Dream a Little Dream

by Joan Jonker

  Victoria blushed and glanced around to see if her father was still standing near. He’d come out to see their guests off, but he must have returned to the drawing room. ‘Charles, my family are under the impression I went to a party with you last night, so please be careful what you say.’ She tapped his cheek quite firmly with a stiffened finger. ‘I think you are really very naughty to leave me now, you must have known I would want some time alone with you.’

  ‘I’ll make it up to you, my sweet,’ Charles said lightly. ‘My father is very generous with me so I never go against him if I can help it. And anyway, I thought it not unreasonable of him to expect me to travel in the car with him and Mother. We were, after all, coming to the same house.’ His arm around her waist, he pulled her close and whispered, ‘I’ll ring you tomorrow, my sweet, I promise.’

  ‘Charles!’ There was authority in the voice which said that George Chisholm was used to being obeyed immediately. ‘Your mother and I are waiting.’

  ‘Coming, Father!’ After another quick peck, Charles made a hasty departure, calling over his shoulder, ‘I’ll telephone tomorrow.’

  Victoria closed the door and leaned against it. She had taken it for granted that Charles would want to stay behind and spend some time with her, and was disappointed it hadn’t worked out that way. Surely his father should have understood that a young courting couple needed to be alone, even if only to kiss each other goodnight. Still, as Charles had implied, his father was the one with the money, and she agreed it would be foolish to fall out of favour with him. And although it was a disappointment in as much as she was hoping for a definite seal to be put on their relationship, it didn’t alter the fact the evening had been a huge success. And as Mrs Chisholm had intimated she would be invited to their house in the near future, it must mean it was clear to her that her son’s intentions towards Victoria were serious.

  Edwina was waiting for her daughter, her expectations high. Standing in front of the fireplace, her fingers laced in front of her, she showed surprise when Victoria closed the door behind her. ‘Where’s Charles?’

  ‘He came in his father’s car, so he went home with them.’ Victoria glanced quickly around the large room. ‘Has Father gone to bed?’

  ‘I presume so. I haven’t seen him since he went to the door with you. He must have gone straight upstairs.’

  ‘Then let us sit for a while and have a chat.’ Victoria waved her mother to a chair. ‘I think everything went off very well, don’t you?’

  ‘Extremely well. Agnes surpassed herself and is to be congratulated. You really must thank her in the morning.’

  A hand was waved in the air. ‘I’ll leave that to you, Mother, you’re better at it than I am. You see, I can’t see the point in thanking someone for doing something they are being paid to do. I think it is totally unnecessary.’

  ‘We may need her help again, so it’s best to keep on the right side of her. I’ll have a word with her in the morning. The Chisholms were very impressed with the meal, and the large variety of dishes they had to choose from. As Annabel said, they have a good cook but her confectionery isn’t anywhere near Agnes’s standard.’ Edwina wasn’t fashion-conscious and all her dresses were the same style. Long sleeves, high neck and completely straight. The one she was wearing tonight was deep purple, and if it weren’t for the long string of pearls around her neck, the word to describe her would have been drab. But for once, her colourless face was animated. ‘Has Charles given any indication, yet?’

  ‘We had no time alone, Mother! But I think Mrs Chisholm is beginning to realise we are quite serious about each other. She said I must go to their house soon. I think that tells us the way her mind is working. With regards to her husband, I really wouldn’t know because he’s not an easy man to talk to. He can be quite brusque at times.’

  ‘That’s just his manner, dear. He’s used to dealing with businessmen and is noted for having an astute mind. He was born into money, and inherited a good business from his father. But from what I’ve heard, the company is now worth twice what it was when he took over.’

  ‘Charles said his father is very generous with him, but he implied he wouldn’t like to cross him. And watching him tonight, I can see that anyone crossing George Chisholm would do so at their peril.’

  ‘Robert gets on very well with him. Perhaps that’s one avenue you could explore.’

  ‘Definitely not!’ Victoria shook her head so vigorously a lock of hair freed itself from a clip and fell down over her forehead. ‘I refuse to ask any favour from my father, and I forbid you to discuss my affairs with him. Charles is to telephone me tomorrow and will no doubt arrange to take me for a run in his car after dinner. I can get a lot out of him when we’re alone, and I’ll work on setting a date to go to his home. I have a feeling his parents have a big influence on him, so I must go out of my way to please them.’ She stood up and stretched her arms high. ‘I’m very tired. I slept little last night, and today has been so long and wearisome. I’ll see you in the morning, Mother, goodnight.’

