Suddenly, in the hush between the introduction and the music beginning, a loud bang echoed through the hall, and: ‘You did that on purpose, Winnie Armitage. You dropped that book on my foot on purpose.’
‘Eeh, you know I would never do a thing like that.’
Everybody in the place began to laugh, except Alice. ‘My grandmother would be turning in her grave if she was here.’ She had been so pleased to see Ruth taking to the chapel again, but now she wondered if it was a good idea after all. Joe, who was only here because it was the anniversary of the opening of the chapel, thought it was time the place was livened up a bit, and decided he might even come more often if there was summat to laugh at. Billy found hymn 373 in the hymn book and glanced at his mother, who was sharing her book with Mr Dolan, then began to sing, completely happy for the first time in his young life.
Hubert Hancock, crafty as always, casually mentioned Winnie to his wife.
‘Oh, by the way, dear, I was taking a breath of air after my lunch when I happened to meet an old friend of yours. Not of our class at all, but she seemed to think highly of you, sent her regards.
‘Oh!’ Sophie was absorbed in her Woman’s Companion. ‘Who would that be then?’
‘A Winnie Stedman, I believe she said.’
Sophie came to life. ‘Winnie Stedman? Why, I haven’t seen her to speak to for years. We were good friends, Winnie and I, in our youth.’ She fell silent as she reminisced. ‘Oh, yes,’ she remarked after a while, ‘we were poor but they were happy days.’
Her husband frowned. He didn’t like being reminded that his wife originated from the meanest part of town. ‘So you haven’t kept in touch, then?’
Sophie smiled. ‘Oh, no. I can’t remember when I last spoke to her.’ So that was all right then, he thought with relief. ‘No,’ she went on, ‘the only time I see Winnie is when I’m under the dryer in the hair-dressers. She’s usually passing the shop on the way to chapel. I expect it’s a meeting of the Sisterhood.’
Hubert Hancock pricked up his ears. If the woman was at the chapel she would be unable to intrude on Ruth Wray’s privacy. All he had to do now was take notice which was Sophie’s hair day. Then he would seek his pleasure without any hindrance.
He didn’t have long to wait. Two days later Sophie’s hair was so stiff and rippled, it resembled a washing board. He knew now which day to pay another visit to Wire Mill Place. He felt a tremor in his loins as he anticipated being alone with such a ravishing creature. Young, too, and he guessed she was intelligent enough to realise she would have to give up one or the other, her body or her home. He had her in a corner and there would be no escaping this time.
Harry Crossman enjoyed working for the council. He also enjoyed the evening classes he attended two nights a week, one for business studies and the other for economics. The classes had initially been the idea of Grandfather Stanford and were encouraged by his superiors at the town hall. Harry found his work varied and interesting and was at present assisting with the preparation of buildings for when the expected war commenced. Harry had been shocked as he read his instructions to read the word when instead of if. Although he was sworn to secrecy about some of his work, he confided in Isaac about other things, knowing that whatever he told his grandfather would be kept confidential. The latest news came as no surprise to Isaac, who had seen it coming for months. The only consolation he could think of was that his grandsons were all too young to be conscripted yet. He prayed that it would all be over by the time they came of age. There was no way he could see this one lasting as long as the Spanish war, which was thankfully over at last. Harry on the other hand was disappointed that he wouldn’t be able to broaden his experience and see the world.
‘Keep on with thi studying, lad,’ Isaac advised him. ‘When thar old enough tha can do the country far more good by putting up for’t council than by fighting any war.’
So Harry carried on with his studying, cramming his brain with as many facts and figures as could be absorbed, and though the war was imminent the vitality of youth prevented him from worrying about it. In fact he found the prospect most exciting, and was sorry when his grandfather said it would be all over and done with almost before it began.
By Whitsuntide Ruth decided that she was fond enough of Jack Dolan to accept his invitation to visit the farm.
