Love and Marriage at Harpers, page 25
‘Becky Stockbridge!’ Maggie smiled in delight. ‘I’m so glad to meet you. Are you better now?’
‘Yes, much better, thank you,’ the girl assured her. ‘It took me a while to recover, because I was ill for weeks after I left hospital – and that’s why I’m no longer at school. My father said he would let me have lessons at home, but it does mean that I don’t have any friends and… I was wondering if you would come to tea on Sunday…’ She finished in a rush, her breath coming fast as if she were nervous of asking.
‘I should love to have tea with you.’ Maggie smiled. ‘Is it your birthday?’
‘No, but it’s a celebration of my feeling well again,’ Becky said. ‘My father told me to ask you if I wanted, but I thought you might find it a bore.’
‘Not at all,’ Maggie assured her. ‘I’ve asked Mr Stockbridge how you were and he said you were getting better, but I’m so pleased to see you looking so well, Miss Stockbridge.’
‘Oh, no, you must call me Becky,’ the girl smiled. ‘I hope I can call you Margaret?’
‘I’m Maggie to my friends – and I think we shall be friends, Becky.’
‘Yes, please,’ the younger girl said. ‘I want to be a secretary, Maggie. That is why I’m having lessons at home, because I need to pass exams before I can apply to train – and I have to be eighteen too, so that is just over another year. My birthday is in October.’ She gabbled on excitedly, clearly pleased to be talking to a girl of a similar age.
‘Mine is August,’ Maggie told her. ‘We’re not really that much apart, Becky.’ She saw a customer approach. ‘I ought to get on now – but leave me your address and I’ll come on Sunday.’
Becky smiled, passed her a small envelope and left just as the customer came up and asked for a blue silk scarf. Busy for the rest of the morning, Maggie didn’t have much time to think before her lunch break, when she opened the little card with the invitation to tea and Becky’s address. It made her smile because she had another new friend and it was good, because Beth was married and Sally was getting married, which meant she wouldn’t see either of them as much as she had and with Tim often busy with the Royal Flying Corps at the weekends it sometimes left her with not much to do.
Beth leaned over the toilet and vomited into it, her stomach heaving. It was the third morning in a row that she’d been sick and she knew she’d put on a little weight, even though she only noticed it because her best hobble skirt felt too tight about the waist. It had always been a snug fit and now it wasn’t truly comfortable. She felt a sinking sensation inside: her suspicions had proved true and it looked as though she was pregnant.
It was Sally’s wedding the following week. Beth hoped she would be able to squeeze into the beautiful pale blue dress Sally had purchased for her. Jenni Harper had a similar dress to Beth’s, because she’d liked the flounce at the hem and so they would be two and two because Rachel and Beth were wearing the dresses Aunt Helen had made for them for her wedding.
Wiping the vomit from her lips and rinsing her mouth with cold water, Beth patted her face and looked in the mirror. Was her condition showing? No, she looked fine; it was just her queasy stomach that she feared might not let her eat her breakfast again.
She went downstairs to the kitchen. Fred had toasted some bread and buttered it and was crunching a slice spread with honey. He turned and looked at her, his eyes thoughtful as they scanned her face.
‘Not feeling too good this morning?’ he asked.
‘Just a little tummy upset,’ Beth said. ‘I don’t know if something we ate yesterday wasn’t quite right.’
In saying that, she was maligning the wonderful dinner Sally had bought them, which had been at Mathieu’s, an expensive French restaurant where they’d had prawns in a fancy basket made of lettuce with pink sauce and white asparagus. Followed by sole in white wine with sauté potatoes and green peas and surpassed by brandy snaps, black cherries, cream and a touch of liqueur and ending with coffee and petit fours, Beth had never tasted anything quite like it.
‘Perhaps,’ Fred agreed good naturedly, but Beth saw a knowing look in his eyes and knew that she couldn’t put off telling Jack any longer. It wasn’t fair if his father had guessed the truth before Jack had any inkling of her condition.
