Sinners and Shadows (35 page)

The children miss you and can't wait to see you. I warn you that there is no way they, Lloyd
or I will allow you to leave our family,

Love as always,

Sali

‘Where do you want these suitcases, Miss?'

Rhian stared blankly at the cabman.

‘The cases, miss?' He held one of them up.

‘Please put them in the bedroom, it's the next door on the left.'

While he returned downstairs to fetch the rest of her luggage, she pushed her thumb under the flap of the second envelope and opened it.

Dear Rhian,

You don't have to worry about seeing me around Tonypandy because I have enlisted. If you think that I have joined the army because of what happened between us, you'd be absolutely right. I don't wish you ill, but I'll never understand why you wouldn't marry me after reading Tonia's letter. It will be a long time, if ever, before I forgive you,

Joey

The cabman carried the last of the cases upstairs and left. Rhian was only vaguely aware of his presence and the front door closing a few minutes later.

She sank down on a chair. And that was where Edward found her an hour later, dry-eyed, white-faced and still holding Joey's letter.

‘I'll have three boxes of safety matches.' Mrs Williams dropped four pennies and a halfpenny on the counter of the tobacconist's that Rhian had been managing for over three weeks.

Flustered, Rhian turned her back to the housekeeper and looked along the shelves although she kept all the safety matches under the counter.

‘Rhian?'

‘Yes, Mrs Williams.' She turned and looking down, lifted three boxes on to the counter, took the fourpence halfpenny and dropped it into the cash drawer.

‘Can we go to a tea shop for half an hour?' Mrs Williams asked.

‘I'm not sure …' Although Mrs Ball was standing beside her behind the counter and there were no other customers in the shop, Rhian made a great show of looking at her watch.

‘I can take over here, Miss Jones,' Mrs Ball offered in response to a signal from Mrs Williams. ‘We won't get busy for another hour or so until the shops start their lunch hour.'

‘Then we'll go next door, Rhian.' Mrs Williams went to the door and held it open.

Realizing that the housekeeper wasn't going to take no for an answer, Rhian unbuttoned her khaki overall, went into the stockroom and hung it on a peg. Picking up her coat, hat and gloves, she returned to the shop. Mrs Williams was still holding the door. She walked through it.

‘Tea for two, and two chocolate éclairs,' Mrs Williams ordered the waitress in the tea shop without asking Rhian what she wanted.

Rhian sat at a table and, not knowing what to say, waited for Mrs Williams to open the conversation.

‘Did Mr Larch tell you that I'd handed in my notice?' Mrs Williams began.

‘Yes, he did. Did you get my letter?' Rhian asked tentatively.

‘Yes, and what was all that stuff and nonsense you wrote me and Mrs Evans about understanding if we didn't want to see you again?'

‘My circumstances have changed,' Rhian said quietly, aware that one or two of the women sitting around them were staring.

‘So Mr Larch told me. But he's tight-lipped when it comes to strangers, and gossip doesn't constitute hard fact. From what I've heard, whatever's being said about you hasn't affected trade in the shop you manage.'

‘It hasn't,' Rhian confirmed. ‘Mr Larch is pleased with the turnover.'

‘I bet he is pleased and not only with the turnover.'

Rhian steeled herself to look at the housekeeper after their tea and cakes arrived. ‘Are you leaving Llan House because of me?'

‘Why do you think I would do that?'

Rhian lowered her voice. ‘What happened isn't Mr Larch's fault.'

‘I suppose it's yours.'

Rhian nodded. ‘I took the easy way out of a difficult situation.'

‘Do you really believe that?' the housekeeper questioned searchingly.

Rhian picked up a sugar lump with silver tongs and dropped it into her tea. ‘What's done is done.'

‘No doubt Joey Evans is saying much the same thing.'

‘You know someone who's heard from him?' Rhian asked eagerly.

‘Only Mrs Evans, and as we didn't discuss him other than to comment on his enlisting when she called in on me yesterday afternoon, I don't have any fresh news, not about him. I wanted to see you to give you this.' Mrs Williams pushed a folded piece of paper across the table. ‘It's my address, in Pembrey. I'm going to run a boarding house for my cousin. It's a nice spot by the sea. So if you fancy a holiday, or need a friend, or just somewhere to stay for a while, you know where to find me.'