The children had joined in the procession of witness in the morning, each dressed to the best of Ruth’s ability considering her financial state. Sadie and Margaret were wearing pretty dresses, made specially for the occasion by Emily, and Billy, for the first time ever, was wearing shoes instead of clogs. His Grandfather Wray had taken his grandson to Sheffield and bought him a suit with long trousers and Ruth couldn’t help shedding a few tears at the sight of her son in his first grown-up clothes. Frankie – who couldn’t usually care less what he wore – had been given a suit his cousin Joseph had long since outgrown. Because Alice bought nothing but the best for her son, the suit was as perfect as the day it had been purchased. An argument had taken place as to why Billy could have long trousers when Frankie had to make do with short. The argument had remained unresolved when Mr Armitage had come across to see them all dressed in their finery and given them each a shilling to put in the pockets of their new clothes.
Jack and Ruth had joined the rest of the family to watch the walk, except for Alice who was of course marching along with the children in her role as Sunday school teacher. The walk ended on the green where the singing was to take place. Afterwards the children were given lunch at Sunday school whilst all the grown-ups were invited to Emily’s for a cold, makeshift dinner. As usual the spread was excellent and was soon devoured amongst much jollity. Ruth was touched by the enthusiasm Jack showed at the get-together. ‘You don’t know how lucky you are having a family all around you,’ he remarked.
‘Haven’t you any family, then, except your mother?’ Ruth enquired.
‘No, lass, none at all. But I’d like one.’
Ruth blushed, knowing the friendship was changing course, to a more serious relationship. She was determined not to jump in at the deep end, but the feelings she had for Jack were making it difficult to resist his advances. Not that the latter were of an improper nature, but sometimes Ruth found herself hoping they soon would be.
In the afternoon the children joined Ruth and Jack, and instead of taking part in the sports on the green they set off through the woods towards the moors, on the edge of which stood Dolan’s Farm. Apart from where the sun filtered through the trees the woods were dark and mysterious and filled with the fragrance of bluebells. The twins ran this way and that, carrying on a game of hide and seek along the way, and Billy searched the undergrowth for ground ivy or any other plant which would be of use to Olive. He must remember to look for ribwort when he reached the farm, which Olive would dry immediately before the leaves had a chance to turn black.
As they wheeled Margaret along in the pram Jack took the opportunity to place his hand over Ruth’s, a touch which sent shimmers of desire through them both. Jack twisted the wedding ring on Ruth’s finger. ‘I’d like to replace that with a new one,’ he said thickly. ‘One which would be ours, not yours.’ He moved his hand and circled her waist, turning her towards him and kissing her. ‘I love yer, Ruth. Will yer marry me, lass?’
‘Well,’ Ruth mumbled, ‘it’s a bit sudden. We haven’t known each other long.’
Jack smiled. ‘I’ve known you Stanford lasses as long as I can remember, and I’ve loved you since you first moved into’t Place.’
‘I didn’t know you’d even noticed me.’
‘Oh, aye, but you were married.’
‘Let me think it over, Jack.’
‘But not for too long. I’m almost forty. Don’t let’s waste time, lass.’
‘Oh, no, we mustn’t, not when we’re almost in our dotage.’ Ruth laughed.
‘Well, no, I know we’re not old, but I want to be with you now.’
‘But there’s your mother. You c
ouldn’t leave her to come and live with us.’
‘Oh, lass! You don’t think I’d expect you to go on living in a dump like’t Place? Besides, the farm’s my livelihood and I couldn’t leave it.’
‘But your mother might not want us there, especially with four children. It’d be too much to ask of her.’
‘But the farm’s mine, Ruth, and what’s mine is yours from now on.’
‘Well, we’ll see, but only after you’ve discussed it with your mother.’
Jack knew his mother would grumble, but she grumbled about everything. It had become a habit with her. Well, if she didn’t like it she would just have to lump it. Besides, she was always telling him he should be married, and if he didn’t marry Ruth Stanford he would never marry at all. He couldn’t think of her as Ruth Wray; the three had always been known as the Stanford lasses, though it had been the eldest two he had known in his youth. Now there was only Ruth, as far as he was concerned, and if she would have him he would make her his wife.
They crossed the meadow where the first-born lambs were frolicking beside the ewes. The twins knelt to run their fingers through the warm, tightly curled fleece, Frankie lost for words for a change and fascinated by the lambs’ antics.
‘Oh, Mam,’ Sadie whispered, ‘can I hold one?’
