by Lesley Eames
‘I only—’
But Elsie had already walked away, shaking her head as though despairing at Lily’s stupidity.
Lily reported the conversation to Phyllis. ‘The war is terrible but I can’t believe Elsie’s been overcome by it,’ Phyllis said. ‘Elsie’s strong. A fighter.’
‘Will you try talking to her again?’
‘Yes, but I doubt that I’ll do any good.’
She was right. Phyllis got nowhere either.
Over the days that followed Elsie appeared to be making an effort to be more like her old self but the fact that it required effort meant it wasn’t how she really felt. Lily supposed they’d just have to wait and see what Elsie did next.
One evening Lily sat down to read a letter from Luke. It was friendly. Personal even in the way he described a walk he’d taken during a rest period. He wrote of the trees he’d seen, and how they were balm to the soul after the shattered stumps that were all that remained of trees on the battlefield. But he finished the letter the same way he finished his letters to Elsie and Phyllis: Missing you all. Fond regards, Luke.
Sighing, Lily set it aside only for her thoughts to settle on Artie. She’d been on her way to meet him for a walk the previous Sunday when she’d seen Celia emerging from a rather smart house arm in arm with a young man dressed in army uniform. A tall, good-looking man, as far as Lily could see. She’d hung back, watching as the couple approached a motor car that stood at the roadside. The man opened the passenger door for Celia and she looked up, smiling, as he spoke to her. Then she laughed, a silvery sound that carried on the quiet, Sunday afternoon air. They’d driven away and soon were out of sight.
Lily wondered whether to mention what she’d seen to Artie but decided against it, not wanting to cause him pain or make him think she had a poor opinion of the girl he loved. He’d realise Celia had no love for him soon enough.
Hoping for a distraction from her thoughts, Lily looked around for the newspaper Elsie had picked up in the tea room after it had been left behind by a customer. A corner of it peeped out from under a cardigan Elsie had thrown onto a chair. Lily drew the newspaper out and saw it had been opened in the middle then folded over. Lily was unfolding it with a view to rearranging the pages when she noticed that circles had been drawn around some of the advertisements on the Situations Vacant page.
A cold feeling overtook her. Had Elsie drawn these circles?
Lily looked around as footsteps approached. Elsie entered but stopped when she saw Lily holding the newspaper. ‘Ah,’ she said.
‘Elsie, are you looking for another job?’
‘Thinking of it.’ Elsie looked both defiant and awkward.
‘Aren’t you happy working in the chocolate shop anymore?’
Elsie shrugged. ‘It feels time for a change.’
THIRTY-TWO
‘That’s what she told me too,’ Phyllis said when she and Lily discussed it later. ‘It’s time for a change.’
‘Do you believe her?’ Lily asked.
‘I don’t think it’s as simple as needing a new challenge.’
‘Neither do I. She isn’t bored. She’s unhappy.’
But why? Lily had believed Elsie about not wanting a tall, handsome stranger in her life. It had to be something else.
Pierre had no light to shed on it. There’d been no upsetting incidents in the chocolate shop and no major disagreements either.
‘Have you spoken to her about how she’s feeling?’ Lily asked.
Pierre gave her an incredulous look. ‘And have her bite off my head like a crocodile?’
Poor Pierre. It couldn’t be much fun working with Elsie at the moment.
Elsie continued to be both defiant and awkward in the days that followed. ‘You think I’m letting you down,’ she accused Lily.
‘Not at all. I just want you to be happy.’
For some reason Elsie rolled her eyes at that.
‘Elsie, if it’s a change you want, I could work in the chocolate shop while you work in the bakery,’ Phyllis suggested.
Clearly, it wasn’t the sort of change Elsie wanted.
‘Is it just your job you want to change, or living here too?’ Lily asked.
‘A complete change would be better. It all depends on what sort of job I can get. If I can get one at all.’
‘Of course you’ll get a job. Any employer will be glad to—’
But Elsie had gone again.