‘Thank you.' Rhian raised her eyes to meet the housekeeper's gaze. ‘I didn't expect everyone to be so kind. You, Sali, even Victor and Megan have written to me.'

‘Yes, well.' Embarrassed by being thought of as kind, Mrs Williams spread her napkin on her lap and picked up her cake fork. ‘Eat up. A lot needs doing before I leave Llan House in the morning so I can't waste all day sitting here talking to you. I'd rather do that later on when you come and visit me.'

Chapter Eighteen

Julia left the train at Tonypandy and walked briskly towards Dunraven Street. When she reached the area in front of the station reserved for cabs, she saw the driver of a brake help Mrs Williams on to the pavement before proceeding to unload an assortment of suitcases, bags and boxes. The housekeeper was preoccupied with paying the man and Julia had to tap her shoulder to gain her attention.

‘Miss Julia!' The housekeeper embraced her and dropped her purse.

‘Here, let me.' Julia picked up the purse and the coins that had rolled from it.

‘I am so glad to see you. I thought I'd have to leave without saying goodbye.' Mrs Williams brushed aside a tear, took her purse from Julia and handed the driver a sixpence.

‘You're going on holiday?'

‘I'm leaving, Miss Julia.'

‘Tonypandy?' Julia asked in astonishment.

‘And Llan House for good,' Mrs Williams added, to ensure that Julia understood the situation.

‘I am so sorry to hear that, Mrs Williams. Father will miss you.'

‘So he says,' the housekeeper said cynically, ‘but I can count on one hand the number of times he came home in the last month, and then it was only to pick up clean clothes or books.' She lowered her voice although the driver had already returned to his cab. ‘He hasn't eaten a meal or slept in Llan House since he came back from a trip away in August. Excuse me.' She hailed a porter who was standing, hands in pockets with his back to the wall.

‘I do hope your decision didn't have anything to do with my leaving home,' Julia said softly.

‘A little.' Mrs Williams pointed out her luggage to the porter, who took one look at it and disappeared to fetch a trolley. ‘If I'd known where to find you, I would have written. I really do need to talk to you, Miss Julia,' she said seriously.

‘We could go to the Ladies' waiting room,' Julia suggested.

Mrs Williams glanced at the fob watch pinned to her lapel and gazed at the sea of luggage around her. ‘I have barely ten minutes and it will take me that long to get these on the train, even with the porter's help. Have you come to Tonypandy to see your father?'

‘Yes, but he isn't expecting me.'

‘He took your elopement hard,' Mrs Williams reproached. ‘So much has happened since you left, but I dare not miss this train. I'm not just going to Cardiff. I have to change trains there for Swansea and again in Swansea for Burry Port.'

‘Why Burry Port?'

‘I have taken a position as housekeeper in a Pembrey boarding house owned by a cousin of mine.'

‘He's a lucky man.'

The housekeeper frowned. ‘There are things that you really should know –'

‘My father can tell me about them,' Julia interrupted.

‘I doubt he'll tell you anything, Miss Julia.'

The housekeeper looked so grave Julia made a swift decision. ‘Do you have your ticket?'

‘No, and I'd better get one.' Mrs Williams turned to the porter who was piling her luggage on to a trolley.

Julia walked to the ticket office, opened her purse and slid a sovereign across the counter. ‘One first-class single to Burry Port, please, and one first-class return to Cardiff.'

‘Not first-class, Miss Julia,' Mrs Williams protested.

‘Call it a goodbye present, Mrs Williams.' Julia pressed the ticket into the housekeeper's hand. ‘And if you want to talk, we will get more privacy in a first-class carriage.'

Sali smiled when she read the letter from her sister. If she hadn't seen it in black and white in Llinos' own hand she might not have believed it.

Dear Sali,

Just to let you know that
I am safe and well. I have left the finishing school and no longer need an allowance from Harry's estate because I have accepted a salaried position as an interpreter with the French High Command. All those French, German and Italian lessons have proved good for something, and I am glad to be in a position to be able to contribute to the war effort. There is no need to worry about my safety as I am miles behind enemy lines and, as I work with the top-ranking military personnel, we are kept well away from any danger …

‘A letter from Master Gareth?' Mari asked, recognizing the French postmark.