Beth managed a piece of toast with a scraping of honey but forwent the butter, which she just couldn’t face. Even the smell of melted butter made her want to bring it all up again. It was odd, but it was the smell rather than the taste of things that made her feel queasy.
Why did she have to fall for a baby so quickly? Beth was annoyed as she caught the bus for work. As yet, it only affected her first thing in the morning.
By the time she arrived at work, she was feeling fine, but that wasn’t likely to be the case for the whole of her pregnancy, and, if she was unwell, she might not be able to work as long as she’d hoped. If she got too big, it would be awkward and might embarrass the customers, because many ladies liked to keep such things private. She was sure that Mr Stockbridge would not have agreed that she should be the new supervisor if he’d guessed that Beth was pregnant.
Rachel had been offered the job as floor walker. She hadn’t even applied. Mr Stockbridge had summoned her to his office one evening after work and told her that they wanted her to take over Miss Hart’s job.
‘We’re very sorry that Miss Hart cannot return to us,’ he’d said, ‘but her illness has left her in difficult circumstances and she felt it would be better to take the pension from her annuity now rather than try to hang on.’
Miss Hart had apparently paid into a scheme for a private annuity that had been arranged for her by her late father’s lawyer, and which she would receive on top of the small pension Harper’s had promised to pay her.
‘It was lucky for her that she took out the private annuity,’ Sally had told Rachel after she accepted the job. ‘She can pay for her board at her cousin’s and won’t feel that she is beholden to her, as she might have had she been hard up…’
‘I didn’t even know it was possible,’ Rachel had replied and looked interested. ‘That is something I may look into myself…’
‘I think everyone should if they can,’ Sally said. ‘No one knows when something bad will happen. I am sure Miss Hart expected to work for several years to come.’
‘Yes, I expect so,’ Sally replied.
‘You’re married now so it isn’t so important for you,’ Rachel told Beth when they discussed it. ‘But I shall certainly invest in something of the sort – after all, a little extra money when you retire is a good thing.’
‘Yes, of course.’ Beth agreed with her, though her own thoughts were far from annuities and retiring.
She’d hoped to work a bit longer, to save for the future and have a little money of her own put by, but that was no longer an option. Any money Beth had managed to save would get eaten up in buying things for her baby. Once she gave up work, she would be reliant on whatever Jack gave her. He was generous and the housekeeping was always more than she needed, but her own money had been so useful and it made her feel independent, something Beth knew was important to her. She loved her husband, wanted to be his wife and have his children, but there was a part of her that needed more, far more, and she couldn’t explain it. If she tried, it would sound as if she were complaining, dissatisfied with all she had, and that wasn’t true. She didn’t understand this part of her that could never just accept and stand still, nor where it had come from, but she knew it had grown slowly somewhere at the back of her mind.
There was no use in regretting what could not be changed. Beth loved her husband and Jack was a passionate lover. She knew that he would not wish to use restraint in their loving in order to minimise the likelihood of her becoming pregnant. In reality she could expect to give birth often in the next few years, unless she sought some kind of contraception herself. It was a subject Beth knew nothing about, considered taboo by many women, and she did not think her husband would approve of her using it even if she consulted an understanding doctor.
She was a little anxious, because in truth she hadn’t had time to get used to being a wife and now she would be a mother too and she found the idea a little frightening. Her future was all wrapped up and set, whether she liked it or not, and she couldn’t help feeling a faint resentment. Why couldn’t she have been one of those women who took a while to conceive? Had she been married for a year or two, she would have been delighted to be told she was pregnant; it was just too soon.
‘You look a little pale,’ Maggie said to her when she came to tell her she could take the first break that morning. ‘I’m all right, Mrs Burrows – if you need a little rest yourself…’
‘I’m fine,’ Beth assured her and she was. The sickness never lingered on into the morning and she knew she was lucky, because some women had it far worse than she had so far. ‘You go first and then Janice and Marion can go together.’
Maggie smiled and went off, returning a minute before her time. Beth sent the other two girls to their break together and she was about to take her own break after their return when Sally sent a message down that she would like to see Beth in her office.
