Ruby seemed to border on obsession at times. Next to Godfrey she loved Edward best in all the world, but her affection didn’t blind her to her brother’s self-centredness or the fact that Edward was used to getting what he wanted. Like herself, he had a strong character – their brothers Cuthbert and Leonard were weak men in comparison – and also like herself Edward could be selfish and stubborn. But then wasn’t everyone selfish to some degree or other? More gently now, she said, ‘Ruby will be quite all right. Sunderland is hardly a den of iniquity, no more than anywhere else, anyway, and she will be back on Monday evening. She’s only gone for a long weekend.’
Edward wouldn’t be soothed. He was furious with Clarissa. By her own admission, Ruby was heartbroken at the death of her childhood friend and the circumstances as related by Clarissa would be enough to stop even the most hardened individual in their tracks. And Ruby wasn’t hard. Oh, she might put on a tough front – he supposed that was necessary for a single woman making her own way in the world – and yes, she was determined to be autonomous and stand on her own two feet as he had learned to his cost, but the soft centre she tried to hide was there all right and it could be her undoing if she saw this fellow who had let her down so badly again. What if she still loved him? She had never spoken about the matter to him and he had no idea if this was the case, but Ruby’s refusal to have anything to do romantically with the opposite sex pointed to some feeling still being there.
Glaring at Clarissa, he growled, ‘You should have told me.’
‘No, I shouldn’t, Edward.’ Clarissa was well aware of what he was thinking, and although she felt sorry for him and could understand that having to keep his true feelings about Ruby hidden was a continuous strain, she was irritated too. A part of her suspected that it was the fact that Ruby wasn’t interested in him that had strengthened the fixation. Edward had been used to women throwing themselves at him all his adult life, after all. But she could be being unfair here. Certainly she had never seen him this way before. When she had perceived his interest in Ruby, they’d had a conversation in which she had warned him that even if, in the future, Ruby returned his feelings, a match between them would be impossible. They were from different backgrounds, different worlds, and like it or not, a different class. She had no doubt, she had said, that Ruby was equipped to fit into society at any and every level, but he knew as well as she did that people could be horribly cruel. Ruby’s life could be made untenable. And if he was imagining that Ruby would be willing to become his mistress like so many before, he could think again. The young woman she had got to know so well would never agree to such a thing.
Edward had rounded on her at that point as though she had suggested something obscene, which in view of his previous chequered history she had thought a bit much, but his reaction had convinced her that he wasn’t after a seedy, hole-in-the-wall affair. Which in some respects had worried her even more.
Remembering their conversation that day, Clarissa said, ‘Edward, my dear, don’t you think it might be time to accept that a relationship other than friendship between you and Ruby is not possible? If you were of the same class and inclination—’
‘That’s enough.’ His glare deepened. ‘I would have thought you, of all people, would appreciate how ridiculously outdated this absurd notion of class is. The war changed everything in that regard.’
‘The war might have blurred the edges a little, and I do mean a little, but that’s all. You know as well as I do that the class system is still alive and well.’
‘And always is likely to be if thinking men and women who have got a bit about them don’t challenge it.’
Clarissa nodded. ‘Yes, I give you that, but are you really saying that if something did develop romantically between the two of you, you would be prepared to expose Ruby to women like Belinda Ferne-Rice or Rosaleen Marchbanks – or even our own mother, come to that? Ruby is beautiful and accomplished enough to win the men over, but the women would cut her to pieces with their tongues.’
‘Belinda Ferne-Rice has slept with most of her husband’s friends and half the men in London.’
Clarissa’s fine eyebrows arched. ‘You included, if I remember rightly, and that being the case it would make her even more spiteful and malicious. Human nature, Edward. I seem to recall you tired of her rather than the other way round?’ As was always the case with her brother.
He flushed, opened his mouth to say something, thought better of it and then flung himself down into a chair. ‘Damn the lot of them,’ he muttered angrily. ‘There’s not one worthy to lick her boots.’
‘I give you that too, but unfortunately it makes not the slightest bit of difference.’
‘What about Nancy Astor, the woman all your lot hold up as the shining light?’
She sat down opposite him, saying calmly, ‘If by “my lot” you mean those determined to bring equality between the sexes about sooner rather than later, I don’t think we hold Lady Astor up as anything but what she is.’
‘That’s just it, she’s a Lady and as upper class as they come, but in all the elec
tions she’s fought she sets up like a street preacher, standing on a box, and in the roughest districts there are, and she wins them over. She shouts and struts and harangues her Labour opponents and the common people love her for it. She cuts through the divide of class like a knife through butter.’
Clarissa sighed. ‘Edward, Nancy Astor is a tornado, one of a kind and no one respects her programme of social reform more than I, but she has no relevance to what we’re discussing. She can talk the language of the working class and break down class barriers while she does it, but when she goes home it’s to wealth and opulence and her own kind and she makes no apology for it. That’s simply the way it is. Ruby would be like a fish out of water in your world, and you would be the same in hers.’
Edward said nothing for a few moments. Then, as he leaned forward, his elbows on his knees and his head in his hands, he whispered, ‘I love her, Lissie. I’ve never felt like this before and I know I never will again.’
The use of his old childhood pet name for her melted Clarissa. She stood up and moved to sit on the arm of his chair, hugging him as she murmured, ‘Oh, Edward. Maybe I’m wrong, maybe it can work out, I don’t know, but unless Ruby feels as strongly as you do I do know it wouldn’t be possible. And I’m sorry, my dear, I really am, but as yet I see no sign of that. But who knows what the future will bring? If you are prepared to wait, of course.’
‘I have no other choice, do I? Not feeling as I do.’
‘I suppose not.’ For the first time since she had met Ruby, Clarissa found herself regretting the impulse that had made her persuade the other woman to become her friend. If she hadn’t brought Ruby home that day after the incident in Castle Leazes, Edward would never have met her and would have continued on his merry way, heart intact. But he had met her and what had been done couldn’t be undone. And she herself had a great affection for Ruby; in fact, one could say she loved her like the sister she had never had. It was a tangle. And the person at the centre of the tangle seemed unaware of it, which didn’t help matters.
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