by Joanna Rees
‘She’s no fool, you mark my words,’ Fox continued, hauling his legs off the desk. ‘I’ve looked into it. One of my sources says that if she plays it right, she could make a fortune. They seem very excited at W&T about it. They’re going to stock her brassieres, you know.’
Clement felt a righteous fury rise up in him. How dare Anna achieve all of this? How dare she carve another route into the future – away from the mills, away from their father – when his own path was so set in stone. And how dare she do it for herself.
‘I just need to know where she is.’
‘Then it’ll be my pleasure to introduce you. She’ll be dancing tonight at the Zip.’
106
Confronting Edward
Mrs Meyrick had short, wavy brown hair and was wearing a fur-trimmed gold kimono that was far too young a garment for a woman of her age. ‘He’ll be in there,’ she told Vita, waving her hand towards another room.
The ’43, her club in Gerrard Street, was busy, even though it was only eight o’clock in the evening. Vita walked across the bare floorboards to where various tables were dotted, around which sat an array of men and women – several already in evening dress. In the corner, a man stood by a wooden upright piano singing Noël Coward songs. In any other circumstances Vita would have wanted to stay and mingle and drink, but now she was on the lookout for Edward.
She saw him then, through another doorway, carrying two large glasses of gin towards a table of people.
‘Hello, Vita,’ he said when he saw her. ‘What are you doing here? Aren’t you supposed to be at the Zip?’
She walked over and pulled Edward away from his friends.
‘Have you heard about Percy?’ she asked in a hurried whisper.
‘What about him?’
‘He’s been arrested?’ she said, staring at him for a reaction. She saw his jaw clench and, for a second, his eyes shifted guiltily. ‘Did you know? Were you with him?’
‘Is that what he said?’ Edward hissed and, as his dark gaze met hers, in that moment it suddenly became clear to Vita that he knew much more than he was letting on.
‘No. I went to see him, but he’s in the infirmary at the police station. He’s been beaten, Edward.’
Edward took a breath to steady himself, as if this information pained him. Then he looked across at his friends, holding up his hand to show that he was coming.
‘You know something, don’t you?’ Vita implored. ‘Edward, tell me. This is Percy. Our Percy. You have to help.’
‘I can’t.’
‘You can. You can vouch for him. Get him out of there. Do you know what they’d do to someone like Percy in jail? He hates violence.’
Edward pressed his lips together and shook his head. ‘I’m sorry, Vita. I can’t have anything to do with him.’ He went to move away, but she put her hand on his arm to stop him. He stared down at it.
‘But why?’ Her voice was louder than she meant it to be. Edward frowned and pulled her away to the door. He clearly wanted to get rid of her.
‘They had information. Information about Percy and me.’
‘They? Who is after Percy? What has he done?’
‘I have no idea. I don’t want anything to do with all of this. I won’t speak about it any more.’
‘Edward! Please!’
‘Didn’t you just hear what I said? It’s not my problem,’ he hissed. ‘Now, please, go away.’
He shrugged her off and headed back towards the table. She watched him go, aghast that he could be so callous. For a moment she was tempted to run over – tell the two women and the man that Edward was with exactly what kind of person Edward Sopel was, but then she remembered Archie’s warning at Kettner’s. Edward was the kind of man who liked to get people into trouble and walk away. She’d just never thought he’d do that to poor Percy.
107
Mrs Bell’s Stand
Since the show had already started, Vita decided to miss the rest of it and go back home. She simply felt too wretched to face the girls. By the time she got to Mrs Bell’s, however, everything seemed even worse. She ran to the front door as Mrs Bell opened it and flung herself into the old lady’s arms.
‘Oh, Mrs Bell,’ she sobbed, ‘it’s just too dreadful.’
Mrs Bell took a step backwards, pulling Vita inside and hastily shutting the door. Vita had been dreading telling her the news about why Percy had been arrested, but it seemed to have reached their landlady already.
‘It’s a terrible business,’ she said. ‘I’d have never have thought it of Percy . . .’ She dabbed at her eyes.
‘Someone deliberately set out to trap him.’
