Poor Little Rich Girl (24 page)

‘Hester, are we going to do lessons today? Only if I were in school it would be holidays, and holidays usually last until the fifth or sixth of January, which is ages away. I know Aunt Emmeline says that we don’t do a proper school day, but if we did we wouldn’t be able to help in the house so much, so I don’t see …’

‘Stop, stop!’ Hester said, laughing. The two of them were eating their breakfast porridge whilst Kitty lapped at a saucer of milk and the cold grey light of a winter’s day came in through the frosted window. ‘Whatever made you think we were going to do school work today? As it happens you were wasting your breath since I had already decided we should visit the museum on William Brown Street this morning. It’s a dreadfully cold day, far too cold for the park to be an enjoyable trip, but the museum will be warm and it will get us out of the house for the morning. I had thought of suggesting that we might pop into Madison’s to see if Ben is free. He might like to come with us, because I know he has said before that he’s mainly needed first thing in the morning and last thing in the afternoon. And after we’ve been round the museum I thought we might have a snack luncheon at Lyons on London Road. Would you like that? The food is very reasonable and delicious.’

‘Oh, Hester, you do have the most scrumptious ideas!’ Lonnie said, clasping her hands before her chest like a child in a storybook. ‘I should think it would be a most tremendous treat for Ben, because his family are very poor, aren’t they? I did think that Dick might have brought him along on Boxing Day,
only then I remembered Mrs Bailey saying what a big help Dick’s money was; she didn’t know how she would go on without him. She said it was because Mr Bailey is so poorly that he can’t work, and his bit of a pension gets eat up in doctor’s bills, mostly.’

Hester, murmuring faint agreement, felt very ashamed of herself. It had simply never occurred to her that Dick, who was in a good job, might have to hand over most of his wages to his mother to keep the family going. Yet Lonnie, so much younger and less worldly than herself, had put two and two together and realised that Dick’s money probably would not stretch to another ham tea. Hester felt deeply mortified that she had let Dick spend his money on her and Lonnie without so much as offering to pay a share. But I’ll do so on Thursday, she told herself grimly. This is 1934 – very nearly 1935 – and I’m a working girl, not some spoiled little ninny dependent on her family for pin money. I’ll explain to Dick that I want to pay my share since he has the whole family to support whereas my salary is for my use alone. I’m sure he won’t mind; he’s such a sensible, down to earth sort of person.

‘And of course, I think the museum will be a great treat for me as well,’ Lonnie said excitedly, spooning porridge at a great rate. ‘The only thing is, I expect Ben’s been to the museum lots of times. Wouldn’t it be better if we arranged to meet him after the museum instead of before?’

‘Why?’ Hester asked baldly.

Lonnie wriggled uncomfortably. ‘We-11,’ she said slowly, ‘the fact is, Hester, he’s such a knowall! I thought I might get one over on him so I’d know a bit more than he does, because he’s always telling us where the best places are for shopping, how much
the ferry costs, and things like that and why certain places have odd names. So I thought I’d find out all about the slaves and tell him, for a change.’

Hester shook her head reprovingly at her charge, though she could not help smiling at Lonnie’s very obvious human failing, for everyone likes to be knowledgeable sometimes. ‘We’ll visit Madison’s and ask Ben when he’ll be free,’ she decided. ‘If he can’t get away until later he can wait for us outside the museum, but if he’s going to be free earlier then he shall come with us. You wouldn’t want him hanging about in this cold weather whilst you and I were snug and warm inside the museum, would you?’

Lonnie was reluctantly admitting that this seemed fair when she suddenly jumped to her feet with an excited cry. ‘It’s snowing!’ she shouted, darting over to the window. ‘Oh, Hester, you don’t know how I’ve longed for more snow. Now we can go sledging, on the beautiful little sled we bought with the money Daddy sent us! I do believe I’m the luckiest girl alive.’

Ben agreed with apparent eagerness to accompany Hester and Lonnie to the museum, though it speedily became apparent that he was not entirely at ease. He said nothing in front of Lonnie, but when the child had wandered ahead to take a look at one of the further exhibits, Hester asked Ben why he was so quiet. ‘You’ve usually got plenty to say for yourself,’ she said smiling down at him. ‘But today you’ve scarcely said a word. You never even contradicted Lonnie when she read the showcards all wrong. Nothing bad happened at work, did it? I hope Mr Madison wasn’t displeased when you decided to come with us.’

