by Maggie Hope
‘Oh yes, Father, we both know that.’ Tom took Ada’s hand and held it to him. Feeling her slight tremble, he smiled tenderly at her.
‘What a good thing Ada decided to train as a nurse,’ his father went on. ‘She will be specially helpful to you. And in the meantime you will both be busy and have enough to occupy yourselves, the time will fly by. Now, let’s go and tell the family.’
Mrs Gray congratulated them quietly. ‘I’m so happy for you both, my dears,’ she said. Virginia said little; although she had encouraged them in the summer, she had not really thought the romance would go so far. From her face, Ada knew she wasn’t sure about it.
‘Aren’t you glad for us, Virginia?’ Tom had seen her doubts and as usual came straight to the point.
‘Oh, Tom, if you’re happy, then I’m happy,’ she answered, but Ada noticed that she didn’t actually offer felicitations to her.
‘Come on, dear,’ Dr Gray said to his wife. We’ll have a glass of that rather fine sherry to toast the betrothed couple.’
Tom had dismissed Virginia’s hesitation at once, so Ada decided to forget about it too. Virginia loved her brother; perhaps she was a little jealous of someone else taking first place in his affections. But that inevitably had to come some time. Virginia would come round.
They had a party to celebrate the engagement on the evening before Virginia was to go back to school and Tom to Newcastle, where the medical faculty of Durham University was situated.
Ada had a few qualms about it when it was first suggested, but Tom and Virginia were keen on the idea. Enthusiastically, Virginia began to plan what she would wear. She also thought she should have a say in arranging the guest list.
‘I think that is up to Tom and Ada, Virginia, it is after all their party,’ Mrs Gray said firmly when Virginia began suggesting her school friends.
‘Oh, but surely I can ask my friends too?’ Virginia protested. ‘Ada has no one she wants to ask, and we’ll need some girls. Tom’s friends are all boys.’
Ada thought about Eliza, the only friend she would have liked to invite. But even if Eliza were able to leave her children, she would be so much out of her own environment that she would be embarrassed, she knew. Ada would be uncomfortable herself, she thought, out of her depth, despite what she had learned in the last few months. And what on earth was she going to wear? She had a good home with the Grays, but until she was actually working at the hospital and earning, no matter how small the sum, she had no money for clothes, not the sort she would need. How could she compare with Virginia’s friends?
‘Ada? What do you think, can I invite a couple of friends from school? They can stay here overnight and we’ll travel back together.’
‘Of course, Virginia, it’ll be fun for you. And it’s true, I have no one to ask.’
Virginia jumped up. ‘I’ll write to them now,’ she said. ‘It’ll be grand. Oh, thank you, Ada, I knew you’d back me up.’ She smiled brilliantly at Ada and rushed from the room.
Ada watched her go. Sometimes she found it hard to understand Virginia – was she pleased about the engagement or not? Tom came up behind her and put a proprietorial arm around her shoulders.
‘You’re not sad, are you, Ada? You look a little sad.’
Ada shook off her mood and smiled warmly at him. ‘No, of course not,’ she said. ‘Why should I be sad? I’m the happiest girl in the world.’ And Tom was satisfied.
In the event, Ada need not have worried about clothes. On the evening of the party, as she gazed at her reflection in her dressing-table mirror, she looked very fine indeed, she thought happily. The dress was a deep blue, almost violet, the colour of her eyes, and had snowy, white lace at the collar and cuffs. The narrow sash was low on her hips in the new fashion and tied at the back in a bow. It was a betrothal gift from Mrs Gray and the finest dress she had ever seen, never mind owned. Mrs Gray, quiet though she was, had guessed immediately what Ada’s dilemma was and she came up with the ideal present.
Ada’s eyes glowed excitement. She felt so good in the dress that she could hardly wait to show it off – to Tom, of course, she reminded herself. For a moment there her thoughts had slipped to someone else. Firmly she set her mind on Tom. It was him she wanted to impress. Oh, she would make him a good wife, she would. But that was ages away. Picking up her crystal beads which had been Virginia’s Christmas present, she clasped them round her neck and went downstairs feeling, as her grannie would have said, grand enough to invite the queen to tea.
