Lily at Lissadell

by Judi Curtin

  I turned to Nellie, but she was just standing there, holding her feather duster and looking like a statue of a housemaid. Her face was blank, but she can’t have been very happy. If I were in her position, I think I would be nearly spitting with jealousy.

  ‘Lily? Are you coming or not?’ asked Maeve.

  She sounded impatient, but I didn’t know what to do. How could I go away leaving Nellie to do all the work on her own? How could I go on an adventure to the beach, when Nellie never went anywhere at all?

  I took a deep breath and rushed the words out before I could change my mind.

  ‘Maybe you could take Nellie out instead of me, Maeve. I’ll go and tell Mrs Bailey, but I’m sure she won’t mind, as long as one of us is here – and we’ve done the most important jobs already – and I can easily manage what’s left.’

  ‘But, Lily, you’re the one I’ve invited,’ said Maeve. ‘Don’t you want to come with me?’

  ‘Of course I want to come,’ I said. ‘But …’

  ‘It’s all right, Lily,’ said Nellie. ‘Don’t worry about me. You go and have fun with Miss Maeve.’

  I felt as if I was being torn in two. Nellie wasn’t being mean or sarcastic – she really wanted me to enjoy myself. She must have thought that life was very unfair, though, since I got so many things that seemed to be out of her reach.

  I stared at Maeve, hoping she’d understand what was going on. ‘Take Nellie with you to the beach,’ I said. ‘Please.’

  I could see that Maeve was disappointed, and a little bit of me was happy about that – I was glad that she still saw me as her special friend. She wasn’t pleased, but she couldn’t say anything without insulting Nellie – and she was much too polite to do that.

  ‘As you wish,’ she said. ‘We’d better all go down to Mrs Bailey and get this sorted out.’

  Maeve skipped out the door while Nellie and I quickly gathered up the newspapers and our dusters and sweeping brushes. As we headed for the back stairs, I noticed that she was shaking all over. Was she excited, or was she terrified? I was trying to be nice, but maybe I had made a huge mistake.

  ‘Are you happy about the day out, Nellie?’ I asked.

  ‘You’re being so kind and I don’t deserve it – I don’t deserve any of it.’

  ‘Of course you do,’ I said. ‘But are you happy?’

  ‘I’m not sure. The thought of me going to the seaside in a motor car … I’m happy about that … but what will I say to Miss Maeve? I’m not chatty like you. I’ll say something stupid and she’ll laugh at me … and …’

  ‘Maeve is nice,’ I said. ‘She won’t laugh at you.’

  I couldn’t say any more as now we were at the door of Mrs Bailey’s study, where Maeve was waiting for us. She knocked, and a second later Mrs Bailey was standing in the doorway looking at us. ‘Well, well,’ she said, smiling at Maeve. ‘A delegation – this must be important.’

  ‘It is, Mrs Bailey,’ said Maeve. ‘You know I told you I was taking Lily out for the day? Well, she has suggested that I take Nellie instead, so I wanted to make sure that’s all right with you.’

  Mrs Bailey looked at the three of us for a long time. Nellie was still shaking, and I was trying not to cry at the thought of the opportunity I’d just given up. I might live to be a hundred and never again have the chance to go in a motor car.

  ‘Have you finished in the dining room and drawing room?’ asked Mrs Bailey.

  ‘Yes,’ said Nellie and I together, though the drawing room hadn’t had much of a going-over.

  ‘I had hoped you girls would empty and tidy the linen press this afternoon,’ she said.

  ‘I can easily do that on my own,’ I said quickly.

  Mrs Bailey smiled. ‘I’m sure you could, but I think perhaps the linen press can wait for another day.’

  ‘So what would you like me to do instead?’ I asked, hoping it wouldn’t be something horrible and dirty like cleaning out the coal buckets.

  ‘Miss Maeve, I presume there’s room in that motor car for both Lily and Nellie?’

  ‘Of course,’ said Maeve. ‘More than enough.’

  I could hardly believe my ears.

  ‘You mean we can both go?’ I asked.

  Mrs Bailey patted my shoulder. ‘I think we can manage without you for one day. Delia can be spared from the kitchen if anything important comes up – and you and Nellie can work twice as hard tomorrow.’

