The Glowing Hours

by Marina Oliver

  Later in the afternoon she and Gwyneth went to see Mr Bliss, and discuss how Nell, her ankle strong again, could resume dancing with the troupe.

  'I shall need lots of practice,' Nell said, worried. 'Paul says I mustn't do too much for the first few weeks, but I can begin to dance the less strenuous routines.'

  'That means no speciality spots,' Frank Bliss said with a sigh. 'Gwyneth is excellent by herself, but so far we've found no one good enough to partner her. I think you'd better just come to join as many classes as you can next week.'

  'That would help me start,' Nell nodded.

  'You must try to be ready for the stage the following week. In three weeks the Beauties are due to have their first engagement in Stoke-on-Trent. They'll have to stay in lodgings, and I know Edwina would be happier if you were with Gwyneth to help take care of the girls.'

  Nell raised her eyebrows, but did not comment. She was less apprehensive now at the idea of finding lodgings in a strange town than she had been when she'd met Gwyneth. In fact, she thought with inner amazement, she was confident over all manner of new things, from dining in expensive restaurants to talking with important people. Yet she hardly thought she was capable of supervising the dancing troupe, many of whom were a couple of years older than she was. She said as much to Gwyneth when they were back at The Firs, drinking tea and indulging in some Kunzle cakes Kitty had bought the previous day.

  'It's not age that matters,' Gwyneth said. 'The Tiller Girls have "Head Girls", but Mr Bliss hasn't got a name for us, he doesn't want to look as though he's copying them too much.'

  She lapsed into silence, and as Nell's own thoughts had swung back to her family, they sat for some time without speaking. Eventually Nell roused herself.

  'Have you seen the new costumes Edwina's designed?'

  'Yes, they're a lot more glittery than any we've had before. And I love those saucy little hats!'

  'And such short skirts! I felt quite embarrassed when I tried mine on,' Nell said with a slight laugh.

  'We're not used to showing so much leg! But if we mean to be successful we'll have to get used to it. They are a gorgeous shade of red, perfect for us with our dark hair.'

  'At least they are quite modest at the top!'

  'I suspect Edwina's breaking us in gently, taking off a few more inches in a different place with every new costume!'

  'Then I hope she stops soon! I'll go and see what Meggy's left for dinner,' she offered. 'Kitty is out with Timothy, and said they wouldn't be back.'

  'I wish her luck with him!' Gwyneth said bitterly.

  'He's still not forgiven you,' Nell said. 'You hurt his pride, I think.'

  'He hasn't spoken to me since. Are all men the same? Why should they assume that because we dance, and perform in public, we're ready to leap into bed with any man who deigns to ask us? And think it an honour to receive his attentions!'

  'I'm sure all men don't,' Nell replied quietly. 'Andrew and Paul would never suggest it, I'm sure.'

  'More's the pity!' Gwyneth muttered, but so quietly that Nell didn't hear.

  'Did you like Timothy?' Nell asked hesitantly. She wondered if this was the reason for her friend's unusual lack of sparkle.

  Gwyneth looked at her for a moment without replying. Then she turned away her face. 'Yes, I did like him,' she said in a flat voice, and to her surprise discovered it was the truth. She had liked him, and if Paul were not around, she knew she could have fallen for him. 'Not enough to become his mistress, though. No man will ever mean more to me than dancing.'

  *

  Gwyneth and Kitty were doing a matinée, and Nell had been to one of Mr Bliss's classes. Afterwards she walked along Ryland Street, buying good quality beef and vegetables in shops which before she had never hoped to patronise. Pa would be at work, so this was a good time to go and see how Ma was. She had almost reached the corner when someone called her name, and she froze in horror. She ought not to have come in broad daylight! Someone would tell Pa.

  Slowly she turned, and to her relief recognised Tom Simmons running towards her. 'Tom! You frightened me. Why aren't you at work?'

  'I'm on my way to see someone. Nell, I've been trying to find you for weeks, but it seemed as though you'd vanished.'

  'No, I'm still living in Birmingham.'

  'Where? Who are you living with? Nell, you must tell me. I feel so helpless when I don't know where to begin to look for you.'