‘Llinos,' Sali answered. ‘She is working as an interpreter for the French army.'

‘Miss Llinos, working?' Mari placed a sceptical emphasis on the last word.

‘She says that she is glad to do her bit for the war effort.'

‘And this wouldn't have anything to do with the officers working for the French army?'

‘I've no doubt there's a few bachelors among them,' Sali commented wryly.

‘And, knowing Miss Llinos, she's already sorted the wheat from the chaff, or should I say the well-to-do from the poor. Well, I've always said that one would land on her feet.'

‘So you have,' Sali agreed.

‘But you didn't always believe me.'

‘The way Llinos and Gareth behaved after Uncle Morgan lost Father's money, can you blame me?'

Mari cleared an empty teacup from Sali's desk. ‘No word from Master Gareth or your brother-in-law yet?'

Sali shook her head. ‘I would have told you if Gareth had written and I'm surprised to hear you ask after Joey.'

‘Yes, well, whatever I think of what he did to poor Rhian, I don't wish the boy ill,' Mari sniffed.

‘What happened was as much her fault as his, Mari. From what I can gather, Rhian saw Joey with Tonia and assumed the worst.'

‘So my sister wrote in her last letter. She said the whole of Tonypandy is talking about it, and what Rhian has become.'

‘That is just gossip, Mari,' Sali said firmly, in the hope of putting an end to the conversation.

‘You don't believe that, Miss Sali, any more than I do.'

‘Rhian's young –'

‘And she's made a very wrong decision on the rebound. Mr Larch is old enough to be her grandfather let alone father.'

‘Not quite, Mari, and whatever she did is done now. She needs our love and support more than ever and when she comes here again, as I hope she will very soon, I trust that you will treat her no differently than you did before.'

‘You'd invite her to this house?' Mari was clearly shocked at the thought.

‘Of course.'

‘You're more forgiving than most, that's all I can say, Miss Sali. And don't go forgetting that you've daughters to consider.'

‘Who both adore Rhian,' Sali reminded the housekeeper forcefully.

Realizing that she wasn't going to alter Sali's opinion, Mrs Williams changed the subject. ‘You'll send my best wishes and congratulations to Miss Llinos on her new job when you write back, Miss Sali.'

‘I will, Mari.'

‘Just one more thing, Miss Sali.'

Sali looked up, expecting Mari to pass another comment on Rhian.

‘Will you be in for lunch?'

‘Not today, Mari. I have to go up to the Tonypandy store to see how the assistant manager is getting on.'

‘Joey's left a big hole behind him.'

‘And not only in the store, Mari,' Sali murmured thoughtfully, gazing at the photograph of Lloyd and his brothers on her desk.

‘You're sure about this, Mrs Williams?' Julia asked carefully.

‘Your father didn't even try to deny it when I told him there was gossip about him and Rhian. Everyone in the town knows that they are both living in the building he owns next door to his office. And she's managing a tobacconist's he's opened on the ground floor.'

Julia leaned back against the seat of the train. She had slipped the porter an extra sixpence to find an empty carriage and so far they were the sole occupants. ‘I knew he was unhappy with my stepmother – but Rhian. She is only nineteen!'

‘And your father is nearly fifty,' Mrs Williams pointed out superfluously.

Before her mother's death, her father had been a hero to Julia. If they had drifted apart afterwards, she felt it was down to the almost insupportable grief of losing someone they had both loved so dearly. The thought of him living as man and wife with Rhian appalled her. She felt physically ill when she imagined her father embracing, kissing – or worst of all- sharing a bed with Rhian. It was a complete betrayal of all the ideals about living a decent life that he had instilled in her.

‘When I saw Rhian yesterday, she insisted that your father hadn't seduced her,' Mrs Williams revealed.

‘You asked her outright?'

‘More or less.'

‘And you believe her?' Julia said acidly.

‘From all the accounts I've heard, she was devastated when she found her young man in the arms of his cousin. Most people in Tonypandy now seem to believe that Mr Evans's cousin set it up to look as though there was something between them when there wasn't. But the truth hardly matters now that Rhian is with your father and her young man has joined the army.'

