Primrose Square

by Anne Douglas

  I’d better tell Ma, she decided, once again hurrying to the class, this time carrying boxes of her precious mince pies under her arm. I’ll ask her what she thinks Dad would say. It would be good to tell her, anyway. Never before had Elinor really had secrets from her.

  As soon as she entered the high school that last evening of the Christmas term, she sensed the different atmosphere about the place. Everywhere was decorated with children’s paper chains and streamers, and the students in the classrooms were all sporting paper hats and laughing and teasing, even though their tutors were desperately trying to keep order on the last festive evening. This was a time to have some fun, obviously.

  It was the same in Stephen’s room, of course, where Pearl was placing a paper hat on his fair head, while Tam and others, even Brenda, laughed and clapped, and his desk was already piled with a great spread of sandwiches, sausage rolls, small savouries, cakes and bottles of lemonade.

  ‘Heavens, I’m no’ late, am I?’ Elinor cried, her eyes on Stephen, who was doing his best to seem at ease.

  ‘No, no, come in, we’re early, Miss Rae,’ he answered, pulling himself away from the students around him and snatching off his paper hat. ‘We were just about to begin the lesson.’

  ‘Ah, have a heart, Mr Muirhead!’ Tam shouted, taking Elinor’s boxes from her arms and opening one to inspect the contents. ‘See these grand mince pies Elinor’s brought? You canna expect us to have a lesson with all this food driving us crazy!’

  ‘The rule is, we do some work first,’ Stephen returned firmly. ‘Don’t worry, we’ll have time to tuck in pretty soon, but now I want you all to take your seats. I’m going to talk more about accounting methods.’

  Slowly, but obediently, the class took their places and even made a show of writing in their notebooks as Stephen doggedly continued with his instruction, but there were sighs of relief all round when he finally laid down his chalk, rubbed down the blackboard, and said, with a grin, ‘Let the festivities begin, then. Anybody got paper cups for the lemonade? And paper plates for the sandwiches? My word, this is a splendid show you’ve all put on!’

  In dived the students and away went the party food, with everything being admired. Crackers were pulled, hats put on, small contents examined, and under the cover of so much noise and laughter, Stephen was able to approach Elinor and give her a polite smile that didn’t match the look in his eyes.

  ‘May I taste one of your mince pies?’ he asked. ‘I can see they look wonderful.’

  ‘Don’t know how I did it, but they’ve turned out well.’

  She picked one out and gave it to him, watching him take a bite and pretend to swoon over its taste, all the time looking at her.

  ‘We’ll be taking the tram as usual?’ he whispered.

  She glanced round, before turning her gaze back to him.

  ‘Hope so. But the others won’t be going to the café tonight after all this; they might be on the tram, too.’

  ‘Don’t worry, they won’t be going home so early.’

  ‘Hey, you two,’ said Tam, joining them. ‘No more talking, I’ve got some mistletoe. Don’t look like that, Mr Muirhead! What’s a kiss at Christmas time?’

  ‘I’m not so sure the WEA plans for kisses in their classes at any time,’ Stephen told him. ‘And, remember, I have to make sure you’re not making a nuisance of yourself to the young women here.’

  ‘Me, a nuisance?’ Tam asked with an injured air. ‘Why, these lassies expect to be kissed at Christmas parties, Mr Muirhead, just like when they were bairns. But in fact we’re all grown-ups, remember.’

  ‘But I’m responsible for you,’ Stephen added seriously, then suddenly relaxed and laughed. ‘Oh, go on then, take your mistletoe round, but I’ll be watching, to see if anyone complains.’

  ‘Watching?’ cried Pearl, sliding up to snatch the mistletoe from Tam’s hand. ‘Why, you’ll be joining in, Mr Muirhead, won’t you?’

  And before he’d had time to make a reply, she’d kissed him on the cheek, then stood back smiling, while Elinor also smiled, if a little painfully, and Tam applauded, grinning.

  ‘Well done, Pearl, you’ve set the ball rolling. Now, where’s Brenda, then?’

  ‘Oh, no, you don’t!’ Brenda cried, backing away, but when Tam kissed her quite gently on the brow, she only flushed a little and said no more.

