‘Oh, my dear Mrs Wray, so good to see you looking so much better.’ He wasn’t exaggerating. The woman was positively blooming.
Ruth stepped back in shock at the sight of the man on her doorstep, but he moved smartly into the house before she could close the door.
‘I just stopped by in case there were any repairs which have been overlooked, any improvements to be made?’
Ruth was tempted to say the place needed rebuilding if it was to be improved but thought better of it. ‘No, everything’s fine, thank you,’ she replied. She waited by the door, holding it open, but ignoring her he managed to seat himself comfortably by the fireplace.
‘I wouldn’t say no to a cup of tea,’ he drawled.
Ruth prayed silently, ‘Please, God, let me be rid of him,’ but the man remained in his place, his small, beady eyes drinking in every line of Ruth’s body, the high, swollen breasts, the narrow waist and the way the print dress fitted perfectly over her soft, rounded hips. She wished she didn’t need to pass him but the kettle was on the hob. She bent to pour the boiling water into the teapot and felt his hand linger on her buttock. He chuckled.
‘Whoops,’ he said, ‘I thought you were about to overbalance.’
‘No.’ She moved his hand forcefully. ‘I’m quite steady, thank you.’ Her face was burning with indignation, which only made her more attractive to the man.
‘Oh, yes, you certainly look much better. In fact you’re absolutely ravishing, and I could make you even more ravishing if you’d let me, my dear. A pretty new dress, silk stockings, satin underwear.’ He licked his lips and stood up, placing his hands on Ruth’s waist, turning her to face him. Suddenly his fat, slobbery mouth was over hers, his flabby body pressed into her. She struggled frantically to free herself, wondering how best to reject his advances. She knew the house was no longer important and would have been tempted to pick up the nearest heavy object as a weapon, but Billy’s promised job was still at stake. Though Joe decided whom to employ she knew his decision could be overturned, and would be, should she spurn the manager’s advances. Far better to keep within his good books until Billy was settled in his job.
‘Mr Hancock,’ she chided with as much flirtatiousness as she could muster, ‘what are you doing? And my husband only just buried.’ She wagged a finger at him. ‘We mustn’t lose our patience now, must we? After all, we’ve all the time in the world, but we must show a little respect. Now, drink your tea before it gets cold.’
Hubert Hancock fought against the burning desire within him. He mustn’t spoil his chances with this beautiful creature. He flopped down in his chair, attempting to regain his composure. ‘I do beg your pardon, my dear, it’s just that you’re the most charming woman I have ever come across. You understand, I’m sure.’
‘But what of your wife? Surely you wouldn’t wish to be unfaithful to her!’
The question was unexpected and he stammered as he searched for words. ‘Um, I, er, no, I have no wish to hurt her, but what the eye doesn’t see the heart doesn’t grieve over, as the saying goes. Besides, she doesn’t seem to mind me enjoying a life of my own.’ He didn’t want to discuss Sophie. That wasn’t what he was here for.
‘Really?’ Ruth gasped in amazement. ‘Then she must be a very understanding woman. Now I’m afraid I really must ask you to go, before my expected visitor arrives. We mustn’t let anyone know you’ve been here, must we?’
‘No. Oh, no, we mustn’t spoil things for another time.’ He fiddled with his braces, which held his trousers high up beneath his armpits. ‘There will be another time, my dear?’
Ruth smiled coquettishly as she held the door ajar. ‘Goodbye, Mr Hancock,’ she said.
‘Call me Hubert. Till a fortnight today, then.’ He cursed silently at having to wait another two weeks owing to prior engagements.
Ruth’s eyes widened as he dared to arrange another visit. Well at least now she knew when to expect him. She frowned as she wondered what could be done to discourage the repulsive man. ‘But what if someone finds you here? Surely you won’t wish to risk such a thing.’
He wouldn’t be dissuaded so easily. ‘Then we must be prepared, my dear. I shall simply say’ – he paused as if considering what he would say – ‘I shall say I have come about the position being offered to your son.’