Beth took the lift up to the top floor, wondering why she’d been summoned. Surely she hadn’t done anything wrong? She’d been surprised but pleased when she was moved up to be supervisor of the department, though she knew now it wouldn’t be long before she was handing over to someone else.
Sally had a tray of coffee and some biscuits waiting in her office. She smiled as Beth entered and indicated that she should sit down. ‘I wanted to show you the hats I’ve bought for the wedding,’ she said and pointed to a pile of smart boxes. ‘I think these will go with your dresses well – and I know they will suit you, Beth.’
The boxes revealed four identical hats made out of straw, silk flowers and veiling in a combination of pale blue, navy and white. Beth took one out and tried in on in front of the wall mirror.
‘Oh, that’s lovely,’ she said and turned to smile at Sally. ‘I’ll bet you’re looking forward to next week.’
‘Yes, I am,’ Sally agreed. ‘I’ve bought my dress and shoes and a suit for going away in – but I still have plenty of new clothes from my trip to Paris. Some of the designers gave me bits and pieces from their collections and so I haven’t bought much.’
‘Has Jenni bought her wedding dress too?’
‘Yes, she was delighted with it,’ Sally said. ‘How are you getting on in the department? I know Janice is an experienced salesgirl and Maggie is gaining in confidence all the time – but Marion is just a trainee.’
‘She doesn’t learn as fast as Maggie did,’ Beth said, ‘but she is a pleasant, friendly girl and I’ve heard no complaints – have you?’ Sally shook her head. ‘I miss seeing Rachel all the time, but I’m glad she is the floor supervisor now. She deserves it.’
‘Everyone likes Rachel, of course. I have to admit that all the girls seem happier now she is the floor walker. Miss Hart was never a favourite with them, though the male staff didn’t mind her.’
‘Poor Miss Hart,’ Beth said, nodding her agreement. ‘She wasn’t very popular, I’m afraid – and she was awful to you. Not many women would have visited her in hospital and tried to help her if she’d spoken to them the way she did you.’
‘I felt it could have happened to me if I hadn’t met Ben,’ Sally said. ‘I might have ended up like her, alone and frightened.’
‘Was she frightened?’
‘Yes, of course,’ Sally said. ‘It was her fear of loneliness that made her jealous of us, Beth. She told me she envied our comradeship and the way we all got on.’
‘I suppose we were lucky,’ Beth admitted. ‘It was meant to be that we all turned up for a job at the same time and became friends.’
‘Yes. I think we always shall be.’
Beth nodded and then a sobbing sigh escaped her. ‘Will you visit me when I’m stuck at home with a baby?’
Sally looked at her hard and then arched her eyebrows. ‘You’re not – are you? It’s so quick, Beth…’
‘I know.’ Beth made a face at her. ‘I love Jack, but I’d hoped for a bit longer at work before this happened… I haven’t told him yet, but I shall this evening. His father has guessed, so I have to tell him now.’
Sally came towards her and Beth stood. They embraced and Sally laughed. ‘Don’t look so gloomy, love. You don’t have to give up too soon – and I’ll be sure to pop over every week and you must come here to visit when you have time. You won’t lose us just because you have a baby.’
‘Won’t I?’ Beth stared at her, hope dawning. ‘I just felt it was the end of my life here…’
‘You’ll always be one of us, an original Harper’s girl,’ Sally said. ‘Yes, you’re married and you’ll have babies, well, so shall I – God willing – but I intend to keep up with my friends. You and Rachel and Maggie are my best friends. I love Jenni as my sister but no one can replace you and the others. I shall cling to you down the years, so don’t think I’m going to wave goodbye and watch you disappear for good.’
‘Thank you.’ Beth felt much better. She glanced at the clock. ‘Gracious, I’d better go! I’m going to be late back for the first time ever and I am supposed to set a good example to the others.’
‘Blame me,’ Sally said and smiled. ‘Go on, you daft thing, and be happy. You have so much to be thankful for – a husband who adores you, a father-in-law who thinks you’re the best thing that ever happened to his family and now you’re having a baby. I think that is just about perfect.’