  ‘Now, if you’ve all finished playing around, can we get down to clearing up?’ Stephen cried, when the little mistletoe session had come to an end. ‘We’ve been asked to leave everything tidy and I’ve some bags here for the bottles and paper plates. Any food left, you must take away with you.’

  ‘Are you joking, sir?’ John Andrews, one of Tam’s friends, asked. ‘There’s nothing left at all.’

  ‘Except for one sausage roll,’ Dickie Rowan, another crony, said, taking it. ‘Sorry, folks!’

  ‘At least you won’t need to fill up at the café tonight,’ Brenda remarked, but Tam said that oh, yes, they would. Why, they wanted nice hot tea, didn’t they? They’d only had cold lemonade.

  ‘Sure you don’t want something stronger?’

  ‘No, it’s the café for us tonight, so’s we can all say goodbye till after New Year. Who’s coming?’

  ‘Oh, do come tonight,’ Pearl urged Elinor. ‘You, too, Mr Muirhead.’

  But Elinor said she must still get back, and Stephen said he must, too. It had been a wonderful party, though.

  ‘Thanks for being such good students!’ he called, as they left the classroom as tidy as possible. ‘And a merry Christmas and a happy New Year to you all.’

  ‘The same to you, sir, the same to you!’ his students cried, moving out into the cold night. ‘See you in 1914!’

  ‘Wonder what that will bring?’ Brenda murmured, but no one answered, and after giving Elinor a quick hug, she hurried after the others towards the café, leaving Elinor, with Stephen, to set off for the tram.

  Twenty-Four

  ‘Here, let me carry those boxes for you,’ Stephen said cheerfully. ‘My word, I wish they’d still been full of your mince pies! Went well tonight, didn’t it?’

  ‘Very well. They’re a nice crowd of folk.’

  ‘They are.’ He gave her a quick sideways glance. ‘Noticed you were quite popular when the mistletoe came out.’

  ‘So were you. Once the lassies had seen Pearl being cheeky.’

  ‘You didn’t kiss me, though.’

  ‘No, and you didn’t kiss me.’

  ‘I thought I’d better not. Anyway, we don’t need mistletoe to kiss each other, do we?

  As they reached the tram stop and stood together braving the wind, Elinor’s great dark eyes searched his face.

  ‘I’ve something I’d better tell you, Stephen.’

  He was instantly alert, though he only said lightly, ‘Something good?’

  She shook her head. ‘The girls at the club know about us. Ada, one of the maids, saw us at Maule’s Corner on Saturday.’

  ‘Oh.’ He moved her boxes from one arm to the other. ‘Well, I suppose it had to happen. It’s not the end of the world.’

  ‘You’re glad it wasn’t somebody from the class?’

  ‘That could have made things difficult.’

  ‘For you. Now they’re just difficult for me.’

  ‘They’ve told your Miss Ainslie?’

  ‘No, but now they know about you, they’ll be wondering and asking and teasing – that’s what girls are like. Seeing things that aren’t there.’

  ‘Here’s our tram,’ sighed Stephen.

  Sitting together, he slid his hand over hers, while holding on to her boxes on his knee with the other.

  ‘Do you think what we have isn’t really there, then?’

  ‘No! Of course I don’t think that!’

  ‘What then? What do we have?’

  ‘Well, I think we like being with each other. When I’m with you, I’m happy.’

  ‘Exactly how I feel,’ he said in a low voice, his eyes never leaving
her face. ‘The very words I’d have used.’

  ‘Here’s our stop,’ she whispered. ‘Don’t let’s get carried away.’

  ‘As though we’re not already!’

  As soon as they’d left the tram, they turned at once for the gardens, walking through the chill air in companionable silence, he still clutching her boxes, she taking his free arm.

  ‘Can’t hold you until I get rid of these,’ he told her when they halted. ‘Mind if I put them on this wet seat?’

  ‘No, but I don’t want to sit there.’

  ‘Of course not. Just let’s get them out of the way.’

  For some time, they stood together, arms around each other, kissing strongly, as the cold seeped into their bones and meant nothing and the night breeze sent old leaves rustling round their feet. Finally, they broke apart and Stephen took Elinor’s hand.