  This was a perfect solution. I could go on the trip, and both Maeve and Nellie would be happier with me there. I couldn’t stop myself. I hugged Mrs Bailey and gave her a big kiss on the cheek.

  She was embarrassed, but I think a little bit pleased too.

  ‘You’re only young once,’ she said. ‘Go and have a good time – and mind you have those girls back in time to light the bedroom fires tonight, Miss Maeve.’

  ‘I promise,’ said Maeve. ‘Now Lily and Nellie, you go and get changed, and I’ll see you in the porte cochere in ten minutes.’

  Maeve went upstairs and Nellie ran along the corridor towards our room, but Mrs Bailey took my arm and held me back. Had she changed her mind already?

  ‘That’s a very nice thing you tried to do for Nellie,’ she said. ‘You’re a kind girl.’

  ‘Thank you Mrs Bailey,’ I said. Mam always says it’s rude to boast about good things you do, but it’s a lovely feeling when someone notices anyway. I sang a little song to myself as I skipped towards my room.

  * * *

  It didn’t take me long to decide what to wear. I pulled my Sunday best dress from the press, and put it on. When I was ready, Nellie was still standing in the middle of the room, holding her only dress, a sad, limp-looking thing of faded grey cotton.

  ‘I can’t go in the motor car in this dress,’ she said. ‘Miss Maeve will feel ashamed to be seen with me.’

  Maeve was a fine lady who didn’t have to be ashamed of anything, but I knew that nothing I could say would make Nellie change her mind.

  ‘Here,’ I said, pulling my other dress from the press. ‘Wear this – and no arguing or Maeve will go without us.’

  When Nellie was dressed, I brushed her curly red hair and used one of my clips to hold it back from her face.

  ‘You look beautiful,’ I said. She smiled shyly and her cheeks went pink, and she looked like a lovely girl in a painting.

  Then we both put on our winter coats and ran upstairs.

  * * *

  Nellie and I stood awkwardly in the porte cochere. Albert didn’t notice us – he was busy polishing the bumpers, which were already so shiny I could see my face in them. I was afraid of touching anything – I didn’t want to leave my fingerprints anywhere. I wondered if this whole thing was a very bad idea. What business did girls like us have, going off in this big car?

  I looked at Nellie, and was about to say that maybe we should go back inside, put on our uniforms and start tidying the linen press. The scared look on her face told me she wouldn’t argue. Before I could say a word though, Maeve appeared and closed the front door behind her.

  ‘This is so nice,’ she said. ‘We’re going to have a lovely day, I simply know it.’

  And when I heard those words, I knew I shouldn’t be scared. So what if Maeve was wearing a fine cloak with a real fur collar, while Nellie’s coat and mine were patched and worn? Maeve was a just girl like us, and we all deserved to have a nice time every now and then.

  ‘All ready?’ asked Albert, and when Maeve nodded, he opened the back door of the car and held it so Nellie and I could climb in. He might have been surprised to be driving two housemaids around, but he was decent enough not to show it. Nellie and I sat back on the lovely black leather seats. Albert handed us each a thick rug to put over our knees, and then he closed the door.

  Maeve climbed into the front seat, Albert started the engine and off we went.

  Chapter Nineteen

  At first I was absolutely terrified. The wind was blowing my hair all around my face, and I clung onto the side of
the car with both hands, afraid that we’d go over a bump and we’d all fall out and die. I turned to look at Nellie, ready to give her one of my hands to hold, but she was laughing as if this was the most fun she’d ever had in her whole life. I’d never noticed before that she’s much braver than I am.

  Before long I got used to the wind and the noise and the bumping and I started to enjoy myself. I couldn’t wait to tell Denis and Jimmy about this – but I wondered if they’d even believe me.

  ‘How fast are we going?’ I shouted.

  Albert pointed at a dial on the front of the car. ‘Fifteen miles an hour,’ he said.

  I’m quite good at arithmetic, but the numbers didn’t seem to make any sense. Fifteen miles in one hour is so fast – if I had a car of my own, I’d be able to go home to Mam for dinner every single day. (But I suppose if I was rich enough to own a car, I’d buy a fine house for Mam and we’d live there together and I’d never again have to be a housemaid.)