‘No, it ain’t nothing to do with Mr Madison,’ Ben told her. ‘The fact is, when I left home this morning, me mam were in a fair state. Me dad went to sit down by the fire to take his breakfast as he usually does and he suddenly started to cough. Mam gorrup to give him a clean handkerchief and when she took the used ’un off him it was soaked in blood. I were ever so frightened but me dad said it were just a nose bleed an’ I weren’t to gerrin a state. He said to go to work same as usual, only Mam tipped me the wink to fetch Dr Perkins on me way an’ to get old nurse what lives round the corner. I s’pose it’s all right,’ he added doubtfully, ‘’cos it has happened before. They have him in hospital for a few days until the bleedin’ stops and then they sends him home. Mam will go with him to wharrever hospital Doc Perkins suggests, so there’s no point in me goin’ back to Elmore Street before this evening. Mam said not to worry but you know how it is. I’m that fond of me dad …’

‘Of course you are, and I’m not surprised you’re worried. Is there anything I can do to help? Would you rather we all went to your house just to check that your father really is all right? Honestly, if we could help …’

But Ben insisted that this would never do. ‘We’ll finish goin’ round the museum ’cos we’re nearly through with it anyway,’ he said. ‘But I’ll have to skip the meal,’ he added regretfully,’ and go straight home. You never know, if me dad is in hospital, Mam may have left a message with a neighbour tellin’ me where she is an’ so on. She might even have left Phyllis with Mrs Arbuckle down the road and if so I’ll collect the kid an’ take her home with me, ’cos Mrs Arbuckle’s got eight of her own and our Phyllis don’t like her overmuch.’

‘Right. I’ll tell Lonnie …’ Hester was beginning, but Ben cut her short.

‘No! Don’t you go tellin’ young Lonnie owt about me dad. Our mam never lerron to Phyllis that it might be hospital, ’cos kids worry, don’t they? I’ll say I forgot I’d some messages for me mam and make off before she can ask questions.’

‘All right, Ben, but will you please let us know what’s happening,’ Hester said anxiously. ‘I’ll come into the shop early tomorrow, if I can get away, but if not, late in the afternoon. If you won’t be there yourself, leave me a message. And remember, anything I can do to help …’

Ben agreed to this and presently, as they emerged from the museum, he clapped a hand across his mouth and said: ‘Oh, wharra fool I am! Mam telled me to go straight home ’cos she had some messages for me. I’m awful sorry, miss, but I gorra go.’

Lonnie gave a moan of disappointment and began to remind Ben of the meal they were about to enjoy but the boy had already gone, slipping into the crowd and making off at a trot. Lonnie turned large despairing eyes on Hester. ‘But he said he could come with us,’ she wailed. ‘Besides, he never goes home to have luncheon, you know he doesn’t.’

‘No. But when Ben left home this morning his father was not feeling too well. I don’t imagine there’s much to worry about but I could see Ben felt uneasy so I advised him to go home and promised that we would have a meal together some other day,’ Hester said. She did not see why Lonnie should not know at least some of the truth. ‘Now shall we have our own luncheon? Afterwards, we’ll go back home and play one of your games by the fire.

Lonnie appeared to derive some comfort from this
suggestion and the two of them had cheese on toast and fizzy lemonade in Lyons. It had snowed on and off all morning as though it could not quite make up its mind what to do, but by the time their luncheon was finished large flakes were falling fast. This made the prospect of an afternoon playing games by the nursery fire quite attractive and the two girls turned up their coat collars, pulled their hats low over their brows and set off for the tram.

‘We’ll cut down Fraser Street on to Islington; we can pick up a tram there which will take us all the way to Shaw Street,’ Hester said breathlessly. Hand in hand they hurried along the pavement and were lucky enough to arrive at the tram stop just as a green goddess was drawing to a halt. Unfortunately, a large number of people had decided to abandon shopping because of the snow and the tram was crowded. Hester and Lonnie managed to get aboard and were so speedily followed by others that when the conductor called their stop they got down with considerable relief and headed straight for home.

Usually they went in through the garden gate, but today Hester pulled her charge to the front door. They rang and Fletcher ushered them inside, tutting in a fatherly way over their soaked garments and advising them to take off their boots and leave them with him so that they might be dried and polished before they were next needed.