Mrs Bell frowned. ‘Trap him? As well they might. I can hardly believe it’s true. He is a homosexual?’ she said in a hoarse whisper.
‘I know, but—’
‘You knew?’
‘Yes, but—’
‘All of this right under my nose. In my own house,’ Mrs Bell snapped, and now Vita’s tears stalled. She remembered what Percy had told her about people not understanding, but she’d never thought Mrs Bell would be like this.
‘No, Mrs Bell, it wasn’t like that—’
‘I can’t have you here,’ the landlady said, putting the tissue in her apron pocket and drawing in a deep breath. She didn’t meet Vita’s eye. ‘Have you even seen the papers? What they said about your Zip Club? Mrs Bradbury brought it round. “A den of iniquity and vice” indeed. There’s even a picture of you and that American girl. You both look drunk.’
Vita looked at the paper now, her heart racing with shock. The photo of herself and Nancy was terrible. There was no mention of Top Drawer, but instead there was what looked like a scathing attack on Jack Connelly.
‘That’s just a malicious journalist. You can’t . . . I mean—’
‘I’m afraid you can’t stay. My brother-in-law is coming to pack up Percy’s room. I can’t bring myself to go in there.’
‘But he’ll be coming home here. It’s all a misunderstanding.’
‘No, he won’t. Not here. And that goes for all of you. I want you to leave, Vita. I’m sorry, but that’s how it is.’
‘I can’t leave. Percy and I have a business. I have orders to fulfil.’
‘It’s immoral,’ said Mrs Bell bluntly. ‘All of it. Immoral. I should never have taken any of you in.’
Vita stared, dumbfounded, as Mrs Bell marched away from her down the corridor into the kitchen. ‘I want you out by the end of the week,’ she called. ‘Tell the others.’
Vita was shaking as she went upstairs. How could Mrs Bell be so callous? How could she throw them all out with so little notice? Where would they go? And poor Betsy and Jane. They had done nothing wrong . . .
She pulled out her carpet bag from under the bed and crept down to Percy’s room. She switched on the light by the bed and then started packing up all the patterns and bras she’d made with him. She took his notebook, too, knowing how much his ideas book meant to him. As she put it in her bag, a photograph of Edward fell out.
What on earth had Percy done to get arrested? She couldn’t begin to imagine. He’d always been so careful and discreet. It was Edward who’d taken the risks.
But now it was Edward who’d clearly got him into trouble. And poor Percy would have taken it, to protect his friend. She thought again of Archie’s warning about Edward, and how angry she’d been at his suggestion. But he’d been right.
And thinking about Archie made her think of Maud, and a fresh bout of tears assaulted her.
‘Oh, Percy. Oh, what are we going to do?’ she whispered, clutching the book to her chest and sobbing.
108
The Last Show
The ripples caused by the article about the Zip Club kept spreading. Jane and Betsy were distraught when they found out that Mrs Bell was intending to throw them out. Jane woke their landlady up on her return from the club to try and reason with her, but that only made things worse.
They spent Saturday clearing out
their room and trying to work out where they were going to stay. By the afternoon, after several phone calls, they had found lodgings for the two of them with Betsy’s cousin, all the way over in Tottenham, but Vita was still unsure what on earth she was going to do.
Wisey was at the stage door as they all finally made it to the theatre. It had taken all of Jane and Betsy’s powers of persuasion to make Vita come with them to the show.
‘What time do you call this?’ Wisey said, opening the stage door. ‘Mr Connelly is tearing his hair out. That article in the paper has put everyone in a terrible mood. He reckons this might be the last show, if the police show up. Here, take this,’ she said, pushing a metal clothing rail towards Vita and the girls, ‘and shove it out there for a minute. There’s no need for it back here, now that Nancy and Edith have packed up. Like rats escaping a sinking ship, they are.’
‘Edith has packed up?’ Jane asked.
‘Didn’t you hear? After that newspaper piece, she’s going to Paris with Nancy.’
Vita kicked the rail, which was now stubbornly blocking the door, and closed the stage door with a thud.