  ‘It’s wonderful that you’re happy to be with me,’ he said slowly, his eyes shining in the poor light. ‘But the thing is, I feel more guilty than ever. I’m in the wrong, I know I am.’

  ‘Why do you talk like that?’ she cried. ‘I’ve said I’m a grown-up, I can meet you this way if I like. Why do you keep calling yourself guilty?’

  ‘Because you’re so young, so inexperienced. I’m older than you – I’m twenty-eight. I should know better than to ask you to meet me as we do – snatched meetings, family not knowing. You deserve something better than that.’

  ‘It’s difficult for us, Stephen. You have your position to think of, I understand that.’

  But you have yourself to think about too, Elinor. I know you’re ambitious. You want to find a better job—’

  ‘I do! I don’t want to stay a housemaid for ever.’

  ‘And if it’s what you want, I’d like to help you in that. At the end of the course, I might be able to advise on what to look for, put in a word . . .’ He hesitated. ‘If it’s what you want.’

  ‘I do, I’ve said.’

  ‘But then, you might like to think about us.’

  ‘Us?’

  ‘Well, we are so happy together, mightn’t we . . . mightn’t there be . . .’ Again, he was hesitating. ‘A future – for us both?’

  Her lips parted, she held his hand tightly.

  A future – for them both? Had he really said that? Did he really think she could be a part of his life? There’d be breakers ahead, if he did. She knew that, if he didn’t. There would so obviously be those who’d say she wasn’t right – his mother for one, her father for another, each with their different reasons. But if Stephen thought, as she did herself, that she would fit in, well – why not? But it all seemed very far off, their future. She couldn’t really picture it.

  ‘I never got as far as thinking about that,’ she said huskily, knowing he was waiting for her to speak.

  ‘Perhaps it’s not time for you, yet.’ Suddenly he moved his hand to touch her cheek. ‘As I say, you’re very young. You have your whole life before you.’

  ‘What are you saying, Stephen?’

  ‘Oh, God, I don’t know!’ He kissed her again, with passion. ‘Shall we just go on as we are? Until the end of the course? Shall we just be happy together when we can, until then?’

  ‘I’d like that.’ Recovering new strength and reaching up, she returned his kiss with equal feeling. ‘But listen – what time is it?’

  ‘Oh, Lord, time to go, as usual.’ He shook his head. ‘If there’s one thing I want to do, Elinor, it’s to rescue you from the tyranny of the clock.’

  At Maule’s Corner, they briefly embraced, casting glances round to see if anyone was watching, and spoke of their meeting on Christmas Eve.

  ‘Could we meet for lunch?’ asked Stephen.

  ‘If you like. But I’ll want to be home for teatime, seeing as it’s Christmas Eve.’

  He sighed. ‘I suppose it’s difficult for you, keeping us all happy. You’re like one of those conjurors spinning balls in the air.’

  ‘Your mother might want to see you home early, too.’

  ‘True. Well, at least we’re meeting for lunch. Would you be happy to go to Colinton again?’

  ‘I’d love it!’

  ‘Doesn’t seem such a good idea to meet at this corner now, does it? Shall we say, half past eleven under the clock at Waverley?’

  ‘I’ll be there.’

  His look on her was long and melting, until he remembered her boxes.

  ‘Oh, see, I still have these. Does it seem a long time ago since you unpacked your mince pies?’

  ‘Years,’ she replied, taking them from him.

  Miss Ainslie was in the hall again when Elinor slipped in, but it was all right, she wasn’t late, and there was no trouble.

  ‘Your party went well?’ the manageress asked pleasantly. ‘Everyone enjoy your baking?’

  ‘Oh, yes, Miss Ainslie, thanks, and the party was grand. We all had a good time.’

  ‘So glad. You’re looking very well, I must say.’

  ‘Am I? Must be because of the party.’ Elinor moved hastily away. ‘I’ll take these boxes down to the kitchen and then get to bed.’

  ‘Goodnight, then, Elinor.’

  ‘Goodnight, Miss Ainslie.’

  After replacing the boxes, Elinor climbed the stairs to bed, certain she would have to face more questions, this time from Mattie and Gerda, but for once they were both asleep. Something to be grateful for, even though, as usual, she had no hope of finding sleep herself.