Beth laughed on her way to the door. ‘Yes, well, put like that, I suppose I am lucky. You always did know how to cheer me up, Sally.’
Jack was over the moon when Beth told him that evening. He grinned from ear to ear, hugged her, kissed her and swung her up in his arms, his delight brimming over.
‘How do you know?’ he asked. ‘Have you been to the doctor – what does he say? When will it be born?’
‘Oh, Jack,’ Beth laughed, happy in that moment because he was so delighted. ‘Let me answer one question at a time. I’ve been sick every morning for the past three days and I’m three weeks late with my period. The doctor said he would do a test, but he hasn’t confirmed it yet – but I know. I’ve put on a little weight already.’
‘Let’s hope you can fit into the dress Sally bought for her wedding,’ Jack said, still grinning like a Cheshire cat. ‘I’m so happy, Beth. I knew we’d have kids one day – but this is so quick.’
‘It probably happened on our honeymoon,’ Beth said and giggled, caught up in his enthusiasm. ‘We shouldn’t be surprised after the way we’ve been carrying on.’
‘I’m a lucky man,’ Jack said and hugged her, but gently, so as not to harm her. ‘You’ll have to do less, Beth, take care of yourself and the baby.’
‘I’m well, Jack. I don’t need to stop work until the last two or three months. It will be better for me to work than sit at home twiddling my fingers. Besides, I’m in charge of the department now and there’s no way I’m going to overtire myself.’
‘Just make sure you’re all right,’ he said and looked serious.
‘Fred looks after me,’ Beth told him seriously. She understood his concern, which was very real for both her and the baby, because with Gerald Greene lingering in the shadows, anything could happen.
33
Even though September could sometimes be less than perfect, for Sally’s wedding the sun shone both sides of the hedges, making it a perfect day for all the finery. Sally was beautiful in her simple cream silk gown with lace insets, which made her look beautiful and serene as she walked ahead of her four attendants carrying a bunch of flowers.
Sunshine filtered through the ancient stained glass of the old church, warming its cold stone floors and throwing a myriad of colours over everything it touched. The thick pillars of white turned grey by the ages sparkled with light and the flowers in tall vases were a scented background to the quiet vows taken by bride and groom. The old oak benches were packed with smartly dressed guests and the aroma of lilies and roses mingled with the scents of the old church. Jewels flashed in the light of the candles and discreet overhead lighting, because some of the guests were rich friends of the Harpers’.
Sally smiled all the way through the ceremony, her heart swelling with love as she looked at Ben and saw the warmth in his eyes when they were pronounced man and wife and, afterwards, the signing in the vestry. Outside in the sunshine, she saw all her friends, as well as many people she hardly knew, friends of Jenni and Ben. Maggie had been told she could bring a friend and she’d chosen to bring Mr Stockbridge’s daughter, Becky, with whom she’d formed a friendship recently. The girl stood with others from Harper’s and threw rose petals over her, the scent of heavy perfumes from women in expensive dresses and wonderful hats wafting on the breeze.
Sally turned to her new husband, feeling pride as she saw how handsome and confident he looked in the sunshine. How had this happened to her – a girl from an orphanage who had never known the love of a family? Suddenly, she had a husband, sister-in-law and friends all here smiling at her and her heart overflowed with happiness.
And then the cars came to take them all to the reception in the hotel Ben had booked. Standing in the large room, which was dominated by three long tables dressed with the magnificent buffet, the centre one bearing a beautiful three tier wedding cake immaculately iced and decorated with tiny figures of a bride and groom, Sally smiled until her cheeks ached. More confetti had been thrown and it littered the polished wood floor. Bowls of white roses were set at intervals all around the room and their perfume billowed towards her every time the door opened to admit another waitress with more food.
Ben had spent lavishly on the reception and every little morsel was delicious and delicate, whetting the appetite for the next: prawns in a pink sauce and crispy pastry, scallops on a bed of green asparagus puree and lobster in a creamy sauce that vanished on the tongue. There were salads of every description, rice, and luscious fruit piled high, ham with ripe red tomatoes, crusty bread, cold chicken, tiny green peas and crispy potatoes.