Virginia was dressed in pink, which set off her fair curls to perfection. In the end, she had invited two school friends. The noise from her bedroom as they dressed for the party together resounded all over the house.
‘Are you sure there’s no one, dear, that you would like to ask?’ Mrs Gray had said when they were alone together one day.
‘No, no one,’ Ada had replied, silently sending another longing thought to Eliza. When the time came for the wedding, Eliza and the two boys would be invited, she was determined on that. Meanwhile, she would go to West Auckland to see her friend, the day after the party, perhaps, when Tom and Virginia had gone. Ada was to begin work at the hospital at the start of the next week, so there might not be another chance for a while.
The party was a great success. Virginia’s two friends sat together and giggled a lot, and at first Christopher and Gerald, Tom’s fellow students, were very correct, addressing the doctor as ‘sir’ and answering his questions politely. Virginia was not inhibited at all, she was happy and excited and flirted outrageously with Christopher, who slowly began to rise to her bait.
Ada watched, feeling years older than the giggling schoolgirls, though in fact there was little difference in their ages. Dr Gray looked amused and Mrs Gray slightly disapproving, though she didn’t say anything. After dinner, the party livened up considerably. They removed to the drawing room, where the phonograph was brought out, the carpet rolled up and Tom played his collection of ragtime. After a few moments, the older Grays left for the comparative quiet of the small sitting room.
‘You look adorable tonight,’ Tom whispered, bending his head to Ada’s, his eyes full of love. Tightening his hold on her waist, he drew her to him as they danced. Ada had not danced before but after a few wrong moves her natural sense of rhythm took over and she found she was fitting her steps to his easily. The tune ended and Tom reluctantly loosed his hold on her as the distant sound of the doorbell rang through the house.
‘I’ll get it!’ Virginia, full of bouncy life, flew into the hall and called to her parents, ‘It’s probably a call-out, Daddy, poor you.’ Her pink skirts rustled as she passed the hall mirror. Glancing in it, she was satisfied with the pretty picture she made. She was still wearing a pleased smile when she opened the door.
‘Good evening. I’m looking for Miss Leigh. Miss Ada Leigh?’ A tall, well-dressed stranger, auburn-haired and handsome, smiled down at her courteously, his hat in his hand. Virginia’s cheeks dimpled; he was so good-looking, she thought. The glass of champagne she had drunk to toast her brother’s engagement added to the sparkle in her eyes as she looked at him. For a moment she didn’t answer.
‘I was told I would find her here? Miss Leigh? Oh, I’m sorry, my name is Fenwick, John Fenwick, here’s my card.’ He offered her the thin piece of card and she took it, staring at it, her mind racing.
‘But – you can’t be! Ada said Johnny Fenwick was dead.’ She stared up at him in consternation and the sparkle left her eyes.
‘Ada said what? Oh, look here, there must be some mistake. She must have meant someone else.’ His brow creased in perplexity as Virginia made no move to invite him inside. ‘She’s here then? May I speak to her?’
There was an awkward moment. The tinny strains of Scott Joplin came from the direction of the drawing room, accompanied by happy, laughing voices. Johnny tried again.
‘Look, I have a note here from Ada. I know it was written a long time ago but there was some delay in my receiving it. I went to
Gilesgate but Mrs Dunne told me she was here. Er, you are Miss Gray, are you not?’
‘Yes. Virginia Gray. I remember the letter, she told me about it, but that was ages ago. She went to Middlesbrough and they told her you were dead.’
Johnny frowned. ‘I can’t think how that happened. Unless … It was about the time my brother died, there must have been some misunderstanding. Oh, poor Ada, what a shock she must have had! Will you tell her I’m here? I must explain to her.’
Virginia’s thoughts were in a turmoil. She hadn’t been too happy at the idea of Tom marrying Ada, but on the other hand, if she should jilt him, it didn’t bear thinking about. Tom did love Ada, and she must protect him from this man.
