Sweet Rosie

by Iris Gower

  ‘Is it really over, Binnie, are you sure about that?’

  ‘She’s told me so,’ he replied. ‘I have never seen Hortense so angry, so hurt. I can’t bear to think what harm I’ve done her.’

  ‘Women say all sorts of things when they’re hurting, Binnie,’ she said softly. ‘When I am angry with Joe, if I think he’s been neglecting me for his business, I can be a witch! I don’t mean any of it and I’m sure your Hortense is crying her eyes out this very minute because you’ve left the country.’

  ‘I wish I could believe that,’ Binnie said. ‘I’d be on the next ship back across the Atlantic if I thought there was a chance my wife would forgive me.’ He looked at her. ‘But I don’t believe there is any chance, none at all.’

  He closed his eyes for a second. ‘All that I have I owe to Hortense and her family, they took me in, gave me work and treated me like a son and I betrayed them.’

  ‘Binnie!’ Llinos spoke sharply. ‘Knowing you I’m sure you worked hard for what you got. You always were a good potter, you know most of the jobs inside out. You would be a valuable asset to anyone’s business.’

  ‘So you’ll give me work?’ he asked, looking down at the floor. ‘I’m sorry to come cap in hand to you, Llinos, but I had nowhere else to go. You and the pottery have always meant home to me. I don’t know anything but potting.’

  ‘Speak to Watt, he’s in charge now and I’m sure he’ll find you something. And Binnie, write to your wife, tell her how you feel and ask her to give you another chance to make a go of the marriage, it might work.’

  Binnie began to cry, tears rolling along his tanned cheeks and his big shoulders shaking. Llinos went to him and cradled his head against her breast, patting his shoulder as though she was his mother, not a friend he had not seen for years.

  It was at that moment the door to the sitting room opened and Joe walked into the room. He took one look at the embracing couple and without a word turned and left, closing the door quietly behind him.

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  Lily was standing at the vegetable stall in the market, examining a box of cabbages with a critical eye. Mrs Sparks was partial to fresh vegetables and none came fresher than the ones brought from the farms of Port Eynon and Gower. Lily paid for the cabbage and tucked it into her basket. It was time she was getting back.

  Alice had been extra friendly that morning, pleased that Lily had handed over her small supply of money. Lily had watched her put the bag of coins away and felt a dart of apprehension; that money was all she had in the world.

  ‘Well I’ll be blown down by a feather, if it isn’t my old friend Lily!’ The voice at her side startled her and Lily spun round prepared to be reproving of such familiarity.

  ‘Polly!’ She stared at the girl with whom she had once shared all her secrets, not sure if she was happy or alarmed to see her again. Since coming to Swansea, Lily had thought better of contacting Polly. Dealing with Polly usually spelled trouble. In any case, with Watt’s help she had managed just fine on her own.

  ‘You’re looking well,’ Lily said, her eyes running over her friend’s good clothes and fashionable hairstyle. Polly must have found a rich admirer.

  ‘I am very well. Come and have a cuppa something with me, I’ll pay.’ That was a turn up for the book, Polly never used to have money, she had spent it as soon as she got it.

  Lily looked around anxiously. ‘I don’t know. I should be getting back, I’m a working girl, mind.’

  ‘Oh, come on!’ Polly pulled at her arm. ‘Half an hour won’t hurt one way or the other. It’s a long time since I had anyone to talk to.’

  Lily followed her into the Market Inn and the two girls seated themselves in the tiny snug designed for the use of ladies. And Polly did look every inch the lady. Gone was the tangled hair and the shabby clothes. Polly was wearing a well-cut, high-waisted dress in a blue organza and over it a small neat jacket. Her hair was clean, drawn back from her face with two curls hanging beside her cheeks. It looked as if Polly’s fortunes had risen just as surely as Lily’s own fortunes had fallen.

  ‘Where you working then?’ Polly asked. ‘Not back at the pottery, I’ll warrant!’ She giggled. ‘Wouldn’t want you there, not after the trouble you caused.’

  ‘Come on, Polly, all I did was fall in love with the wrong man. Saul Marks was a bad influence on me, you know that.’ She paused for breath, settling more comfortably on the wooden seat.