‘Aye, but not that one!’ Jack walked away from the path and picked up a slightly older lamb, bringing it back and placing it in Sadie’s arms.
‘Can I hold it next?’ Frankie asked. He noticed Ruth and added, ‘Please, Mr Dolan?’ before his mother had time to remind him.
Jack gave one to Frankie. ‘These two are twins like you and Sadie,’ he told the wide-eyed boy.
Billy was more interested in the ancient tractor he could see in the next field. ‘You can start it up if yer like,’ Jack said, ‘but first come in and meet me mother.’
‘I met her once,’ Ruth told him. ‘But I was only a girl; she was talking to my mother after chapel. She won’t remember me, though.’
‘Oh, I think she does. Or at least she knows your Alice.’
‘Well she would, if she goes to chapel. Our Alice might as well have lived there in her youth.’
‘My mother doesn’t go to chapel much these days. I couldn’t even persuade her to come and watch the procession, though I couldn’t have kept her away at one time.’
Ruth frowned. The prospect of starting married life with a mother-in-law who never went out didn’t sound too promising.
The kitchen door was open, and the smell of newly baked bread wafted out to mingle with the fragrance of lilac from a shrub in the yard. They picked their way through a brood of clucking hens, one of which spread its wings and landed with a flurry in Margaret’s pram. The twins began to squeal with laughter and Mrs Dolan came out to see what all the noise was about. She picked up a yard brush and shooed away the excited birds.
‘Don’t mind them lot,’ she said. ‘Bring yerselves in and sit yerselves down at table. Tea’s ready.’
‘This is Ruth, Mother,’ Jack announced. ‘This is Billy, Sadie and Frankie, and the one almost smothered in feathers is Margaret.’
Ruth held out her hand. ‘How do you do, Mrs Dolan? I hope you are well.’
‘I could be better, but mustn’t grumble, there’s plenty a lot worse. Nice to meet yer, but I’m thinking I’ve met yer before.’
‘At chapel,’ Ruth reminded her.
The table was set as if for royalty with a beautiful willow-patterned service. There were plates piled high with sandwiches, as well as scones and a dish of red jam, a chocolate cake, and a jelly which had been turned out on to a tray.
‘Cor, look at that, Sadie,’ Frankie whispered. ‘It looks like a castle. I wonder how they made it?’
Jack laughed. ‘Magic,’ he said.
Mrs Dolan poured out the tea. ‘Help yerselves,’ she ordered. ‘We don’t stand on ceremony here.’
The sandwiches soon disappeared and the jelly was dished out into the willow-patterned dishes. A large jug of cream was brought in from the pantry and poured over the dessert. ‘Straight from the cows,’ Mrs Dolan announced. ‘The first one to see the rickety bridge in the bottom can have some more.’
The children gobbled up the jelly and cream. Ruth would have liked to remind them of their manners but Mrs Dolan was really to blame so she let it go.
‘I can see the bridge,’ Frankie cried.
‘And I can see a lovely lady with a fan,’ Sadie said.
‘Well then, I expect you’ll both be entitled to some more.’ There was nothing the good lady enjoyed more than seeing a child eating well, and as she knew Billy would consider himself too old for silly games she plopped another spoonful on to his dish without mentioning it. She was enjoying being able to entertain again. It reminded her of happier days in her youth, but that was before—She shied away from the memories, not allowing them to escape from the recess of her mind where they were locked away.
‘That was delicious,’ Ruth said. ‘Especially the scones. I can never get them to be all soft in the middle. They usually turn out more like biscuits.’
‘Aye, well, I expect I’ve had a lot more practice at my age.’
Jack left his mother and Ruth clearing the table and took the twins and Billy on a tour of the farm. Frankie wanted to see the horse and pigs, Billy the machinery and Sadie the lambs again.