  'Why should you want to?'

  'Look, here's a tea room. Come and have a cup of tea with me, and tell me how you are. You look well, and prosperous,' he added more slowly. It had suddenly occurred to him that if Nell were doing well for herself she would be less inclined to accept his proposal. He'd thought long and hard about whether he still wanted Nell as his wife. There could be all sorts of scandal he didn't know about, which might emerge in the future and be of considerable embarrassment to a rising young union official. Yet the lure of Nell's slender body and delicate features persuaded him that there was nothing so bad that would persuade him to give her up. He avoided answering while ordering the tea and some scones, then began to ask Nell more questions. At the crucial moment an innate caution told him that he must make sure, discover all he could, before possibly making a fool of himself.

  'How are your family?' he began. 'Are you on your way to visit them?'

  'Ma's been ill,' Nell replied briefly. 'Tom, please don't tell Pa you've seen me. He doesn't know I come to see Ma, and he'd believe they knew where I live, and try to beat it out of them.'

  'I'm no tell-tale,' Tom replied stiffly. 'Besides, I don't work at Forster's any more, so I never see him.' For a while he was diverted into telling Nell about his new position, and how he had actually been to London the previous week to talk with some of the leaders of the miners' union. 'They are all very concerned about the bad situation in the mines. The agreement reached last year has failed, because there's a slump in coal prices and no profits. We're afraid the owners will try to wriggle out of it. However, I doubt if anything can happen during the summer. And I'm learning Russian!' he added importantly.

  'Russian? Why on earth should you want to learn Russian?' Nell asked, astonished.

  'The British Trades Union Congress has been holding talks with the Red International of Labour Unions, and the Russian union leader Tomsky spoke at the Congress last September. I hope to be there this year, and understand him without having to wait for a translation.'

  'I see. Have you become a communist, Tom?'

  'Of course not, but we have to talk to Russia, persuade the Government how important it is.'

  'Yes, I suppose so. Tom, I must go, I haven't much time to spare. Thank you for the tea, and it was nice to see you again.'

  'Don't go. Tell me what you are doing. What sort of job do you have now?'

  'I'm a dancer. On the stage. I'm one of the Bliss Beauties.'

  He was appalled and showed it. 'Nell! How could you!'

  'There's nothing wrong with it,' she insisted defensively.

  'It's wrong, Nell, immoral and shameless to display yourself on the stage, and for a girl as young as you to live away from her family. They need you, even more now, it seems, with your mother ill. You should give it up before you become corrupted.'

  'I won't give it up, and I won't live at home. I'm going on tour anyway.'

  'You're much too young to be travelling the country. It's just not decent. You could get into all kinds of difficulties in that sort of situation.'

  'Pa never thought for a second of my welfare, Tom! And I'd much sooner get into the difficulties you suggest than go home to be beaten every time Pa got into a temper! Not that I'm likely to become a whore as you seem to think!' She rose impetuously to her feet, knocking the last remaining scone to the floor as her sleeve swept the table. 'Thank you for the tea, Tom!' she snapped, but to the top of his head for he had bent to try and save the scone. No doubt he'd have to pay for it if it fell on the floor, Nell thought contemptuously as she almost ran out of the te
ashop. How boring and pompous he sounded, an old man already. How could she ever have imagined he was pleasant!

  *

  Paul finished earlier than usual at the clinic. He looked at his watch. There was time before dinner to visit a couple of his private patients. Suddenly he knew he wouldn't. He had no serious cases to attend to, they could all wait until tomorrow.

  He drove to The Firs. It was Saturday and Nell would be alone, since Kitty and Gwyneth had a matinée. He would say he had come to see how her ankle was coping with the dancing classes she'd resumed. Then he felt quite foolish. Why should he need to make an excuse? Even if he didn't genuinely wish to make certain she was not putting too much strain on her ankle, he didn't need to pretend to himself he was going to visit her for any reason but his own pleasure.