  ‘Anyway, I’m working for a Mrs Sparks, she’s the wife of the bank manager.’ She tried to make the job sound grand but wearing her cloak over a voluminous apron did nothing to hide her humble occupation of maid.

  ‘Not that old harridan! You must be mad!’

  Lily looked away. ‘Beggars can’t be choosers.’

  Polly ordered cordial for the both of them and put some coins on the table. ‘Please be quick about it, landlord, a lady could die of thirst waiting to be served.’ She dropped the coarse manner of speech she normally used and spoke as though she had been bred to privilege and riches.

  ‘You’ve come up in the world, Polly, what are you doing?’ Lily whispered.

  ‘I’m married.’ Polly held out her hand and showed the gold band and the diamond-encrusted ring beside it. ‘Jem is an old fool but I give him a bit of life in the bedroom, know what I mean?’ Her rough speech had returned, she obviously did not feel the need to put on an act with Lily.

  ‘You’ve fallen on your feet then,’ Lily said enviously. ‘I was married as well, Tom was a good man and when he died I thought I’d be safe for life. I had a lovely cottage and enough money to live on and then James turned up.’

  ‘James?’

  ‘Yes, Tom’s heir, so he claimed. I thought him a real gent until the night he came to my room and . . .’ She broke off, not sure how much she should tell Polly.

  ‘And what?’ Polly’s eyes were wide. ‘Did he force you, or what?’

  ‘Well, not exactly,’ Lily said. ‘I was quite happy to give him some womanly comforts but then he thought he’d make a business out of me.’

  ‘How do you mean?’ Polly was leaning forward, practically licking her lips, but then she had always been common, a hussy willing to go with any man.

  ‘He brought in some friends.’ She decided she might as well tell Polly the whole story, she was not the sort to be shocked, that was something in her favour. ‘There was I thinking they wanted supper and a bed for the night and they had different ideas.’ She sniffed. ‘They thought I was part of the bargain.’

  ‘Oh, sounds like a bit of a laugh.’ Polly giggled. ‘I can’t imagine you having men flocking around you, you always seemed a bit, well, not interested in it if you know what I mean.’

  ‘They didn’t care if I was interested or not!’ Lily said acidly. ‘They would have been content to take what they wanted regardless of my feelings. Well, I wasn’t having that, I took off in the middle of the night.’

  ‘So you didn’t get anything out of the deal then? That’s a shame.’

  ‘Oh, I made sure I got some money.’ Lily smiled, her tension relaxing. ‘I robbed the lot of them, took every penny I. could find including what James had in his pockets.’

  ‘Good for you!’ Polly slapped her knee in delight. ‘You learned somethin’ from Polly then, never give anything for nothing. What you done with it, your money, I mean?’

  ‘I gave it to Mrs Sparks, she promised to invest it for me.’ Lily looked up as the landlord brought a jug and some cups. She could see that Polly had no intention of pouring the cordial so she poured it herself. Polly was looking at her thoughtfully.

  ‘That’s the last you’ll see of that money! You didn’t learn enough from me, my girl!’

  Lily shook her head. ‘Alice Sparks thinks she’s a cut above everyone, she treats me like a slave not a maid. Sometimes I feel I could slap her smug face. As for him, well Mr Sparks walks about the place as if there’s a bad smell under his nose but I don’t think they’d steal my little investment.’
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  ‘Forget your money and Mrs Sparks and come to work for me,’ Polly said. ‘You could live better in my house than you’ve ever done in the Sparks’s little place.’

  ‘It’s very kind of you, Polly, but I’d have to give in my notice.’ Lily was not at all sure she wanted to work for Polly. Polly was the sort to have men around the place, men with no good intentions. In any case, she needed to keep her eye on the money Alice was investing for her. Polly was just being her usual nasty self; Mrs Sparks would see her money was invested and, with luck, Lily might well become as rich as Polly.

  ‘Don’t be daft!’ Polly laughed. ‘Just tell that old battleaxe that you’ve got something better. Think about it, you just have to pack your things and come over to me. You know where I live, don’t you?’

  ‘No.’ Lily was mystified; why should she know where Polly lived?

