‘Yes; I emptied it of all its bits and pieces.’ She smiled, and he smiled back at her. Then, taking his seat close to hers, he said, ‘Mr McLean will count out your little gold mine for the benefit of my father. He cannot believe that all this money was stored secretly in your house and probably would have lain there until the house was demolished if it hadn’t been that you were going to give yourself a present of a carpet for the floor.’
The accountant and the other partner now began to check the money, their fingers flying over the notes so quickly that she couldn’t imagine they were counting it all. When they came to the bags, the sovereigns were poured on to the table, which elicited an exclamation from the armchair: ‘Well, well, well! I haven’t seen so many together for years.’
At last the money was arrayed on the table piled in rows, and the accountant said, ‘As the market stands now, the sovereigns would bring the amount to well over four thousand pounds; but these will rise in price, and I should imagine, once things begin to turn in the country, and they must shortly, then they could soon be worth half their value again, so it would be wise to keep them in a deposit box for the present.’
Mr Travis now took hold of Bella’s hand and said, ‘Please, Miss Morgan, don’t look so aghast. We have had many clients in our time, but not one that shivered with the knowledge he had a little more money than he expected.’
At this her wits seemed to return and she repeated, ‘A little more? That lot’s too much for anybody.’
‘This is what we propose to do, Miss Morgan, with your permission. We shall bank for you two thousand in safe bonds. This investment will have what you might call a proviso, meaning that should you decide to take the money out within five years you will forfeit their accumulated interest. Do you understand me?’
Bella paused for a long moment before she said, ‘Just so that it’s safe for five years.’
‘Yes, that’s a way of putting it. It’s safe for five years and will eventually give you good interest. The next thousand, my accountant thinks we should use to, as he calls it, play the market when favourable. This means buying and selling shares, you understand?’
She didn’t, so she just looked at him and he said, ‘Well, it doesn’t matter. It will mean he will try to double your money for you. Sometimes, unfortunately, he might lose some of it. How about that?’
She smiled and said, ‘Well, I think,’ she paused, ‘we will be able to afford it.’
The laughter now was quite loud. ‘Now, about the last thousand. I think this should be banked and used for your current purposes. For example, you might wish to improve your house or business.’
This she did understand, and nodded, saying, ‘Yes, I was going to ask your advice on that, Mr Travis.’
‘Yes?’
‘Well, you see, the house next door, really it was joined on to mine, they used to be all one, and when it was divided, next door became a shoe shop. Then it went downhill and turned into an ordinary cobbler’s; and now it’s up for sale. I know it isn’t everybody’s choice, but if I could buy it I could extend my business – we have to turn a lot away most nights.’
‘I think that would be a very good idea, Miss Morgan. Would you like us to see about it?’
‘I would, Mr Travis.’
‘Does the shoemaker still own it?’
‘Yes.’
‘Do you know where he lives?’
‘I’m sorry, I don’t.’
‘Oh, well, don’t worry about that, we’ll find out. That’ll be quite easy. Now about banking it for you,’ and he turned to his father, saying, ‘James has a small branch in that area, hasn’t he? He could be told she has been left the money by a friend.’
‘Yes, yes,’ said the old man.
‘Well, then, I think, Mr McLean, if you will put, say, three-quarters of this into the vault and the rest into Miss Morgan’s handbag, we’ll be ready to do some signing of documents and such before we go to the bank. But first, I think, we all deserve a drink, and not just coffee or tea. Would that suit you, Miss Morgan?’
She smiled. ‘I never object to a gin,’ she said.
Of a sudden Bella found herself relaxed and not sitting upright in the middle of her chair but leaning back. She had never experienced anything like this in her life and she knew she never would again. Well, she would be able to tell Reenee all about it, but would the lass be able to take it in? And how could she expect her to when she herself could hardly take it in?