  For a while no one said anything. I was happy to look at the countryside racing by, and watch the cows in the fields, who paid no attention to us at all, and didn’t seem to care that I was having the most exciting day of my life.

  After a while, Nellie began to sing. I’d never heard her sing before, and had no idea what a beautiful voice she had. I looked at her in surprise, but she just shrugged as if to tell me that there were lots of things about her that I didn’t know. I’m not the best singer in the world, but I joined in anyway, and after a minute, so did Maeve and Albert, and we were a jolly group as we made our way along the road.

  We were in Rosses Point in no time. Maeve, Nellie and I climbed down from the motor car, and at first I felt a bit dizzy, as if I’d been on a roundabout. Maeve looked as if nothing much had happened, but Nellie was smiling so much I thought her face might crack.

  ‘I have to run a few errands for Sir Josslyn,’ said Albert. ‘I’ll see you young ladies back here at four o’clock. How does that sound?’

  It sounded good to me, except I wondered how we were supposed to know when it was four o’clock.

  Then Maeve pulled up the sleeve of her dress and I saw that she was wearing a beautiful wristwatch. ‘Lucky I borrowed this from Aunt Mary, then, isn’t it,’ she said. ‘Thank you, Albert. See you later.’

  We watched as Albert drove away, and when he disappeared around a bend I felt a sudden sense of freedom.

  ‘It’s only ten to twelve,’ said Maeve. We have more than four whole hours. What shall we do first?’

  ‘Beach,’ said Nellie and I together.

  ‘Beach it is,’ said Maeve. ‘Let’s go.’

  * * *

  For a minute I felt sad, as we walked along the track to the beach. Last time I’d walked along those stones I’d been holding my daddy’s big warm hand, and now I missed him very much. But Daddy always loved singing and fun and games and I knew he’d want me to be happy, so I pushed the sad thoughts away and started to run towards the sea with my friends.

  We took off our shoes and stockings and put them in a pile on the sand. Then we raced each other to the water’s edge. Nellie was the first to hold up her skirt and paddle, jumping up and down with the shock of the cold. Maeve and I followed her and I gasped. The water was really and truly like ice wrapped around my feet, but it was fun, so we paddled for ages. I showed the girls how to skim stones, and we did that for a while, and then, when our feet were nearly blue from the cold, we came out of the water.

  ‘Last one to that pile of stones is a rotten egg,’ said Nellie. I wondered who had taken my shy, prim friend and replaced her with this laughing girl, but I couldn’t wonder for too long because she’d already started to run. The three of us got to the stones at the same time, and we collapsed onto the sand, breathless and laughing.

  * * *

  When we were rested, we went for a walk in the sand dunes. Nellie and I had put our sturdy boots back on, and Maeve didn’t seem to care that her pretty shoes were getting ruined. It must be nice to have so many shoes that you need a special press to keep them in, and don’t care if one pair is spoiled by the sand.

  ‘You’ve got a beautiful singing voice, Nellie,’ said Maeve, as we walked along.

  ‘Thank you,’ said Nellie. ‘I love singing. I know lots of tunes, but I’d like to learn the words to more songs.’

  ‘That’s easy to arrange,’ said Maeve. ‘There are lots of song books in my house at Ardeevin. I’ll get a few for you next time I go there.’

  I stopped walking. Poor Nellie – this was so embarrassing for her. What was she going to do now?

  ‘That’s very kind of you,’ she said. ‘But I wouldn’t want you to waste your time. You see, I’m not very good at reading, and I could never read the big words in a song book. Lily is teaching me though, and maybe one day……’

  ‘I’m sorry, Nellie. I didn’t realize,’ said Maeve. ‘Let me know when you’re ready and I’ll bring some books for you.’

  Then she ran ahead of us along a narrow path.

  ‘That must have been hard for you, Nellie,’ I said. ‘Telling Maeve about your reading.’

  ‘Not really.’ I was surprised, remembering how she had tried to keep the truth from me, but then she continued. ‘I used to think I was stupid, but since you’ve been teaching me, and I’ve learned so much, I know that’s not true. None of this is my fault. If you’d been my teacher all along, I’d probably be the best reader in Ireland by now.’