*
1918 was proving to be a difficult year. Lily was glad they were shutting up shop for the usual week’s holiday. The break might do them all some good. Lily planned on visiting Marion but on the last day of work a letter arrived. Opening it, Lily saw that it had been written from a nursing home. Oh, no.
Dearest Lily,
As you may have guessed from the address at the top of this note I’m a little unwell at present but, even though I’m unable to play the hostess, I’d still consider it a great favour if you could visit me.
Please don’t worry. I’m perfectly comfortable here and the staff are all kindness.
Fondest love,
Marion x
Poor Marion! The staff at the nursing home might well be kind, but the kindness of strangers wasn’t the same as the kindness of a loving friend. Of course Lily would visit.
She took the train to Hastings the very next day and made her way to the nursing home. She was shocked by Marion’s frailty despite the warm smile she gave when she saw Lily approaching with her arms laden with roses.
‘Aren’t you the loveliest sight?’ Marion said, as Lily kissed her cheek and tried to hide her dismay at the delicate feel of it.
‘How are you?’ Lily asked.
‘Comfortable. Contented, even.’
And brave. So brave, because clearly she was fading out of life. ‘Let me find a vase for these flowers,’ Lily said, needing to escape for a moment to blink away tears.
A nurse fetched a vase filled with water. Lily arranged the flowers and placed them on the small cupboard next to Marion’s bed.
‘How beautiful,’ Marion declared. ‘I’ll enjoy looking at them.’
‘I’ve brought more gifts,’ Lily said, bringing chocolates out of her bag. ‘These are some of Pierre’s finest creations.’
‘Please tell him how much I appreciate them. I can’t manage one now but perhaps later. Sit down, Lily. Tell me all your news.’
Lily sat down, held Marion’s hand and talked about her life in London though, not wanting to worry her old friend, she skittered over her concerns about Artie and said nothing of Elsie’s unhappiness.
‘I want you to know how much your friendship has meant to me,’ Marion said after a while. ‘It was a lucky day when you came into my dear sister’s life because that meant you came into mine too. It’s given me more pleasure than you can know to see you and receive your letters. It’s been a great comfort too, since Hilda died.’
Marion was visibly tiring. ‘I’ll let you rest for a while,’ Lily said. ‘But I’ll still be here when you wake.’
‘I don’t want to be a trouble.’
‘You’re never that. The important thing is that you try to get well. You are trying, aren’t you?’
‘Bless you, Lily. I’ve never neglected myself.’
But was she fighting? Lily kissed the fragile cheek again and went in search of the nurse. ‘Miss Tibbs,’ she said. ‘How is she?’
The nurse smiled, but sadly. ‘Miss Tibbs is at peace with herself and with the world.’
In other words she was ready to meet her Maker calmly. ‘Are you telling me she won’t recover?’
‘Patients can surprise us. But if I were you…’
Lily should prepare for the worst.
She walked in the grounds for a while, upset beyond words, but managed to greet Marion with a smile when the older woman surfaced from her doze. ‘I’m going to stay in Hastings so I can visit you every day of my holiday,’ Lily told her.
‘That won’t be much of a holida
y for you.’
‘It’s what I want.’
Marion insisted that Lily should stay in the cottage and Lily was pleased to do so. It meant she could look after the place and say goodbye to it. She was glad Hilda and Marion had had a little time together in this small house by the sea but oh, what a shame they hadn’t had longer.
Lily stayed the full week, visiting Marion each day to read to her and see to her comfort as best she could. Marion wouldn’t hear of Lily staying longer. ‘You have a tea room to run,’ she insisted.
‘I’ll come next Sunday,’ Lily promised, though she walked away wondering if she’d ever see her dear friend again.
Reaching home after a tedious train journey, Lily soon discovered that life in London hadn’t stood still during her absence. Far from it.
