Love or Duty--A saga set in 1920s Liverpool (8 page)

‘You mean she'll leave Brian and little Lily on their own?' Penny asked aghast.

‘Yeah and they get scared on their own so they'll probably both be screaming their heads off by the time she gets back home.'

Before Penny could think what to say in response, Mary knocked on the bedroom door. ‘Sorry to disturb you Miss Penny but Mr Arnold has arrived and he's asking for you.'

Arnold Watson, smartly dressed in white flannels and a dark green and white striped blazer, was waiting in the hall. He was twirling his panama boater hat with an air of impatience.

Penny paused as she descended the stairs and felt a surge of emotion. He looked so handsome that it made her heart beat faster and a smile played on her lips as she greeted him.

‘Why aren't you ready?' he asked looking at her critically as he gave her a quick peck on the cheek. ‘We're going to be late at the club,' he added tersely.

‘Late for what?' Penny asked a puzzled look on her face.

‘You surely haven't forgotten that we have a court booked for this evening for a doubles match with Isabel and Tony,' he said tetchily as he checked his watch.

‘Oh!' Penny clapped a hand to her mouth. ‘I'm so sorry, Arnold, I forgot all about it. Give me a moment and I'll change into my tennis skirt and collect my things. First though I'd better ask mother if she will keep an eye on Kelly while I'm out.'

‘Kelly? You surely don't mean you have that slum child here, in your home!'

‘You don't have to sound so surprised. You know that I was planning to bring her here so that I could look after her until her leg was better.'

‘Yes, and I suggested putting her in a convalescent home of some kind and your father agreed with me. In fact, if I recall correctly, he even offered to foot the bill.'

‘Well, I didn't agree with that and she's here,' Penny retorted with a tight smile.

‘Not a good idea, surely,' Arnold frowned. ‘Anyway,' he shrugged dismissively, ‘we're late so we haven't time to discuss it now; we can talk about it later.'

‘Did I hear Arnold's voice? Why have you left him in the hall?' her mother asked when Penny burst into the dining room to explain what was happening.

‘He's called to take me to the tennis club and we are running late. I'm afraid I will have to miss dinner,' she told her mother apologetically.

‘Oh dear, that's a shame because we are having one of your favourite dishes; are you sure you haven't time? There's plenty so Arnold is very welcome to eat with us.'

‘Sorry, Mother but we have a court booked. All I wanted to do was ask if you would listen out for Kelly and check on her sometime during the evening to make sure she is all right.'

‘You are asking me to look after that dreadful child,' Mrs Forshaw exclaimed in an exasperated voice, ‘No, Penelope, that is quite out of the question.'

‘Kelly's already in bed and she'll be asleep in a few minutes. All you need do is look in on her and see that she is all right,' Penny repeated.

‘No, Penny. She's your responsibility; we made that quite clear when you defied your father's wishes to put her into some sort of home.'

‘Very well, I'll asked Mary or Mrs Davies if they will do it.'

‘Oh no, that is also out of the question,' her mother retorted her lips tightening into a disapproving line.

‘There is really nothing to do,' Penny persisted. ‘She's already had her supper, I've given her a wash and changed her into her nightdress. She'll probably be asleep within half an hour. It's simply a case of looking in on her later to check that she is all right,' Penny repeated.

‘And that is your responsibility,' her mother affirmed.

‘Does that mean I am going to have to stay in every evening all through the summer even though there are other people in the house?'

‘Yes, unless you take the child along with you whenever you go out.'

‘Mother, don't be difficult. How on earth do I explain that to Arnold whenever he wants to take me out?' Penny questioned in dismay.

‘That's something you should have thought about and sorted out with him before you committed yourself to such an undertaking,' her mother retorted.

‘Obviously,' Penny sighed. ‘Look, do you think you could do it just for this once? Or can I ask Mary to help out, so that I don't have to upset all Arnold's arrangements for this evening.'

‘The answer remains the same, Penny. The child is your responsibility. If you go out with Arnold this evening then you must be prepared either to take the child with you or else leave her to her own devices. Perhaps you had better lock her in your bedroom because I certainly don't want her wandering through the rest of the house.'

Arnold's face darkened with anger when Penny apologetically started to explain why she wouldn't be able to go to the tennis club with him that evening.'

‘Yes, Penny, I heard every word your mother said and I simply can't believe that you are putting this little guttersnipe before me!' he exclaimed angrily.

‘I'm not; it's not like that Arnold. I can hardly leave her on her own though, can I.'

‘She's probably well used to being on her own,' he pointed out. ‘Her mother is probably off down to the pub or standing out in the street gossiping to her neighbours every evening.'

‘No, as a matter of fact her mother goes out cleaning in the evenings.'

‘Well there you are then, exactly what I have just said. She can take care of herself because she is used to being on her own in the evening.'

‘No –' Penny shook her head – ‘it's not like that. She has to look after her siblings and one of them is only a baby, so she is far from being alone.'

‘Perhaps you should have brought them here as well and then she'd have had plenty of company when you wanted to come out with me,' he said spitefully.

They stood for a moment glaring angrily at each other. He's behaving like a spoilt brat, simply because he can't have his own way she thought as she saw his mouth tighten and his jaw jut aggressively.

She had never seen him in such a petulant mood but then until now she had never attempted to defy him. She had always fallen in with his plans even when it meant cancelling arrangements she had already made.

‘I don't know what do,' she murmured. ‘I really don't think I can leave her on her own when she's only been here a couple of days.' She put her hand on his arm pleadingly. ‘Everything in this house is so strange and so different for her.'

‘Then take her back to the hovel she came from and let her own mother take care of her. She's not your responsibility; she caused the accident by running out into the road in front of your car,' he told her callously.

