Richard heard footsteps hurrying up the staircase, unannounced, as the dratted girl who called herself the receptionist hadn’t appeared this morning. That was one of the things he needed to talk to Maggie about. Should they advertise for another girl?
“Good morning, Richard. Happy New Year. Did you have a pleasant evening with your family? Or did yer celebrate with a secret lady love?”
Maggie breezed into the office with a happy smile on her face. Her grandson, Edward John Dockerty, had made his appearance into the world on the penultimate day of the old year and Maggie was tickled pink with him. He had been born with a shock of silky brown hair and navy blue eyes and had been a good weight of seven pounds, nine ounces. Hannah had been exhausted after a labour of thirty four hours, but she had come through it unscathed and was even talking about having another! Eddie was delighted, like a cat with two tails.
“Yes, thank you, Mrs. Haines, a very pleasant evening was spent with my family, though unfortunately I don’t have a secret lady love. And may I wish you a Happy New Year too? Let us hope it is as successful as the last one. You are looking very chipper today, Madam, if you don’t mind me saying so. Is this something to do with the expected happy event?”
“Yes, I have recently become a grandmama! Edward John Dockerty will be his name when he is christened. Mother and babe both doing well. I’m glad to see you’ve lit a fire in here, Richard. It’s freezing outside. I’m a bit worried the weather is going to delay the finishing date on some of the houses up on Daisy Bank; the ones on Town Lane are already behind.”
“Firstly, may I say congratulations on the safe delivery of your grandson. But I can’t see any of our clients wanting to move in in this weather, Mrs. Haines. I wouldn’t want to contend with all the business of moving when I could be sitting around a warming fire.”
“That’s not the point, Richard. I pride meself on sticking firmly to the date we have given our clients and not everyone has a warming fire to sit around. Take the Bradleys for instance. They’ve come up from London; he’s been sent to set up a branch of their manufacturing business. How do you think his wife will feel having to live out of a suitcase in the hotel?”
“Well, their house is nearly completed, Mrs. Haines. We’re only waiting for the finisher to tile the door step and stick some up around the archway in the porch.”
Richard began to feel annoyed with Maggie. Did she used to pester old Mr. Arlington with her petty fogging in this way? They’d just had Christmas and New Year to celebrate. Was he to go around to the tiler’s house and drag him out of bed?
“Is that all that is stopping the Bradleys from moving in, then? Have they signed all the necessary documents and got the loan they wanted? I take it we have agreed to a loan.”
“Of course, Mrs. Haines, that was done months ago, when Mr. Bradley first approached us. Mr. Arlington agreed it, after taking up references with the company Bradley works for. Begging your pardon, Mrs. Haines, but I have been trained very well by my predecessor, it is just the weather that has put everything behind and I hear that a lot of our workmen have been off ill.”
“Pooh, I’d say it was more like having a few too many in the taverns celebrating Christmas that has caused the problems, not just the weather. I grant that the weather can cause havoc when footings are being dug out, or when the men are having to work at fixing the drains, but inside work should have continued despite the weather. Some of the roofs are on for heaven’s sake.”
Richard sat dumbly then waiting for Maggie to finish. What did she want? Someone who sat in the office and ran her day to day business, or someone who visited the building sites for her? He said as much when she had finished pacing. Maggie never liked to sit at a meeting; she was like a dog worrying a bone.
“I think the responsibility should rest with the gangers, Mrs. Haines. That’s their job, isn’t it? To keep an eye on their men?”
“You’d think so, wouldn’t you? That’s what they’re paid for. But I only know one ganger that’s worth his salt; the other two are as bad as their men. Right, I know what I’m going to do, Richard. I’m going to create the position of Site Manager. It will be his job to visit each development and check over each house nearing completion. He’ll have what we will call a chase list and it will be his responsibility to let you know when the buyer can expect to move in. Now, I think we’ll call Milly and get her to make us a cup of tea. Have you heard from the Town Hall yet regarding those demolitions? I’m sure the Tibbses will be pleased when they get a date to move out.”
