by Rosie Clarke
For the moment, they had to live with the shadow of their mother’s murder and hope that with the funeral their lives could begin to recover.
36
‘You look lovely, Minnie,’ Rachel said as her friend tried on her wedding dress for her benefit. ‘It is such a beautiful gown – as I expected, because you made it yourself…’
‘The headdress and veil were my mother’s,’ Minnie said. ‘My father gave it to me when I agreed to marry Jonathan the first time and I’ve kept it in tissue and lavender. I never expected to use it, but I’m so glad I looked after it and didn’t throw it away. Mildred thought it would just remind me, but I kept it in my things…’
‘And now you’re going to marry the man you love,’ Rachel said and smiled at her lovingly. ‘I’m so happy for you, Minnie. It’s wonderful that you’ve found each other again.’
‘Yes.’ There was a faint colour in Minnie’s cheeks. ‘I feel so lucky, Rachel – and it’s all because of you…’
Rachel looked stunned. ‘No, how could it be?’
‘You took me to live with you and you gave me the courage to take on that job at Harpers. If it hadn’t been for that, I should never have met Jonathan again…’
‘No, I suppose you wouldn’t,’ Rachel acknowledged. ‘I wanted to make you safe, Minnie – and I suppose I’ve done that and more.’ She smiled. ‘It’s funny how these things happen. I never expected to marry again and then William walked into my life. I almost shut him out because of a misunderstanding, but fortunately we sorted that out and now I’m so glad that I married him, even though he isn’t around at the moment…’
‘You must miss him terribly,’ Minnie said, looking at her in sympathy. ‘All you had was one night in a hotel.’
‘Yes, but I’m going to make up for it this weekend. William is getting a weekend pass and so I hope that we shall have at least a few hours to be together before he is off again.’
‘This awful war,’ Minnie said, looking concerned. ‘It isn’t fair that you should be separated from your husband so soon after being married.’
‘No, it isn’t fair,’ Rachel said, ‘but it’s the same for every woman with a husband in the army. Now, I’ve pinned the waist as you asked so you can finish the dress.’
‘Yes, thank you,’ Minnie smiled at her. ‘I was going to ask if you would like to have tea with us on Sunday, but if William is home…’
‘We would love to come for tea,’ Rachel said. ‘I’ll bake a lemon drizzle cake. I know you like them, so I’ll bring it along.’
‘I almost wish you hadn’t told Minnie that we’d go to tea,’ William said as he kissed Rachel that Saturday evening. ‘I’ve got forty-eight hours and I’d like to spend them all in bed with you…’
‘William…’ Rachel blushed, still a little unused to his passion. Paul had never been as open about wanting her and would just reach for her in bed without speaking. William’s lovemaking was sweet and tender and had brought tears to her eyes the first time. ‘I can always send her a telegram…’
‘No, of course you won’t,’ William said and looked at her with love in his eyes. ‘I want you, my darling, so much you may never know just how much – but I’m not greedy. Your friends are expecting us, so we shall go, but we’ll spend the whole of the morning in bed…’
Rachel laughed and clung to him, responding to her husband’s tender loving with pleasure and excitement. William had opened life out for her again and she was so grateful to him for coming into her life, showing her just how lonely and sterile it had been.
Tea with Jonathan Stockbridge and Minnie was pleasant. Minnie had prepared dainty sandwiches, cakes, home-made biscuits and some fruit tartlets that made Rachel’s mouth water. She complimented Minnie on her cooking and saw her blush.
‘Mildred and I were both taught, but she never liked it – I was always partial to those fruit tarts and I never forgot what Mama taught me before she died. She was a wonderful cook but fragile and Papa was never the same after he lost her.’
‘Well, I shall steal the recipe from you if I may,’ Rachel said and smiled. ‘I have enjoyed my visit so much and I shall hope to visit often when you’re Mrs Stockbridge, Minnie.’
‘Thank you, dearest. Jonathan knows how much we owe you – and he has a small gift for you…’
Mr Stockbridge handed her a black leather box. Rachel opened it to reveal a lovely oval cameo brooch surrounded by gold.
