Nobody’s Darling

  Ted was on his feet now. ‘I’ll not have you talking like that, lass. Our Lenny’s no coward. And what d’you mean by “take him in hand afore it’s too late”?’

  Up until now, Ruby had listened in silence. Now, when she saw her dad and mam at each other’s throats, and Lenny secretly gloating over it, she had to intervene. ‘The childer are listening.’ She noticed that everything had gone quiet in the scullery.

  The sound of Ruby’s voice, calm and dignified, was like a damp cloth on the heat of the moment. Ted immediately sat down and Lizzie went at a rush into the scullery, where the childer were pretending to wash. ‘Let’s have yer!’ she cried. ‘Get them clothes off, yer little scamps. How d’yer expect to wash proper if you’ve still got your clothes on, eh?’ For the next ten minutes all that could be heard was a series of squeals and protests while they were thoroughly scrubbed, one after the other.

  Later, while Ruby cleared the dinner things away, Lizzie took the childer to bed and Ted took his son into the front parlour. Whether it was to question him further or to pat him on the back for seeing ‘four’ of them off, Ruby couldn’t be sure although she agreed with her mam wholeheartedly: if Lenny weren’t taken in hand soon, he would be no good to man yet beast.

  When the dishes were washed and Ruby came into the parlour, there was no sign of either her dad or Lizzie although Lenny was warming himself in front of the fire. ‘Well done,’ she said sarcastically, standing beside him with her head back and hands on her hips in much the same manner as Lizzie would have done. ‘Are you proud of setting Mam and Dad against each other like that?’

  He shrugged his shoulders. Already, even though he was only fourteen years old, his shoulders had grown wide and strong, and there was a certain brutish strength about him, ‘’Tain’t my fault if they want to fight,’ he said, looking at her sideways.

  In two strides she was on him. ‘You’re going wrong, our Lenny,’ she said in a low, hard voice. At the same time she pushed him so hard he fell against the mantelpiece. ‘You should be thrashed, just like you thrashed little Arnie.’

  ‘Huh! He was a baby, that’s all. A snivelling little baby, and there ain’t nobody who can do that to me.’

  ‘Don’t be too sure,’ she warned. ‘Bigger bullies than you have met their match.’

  His answer was to laugh at her.

  ‘Where’s Dad?’ She hadn’t heard him go out, but suspected he must have done or Lenny wouldn’t be so loud-mouthed about the truth.

  ‘Gone to the pub, I expect… to boast about how his favourite son took on four villains and thrashed ’em into the ground.’ His whole face turned downwards in a sneer. ‘It’ll be him that’s the liar then, won’t it?’

  Ruby tried a different tack with him. After all, he was her brother and it would break their mam’s heart if he kept going down the same road. ‘Why don’t you stop and think about what you’re doing?’ she pleaded. ‘Don’t go bad on us, our Lenny.’

  ‘Bad’s exciting.’

  Ruby shook her head, her face sombre. ‘No, Lenny. Bad is prison.’

  ‘This is prison!’ His eyes blazed into hers, then with a sharp turn of his heel, he went out of the room and down the passageway where he slammed shut the door behind him.

  Thinking on his words, Ruby’s heart sank. ‘This is prison.’ It struck her that her brother’s sentiments about Fisher Street were not too far from her own. The only difference between her and Lenny was that she intended to work her way out of Fisher Street, while he was determined to fight his way out. ‘Keep going the way you are, our Lenny,’ she murmured after him, ‘and all you’ll be doing is swapping one prison for another.’

  For the next half hour Ruby busied herself about the little parlour. When everything was tidied, a spill of cinders collected from the grate and taken to the yard outside and the kettle filled then placed on the coals to be nicely bubbling when her mam came down, Ruby sat beside the cheery fire to wait for her. They hadn’t had much of a chance to talk lately, and there was a deal to catch up on.

  It was a while before Ruby realised she couldn’t hear her mam moving about upstairs. ‘Whatever is she doing up there?’ she murmured. Normally it didn’t take long for the childer to be tucked up in their beds. She glanced at the mantelpiece clock. It was nearly eight. Lizzie had been upstairs over an hour.