The old man was speaking to her now, and she had to quell her thoughts to give him her full attention. He was saying, ‘You have given us a very interesting morning, Miss Morgan. I know quite a bit about secret drawers and hidden hoards. You see, before he died, one of my sons was captain of a ship – and the stories he told of what sailors got up to below decks in order to smuggle in gold!
‘Henry, my son, actually showed me some of the places in his ship which had been carved out, and so skilfully that at times they fooled the Customs. But Arthur there tells me that this trough under the lino was a work of art. The lino, I gather, was just a shield to cover a three-inch wide trough, fully lined with kid. He said that whoever contrived it must have been an expert in this particular field. The lengths to which some people will go to acquire riches!’
‘Ah!’ exclaimed Mr Travis. ‘Here’s Tom with our life-savers.’ After handing one to Bella he then passed glasses round to the others. And when he raised his own the other men followed suit, and with him said, ‘Cheers, Miss Morgan.’ Then he added, ‘And to a successful business life ahead of you.’
Looking at the half-filled glass of gin, Bella said, ‘Thank you, Mr Travis. Thank you all,’ and she nodded to each in turn; ‘but I know I shall not be able to start on a business career for some time if I now drink all this.’
Oh, they were nice people. But no; she wouldn’t drink it all, because she didn’t want to go home under the influence, as it were. She had a lot to tell them, and plans to make, plans that would affect them all, and for the better. She would see to that.
11
Two nights later Bella got her little band together in the kitchen and told them of her plans. She was buying the house next door and opening it up into hers, but before anything could be done with it it must be thoroughly cleared out. Her solicitor had suggested that she should get an architect to design the best way of altering the cellar floor and the yard. That would take in more people than she really intended, but she had told Mr Travis that they themselves were so full of ideas that she would put it to them first, to see what they thought could be done.
With the exception of Carl, they had all gaped at her. ‘Have you come into a fortune, Bella?’
‘No,’ she replied politely, ‘but I have found an oil well,’ which caused them all to laugh, but self-consciously. Then she told them a tale of having been left, quite unexpectedly, a few hundred pounds by someone she had helped years ago and had never thought to hear from again. It showed you there were good people in the world. But this was the point: she hadn’t money to throw away but she had enough to alter that house next door into something like this one; anyway, it would enable her to provide for more men off the street.
‘I was advised to have a look at that place along the river that is run by the council,’ she told them. ‘The mattresses there are on raised platforms. They also have a row of single rooms which are taken by the week by men who are in some kind of work but haven’t a house or flat to go to.’
‘Aye,’ put in John now. ‘We tried to get in there one night, but it was full. The beds might be on platforms, but there’s no big fire in the room, nor do they get soup and breakfast, and they still charge a shilling a head. But you can have a wash and a shower for that too.’
‘And are those rooms really let as private rooms and just for men?’
‘I wouldn’t know anything about that,’ said John.
At this they were all quite startled when Reenee made a sound in her throat and, pointing to herself, nodded.
/>
‘You know about them, Reenee,’ said Carl now, ‘about the rooms?’
Again she nodded.
‘You stayed there?’
Her head drooped and she raised one finger. ‘For one night?’
Again her head gave a slight movement.
‘What were they like? I mean, how big? How many of them?’
‘Give her a chance,’ said Joe. Then, ‘Do you want a pencil and paper, Reenee?’
She looked up at him and nodded. He went to the mantelpiece and took from it Bella’s shopping list and a pencil, and when he laid them before her she turned the pad longways, then drew a long line, which she then made into ten divisions, causing Willie to ask softly, ‘Those are rooms?’
She did not look at him but her head moved again, and now it was John who asked, ‘How big are they, miss?’
She looked at him and thought, then pointed from the fireplace to the middle of the table; and it was Carl who got up and measured the distance, saying, ‘About ten feet long?’ She nodded. Then he asked, ‘How wide?’
She had to think again, then pointed to the fireplace and the front of the table; and again he measured and said, ‘About eight feet?’