Hester and Lonnie hastily took off their boots and sped upstairs, their dripping coats over their arms. ‘We’ll hang them over the fireguard and they’ll soon dry off,’ Hester was saying as they entered the schoolroom. ‘Hello, Kitty! Aren’t you glad you’re a nice little indoor cat today? I don’t think you would much enjoy all that horrid snow!’ As she
spoke, she was making up the fire to a real royal blaze but since this merely resulted in the coats’ giving off a good deal of steam, she told Lonnie to get out the Monopoly board while she herself took the coats down to the kitchen. ‘For I don’t see why we should have to breathe in steam and probably catch consumption,’ she said frankly, ‘when there is an enormous drying rack, probably empty on such a day, in the kitchen.’

‘All right, Hester, but don’t be long,’ Lonnie said. She was setting out the Monopoly board and the pieces on the schoolroom table. ‘Which will you be? The boot, the top hat, the car …?’

‘I’ll be the car. It’s faster than the boot or the top hat,’ Hester said gaily, piling their coats, hats and scarves on her arm and heading for the door. ‘Sort out the Chance and Community Chest cards and don’t you dare look at them while I’m away.’

In the kitchen she was greeted warmly, though she thought she noticed a certain restraint. However, Mrs Ainsworth and Maud helped her to drape the wet garments across the rack whilst Edith hauled on the rope which carried it up to the high ceiling. ‘Thanks ever so much,’ Hester said, turning back towards the door. ‘Anyone want a game of Monopoly? Lonnie’s upstairs setting out the board this minute.’

Maud began to speak, but Mrs Ainsworth cut across her words. ‘The ladies is in, miss,’ she said heavily. She glanced around her as though expecting Miss Hetherington-Smith or Miss Hutchinson to appear through a trap door in the floor like the demon in the pantomime. ‘There’s always a heap o’ work to do, especially since … but there, you go off and have your game. You’ll come down later for cold meat and cakes for nursery tea?’

‘Yes, I’ll do that,’ Hester assured the older woman. She was about to leave the kitchen when it occurred to her that she had not seen Mollie since the previous day. Probably it was the girl’s day off. I really must tackle Miss H about Thursday evening, but perhaps I ought to have a word with Mollie first, she decided. ‘Mrs Ainsworth, is Mollie out? Only I’d like a word with her if possible.’

Mrs Ainsworth looked uncomfortable. ‘I reckon she’s in her room,’ she said heavily. ‘Third one along after the butler’s pantry. Only perhaps Maud might go along and fetch her out for you …’

‘It’s all right, I won’t barge in, I’ll knock on the door loudly and wait until she answers,’ Hester said. ‘I rather want to speak to Miss Hetherington-Smith about having an evening off occasionally, only I thought I’d have a word with Mollie first.’

Maud began to speak but Hester was already closing the door and hurrying along the passage in the direction of the maids’ rooms. As she went, she could not help noticing how scratched and dirty was the linoleum and how scuffed the paintwork of the walls, but servants’ quarters, she supposed, were seldom seen by their employers and therefore such niceties as redecoration were usually ignored.

The door to the butler’s pantry stood open and so, when she reached it, did the third door along. Indeed, within six feet of it, she could hear what sounded remarkably like muffled sobbing which so disturbed her that she entered the room at once, saying as she did so: ‘Mollie! You poor child! What on earth has happened?’

Mollie had been lying face down on the bed, her shoulders heaving with sobs, but at the sound of Hester’s voice she sat up and scrubbed desperately
at her reddened, tear-swollen eyes with a damp and well-used hanky. ‘Oh, miss!’ she said, her voice distorted with weeping. ‘Did they tell you? I dunno what to do, it’ll break me mam’s heart, ’cos I’m the only earner apart from me dad and he’s a farm labourer, as you know, and winter’s hard on such as him. Me mam relies on the money I takes home just to feed the other kids … oh, miss, whatever will I do?’

Hester glanced around the mean and shabby room, the three narrow beds made up with thin blankets and the washstand with its burden of chipped china, then back at Mollie’s face. She sat down on the bed and put an arm round the younger girl. ‘No one has told me anything, Mollie dear,’ she said gently. ‘Tell me what’s upset you so and I’ll see if I can help.’