by Joan Jonker
‘Yer won’t forget to wake me, will yer, Aggie?’
‘How can I forget to wake yer when I’m in the same room as yer, listening to yer snoring yer bleedin’ head off ?’
Kitty grinned. ‘I love you, Aggie Weatherby.’
‘And I love you too, sunshine.’
Agnes was taking the roasting tin out of the oven when she heard Mr Robert’s car drive down the side of the house to the garage. She glanced across to where Kitty was still sleeping peacefully and put down the piece of cloth she used to prevent her hands getting burnt. Some nights Mr Robert came into the kitchen to say hello before making his way to his room to change for dinner. If the cleaner woke up to find her boss bending over her, she’d have a fit. Perhaps I should have woken her up sooner, Agnes thought, but I didn’t have the heart because she needed that rest. Anyway, Mr Robert won’t mind, but I’d better warn him. So the housekeeper opened the back door and stepped out, closing it quietly behind her.
‘Good evening, Agnes, it isn’t often you come out to welcome me.’ Robert was feeling happy and contented, as he always did after an afternoon with Maureen. ‘I appreciate your thoughtfulness.’
‘Can I have a word with yer, Mr Robert?’
‘Need you ask, Agnes? Come on, let’s go indoors.’
‘Before we go indoors, if yer don’t mind.’
‘Not trouble with the family again, I hope?’
‘Nothing to do with me or the family, Mr Robert, it’s about the cleaner.’ Her hands clasping and unclasping, Agnes poured her heart out about the woman she thought deserved everything but had nothing. Mindful of the time, and the dinner being ruined, the words poured from her mouth. And she left nothing out. The invalid husband, the three-mile walk to and from work every day and the pinching and scraping to keep body and soul together. ‘I help her when I can, Mr Robert, but it’s not enough. To tell yer the truth, I always give her the leftovers from the day before’s dinner and I think that’s all the food she and her husband have. Perhaps yer think I’m doing wrong in giving her something that isn’t mine, but it would only go in the bin anyway, so it isn’t really stealing.’
Robert took a deep breath. ‘Agnes, are you telling me this little woman walks here every day to save a penny?’
‘No, she doesn’t save a penny, ’cos she doesn’t have a bleedin’ penny to begin with! Oh, I’m sorry for swearing, but I get so mad. She works her socks off every day keeping this big house like a palace, and she’s killing herself into the bargain. She’s asleep on the chair in the kitchen and I was supposed to wake her up when it was time for her to leave. But I’ve let her sleep because the poor bugger is worn out. When she fainted today, it was through overwork and lack of nourishment. I’d bet a pound to a pinch of snuff that she and her husband sit in the dark ’cos they can’t afford a penny for the gas meter. And I’ll also bet their grate doesn’t know what a fire is.’
‘Why didn’t you tell me this before, Agnes? You know I would have helped.’
‘Because she thought she might get the sack.’
‘But who on earth would sack the poor woman?’
‘If you don’t know that, Mr Robert, then there’s no point in me telling yer.’ Agnes sniffed up. ‘Anyway, I’ve probably ruined the dinner, standing here talking, so I’d better get in. Would yer give me a couple of minutes to wake Kitty up, please, so she doesn’t get upset?’
Robert nodded, too angry to trust himself to speak. He paced the ground, kicking at loose pebbles to relieve his feelings. To think that someone working in his house was so poor they couldn’t afford a penny tram fare, nor to feed or clothe themselves properly. He often had a few words with the cleaner, but he was seldom home when she was there. He had noticed she was skinny, but thought nothing of it. It was his wife who gave Kitty her orders, she was around every day and must have some sort of conversation with the cleaner. And being a woman, surely she should have seen all was not well. But then, knowing Edwina, as long as the work was being carried out, she wouldn’t give a damn if the person slaving away was dying, if it didn’t interfere with her life.
The kitchen door opened and Agnes beckoned him in. He stood for a second to compose himself, then walked into the kitchen with a smile on his face. ‘Hello, Kitty, what’s this I’m hearing about you? I believe you gave Agnes quite a scare, fainting on her like that.’