  ‘You don’t know nothing, do you?’ Polly pushed her arm. ‘My old man owns the Tawe Pottery! Along with a few other old geezers, that is. I live in the big house that used to belong to the Morton-Edwardses until the place was sold. What do you think, me in the big house, is that a turn up for the book or what?’

  Lily could not believe it. ‘You are living in the house that belonged to the Morton-Edwards family? You have come up in the world!’

  ‘There you are then.’ Polly was delighted at Lily’s surprise. ‘Didn’t think I’d done that well, did you?’

  Lily felt the sour taste of jealousy in her mouth. Polly of all people living in the lap of luxury; it just was not fair. There was she, Lily, a talented painter, wasting her time serving people like the Sparkses and her friend Polly, who had no manners, was lording it about in a big posh house.

  ‘No, I can’t say I did.’ Lily did her best to smile. ‘You’ve done well, Polly, you really have and I congratulate you.’

  ‘There we are then, it’s settled, you get your things and when you’re ready come up the house and we’ll settle you in. You never know, I might be able to introduce you to some other foolish old man who’s more interested in what’s under the skirts than what’s in your brain.’ She picked up her bag and got to her feet.

  ‘Better go,’ she said. ‘We’re having visitors this afternoon, they’ll have tea with us and then my old man will take them off to his den and booze with his mates and tell them all what a stud he is. Can I give you a lift anywhere? I told the driver to pick me up just along by the beginning of Market Street.’

  Lily shook her head. ‘I’ll walk with you to the end of the road, though.’ She was not sure that she quite believed Polly’s story and yet her clothes and jewellery looked fine enough. Together, they left the inn and Lily’s basket of vegetables weighed heavily on her arm. Seeing them together, people would think that Polly was the mistress and Lily the servant; it was not a thought Lily relished.

  The carriage was waiting as Polly had predicted and, when he saw her, the driver leapt down to open the door. The coat of arms gleamed in the sunlight; the brass-work shone like gold and the driver was liveried and respectful.

  ‘Day to you, Mrs Boucher, I hope you’ve had a pleasant time of it in town.’

  Polly touched his arm. ‘I thank you, Dave.’ She allowed him to help her into the carriage and his hand lingered a little too long on her waist. Polly was still up to her old tricks by the look of it.

  ‘Bye then, Lily, see you soon, mind.’

  The carriage jolted into motion, the horses, grandly bedecked, setting off at a spanking pace along the road. Lily watched for a moment and then, her head bent in despair, she began to walk towards home.

  Llinos looked down at Lloyd asleep in his bed. Her son was a handsome boy, especially now when he was rosy with sleep. Standing beside his bed, Llinos suddenly felt that she had grown old overnight. It was as if her body had become barren since losing the baby.

  She saw again the small form of her daughter, saw Joe lifting the baby up in his arms, a look of grief on his face. Since that day Joe had changed, but so had she. Llinos crossed the room and looked into the mirror, surprised to see the familiar unlined face, the same tangle of dark hair. It was the eyes that were different, they were heavy lidded, lacking lustre.

  ‘Oh, Joe!’ she whispered. He had come home to find her in the arms of her old friend Binnie Dundee. He had looked at the two of them, a long hard look, and then turned and left the room. He had spent a few hours with his son and his sister the next day, never even looking at Llinos. Did Joe really believe she was being unfaithful, and with Binnie, her dear old friend?

  The old Joe, the loving, intuitive Joe, would have read the event for what it was. He would have seen Binnie’s pain and Llinos’s compassion and would have understood everything at a glance. Instead, he had chosen to use it against her, to blame her for some unknown sin. Joe was a man with a guilty conscience. Llinos was becoming more angry with every passing slight; every stab of pain was driving a wedge between her and the love she had once held for her husband.

  Rosie knocked on the door and Llinos composed herself, tucking a stray curl behind her ear.

  ‘Scuse me, Mrs Mainwaring, but Watt is downstairs, he’s asking to see you, if you have a minute.’

  ‘I’ll come down straight away,’ Llinos said. Watt was waiting in the small sitting room. He smiled warmly when he saw her and she wanted to hug him, at least Watt had not changed, he was a good man, still grieving over the loss of his love Maura.

  ‘Sit down, Watt, is anything wrong?’ She tried to speak lightly. Watt knew her from childhood and he could usually read her moods. Now, however, he seemed more intent on his own troubles.

