Rags to Riches

by Nancy Carson

  ‘Aren’t you having any?’

  ‘I’ll burst if I eat anything else yet. I might have some later.’

  ‘Mmm. It’s delicious.’

  ‘Good…’ She watched him a moment or two longer, then said, ‘It’s funny how we enjoy fruit, isn’t it, Howard? Why don’t we eat flowers, I wonder? Some flowers look as though they might be really tasty, don’t you think?’

  ‘Such as?’

  She shrugged. ‘Well, daffodils for instance. They look all buttery. And roses look as though they’d be all sweet and syrupy with maybe just a hint of tartness. I bet they’d make a lovely pudding.’

  ‘I imagine they’d be tasteless,’ Howard ventured. ‘Like grass.’

  ‘Have you eaten grass?’

  He burst out laughing. ‘You are a treasure, Maxine. Of course, I haven’t eaten grass. It’s just an impression.’

  ‘You must think I’m mad,’ she said.

  ‘Deliciously so.’ He pushed the empty dish away from him and leaned back on his chair. ‘I think you’re the loveliest, most amusing, most delightful girl in the world and I love you for it…I think I’m very, very lucky.’

  She finished the wine in her glass and poured herself another. It was going to her head but so what? The moment was already heady.

  ‘I think I’m lucky, too, Howard,’ she whispered, sincerity oozing from her eyes. ‘I can’t imagine life without you now.’

  ‘Maxine,’ he whispered and his voice was loaded with emotion. ‘I daren’t even try to imagine life without you now. Life, before you came along, was just…so dull, so uninspiring. But not any more…’ He finished off his pudding and pushed his dish away, then raised his glass to her. ‘Here’s to us, Maxine. Here’s to the future.’

  She raised her glass and drank with him.

  ‘I’ve got a song I want to sing for you,’ she said, getting up from the table. ‘Let’s go in the sitting room to the piano.’

  They got up from the table and she took his hand as they strolled into the next room, stopping for a moment to listen for any sound from Aldo. All was quiet.

  She placed her glass on top of the piano and sat at the stool. He watched her from an armchair. For this very special evening, she was wearing a long black evening dress in the latest fashion, pencil slim and elegant. It enhanced every curve of her body, but tastefully. If he had not been aware of it before, he could see now how perfectly proportioned was her figure.

  She ran her fingers over the keyboard. ‘Tell me what you think of this,’ she said. ‘It’s a beautiful love song.’ She began the introduction, and then she sang ‘He’s Funny That Way’.

  Howard could not help but be moved by it. ‘Is that a new number in the band’s repertoire?’ he asked when she’d finished.

  ‘Yes. I’ve been practising it a while. Do you like it?’

  ‘It’s beautiful. Did you write it yourself?’

  She smiled as she walked over to him, perching herself in his lap. ‘God, no. I wish I could write a song like that. Brent got the record and the sheet music from his contact in New York. I just embellished the piano part a bit.’

  ‘It should go down well…Snuggle up to me.’

  She snuggled up to him and raised her head to look into his eyes. ‘I’ll always think of you when I sing that song. I’ll always think of this night. Oh, Howard, I love you so much.’

  He gave her a squeeze. ‘Thank God you do.’

  ‘I do. With all my heart…Kiss me…’

  They kissed.

  ‘You’re right,’ he said when they broke off, ‘you can’t taste garlic on somebody if you’ve eaten it yourself.’

  ‘How romantic! Here’s me, trying to be all lovey-dovey and you start talking about garlic.’

  ‘Sorry, sweetheart.’

  ‘Let’s try again.’

  They kissed again, but it was too contrived and they ended up giggling. Maxine got up, fetched her glass of wine from the piano and took another drink.

  ‘It’s this wine,’ she said. ‘It’s making me feel all gooey.’ She placed it on the floor at the side of the chair and nuzzled up to him again.

  ‘I like you all gooey,’ he breathed and ran his hand from her waist over her hip.

  They both made a determined effort to wring as much enjoyment out of the next kiss as it was possible to do. She felt his hand running up and down her thigh gently, which made her heart beat fast and she wished with all her heart that he would slip it up the inside of her skirt and into her knickers. Maybe she should have left off her knickers tonight. He might have noticed. He might have taken the hint.

  ‘Shall we get on the floor?’ she suggested.

