by Deborah Carr
She watched Jesse eat his meal. He placed his knife and fork on his empty plate and wiped his mouth with his napkin.
‘I was speaking to Lily earlier today,’ she began. ‘She’s had a few issues with her lodgings.’ Florence refrained from mentioning the gentleman Lily had spoken to her about. ‘I was thinking that maybe we could help her in some way.’
Jesse frowned. ‘How exactly?’
Encouraged by his question, she said, ‘Well, I thought maybe she could move in here for a while, or we could help her find somewhere else to live.’
Jesse took a sip from his water glass. ‘She’s homeless?’
‘No, she’s found somewhere to move to, but …’
‘Then I don’t see why we need to become involved. And I definitely don’t think she would feel comfortable moving into our house. The very idea is alarming.’
Her temper rose instantly. ‘I don’t see why.’
Jesse reached out and took Florence’s right hand in his. ‘I like Lily, you know I do, but how do you think it would appear if we gave her preferential treatment over the other female staff?’
Florence sighed. Jesse did have a point there.
‘And,’ he continued, ‘do you honestly think Lily would accept such an offer?’ Before Florence could answer, he added, ‘I presume she knows nothing of this idea?’
Florence shook her head. ‘No, I thought I’d speak to you about it first.’
Jesse let go of her hand. ‘That’s a relief. No. I think we should leave matters well alone.’ Florence wasn’t convinced. ‘Do you want to put her in a difficult position?’ Jesse asked.
‘How so?’
‘She works for us and she’s your friend. How will it make Lily feel to have to refuse an offer of a home from you?’
Florence nodded. Jesse’s argument made sense, whether she liked it or not. Maybe the idea of Lily moving in had been more for her benefit than Lily’s, Florence thought. She would have enjoyed having her in the same house and being able to confide in her whenever she wanted. Lily was the one person she truly trusted outside of her family. She had known Florence before she became the grand lady she now was and Florence always felt able to speak to her and ask her advice if she had a problem that she couldn’t go to Jesse about. No, she was being selfish.
‘You’re right,’ she conceded. ‘I’ll not mention anything to her.’ Instead, she thought, she’d ask Lily if there was anything she could do to help her with her career.
Chapter 22
23rd August 1902
Florence sat next to Jesse in their saloon carriage on the train to Skegness and watched the scenery pass. She had been up since before dawn, excited about the day ahead. She took care to hide the nerves that she felt each time she took a large number of the staff out for the day. She was responsible for all these women and believed it was up to her to make sure that nothing untoward happened to any of them. There had been very few incidents since she and Jesse had begun arranging these events, but when they were accompanying five hundred women on an outing, who knew what might happen. There was a lot of excitement involved – in fact there had been since she had announced the event weeks earlier.
‘Don’t fret, Florence,’ Jesse said quietly. ‘All will be well.’
She loved that he knew her well enough to sense any concerns that she might be harbouring. On the other hand, his intuition about her feelings could also be annoying, especially when she was planning a surprise for him or had something she wasn’t quite ready to share with him.
The weather was warm, and Florence was glad she had chosen to wear her new pale blue dress with touches of lace on the sleeves and bodice. She was pleased she had thought to have a hat made with matching material and although it was hotter today than she had hoped, she was relieved she had thought to bring a parasol to keep off the worst of the day’s sun.
The train was shortly due to arrive in Skegness and was running only one minute late. Everyone had their own specially printed timetable and a pass. These documents furnished the women with admission to the pier as many times as they wished during the day without any of them being expected to pay. The guard opened the door and Jesse stepped down carefully, his stick in one hand. He held out his free hand to assist Florence. Florence stepped down and watched happily as a swathe of women disembarked from the four carriages kept exclusively for their party. She laughed as, moments later, there was an enthusiastic rush towards the sands.
Florence and Jesse smiled at each other. ‘We should also stretch our legs, but I think we should make the most of having a gentle stroll on the pier,’ Florence said. ‘I’d rather not spend my journey home bothered by sand in my shoes.’