‘I don’t know what came over me, Mr Robert. I didn’t do it on purpose, ’cos I wouldn’t upset Aggie for the world. She’s me best mate, yer see.’ Every part of the thin body was shaking with a mixture of fear and embarrassment. In all the jobs she’d had, she’d been treated with contempt and this had led her to believe she was in a lower class than others. Particularly the people you worked for. ‘I’ll be all right tomorrow, though, Mr Robert, and I’ll be here as usual. So if Miss Edwina worries about the house not getting cleaned, tell her she won’t need to get another cleaner in ’cos I’ll definitely be here.’
How Robert kept the smile on his face he would never know. Why had he been so blind not to have seen this woman wasn’t fit to be working? The face and hands had hardly any flesh on them, and although the long black raggedy skirt covered most of her legs, the little he could see looked far too frail to carry the heavy, down-at-heel boots. ‘Kitty, my dear, there is no question of our getting another cleaner. Now, if you’ll just sit for a little while longer, I would like to have a word with Agnes.’ He walked towards the door leading into the hall and indicated he wanted the housekeeper to follow. Once outside he put a finger to his mouth as he heard movement coming from upstairs. ‘Agnes, I want you to fill a basket with sufficient food to last Kitty and her husband a few days.’ He kept his voice low. ‘Just throw in anything that is nourishing and tasty. That includes tea, sugar, bread, butter and milk. Then I want you to take it out to my car and place it on the back seat. While you’re doing that, I’ll go upstairs and tell my wife I’m running the cleaner home because she’s not well.’
The housekeeper’s eyes widened. ‘Ye’re running her home, Mr Robert?’
‘She’s obviously not fit to go on a tram, and it’s the least I can do. I will tell my wife she is not well, nothing more. I know you’re worried about the dinner, but it won’t take long to get some things together for Kitty to take home. I’ll have my meal in the study, later.’
Agnes put a hand on his arm. ‘Mr Robert, ye’re gentleman. And I thank yer, ’cos I’ve been worried sick about her. She never complains, but I’ve watched her fading before me eyes and I didn’t know what to do.’
‘You don’t worry in future, Agnes, you come to me. Now, let’s both go about our business.’ Robert took the stairs quickly, and when he opened the door of the main bedroom it was to find his wife standing in front of the dressing-table mirror, running a comb through her hair. ‘Start the dinner without me, Edwina, I’m running Kitty home as she is out of sorts.’
She looked puzzled. ‘Kitty?’
‘Yes, Mrs Higgins, our cleaner.’
‘Surely she is capable of making her own way home?’ Edwina was clearly annoyed. ‘You can’t be expected to act as a chauffeur to one of the servants. The very idea is ridiculous!’
‘Nobody is expecting anything, Edwina, I’m doing it because the woman is obviously ill and distressed.’
‘If she is ill, then she is of no use to us and must be sacked. I’ll look for another cleaner first thing in the morning.’
‘Is that all the sympathy you have for a woman who has worked for us for five years, with never a day off? Who has obeyed your orders without question and done everything asked of her?’
‘Good heavens, Robert, she’s a servant! And servants are paid to take orders.’
‘How much is she paid?’
‘Twelve shillings a week.’
Robert closed his eyes and tried to control his rising temper. ‘Twelve shillings a week. That’s two shillings a day to clean this house from top to bottom, clean your shoes, and Victoria’s and Nigel’s, and be at your bec
k and call each day.’
‘Nobody is forcing her to do it. I’ll have no problem finding another cleaner.’
Robert walked slowly towards her, his eyes blazing. ‘Oh, you’ll have problems, Edwina, I promise you. And I am the one who will make them for you, if you attempt to sack Kitty and replace her with someone else.’
His wife stood her ground. ‘If she’s as sick as you say, and doesn’t come in tomorrow, I’ll have no alternative but to find someone else.’
‘No alternative? Have you forgotten how to pick up a duster, Edie? I remember well how you used to scrub your mother’s front step every Saturday afternoon. And you’d think nothing of shaking the mat out in the street. In those days you would have had sympathy for someone like Kitty, because you weren’t much different then to what she is now.’ Robert shook his head, asking himself why he was wasting his breath. ‘If you had any decency left, you would be down in the kitchen now, seeing if you could do anything to help a woman who has pulled her guts out working for you. But as you seem devoid of decency and sympathy, I will leave you with something to think about. In future, I will hire and fire staff – you will have nothing to say in the matter.’ He walked towards the door. ‘I’ll have my meal later, in the study.’