  ‘If you like,’ he replied, his pulse suddenly quickening. ‘I’ll just take my coat off.’

  Maxine reached up for a cushion to put under her head, and lay down seductively. She extended her hands out to him and, when he lay alongside her, they wrapped their arms about each other in a warm embrace. Their lips met again and he pressed himself against her. It was beginning to look very promising, until they both heard Aldo cry out. They waited a few seconds, hoping he would drop off to sleep without further ado, but he continued crying.

  ‘I’d better go up to him,’ she said, reluctantly dragging herself away from Howard. ‘I won’t be long.’

  It was unusual for Aldo to wake once he’d been put to bed, but trust him to do it tonight, of all nights. She picked him out of his cot and held him to her gently, cooing softly. Of course, Aldo knew his Aunty Maxine and was quite used to her, but it seemed he did not want to settle. For a long time, it seemed, she was rocking him in her arms, but he persisted in crying. She thought maybe he had wind and put him over her shoulder, but that made no difference either. Then, she had an idea and called Howard to come and hold the child.

  He rushed upstairs and carefully took the child from her.

  ‘Just rock him gently in your arms,’ she said. ‘I’m going to try another way to get him back to sleep.’

  Howard stood, rocking Aldo in his arms, speaking softly to him while he waited for Maxine. In just a few seconds she returned with her cello and her bow, hitched up the skirt of her dress – which gave him a tantalising view of her legs – and sat down to play. She played The Swan by Saint-Saëns; the piece she’d performed for her CBO audition.

  Howard was mesmerised. It was not just the sight of her long legs either; the haunting melody, the rich mellow tone of the cello, the emotion that poured from it, and Maxine’s feminine grace as she played, all contrived to affect him. He ached to take her in his arms and smother her with love. She deserved all the love he could give.

  She came to the end of the piece and looked up at Howard with misty eyes. He smiled lovingly. The child in his arms had ceased to cry and was settling down.

  ‘It’s working,’ he whispered. ‘He’s nearly asleep. Please play that again. It’s a beautiful piece of music.’

  She put her bow to the strings once more and repeated the performance. Overwhelmed by the tenderness of the moment, Howard felt tears fill his eyes and he blinked hard to push them back. Here he was, holding a helpless child, a gift of God; the woman he loved was with him, playing the most beautiful music imaginable. How could such a combination fail to touch his heart? He would always remember this moment. He would always remember this melody. He would never forget the effect it was having on him. Maybe some day they would be married and, like this, he would be holding his own child by Maxine while she tried to get him to sleep with this same potent magic. It was certainly a dream worth striving for.

  She finished playing and looked questioningly at him again.

  ‘He’s asleep,’ Howard said softly. ‘Your magic spell has put him to sleep. I’ll put him in his cot while you put your cello away.’

  Maxine nodded and silently withdrew with the instrument. In her own room she put the cello in its case and looked at herself in the long mirror on the wardrobe door. A thought struck her. A wicked thought. A wanton thought. What would
be Howard’s reaction if he saw her naked? Tonight, she felt she had the nerve. Tonight, she knew she could do it…It was the wine, of course.

  Surprised at her own brazenness, she kicked off her shoes, took off her black dress and hung it up, then put her underwear and stockings in the laundry basket. Standing as naked as the moment she was born she left the door ajar and softly called Howard.

  A few seconds later he tapped it gently.

  ‘Yes, come in,’ she answered. She made no attempt to hide her nakedness but grabbed her nightdress as if she had been about to put it on. She stood coquettishly, posing with her back towards the door but, twisting her torso, she turned to watch Howard enter. His expression, when he saw her, thrilled her.

  ‘Maxine! I’m so sorry. I had no idea…’ To his credit, he tried not to look at her but found it impossible. His eyes fastened on to the smooth contours of her skin, tanned where the sun had caught her, pale where it had not. ‘I’ll come back when…’

  ‘No…No, Howard. I want you to stay. Close the door. I’m not embarrassed a bit. Not with you.’ She went to him, trying her hardest to hide her nervousness.

  ‘Honestly?’ he gulped.

  ‘Honest,’ she whispered. ‘Never with you.’