‘No!’ she said firmly and closed the vestibule door behind her, cutting them off from the rest of the house. ‘You can’t see her tonight, not now. You’ll spoil everything.’
‘What on earth are you talking about?’ Johnny was becoming impatient with this girl.
‘Well …’ Virginia searched for a reason desperately. It had to be a good reason, a reason which would stop Johnny ever coming back again. He was a threat to her brother’s happiness, she couldn’t allow it.
‘Well?’ Johnny’s expression was determined, he took a step forward and raised an eyebrow enquiringly.
‘She’s engaged to be married!’ Virginia could think of nothing better than the truth. And, after all, it was a good reason. ‘This is her engagement party.’ Laughter could be heard from the house as the phonograph fell silent, the sound of young people enjoying themselves. ‘You can hear how happy they are. Ada’s going to marry my brother, they love each other. And I don’t want you coming in upsetting things.’
Johnny stepped back, his eyes suddenly bleak. ‘Oh. Oh, well, then,’ he murmured and stood biting his lower lip, unsure whether to insist on seeing Ada or take Virginia at her word and go away.
‘Virginia! Who is it?’ Mrs Gray called from the hall. ‘Is everything all right?’
‘Go on!’ Virginia hissed. ‘You don’t want to cause any trouble, do you? Trouble for Ada?’
‘No, no, of course not. If Ada is happy …’ Johnny turned on his heel and strode away, jamming his hat on his head as he went.
‘Who was that, Virginia?’ The vestibule door opened behind her just as Johnny disappeared around the corner at the entrance to the drive.
‘Oh, no one. Well, only a salesman and I got rid of him.’
‘A salesman, on a Saturday evening! Really,’ her mother said crossly. ‘Well, do come in now, I don’t want you to catch cold in that flimsy dress.’
Virginia watched Tom’s face as she entered the drawing room. It was so close to Ada’s, so adoring, he was wrapped up in her. She knew she had done the right thing and dismissed Johnny from her thoughts along with the slight feeling of guilt. Soon she was flirting with Christopher again and he was gazing into her face with an open admiration which she found very exciting.
Johnny climbed into his car and hurried away from the house and from Durham City. He felt very despondent and couldn’t understand why. He should be glad that Ada had found happiness, God knew she deserved it. But ever since Fred had died, in the back of his mind there had been this small longing to see Ada. It was always there, like an aching tooth. He had told himself that it was because he had to reassure himself she was all right, and now he knew she was. In fact she was more than all right, her future was rosier than it had ever been. So why did he feel as he did?
She’s still a child, a young girl, he told himself. How could she be in love and engaged to be married? Sixteen, not seventeen until May, that was how old she was. He remembered that birthday in Finkle Street when he had brought her ribbons, how pleased she had been. Johnny sighed. Sixteen, he realised, was old enough. He remembered that day in the park, was it last April? How sweet she had been that afternoon! He could remember the feel of her tiny waist as he swung her up in the air, and the way she had laughed. There was a vitality about Ada when she was happy, enhanced by the piquant expression she had had even as a small girl. Johnny smiled fondly. Dear little Ada! If she loved young Gray, then he was happy for her. So why did he feel so bereft?
Like a shaft of light on his shattered thoughts, the reason came to him. He loved her himself! He didn’t want her to marry anyone else, he wanted to marry her himself. Even though he had seen so little of her since he left Bishop Auckland, he loved her.
Johnny stopped the car and sat in the quiet dark, thinking. He would turn back, he would insist on seeing her, he wasn’t going to give in without a fight. She couldn’t love this Gray, he knew she loved him. But did she? Ada must have grown up a lot in this past year. She might see things differently now. Groaning, he laid his head against the cool windshield.
He had nothing to offer Ada. She would be better off with young Gray. Since Fred died, Johnny was on his own, he had to make his own way. His bright future was in ruins.
Reluctantly, Johnny started the car again, savagely turning the handle until the engine burst into life. If only he had come sooner! What a fool he had been! He continued on to Middlesbrough, regretting lost opportunities. He had been blind to his own true feelings. Well, he would go to Canada, he decided. Best to get right away – away from Middlesbrough and his lost hopes, away from the temptation of trying to seek out Ada.