It was John who now put in, ‘Ten by eight . . . really, not bad.’
‘What was in the room?’ asked Bella. And at this Reenee turned over a page of the notebook and quickly drew what looked like a bed; then to the side of it a drawing of what could only be a small chest of drawers, and between that and the end of the wall, she drew a line perpendicular to the wall, with a hook on the further side; and John immediately said, ‘A place for hanging up your clothes in the corner between the walls?’
Reenee nodded brightly at him. Lastly, she pointed to the wall to the side of the chest of drawers and drew a rectangle. Joe exclaimed, ‘A mirror! We haven’t got one in our room, have we? That’s something that will have to be seen to,’ which caused Tony to bark at him, ‘Don’t be so bloody dim, man. Everybody doesn’t want to look at their face.’
Quietly, Carl put in, ‘It’s all right. I see my face every day in the shop windows. Don’t worry, Joe.’
‘I didn’t mean nowt,’ stammered Joe.
‘I know you didn’t, you great big fathead, so shut up,’ said Carl, who then turned to Reenee, saying, ‘What about if women came in like you? Were you in a different section?’
She now put up three fingers, which said to them that there had been three rooms for women.
‘But what about if they weren’t filled?’ asked Willie now.
There was a quirk to Reenee’s lips as she looked back at Willie, and she put her finger across her top lip, which indicated a moustache.
And he laughed and said, ‘They were given to the men?’
She nodded. Then, as practical as ever, Andy said, ‘Where did they wash, miss? Not in the men’s place?’
She shook her head, then wrote along the edge of the paper, ‘Small room off;’ and Andy said, ‘There was a washbowl in the small place?’
She smiled from one to the other as she demonstrated washing her face; and now, turning over the paper, she drew a small circle with a sort of chain through it, and next to it she wrote soap.
‘They chained up the soap?’ Carl said in surprise.
She nodded vigorously; then swiftly her hand moved down the table and, picking up the knife and a small piece of bread, she proceeded to cut pieces off each corner until there was hardly anything left in the middle.
The room was filled with laughter, and there was a sound in her throat that might also have been laughter.
‘Good for them,’ said John. ‘They cut pieces off it?’ She nodded to him, but as she did so Bella thought, I don’t think she was laughing the night she was there, poor soul. She put out a hand and placed it over Reenee’s.
They looked at each other, and it was as if Reenee was reading Bella’s mind because the smile went from her face and there was a silence in the room. Then, as if to break the tension, Carl said, ‘How long did they leave the lights on? Right through the place, I mean.’
At this she lifted up one finger and he said, ‘One hour? After closing?’
She nodded.
‘They weren’t givin’ much away,’ said Tony.
Bella broke in, saying in a firm voice, ‘Well, lass, once again you’ve given us a pattern to work on. What d’you say, boys?’
The chorus was general and loud, ‘Oh, yes, yes. We could get ten rooms across the bottom of that yard; but of course they would mean extra latrine and washin’-up places.’
‘But how’re we goin’ to provide the soap?’ Joe put in.
‘They won’t need to steal,’ said Bella; ‘there’ll be ha’penny pieces of soap, and it won’t be blue-mottled any more. That in future will only be used for the floors, which goes for indoors too.’ She was nodding towards Willie now. ‘But let’s get down to facts. If the place is goin’ to provide for twice as many people as we already cater for, then the six of you can’t work it all alone. I’ve been thinking about it, and you, Joe, can give up most of your job now. And I’ll put you on the same rate as the others. We mightn’t be able to get much more on the cheap, but you never know, so you can still remain good friends with the warehouse people. Also, it’ll be your job to see to the vegetables for both places. Get them from the market as you usually do, then it’s up to you to clean them and chop them, because Reenee, here, has had enough of that, I think,’ to which Reenee shook her head, but Bella went on, ‘I know what’s best, lass, and I feel that you would very much like to help Willie with pastry and bread-making and things. Now, wouldn’t you?’