  She was in Kitty's sitting room, mending some of the white stockings they wore on stage. As Meggy showed him in and offered to bring tea Nell smiled up at him, and his heart turned over. She was so incredibly lovely. And causing him to behave in quite uncharacteristic ways, he mused with inward laughter. It was almost like being an irresponsible student again, he felt so young. Right from the moment he'd met her in Endersby's ballroom, and without even asking her had whisked her into his arms and onto the dance floor, she had bewitched him. She was the first girl he'd taken out for years, and he would never have slunk into that dreadful theatre to watch anyone else. He took his work in the Ladywood clinic seriously, and contributed generously to charity, but he had not previously involved himself with a patient to the extent of providing sheets and pillows and blankets from his own house as he had for Mrs Baxter.

  'I've come to see how your ankle is,' he said abruptly, and Nell looked at him, puzzled at his tone.

  'It's quite better, thank you. After the first class it felt more tired than the other leg, but not sore, and by the second day not even that.'

  'I'll have a look at it though.'

  Obediently she raised her leg onto the small footstool he brought across the room, and he prodded and flexed the ankle. Then he smiled at her, and she was relieved. It was the normal, friendly Paul again.

  'I didn't know anyone had so many pairs of white stockings,' he said, sitting down beside her.

  Nell laughed. 'I offered to darn all the others. They don't need them anywhere except Birmingham. We discovered that from some other dancers. Elsewhere they use a sort of white paste which is a lot cheaper than stockings. Only Birmingham has a law which forbids bare legs on stage.'

  'You mustn't let Kitty take advantage of you,' he warned. 'She's thoughtless.'

  'She's been very kind to us. Besides, I have nothing else to do.'

  'Let me teach you to drive. I'll give you your first lesson after we've had this tea.'

  'You?'

  'What's so strange about that?' he demanded, both amused and affronted by her look of astonishment.

  'I'm sorry, I didn't mean to sound rude. It's just that only Timothy has offered to teach us, and I couldn't because of my ankle. Besides, Kitty's taken the car.'

  'I meant in my car. I know it's a lot bigger, but it really isn't any more difficult to control.'

  Nell's eyes were shining. 'Would you really? Oh, Paul, that would be absolutely divine, as Kitty would say! I thought after that quarrel Gwyneth had with Timothy he would forget he'd offered to teach me too.'

  'Would you feel safe with him?' Paul asked, grinning. He'd much enjoyed the story of Timothy's discomfiture.

  'Oh, he doesn't want me,' Nell said dismissively. 'He tried not to believe he was attracted to Gwyneth, he thinks far too much of his name and position to get involved with a girl from the lower orders. But she's so beautiful and lively he couldn't help himself, I suppose. I wouldn't be nearly so tempting, a skinny little girl from the slums.'

  *

  At first Tom was furiously angry when Nell walked out on him. He wouldn't put up with such treatment. She was a slut and he wouldn't give her the satisfaction of knowing she'd meant anything to him. He'd ignore her. Then he began to recall her smile, which made him feel warm all over, and her slender yet enticing curves, so tantalising under the straight dress she'd been wearing. He had to admit he wanted her. If he could rescue her from this life of depravity she was heading for, he would have achieved something more important than merely securing her for himself.

  He soon discovered that the Bliss Beauties were appearing in a small theatre in Walsall, and on Saturday he went there on the train in time to secure a ticket for the evening performance. Despite himself and although he wondered why Nell was absent he was impressed by the performance, especially the dark, vivid girl who did the solo spot. He began, very faintly, to discern the attraction the music and the movement must have for Nell. By now the Beauties had progressed to opening the second half of the show, and fortunately for Tom they didn't leave the theatre immediately after their performance, as they usually did. When he pushed through the crowds afterwards to find the stage door, down a narrow, odorous alley, he was directed by a jovial doorkeeper to a large room at the side of the stage.

  He'd come to try and discover what had happened to Nell. He hesitated in the doorway. It seemed as though a party was in progress. The performers, most of them still in their stage costumes, were mingling with a crowd of people, talking loudly and drinking wine. Then a waiter stopped and offered Tom a glass from a tray, and Tom moved towards one of the dancers who was standing nearby.

  'Hello, I thought you were very good,' he said stiffly.

  Kitty turned towards him, her eyes slightly frosty. 'Thank you,' she replied, and began to move away.