‘I can walk from here, Mr Robert, yer don’t have to take me all the way home.’ Kitty didn’t want him to see the poor conditions she lived in, she’d be too ashamed. He was a nice kind man who wouldn’t look down his nose at anyone. But their lifestyles were worlds apart. ‘I’ll be all right, honest, so let me out here and you go home and have yer dinner.’
‘Kitty, are you afraid of being seen with me?’ Robert guessed what the problem was but he’d made up his mind to help her, and he had to do it in a way that wouldn’t look as though he was doing it out of pity. So he took his eyes off the road for a second to smile at her. ‘I know what it is. You’re frightened your neighbours might think I’m your fancy man.’
Kitty’s mouth gaped and she looked stunned. Fancy her employer saying that! Then she began to chuckle. ‘I should be that bleedin’ lucky, Mr Robert. Fancy man indeed!’ Oh, wait until she told Alf, that would bring a smile to his face. And when he saw the basket of food, he’d think it was his birthday and Christmas all rolled into one.
‘This is my street, Mr Robert, yer can stop here.’
‘I said I’d run you home, Kitty, and that’s what I propose to do.’ Robert drove the car around the corner and glanced at the number on the first house. ‘I think Agnes said you live in number thirty-five, is that correct?’
The little woman was stumped. This man was her boss, she couldn’t demand he stopped the car. ‘My husband won’t be expecting me to come home in style, Mr Robert, and he’ll get a shock.’
Robert braked to a halt. ‘I was born in a street like this, Kitty, and grew up in a house exactly the same as these. My parents didn’t have two ha’pennies to rub together, either. So if your furniture’s falling to pieces and the paper is hanging off the walls, I’ll feel quite at home. I’m not a snob, so don’t treat me like one. And now, before I drive down and park outside your front door, there’s a little matter I’d like to clear up first. I didn’t realise you haven’t had a rise in wages since the day you started working for us. You should, of course, have had at least two increases, and I take full responsibility for the error. So I want you to take this pound note as part payment of the money due to you. We’ll sort the rest out when you feel able to return to work.’ He pressed the note into her hand. ‘Take it, my dear, you have earned it.’
Kitty stared down at the note but it was blurred by the tears filling her eyes. She hadn’t had a pound note in her hand for seven years, since her Alf had to pack in work because of ill-health. It was a fortune to her, but she wasn’t sure she was really entitled to it and her pride took over. ‘Mr Robert, all this talk about owing me back money, yer’ve just made that up, haven’t yer? Yer see, I’m not very bright, but I’m not behind the door, either. You’ve never had anything to do with paying me wages, and I’ll bet yer’ve never known what I was getting in all the time I’ve worked for yer. Miss Edwina is the one who sees to the staff getting paid, and I don’t believe a word yer say about these rises I’m supposed to have had. So, while I’m beholden to yer for the food, I’d rather not take money I’m not entitled to.’ She held out her hand towards him. ‘Please take it back, Mr Robert.’
‘That and cut my throat are the last things I’m likely to do, Kitty.’ Robert dropped right back into the Liverpool accent. ‘Ye’re a stubborn bugger, just like Agnes. Yer flippin’ pride will be the death of both of yer. Well, let me tell yer something, and every word is the truth. There was a man once, his name was Will Lathom, and he held out a helping hand to me. My pride didn’t stand in the way, I can tell yer. I grabbed it with both hands and it’s Will, God rest his soul, I’ve got to thank for being where I am today. So take the pound, Kitty, because pride is not going to feed you and yer husband, or keep yer warm. And don’t look on it as charity because it’s far from it. We owe yer a lot more than that.’
Kitty didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. Cry because he was so good, and she could tell he meant what he said. Or laugh, because if she closed her eyes and shut out the car and his expensive clothes, he sounded just like anyone who lived in the narrow street. She pushed the pound note into her pocket and grinned at him. ‘If yer don’t watch out, Mr Robert, we’ll have yer swearing next.’
