‘We’ve seen him casing the joint. I think he’s out ter rob Woolworths,’ Maisie said with a gleam in her eye.
Sarah sighed inwardly. Maisie seemed to be acting just like Clive Danvers. They could all be in terrible trouble if this man was innocent.
‘I think the very least I need is an explanation,’ Betty said, ‘both from you, Maisie, and you, sir,’ she added as she leant both elbows on the desk and laced her fingers together, giving both an icy stare.
Sarah looked towards Freda and raised her eyebrows.
‘Don’t think you two are getting off scot-free,’ their boss and good friend added.
‘Well, it’s like this,’ Maisie said. ‘We’ve all seen ’im hanging about either in Woolies or out in the street. He even followed yer down the road the other day till we all caught up with you. Then he scarpered. We’ – she looked at Sarah and Freda – ‘all think he’s up ter no good and we think yer in danger.’ She smiled in satisfaction as she finished speaking.
Before Betty could speak the man roared with laughter. ‘Nothing could be further from the truth,’ he exclaimed.
Betty frowned. ‘My staff have made a serious allegation. I hope, for their sake, that they aren’t correct. However, I would like to hear your reasons for allegedly loitering in my store?’
‘And outside,’ Maisie added quickly, which resulted in Betty awarding her a stern look.
The man straightened his tie and coughed. ‘My name is Douglas Billington . . .’
Betty frowned as he spoke and the three girls looked at each other in surprise.
‘He has the same name as Betty,’ Freda said in a whisper to Sarah.
‘I wondered if you would recognize my full name,’ he said gently.
‘I do but I don’t know from where . . .’
‘I was a friend of your fiancé, Charles.’
‘Oh my . . .’ Betty mumbled, putting a hand to her mouth in shock. ‘Please . . . please, go on . . .’
‘I apologize for frightening your staff. If the truth be known, I’ve been rather a coward. Many times I’ve wanted to speak to you, but was never sure if you would want to revisit the past. For all I know you have forgotten about Charles and have a new life and family and what I have to say would not be welcome.’
Betty thought for a moment. ‘Girls, I feel sure that I am quite safe and Mr Billington is not a threat to Woolworths or me. You can go back to you duties. Freda, perhaps you could fetch a cup of tea for Mr Billington before you go back to your counter?’
Maisie and Sarah followed Freda to the staff canteen, while she collected the requested tea.
‘What do yer make of all that?’ Maisie asked.
‘I’m totally confused,’ Sarah said, ‘but I feel you did the right thing. Who was to know he is a relative of Betty’s?’
‘I think it is very romantic,’ Freda sighed.
‘How can it be romantic to meet a relative?’ Maisie chuckled.
‘But he’s not a relative. He mentioned Charles and that was Betty’s bloke who died in the trenches during the Great War,’ Freda explained.
‘Well, that’s too confusing fer me,’ Maisie said, pinching a biscuit from the tray where Freda had carefully placed two cups of tea and biscuits. ‘You’ll just ’ave ter ’ang about and listen when yer drop off the tea tray.’
‘Sorry, I’m not going to be a nosy so-and-so just so you know what’s going on,’ Freda said as she walked away with the tray.
Maisie nudged Sarah. ‘She’s dying ter know really.’
‘I can’t believe it. After all this time,’ Betty said, reaching for a clean handkerchief in the top drawer of her desk. She always kept a fresh supply for when her female staff were upset.
Douglas Billington reached out and took Betty’s hand. ‘You have no idea how many times I wished I’d contacted you.’
They both glanced up as Freda entered with the tea tray. Freda’s eyes grew wide as she surveyed the scene before quickly leaving.
‘I hope your staff are discreet. I’d hate to have put you in a compromising position,’ he said apologetically.
Betty smiled. ‘There’s no fear of that. Freda is a good friend and most reliable. Please, have your tea before it gets cold.’
They both sipped their tea in silence before Douglas placed his cup and saucer on Betty’s desk and cleared his throat nervously. ‘I want to apologize for lurking in your store . . .’
‘And outside from all accounts.’ Betty smiled. ‘I’m sure you have your reasons, Douglas.’
He nodded. ‘As I said before, I have been trying to find the right time to speak to you and also work out how to say what I know without distressing you or your family unduly.’