Maggie tutted with annoyance when she heard that young Milly had not turned up for work. She hurried down to the small kitchen that she had provided for her staff and waited for the saucepan of water to boil on the newly-installed gas hob. It was a good job that it was New Years Day. Not many folk would have surfaced from the previous days celebrations to be thinking of a loan or even a repayment. If the girl didn’t turn up tomorrow, Maggie would make sure she was out on her ear.
The outer door banged shut and Maggie put her head around the kitchen door, frowning slightly. She had been wrong; someone had bothered to stir their stumps. A woman in her twenties stood looking about her hesitantly. A fairly tall, plumpish girl, who wore her brown hair in a fetching chignon. She looked familiar, thought Maggie, taking in the shabby navy cloak, the long grey dress that showed beneath it and the comfortable-looking lace-up shoes.
“Do I know you?” Maggie inquired, walking up to the girl, who seemed nervous now she had been spoken to. The girl nodded.
“I’m Katie Tibbs, Ruthie’s daughter. I was passing by and decided to call in. I was surprised that the office was open on New Year’s Day.”
“Ah, Katie Tibbs, pleased to meet yer. Happy New Year to you. I heard about your mother, poor soul, but you’ll know that, as I have arranged a deposit on one of our houses for you and your brother. It was the least I could do, seeing Thistledown was bought by me. Call it compensation, with the Council wanting to demolish it but being too mean to pay. Have you been up to Town Lane to see where you’ll be living?”
Maggie stood waiting for an answer and was surprised to see that Katie didn’t look grateful or pleased with her good fortune, but distinctly put out by it all.
“Have I done something wrong? Aren’t yer pleased? I didn’t have to go to this trouble, as you’d do well to know.”
“I was wanting to say, Mrs. Haines, that Ernie and I are extremely grateful. It is more than enough that you’re doing this for us; totally unexpected. You didn’t have to, seeing as Mother could be a spiteful old besom at times. But I just feel annoyed that the house is in Ernie’s name and not mine, because I’m the one who will be contributing the most to pay the loan back and should he marry, I could find myself without a home.”
“Oh, I didn’t know about that. Sorry Katie, I just assumed that Mr. Arlington had completed all the necessary documents, making both of you the owners. It was foolish of me really to think that he would do that, seeing as he was always such a pedantic man.”
Maggie sat down on one of the comfy couches and beckoned Katie to sit with her.
“I know how yer must be feeling. I’ve been in your situation meself once, having another person holding on to the purse strings. Mine was similar to yerself as I didn’t have a husband around to support me. Everything’s geared for a man to take charge, isn’t it? Where is the house purchase up to, Katie? Have the deeds been signed yet? Do yer know?”
“I’m sorry to be putting you to all this trouble, Mrs. Haines, truly I am, but I thought you’d be best placed to know how I feel. I was going to write you a letter, drop it into your home like, but I plucked up the courage to come in when I saw the lamp on here. As to where the house purchase is up to, all Ernie’s had is a letter saying how much the repayments are on the loan. I believe the house costs £95, so after your very generous contribution, we owe £45. We can easily afford to pay back the money over a period of twenty years, but as I said, I was annoyed that my name wouldn�
��t appear on the agreement. Can you do anything to change it, Mrs. Haines? I have good employment. I’m a staff nurse at the local hospital.”
Katie looked with new-found hope at Maggie. Her mother had always been scathing if Ruthie’s old neighbour was ever mentioned, but this woman was being kind and gentle; not the ogre that local gossip made her out to be.
“What does Ernie think? Didn’t he understand that the gift was for the both of you? Was he not surprised that the letter was only in his name? Have yer discussed it between yer, about if your futures were to change?”
“The problem is that Ernie is not a great reader, can’t read at all if the truth was told, and relies on me to sort out problems such as this one. He probably doesn’t even realise the implications of my name not being on the documents, but I’ve told him I can move into the Nurses Home if my name’s not on them, where I can live for nothing. Then where would that leave him property-wise, Mrs. Haines?”