Jesse laughed. ‘My sentiments entirely.’
They exchanged conversation with girls from the shop and factory when they passed by and stopped to take two seats just before eleven o’clock to enjoy the concert being held for their party on the pier.
Their noon dinner was delicious with Florence deciding on the roast beef with vegetables and Jesse choosing the roast lamb.
‘This mint sauce is the tastiest I’ve eaten for a long while,’ he said wiping his moustache on the linen napkin.
‘You’d better not let Cook know you think it’s better than hers,’ Florence teased. ‘Anyway, I’m glad you enjoyed it,’ she said. ‘I had been told that the food here in the Pavilion was good and I’m relieved that it is. Will you manage a pudding?’
Jesse nodded. ‘I was thinking that the blancmange might make a nice change.’
Florence was surprised; she had expected Jesse to choose the plum pie, which was usually his favourite. ‘I’ll try the plum pie,’ she said, hoping her corset would allow such a big meal.
They decided to walk off their large lunch with a slow stroll to the top of the Pier Saloon to take in the view over Skegness and the North Sea, followed at five-thirty by tea in the Pavilion, consisting of cold meats, salad, and fancy cakes, then another performance by the band of Pierrots there.
By six-thirty Florence and Jesse were happy but both ready to board the train for their journey home. ‘We still have an hour to wait until the train departs and takes us back to Nottingham,’ Florence said, wishing her feet didn’t ache quite so much.
‘It’s been a triumph of a day though, don’t you think?’ Jesse asked as they sat quietly in the shade near one of the windows of the Pavilion.
‘Yes, I do,’ Florence agreed, satisfied that everything had gone as well as she had hoped. She took a sip of her tea from the cup in front of her and spotted Lily walking quickly, her face pale as she glanced through the Pavilion windows as she passed. She seemed to be looking for someone.
Lily stumbled inside the Pavilion and scanned the room.
Florence nudged Jesse. ‘Lily looks upset, don’t you think?’ Florence stood and gave Lily a discreet wave, relieved when Lily saw her. ‘Something’s wrong,’ she whispered to Jesse, keeping a fixed smile on her face so as not to alert any of the others to her concerns.
‘Mr Boot, Mrs Boot,’ Lily said, using their formal names as she always did when they weren’t in private.
‘Take a seat, Lily,’ Florence said, wanting her to sit so that their conversation could be conducted more privately than if they were standing. When Lily was sitting, Florence leaned slightly closer to her. ‘Are you all right, Lily?’ She noticed a waitress nearby and waved her over. ‘Another pot of tea and a fresh cup and saucer, as quick as you can, please.’
Lily fanned herself with her timetable. ‘I’m sorry to disturb you both,’ she said, still breathless. ‘There’s a group of about ten of the women – we work on adjoining departments,’ Lily explained. ‘We decided to stick together for the day. We thought it would help the quieter, shyer girls in the group to feel like they were joining in and would also have someone to accompany them.’
‘That sounds very sensible,’ Jesse said, looking a little perplexed. ‘Has something happened to one of them then?’
‘Yes. I
t’s Daisy Foster, one of the younger girls.’
Florence’s heart pounded in panic. The tea arrived and she thanked the waitress and poured Lily a weak cup. ‘Carry on.’
‘She seems to have gone missing.’
Florence gasped and looked around to see if anyone had noticed. Thankfully everyone seemed too busy chatting and having fun to have done so. ‘Are you certain?’
Lily nodded. ‘Yes. We all arranged to meet up half an hour ago. After waiting for her for twenty minutes one of the girls sheepishly told us that she and Daisy had met up with two gentlemen.’ She reddened slightly. ‘It seems that Daisy decided to spend a little time alone with one of them and, well, she hasn’t been seen since.’ She shrugged. ‘I have to admit that I’m worried.’
Florence was too. She looked at Jesse. ‘What do you suggest we do?’ she asked. ‘We can’t possibly leave without one of the girls.’