‘And everyone in Tonypandy knows that she and Father are living together?'

‘There's gossip because they live in the same building, but there's no real proof. Everyone knows that your father split the house next door to his office into three sets of rooms, and he put a woman in one set to take care of the building. For all that anyone knows, Rhian could be in another set of rooms and he could be living in the third, so no one can say anything against either of them for definite. But it is common knowledge that he has left Llan House and rarely visits there except to fetch something in the middle of the day when it is more likely than not that your stepmother will be out.'

‘How is my stepmother?' Julia was anxious to change the subject. She was glad that she had met Mrs Williams and had decided to accompany her to Cardiff. The news that her father was living with Rhian had come as a shock, but it would have been much more of one if she had discovered it accidentally.

‘Mrs Larch is the same as she was when you were living at home, Miss Julia. All she thinks about is her precious Ladies' Circle. I for one don't blame your father for not wanting to live with her.'

‘Does she know about my father and Rhian?'

‘She knows that your father has set up a separate establishment in the rooms next door to his office. As for Rhian, I couldn't tell you. But she is unhappy about your father's decision to live apart from her.'

‘She must be sorry to be losing you as housekeeper.'

‘If she is, she hasn't shown any signs of it to me. Harris has left as well; he enlisted in the second week in August.'

‘You'll all be hard to replace.'

‘Your father isn't replacing any of us. He has sold the horses and carriage and bought himself a car that he garages behind his office. And he's promoted Bronwen to housekeeper. He's shut up all the rooms in the house except for the dining and drawing rooms, the servants' quarters and your stepmother's bedroom.'

‘I almost feel sorry for Mrs Larch,' Julia murmured absently.

‘Pardon?' Mrs Williams stared at her as if she had taken leave of her senses.

‘She told me that the life she had in Tonypandy wasn't what my father had promised her.'

‘Your father didn't get what she promised him in church when she agreed to be his wife either,' Mrs Williams observed caustically. ‘And what did she expect? To be presented at court. Didn't she know that there isn't one in Tonypandy?'

‘I think she expected to be the centre of attention.'

‘Your father did more for her than most men would have done for a second wife. He let her refurnish and redecorate the entire house, and buy whatever she wanted in the way of clothes and knick-knacks. And in return she behaved like a nun. Someone should have told her before she married that when a man gives all his worldly goods he has the right to expect a bit of loving kindness in return.'

Julia thought of her own unconsummated marriage. She had given all her worldly goods and received nothing in return. But then, unlike Mabel with her father, Geraint had never even tried to pretend to love her.

‘How are you enjoying married life, Miss Julia?' Mrs Williams enquired as if she'd guessed her thoughts.

‘Geraint has enlisted,' Julia divulged. ‘I'm looking for a house for us and in the meantime I am living with my sister-in-law.'

‘Miss Sali?' Mrs Williams smiled for the first time since they had met. ‘My sister thinks the world of her, and from what I've seen she is a lovely lady. You will be all right with her.'

‘I am.' Julia managed to return the housekeeper's smile.

‘Are you happy, Miss Julia? But then, what am I saying? No bride could be happy with her husband gone to war. Well, I'll say the same to you as I said to Rhian: if you want a holiday, or a break, or a few days away, come and see me. There's lovely country around the boarding house.' She opened her handbag. ‘Let me give you the address, but it might be best to write and let me know if you do decide to visit. If Rhian is with me, you might not want to stay. Not the way things are between her and your father.'

‘Second post, Mr Larch.' Miss Arnold set Edward's mid-morning cup of tea on to his desk and stacked the letters next to it.

Edward gazed at the pile of buff-coloured envelopes. When he had returned from Brighton with Rhian, he had arranged to have all his post re-directed from Llan House to his office.

He picked up the first envelope, slit it open and removed an unpaid bill from Gwilym James's ladieswear department that exceeded his wife's monthly allowance. Sorting out the rest of the bills, he consigned them to his inside pocket. He really couldn't afford to put off confronting Mabel any longer.

The last envelope he looked at was addressed in a strange hand and bore the crest of Gerald's public school. He felt horribly guilty and neglectful. He and his son had never been the best of correspondents but their sporadic contact had become even more sparse and perfunctory since last Christmas.