  Twenty-Five

  The meeting on Christmas Eve might have been a repeat performance of their previous day out at Colinton, except that they were now aware their relationship had taken a step forward. Though nothing could formally be announced until the end of the course, when they would no longer be tutor and pupil, the future had become something they could discuss – even look forward to – and in the meantime, they could continue as they were, enjoying their snatched meetings. Not an ideal arrangement, maybe, but as long as it was temporary, it suited them both.

  As for Elinor’s idea of telling her mother about Stephen, it seemed the time was not yet right for that. Hessie would almost certainly believe that Walter should be informed, and the more she thought about it, the less Elinor felt like risking it. Maybe it would be best to leave the matter until real decisions were taken? Yes, much the best, she decided, and heaved a great sigh of relief.

  After their blissful exchange of kisses in the Colinton woods, lunch at the little café where they had tea before was delicious. Nothing Christmassy, except for the offer of mince pies with the coffee, but a lovely light soup, followed by chicken in white sauce which was as good as anything Mrs Petrie made for the club – praise indeed.

  ‘Oh, that was so nice,’ Elinor told Stephen, when the coffee and mince pies arrived. ‘A lovely Christmas present, I’d say. Thank you very much.’

  ‘Only thing is, I have a real Christmas present for you. I’ll just get it from my coat pocket.’

  It was a beautiful silk scarf in autumn colours of copper brown and crimson, perfect for Elinor’s dark good looks, and so obviously chosen to please her, it brought the tears to her eyes.

  ‘Stephen, I don’t know what to say,’ she murmured. ‘I’ve never had anything like this before. It’s – well, it’s just so lovely, I’ll always treasure it.’ She smiled and opened her bag. ‘I have a wee present for you, too, but I don’t know if I dare give it to you, it’s so ordinary.’

  ‘Something for me? You shouldn’t have spent your money on me, Elinor.’

  ‘Didn’t cost much and some of it I did myself.’

  She put a package into his hand, which he slowly opened, shaking his head, but when he took out the white linen handkerchiefs each with a hand-sewn monogram of his initials, he smiled.

  ‘Elinor! Did you stitch these for me yourself? They’re amazing! Beautiful!’

  ‘Och, they’re only handkerchiefs, Stephen. And any lassie at school could sew initials like that.’

  ‘But these weren’t sewn by any lassi
e at school,’ he said seriously. ‘These were sewn by you for me, which means I have something to treasure, too.’

  ‘You’re meant to use handkerchiefs!’ she said, laughing, making him laugh with her, so that people at the next table smiled indulgently and said how nice it was to see young folk so happy. But of course it was Christmas Eve, wasn’t it? A magical time.

  The magical time for Elinor and Stephen had to come to an end, however, when they reached Waverley Station and had to say goodbye, knowing they would not meet again until the next class in January. Christmas must be spent with their families, and as for Hogmanay – not only did Elinor have to work over the holiday, Stephen had already agreed to accompany his mother to Peebles to visit cousins. There was nothing they could do.

  ‘Couldn’t we meet on your free evening?’ Stephen asked desperately. ‘There must be one in the calendar somewhere.’

  ‘There is, but there’ll be so much to do when we open again after Christmas, I’ve already agreed to work all that week. And the following week Ma’s invited some neighbours in – she thought I’d be free.’

  ‘So you are, for her,’ Stephen commented gloomily. ‘But not for me. Oh, well, roll on January. At least I know you’ll be coming to the class. Did I ever tell you what it was like for me, waiting to see if you’d come to the first one?’

  ‘You were waiting for me?’

  ‘Sure I was. As soon as I saw you trying to sign up for the typing, I hoped you’d join my class instead. And when you did, I couldn’t wait to see if you’d really come.’ He grinned. ‘And then, that first evening—’

  ‘I was late!’ she cried. ‘Oh, Stephen, I never realized – I’d no idea!’

  ‘Just as well.’ His eyes went over the crowd of travellers and last-minute shoppers hurrying around them, and his grin faded. ‘This is no place to say goodbye, is it? May I see you home, Elinor, just once?’