The Married Girls

by Diney Costeloe

  ‘It’s all right for you,’ sniffed Daphne. ‘You don’t have to try and run a home on nothing. It’s me what’s got to do the belt tightening.’ But even as she spoke she knew a wave of relief. He might be cutting her allowance, but she still had the housekeeping and surely she’d be able to scrimp five pounds over the month from one or other to pay off her mother. She had already sent the first postal order. She’d intended to send it as soon as she got home on the day she’d visited Hackney, but she’d been rushed off to Wynsdown. However, while she’d been hanging about in Wynsdown, with little to do, she had been to the post office, bought and posted the necessary postal order. At least that would keep her mother at bay till next month.

  ‘I’m sorry,’ she said now. ‘I didn’t mean you shouldn’t be looking after your mother, it’s just, well I’m not used to being married yet and I don’t want to share you.’

  ‘You won’t have to share me,’ Felix assured her. ‘You’ll always come first, but I do have to make sure Ma’s OK. She and Dad were married nearly thirty-five years. It’s a long time to live with someone and then suddenly find they aren’t here any more. I have to look after my mother, Daphne. You know that.’

  Suddenly Daphne realised that Felix had given her the perfect opportunity to explain her need for the money she’d been expecting.

  ‘I do know. You’re right. Of course you are.’ She smiled across at him. ‘And there’s something I was going to tell you, Felix, only with your dad dying an’ that it went completely out of my head.’

  ‘Oh? What was that then?’ Felix sounded wary.

  ‘Well,’ Daphne had just seen how to make sure she didn’t lose out on her allowance. ‘The day he was took ill, I went to see my parents.’

  Felix’s eyes widened. ‘Did you? You didn’t tell me.’

  ‘No, well, I didn’t really get a chance. When I got back, we rushed off down to Wynsdown, didn’t we? And since then, well, you’ve had other things to think about, haven’t you? Anyhow, that day I’d been to see them at dinnertime, lunchtime,’ she corrected herself. ‘I knew they’d all be home then, so I went as a surprise. And, well, I told them about us getting married.’

  ‘What did they say?’

  ‘They said they was, were, very pleased for me and looked forward to meeting you one day.’

  ‘I see. And they didn’t mind that we hadn’t asked them to the wedding?’

  ‘No, of course not. I knew they wouldn’t. I told them it was very small, just us and witnesses.’

  ‘And my parents.’

  ‘And them. And anyway, what I was going to say was, well, I understand that you have to look after your mother, of course you do. The thing is, Dad’s still got his garage. It’s doing OK, but business is tough just now, so I said I’d help them out a bit. Not every month like,’ she went on hurriedly, ‘but occasionally with a bit of cash. They was, were, very grateful. I told them how generous you’ve been to me, and that you’d quite understand that I wanted to help them.’ She turned her big blue eyes on Felix now and said, ‘And you do, Felix, don’t you?’

  It was the last thing Felix could afford to do now, look after his in-laws on a regular basis, but he’d put his mother’s claim on him so strongly that it was difficult to say so.

  ‘Of course I understand,’ he said. ‘But I’m serious, Daphne, we really are going to have to pull our horns in now. Small economies will add up, like not going first class when we go down to Wynsdown on the train, and not going out as much as we have been. We’ve got to pay cash for things and not run up bills.’

  ‘No, of course not.’ Daphne thought of all the clothes she’d bought before the wedding with the dressmaker’s bill still unpaid, and decided not to mention that yet. Felix would have to take care of it if it became pressing. Her allowance for the present month was long gone and the postal order she’d sent to her mother had come out from the last of the cash he’d given her to stock up the flat for when they got home from their honeymoon.

  ‘And I think we’ll have to give Mrs Barton notice,’ Felix went on. ‘I’m afraid we shan’t be able to afford her for a while.’

  ‘But she only comes in three mornings a week,’ cried Daphne in dismay. She’d known she was going to have to shop and cook, but had thought that at least the flat would be kept clean by the redoubtable Mrs Barton. She’d been cleaning for Felix three mornings a week ever since he’d taken the flat. Daphne had been delighted to inherit her. ‘And only for three hours. She’ll be awfully cut up. I expect she relies on the money we pay her.’

