by Carol Rivers
‘Would you like some afters?’ Lily asked quickly.
‘Yes, please.’
Lily returned from the kitchen with a large round fruit cake.
‘I could eat all of that,’ laughed Hattie, as Lily slipped a slice onto her plate. Hattie rolled her eyes as she sampled it. ‘Oh, Lil, I ain’t tasted anything like this before.’
‘Mrs Brewer is a very good cook, as I told you.’
As she ate, Hattie began to tell Lily her news. ‘At home, Sylvester’s no better, but at least I don’t have to worry about him now that I’ve got worries of me own.’
‘What worries are they?’
‘Reube has decided he doesn’t want to leave home. Now Ben has gone he says the house is big enough to take us all. His mum and Pedro seem to have forgotten all about getting married and Reube says whilst we don’t have kids, we can save up for somewhere better than an ordinary two up, two down.’
‘That’s a sensible idea.’
‘Don’t you start. Me master plan was to leave Love Lane and have me own place. But Reube simply won’t get off his arse. Ben’s done it, so why can’t we?’
‘Is Ben happy in his new home?’
‘You should see it. A nice little terrace in Stepney.’
‘I’m sure you’ll get your house.’
‘Only if I get pregnant.’ Hattie looked miserable.
‘You must be patient as you’ve only been married two years.’
‘Yes, but we did it before, didn’t we?’ Hattie went pink.
Lily smiled. ‘Yes, you’ve had a bit of practice.’
Hattie stifled a giggle. ‘And we’re still at it like rabbits. All in all that’s the best bit of marriage. The other stuff like housework and shopping is a bit of a drudge.’
‘Hattie!’
‘Well, it’s true, Lil. Who wants to spend their life sweating over a hot stove and cleaning floors?’
‘You will when you have kids.’
‘If you ask me, that’s not so easy. Me and Reube always took a chance on him – well, you know . . .’
Lily shook her head. ‘No, I don’t.’
‘A bloke can keep a woman from getting pregnant,’ Hattie said, lowering her voice. ‘He just doesn’t go the whole way. He withdraws before he comes inside her.’
Lily blushed too. Hattie had never told her that before.
‘But I have to admit,’ went on Hattie, ‘that we took a few chances when Reube had had a couple of beers. Nothing ever happened though and I always got me monthly, even though it was late.’
Lily frowned. ‘So it’s not that easy to get pregnant then?’
‘Not for me it ain’t. And there’s another girl at work called Irene, who’s been trying for a baby for nearly ten years.’
‘That’s a long time.’
‘I ain’t going to live with Mrs James for that long!’ exclaimed Hattie indignantly. She leaned forward, her eyes twinkling. ‘Are you enjoying yourself with Charles?’ Hattie put her chin in her hands. ‘Come on, you can tell me.’
‘Not in the way you mean.’
‘So you’re still a virgin?’
Lily looked embarrassed. ‘Trust you to come straight out with it.’
‘I thought by all the questions you was asking, you’d done it.’
Lily looked down in her lap. Hattie never minced words. She would have liked to have told her friend something different, but she couldn’t.
‘Hasn’t he tried it on?’
‘No, he’s always very gentlemanly.’
‘But you wouldn’t mind if he did?’
Lily looked up. Both girls giggled.
‘Even a gentleman gets his urges,’ said Hattie, spluttering. ‘He’s free and single and so are you. He can’t be so busy that he don’t have time for a bit of romance. You do still like him, don’t you?’
‘You know I do.’
Lily knew that if Charles was ever to take her in his arms, she would give herself to him. But that had never happened. Although she loved everything about her life at Dewar Street, she longed to be close to him. He had done so much for her. She had been given a chance to learn about the finer things in life, she had even refined her own accent as she met more and more well-spoken people. Added to which she had supported her family and her father had recovered from the terrible ordeal he had suffered. The only thing lacking in Lily’s life was time with Charles. His absences from the house were long and frequent. But even this only made her heart grow fonder of him. At night in bed she would long to see him again and welcome him home. She still dreamed about how it would feel to be his wife. In her heart, she believed they were meant to be together forever.
