All That Glitters, page 28
‘Nothing, because I didn’t tell her about it. When I got there she looked ghastly. Andrew said she’s not been too well, so I thought better of laying my troubles at her feet.’
‘Do you want me to talk to Eddie?’
‘Do you think it would do any good?’
William exhaled twin streams of smoke from his nostrils. ‘Probably not,’ he mused. ‘Not if you’ve already tried and got nowhere.’
‘Let’s face it, she’s got us beaten before we even start. Eddie’ll never believe a word I say about Jenny because he hates me.’
‘No he doesn’t. As I said, he just feels second rate compared to you.’
‘So what do we do?’
‘Looks like as far as Eddie’s concerned, there’s nothing we can do except let it run its course. That leaves Jenny.’ William ground his cigarette to dust in the tin ashtray on the table. ‘I could try appealing to her better nature, always supposing she has one.’
‘Do you think she’ll listen?’
‘No harm in trying.’
‘There could be if you try to see her alone. And given what you want to say to her I don’t think there is another way.’
‘I’ll pick my time. When the shop’s empty. There’s not much she can accuse me of provided I keep the counter between us.’
‘Don’t you believe it. After what she tried with me there’s no telling what she’ll do to you.’
‘Is your father in?’
‘Hours ago. I hid behind the counter, and sneaked back to open the door again after he went upstairs. You’re later than I thought you’d be.’
‘Sorry, got talking. Lining up another fight.’
‘Close your eyes.’
‘Why?’
‘Just do it.’ She switched on the light and bolted both doors. ‘You can open them again now. I just wanted to see you, that’s all.’
He blinked against the harsh light of the single, bare light bulb. She was sitting on a box wrapped in a blue flowered eiderdown.
‘More comfortable than a blanket.’ She rose to her feet and opened it out. He looked at her and kept on looking. She was wearing nothing beneath it. ‘Thought it would save time,’ she murmured, spreading it out on the floor beneath her.
High on success and excitement, he was on her in an instant.
‘For once I wanted to see you in the light,’ she whispered, tangling her fingers in his curls as his mouth closed over her nipple.’
‘The sooner we’re married, the sooner we’ll be able to do this every night.’
‘You’re insatiable,’ she giggled as he stroked the inside of her thighs.
‘The purse for the next match could be as high as twenty pounds. If you meant what you said earlier, we could choose an engagement ring.’
‘I’ll ask my father to give us a party.’
‘This is the kind of party I like.’ He turned her over and kissed the length of her body as she lay spread-eagled, next to him.
‘There’s just one thing,’ she whispered as he eased his body on to hers.
‘What?’ he asked thickly, prepared at that moment to promise her anything.
‘I wouldn’t want to wait too long, before getting married. I’m afraid.’
‘Of what?’
‘Of having a baby. It would kill my mother.’
‘I’ll talk to your father. Tomorrow.’
Every time William walked up or down the Graig hill that week, he made a point of calling into Griffiths’ shop, but no matter how many times he went there in a day, he never found Jenny alone. In the mornings it was full of people rushing to buy their tobacco and cigarettes before work. In the evening it was packed with children running last-minute errands. If her father was there she avoided serving him; when she couldn’t, she was polite, cool and distant, not that he expected her to be anything else after the way he’d treated her during the boxing match. Any mention of Eddie or Haydn was met with a curt dismissal in favour of the next customer in line.
When the week passed and Saturday dawned without him making any headway, he went to Charlie and pleaded to be allowed to work in the shop instead of the market. By dint of persuasion, and the invention of a mysterious and fictitious new girlfriend, he managed to convince both Charlie and Eddie that he needed to finish early. Eddie took over the stall, which meant working until after the nine o’clock auction bell, when all the leftover meat on the stall was sold, whereas he’d be able to pack up at five when the last of the cooked meats had gone from the shop. Even after helping Alma scrub the food trays and clean the kitchen, he was outside Griffiths’ shop before seven, a whole two and a half or three hours before Eddie could possibly make it.
He pushed open the door and looked around. It was deserted, the wooden bread tray empty, the enamelled cooked meat tray clean and scrubbed; even the vegetable sacks were only a quarter full.