  ‘I know it’s not ideal for any of us, Daphne, but I’m sure you can cope on your own. Other housewives have to. It’s not as if I’m asking you to go out to work, just to do your own housework.’

  ‘Well, you can give her notice,’ snapped Daphne. ‘I ain’t going to.’ And with that she flounced out of the room. Moments later Felix heard the front door slam.

  15

  It was three nights later that Harry met Bull Shadbolt and Grey Maxton in a back room of the Golden Eagle pub in Soho.

  ‘Grey’s prepared to meet,’ Bull had told Harry when he returned with the extra money and retrieved the papers Freddie had prepared for Dora and Bella. ‘Neutral territory. Wants to hear Denny’s idea.’ The Golden Eagle had been agreed.

  Bull Shadbolt had brought the Rat and Manny Parkes with him. They came into the room and found Grey Maxton already there. He had a long, narrow face, his pale, almost yellow eyes close together above a sharply pointed nose, his mouth a drawn line beneath a pencil-thin moustache. His thinning, salt-and-pepper hair was a sandy grey, carefully smoothed over the sloping baldness of his head. He looked, Bull Shadbolt thought, not for the first time, like a disgruntled, vicious ferret. Smoking a cigar, he was seated at a table, a full whisky glass in his hand, and he was accompanied by his second in command, Ray Holden, and his minder, Big Frank. Bull paused on the threshold before nodding to Grey and crossing the room to a table on the opposite side where a whisky bottle and glasses stood waiting. He sat down and poured himself a generous measure. The Rat and Manny took up station behind him, one on either side, their eyes firmly fixed on the opposition. Silence enveloped the room, stretched wafer-thin as the two sides eyed each other with great suspicion.

  Moments later the door opened and as Harry stood aside, Dora Duncan walked in.

  ‘What’s she doin’ ’ere?’ growled Grey Maxton, and the atmosphere, already tense, tightened another notch.

  ‘I’m here,’ Dora replied coolly, ‘to discuss Denny’s proposition.’ She looked round the smoky room. ‘I see you gentlemen have brought friends with you; I’ve brought Harry. You’ve no objection, I assume.’ She walked across to the empty table in the middle and sat down. She opened her handbag and producing a silver cigarette case, took out a cigarette which she fitted into a slim, gold holder, and glanced round as if in search of a light. Harry pulled a lighter from his pocket and flicked it into life. Dora held her cigarette to the flame, drawing on it deeply, taking smoke down into her lungs before breathing it out again in one long, smooth breath.

  ‘Now then, gentlemen,’ she said, looking round at the ill-assorted group. ‘Shall we get down to business? First, I must apologise that Denny’s second ain’t here, but as I think you know, Mick Derham no longer works for this firm. I’ve taken Denny’s businesses into my own hands now as, I have to admit, I should’ve done soon after he left. So, in answer to your question, Mr Maxton, that is why I am here.’

  ‘I thought young Black was here to speak for Denny,’ Maxton sneered.

  ‘Harry’s worked for Denny in Australia for the last four years,’ Dora said. ‘Denny’s trusted him with messages for me and for you. He’s here on Denny’s say-so, to sort out what’s going to happen to them businesses I just mentioned.’ She looked at the two men, seated as far apart as possible, and went on. ‘You know my Den’s got cancer; Harry told you. He wants me and Bella out there before he dies, and that’s what we want, too. We leave in two weeks’
time and that, gentlemen, will be the last you see of us.’ Her words were greeted with silence and she went on. ‘We sail on The Pride of Empire and we ain’t coming back.’

  ‘So, we just split Denny’s patch straight down the middle,’ sneered Grey. ‘Nuffink you can do about it.’

  He glanced at Bull for confirmation, but Bull kept his eyes on Dora. She should have taken over sooner, he thought, as he saw the determination on her face. She’s got more balls than Derham.

  ‘Because,’ Dora replied, ‘if that’s the way you choose to play it, you’ll be starting the father and mother of a turf war. There’ll be blood and cops and arrests. You know the cost of tit-for-tat, Grey. You don’t pay Denny his share, we’ll fight. Make no mistake about that. No Mick Derham, well rid, but we still got plenty on our payroll only too happy to take you on.’

  ‘With Denny dying in Australia and you gone, who’s gonna make a fight of it?’

  ‘Me.’