  ‘I’ll be up directly, I must first turn out the lights. Goodnight, my dear.’

  ‘Can we have our dinner early tonight, Agnes, out here?’ Nigel asked. ‘Abbie and I are going dancing.’

  ‘Of course yer can. I’ll have it ready at half-six for yer.’

  ‘I’ll have mine the same time, Agnes.’ Robert couldn’t bear the thought of spending the evening in the drawing room with his wife and Victoria. He’d been so ashamed of them last night, the way they’d practically grovelled to the Chisholms. Particularly his daughter, she really was going too far in her pursuit of Charles. If she was hoping to worm her way into their good books, she was going the wrong way about it. George Chisholm was a straight-talking man, in business and socially. And he expected no less from those he associated with. He wouldn’t be won over by the insincere charm and flattery displayed last night. ‘I might go on to my club for a few hours, or even go to Seaforth to see Ada and Joe.’

  ‘Come to the dance with us, Dad,’ Nigel said, giving his sister a cheeky grin. ‘You can meet Jeremiah, the bloke who’s got his eye on Abbie.’

  ‘Nigel, will you pass the toast and shut up, please?’ Abbie shook her head, sending her dark curls bouncing. ‘His name’s Eric, Dad, and he seems a nice boy. But he hasn’t got his eye on me, he just asked me for a dance.’

  ‘And he asked you for a date,’ Nigel reminded her. Then when he saw she was embarrassed, he said, ‘He’s a lad who used to go to our school, Dad, and he is all right.’

  ‘I don’t think you should go out on a date with a boy you’ve only had one dance with, my dear,’ Robert said. ‘Even if Nigel does think he’s all right.’

  ‘I won’t be making a date with him, Dad, I’m happy going out with Milly. But I’m eighteen now, I’ve got to go out with a boy some time.’

  ‘Yer can bring him here first, Miss Abbie,’ Agnes said. ‘So I can give him the once-over. We can’t have yer going out with any Tom, Dick or Harry.’

  ‘I’ll make a note of that, Agnes.’ Abbie reached down to the briefcase at her feet and brought out a piece of paper. ‘Can I borrow your fountain pen, Dad?’

  Smiling, Robert unclipped the pen from his top pocket, took the top off and passed it over. ‘Take care, it’s my favourite pen.’

  Abbie was shaking inside with laughter as she stuck her tongue out of the corner of her mouth and began to write slowly. ‘Any boy, unless his name is Tom, Dick or Harry.’

  ‘Yer’ve forgotten something, sunshine.’

  ‘What’s that, Agnes?’

  ‘No Jeremiahs, either. I couldn’t be doing with getting me tongue around that all the time, it would do me bleedin’ head in.’

  Robert pushed back his chair and stood up. ‘We’d better be making a move. But I’ve got an idea, Abbie, and it’s just to set my mind at rest. If you do meet a boy whom you like enough to go out with, and he’s from the Bootle or Seaforth area, get him to call at your Grandma’s for you.
She’s a good judge of character, is Ada, and if she is satisfied he’s good enough for you, I’ll be very happy.’

  ‘Gosh, Dad, I’m not going to marry the first bloke who comes along! And Eric only asked me to go to the pictures with him, he didn’t ask me to elope.’

  ‘Still and all, it’s best to do as yer father says, sunshine, ’cos yer never know.’

  ‘Agnes, I’ve got Nigel and Bobby looking out for me now, and soon it’ll be me Grandma and Granda, and you! I’ll never get a boyfriend if they have to pass the test with all of you. They’ll run a mile from me.’

  ‘We’d better all start running now if we don’t want to be late.’ Robert slipped his arms into his coat. ‘The trouble is, Agnes, my dear, you make us so comfortable in the mornings we don’t want to move.’

  ‘Yer going to move now because I’m going to chase yer.’ The housekeeper began to collect the plates from the table. ‘Mr Robert, yer did say I could give the left-overs away to Kitty and Jessie, didn’t yer?’

  ‘Yes, anything you do is fine by me.’ Robert was following his children out of the side door when Agnes called him back

  ‘Did Miss Victoria say anything to yer about the order from Coopers?’