‘Oh, and this came for you,’ Wisey said, digging in her overall pocket and handing Vita an envelope. ‘It was left out front. No doubt from some poor admirer.’
‘Why poor?’ she asked, as she shoved it in her coat pocket.
‘Well, you’re taken, aren’t you? Or you were,’ Wisey said, and Vita felt the colour rise in her cheeks. Wisey knew about Archie? Which meant all the girls did, and no doubt they’d all been talking about her behind her back. ‘I did warn you, didn’t I?’ Wisey whispered. ‘I told you to keep your nose clean and not let anyone take advantage.’
Vita was about to protest that Archie hadn’t taken advantage of her, but that’s exactly what he had done, she realized. She could see how hopelessly naive and stupid Wisey must think she was. Vita pushed past her into the dressing room, trying not to cry.
‘Girls, thank God!’ she heard Jemima say, as Jane and Betsy put up their hands in greeting. ‘We thought we were going to have to do the show alone.’
‘Where have you been?’ Edith asked.
‘I say, are you quite all right, old girl?’ Jemima asked, seeing Vita’s blotchy face. ‘We were worried about you last night when you didn’t show.’
Vita shook her head, her eyes full of tears.
‘Are you glum about Archie?’ Nancy asked. ‘Because if you ask me, you’re so much better off without him.’
‘How could you?’ Vita managed, tears threatening to choke her.
‘Come on. Don’t be like this,’ Nancy said. ‘You’ll spoil the last night.’
Furious, Vita drew herself up, wanting to let rip and tell Nancy exactly how betrayed she felt, but before she could, Edith was in front of her. She slammed her costume against her.
‘Save it, Vita. We’re on in two minutes.’
Vita turned her face away from Nancy, deciding to pick a better time to fight this particular battle. She changed in a hurry, hardly bothering to finesse her make-up. Who cared what she looked like now?
‘Let’s go,’ Nancy said, hurrying them all out into the corridor. ‘This is it, ladies. The last time we’ll be together.’
‘Don’t,’ Jane wailed. ‘It’s too awful.’
‘Make it a good one,’ Edith said, with a rare smile.
Vita stumbled onto the stage, flinching at the bright lights. She watched the others high-kicking and she joined in, her body moving automatically, but her voice was a hoarse croak. It felt as if she were watching herself from the top corner of the room.
How jubilant she’d felt after the presentation, but now everything had turned to dust. She stared out into the darkness, knowing the audience was out there, but Archie wasn’t. And never would be again. She felt tears overwhelming her as they took their final positions.
‘I know, it’s sad, isn’t it?’ Betsy said, squeezing her hand, as they took a bow. ‘But cheer up, Vita. You don’t have to worry about the future – it’s such amazing news about the order.’
‘Ladies and gentlemen, this is the last show from our current line-up,’ Mr Connelly said to the audience, putting his hands out to the girls. ‘Come and join us all for a drink,’ he said to them. ‘You can change later.’
They broke the line and Mr Connelly helped them down off the stage one by one, as if he’d always been the most chivalrous boss on the planet. Vita was behind Edith, who refused his hand.
She saw Jack Connelly lean in. ‘Come on, Edie. Don’t be like this. Can’t we part as friends?’ he asked, but she ignored him and he shrugged at Vita. ‘I’ll never understand you women,’ he said, as an aside to her.
Vita caught up with Edith. ‘Are you really going with Nancy?’
‘It looks like it,’ she said.
At the bar, Jack Connelly gave them all champagne and toasted Nancy and Edith on their way. ‘Are you all right?’ Vita asked, seeing how hard Edith was trying to hold it together.
‘Not really. But thanks for asking,’ she said. ‘I thought he was going to fight for me. For the club – for us all – but he only cares about himself.’
Nancy was holding court, carefully avoiding Vita’s eye. They needed to speak and, for a moment, it looked like they would when Nancy pulled a face and walked directly over to her and Edith.
‘Oh God, it’s that dreadful toady Marcus Fox coming right towards us. Don’t turn round. Don’t look. Come on, Edith, we have to get a move on,’ Nancy said in a hushed whisper, grabbing Edith’s arm. ‘I have to get Mr Wild, then I’ll see you at the station.’ She quickly touched Vita’s hand, as if everything was normal between them. ‘You’ll come and wave us off, won’t you, darling?’