  All eyes turned on Harry. ‘The deal Denny’s offering you makes everyone a winner. No one makes waves. You two quietly increase your business, no one the wiser, and for six months, maybe less, Denny gets his dues. After that,’ Harry gave an expressive shrug of his shoulders, ‘Denny’ll be in his grave, his ladies’ll be in Australia, and you two can slog it out between you.’ Harry turned to face Grey Maxton, feeling he’d already convinced Bull or they wouldn’t even be discussing the idea. ‘But if you fuck him about, it won’t be a quiet takeover, no one hurt, it’ll be what Dora said. Total war... an’ we don’t fight clean.’

  It was clear Grey Maxton didn’t want to lose face in front of his own men, and even more so in front of Bull Shadbolt. He swallowed the last of his whisky and poured himself another before saying, ‘How’ll we know when Den’s kicked the bucket? You could go on milking us for years.’

  Harry had been ready for this question. It was an obvious one and certainly one he’d have asked himself if faced with the same proposal. ‘Denny knows how long he’s got,’ he replied. ‘After six months the payments stop.’

  ‘Stop even sooner if we tip Scotland Yard where Denny is,’ suggested Grey.

  ‘But in that case, you won’t be taking any of his business,’ Harry replied calmly. ‘You’ll be dead.’

  That Harry’s got balls an’ all, Bull thought, wondering if he could persuade him to join the firm. However, a glance at the Rat, glowering across the room at Harry, made him think again. No point in starting war within his own ranks.

  ‘So, if we go for this bullshit plan,’ Maxton was saying, ‘how does it work?’

  It was Dora who answered. ‘Bella and I leave as planned. Harry’ll stay here in London as the go-between.’

  Harry and Dora had discussed this point long and hard before coming to the Golden Eagle that evening.

  ‘We can’t trust ’em, Harry. If you come back with us as planned, we might as well kiss goodbye to the money we got over here.’

  ‘Denny said I was to bring you,’ reiterated Harry. ‘He won’t be pleased if I send you out on your own.’

  ‘Chrissakes, Harry! What do you think I am, a school girl? Whatever can happen to me on board a ship? And anyway, I shan’t be on my own. Bella’ll be with me. No, you have to stay, check on everyone who works for us. Stan Busby’ll put you in the picture now Derham’s gone. Your job? Get rid of any other Derhams, and collect the money as usual. You collect the cash and keep our share. Give them the rest. They’ll fall out over it before very long, but maybe, just maybe, we can keep them off our backs while you salt away as much as you can. Yeah, they know about us, but we know just as much about them. There’s stuff Denny put in our safe over the years. Names. Dates. Photos. Our insurance, remember? They don’t know exactly what we know; which cops’re in our pocket, who we can call in favours from. We’ll have plenty of ammunition if we need it. Just hope we don’t.’ A sentiment with which Harry heartily agreed.

  Grey Maxton still hadn’t accepted the plan when they left the Golden Eagle.

  ‘It’s still on the table, Grey,’ Harry said as he got to his feet. ‘For now.’

  Grey made no reply. He sat slumped in his chair as first Bull, the Rat and Manny left, slipping out into the narrow street and disappearing into the night, quickly followed by Harry and Dora, hurrying to where they’d parked the car.

  ‘Will they go for it?’ Harry wondered as he pulled away from the kerb. ‘Or will they simply carve us up?’

  ‘To be quite honest with you, Harry,’ Dora said, ‘I don’t give a shit. If I can get out there to see my Den once more before he dies, that’s all that matters to me.’

  He glanced across at her and in the light of a street lamp, saw the bitter expression on her face.

  ‘It’s a mug’s game, Harry,’ she went on. ‘Always has been. Denny and I been married for nigh on thirty years and how many have we lived together? Ten, maximum, and that in bits. That’s not married life.’ She shook her head as she spoke. ‘It’s not the life for anyone, and certainly not for my Bella. I seen the way she looks at you, Harry, an’ I know you have too. Seen the gleam in your eye an’ all. Well, you can think again, Harry Black. You play fast and loose with my girl and you’ll have me to reckon with. Once we get to Australia, all this business of Den’s is over. If you think you’re going to step in an’ take over from him, well, that’s up to you. Be your funeral, maybe literally, but if you do, I ain’t gonna let you within a mile of my daughter. You just remember that, Harry Black.’