‘I know that but I have promised to take care of her to try and stop her mother suing for damages and to make sure that our name and yours are kept out of the newspaper,' she reminded him.

‘She'll probably sue you anyway no matter what she says to the contrary. You can never trust those sort of people, that's what they are like,' he told her in a contemptuous voice.

‘Look, I am very sorry about letting you down this evening, Arnold. I promise that I'll try and make better arrangements in the future,' Penny told him contritely.

‘Don't bother. I can easily find myself another partner at the tennis club and not just for tonight's match,' he said dismissively, as he rammed his straw boater on to his head and, turning on his heel, moved towards the front door.

As the door slammed behind him Penny heard her mother call out to her from the dining room. She was so close to tears, though, that she simply couldn't face another interrogation at that moment, so she fled upstairs to her room.

She stood by the window staring out unseeingly, tears streaming down her cheeks. She felt utterly devastated by Arnold's reaction. He hadn't even kissed her apart from a brief peck on the cheek when he'd arrived.

She thought back over the good times they'd had when they'd first started going out together and wondered if they would ever return to those carefree days. She knew her friends envied her. Arnold was not only from a wealthy family but extremely handsome and very much in demand.

She knew he liked to have his own way and usually she went along with whatever he suggested. Most of their friends did the same. She'd always attributed it to his popularity but now she wondered if perhaps they too had discovered that he didn't like to be thwarted in any way.

She twisted the solitaire diamond ring on her left hand, the ring Arnold had placed there less than a year ago as a pledge of their love for each other.

Their engagement party had been such a memorable occasion. They'd had a party at the Adelphi in Liverpool. As well as their own friends there had been shipping magnates, importers and exporters, business connections of her family and Arnold's. It had been like a pre-announcement of the merger that there would one day be between their two companies.

This was the man she was planning to marry she reminded herself. In a few months' time they would be man and wife and then she would certainly be expected to do whatever he dictated.

What sort of life was she letting herself in for when it was impossible to reason with him and he wasn't prepared to compromise even for one evening? Furthermore, he had let her down at the very moment when she most needed his love and support.

Arnold had made it quite clear that, like her parents, he didn't approve of what she was doing and wanted nothing at all to do with Kelly.

The argument marked the start of an entirely different regime for Penny. She was kept busy during the day with looking after Kelly and keeping her entertained. Most days she took her out to one of the parks or for a walk along the promenade or kept her amused in the garden.

Whenever her mother invited any of her own friends around for afternoon tea she always insisted that Penny must take Kelly out somewhere. She also stipulated what time she should return home again so that she could make sure that none of her friends ever encountered Kelly.

The evenings were quite another matter. Apart from taking dinner with her parents Penny found herself in complete isolation once Kelly was in bed and asleep. Even though she knew that Mary would have been quite willing to listen out for Kelly in the evenings she had been forbidden by her mother to ask her to do so.

Arnold was conspicuous by his absence and both her parents repeatedly commented on this. Penny did her best to avoid the subject knowing that he was fulfilling arrangements they'd made at the tennis club and that she should have been there with him.

Deep down she was bitterly saddened by his attitude. She had thought that given time he would understand and support what she was doing. She had even envisaged the two of them taking walks in the evening and at the weekends with Kelly in her pushchair. Not only had Arnold made it quite clear the first time she had suggested it that he had no intention of ever being seen with Kelly but he had even stopped coming to the house.

As the days passed Kelly made excellent progress. She filled out from eating good regular meals and having plenty of sleep. Slowly but confidently she was walking short distances using her crutches and she loved nothing better than when Penny took her on the bus to New Brighton.

Once there she was equally happy to sit in the window of one of the many cafés drinking a glass of lemonade or eating an ice cream and watching all the people passing by, or for them to take a short walk along the promenade or even down on the shore.

‘Is that really Liverpool over there?' she would ask in disbelief as she looked across the Mersey and saw the outlines of the Liver Building against the skyline.

Penny wondered if she was homesick but whenever she asked her if she was missing her mother and her brothers and sisters Kelly would give her a big beaming smile and say, ‘Not really because it is so much nicer living over here with you.'

‘Well, it can't last much longer,' Penny warned her as August drew to a close. ‘I will have to return to work soon and that means you will have to go back home to your mother.'

‘I don't want to,' Kelly sighed. ‘I want to stay here with you for ever and ever.'

‘I'm afraid that's not possible,' Penny told her, giving her a hug and a kiss.

‘I wonder if I will be able to go to school when I get home even though I still can't walk properly?' Kelly asked.

‘Oh, I'm sure you will,' Penny told her brightly.

‘What about when we go out to play? If the other kids are rough then I might get pushed over.'

‘I am sure that won't happen because you really are getting stronger every day,' Penny told her encouragingly, ‘You will have to go and see the doctor at the hospital before then and he will decide if you are fit enough to go to school or whether you need to stay home for a bit longer.'

Kelly's face brightened. ‘If he says that I can't go to school then can I go on living here with you, Penny?' she begged in a wheedling tone of voice.

‘No, Kelly, as I've already told you I'm afraid that won't be possible because I will be going back to work and that will mean you will have to go home to your mother.'

When she took Kelly to the hospital for a check-up at the end of August they were told by the doctor that it would be best if she delayed going to school for at least another month.

Penny was very taken aback. She wondered if perhaps she should have taken her father's advice and let Kelly go into a convalescent home after all. They would probably have been able to do much more for Kelly than she had done to get her fully mobile again.

Perhaps it still wasn't too late. Then the thought of having to admit to her parents and Arnold how wrong she'd been made her decide that it wasn't the answer. No, she resolved, there was nothing else for it she must take Kelly back to her own home in Liverpool.