  He threw his arms around her and kissed her full on the lips. Her arms went about him in turn while his hands lingered at the small of her bare back, caressing the skin he’d fantasised about while he enjoyed this most promising of kisses. Slowly, tentatively, he allowed one hand to rise from her waist so that it came round and cupped the curve of one cool, firm breast and he thought his head would explode from the throbbing of his heartbeat. Breaking off from their kiss, Maxine took the belt that was around his trousers and unfastened it, all the time looking into his eyes, challenging him to stop her. She unbuttoned his fly and gently thrust her hands inside.

  ‘Do you think I’m brazen, Howard?’ she asked earnestly. She was tingling in places she was not aware could tingle. ‘I can’t help it. I just want you…Have you known other girls like this, Howard?’

  He shook his head. ‘Never,’ he croaked.

  ‘Oh, Howard, come to bed with me.’ She put her head on his chest. ‘I don’t see the point in waiting any longer. Not if we love each other.’ His trousers fell around his ankles and she ran her hands over his buttocks inside his underpants. ‘There is no point waiting…is there? Tell me you agree. You want me, don’t you, Howard?’

  He hugged her tighter. ‘Oh, Maxine…If only you knew…If only you knew how long I’ve wanted you, how much I’ve wanted you…’ He looked up to heaven and closed his eyes momentarily. ‘God above knows how much I want you.’

  ‘And I want you. Here, let me…’ She helped him off with his shirt and tie, and calmly moved away from him to hang them up on the hook at the back of the door. He stood watching her; entranced, watching how the soft feminine muscles of her slender thighs moved in concert with her neat buttocks.

  ‘I can’t take my eyes off you,’ he said apologetically. ‘Maybe you should turn out the light.’

  ‘It doesn’t matter.’

  But in the darkness she felt more at ease. Although Howard no doubt believed all this did not unnerve her, inside she was shaking. Thankfully, the darkness allowed her some modesty, for to pose like she had done and then call him to her room, had been pure impulse. Had she stopped to think about it she would never – could never – have done it.

  ‘Are you going to take off your underpants and your socks?’

  ‘Maybe I should.’

  Maxine pulled back the sheets and nipped into bed, instantly moving over to make room for Howard. She found Maldwyn, her teddy bear and moved him out of the way. Howard slid in beside her and the feel of his skin on hers as their bodies touched was like nothing she had ever imagined. His warmth, the firmness of his smooth body pressing against her own slender form lit her up in a way she’d never anticipated. And she loved the way his fingers stroked her, how his lips felt so gentle gliding over her skin, sending shivers up and down her spine.

  ‘Oh, Howard,’ she breathed. ‘Don’t stop. Please don’t ever stop.’

  His lips were on hers again, one hand cupping her breast as her own hands explored the smooth hard skin of his back and his buttocks. She felt her nipples harden, a sensation she had only ever been aware of when she was cold or when Howard kissed her. Then he lowered his head and kissed her breast. He licked her nipple and she sighed at the utter pleasure of it. His hand went to the soft warm place between her thighs and she felt his fingers, kind, gentle, and oh, so sensuous, deliciously probing that most secret place, and she was amazed at how much she liked it. In fact, the longer he did it, the more pleasurable it seemed to get.

  Then, at long last, she welcomed his manly weight upon her.

  ‘My darling,’ he said softly and kissed her closed eyelids and the delicate skin beneath her eyes.

  Her hands squeezed his buttocks, urging him to enter her and, when he did, it was like the stab of a knife, but so exquisitely beautiful. She arched her back to greet his body like a wife welcoming back her long absent husband from a gruesome war. At each sharp, pleasurable pain as he moved in her, she uttered a little gasp of joy that settled into a gentle rhythm that hurt no more.

  Howard was asleep but, as she lay in his arms, sleep eluded her. Never had she felt such happiness as she felt now, and she smiled with utter contentment. All she could feel was his warmth and an exquisite inner peace. All she wanted now was to go to sleep in his arms and wake up when he woke her. She relived every magical moment, every mesmeric movement inside her. She had not really known what to expect from lovemaking. Girls had boasted how their insides seemed to glow with toe-curling pleasure but she had experienced nothing quite so dramatic. Just a feeling of profound happiness and joy that she had given herself, and a priceless tingling sensation where she had been so well loved. She adored Howard now even more than she had before. And she was certain he loved her equally. It felt strange how girlhood was suddenly behind her, how all at once she was a woman.