Betty did her utmost to hold her emotions in check. It didn’t do to let a stranger see how his announcement had affected her. It was beyond her wildest dreams to hear about Charlie after all these years. ‘As you can tell by my surname, I never married. After Charlie died my life was over. My future life as a wife and mother had been cruelly taken from me.’ She paused for a while as her thoughts went back to the day she heard that Charlie would not be returning.
‘I’m sorry if my coming here has distressed you,’ he said gently, bringing Betty back to the conversation.
‘No, I’m pleased you are here. I’ve not spoken of my past for a while. I may have been young, but I knew the love I had for my Charlie was for life. It took several years, but once I learnt that happiness lay in my own hands and staying at home with my parents and weeping wouldn’t help matters, I decided to find a job I would enjoy. That is when I entered the retail world. So, please tell me about Charlie and how you knew him. Did you attend school together?’ She really wanted to know about Charlie as a little boy and to be able to add to her memories. That thought brought tears to her eyes. Would their children, the children she was denied, have looked like her lost love?
Douglas took a moment to answer before stumbling over his first words. ‘How I wish . . . how I wish we had been school friends. No, I only got to know Charlie in the last weeks of his life, but it was a time I will never forget.’
‘You were at Ypres together?’
Douglas nodded his head in agreement. Words were not needed.
Betty was frightened to ask her question. ‘Were you with Charlie when . . . ?’
He reached for both of her hands and held them reassuringly. ‘I was beside him when it happened. Please believe me when I say it was over quickly and he would not have suffered.’
Tears ran silently down Betty’s cheeks. ‘I always wondered but we never knew,’ she whispered.
Douglas released her hands and passed her her handkerchief that had dropped onto her desk, then watched as Betty held it to her eyes and silently wept. ‘I’m dreadfully sorry to have upset you so. That was not my intention. In fact, that was one of the reasons I have held back from seeking you out for so long.’
Betty slowly composed herself, then, squaring her shoulders and sitting upright in her chair, she spoke. ‘I’m sorry for my display of weakness. I am truly grateful for your visit and can now see why you faltered when trying to contact me.’
‘Dear God, woman, you are not weak. Look at how strong you’ve been and how you have turned your life around. I have nothing but admiration for you. After hearing of your career I expected to see some kind of bossy tyrant in front of me, not a beautiful woman who is in control of her life.’
Betty felt her cheeks start to burn. ‘Mr Billington, you flatter me. I simply got on with my life like any other woman would have done.’
Douglas smiled. ‘Perhaps we should agree to disagree?’
Betty laughed. ‘Perhaps, but it is not important. The reaction of my family did not surprise me. My parents disapproved of my choice to earn my own living. They have passed away, though, and I only have a couple of cousins now living. I fear their views are similar. However, it no longer bothers me. Tell me, you mentioned another reason for not contacting me sooner?’
; ‘Like many soldiers, I shut my mind to what I witnessed during that time. I came home, went back to my job and in time met the lady who became my wife and who gave me two beautiful daughters.’
‘Oh, you have children, how delightful. That is my one disappointment. Does your wife know you have been seeking me out?’
Douglas’s eyes clouded over. ‘Clementine died three years ago.’
It was Betty’s turn to reach across the desk and touch Douglas’s hand. ‘I’m so sorry for your loss. I’ve carried my grief for over twenty years and know how you must be feeling.’
Douglas could only nod his head in agreement.
‘I think it is time we had fresh tea. I’ll just be a few minutes,’ she said as she made to leave the room.
‘No, I cannot take any more of your time. You have your work to consider.’
Betty waved her hand, dismissing Douglas’s words. ‘Don’t give it a second thought. Woolworths is my life and the company is aware of the hours I work.’
Opening the office door, she called to a passing staff member to take the tea tray and ask Maureen, who was working in the staff canteen, to send fresh tea. Sitting back behind her desk, she smiled at Douglas. ‘Please tell me how you found me, and why now?’