  ‘No, what order?’

  ‘I’ll tell yer tonight, it’s not important. You be on yer way.’ The housekeeper went about her work without the energy or the inclination. She was tired after the busy day yesterday, and she was back in the kitchen at six this morning. But it wasn’t really the tiredness that was making her feel down in the dumps, it was the ingratitude of Victoria. She’d promised to tell her father it was she who had telephoned Coopers and asked for a repeat order, and she hadn’t. She’d got everything she asked for regarding the blasted dinner party, but she couldn’t even keep that little promise. Selfish to the bloody core, she was. Now it was left to the housekeeper to present the bill that came with the order yesterday.

  Agnes put the plug in the sink and carried the heavy iron kettle over from the stove. As she watched the steaming water pouring from the spout, she told herself that no matter how much Victoria begged, she would never serve at another dinner party in this house. Let the stuck-up snob find some other muggins to do it.

  ‘I’m paying for meself,’ Milly said, with a look of determination on her pretty face. ‘It’s not fair that you two should pay every time.’

  ‘We called for you to bring you to the dance, Milly, and that makes a difference,’ Nigel told her. ‘When you call for a girl, you don’t expect her to pay for herself.’

  ‘Quite right.’ Bobby nodded in agreement. ‘You two go in and me and Nige will sort the finances out.’

  ‘Come on, Milly.’ Abbie took hold of her friend’s arm. ‘If they want to throw their money about, that’s their look-out.’ As she pulled open the door to the dance hall, they could hear the strains of a waltz and she began to hum. ‘Mmm, my favourite.’

  ‘Here, I’ll pay for Abbie.’ Bobby held out his hand and offered a threepenny bit and a penny coin. ‘You pay for Milly.’

  Nigel handed over eightpence to the man on the door. ‘It doesn’t make much difference who pays for whom, does it?’

  ‘Ah well, there’s method in me madness, yer see, Nige. If that Eric keeps asking Abbie for dances, I can tell him I brought her and he can get lost.’

  Nigel looked horrified. ‘You can’t do that! Abbie would die of embarrassment.’ He studied his friend’s face for any sign he was acting daft, but there wasn’t one. ‘You wouldn’t happen to have a soft spot for my sister, would you?’

  ‘Nah, yer know me for girls, Nige, they’re just mates to me. I’d be lost without them, like, ’cos I’d look a right drip dancing on me own. But that’s about it. Time to think of courting and settling down in a couple of years’ time.’

  ‘In that case, why are you so interested in whether Eric asks Abbie to dance?’ Nigel pushed the main doors open. ‘He’s not doing you any harm because there’s plenty of girls falling over themselves for the privilege of dancing with you.’

  ‘It’s not that, mate, I’m not that petty. I just think we should keep an eye on yer sister ’cos she’s a long way from home. Some of the lads that come here are a bit tough, and she’s not used to that.’

  ‘You don’t know my sister very well, or you’d soon realise she’s more than able to look after herself. You try getting one over on her and you’ll soon find out.’ Nigel heard the tutting and saw the look of disgust. ‘What is it?’

  ‘I told yer, didn’t I? Just look, there he is, the queer feller dancing with Abbie. He didn’t waste much time, did he?’

  Nigel chuckled. ‘We’ve both been left on the shelf, Bobby, because Milly is up dancing as well.’

  ‘We might just as well have come on our own and saved ourselves tuppence. Not that I’m tight with me money, like, just careful.’ Bobby slapped his friend on the back. ‘Come on, Nige, take yer pick from the bevy of beauties just waiting for us. I’ll take that blonde over there, the one in the blue dress, and you take her friend in the green.’

  Nigel hung back. He wasn’t sure enough of himself to ask a stranger to dance, he’d prefer to wait for his sister or Milly. But Bobby wasn’t having any of that. ‘Come on, mate.’ He gripped Nigel’s arm tight and frogmarched him across the dance-floor, weaving between dancers with determination. He stopped in front of a blonde girl in a blue dress, and a brunette dressed in green, both of whom were waiting in anticipation.

  On the dance-floor, Eric was trying to persuade Abbie. He had slowed down so he could look into her face. ‘Have yer thought any more about coming to the pictures with me one night? We’d just go local, and I’d have yer home early.’