Ruth didn’t reply. She held open the door and stiffened as she thought he was about to kiss her again. She stepped outside where he knew he would be seen if he attempted to come close to her. ‘Goodbye, Mr Hancock.’ She stressed the Mr. ‘I do think you should consider your wife’s feelings.’
Hubert Hancock merely smiled and hurried away towards the works yard. However, Ruth’s words had made him uneasy. This was the first time he had risked womanising here in Cottenly and he knew all hell would break loose if he should be found out. Though he was departmental manager he still had to answer to the upper management, all of whom were members of the chapel. In fact it had been Sophie’s connection with the chapel that was responsible for his promotion to his present position. Any hint of scandal on his part would be disastrous. Sophie turned a blind eye to many of his carryings-on away from home but he dreaded to think what might happen should he embarrass his wife in her own back yard, so to speak. He hurried back to the office, glancing furtively about until he reached the safety of his desk.
Ruth was torn between turning to Jack for assistance in dealing with Hubert Hancock or handling the situation herself. She was sure Jack would lose his temper and probably land himself in trouble by using violence towards the man. That would mean the end of Billy’s job prospects without a doubt, but what was the alternative? When Winnie returned from her Sisterhood meeting she was dismayed to learn of her young friend’s dilemma, not to mention the man’s visit during her absence. The two women decided to handle the problem of Hubert Hancock without Jack’s involvement and Winnie eventually thought of a possible solution.
Oblivious of Ruth’s problem, Jack Dolan was doing his utmost to involve his mother in arrangements for the wedding. He had tried persuading her to buy a new outfit from Caroline Swann’s and she had compromised by buying one from the Co-op on account of the divi. ‘Well, how do I look?’ she asked as she tried on the coat and hat, the first she had bought in years.
‘Very smart.’ Jack grinned. It was true, his mother did look smart. Her figure was lithe, probably because she was never still, though he wished she would smile more often, and he thought blue would have been more appropriate than the dismal brown which she seemed to wear day in and day out. Nevertheless she had made the effort. Jack frowned as he wondered how she would react to Ruth’s permanent presence in the kitchen, and he knew Ruth was wondering how best to deal with the situation. She had considered leaving the cooking to Mrs Dolan but thought the elder woman might find the job too much with an extra four mouths to feed, not counting the baby who was not yet fully weaned.
‘Do as yer like, lass,’ Jack had said. ‘The house will be yours once we’re married, and choose how you try I can’t see it suiting.’
‘Then I shall have to try and suit. I couldn’t bear to live in an atmosphere of unpleasantness, and after all it will be us who are intruding. Oh, Jack, I hope it will all work out.’
Jack simply waved her doubts aside. ‘We shall be together. That’ll make it all reight.’ As usual they had ended the discussion in one of the close embraces which were becoming increasingly more passionate and harder to resist. The feelings Jack awakened in Ruth were different entirely from any Walter had ever aroused in her, even in the early days, probably because this time there was a tenderness about Jack that had always been lacking in her husband. When he held her close all doubts about the future disappeared and she knew any problems would be halved when she shared them with Jack, and share them she would. She frowned as she remembered the problem of Hubert Hancock. She vowed it was the last secret she would ever keep from the man she loved so dearly.
Winnie Armitage looked over the top of the net curtain w
hich was hung across the salon window. She could see a couple of women with perming equipment attached to their heads and another under the dryer, and she recognised the drying head as that of Sophie Hancock. Good, she had timed it perfectly. She walked along the High Street and back again, then just as the hairdresser was lifting the hood from Sophie’s head she opened the door and entered the shop. The stench of perming lotion filled her nostrils as she walked to the reception desk and feigned surprise as she glanced at Sophie.
‘Well, if it isn’t Sophie. Well, what a surprise. I’ll bet you don’t remember me, but I’d have known you anywhere. You haven’t changed one bit.’
Sophie smiled and recalled her husband’s meeting with Winnie a few weeks ago. ‘Neither have you, Winnie, though we’re neither of us getting any younger, unfortunately.’
‘Oh, we’re only as old as we feel, Sophie. But when I think about the good old days they seem a million years away.’
‘But they were the good days,’ Sophie answered, for despite the easier living she now enjoyed she looked back on her early days with sincere fondness.