Reenee was looking at Willie now, and he at her, and he said, ‘I’d love to have you help me, Reenee.’ And at this she lowered her head a little and nodded twice.
Bella said, ‘Well, that part’s settled. Now there’s you, Carl. I know you like your walk-about, and you could still do it for a couple of hours a day, but the rest I’d like you to give up for me. Although you can’t cook like Willie, you can make broth, which could be done in the new kitchen. Besides which you could help with the cleanin’ up of the rooms and the outbuildings. But now, you other three, Andy, Tony and John. You can’t see to everything and I can tell you there’ll be much more work to be done than you imagine, so I’m going to employ two young fellows who wouldn’t mind doin’ the dirty work of the wash-houses and keepin’ the yards clean. You other three’ll have your work cut out with practically rebuildin’ that place next door. From the little I’ve seen of it, it’s goin’ to take time and hard labour. I’ll start you all off on a pound a week, and we’ll wait and see how business goes. The better it goes the more your wage will go up; and when you’re thinkin’ of a pound a week, it might seem very small compared with what you used to make in the shipyards and places like that, but don’t forget you’ve got board and lodgings.’ And she laid stress on these last words. ‘Your quarters might’ve been just a wash-house, but now it’s as good as any house.’
‘You’re right there,’ said Andy, a sentiment the others echoed.
‘As for the two other residents,’ Bella now looked from Joe to Carl, ‘I really think they should pay rent for their accommodation, rooms to themselves with every convenience. Tut-tut. I’m too soft-hearted, that’s me.’
They were all laughing now, and it was Joe who paid another of his rough and rare compliments, saying, ‘You said that in fun, Bella, but it’s right in earnest.’
12
And so on these lines began Bella’s new business, which was to prosper and keep them all happy in the years that followed. That period lasted until a name became known to every individual in the western world and beyond – Adolf Hitler. War was declared on 3 September 1939, and London became a scene of activity: trains, buses, all kinds of vehicles were filled with children and families to get them away from the danger zone, because it was feared that London would be the main target for air raids. But it was not until almost a year later that London was first bo
mbed.
When that happened, Bella found she could hardly cope with the nightly inrush of families, trying to find shelter from the heavy bombing. They would make their way down to the two large basement sleeping rooms that were considered safest because they were below ground level. Many of the families hadn’t parted with their children at the beginning, while others had children who had returned, having found that they didn’t like either the country or the people with whom they had been boarded. Often one of Bella’s mattresses, all of which lay now on high wooden frames, would have to hold three children, with their mother lying on the floor beside them. Many openly welcomed this rescue place rather than go down into the underground stations or government-built shelters.
Bella had little fear of losing any of her men in the call-up because even the youngest among them was well over thirty-five years old. But they all signed up for civilian service in the Fire Brigade or as fire-watchers and, with the work they did for Bella, they were kept busy for never less than twelve hours a day. As for food, at first there had been no worries, because vegetables were still plentiful. By 1940, however, rationing had come in. Each person was allotted a booklet that entitled him or her to have a small amount each week of meat, tea, sugar, butter, bread, bacon, eggs and sweets, maybe small amounts but nevertheless fair to all. Vegetables became scarcer and dearer. If a night visitor to Bella’s wanted fat on his bread, he had to provide it. Nevertheless, even if the broth was a little thinner and was seasoned by bones alone, it was always more than welcome to every occupant of a mattress. The tea in the morning was a different thing. Boiling water was plentiful, but there was no longer free tea and sugar.
A change had come over Reenee during this time. Although she still could not bear to be near strange men, she spent hours helping mothers with fractious children; and Bella noticed that, just as she had once hugged the old bear to her, now she hugged a child, while making a humming sound in her throat. So much had she changed in this way that Bella wouldn’t have been surprised if, of a sudden, she had got her memory back, though she herself dreaded the idea of it.
The Silent Lady Page 21