‘No, we can’t,’ Jesse grumbled. ‘Think of the damage to the Boots brand if we did such a thing. Our competitors would have a field day saying it was our fault to attempt such a large outing with staff and that we were only showing off.’
‘Nonsense,’ Florence snapped, irritated with Jesse’s focus always being on his competitors and the business. ‘I was more concerned about leaving a young woman in a strange place. If she’s lost then she will be frightened.’
‘Silly girl should have stayed with the others like she was supposed to then, shouldn’t she?’
Jesse looked away before she had a chance to answer and tapped the table with the tip of his fingers. ‘Let me give this some thought.’
Florence shot a reassuring smile at Lily. ‘I’m sure we’ll think of something,’ she said, wishing she felt as confident as she sounded and hoping Jesse would hurry up and offer some advice.
‘We still have time,’ Jesse said, obviously annoyed by the turn of events. ‘You finish your tea and then return to your group of friends. If you tell us where they are, Florence and I will make our way to them. If Daisy hasn’t returned by the time we meet you, then we’ll split up and all start looking for her. Quietly, mind – we don’t want to alert too many people to what’s happened.’ He caught Florence’s eye and cleared his throat. ‘There’s a young girl’s reputation at stake here.’
‘Yes,’ agreed Florence, her mood soothed slightly by his change of tone. ‘We must do our best to keep this between as few of us as possible. This might be a perfectly innocent case of Daisy losing track of time and we don’t want the others to come up with notions of what’s happened to her this afternoon. That’s how gossip starts and we must avoid that at all costs.’
‘Of course,’ Lily said, looking horrified at the prospect. She quickly finished her tea and left them to return to the others.
Florence and Jesse stood, and, smiling at the others still enjoying their afternoon, began to stroll slowly out of the Pavilion.
‘I do hope Daisy has found her way back to the others by now,’ Florence whispered. If she hadn’t, she wasn’t sure where they would start looking for the girl in the busy town.
Jesse didn’t reply as they walked the rest of the way in silence. Five minutes later, they saw Lily. She wasn’t with a group of women but speaking with a man. Florence squinted in the sunlight and after a moment realised it was Thomas Danby, the same man she had insisted be evicted from the Pelham Street store a few weeks before. By the look of things Lily seemed rather agitated.
‘Jesse, do you see that?’ Florence asked, picking up speed slightly to reach her friend quicker. She decided to let Lily explain to Jesse exactly who Mr Danby was.
‘I most certainly do,’ Jesse snapped.
They hurried up to the man, who was pleading with Lily about something. Florence was furious that he had managed to find a way to contact her and even more so that he had the temerity to appear upset with Lily. How dare he? she thought, wishing they were in private and she could give him a piece of her mind without others hearing.
He reached out to take Lily’s hand but she snatched it away before he could touch her.
Florence felt Jesse tense next to her, and a moment later he raised his walking stick and tapped the man, none too gently, on the back of his shoulder. ‘I’ll thank you to step away from this young lady. Immediately, sir.’
The man spun round, his mouth open, a look of anguish on his face. He stepped back. ‘Sir, um, Mr Boot,’ he stammered, then, noticing Florence, added, ‘Mrs Boot, um, this isn’t as it probably seems, I can assure you.’
‘I sincerely hope it isn’t.’ Florence linked arms with Lily. ‘I thought I made my feelings towards you perfectly clear the last time we met.’
‘What?’ Jesse bellowed. ‘You’ve met this miscreant before today? Where?’ He glared at Mr Danby, then at Florence. ‘And why have you not thought to tell me about it?
‘Jesse, please lower your voice,’ Florence hissed, aware that Jesse was drawing attention to them.
‘Right, yes, of course.’ He scowled at Mr Danby once more. ‘Do you care to tell me where you’ve come into contact with this person before, my dear?’
‘It was my fault,’ Lily said. ‘Mr Danby came to the store to speak to me.’
‘During working hours?’