  Springing from her chair, Ruby went at a run across the room and out into the passage where she fled up the stairs two at a time. From the top landing she went straight to Dolly’s room, and sure enough, there was Lizzie, spread over the bed, one arm hanging across the pillow and the other securely wrapped round the sleeping child, ‘Well, I never!’ Ruby smiled to herself. Six childer were enough to tucker anybody out, she thought. But then she remembered the awful scene at the table, and knew how her mam took such things to heart. ‘It’s our Lenny that wears you out, isn’t it?’ she whispered, shaking her head forlornly, ‘More shame on him.’

  Backing out of the room, she closed the door and went downstairs where she sat in her mam’s chair staring into the flames, deep in thought until the sound of the front door opening made her gather her wits. It was Lenny.

  ‘You’d best get washed and off to bed before our mam comes down.’ Ruby still hadn’t forgiven him. ‘Thanks to you, she’s worn out, fast asleep next to Dolly.’

  ‘I’m not ready for bed.’ Flinging himself into his father’s chair he stared across at Ruby. ‘I’ll go when I’m ready,’ he declared defiantly, raising his legs to put his feet on the fender.

  Ruby was incensed. Flinging herself forward, she grabbed his arm and yanked him out of the chair. Thrusting him towards the scullery, she instructed, ‘You’ll get your wash, then up to bed. NOW!’ When he struggled against her, she merely tightened her grip. As big as he was, she could handle him and he knew it. The three years between them was enough.

  ‘Who d’you think you are?’ he snapped as she propelled him into the scullery.

  ‘I’m the eldest, that’s who I am. And I say you get washed and up to your bed.’

  ‘And if I don’t?’ She had him at the sink now, but he swung round to confront her. He was shaking with temper, and for a moment Ruby thought he was going to strike out.

  ‘Well now, if you want to cause a fuss, that’s up to you.’ Her calm voice belied the turmoil inside her. She was angry too. Angry that once again he had deliberately set Mam and Dad against each other. Her dark blue eyes glittered as she told him, ‘I might not be as big as you, but I promise I won’t be as easy to thrash as poor little Arnie Dixon.’

  It was as she’d thought. For whatever reason, he wasn’t prepared to tackle her. ‘Leave me alone,’ he muttered sullenly, snatching himself away and bending his head to the sink, his arms outstretched.

  ‘Five minutes,’ she warned, going out of the scullery and into the parlour.

  In no time at all he came skulking out, bare-chested and with his shirt over his arm. Without another word he went upstairs, leaving Ruby wondering whether she should have tried reasoning with him. But then, she had lost count of the times she had tried talking sense into him. But at least he still recognised her as being the eldest and as yet he hadn’t challenged her position in this household. ‘And he’d better not!’ she said aloud, glaring towards the parlour door.

  At eight-thirty, Lizzie came downstairs, bleary-eyed and drunk with sleep. ‘Why didn’t yer wake me?’ she asked Ruby. ‘Good God above!’ she exclaimed, raising her eyes to the mantelpiece clock. ‘Look at the time.’ She began rushing about, going into the scullery then coming out, falling into the chair then clambering up again. ‘I’m all at sixes and sevens,’ she moaned, dropping into the fireside chair again.

  ‘Keep still, Mam,’ Ruby chuckled. Her mam’s antics had left her breathless too. ‘The kettle’s boiling, and the teapot’s ready. I’ll make you a brew, shall I?’

  Lizzie welcomed that. ‘Aye, lass. A cup o’ tea and I’ll be able to think straight, eh?’ She was on the point of getting out of th
e chair yet again, but at Ruby’s offer fell back into it, eyes closed and hands folded across her stomach. ‘Can’t think what come over me,’ she went on while Ruby took the kettle to the scullery and bustled about there. ‘’Tain’t like your mam to fall asleep an’ leave you to do all the work. Sorry, lass.’

  Returning with two mugs of steaming tea, Ruby gave one to her mam and set the other into the hearth to cool. ‘It’s all right,’ she said. ‘It didn’t take me long to tidy.’

  ‘All the same, lass, it ain’t right that you should have to do it all. Lord knows, you work hard enough as it is.’ She gave a long deep sigh. ‘Lenny won’t be long afore he’s out to work, thank God. It might keep the bugger outta mischief. Yer dad’s keeping an eye out for summat, but there ain’t much work about, not now.’ She eyed Ruby with interest. ‘There’s rumours that Jeffrey Banks is turning his foundry over to his daughter when she weds Luke Arnold. Is that right, lass? Would he do such a thing? It ain’t usual for a woman to have such authority.’