Winnie made an appointment for a set in readiness for Ruth’s wedding, and stood watching the hairdresser take out the metal clips from Sophie’s hair. ‘I’ll tell you what, Sophie, I’ve a picture at home of the whole class. Standard three, I think it was. You could pop along and look at it over a cup of tea. Unfortunately I’m due at the chapel this afternoon but I’ll tell you what, I’ll give it a miss next time and you must come along to our house. We’ll have a good old chinwag about the good old days.’
Sophie was delighted to be remembered by her old school chum and even more delighted to be accepted as a friend instead of being thought too la-di-da to congregate with the lower townsfolk. She didn’t hesitate to accept Winnie’s invitation. ‘I’d be delighted.’ She wondered what Hubert would say and decided not to tell him. He much preferred mixing with the toffee-nosed lot from the various clubs he attended.
‘Good.’ Winnie smiled. ‘Number one Wire Mill Place.’
Sophie cringed at the sound of Winnie’s address but no doubt the place would be spotless, knowing Winnie, and even if it wasn’t Sophie didn’t mind a bit of honest muck. After all, where would she have been today without the workers of the wire mill? She patted her hair into place, put on her hat and paid for her shampoo and set. Then she left with her old friend.
‘I’ll see you next week at two then.’ Winnie knew old Hancock wouldn’t arrive until after that.
‘I’ll look forward to that,’ Sophie said, and the women each went their separate ways, both of them smiling in anticipation.
Ruth was both dubious and nervous about the plan. Winnie said nothing could go wrong, providing Ruth left the door unlocked and remembered not to encourage the man in any way. Even so, the morning proved nerve-racking as Ruth waited for Hubert Hancock’s promised visit. She jumped when the knock fell on the door shortly after she had seen the man’s wife arrive at Winnie’s.
‘My dear,’ he enthused. ‘You look as beautiful as ever.’ He was through the door almost before Ruth had opened it.
‘I really don’t think you should be here,’ she warned.
‘I should find it most difficult to keep away.’ He rolled his fat body round the table and wedged himself in the chair. Ruth picked up the baby from her pram and cuddled her close. ‘A lovely child,’ he said, ‘but we mustn’t spoil her, must we?’ Ruth hugged her closer. ‘Why don’t we put her back in the pram and make ourselves comfortable?’
‘She’ll only cry. She’s teething,’ Ruth answered. She wished Mrs Armitage would hurry and put her plan into action.
Across the Place, Winnie was enjoying herself, anticipating the expression on the man’s fat, flabby face when he saw Sophie. She thought it was about time. ‘I’ll tell you what, Sophie, I’ll take you to meet a friend of mine, a lovely woman, a widow with four young children, about to marry again. She’d love to meet you, I know. You can have a look at her wedding dress. Her mother’s a fine needlewoman, sews for a lot of the houses in your area. I’m sure if you needed any sewing doing she’d be happy to oblige.’
Sophie Hancock was always interested in fine needlecraft and followed her friend over the yard to Ruth Wray’s. She wondered how anyone could be expected to put up with such dark, dismal buildings, and knew her husband had the power to insist on the places being modernised, if only he had been blessed with a little compassion for the less fortunate.
Winnie opened the door wide, making sure Sophie was in a position to witness the spectacle of young Ruth, cowering near the door with little Margaret in her arms. The girl looked frightened as Hubert Hancock loomed towards her. At the sight of his wife the lecherous grin changed dramatically to a look of bewilderment, but it was nothing compared to the expression on Sophie’s face. Winnie thought the woman would surely explode as she realised what her husband was up to. Having rehearsed the scene over and over, Winnie finally played her part. ‘Oh, I say, what a coincidence. I didn’t know he was here again. Are you all right, love?’ she asked Ruth anxiously.
‘Again?’ Sophie spat out the questions, one after the other. ‘Have you been here before? What for? Why aren’t you in the office?’
Ruth moved closer to Winnie’s side, a smile of relief lighting her lovely face. Hubert Hancock spluttered as he searched for an explanation.
‘I, er, I came to offer her son employment. When he’s ready, that is.’