‘This belonged to my mother,’ he told her. ‘I never gave it to my first wife and both Minnie and I want you to have it.’
‘That is lovely,’ Rachel cried, her eyes moist. ‘Thank you so much, both of you.’ She took the lovely brooch from its box and pinned it to her dress. ‘I love it, thank you again.’
After helping Minnie to clear her table and embracing her, Rachel and William took their leave. They travelled back to their apartment building in his car and he smiled at her as they went up to the second floor in the elevator.
‘She is a lovely lady, Rachel. I’m not surprised you’re fond of her – and he’s not a bad old stick. He has a passion for roses, which I happen to share, as you know – got some lovely old roses in his garden. When we have time, I’ll show you the garden at my home in the country.’
‘I shall look forward to it,’ Rachel said. ‘Does your aunt or sister live there?’
‘No, I made certain of that, though they often descend and treat the house as if they own it,’ William said ruefully. ‘I couldn’t gift the house to you, Rachel, because it is entailed and if I die without issue, it will pass to a cousin. However, all I have personally will be yours if—’
Rachel stopped him with a kiss. ‘Don’t! I forbid you to say it,’ she whispered against his mouth. ‘I love you and I can’t bear to lose you, so never say it to me or even think it, William. You will come back to me, you have to.’
‘Then I shall,’ he promised and drew her into his arms. ‘I have about ten hours left, my darling, and I want to spend them all making love to my beautiful wife.’
Rachel held back her tears as William left her. She let him go with a smile, because he would need to carry that memory with him. Their precious hours had gone all too soon, but neither of them would ever forget the happiness and joy they had known in that short time. They were only just beginning their life together, to know and to appreciate each other’s qualities, their likes and dislikes.
William had avowed his love so many times that she smiled just at the memory. Rachel prayed with all her heart that he would come back to her, but she also knew that even if she lost him and suffered the pain of widowhood again, it would have been worth it just for the love she’d experienced in his arms. Life could hold no greater joy for her – unless they were ever to have a child and welcome it in the world together.
Sighing, she dressed for work that morning. The coming weeks and months would be lonely and she would need her job at Harpers and all the friends she had made there until William returned.
37
Maggie looked ruefully at her red hands. It was a Saturday and Minnie was marrying Mr Stockbridge that afternoon, and she’d expressly asked Maggie to be there, because she was one of her few friends.
I don’t have any family and only a few friends, so I am really hoping that you will be given leave for my wedding, Maggie dear. We all miss seeing you every day and we hope you can come to the wedding.
Maggie had asked her supervisor for leave immediately, shown her the invitation and been given permission to take the weekend off, something that had surprised her a little. Mrs Pamela James was in charge of the detachment Maggie had been assigned to and she was a bit of a dragon. Most of the girls were terrified of her, because once you signed up for the service it was like being in an army for women. The uniform they all had to wear was ugly and made Maggie feel like something out of the workhouse, but it was the same for all the young girls. As at Harpers emporium, no jewellery or make-up was allowed in the hospital, and certainly no perfume. She was
addressed as Miss Gibbs by the nurses and looked down on as little more than a skivvy, which was exactly what she was for the moment. Her training at the first-aid classes was scorned and dismissed as irrelevant and, so far, all she’d been permitted to do was scrub the floors of the ward she’d been assigned to or, even worse, scour the bedpans after emptying them of their unpleasant contents.
A deep sigh left Maggie’s lips as she rubbed a little cream into her sore hands. She’d always kept her skin soft and smooth so that she could safely handle the expensive scarves she showed her customers. Now she wouldn’t stand a chance of being picked for such delicate work – and yet she wasn’t sorry that she’d signed up to the service. A lot of the young women who had joined were constantly in tears, some wished they’d never joined and a couple had already left, dismissed for various reasons: lateness or talking in corridors when they should be working, or simply not fit enough to do the hard work required. One girl had fainted in front of Matron when being sent to discard bloody cloths and been sent home to find work more suited to her delicate health.