THIRTY-THREE
I hope Marion is comfortable, Artie had written in a note he’d left for Lily. I’m afraid I found myself with no choice but to leave Grover’s. Not because Celia chose to keep seeing me – no such luck – but for other reasons I’ll explain when I see you, hopefully on Monday. I’ll try to come to the tea room. Please don’t worry about me. I have some money put by and I’m just as keen as before to carve a path for myself. Much love, Artie x
At work the next day questions about what had happened circulated in Lily’s brain. She would have liked to think Artie had found a job elsewhere but he wouldn’t have mentioned having money put by if he’d found another source of income. Worry over Artie and Marion made concentration difficult so it took her a moment to realise a man was hovering at the tea room door the following afternoon.
He was short and middle-aged with greying hair, a moustache and clothes that were neat but old and plain. ‘May I show you to a table?’ Lily asked.
‘Actually, I’m looking for Mr Tomkins. I’ve arranged to meet him here. Am I right in thinking you’re his sister?’
‘I am.’
‘I’m Mellings, Miss. The foreman at Grover’s, though perhaps not for much longer.’
‘Is the business in trouble?’
‘Not exactly, Miss, but – ah, here’s Mr Tomkins now.’
Artie bounded up the stairs, saw Lily and lost no time in hugging her. ‘I’m so sorry about Marion,’ he said.
Lily nodded. ‘How are you? Your note didn’t say very much.’
‘I’ll explain soon, but just now the customer in the corner is trying to attract your attention.’
Lily glanced around and saw he was right.
‘Sam and I will find our own table. If you could bring us some tea, that would be wonderful. No rush, though.’
Lily attended to her corner customer then brought tea for Artie and Mr Melling. She couldn’t linger because one set of customers was leaving and more customers were arriving. Lily didn’t have a moment’s pause, in fact, but glanced across at Artie and Mr Melling now and then, wondering what they were discussing so earnestly. They talked for more than an hour, Artie writing things down in a notebook and both of them looking at papers Mr Melling had brought.
Eventually, Mr Melling got to his feet and came towards Lily. ‘Thank you for the tea, Miss. I’ll wish you a good afternoon.’
He nodded and set off down the stairs. Lily glided across to Artie. ‘Well?’
But the tea room was busy still and Lily was needed by her customers. ‘Let me help you,’ Artie said.
‘There’s no need for that.’
‘I want to help and the sooner we get everything cleared up, the sooner we’ll be able to talk without interruption.’
He went downstairs to borrow an apron from Mr Bax then took off his jacket, rolled up his shirt sleeves and got to work washing dishes. When he was up to date with the dishes he helped in the tea room, delivering tea and serving food with a friendly charm that won him smiles from younger women and indulgent looks from mature matrons.
Lily was reminded of the times when Luke had helped and was struck again with the notion that Artie and Luke would find much to like in each other. Luke was still well as far as Lily knew but worry about him never left her and neither did the pang of hurt that squeezed her heart at the thought of her feelings for him going unreturned.
Perhaps she was foolish to write to him as she did, not with any sort of hint as to how she felt about him – or so she hoped – but still opening the window on her most private concerns about Artie, Marion, the tea room and the war. Their exchange of letters had created intimacy between them but it couldn’t last.
When Luke returned from the war – and Lily couldn’t bear to think that he might not return – he’d be a different person from the man who, distanced from home and friends, wrote letters from the trenches. He’d be purposeful, eager to make up for the time he’d lost by being away. Throwing himself into his business and perhaps finding a girl to love, he’d have no need for Lily’s letters and she’d have no place in his life except as an acquaintance.
How unbearable that would be. Lily wasn’t at all sure she could stay to watch the man she loved building a new life with someone else. It might be better to move away and start afresh somewhere, perhaps even with Artie though that depended on his plans for the future.
Of course, it would be different if Luke loved her in return.
If.
Not knowing was torture. So too was allowing herself to hope because the higher her hopes soared the further they’d have to fall if they were to be dashed to the ground. As ever, Lily could only endure the uncertainty, pressing on with her work in the meantime.
That work was much lighter with Artie helping. After the tea room had closed they washed up, cleaned up and swept up in record time then spent another few minutes getting things ready for the morning.