  'I was hoping to meet Nell here, Nell Baxter,' Tom said hurriedly.

  Kitty turned round slowly. 'Nell?' she asked. 'Are you a friend?'

  'Well, yes. I've known her for years. I was at school with her brother. Until I went to King Edward's,' Tom stammered, determined at the same time to emphasise his familiarity with Nell and his own better schooling. 'Are you a friend too?' he ventured.

  Kitty eyed him thoughtfully. He might be useful. She was feeling disgruntled at the attention Nell was receiving from the men she had previously considered her own property, and if this old friend could be induced to distract Nell's attention he would be worth cultivating. Besides, he was quite good looking in a rough sort of way. She smiled, so brilliantly that Tom blinked.

  'How long is it since you've seen her?' she asked, linking her arm in Tom's and drawing him to the side of the room.

  'Earlier this week, Wednesday afternoon, when she went to visit her mother,' Tom replied, bemused at the closeness of this girl, with her cut-glass accent and overpowering perfume.

  'Didn't she invite you to the party I'm having next week?' Kitty asked.

  'Party? No, she didn't say anything.'

  'Poor Nell, she must be shy of asking her old friends to the house. She lives with me, you know, but I cannot persuade her to treat the house as her own. Do come, next Sunday, about eight. We'll dance. We working girls can only see our friends on Sundays, every other day is devoted to our art,' Kitty smiled provocatively, mentally listing the people she could invite to this impromptu party.

  She gave Tom the address, and Tom managed to suppress his astonishment. Fancy Nell living with the nobs! Then, as he walked slowly back to the station his anger began to rise. What on earth had Nell done to be accepted in such circles? He would most certainly be attending that party, and this time she wouldn't avoid him.

  ***

  Chapter 14

  Nell enjoyed her first driving lesson, once she'd overcome her awe at sitting behind the wheel of such a large car. Paul took her to some of the wide, empty roads on the Calthorpe estate and once she had mastered the basics her confidence grew rapidly, though Paul insisted she mustn't drive for too long the first time.

  'I plan to drive out to Kenilworth tomorrow,' he said as she drew up with a flourish outside The Firs. 'Come with me and you can try it out in some of the country lanes.'

  'Kenilworth? Where th
e castle is?' she asked. 'I've been reading about that in some of the books Kitty has.'

  'And you'd like to see it, no doubt? So you'll come? Let's make an early start, and it won't be too much out of our way to go through Warwick. Then you can see another castle, this time not a ruined one.'

  Now there was no chance of meeting Amy, Nell was happy to start at nine. She had wondered if her little sister might still be going to Perrott's Folly, hoping to see her, but she had been the previous two weeks, and there had been no Amy. After hearing how the child had vanished from home, she knew there was little likelihood that Amy would be able to come, even if she was still alive.

  Hastily she thrust that thought aside, it was too painful. She knew it was foolish, but she couldn't help blame herself. If she hadn't given Amy the money her sister wouldn't have run home and blurted out that she'd seen Nell. Then Pa wouldn't have been mad and frightened Amy so much that she'd run away. For several nights after she'd heard this story Nell had been unable to sleep. Every time she was about to drop off a vision of her sister would float before her eyes, and Nell would torture herself imagining the dangers which Amy might have encountered. Paul had commented on the shadows beneath her eyes, and forced her to confess her worries. Then he'd insisted she took a sleeping draught for a few nights, to banish the nightmares.

  When Nell quietly let herself out of the house and went to meet him as he pulled into the drive, he smiled cheerfully at her. 'I imagine Kitty and Gwyneth are still asleep?' he asked.

  Nell jumped in beside him. 'Yes, there was a party last night, they were late back. Kitty said to tell you she's planning one at home next Sunday, and hopes you can come.'

  'What is she celebrating?'

  'Kitty doesn't need an excuse to throw a party. Though I think Andrew will be here that day, and she wants to invite some of the theatre people. We are getting to know quite a few acts now, we've appeared on the same bill together several times already.'

  'Tell her I'll be happy to come. And thanks. I'll drive to begin with, then you can take over when we come to a quiet bit of road.'