  ‘In a way.’ He looked up at Llinos. ‘It’s Pearl, she’s very sick.’ He shook his head. ‘It’s her lungs the nurse said and I’m afraid she’s right. Anyway, I’ve told Pearl to take time off.’ He bowed his head. ‘I don’t think she’ll ever be able to work again. I said I’d pay her at least for now. Did I do the right thing?’

  Llinos looked at him in surprise. Pearl so sick that she was giving up work? It was difficult to believe. Pearl was a big, strong woman; she had always seemed so robust. But by now she must be almost forty, she was getting old.

  She frowned. ‘Poor Pearl, I’m so sorry and of course you did the right thing. Anything else I can do to help?’

  Watt’s expression softened. ‘I’m taking care of things. I know you’ve enough on your plate as it is, without worrying about Pearl. I just wanted to talk to you about it, to prepare you, but I’ve got everything in hand, don’t worry.’

  He did not wait for her to reply. ‘Binnie’s back now, he can cover for Pearl. I’ll see everything runs smoothly, don’t you worry your head about that.’

  ‘I know,’ Llinos said. She sighed heavily. ‘Anyway, it’s about time I shook myself out of my apathy and took an interest in the pottery again. What’s the point of being here in the house all the time when Joe doesn’t appreciate it anyway?’

  He looked down at his hands as though he had not heard her. ‘I told Rosie to stay at home, do you mind?’ He smiled. ‘I’m sorry for interfering in your household arrangements, Llinos.’

  ‘Don’t keep apologizing!’ Llinos said. ‘I told you to take charge and you have. I’m grateful to you, Watt.’ She moved out into the hall and Watt followed her. ‘I’ll fetch my coat and then I’ll take a walk down to Pearl’s cottage and have a word with her.’

  ‘I’ve promised to keep her job open for when she recovers.’ He looked away and stared through the window, swallowing hard. ‘I know you’ll be discreet.’

  ‘Of course and, Watt, I would have made exactly the same decisions as you.’ Llinos looked up at him expectantly as he walked across the room and opened the door for her. She sensed there was more he wanted to say. ‘What is it?’

  ‘It’s Rosie, I’ve asked her to marry me.’

  ‘You’ve done what?’ She took his arm and almost marched him through the front door towards the gates of the pottery until they were well out of earshot of any of the servan
ts. ‘Are you out of your mind? You know you’re still grieving for Maura, how could you bring yourself to marry someone else?’

  ‘It’s difficult,’ Watt said. ‘I’m very fond of Rosie and . . . well, she needs me to take care of her, to take care of the whole family come to that. With Pearl out of work it will be a struggle for them just to survive.’

  ‘But marriage, Watt, aren’t you sacrificing your own happiness for the sake of doing a good deed?’ She buttoned up her coat. ‘We’re all fond of Pearl and I can pay her a small retainer; they would still have more than most families live on.’

  ‘I’ve given my word and I won’t go back on it. In any case, Llinos, what have I got in my life to look forward to now Maura’s gone? At least with Rosie I’ll have a wife who loves me and a family to call my own. Can’t you see how important that is to me?’

  Llinos could see his need to belong. Watt had been orphaned at an early age, the people of the pottery had been the only family he had ever known.

  ‘Well, if you’re sure Rosie is what you want then you have my blessing. I won’t ask if you love her, that’s your business.’ She paused. ‘Do you love her?’

  ‘I think love can grow,’ Watt said. ‘I care for Rosie, she’s pretty and funny and . . . well, I care for her.’

  ‘I see.’ Llinos did see. ‘Right then, go back to work and I’ll walk down to the village.’ She smiled. ‘Don’t worry, I won’t say a word out of turn. If Pearl wants to talk to me I’ll listen, otherwise, I’ll just pretend to think she’s just a bit off colour.’

  Watt hugged her arm to his side. ‘I knew I could depend on you, Llinos. I couldn’t love you more if you were my own sister. I would do anything for you.’

  ‘Go on with you, don’t get all mushy now or I’ll think you’re after something.’ She paused near the painting sheds. The smell was familiar, the oxide, the tallow, the pungent scent of the glaze; it was her life. And it was all changing, everything was changing and Llinos did not much like it.