‘Coming …’ Jenny stepped out of the back room. She was wearing a blue dress, one he hadn’t seen before, made from a soft silky material that clung to her slim figure and showed off her full breasts. He smiled, and momentarily forgetting his behaviour during the boxing match she smiled back. Her whole face lit up, and for the first time he understood why both his cousins had lost their heads. Jenny wasn’t simply pretty, she was beautiful, with the kind of sensual beauty he could easily imagine naked. Then suddenly he remembered why he was there.
‘Eddie asked me to call in and tell you he’d be late.’
‘Late? But we were -’
‘Going out?’
‘As a matter of fact we were.’ The smile hardened into a frown. ‘What are you doing here so early? I thought you worked the market.’
‘Eddie swapped with me.’
‘Why?’
‘Because I asked him to. Eddie’s a reasonable man, provided he’s not lied to, or crossed.’
‘I know.’
‘Do you, Jenny? Do you really?’ he asked softly.
‘Do you want anything?’ she snapped, sensing what was coming.
‘Seeing as how we’re both at a loose end, I thought we could go to see Robin Hood in the Palladium.’
‘No thank you.’
‘It’s in colour and it has Errol Flynn. Now there’s a swashbuckler to match even Haydn.’
‘I’d rather wait until Eddie finishes work for the day.’
‘It could be a long wait, and you’re turning down not only Errol Flynn, but the chance to try out another Powell.’
‘If you want anything I’ll serve you, otherwise please go.’
He put his hands on the counter and leaned forward. ‘Take a warning when it’s being given. It’s not only Haydn who can see through the games you’re playing.’
‘I don’t know what you’re talking about.’
‘Come on, you can’t remember Haydn calling in here last Sunday?’
‘I remember Haydn asking me to forget Eddie so we could pick up where we left off.’
He took a deep breath. If he hadn’t seen Haydn, heard his version of events for himself, he would have accepted what she was telling him without question. ‘You expect me to believe that?’
‘Eddie will if I tell him.’
‘You think so? You’re a cool liar, Jenny, but have you thought what’s going to happen when he does find out what you’re up to? He will, you know. Sooner or later someone will tell him and he’ll believe them, not you. How do you think he’s going to feel then? Knowing that he’s been taken for a fool by a girl who loves his brother.’
She turned her back and opened the storeroom door. ‘I’m going upstairs, Dad.’ When she looked around, the shop door was closing. She watched William walk past the window. As she climbed the stairs all she could think of was Eddie and the look on his face when he’d asked her to marry him. She might not love Eddie, but she made him happy. She knew she did. And by marrying Eddie, she’d prove to Haydn that she wasn’t one to make idle threats. He and William could say or do what they liked, they wouldn’t change Eddie’s mind about her. Not now. Not after Shoni’s and last night. And she’d show both of them, especially Haydn. In fact she’d show the whole of the Graig on the day she and Eddie got married. And for her, it couldn’t come soon enough.
‘Note for you, Haydn.’ Arthur pushed open Haydn’s dressing room door.
Haydn slit open the envelope and deciphered his brother-in-law’s unfamiliar handwriting.
Thanks for the tickets. Any chance of changing your mind about that quick drink in the New Inn afterwards? Andrew and Bethan.
‘Any reply?’
‘No. I’ll go and see them. I know which box they’re in.’
‘They look like crache.’
‘What do you expect my sister and her husband to look like?’
‘Get away, that’s your sister? But she’s so dark, and …’
‘Beautiful?’ Haydn pushed the note into his pocket, picked up his overcoat and hat and closed the door.
‘Going somewhere?’ Joe Evans asked as he stepped into the corridor.
‘Box.’
‘In costume?’
‘I’ve covered my suit, and then again I’m not one of the girls.’
‘You’d be locked up if you were. First call in ten minutes.’
‘I’ll be here to take it.’
‘Sure you don’t want me to send for your understudy?’
‘Very funny. He’s got next week, he can do without tonight.’
‘From what I hear the girls aren’t looking forward to losing you.’