Mrs Dolan weighed Ruth up. She supposed she was pleasant enough and got on with the dish washing without any fuss, but the prospect of sharing her kitchen with another woman filled her with alarm. The rows between her and Jack over the past weeks had seemed never-ending, and when they did end it was always with the same words, always spoken softly: ‘If she’ll have me, Mother, I’m going to marry her. If you don’t want her here I can always sell the farm, get yer a place of yer own and go and live with Ruth, or you can stay here on yer own.’ He knew she would never contemplate leaving the farm, which her father had worked all his life and her grandfather before him. Neither could she run the place without him, nor would she want to. Her son was all she had; he was a good lad, allus had been. Come to think of it, he was right to want to marry. Who would carry on the place when he had gone otherwise? But a widow with four childer. She shuddered at the thought of it.
She stacked the crockery carefully on the dresser. ‘Our Jack has a mind to marry you then?’
Ruth stopped what she was doing and turned to the woman. ‘Yes, though it’s a bit soon to my way of thinking,’ she said.
‘Yer’ll not find a better or kinder man.’
‘Oh, I know. It isn’t that,’ Ruth insisted. ‘It’s just that I haven’t known him long, and it’s a lot to take on, four children who aren’t his. He might regret it.’
‘He’s made up his mind, and once he has neither you nor me nor the man in the moon’ll change it.’
‘But it’s your home.’ Ruth searched for the right words. ‘How do you feel about another woman trespassing, so to speak?’
‘Nay, it’s not my home. Our Jack’s worked his guts out for the place, and what good would I be if he left? Neither use nor ornament.’
‘Well, what do you think I should do? Should I accept or not?’
‘Do yer love him?’
Ruth was astounded by the question and even more astounded when she answered without even needing to think about it. ‘Yes, I love him.’
‘Then marry him, lass. For he’ll never rest, now he’s made up his mind, until yer do.’
Ruth felt a weight drop from her, the weight of the past fifteen years. She smiled at the other woman who was too busy to notice, broddling the fire which didn’t need attending to at all. ‘Then I’ll marry him,’ she said. ‘That’s if you want me to.’
‘Yer’ll need some new beds for the young ’uns, and it’ll be a way for ’em to go to school, specially in’t winter.’
‘They’ll love it. After the place we’re living in at present it’ll seem like Heaven. And our Billy’ll soon be leaving school, and working.�
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‘There’ll be plenty of work here, I shouldn’t wonder.’
‘I …’ Ruth was suddenly overcome by shyness. ‘I’ll try not to intrude on your privacy. It’s your home, not mine. You must remember that, Mrs Dolan.’
‘Oh, I dare say I shall be glad of a bit of intrusion. It’s time I put me feet up and had a bit of a rest. I’m not getting any younger.’
It was only when the twins came flying in like a hurricane that Ruth wondered how she would manage to keep the children, especially the baby, quiet enough for Jack’s mother to have a bit of a rest. However, her mind was made up. If Jack loved her as she loved him she would marry him, and cross any bridges later. And she had no doubts about his loving her, none whatsoever.
Billy couldn’t believe they were to live at the farm and could hardly contain his impatience, but his mother insisted on waiting a decent number of weeks and the wedding was arranged for the beginning of July. Jack was determined Ruth would have a memorable wedding and had given her a sum of money to be spent on new clothes for herself and the family. She had gone to Sheffield with Emily one day when the children were at school and Alice was minding the baby, and had bought a length of cornflower blue crêpe de Chine for seven and six a yard, a pattern, buttons and thread from Cole Brothers, along with a remnant of white satin from which her mother would make a pretty bridesmaid’s dress for Sadie. They also bought shirts and shoes for the boys, before treating themselves to lunch in a nice little restaurant in Change Alley. Afterwards Emily purchased a new hat which when worn tilted to one side made her look quite flirtatious. They laughed a lot, and browsed around the market where they ate cockles and mussels served on tiny plates. Emily couldn’t help comparing her excitement about this wedding to the distress she had felt on the occasion of her daughter’s first marriage. This time everyone was happy to welcome Jack Dolan into the heart of the family.
Hubert Hancock could restrain himself no longer. What with board meetings and one obstacle after the other it was some weeks now since his visit to Mrs Wray’s. He straightened his tie, greased his hair and combed it over his bald patch before setting off along the river bank to Wire Mill Place. He kept a lookout in case anyone familiar should see him but the coast was clear. He was relieved to see no sign of Winnie Stedman as he tapped on the young widow’s door.
The Stanford Lasses Page 16