Florence closed her eyes pointedly and shook her head. ‘Firstly, Lily, none of this has been your fault, as far as I can gather. Mr Danby took it upon himself to come to the store on a couple of occasions, despite –’ she turned her attention to the man, who was now staring at his feet in embarrassment ‘– being asked not to do so. I then had a word with him and made sure that he was escorted out of the building. He promised not to return. Isn’t that right, Mr Danby?’
‘Yes, madam, it is.’ He looked up at Florence and their eyes met. ‘I was true to my word and didn’t go back to Pelham Street, like you asked.’
Florence couldn’t hide her annoyance. She turned her attention back to Lily. ‘You’re all right?’ she murmured, relieved when Lily nodded.
‘Maybe we should ask Miss Buttons what’s been happening?’ Jesse said scowling, his eyes like flints of steel.
‘This is Thomas Danby,’ Lily explained. ‘His mother is my former landlady.’
‘That still doesn’t explain his determination to speak to you, Lily.’ Jesse frowned.
Florence could see he was becoming exasperated by the incident, so decided to push the conversation along. ‘And was it a coincidence that you happened to be in Skegness on the very day that Miss Buttons came here?’ she asked, trying to keep the sarcasm from her voice.
‘No, it wasn’t,’ he admitted.
‘Then what exactly are you doing here, young man?’ Jesse tapped his stick against his knee breeches.
‘I recalled Lily mentioning that she was going away on a work outing,’ he stammered. ‘I know I should have stood up to my mother over what happened, but she can be a very difficult woman. Then, when Lily left my mother’s lodgings and I realised I didn’t have a forwarding address for her, I tried to look for Lily, but couldn’t find her. I went to the Pelham Street store a few times to speak to her. Each time I visited her department, I couldn’t see her anywhere and I didn’t like to ask anyone in case she wasn’t to have friends calling on her at work.’
‘I told you never to come to the store,’ Lily said angrily, ‘but you ignored me.’
He gave her an apologetic look. ‘I’m sorry, but I was desperate to explain,’ he hesitated. ‘There are things I needed to speak to you about.’
Florence suspected that Lily was not in a forgiving mood and didn’t blame her one bit. She recalled her and Jesse being pressured to stay away from each other when they first met, and shuddered. They would never have married and enjoyed these past few years together if they had allowed her mother to have her way.
‘I thought I’d come here and see if I could talk some sense into Miss Buttons.’
‘Sense?’ Jesse bristled. ‘I think, young man, that if Miss Buttons had wanted to have any contact with you, she wou
ld have made certain you had her forwarding address.’
Florence realised she needed to defuse the situation before Jesse lost his temper. She also remembered that they were supposed to be looking for Daisy. If they were to keep looking for her before it was time to return to the station and catch the train home, then she needed to concentrate her efforts a little more. ‘Lily, do you have anything you wish to speak to Mr Danby about?’
‘No.’ Lily shook her head slowly. ‘I think we’ve said all we need to say to each other.’
His mouth fell open and Thomas Danby looked stricken. ‘Lily, please. I’ve tried to apologise about what happened.’ He went to take her hand again, but Jesse raised his stick and held it between them.
‘Miss Buttons said she has nothing to say to you, young man. Now, I believe you should do the gentlemanly thing and abide by her wishes. Please, leave her to enjoy the rest of her day out.’
Thomas Danby looked distraught. ‘Yes, of course. I apologise for my behaviour.’ He gave Lily a pleading look. ‘If you change your mind about speaking to me, you know where you can find me,’ he said, before Jesse stepped forward. He gave them a courteous nod and walked away, his shoulders slumped.
Florence couldn’t help feeling a little sorry for the dejected man. He had seemed pleasant enough, despite his persistence, but if he couldn’t stand up for Lily when she’d needed him to, then he really wasn’t gentleman enough for her. Also, they didn’t need men turning up at Boots stores demanding to speak to the shop assistants, so in that respect Florence was relieved that Lily had decided against seeing him.
‘You are a brave girl,’ she soothed, wondering if Lily regretted her decision to have nothing more to do with him.