‘They’ll get over it.’ Haydn walked down the corridor and opened the door in the auditorium that was closest to the boxes. Looking down over the stalls and up at the circle he could see that the house was jam packed.
‘Haydn! We didn’t expect you to come and see us.’ Bethan was smiling. She looked happier and healthier than when he had last seen her.
‘I came to tell you I won’t be able to make it to the New Inn for a drink. There’s a party here in the bar afterwards. Why don’t you stay?’
‘And let my husband loose amongst showgirls?’ Laura shook her head. ‘If they’re anything like the girls on the poster …’
‘They’re a lot prettier,’ Haydn said cheerfully. ‘But don’t worry, I’ll warn them you’ll scratch their eyes out if they go near Trevor.’
‘I’m not sure I’d thank you for that,’ Trevor retorted.
‘Won’t it be a closed party?’ Andrew asked.
‘No. There’ll be a lot of outsiders there. Practically everyone in the cast has invited someone. I’ve asked Will and Eddie.’
‘Are they coming?’
‘Will said he might, I’m not sure about Eddie,’ Haydn said evasively.
‘Well, if you’re sure we won’t be in the way,’ Andrew conceded, ‘we’ll see you later.’
Haydn looked down and watched Jane showing two men to the front row, programmes on her arm, torch in hand, every inch the experienced usherette. There was an air of quiet confidence about her that wasn’t part of her skinny orphan persona.
‘Problem?’
‘No. That’s Jane Jones.’
‘The new lodger?’ Bethan looked over the edge of the box. ‘Pretty little thing.’
‘I’ve never really noticed,’ he said slowly, looking at Jane’s face as though he were seeing it for the first time.
‘Your first week’s wages. What you going to do with them, Jane?’ Joe Evans asked as he handed over a small brown envelope after the curtain fell on the last house.
‘Buy a pair of leather shoes.’
‘That can wait a week or two if you’ve pressing bills to pay.’
‘If I can manage it, Mr Evans, I’ll get them.’ Jane pocketed the envelope.
‘Manager’s been watching you this week. I don’t mind telling you it’s not often he’s impressed, but you seem to have picked up the job quickly, and in acknowledgement he’s agreed to put you up to fifteen shillings and sixpence a week, as of next week. I can’t remember the last time an usherette rose to full pay so quickly.’
‘Thank you.’
‘Don’t forget, you’re expected to join the cast for a glass of sherry after you’ve finished clearing up.’
‘I won’t forget, Mr Evans.’
She couldn’t resist checking the contents of the envelope. She permitted herself a small glow of pride. She’d done well for herself in two weeks. She’d worked off most of her debt with Wilf Horton and bought a second lot of clothes. Her lodgings were paid to date, courtesy of her sewing earnings. She now had her wages, which would cover next week’s lodging, wherever it was going to be, and a deposit on a pair of leather shoes, and she had a few shillings in her pocket to spare. Without the ten pounds there’d be nothing in the bank, but she consoled herself with the thought that she wouldn’t have to keep buying clothes forever. Another few weeks before she could start saving in earnest. But all in all, she wasn’t doing too badly for someone who had walked out of the workhouse with one and elevenpence, two workhouse dresses and a pair of clogs.
Chapter Seventeen
By the time Haydn had changed out of his evening suit into a pair of cream trousers, cream silk shirt and a Turkish tapestry waistcoat that an assistant in a Brixton men’s outfitter’s had assured him was all the rage, the party was well under way. He made his way to the bar, only to find it half empty.
‘Everyone’s on stage,’ Joe Evans told him. ‘Manager had the sets moved to the back, and the tables and chairs from here carried down.’
Haydn raised his eyebrows.
‘I think half the Town Council wants to wave this show off.’ Joe said wryly. ‘Beer?’
‘And a large whisky chaser.’ Haydn remembered that Chuckles and the cast of next week’s Variety had been invited to the send-off by Norman. After the events of the past week, Babs, Rusty and Mandy in one room might prove to be a bit much.
