The Leaving of Liverpool (18 page)

 

It was Saturday afternoon and Emily was still at work when Edwin called at Lonsdale Street. Phoebe-Ann was resplendent in her new autumn coat of violet bouclé, with a matching hat. She was ready to wander around the shops in town with her friends, something they did every Saturday afternoon, although they didn’t always buy things. They just enjoyed looking and planning and gazing enviously in the windows of the more exclusive shops whose prices were far beyond their reach. They also enjoyed being admired by the young men who congregated on corners for this purpose.

‘How did it all go, lad?’ Lily asked, indicating that he should sit down.

‘Not too bad once I’d got used to things and found my way around and learned the language,’ he laughed. ‘Here, I brought you these.’ He handed out small packages to everyone. Emily’s gift he had tucked inside his coat.

‘You work too hard for your money to go buying everyone presents,’ Lily protested.

He grinned. ‘I gathered that it was sort of expected, but I wanted to anyway,’ he added hastily.

‘Oh, Mam! Look at this, isn’t it great?’ Phoebe-Ann was delighted with the small bottle of cheap perfume.

‘Bought on Fifth Avenue where all the best shops are.’ He had actually bought it just around the corner but it was close enough, he thought.

‘Just imagine – all the way from New York! Alice will be green with envy.’

‘And at all costs Alice must be made to be green with envy,’ Albert joked before intercepting a frown from his wife.

Phoebe-Ann dabbed a little behind her ears and leaned forward towards Edwin. ‘Does it smell heavenly?’

‘I don’t know about that, but it’s nice.’

‘If you’re going out Phoebe-Ann, then go. All this nonsense is giving me a headache.’

Phoebe-Ann ignored her mother although Lily’s sharp tone upset her. Mam always seemed to be getting at her lately and she couldn’t forget that awful scene when Lily had beaten her. Mam would always attribute some of the blame to her, even though Emily insisted she didn’t. It was so unfair, too, but there were nights when she lay in bed, listening to Emily’s breathing, when she would turn over and over in her mind all the things she’d said to James Mercer. Had she led him on? Had he misconstrued her sympathy? Had those words – meant only to show that she understood and pitied him – been taken as tokens of growing affection? The doubts always magnified in the hours of darkness and sometimes they fired her imagination until she began to believe it
had
been her fault and that she would be punished for it, and she’d had to stop herself from waking Emily and telling her she was sorry, so very, very sorry. But, when daylight came, it chased away the shadows of guilt and she felt stupid for becoming so hysterical, for blowing it all up out of proportion.

She smiled at Edwin as she placed the violet hat over her short hair and picked up her bag. ‘See you all later on.’

‘Will it be all right for me to go and meet Emily from work, Mrs Davies?’

Lily smiled. ‘It’s a bit early yet and I’d wait on the corner of the street. Miss Millicent and Miss Nesta are a bit old-fashioned.’

‘As well as being odd?’ Edwin grinned.

‘You’ve heard then?’

‘Emily wrote to me. The letter was waiting when we got to New York.’ He wanted to ask how Emily was. Did Lily think she’d be more responsive to him now, but he couldn’t bring himself to ask.

‘Have a cup of tea and tell us what it’s like, this going to sea,’ Albert stated.

He took the cup Lily handed him. ‘Hard work. Even harder if you get seasick. I was lucky, it didn’t affect me, although we came through quite a storm on the way home. I saw lads who could hardly stand, their faces green, but having to work just the same.’

‘Did you see anyone you knew?’ Lily asked, for half the men in the city went away to sea.

‘Only Jake Malone.’

‘God! You could have done without that I’ll bet!’

‘He didn’t seem that bad. He was sober of course. I don’t envy him. It’s a living hell down there. I went and took a quick look. A picture straight from hell it was. I don’t know how they stick it, but apparently they are the finest black squad afloat.’

‘I heard that they’re going to convert the
Maury
to oil,’ Albert put in.

‘It’s a rumour that’s been going around for a while. Ever since she went back into service after the war. The
Aquitania
is oil-fired, and the
Berengaria
, and they don’t need half the manpower. A lot of jobs would be lost. There’s a rumour that Southampton will be the home port soon.’

‘What will you do then?’ Lily asked.

He shrugged. ‘Go with her I suppose, though I won’t like it.’

Lily said nothing but began to stack the dirty teacups.

 

She looked the same, he thought with relief, as he saw her walk down the street. He stepped into the roadway so she would see him clearly. If only . . . if only she’d run to him, throw her arms around him.

‘You’re home,’ Emily said shyly, looking up at him.

‘I called to see your mam first. She told me to wait on the corner. Are they that bad?’ he tried to sound jaunty.

She laughed. ‘No. They are both lovely to work for. Oh, Miss Millicent can be a bit of a pain at times but Miss Nesta is a sweet old thing. It’s such a shame; she showed me the beautiful clothes she wore when she was young and she must have been a beauty. Her pa would never let her marry and when he died she was too old. Beautiful dresses they were, packed in tissue paper and she insisted on giving me a fan.’ She chattered on hoping to hide the awkwardness she felt. ‘I don’t think Miss Millicent would approve of you calling for me, though.’

‘What about you, Em? Would you approve?’

She shrugged.

‘Will we go for some tea? I’ve got something for you and I’d like to give it to you, well, somewhere sort of private.’

Panic bubbled up. Oh, no! What if he was going to ask her to marry him? What if the ‘something’ was a ring? What would she do, what could she say to him?

He sensed her fear. ‘I’m not going to spring any surprises on you, Em. Honestly.’

She breathed deeply. She was going to have to overcome this feeling, for how could she hurt him? He had done nothing wrong. ‘All right then,’ she agreed.