‘What, twice?’ His wife showed her disbelief openly.
‘Yes, er, I mean no. Last time it was to offer Mrs Wray the tenancy, as a widow of one of our past employees.’
Sophie had regained her composure. She would wait until he came home tonight before giving him what for. But by God, he wouldn’t know what had hit him by the time she had done with him. ‘So will you continue to live here after your marriage, my dear?’ she asked. Ruth watched the fat face turn even more scarlet.
‘Married? I didn’t know there was anyone … I mean I didn’t know there was to be a wedding. That will obviously change things. We can’t allow the tenancy to be passed to someone not employed by the firm, you understand.’
‘Oh, I’m sure she understands,’ his wife said. ‘And as for your son, my dear,’ she turned to Ruth, ‘you do realise he will be paid a mere pittance until he is eighteen, whilst doing the work of a man?’ Hubert Hancock almost choked as he glowered at his interfering wife.
‘No, I won’t expect to live here after my marriage.’ Ruth smiled. ‘But as my son will be in need of employment, and as Mr Hancock has kindly offered our Billy a job, no doubt he’ll be pleased to accept, and I can promise he’ll work as hard as any man.’
‘Well, good luck to the boy then. I’m sure he’ll need it.’ Sophie shot a look of venom at her husband, ‘Well? You’ve promised the boy a job, what are you waiting for?’
Hubert Hancock hesitated not a moment longer. He wondered what his wife was doing in Wire Mill Place but he didn’t stop to find out. He nodded curtly at the ladies and hurried out and along the cobbles in the direction of the works.
‘And now,’ Sophie smiled, ‘perhaps I can take a look at your wedding dress.’
Ruth wondered what a nice woman like Sophie was doing saddled with an awful man like Hubert Hancock, and strangely enough Sophie was asking herself exactly the same question.
Chapter Six
‘Can I just say a few words if you’ve all finished eating?’ Isaac tapped the side of his glass with a spoon. ‘I’d just like to say what a pleasure it is for us all to be here together on the auspicious occasion of our Ruth and Jack’s wedding.’
‘Can I have some cake, Mam?’ Frankie’s voice rang out above the mutters of ‘Hear! hear!’.
‘In a minute, love, give us a chance to cut it. Grandad hasn’t finished speaking yet.’
‘I’d like to offer a toast to the happiness of our Ruth and Jack.’
‘To Ruth and Jack.’
‘Can I have some toast?’ F
rankie was ignored.
‘Come on, Jack! Give us a few words, lad.’
Jack Dolan wasn’t one for being in the limelight and he could feel his face burning as he rose to his feet, but Ruth squeezed his hand in encouragement. He began by clearing his throat. ‘Unaccustomed as I am to making wedding speeches, especially my own—’
‘I should hope so an’ all,’ Joe said to much laughter.
‘I should just like to say a few words, first of all to you, Alice, for this lovely spread you’ve laid on for us today.’
‘Nay, lad, it were thee who supplied poultry.’
‘Aye, but it’s you who cooked it, and a grand job you made of it too.’ He paused and looked round the room. ‘Next I’d like to thank Billy for giving his mam away, and to reassure him I shall look after her to the best of my ability and welcome them all warmly into their new home. Next I’d like to thank Sadie for being the prettiest bridesmaid ever to walk into Cottenly chapel.’ Sadie covered her face with her napkin and giggled. ‘Oh, and Mrs Armitage, for looking after Margaret whilst we got through the ceremony, and for being such a good friend to Ruth when she needed one. I know she’s going to miss her a lot.’
‘Eeh, it was a pleasure, I’m sure.’ Winnie wiped her eyes as the tears brimmed over and ran down her cheeks.
‘What about me?’ Frankie didn’t like being left out.
‘Don’t worry, Frankie, I haven’t forgotten you. If you hadn’t fallen in the river in the first place I’d never have got talking to yer mam. Not that I hadn’t noticed her, knelt down scrubbing the doorstep every week. I used to time it specially so I could have a good look at her. In fact I fell for her backside long before I saw her face.’
The Stanford Lasses Page 17