‘You volunteered to be nursing assistants,’ Mrs James had boomed at them when she harangued them after two girls had been summarily discharged. ‘That means long hours, dirty, hard work and – if you’re sent to the Front – danger. Only the strongest and fittest of you will survive this training course. It is hard because it needs to be. If you do not wish to continue, come to my office and I will give you a discharge or see you transferred to another branch of the service.’
‘Cor blimey, she’s a tough old trout, ain’t she?’ a young girl had whispered in Maggie’s ear. ‘I worked down the bloody cannin’ factory and we’d spit most of this lot out fer breakfast.’
Maggie couldn’t help but laugh, which she’d instantly regretted because Mrs James glared at her. ‘Did you find what I said funny, Miss Gibbs?’
‘No, Mrs James, of course not,’ Maggie had said at once. ‘I needed to cough that’s all.’
Mrs James had looked daggers at her but decided to ignore her lapse. Maggie had known it meant a black mark against her, but she’d kept her expression unmoving, innocent even, when the girl dug her in the ribs and whispered in her ear again.
‘Sorry, love,’ she’d said. ‘I’ll talk ter yer after.’ The girl had caught her arm as they left that lecture and given it a squeeze. ‘I reckon yer will make it,’ she’d said and grinned at Maggie. ‘I’m Sadie Birch and I’ve seen yer a couple of times, but I’m on the kids’ ward – yer on the old men’s ain’t yer?’
‘Yes,’ Maggie had replied. ‘Not that I’ve done anything yet but scrub floors and bedpans. I did fetch a glass of water for one elderly man, but Sister Hendry tore me off a strip. I’m not allowed to give patients anything unless instructed by her or a nurse…’
‘That’s right, love, in case it upsets ’em,’ Sadie replied. ‘What’s yer name then?’
‘Maggie Gibbs,’ Maggie offered her hand and they’d shaken hands, laughing. ‘She thinks she’s so tough – but we had a floor walker when I started work at Harpers Emporium in Oxford Street that would have made her look like a kitten.’
Sadie had grinned and hugged her arm. ‘You’re one of them Harpers girls then?’ She’d looked envious as Maggie nodded. ‘Why did yer give a job like that up ter come to this place?’
‘For the same reason as you,’ Maggie had replied and a little shiver went down her spine. ‘Did you see the pictures in the newspapers – all those poor men after the defeat at Mons…?’ Tears had sprung to her eyes. ‘Everyone thought it would be over quickly. All those young men killed… Do you think they knew what it would be like?’
‘Nah,’ Sadie had shaken her head. ‘Poor little buggers thought it would be a lark, rushed orf ter take the King’s shillin’ like idiots. Nah look what’s happened to them…’
Throughout the whole of September and the beginning of October, the French, Belgian and British had been in action together in a bitter struggle. Some seventy thousand men had crossed the Channel in secret, but despite the skill of the regular British Army, the enemy had proved too strong at Mons. The ordinary people of the town were caught in the conflict and suffered many casualties, as did the British troops. Fierce and terrible battles had been fought along a shifting line from Belgium to Alsace and the Lorraine where the bulk of the French forces were stationed. In September, the action had shifted to the Marne, north-east of Paris. On land, the British were suffering huge casualties, over half a million men killed or wounded, though at sea the navy was showing its muscle and three German cruisers had been sunk. However, they had retaliated and three British ships were torpedoed, with the loss of over fourteen hundred men. Submarines were a new and deadly threat in war!
The reports in the newspapers told the sorry news that it looked as if the allies were being remorselessly forced back towards the Somme, the last barrier before Paris. And from posters all over the country, Lord Kitchener pointed his finger and told men, ‘Your country needs you!’.
As the weeks of her training intensified, Maggie and all the other volunteers scoured the newspapers for any scrap of information about the way the conflict was progressing and fretted because it took so long for them to become useful. Each and every one of them longed to be out there helping with the wounded as the reports of hospitals overflowing mounted daily.