“It would leave me withdrawing my gift to you both, if I thought there would be problems with the repayments. I honestly didn’t give any of this serious thought, Katie. Just wanted to see Annie and the rest of you settled, as it were.”
“Oh, Annie’s over the moon with Lilac Cottage. Was singing your praises all the time when we visited on Christmas Day. Like me, she’s grateful for her good fortune, there’s so much more room there than in the place they had before.”
What a pleasant girl, thought Maggie, as she told Richard later to expect new instructions regarding Mr. Tibbs’s home ownership. Certainly a bit of a likeness to Ruthie in her appearance, but none of her mother’s uncouthness about her at all. In fact, if Ruthie was still alive she would be very proud of her daughters, especially Katie. Though how the girl had become a staff nurse, Maggie would never know!
Maggie made her announcement after dinner. Hannah had been allowed to join them, though she was only three days into her lying in. The nurse was left to watch over little Johnny, as they had begun to call the baby; Edward John was such a mouthful to keep on calling him.
“I’ve decided to give yer a promotion, Eddie, seeing as it looks as if you’re here to stay and you’re not doing a runner as Hannah’s father did. Let’s raise our glasses to me new Works Manager. Do yer think yer up to it, Eddie? It will mean a nice warm office down at Sheldon and the use of the carriage to get around in.”
Her son in law could only gape for a few moments, then he began to thank Maggie with delight once her words to him had sunk in.
“What made yer think of me, though?” asked Eddie, after he and Hannah had exchanged surprised glances. It had been something they had discussed together, a bit of promotion to foreman perhaps, but to be made Works Manager? That was a leap in status in anyone’s book! “Though, don’t think that I’m not up to the job, but I thought this Richard bloke was in charge of everything, just as Mr. Arlington was before.”
“I’ll let you in on something, Eddie,” Maggie said confidentially. “For years I took orders from Miss Rosemary and Mr. Arlington. I listened while they made all the decisions and believed they were right, because let’s face it, I was just an ignorant girl. But it was my money that started the Sheldon Loan Company and it was my money that helped to start the property side. Now Mr. Arlington has gone and I’m left with Richard, his successor. A pleasant young man I grant you, but still a bit wet behind the ears. He knows nothing about the building trade, though he’s very good at ledger work and dealing with the public. But you, Eddie, have been at the sharp end. Been out there in all weathers, learnt your trade and get on well with your men. I can just see Richard in his top hat and tailored suit wading through a muddy site inspecting a house for completion. No, you’re the man fer the job, Eddie and perhaps now I’ll get more of a say in things.”
“He’ll make a fine Works Manager,” said Hannah, with a devoted look at her husband. “ He won’t let you down, Mother. Edward John will have a father to be proud of.”
A little while later, as Hannah prepared to take herself off to feed the baby, leaving Eddie and Maggie to talk a few things through, there came a sudden knocking at the front door.
“Who can that be at this time of night?” tutted Maggie. “You go, Eddie. It must be revellers who are knocking at the wrong house. Probably for the Wickhams; they usually have friends around at this time of the year.”
She settled back and drained off the contents of her glass, preparing to have one more sherry before she too headed for bed.
“Johnny!” Maggie gasped as she saw her visitor. “What a surprise! What are you doing here?”
“Thought I’d come to offer my congratulations to the new parents, seeing we only just heard through Olive’s dad tonight in the pub’.”
“I was going to come down, Uncle Johnny, wasn’t I, Hannah? But we’ve been rather busy up here what with the little fellow settling in.”
“Sit down, Johnny, and have a sherry with us,” said Maggie, after she had got over the shock of seeing Johnny again. “I didn’t know yer were over in Neston. Did you know, Eddie? You could have had a meal with us if I’d known.”
“Didn’t know us Dockertys were welcome. After all the ill-feeling at the wedding we thought we were barred from Selwyn Lodge, so I was elected to throw me hat in the ring.”