Taking his drinks he went in search of Bethan, Andrew, Trevor and Laura. He found them sitting at a table on the edge of the stage, talking to the manager and a couple of councillors.
‘Our star,’ the manager beamed expansively, lifting his brandy glass.
‘That wasn’t what you called me last year when I worked here.’
‘That’s because you weren’t one then. And, at last, here come the girls.’ He approached the chattering group who appeared, each clutching a glass of champagne, compliments of the house. ‘I have some people over here who are dying to meet you.’
‘Very nice.’ Andrew winked at Trevor before turning his head to take a closer look.
‘Do you want this sherry in your eye, Andrew John?’ Laura enquired.
‘If you’re offering.’
‘Men, they’re little boys who never grow up. We’re a pair of fools, Bethan. Both of us are going to end up with two babies to look after.’
‘They’ll be playmates for one another.’
‘Are congratulations in order?’ Haydn asked Trevor.
‘Not for him,’ Laura snapped. ‘His was the easy part.’
‘Want to meet the comic?’ Haydn suggested, deciding he’d be on safer ground introducing Billy than any of the girls.
‘I can always do with a laugh.’
‘Billy, over here.’ Haydn called. The comic was still in full make-up and the evening suit he’d worn on stage.
‘Might have known you’d be with the most beautiful ladies in the room.’ He walked past Haydn and kissed Laura and Bethan’s hands.
‘My sister, her husband, Andrew. Dr and Mrs Trevor Lewis …’
As Haydn effected the introductions he saw the usherettes standing awkwardly in a tight cluster on the fringes of the party, each with a glass of sherry in her hand. ‘Jane?’ he motioned her to join them.
‘Someone’s lucky,’ Avril said. ‘That’s his sister and brother-in-law. He’s a doctor.’
‘Haydn probably only wants me to meet his sister.’
‘Be careful, my girl. Haydn’s not the sort to invite a girl to meet his family unless he’s got an ulterior motive.’
‘What was that supposed to mean?’ Myrtle asked as Jane straightened her cap and walked to where the Johns were sitting.
‘I’ve seen which way the knickers are falling there all week.’
‘Come on, the girl’s lodging with the family.’
‘He walks her home every night, doesn’t he? And he hasn’t had Rusty in his dressing room once this week.’
‘You can’t be serious,’ Ann laughed. ‘Not Jane. She’s such a little mouse.’
‘Those are the ones who need watching with tigers like Haydn Powell on the prowl.’
‘She’s right,’ Myrtle nodded agreement. ‘Don’t you remember that West End star last year?’
‘Falling star, you mean.’
‘Whatever. He was still a pretty star. His girl was the dresser and she looked like the back end of a cow.’
‘Men like Haydn are surrounded by beautiful women all day. He knows only too well what they get up to when their men are out of sight. It’s my guess he’ll take a leaf out of a lot of good-looking men’s books. When he settles down it will be with a real plain Jane, and they don’t come much plainer than that particular Jane.’
‘You really think he’d marry her?’ Ann watched as Haydn introduced Jane to an attractive dark-haired woman. There was an odd look on his face. One she hadn’t seen before, even when he’d been a callboy. Gentle, almost compassionate; the kind of look that told her Avril just might be right.
‘Dance, Rusty?’
The orchestra had returned to the pit by popular request, although they might not have been so eager to comply if it hadn’t been for the liberal oiling of whiskies and brandies that had come courtesy of the house.
‘Why should I?’
‘Old times’ sake?’
She gave Haydn a look that told him it would have been more prudent to have remained with Bethan and Andrew. ‘You’re an absolute rat, Haydn Powell.’
‘I know. But go on, admit it. It was fun to be with a rat for a while.’
She glowered at him, but not for long. She began to laugh: a deep throaty chuckle that attracted the attention of most of the men in the room. ‘Oh what the hell. I can hardly claim you’re the first, and with a husband like mine I don’t suppose you’ll be the last. Yes I’ll dance with you. But the next one, not this.’ She went to a side table, picked up two fresh glasses of champagne and handed him one. ‘Here’s to you, and mud in your eye. May you marry a woman who leads you a long and miserable life.’