  ‘I don’t live around here, I live the other side of Liverpool. But my Grandma and Granda live in Arthur Street, do you know it?’

  ‘Yeah, it’s just down the road from here. But what’s that got to do with me taking you to the pictures? Unless yer want me to take yer Grandma and Granda as well?’

  Abbie’s infectious laugh rang out. ‘You’d probably have more fun with them than you would with me, they’re great!’ She saw Bobby watching them and waved. ‘I just meant that if I did go out with you one night, you could call for me at my Grandma’s.’

  ‘Now it’s beginning to look hopeful.’ His spirits high, Eric spun her around and around. ‘So, when can I have the honour of escorting you to the Gainsborough or the Broadway?’

  ‘My dad said he didn’t think I should go out on a date with a boy I’ve only had one dance with. He worries about me, you see.’

  ‘I can understand that, but it’s not as though I’m a total stranger, is it? I went to school with your brother and Bobby Neary, and I live in the next street to the Nearys.’ His white teeth flashed when he grinned down at her. ‘Shall I tell yer something, Abbie? I’ve never in me life had so much trouble trying to date a girl.’

  ‘Well, I’ll let you know later. You see, Nigel runs me down here, so I’ll have to find out what nights he’s coming next week.’

  ‘Has Nigel got a car, then?’ When she nodded he looked impressed. ‘He must be doing well for himself – good for him!’

  ‘He works for my dad. You must remember he’s in the removal business because the vans were always outside our house when we lived in Balfour Road.’

  ‘Yeah, I remember. And I know he’s still in business because I often see the vans around. I even noticed when the Dennisons became Dennison and Son. So yer see, Abbie, yer might not know much about me, but I know quite a bit about you.’

  The dance came to an end and he walked with her to where Milly was standing with the two boys. ‘I’ll be back for another dance,’ he promised.

  ‘Give someone else a chance first, will yer, mate?’ Bobby said. ‘Come back after the interval.’

  ‘Bobby! Don’t be so rude!’ Abbie could feel the colour mounting her cheeks. ‘He doesn’t mean anything, Eric, it’s his idea of a joke.’

  ‘There’s one thing I know about Ne
ary’s jokes, Abbie, and that is they are not funny.’ With that Eric walked away with a grin on his face.

  Abbie looked bewildered. ‘What’s got into everyone? First Bobby’s rude to Eric when there was no need for it, then Eric’s rude back. I’ll be frightened to open me mouth if this carries on.’

  ‘Don’t worry, me and Leyland won’t come to blows. He can be dead sarky, though.’ Bobby didn’t seem the least bit put out. He had that mischievous look on his face when he asked, ‘Why do you laugh at me jokes, Abbie? Is it just because yer think I expect yer to laugh?’

  ‘I can’t laugh to order, Bobby, it wouldn’t come out right. No, I laugh because I think you’re dead funny.’

  ‘And me!’ Milly was quick to come to the defence of a friend. ‘I think ye’re always ruddy hilarious.’

  ‘Right. So let’s see if we can solve this mystery. I’ll be Sherlock Holmes, and you, Nige, can be Dr Watson. Now I’ll start off with meself, shall I? Well, I must think me jokes are funny, otherwise I wouldn’t come out with them. And you two dear girls, you both profess to find them funny.’ Bobby struck up a stance that had his friends in stitches. His eyes were narrowed, he had a pretend pipe in one hand, and he took on a thoughtful pose. ‘Now the strange thing about this case, Dr Watson, is that Eric’s views are at odds with ours. What conclusion do you come to, old chap?’

  ‘There’s only one conclusion I can come to, Mr Holmes. And it is that Mr Eric Leyland has no sense of humour.’

  ‘Well thought out, Watson. I knew you wouldn’t let me down.’

  ‘Ye’re getting us all as daft as yerself.’ Milly tilted her head at Nigel. ‘Are yer going to ask me to dance, Dr Watson?’

  ‘With pleasure, Milly.’

  ‘And where’s your manners, Bobby Neary?’ Abbie was hoping Eric wouldn’t come now and spoil things. She was beginning to feel a bit guilty about splitting the foursome up. Perhaps it would be best if she had second thoughts about making a date. ‘You shouldn’t keep a lady waiting, it just isn’t done in the best of circles.’