Hattie cupped her chin in her hands thoughtfully and said nothing. As Lily could find nothing else to relate on the subject of a budding romance, she stood up. ‘Let’s sit in the drawing room by the fire.’ It sounded very grand.
‘What about the dirty dishes?’ Hattie asked.
Lily grinned. ‘We can leave them on the trolley.’
‘Who washes them up?’
‘Mrs Brewer usually.’
‘You ain’t half lucky. I wish I had a servant.’
‘You can train all your kids to wait on you,’ said Lily before she could stop herself. But at the mention of children again, Hattie’s face fell.
All evening they sat laughing and talking. Curled up in the pink watered silk chairs, the fire filled the room with a glow. Lily heard how Mrs Parks and Josie now went shopping together. Last week, Ben and Reube had taken Bob Bright to the Quarry for an ale.
‘A definite improvement,’ Lily nodded, ‘to know me dad is getting out and about again.’
‘I often see him and your uncle walking round the houses.’
Lily nodded. ‘Last Sunday we walked up to Island Gardens. It’s something we’ve not done since I was a kid. The only thing that worries me is his cough.’
‘The fags he smokes don’t help.’
‘Tobacco is his only indulgence. Now did you get that pay rise you were expecting?’
Hattie shook her head. ‘No, and we’ve got all these new clients that I have to take responsibility for.’
‘Why don’t you ask her for one then?’
‘Because I was hoping I’d get pregnant and leave.’
Lily smiled. ‘So that’s your master plan?’
‘Me dream is to live in Brighton.’
‘You had a lovely honeymoon there.’
‘It probably wouldn’t seem the same now I’m married. I wonder if that old dragon still runs the boarding house?’
‘You and Reube should go on holiday there.’
‘That’s an idea. We could stay in bed all the time!’
The two girls burst into laughter, until finally Hattie sighed and murmured wistfully, ‘I just wish I could conceive, Lil, then all my big problems would be solved.’
‘You’d have a lot of little ones instead.’
Hattie chuckled. ‘I’d like that, though.’
‘You’ll make a good mum.’
‘I’d like to think so, but like you, I’m twenty-seven,’ said Hattie as she frowned lightly. ‘And I want to have a family before I’m thirty. I don’t want to be too old to enjoy me kids. I imagine meself playing with them and taking them up to Lyons for tea when they get old enough.’
Lily, too, had imagined children of her own. Her son would have black hair and earth brown eyes, just like Charles. He would grow tall and strong, followed by a blonde-haired, blue-eyed little sister, whom Lily could dress in pretty, feminine clothing. Lily had even thought about the day when she could design her own nursery and playroom. Now, as Hattie’s comments brought all these dreams to life before her eyes, it seemed as though a future with Charles was almost possible.
Hattie yawned and stretched her arms. ‘Lil, as much as I’d like to sit here all night gassing, I’m all in.’
‘Come on then, let’s go up to the bathroom.’
‘You mean I can have bath?’
�
�I’ll run the hot water.’
As they went up the stairs, Lily felt so proud of her lovely house. Quickly she rephrased her thought – of Charles’ lovely house. But she had put all of herself into it. She knew every nook and cranny and had spent hours debating with herself on what was best for it. Surely in time Charles would show his true feelings for her. She loved him because he was a gentleman in every sense of the word, but sometimes she wished he wasn’t. That he would forget she was his employee and allow his feelings to show.
‘Here are some of Mrs Brewer’s freshly washed towels,’ she told Hattie a few minutes later as the steam began to fill the room.
‘Lil, you’re spoiling me. I won’t want to go home,’ Hattie said as she pressed the fluffiness against her cheek.
Lily’s sentiments were entirely the same and had been for some while. Home for her now would always be Dewar Street. She couldn’t imagine living anywhere else.
Ben parked outside number four Dewar Street and honked his horn. He had just dropped off his last fare in the city and had made his way to Aldgate through the Saturday morning traffic in time to collect Hattie and Lil at midday.