‘My mother invented half the swear words, Kitty, so yer can’t teach me anything. And now let’s find number thirty-five.’
Alf Higgins was sitting in the chair when he heard the key in the door. He’d been watching the clock for half an hour now and was getting worried because his wife was usually home by now. He wished she didn’t have to do that long walk every day; it was taking it out of her, he could see that.
‘I’m home, love, and we’ve got a visitor.’ When Kitty came in she was a bag of nerves, seeing the room as others would see it. There was little furniture because everything they’d had of any value had been pawned years ago. But at least it was clean. ‘This is Mr Dennison, Alf, he brought me home in his car. The whole bleedin’ street came out to see us, and I felt like waving me hand like what the Queen does.’
Robert grinned as he put the basket on the table and turned to shake hands. ‘Pleased to meet you, Mr Higgins. Your wife can be as stubbom as a flaming mule when she feels like it. She wanted me to drop her off around the corner and I had to be firm with her. She’s been under the weather today, so I suggest she has a few days off work.’
Alf’s face showed his concern. ‘What’s wrong, pet?’
‘Just off-colour, love, that’s all. If it was serious I wouldn’t be here now, would I?’ Kitty waved to the couch. ‘Sit down, Mr Robert, and take the weight off yer feet.’
Just before he sat down, Robert noticed one of the springs sticking up out of the cushion, and he moved a little to avoid it. His mam used to have a couch like this and it could be lethal to sit down without taking care. Many’s the sore bottom he had from that old horse-hair couch. ‘I believe you don’t enjoy good health, Mr Higgins?’
Alf shook his head. He was as thin as a lath, but you could see he’d been a handsome bloke when he was younger. He had vivid blue eyes and a thick mop of prematurely white hair. ‘I haven’t worked for nearly seven years now. I used to be a stevedore at Seaforth docks, but I caught some sort of infection off a cargo we were unloading and the doctor signed me off. I thought it would only be for a few days, but I never did pick up.’
‘And didn’t the doctor send you to hospital, or tell you what was wrong?’
‘Oh yeah, I was in hospital for a while, and they said my lungs had been affected and there was little they could do.’ Alf’s laugh was hollow. ‘They recommended plenty of fresh air. Now I ask yer, plenty of fresh air! With the factory chimneys smoking non-stop around here, there’s fat chance of that.’
Kitty was hovering by the side of his ch
air. ‘We don’t do so bad, though, love, do we? We’ve got each other, and that’s what counts.’
‘But I should be the one going out to work, not you! How d’yer think I feel sitting here all day while you’re out slaving to keep us? And just look at yer, pet, ye’re wearing yerself into the ground.’
‘Well, she’s going to have a few days’ complete rest, with plenty to eat to put some flesh on her bones,’ Robert said. ‘A lie-in every morning with no worry about dashing out and walking those three miles. Honest to God, I had no idea you were doing that, Kitty, or I would never have allowed it.’
‘It’s not your fault, Mr Robert, it’s just the way things are. But I can’t afford to take no time off work, and that’s the top and bottom of it. The rent man has to have his money every week or he’ll have us out on the street. Besides, Miss Edwina can’t do without a cleaner and I don’t want her taking no one else on in me place.’
‘It might not always appear so, Kitty, but I am the master of the house. No one will take your place, I promise. But I insist you take a few days off. It’s Wednesday today, so I suggest you take it easy until Monday. I’ll call at eight o’clock on Monday morning, and if I consider you fit for work, I’ll take you in.’
‘Do as Mr Dennison says, pet.’ There was tenderness in Alf’s eyes as he reached for her hand. ‘I don’t want to see yer getting ill, ye’re all I’ve got.’
‘Don’t be going all soppy on me in front of me boss,’ Kitty said. ‘Wait until he’s gone and then yer can get as soppy as yer like.’
Robert was moved by the scene. These two had nothing in material possessions. The furniture was only fit for the scrapyard, and a rag and bone man wouldn’t even give them a balloon for their clothes. But what they did have, was their love for each other. This made them far richer than he was.