‘It was while grieving for my wife that I started to think how, if I’d lost my life in the last shout, I’d not have met her or been the father of young Clemmie and Dorothy. I pondered on the friendship I’d had with Charlie and how, if things had been different, he’d have stood by me as best man when I married and been a godparent to the children. Our lives would have intertwined and, of course, you would have been a valued friend. It was only when Clemmie’s friends from her schooldays wrote and told me about my wife’s life before I met her that I realized I know things about Charlie that you may wish to hear. I found great comfort from her friends at that time and felt only sorrow that I’d not done the same after Charlie’s death.’
‘You would have had so much on your mind at that time, Douglas, please, please, do not blame yourself. Now, I’m going to make a suggestion that may sound rather presumptuous of me but I feel we have much to discuss. Would you like to come for dinner at my house? My home is not far from here – that’s if you haven’t already discovered where I live?’ She smiled. ‘However, I’d still like to know how you discovered I was in Erith?’
Douglas thought for a moment before replying. ‘I’d be delighted to dine with you. As for seeking you out, I was told by your late parents’ neighbour that you now managed a branch of Woolworths in the town of Erith so I did a little detective work. I’m just ashamed that my reticence in approaching you alarmed so many people.’
‘Miss Briggs? I still correspond with her and exchange cards at Christmas,’ Betty said with a smile. ‘So I shall see you tomorrow evening at seven?’ She wrote her address on a sheet of paper and handed it to Douglas.
‘Thank you, I’ll look forward to seeing you then,’ Douglas said as he got to his feet and buttoned up his overcoat before shaking Betty’s hand. He opened the door just as Maureen appeared with the fresh tea. Maureen reported later that it was the first time she had ever seen the manager of Woolworths exuding such a warm glow.
‘A very cosy home,’ Ruby admitted as they finished Irene’s tour of the house she’d found to rent in Crayford and followed her into the walled garden.
‘It suits our needs for the present and isn’t too far from George’s workplace. Of course, our home in Devon is much larger.’
‘Of course.’ Maisie grinned at Sarah as they followed the older women. ‘Where’s yer Anderson shelter, Irene? You don’t wanna get caught out.’
Irene turned to face Maisie. She still could not understand how such an attractive woman, who had made a most suitable marriage to David Carlisle, had not made the effort to improve the way she spoke. ‘We have a reinforced cellar. It was what attracted me to the house in the first place, along with the sunny aspect of the landscaped garden.’
Maisie snorted with laughter. ‘Isn’t that why we all pick our ’omes?’
Irene gave Maisie a stern look and continued giving a tour of the garden. ‘I will have a man come in to take care of things. I can’t expect George to care for it all, even if he could spare the time.’
‘Dad does work long hours at Vickers, Mum. Please don’t begrudge him a rest,’ Sarah pleaded. ‘Perhaps you could care for the garden? After all, you did say it isn’t very large,’ she suggested.
‘Me? Garden? I’m far too busy, Sarah. I have the WVS to consider for a start.’
Ruby frowned. What did her daughter-in-law have to do with the WVS? ‘You’ve joined the WVS, Irene?’
‘I made enquiries the moment I knew we were moving here. Knowing I was leaving behind my charity work and friends, I thought it was time I did something constructive while George was away at work all day. I was accepted at once. No doubt because of the letter I sent explaining all my charity work. I’ll soon have the Erith ladies shipshape.’
The smile left Maisie’s face. She’d started to enjoy the hours spent helping out at the WVS and her rag rug-making group was making splendid progress. She couldn’t imagine Irene joining in with that or sorting clothes for the bombed-out families. Come to that, she couldn’t see her on tea-making duties or doing any of the hundred and one things the women of the WVS undertook to make life a little easier in wartime. ‘Irene, you do know it’s hard work in the WVS and isn’t anything like yer fundraising dinner dances?’
Irene shuddered. ‘I’m aware of that, Maisie, and that is why I have decided to make changes when I join the Erith division next week. We need to be a slick fighting machine and operate just the same as our fighting forces do. We have a war to win, Maisie!’
Maisie was spared thinking of a response to Sarah’s mother’s comments when Alan shouted hello as he came through the garden gate, followed by George.
‘Hello, everyone. Guess who I found walking down the road?’ George said as he kissed his wife’s cheek, hugged his daughter, then swooped on Georgina, who’d been toddling on unsteady feet watched carefully by Ruby, who was worrying her great-granddaughter would fall into the rose bushes. ‘How’s my favourite little lady?’ he asked.