  I smiled. My dream of being a teacher might never come true, but in one small way I had changed Nellie’s life.

  * * *

  When we caught up with Maeve, she was kneeling behind a big grassy mound.

  ‘Shhh,’ she whispered. ‘It’s a baby hare.’

  We crouched next to her and saw the tiny creature sitting in the middle of an open patch of grass.

  ‘What’s it doing out there all on its own?’ I said. ‘It won’t stand a chance if a fox or a bird decides it wants it for its dinner.’

  ‘You’re right,’ said Maeve. ‘It might be hurt, and we have to help it.’

  The three of us walked towards the tiny animal. It blinked its huge brown eyes at us, but it didn’t move, and we knew it must be injured somehow.

  ‘Pick it up, Lily,’ said Maeve.

  It was only tiny, but I was afraid. ‘You pick it up,’ I said, but Maeve didn’t move either.

  ‘I’ll do it,’ said Nellie as she bent down and picked up the hare. It was like a small bundle of fur, with its long ears pressed down towards its brown, speckled back.

  I stroked it gently, and noticed that it was trembling. For a second I felt angry at the fine gentlemen who came to Lissadell to shoot poor little animals like this. What chance did they have against grown up men with guns?

  ‘We have to find a safe place to leave it,’ said Nellie. So we went to where the grass grew thickly, and Maeve pulled out handfuls to make a safe hollow for the tiny creature.

  ‘Be a good little hare, and rest there until you feel better,’ said Nellie as she lay the hare in its new home.

  ‘And stay away from Uncle Josslyn and his hollow cow,’ said Maeve as we walked away.

  ‘What on earth do you mean?’ I asked.

  Maeve giggled. ‘Didn’t you know? Uncle J has made himself a life-size model of a cow. He puts it in a field and hides himself inside it, so he can shoot unsuspecting birds and animals who come near him.’

  I felt sorry for the poor birds and other animals, but the thought of the serious Sir Josslyn climbing inside the fake cow was hilarious.

  ‘Does he bring a fake bear when he goes to the Arctic?’ I asked. ‘And when he goes to Africa, he could bring a fake elephant, which would be grand as there’d be room for all his friends too.’

  Maeve laughed for a long time. ‘You’re so funny,’ Lily,’ she said.

  I smiled. I was glad that Nellie was with us, and having a good time, but I was glad too that Maeve still liked me the best.

  * * *

  ‘I sh
ould have asked cook to make us a picnic,’ said Maeve. ‘I’m starving.’

  I was starving too, and four o’clock seemed very far away. In summer and autumn I’m good at finding berries and nuts in the woods, but in December, on a beach …

  ‘We’ll just have to find a tea-room,’ said Maeve casually.

  Nellie and I looked at each other. A tea-room is all very well for rich people like Maeve, but Nellie and I didn’t have any money. (And even if I’d brought money with me, how could I spend my precious wages on fine food?)

  ‘My treat,’ said Maeve. ‘Come along. I can’t have you starving to death – Mrs Bailey would never forgive me.’

  I don’t like taking charity, but I don’t like being hungry either, so I took Nellie’s arm and we followed Maeve into the village.

  * * *

  The tea-room was very pretty, with linen tablecloths and fine china on all the tables. The only other customer was a man in a corner, reading a newspaper. I read the headline and saw that it was about the hungry strikers in Dublin. I wanted to tell him that Maeve’s mam was the famous Countess Markievicz, who was probably at that minute peeling carrots and turnips to make soup for the poor children. I knew Maeve wouldn’t like that though, so I kept my mouth shut.

  The waitress showed us to a table, and took our coats. I was embarrassed at how shabby mine was, but the waitress didn’t seem to notice or care.

  When we were comfortably seated, she came back with a menu for each of us. Nellie opened hers and looked at it for a long time.

  ‘I can see the word “tea”,’ she said proudly. ‘And look, there it is again.’

  Maeve leaned over, and helped her to read another few words, and Nellie beamed when she read a whole line all by herself. I couldn’t concentrate on the words though – all I could see were the prices. What would Mam say if she thought people paid this much for tea and little bits of food?

  Should Nellie and I just order the cheapest thing on the menu to eat? If we asked for a glass of water, would Maeve have to pay for that?