The two girls soon came out of the house, as always, with their heads together, gossiping. Ben climbed out to greet them, taking their bags. How beautiful Lily looked these days! She was not the pale, thin girl who had worked at the paint factory but was now an elegant and fashionable young woman. Her short, wavy hair was freshly washed and bouncy. Her slim figure was attired in the latest fashion, a pale blue suit with the padded shoulders that gave women the film-star look. Ben smiled to himself. He couldn’t for the life of him see how they walked on those shoes, but with the legs Lily had, she looked a million dollars in them. He knew from Hattie that Lily shopped up West now. Not that she didn’t take a stroll down to the market on Saturdays. She never forgot her roots and her friends. But the past two years had changed her into an elegant, self-confident young woman of her time. His only regret was that he couldn’t have instigated the change that another man had. Charles Grey had given Lily everything she could want. Ben was under no illusions about that, as her happiness clearly reflected in her eyes.
Smiling at their girlish chatter, he helped the two girls into the car. He was happy enough to drive Lil in her employer’s absence, though he would like to have seen a bit more of her. But now that he had moved to Stepney and lived in his own little house, he had his own affairs to deal with.
As he glanced at the two girls sitting in the back seat of his cab, laughing and chatting, Ben wondered what the future held for his old friend.
Were there to be wedding bells, a lavish and no-expense-spared wedding ceremony that was a reflection of her new status with Charles Grey?
At this thought, Ben felt a heaviness inside him. But as Lily sat forward to eagerly include him in their topic of conversation, he quickly put the thought aside.
‘Well, well, let me look at you.’ Noah Kelly held his niece away from him. In her high heels she towered above him. Her smart clothes always took him aback. ‘You look a real bobby dazzler, our Lil. I don’t recognize you.’
‘You say that every week,’ she laughed.
‘I know. But each week you’ve got something different on.’
Josie pushed past him. ‘Come and give your mother a hug. I’ve got lots I want to ask you.’
‘I’ll put the kettle on,’ Noah said, but his sister caught his arm.
‘No, I’ll do that Noah, or we’ll be waiting all day. Take Lily in to see her father.’
In the parlour Bob Bright looked up from his newspaper. ‘Lily girl! You’re a sight for sore eyes.’
‘Hello, Dad. I’ve got lots of nice things for you.’ Lily opened her bag and brought out tea and coffee, cake and chocolate.
‘Your mum will be pleased with those.’
‘Yes, but you better hide this.’ She passed him a tin of tobacco which he quickly put away. ‘And one for you, Uncle Noah.’
He gave her a wink as he did the same. ‘Thanks, gel. Josie has us out in the yard now, to smoke.’
‘Well, with two of you at it, no wonder!’
He laughed with her and listened as she told them about the evening she had spent with Hattie.
‘I expect you two stayed up all night gossiping.’
‘We gossiped, but not all night. You look better, Dad.’
‘Not bad, considering.’
‘Are you getting out?’
‘Yes, your mother makes sure I do.’ He coughed and hit his chest with his fist. ‘Just this bloody cough still.’
‘It ain’t the coughing that carries you off,’ said Noah with a grin, ‘it’s the coffin.’
They all laughed at the joke now many times told.
Noah listened as his niece and brother-in-law spoke. It was just like old times, but nothing would make up for the lack of her presence in the house. From a little girl, he’d watched her grow, but he’d never seen her look like she did now. Shining, with a kind of inner glow. Was this down to her gent? What was the situation there? Was the bugger going to make an honest woman of her?
‘Did the boy drop you off?’ her father was asking.
‘Yes, Charles is away.’
‘Goes away a lot, don’t he?’
‘That’s his job, Dad.’
‘Do you ever get lonely, Lil?’ Noah asked. ‘That’s a big house you’ve got there and with only you in it.’
‘No, I’m always busy. And anyway, I’ve got Mrs Brewer.’
‘Young Ben has his own place now,’ said his brother-in-law. ‘Up Stepney.’
‘Yes, I know.’
‘He’s cabbying in the West End with his new motor. Managed to buy himself a licence and is doing very nicely now.’