“No doubt Eddie’s mother didn’t tell you how she tried to show us up at church one Sunday morning,” broke in Hannah. “We’ve not been since for embarrassment and I have to go in the near future as I must be churched!”
“Oh, you know Madeline, tough on the outside, but really deep down she only wants to be loved. Anyway, congratulations you two. Am I allowed to see my new little relation? Or have you got a dragon upstairs standing guard?”
“Olive’s dad has told yer about Nurse Moffatt then,” laughed Eddie. “I’m the child’s father and I’ve only been allowed a peek or two.”
Later, after the proud parents had retired to bed and little Johnny had been settled, Maggie stood on the doorstep saying goodnight to their unexpected visitor. He was looking uncomfortable, as if he had something more to say.
“So, perhaps we will see yer at the christening, Johnny. Now that you’ve made the effort to break the ice, perhaps some of the other members of the Dockerty family will want to do so too.”
“Yes, you could be right, Maggie. Maybe the little chap will bring the family together again. Maggie… Can I say how bad I feel… um… For making those unkind remarks at the wedding? It was unforgivable of me. Especially as…” Johnny suddenly went red in the face and turned away.
“Go on, Johnny… Especially as what?”
Maggie felt secretly pleased at his discomfiture.
“No, it’s nothing, I’ll say goodnight then.”
He began to walk away while Maggie stood and watched him. He was still an attractive man, though his hair was almost white, still smartly dressed and a catch for any single woman. Single woman, she told herself. You’re still married to Jack!
Sighing to herself, Maggie turned to go back indoors, letting her mind dwell fleetingly on that night so long ago in Killala. It had been dark like this, as Johnny and she had made their way back to the hamlet. She had dared to think that one day she might be married to someone just like him. Someone who had made her heart skip a beat and her pulse race rather quickly; someone kind and considerate who would live his life for her.
“Maggie.”
She jumped in surprise as she felt a gentle hand on her shoulder.
“Maggie. Let me come back into your life. Can you forgive what has gone on in the past?”
Chapter 14
“I’ve decided I’m going to treat meself to a small holiday in the not too distant future,” Maggie announced to Hannah a few weeks later. They were walking companionably along the promenade together, Hannah proudly pushing the new perambulator before her, a present from Maggie, containing her sleeping son. The air was invigorating as a strong breeze blew in from the estuary and baby Johnny wrapped up well against the el
ements, was benefiting from the refreshing ozone smell.
“That’s not like you to be thinking of holidays, Mother. You do surprise me, especially as Sheldon may crash about our heads without you at the helm. What’s brought this on? Whatever are you thinking of?”
It was said tongue in cheek, as Hannah had great faith in her husband’s ability to run his side of the business and from what he had told her, he, Richard and Mr. Peel’s protégé were getting on famously.
“Since Eddie became Works Manager, things seem to be going more to plan and with the Christening over I’m feeling a little at a loose end and in need of a change. It was remarkable how everyone got on so well with each other last Sunday, wasn’t it? Though I was glad that the Arlingtons declined the invitation; I would have been more on edge than I was if Alice had decided to come. I think Eddie’s Uncle Johnny must have had a word and put the Dockerty’s on their best behaviour. I was holding me breath for Madeline to start having a go again, but fer once she was quite pleasant and positively glowing when yer let her hold the babe.”
“And the children were little angels, weren’t they?” Hannah agreed. “It was a good idea of Eddie’s to ask his sister to be godmother and of course his uncle was as pleased as punch to be made godfather as well. So, where are you planning to take your short holiday, Mother? Llandudno seemed a pleasant place that time we were passing through.”
“Oh, don’t remind me. Your father said we’d go on holiday there one day, but I rather fancy booking into that big hotel in Liverpool. Do you remember when we were coming home from Ireland, some of our fellow passengers were going to stay at the Adelphi? No, you wouldn’t remember, you were too busy being sick. Oh sorry, I shouldn’t have mentioned that again.”
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