Maggie put all her thoughts of war and the terrible injuries that some men must have received from her mind. Today, she could forget her training and the lectures she needed to attend, because she was going to a wedding and she would be seeing her friends again.
Maggie wore little white lace gloves with her pretty blue and white dress and the long jacket that came down to just above her knees. It matched the blue of the forget-me-nots in her dress and her straw hat was white with a contrasting and darker blue rose at the front. Her outfit wasn’t new; she’d worn it several times to go out with Tim, but she hadn’t had time or the money to buy herself new clothes and she knew it suited her because it was Tim’s favourite.
She saw Rachel and Sally as soon as she got to the church and went to sit with them. ‘Is Beth coming?’ she asked as she sat next to her friends.
‘No,’ Sally replied. ‘I offered to stand in for her, but she said she would come to the reception after Harpers closed. We’ve put an extra member of staff on to take Rachel’s place for the afternoon and a junior in your old department, but Beth says they’ve been quieter the last few days, so I’m sure she will manage.’
‘No one feels like buying treats at the moment,’ Maggie said. ‘I just wore my best dress.’
‘You look lovely,’ Sally said and smiled at her. ‘Rachel was just telling me that Minnie wondered if she ought to call the wedding off because of what happened.’
‘Why should she have her plans ruined because of what is happening over there?’ Maggie asked. ‘It wouldn’t bring back those men that were killed and I think it will happen a lot more before it is over…’
‘Yes, everyone is upset though,’ Sally said, looking worried. ‘Even the older men are saying they ought to volunteer now, but when they do, they get sent back with a flea in their ear. At the moment, it is just the regular army that is fighting. I doubt if any of the young men who rushed off to volunteer are ready to be sent out there yet.’
‘It’s the same for us,’ Maggie said. ‘All the volunteers do is clean and attend lectures. They don’t let us near the patients and I haven’t seen a wounded soldier yet.’
‘Is it all right?’ Sally asked, looking at her anxiously. ‘I’ve heard it is hard work and not very well paid.’
‘Nowhere near what you paid me,’ Maggie said ruefully. ‘But I don’t have to pay for my lodgings or my food, so I can manage. I don’t mind anyway. I just want to help… even more now after what happened at Mons…’
‘Yes, of course. I think we all do,’ Sally said. ‘I’ve been asking various government departments what I can do, as a person and as Harpers. So far, they’ve let us c
ontribute some tinned food for the soldiers. I’ve been asked if I will organise some fundraising events and that seems to be about all I’m good for.’
The music started just then and the bride appeared, with Becky in attendance just behind her. Minnie was wearing an ivory dress of shimmering silk that she’d made herself. It had cost a fraction of its price from a bridal store, but it looked wonderful on her. Behind her, Becky was wearing a dress of damask pink and a little crown of roses on her head, her hair swept up in a soft roll. Minnie’s veil was shimmering lace worn with a faux pearl tiara and looked expensive even though it wasn’t. Maggie knew it had belonged to Minnie’s mother, because Becky had told her so in a recent letter.
‘Oh, look at her,’ Maggie whispered. ‘She is so happy.’
‘Yes, she is,’ Rachel agreed. ‘They both are.’
Everyone hushed as the service began and then the vicar was blessing the bride and her veil was back. She lifted her face for her husband to kiss her and that was when they could all see how happy and beautiful, she looked.
‘She is so lovely,’ Rachel whispered. ‘All those years without hope and now look at her, she deserves to be happy.’
‘She owes it to you,’ Maggie said. ‘If you hadn’t made her come and live with us and got her that job at Harpers, they would never have met again. Becky says her father has never been as happy. You should be proud of what you did.’
Rachel wiped a tear from her eye. ‘I was so fond of her and I just wanted her to be secure and safe,’ she said. ‘I didn’t have any idea that she would meet the love of her life, I didn’t even know she knew Mr Stockbridge. She never said a word about it even after she started working in the alterations department, and now she’s married to the man she always loved. It’s a perfect story…’