  Eventually she fell asleep, rousing only when Howard shifted. She opened her eyes. The light was sufficient to see him clearly. She gazed at his face with deep affection and raised her head so that she could kiss his mouth and fondle his dark hair with wordless pleasure. Instantly, he awoke. For a second or two he looked about him, disoriented. Then he smiled lovingly at her.

  ‘Maxine…Gosh, am I still here? I must have fallen asleep…’

  ‘If you have a care for my reputation…’ she said and laughed as if it didn’t matter at all.

  ‘Maybe I should go,’ he said earnestly. ‘Do you know the time?’

  She turned and peeped at the clock with the luminous hands on her bedside table. It was nearly eleven o’clock.

  ‘Maybe we should get up now,’ she said.

  He kissed her bare shoulder, lingering…lingering…Her warm flesh against him was too strong an attraction to dismiss easily; far too compelling to walk away from so soon and return to his own cold, empty bed. He nuzzled her hair, ran his fingers over her smooth belly and down to her triangle of silky hair, then looked into her eyes, so beautiful in the half-light, so wide. Their message was clear. Their lips met again with soft, gentle touches, then more ardently as they snuggled down in the bed together. Once more, they made love before Howard silently, contentedly departed Willowcroft.

  Chapter 14

  Saturday nights at the dairy house had changed over the years, but not greatly. Instead of Lizzie and Jesse going out to the Shoulder of Mutton, nowadays they were content to stay at home minding their young son Richard and Alice’s son Edward. Alice, meanwhile, usually went out with Charles Wells, the young man she worked for, while Herbert was out on his motorbike courting Elizabeth Knight. This Saturday night in the middle of September was one such. Alice had donned her best dancing frock and looked delicious enough to eat, and in the ten minutes or so before Charles was due to call she tucked Edward up in bed and read him a story.
Motherhood had not been the easiest thing for Alice to come to terms with but, with Lizzie’s coaching, goading and fine example, she had more or less got the hang of it and Edward was none the worse for it.

  Punctually – you could normally set the clock by him – Charles arrived at eight. In his usual gushing manner, he greeted everyone and gave Alice a peck on the cheek, then told her how nice she looked.

  ‘Off anywhere special tonight?’ Jesse asked, swilling out an old whisky bottle that was to be refilled with beer at the out-door.

  ‘Yes, we’re off to the Tower Ballroom to hear The Owls and the Pussycats.’

  ‘Our Maxine’s band?’ Lizzie queried. ‘You never said, Alice.’

  ‘Why do I have to tell you everythin’?’ Alice complained.

  ‘I wasn’t informed either till last night,’ Charles said defending her. ‘Still, I don’t mind. It’ll be a nice change. I rather like jazz.’

  Once in Charles’s car, Alice said, ‘Why did you tell me mother “I wasn’t informed till last night”?’ she asked sourly, mimicking Charles. ‘Anybody would think we only ever do what I want to do.’

  Charles shrugged. ‘It was meant light-heartedly, Alice.’

  ‘Blimey, all we ever do is sit in the Dog and Partridge. We never go to the pictures or to a dance. You used to take me roller skatin’ once in a while but even that’s stopped now. No wonder I decided we should go dancin’ for a change. A girl likes to dress up every now an’ again an’ show herself off.’

  ‘And you look very nice, Alice. I already told you.’

  ‘I ’eard you the first time…Do you know the way to the Tower, by the way?’

  ‘Of course I do.’

  ‘That’s a wonder.’

  ‘It’s close by where Henzey and Will used to live.’

  Charles was a solicitor and Alice worked for him. Yet, while he was still as enamoured of her as the day he met her, this daily and nightly familiarity for Alice had bred some contempt and she was not one to hide it. At first, she was taken with him. He amused her with his irreverent quips and little jokes, but now she had heard them all so many times they were not so scintillating any longer. At first, she had intended mending her wanton ways and settling down, wishing to be wooed like a lady. She was wed at sixteen with a child already in her belly, but now she and her husband had separated she aspired to effect some mystique and be no longer a woman of easy virtue. However, such an objective was totally out of character and it had not taken her long to shed her knickers for Charles. Yet even that exercise had become so uninspiring with him as to be entered into with little enthusiasm these days. When it did occur, she demanded great carefulness from him, for she did not intend getting pregnant again out of wedlock.