  Lost in thought for a moment, Lizzie saw Jeffrey Banks as a younger man; handsome he was, and kind. ‘Still, I expect it’ll be easier for him when he has a son-in-law to rely on, eh?’

  The business of Cicely and Luke was a sore point with Ruby. Only yesterday she and Cicely had had words again. ‘Oh, yes, I think he would trust Cicely with a deal more responsibility,’ Ruby confirmed. ‘She has proved herself to be a very capable young woman. She runs that house like clockwork, and is respected by the staff. Besides, Mr Banks isn’t so well these days, and he doesn’t really want to sell the foundry. So the next best thing is to let his daughter and her husband have the running of it.’

  She hated the idea because she knew it was the very reason why Luke had proposed to Cicely. Clever and efficient though she may be, she was also lonely and aching for someone to share her life with. That made her gullible where the awful Luke was concerned, and he never hesitated to take advantage.

  ‘Hmm. He’s a trusting fella is Jeffrey Banks.’ Lizzie still held a deal of affection for him. ‘How does he feel about having Luke Arnold for a son-in-law then? Do they get on, the two of them?’

  ‘More than that, Mam. He thinks the sun shines out of Luke’s backside.’ Ruby saw a lot of her own brother in Luke. And Cicely’s father was just as much taken in by the wily Luke as her own father where Lenny was concerned.

  Lizzie supped her tea and fell silent. She knew Ruby well enough to realise there were deep waters here. ‘You don’t like the fella, do yer, lass?’ she asked presently.

  ‘I just think he’s wrong for Cicely,’ she returned guardedly.

  ‘In what way?’ Lizzie leaned back and blew on the top of her tea, then she took a long gulp of the hot liquid. ‘By! That’s grand,’ she said with an approving shake of her head. Realising that Ruby hadn’t answered her question, she asked it again. ‘What meks yer think Luke Arnold’s wrong for Cicely Banks?’ Lizzie sensed trouble. ‘What is it, lass? You ain’t worried about your place with Cicely once she gets wed, are yer?’ A shocking thought occurred to her. ‘Surely to God yer ain’t let the fella see that you don’t approve of him? ’Cause if yer have, then he might well show yer the door once he’s got his feet well and truly under the table.’

  She saw the anxiety on her daughter’s face, and feared the worst. ‘Oh, lass! Lass! Ain’t I allus told yer to keep yer opinions to yerself? How many times have I said how you’d get yerself in trouble by speaking too straight?’ Putting her mug to the hearth, she sat forward in the chair, her hands on her knees. ‘Don’t tell me you’ve been given yer marching orders already?’ The idea was unthinkable.

  Ruby put her mam’s mind at rest straightaway. ‘No,’ she answered, ‘so don’t start worrying.’

  Lizzie visibly relaxed. However, Ruby’s next words made her sit up. ‘All the same, I don’t intend to be a lady’s maid for the rest of my life.’ Taking a deep breath, Ruby blurted out what had been on her mind these past weeks, ever since Cicely had threatened her with dismissal. ‘You know I’m good at making and mending hats?’

  ‘Aye. You’ve mended my old boater often enough. Lord knows how you’ve managed to hold it together, ’cause it’s been threadbare more times than I care to remember.’ The navy straw boater meant a great deal to Lizzie, because it was the one she was wearing the day she met her Ted. She even wore it the afternoon they got wed. She wore it on the tram all the way to Blackpool, and she’d lost count of the times she’d worn it since. ‘What is it yer getting at, lass?’

  ‘Cicely sent me to the milliner’s last Friday. I was trusted to choose a new hat to go with her favourite blue dress, and do you know what?’ She didn’t wait for her mam to answer. ‘Widow Reece who owns the shop — well, she’s getting on in years now, and she says it’s all too much for her.’

  ‘What!’ A light began to dawn in Lizzie’s mind. ‘Yer never thinking of giving up yer post with Cicely to go and work in a hat shop?’ She was horrified. ‘Yer can’t do that, lass. For one thing, the money won’t be anywhere near as good. And, besides, you’d have to work all day on Saturday.’ She didn’t mention the other reason: that she herself wouldn’t be able to boast down the market about how her lass was a lady’s maid up at the Bankses’ house. Still and all, it was only a little show of Lizzie’s to impress the womenfolk. Deep down she would rather have seen Ruby serving some other household. It wasn’t the same if your lass worked in a hat shop and that was a fact. ‘I’m surprised at yer,’ she chided. ‘I can’t imagine what yer thinking about, child.’