Arriving home at last, Johnny drove the car round the back of the house and parked it in what had been the stables. He climbed out and looked down at the car. He had been so pleased when he had first got it, but now it too had to go. Really, it belonged to the business, not to him.
Well, regrets would get him nowhere, he mused. He had to put it all behind him and start a new life. Without knowing it, Johnny began whistling a tune Ada used to sing as she worked, ‘O, tell me pretty maiden, are there any more at home like you,’ as he walked to the house. His new life, he vowed, would be every bit as successful as his brother’s had been, at least with regard to business. He was young and strong and he had a good working knowledge of all aspects of the iron and steel industry, thanks to his hard grounding at the ironworks in Auckland and later in the family steelworks. He had experience of management and some great ideas in designing. He would succeed, there were plenty of opportunities in the New World for a determined young man such as he. Realising what he was whistling, he stopped abruptly. Goodness, he hadn’t thought he would remember that tune, it was so old now.
Johnny took the stairs two at a time and immediately got out his trunk and began packing. He would sail next evening on the boat leaving Liverpool for New York, journeying on to Canada from there. But first he had to break the news to Dinah.
‘But why, Johnny?’ Dinah was distressed after dinner that night, she couldn’t understand why he was deserting the family. ‘Why now, surely you could be of great help to Stephen? Don’t you owe him something? And me, aren’t you sorry to be leaving me?’
‘Yes, of course I am,’ Johnny answered. Dinah had been so kind to him ever since he was a young boy, but how could he tell her it was her own son who was pushing him out? Best to let her think it was his own decision. He knew Dinah loved him as she would have loved any brother of Fred’s, and that she was unhappy at his going, hurt at the betrayal, as she saw it.
‘Oh, Dinah, I will always remember you with love and affection,’ he said tenderly, ‘but I have to make my own way now. I’ll write to you and let you know where I am. Please don’t fret, Dinah. You have Stephen and Arthur, you’ll be all right.’
And with this, Dinah had to be content. She still had her illusions about the boys, at least, Johnny thought, as he drove away to the station next morning, waved off by a tearful Dinah and a triumphant Stephen, who was hard put to it to keep the satisfaction from his face.
Chapter Sixteen
This time Ada took the train directly to West Auckland and followed the directions Eliza had given her in her last letter. There was a mile to walk out to Hummerbeck and up the bank after the hamlet; though the weather w
as cold, it was dry, so she quite enjoyed her walk out. When she at last reached the little farmhouse she had some misgivings about knocking. There was no smoke coming from the chimney and all she could hear was a pig squealing from the pigsty attached to the nearest end of the house. Maybe she should have written to Eliza and told her she was coming, but it had been a spur-of-the-moment decision, there had been no time. And in two days’ time she had to report to the hospital for her new job.
Hesitantly, Ada walked up the dirt path which skirted the long, low building and knocked at the door, but there was no response. Undecided what to do, she walked round the side of the house to see if anyone was there.
‘Here, what do you want?’
The truculent voice came from a man in filth-encrusted overalls who was tipping pigswill over the half-gate of the sty into a trough.
Ada wrinkled her nose at the smell and his scowl deepened. He put the bucket down and strode towards her, eyeing her up and down.
‘Well?’
‘I’m looking for Eliza Maxwell, she lives here, doesn’t she?’
‘Oh, aye, she lives here, what do you want with her?’
This must be Eliza’s brother-in-law, Ada surmised. She wasn’t surprised now that Eliza had hesitated before taking up his offer. He didn’t seem too friendly.
‘I’m her friend, her friend from Durham. Eliza wrote and told me she had moved up here. Is she about the place?’
‘No, she’s not.’ He seemed to think that the conversation was ended. Turning on his heel, he went to the back door.
‘But where is she?’ Ada demanded. What a surly, horrible man, she thought.
‘She’s working, out selling the milk. Where else would she be? Some people haven’t time to go gallivanting all over the country.’ He regarded her sourly.