Georgina gave her grandfather a toothy smile.
‘I got off early and managed to get a lift into Crayford from one of the lads. I thought I could walk back to Erith with you after tea,’ Alan said, raising his eyebrows at Irene.
‘There’s always room at my house for the RAF, Alan, especially an officer. In fact, you must all stay for dinner.’
‘I’d like to, Mrs C., but I have to be somewhere in just over an hour,’ Maisie said, glancing at Sarah.
‘And I offered to go with you, Maisie, so we need to start getting Georgina dressed and in her pram or we will be late.’
‘Let Georgie stay with me, Sarah,’ Alan said. ‘You’ve got enough on your hands, what with your ARP duties later this evening.’
Sarah kissed her husband’s cheek. ‘I knew there was a good reason I married you,’ she smiled, brushing a hair from the shoulder of his uniform jacket.
Alan took her by the elbow and led her to a corner of the garden. ‘I did want to have a word with you. It won’t take long. Something’s come up at work.’
She looked into his eyes and realized the time had arrived when her world would again be turned upside down. ‘I was going to take some flowers over to Grandad Eddie’s grave before I left. Why not come with me?’
Making her goodbyes and telling Maisie to meet her at the lychgate in twenty minutes’ time, she gathered up the bunch of blooms that she’d picked from the family allotment and took Alan’s arm.
It was only a short walk to St Paulinus Church. The sun shone down just as it had on the third of September 1939, the day she’d married Alan. ‘So much has changed since our wedding day,’ she sighed, ‘good and bad.’
‘That’s life, my love. Even if we didn’t have a war to fight there’d have been many changes,�
� Alan said as he helped her walk through the lines of graves until they reached Eddie Caselton’s headstone.
‘And now you are going to tell me you are going away . . .’ she said as she removed a few dead blooms and placed her own bouquet in the glass vase, not daring to look up at her husband.
Alan took her elbow and helped Sarah to her feet. ‘I’ve been dreading telling you for fear of how you’d react after . . . after last time,’ he murmured.
‘Oh, Alan, you know I dread the thought of you being hundreds of miles away and quite likely in terrible danger, but I like to think I’ve grown up a little since last time you left, and I just know deep inside you’ll come home to me and Georgie safe and sound.’
Alan pulled his wife into his arms and held her close. He breathed in the smell of the soap she’d used that day and felt the softness of her hair against his cheek. As his lips sought hers, he wished with all his heart that he had her strength and fortitude, as he feared what lay ahead. Closing his eyes, he fervently hoped Sarah’s wishes would come true.
7
Sarah sat nervously chewing her nails as she waited for Maisie. Doctor Greyson’s surgery in Queens Road was situated on a floor of one of the grand terraced houses that overlooked the railway line, which stretched one way to the seaside towns of Kent and to London in the opposite direction. She thought back to family trips to the coast when staying with her grandparents. They would catch an early train and spend the day on the beach, before heading back through the Kent countryside, past hop fields and quaint villages, arriving home ready for bed. Often Grandad Eddie would carry Sarah home on his back when she was too tired to walk. Such happy memories.
They’d climbed the wide, steep steps up to an ajar door badly in need of a lick of paint and entered a hallway paved in diamond-shaped black and white tiles similar to the ones in Ruby’s house. Although there was a small pebble-glassed window that must have opened to a receptionist’s office, it remained closed so after coughing politely to let whoever was there know they’d arrived, they sat down to wait. A staircase wound up from the hallway and Sarah wondered if Doctor Greyson lived above the surgery. From below she could hear the distant sound of a radio broadcasting a news item and shortly after dance music. Did he have a maid or perhaps the basement was rented out? Whoever the person working below their feet was, they certainly enjoyed their vegetables as Sarah wrinkled her nose at the almost overbearing aroma of cabbage. She’d looked to her friend, who had removed her smart kidskin gloves, which Sarah knew to be a gift from Maisie’s mother-in-law, and was gripping the handle of her handbag so tightly that her knuckles had turned white. Sarah had reached over and squeezed her hand. ‘Everything will be fine, Maisie. Either Doctor Greyson will say you are expecting or you are unlucky this time and will have to wait a little longer to be a mother.’
Christmas at Woolworths Page 9