  ‘Well, I’ll tell you what I’m thinking about, shall I?’ Ruby had half expected her mam to go off the deep end, but she wasn’t deterred, because now she knew what she wanted to do. Making and mending hats came naturally to her, and it was a talent she didn’t intend wasting. ‘I’m not thinking to be an assistant, Mam.’

  ‘Oh? What then?’

  ‘I intend to have my own shop one day.’ Ruby’s dream didn’t stop there. ‘Before too long, I expect I’ll have a whole chain of hat shops right across the country,’ she said proudly.

  Lizzie’s eyes popped open. ‘There yer go with yer dreaming and wishing!’ she said angrily. ‘I’ve telled you afore my girl… there’s only grief can come from wanting what yer can’t have. Put all that stuff and nonsense out of yer mind, and settle for what you’ve got.’ Lizzie hated being harsh on the girl, but she felt so afraid when Ruby talked like that. ‘Oh, lass, you’ve done so well, what with going from scullery maid to parlour maid, and now lady’s maid. There’s many a young lass would think that were good enough.’

  ‘Not me, Mam,’ Ruby insisted. ‘If I’ve been made up, it’s only because I’ve worked hard. I’ve earned every penny I’m paid.’

  Suddenly, Lizzie realised. ‘So, that’s why you’ve been saving like a squirrel! Never going out. Allus working every minute’s overtime yer can get.’ She had been concerned, but now it all made sense.

  ‘That’s right, Mam. And I’ll go on working and saving until I’ve got enough to get me started in a shop of my own.’ She smiled lovingly at Lizzie, not wanting to raise old fears. ‘Still, I’ve a long way to go yet, and besides it might never happen, eh?’ she lied, knowing full well that she wouldn’t rest until she had her own shop. She had even entertained the idea of Widow Reece’s milliner’s, but that seemed too far out of reach for now. ‘So there’s no use talking about it now, is there?’

  ‘That’s the first sensible thing you’ve said.’ Lizzie was relieved. For so long now Ruby had seemed to be settled with Cicely Banks, and Lizzie was delighted that her daughter hadn’t talked of being wealthy for a long time. To Lizzie, being wealthy meant gentry, and she could never forget that Ruby’s real father was gentry too. Hearing her say all those things just now struck at Lizzie’s humble heart, bringing back the old fears. She was just an ordinary woman and such fierce ambitions made her tremble. ‘Cicely will need yer more after she’s wed, you’ll see,’ she pointed out. ‘And then, when there’s childer, w
ell, who knows, yer might be made up to take care of ’em.’

  Ruby laughed, glad that she’d managed to lead her mam on to other things. She didn’t know what was really on Lizzie’s mind, but she was about to find out. ‘So you think Cicely intends to have a big family, do you?’ she asked with amusement. It didn’t seem likely that Luke Arnold would want the same thing, she thought wryly.

  ‘Oh, I do. What’s more, she couldn’t find nobody better than you to take care of ’em.’ Lizzie rolled her eyes up to the ceiling and the childer above. ‘Lord knows you’ve had enough experience with this lot, eh?’ She really liked the thought of Ruby getting paid for doing what came naturally to her. In fact, when her time came, Ruby herself would make a wonderful mother. ‘Happen Cicely will double yer wages. Then, when it’s time for you and Johnny to get wed, you’ll have a nice little nest egg.’ Suddenly she was flushed with pleasure. ‘By! I’ll be that proud to see yer, all done up as a bride, with that fine young man standing aside yer.’

  Ruby was astounded. So that was it! Her mam was nurturing secret ideas of her and Johnny walking down the aisle together. She had to put a stop to such ideas, and she had to do it now before it went too far. ‘Don’t count on me getting wed for a long time, Mam,’ she warned kindly.

  ‘Why’s that? You’re not a child no more, my girl! You’re a grown woman,’ Lizzie reminded her. ‘Time to start thinking about your future.’

  ‘I don’t want to talk about it, Mam.’

  Lizzie was disappointed, but she didn’t show it. ‘All right, lass. As you say.’ And she settled back to finish her tea. Ruby did the same, and while each became lost in her own thoughts, the little parlour was silent.

  It wasn’t long before Lizzie had dozed off in the heat of the fire. Ruby took the two tea mugs into the scullery where she washed them and replaced them in the cupboard. No sooner had she come back into the parlour than her dad was coming down the passage.