‘Enough,’ Lily finally declared. ‘Tell me what’s been going on.’
Artie untied his apron, unrolled his sleeves and sat at a table where Lily joined him.
‘I suppose you could say I saw Ernest Grover in his true colours,’ Artie said. ‘When I first started working for him I was grateful for the job and eager to please. Eager to prove myself too. And perhaps I wanted to like or at least respect him because he was Celia’s father.’
A ripple of hurt crossed his face at the thought of Celia. Clearly, he hadn’t even begun to get over her.
‘Declaring my love for her changed all that. I realised then what an unpleasant snob he was. I came to realise he was vindictive too. His manner changed towards me at work. He was rude and ungrateful, belittling everything I did and ordering me to do menial things to make me feel small. Only he didn’t make me feel small. He made me see how petty a man he was instead. The final straw came when he knocked a bottle of ink over the contract I was studying at my desk. He told me to prepare a replacement but I told him he could prepare it himself because I was finished with him.’
Artie’s mouth twisted in what Lily took to be a mix of ruefulness and humour. ‘The worm had turned and he couldn’t have been more shocked,’ Artie said, ‘especially as he needed the contract for a meeting that afternoon. He insisted I stay and replace it but I only smiled and told him I was leaving there and then.’
‘Goodness.’
‘It was impulsive to throw the job over before I’d found another position, but I can’t regret it, Lil. It isn’t as though I’d have earned a better reference by staying, and a man has to keep some pride.’
‘What will you do? Why were you meeting with Mr Melling?’
‘That’s the exciting news. We’re thinking of starting our own business.’
‘A building business?’
‘Are you worried I don’t have the experience? I don’t have much, it’s true, but I’ve learned a lot over the past few months. Besides, Sam Melling has years of experience behind him when it comes to the actual building work. The idea is that he’ll supervise the work while I focus on finding clients, negotiating contracts, organising supplies and keeping all the papers and finances in order.’
‘How will you find clients?’
&
nbsp; ‘Hopefully, we’ll start with recommendations from the architects and surveyors we know. We’re not looking to operate on the scale of Grover’s. At least not at the beginning. We aim to start small but become a company with a reputation for integrity.’
‘Which Mr Grover lacks?’
‘Sam has his suspicions about that. I don’t mean large-scale fraud, but a bit of corner-cutting and the occasional bribe to someone in a position to award a contract. It’s one of the reasons Sam wants to leave, the other reason being that he just doesn’t have much respect for Grover as a person. Sam and I both believe that every man – every woman too – is worthy of respect, however humble their background. Grover doesn’t, so Sam tells me some of the Grover’s men will be only too glad to join us if we can offer them work.’
‘Mr Melling sounds like a good person to have in your corner. But won’t it cost a lot of money to set up a building business?’
‘I still have the legacy Mr Alderton left me. My army gratuity too, and I’ve been putting money by ever since I started work. Sam has money to invest as well. The company will be a partnership.’
Lily could see how the idea thrilled Artie. ‘I haven’t forgotten my promise to help you, Lil,’ he said. ‘Money might be tight as the business gets going but in a year or two I hope it’ll be on a stronger footing. I’ve always admired you, sis. I hope I can make a success of a business the way you’ve made a success of your tea room.’ He smiled and added, ‘The Tomkins twins taking on the world.’
He had a tough road ahead of him. There was no doubt about that. Business might not materialise and money invested might all be lost. But this chance was what Artie needed. ‘I couldn’t be more proud of you,’ Lily told him.
‘Thanks, Lil. I only wish… Well.’
Lily could guess what he was thinking. He only wished Celia felt the same.
‘You’ll stay to supper tonight?’ Lily asked, wanting to cheer him.
‘I’d love to.’
Pierre had announced that he was in a cooking mood so they all went next door for one of his casseroles laced with flavoursome red wine. Michael joined them and Artie shared his plans. Lily was delighted to see the goodwill in her friends’ faces and hear them wishing him the best of luck.