  As he finally lay in bed that night, Harry considered Dora’s warning. He knew she was right. Bella clearly found him attractive and given any encouragement from him, would easily be enticed into his bed. It was tempting to try, she was after all an extremely attractive young woman, but he realised that it would be disastrous if Dora found out. He was pretty sure Bella wasn’t as inexperienced as her mother seemed to think. The signals she’d been sending out were pretty clear, but she was not a priority and he put her out of his mind.

  Lisa, however, was another matter. Since he’d returned to London, Lisa had crept back into his thoughts, lingering in the shadows of his mind, slipping to the forefront at unexpected moments. Now, since he wasn’t going straight back to Sydney as he’d thought, maybe he’d have the chance to find her. Perhaps, when Dora and Bella were safely on their way, under their new names of Doreen and Belinda Cartwright, he could go and find this village where she lived.

  Grey Maxton finally agreed a deal with them and Shadbolt. Denny’s dues would be collected by Harry with an escort from each of the others, and immediately divided into three equal shares.

  Dora owned the Maida Vale house, and she’d already put it on the market.

  ‘You can keep the car,’ she said to Harry, ‘an’ live in the house till it’s sold. But when it is, that money’s mine. Not for sharing with them other two. You make sure I get it, Harry. Stash it an’ bring it with you when you come.’

  They decided to visit all Denny’s ‘businesses’, together, before Dora left.

  ‘Need to make sure everyone’s on board,’ Dora said. ‘Let ’em know that you’re the man, and what you say goes.’

  ‘Important that Mick don’t cream off any more cash,’ Harry said. ‘Make it clear that he’s working for someone else now.’

  By the end of the week, Dora had done the rounds of all Denny’s businesses, legitimate and otherwise. When she realised how many there were – a gambling den, a snooker club, a couple of brothels, an upmarket escort agency and a restaurant, not to mention the bookies who ran their books from his pub, the Jolly Sailor, and the street markets where many of the traders, financed at some stage by Denny, paid him a percentage of their weekly takings – she also realised that she’d been receiving only a proportion of the monies due. Denny’s firm provided protection to jewellers and furriers, posh clubs and West End pubs; anyone who wanted to be safe from police raids and shysters, robbery and violence. They paid up regularly and remained untroubled. When questioned, firmly, by Harry, they all
said that they’d been paying their dues as always.

  ‘Mick Derham and one of his heavies come round every week, Mrs Duncan,’ said Midge Cowell who ran an intimate club for gentlemen with particular proclivities. ‘We paid up as usual, even when the rate went up.’

  Dora’s brow darkened. ‘Well, Mr Cowell, it’ll be Harry you pay now, an’ no one else. Got it?’

  Midge, a small man, afraid of any form of physicality, nodded vigorously, muttering ‘Yes, Mrs Duncan, yes, yes.’

  ‘So, that’s where it’s all been going,’ remarked Dora, later. ‘Derham has either got a nice little nest egg tucked away somewhere, or he’s been taking his cut and then passing on our cash elsewhere.’ Her expression hardened. ‘I shoulda taken over, soon as Den went,’ she groaned. ‘Was scared the cops’d be watching me, and I’d be nabbed, too.’

  ‘They probably were,’ Harry said. ‘Better not to get involved until the heat was off. Don’t worry about Mick, Dora. I’ll sort ’im out. Tell Denny I’ll finger ’im for something before I leave.’

  ‘Good. You do.’ Dora spoke with satisfaction. ‘An’ from now on you make sure no one else is ripping us off. Down to you, Harry boy. Denny built up his business, he’s entitled.’

  16

  Two weeks later on a Friday evening Felix again caught the train to Somerset. Unable to ask for further leave, he’d left the office at the end of the day and gone straight to the station. Daphne did not go with him. She’d put her foot down and refused, point-blank.

  ‘No, Felix,’ she said when he told her they had to return to Wynsdown. ‘You go if you have to, but I’m not coming with you.’

  ‘But, darling,’ he said in a conciliatory tone, ‘you know I have to go. I have to try and sort out the financial mess that my father’s left behind. The sooner I get that sorted out, the sooner we’ll be able to get back to normal.’