Noah saw the look on her face. Bob was on a losing wicket there. She wasn’t interested. There was only one man in that girl’s head.
‘Now tell us about yer news, love,’ said Bob, settling back to listen.
As she began to speak, Noah wondered if what he’d heard from Charlie Brent was true. And what connection Charles Grey had with the disturbing rumours that were circulating the docks.
Chapter Twenty-One
It was half past eleven on Sunday morning when Ben drove Lily back to Dewar Street.
As she got out, Lil opened her purse.
‘Put it away,’ Ben told her as he carried her bag up the steps.
‘You won’t ever let me pay,’ she complained as she followed him. ‘I’ll always be in your debt.’
‘Nothing of the kind.’ Ben placed her bag at her feet. He never went in the house. It reminded him of all those years ago when he had first brought Lil in the lorry. He hadn’t known then that the love of his life was about to meet her Prince Charming.
‘I still owe you five pounds, remember?’
‘It wasn’t a loan, it was a gift.’
She smiled up at him. ‘You’ve got an answer for everything.’
‘I’m a cockney, ain’t I?’
She laughed and Ben felt that same old sensation inside as he looked into her beautiful face. He resisted the urge to put his arms around her and hold her tight. Instead, as usual, he leaned forward and pecked her cheek. ‘Well, I’m off now.’
‘What are you going to do with yourself?’
‘I’ll motor on up West this morning for a few fares.’
‘Well, see you next weekend?’
Ben seized his chance. ‘How about we all go out to the Black Cat next week when you come home? Hattie and Reube and you and me. Just for a run in the country and a quick drink.’
Her face clouded. ‘I’d have to see, Ben.’
‘It would be nice before the weather turns.’ He shrugged and pulled on his driving gloves. ‘Well, cheerio, Lil.’
‘Bye and thanks for the lift.’
That was a daft thing to do, he berated himself as he drove away. The girl wasn’t interested. ‘When will it sink into that thick skull of yours?’ he muttered aloud as he pounded the
steering wheel with his palm. ‘Get yourself a nice bit of stuff to knock around with, just make the effort.’ He knew Lily wasn’t bothered about a trip out. She was in a different league now.
After driving for a while, he suddenly put on his brakes. Two cars sped past him, forcing him over to one side. He was about to move off again when another vehicle hurtled past. It was a lorry full of men. Some were shaking their fists, others pieces of wood and pick axes. They looked like dockers and he began to wonder if the rumours he’d heard were true. Were Mosley and his supporters really marching on the East End?
Shaking his head in confusion, he began to continue his journey, but no sooner than he had gone a mile up the road, the same thing happened again.
Winding down his window, he shouted to a group of men. These, too, were dockers, with their flat caps, working jackets and heavy boots secured by string. ‘What’s going on?’ he frowned as one of them came over.
‘Don’t you know? Mosley and his Blackshirts are meeting at Tower Hill.’
‘It’s true then?’
‘The buggers are planning to come down to the docks. But we’re gonna see they don’t.’ He held up a smooth wooden laundry bat and shook it. ‘They won’t find a welcome here no more.’
‘Ain’t that a bit risky, chum? Shouldn’t you leave it to the law?’
The man leaned down, resting the wooden stick on the window ledge. His face became red and angry. ‘The law? You’re having a laugh, ain’t you? When have they stopped Mosley and his ilk before? I tell you, son, we’re set for another war with all the agitators in this country. Old Blighty has got to stand up for what she believes in and it ain’t what the bloody commies or fascists expound.’
Before either of them could speak again, another band of men marched past. Some were carrying placards, others homemade weapons. ‘We’re heading for Cable Street just up the road,’ called one of them. ‘That’s where we plan to stop ’em.’
The docker nodded. ‘You’d better turn round if you don’t want to join us,’ he told Ben.
Ben wound up the window. He tried to reverse the car, but another mob formed behind him. He realized he was cut off and neither way was open to him. Then he saw a turning opposite and drove into it. But at the end someone had rolled a line of barrows across the lane. Ben felt the sweat trickle under his collar. This was a riot and he was in the middle of it.