How could she be so blasé? Vita wondered. She’d thought they were close. That they were best friends even, but now she saw that Nancy was only interested in herself.
‘New horizons for us all. Isn’t it exciting?’
Edith and Vita exchanged a glance. Neither of them shared Nancy’s enthusiasm. Vita marvelled once more at her thick skin and her ability to move on without a backward glance.
She didn’t have time to answer before Marcus Fox arrived.
‘So. All change, I hear,’ he said, as he stared at Vita.
‘Please leave me alone, Mr Fox. You’ve done quite enough damage with your article. I’m surprised you even got in here. I wouldn’t let Mr Connelly see you, if I were you.’
She watched as Nancy linked arms with Edith and went quickly back up onto the stage, the girls crowding around them to say goodbye. A feeling of utter desolation swept over Vita. She’d thought she’d found a sisterhood – friends for life – but now she saw how flimsy and transient it had all been.
‘I won’t be staying. It’s just that we missed you last night. I brought a friend to meet you,’ he said. ‘Ah, here he is now.’
And that’s when Vita turned round and the world seemed to stop. Because the man walking towards them was leaning on an ivory-topped cane. He had a scar on his face, his once-handsome features now disfigured, but it was unmistakably him.
‘Hello, Anna,’ Clement said, his eyes burning into hers.
‘You’ve found each other at last,’ Marcus said. ‘I should so like to be a fly on the wall for this, but I shall leave you two to get reacquainted.’
109
Walking Ghost
He was alive? All this time she thought she’d killed him, but Clement was alive. Vita stumbled away from her brother. She’d believed she was about to be caught for murder. All that subterfuge – the lengths she’d gone to, to hide from Archie who she really was – and Clement was alive . . .
‘So this is where you’ve been hiding.’ Clement’s voice was calm, but laced with the venomous sneer she knew so well. ‘Although not very effectively, I might add. I found you, you know, before I saw you flaunting yourself in the paper.’
She stared now at the cane he was carrying. The ivory-topped cane. Percy’s cane. Had Clement h
urt Percy to get at her? Was it because of Clement that Percy had been arrested?
‘Recognize it, do you? Belonged to your little queer friend.’
‘Percy,’ she whispered. ‘What did you do to Percy?’
‘Nothing, really,’ Clement said, clearly enjoying how shocked and upset she was.
‘He was arrested.’
‘Oh, that. Yes. We got that awful man, Sopel, to lure him to their love-nest. It was all very easy.’
Still she backed away, but he grabbed her, the familiarity of the pain making it so much worse, as his fingers crushed her upper arms.
‘Uh-uh,’ he said. ‘You’re not going anywhere.’
She tried to wriggle free, but his vice-like grip simply got tighter. ‘Listen to me very carefully. Don’t make a fuss. I’m taking you home,’ Clement said.
She heard the word ‘home’ and an image of Darton, windswept and bleak, rose in her mind.
‘I can’t. I won’t. Let me go.’
He looked startled that she had defied him, and then his eyes flashed with anger.
‘Oh no. You see . . . now I’ve found you, I shall never let you go. Never. Not until you’ve paid for what you did to me.’ He tapped Percy’s cane on the side of her knee. ‘Your dancing days are over, young lady.’
And there it was. That demonic glint in Clement’s eye, and all the terror she’d known as a girl came flooding back. She had to do something. Fast.
‘Emma, over here,’ Vita called, grabbing her opportunity. ‘Betsy. Emma. Come here.’
‘What are you doing?’ Clement hissed.
Vita waved to the girls, who had said their goodbyes to Nancy and Edith. ‘Please let me introduce you to Mr Darton,’ she said, trying to stop her voice trembling.
‘You look familiar,’ Emma said. ‘Have we met?’
‘Don’t let Mr Darton go anywhere,’ she instructed, her eyes boring into Betsy’s. ‘I’ll be right back. I’m just going to change,’ Vita said, running for the stage.