She chose a little café at the very top of Bold Street where it merged with Renshaw Street, and they ordered tea and scones. When the tea arrived, she poured and started to make idle conversation.

He thrust the small package across the table. ‘I know it’s a bit of a useless thing, but I like it and I thought you would too.’

She undid the wrapping and exclaimed in delight at the beadwork and declared she’d never seen anything so fine, then she rebuked him for buying it. ‘It must have been so expensive.’

‘Maybe one day you’ll find a use for it. We might have a night out at the theatre.’

‘Us, at the theatre?’

‘Why not?’

‘We don’t go to places like that. I mean it’s people like Miss Olivia . . .’

‘We can always make it the Hippodrome then?’

She smiled at him. ‘Maybe one day.’

He wanted to reach out and take her hand but he controlled himself. ‘Can I take you out tonight; it is Saturday?’

She looked into his eyes and fought down the panic she was feeling. ‘Where to?’ she asked. He’d never know how hard it had been to speak those words.

A slow smile spread across his face, a smile tinged with relief. ‘Anywhere you like. You choose.’

She knew Phoebe-Ann was going dancing but she didn’t want to join the throng on the dance floor of the Rialto or the Grafton. That would mean holding his hand, letting him encircle her waist with his arm. ‘Shall we go to the music hall?’ There she would be safe. He would sit beside her but in a separate seat.

‘Fine. Which one?’

‘The Trocadero?’

‘I’ll pick you up at seven.’

She smiled. ‘I’ll bring my evening bag.’

E
ARLY IN THE NEW Year Albert had a letter from his cousin, Megan, asking could her son, Rhys, possibly stay with them while he looked for work and lodgings. Things were bad in the pits and he’d set his heart on coming to Liverpool to find work.

‘No need for him to look for lodgings, he can live here, it’s only right. He’s family,’ Lily said, seeing an opportunity to repay Albert for every act of love and kindness he’d shown them all since she’d married him. And she was worried about Phoebe-Ann. Ever since she’d been taken on at the B&A she’d become very forward in Lily’s opinion. Three nights a week Phoebe-Ann went out with her friends from work. She spent hours before the mirror on these nights and if Lily commented on it there was always some remark or retort that bordered on insolence. And she’d caught her with face powder on.

‘I just don’t want to see her going to the bad,’ she told Albert.

‘Lily, you’re being too hard on the girl. She’s young, she wants to enjoy herself, she’ll settle down in time, you see.’

‘All she thinks about is dolling herself up and going out.’

‘What’s wrong with that?’

‘It’s the company she keeps. I’ve heard tales about that Alice Wainwright.’

He sighed. He wasn’t very keen on the girls Phoebe-Ann chose as her friends but it wasn’t his place to say so and besides it would only worry Lily more. He’d also kept from her the fact that Jimmy had confided in him that he was thinking of emigrating.

‘I have to say this, Albert, she’s a flirt. I’ve watched her – even with Edwin Leeson. She’s courting trouble. You’d think she’d have learned after our Emily . . .’

‘Now, Lil. I think we agreed that that wasn’t her fault.’

‘Sometimes I wonder, I really do.’

‘Don’t be daft. She’s just naive. She really doesn’t know that she’s . . .’

‘Courting trouble. I worry about her. I wonder where she’ll end up.’

‘She’s not that much of a fool. She has got a bit of sense.’

Lily shook her head. ‘No she hasn’t. Our Emily has always been the sensible one. At least when they worked together, I knew Emily would keep an eye on her, but look what happened and I’m not at all certain that Phoebe-Ann was blameless.’

‘We could go round and round like this all night, Lily. Leave her be, she’ll be just fine. She’ll meet a nice lad and get wed and settle down, see if she doesn’t.’

‘I just hope she doesn’t start acting up when Rhys arrives, that’s all.’

Albert pursed his lips and looked thoughtful. Maybe Rhys’s arrival would be timely. Maybe Phoebe-Ann and his young cousin would be attracted to each other. He pulled himself up. There he was seeing them down the aisle and they hadn’t even met each other yet!

‘He’ll be very welcome, Albert, you know that.’

‘Who will be welcome?’ Phoebe-Ann asked, coming into the room. A smart little purple cloche hat covering her short hair, the matching coat over her arm.

‘Albert’s cousin is coming to stay with us.’ Phoebe-Ann looked interested. ‘What’s he like? How old is he?’

Lily shot a glance at her husband.

‘He’s as old as Jimmy and the last time I saw him he was in short britches. Strictly brought up if I know anything about his mam and dad.’

Phoebe-Ann looked uninterested. Probably a strait-laced country yokel, no fun at all.

‘Come here to me,’ Lily demanded.

Phoebe-Ann looked wary. ‘What for?’

Lily got up. ‘What’s that you’ve got on your face?’

‘Nothing, Mam.’

‘Don’t lie to me, Phoebe-Ann Parkinson!’

‘It’s only a bit of rouge. Everyone wears it now. You’re so old-fashioned. Alice’s mam doesn’t carry on at her.’

‘That’s because she’s usually in the snug of the Grecian with her cronies, knocking back milk stout! I don’t like you mixing with her, she’s common.’

‘Mam! What a thing to say. You’re a snob, that’s what you are!’

‘Don’t you dare speak to me like that!’

Phoebe-Ann knew she’d gone too far. ‘I’m sorry.’

‘I should think so too.’

‘And where are you off to? Dancing, is it?’ Albert tried to make peace.

‘The Rialto, there’s an exhibition on. All the dances from America.’

‘I wouldn’t call all that dancing! Kicking your legs up and waving your hands!’

‘Oh, Mam, please don’t start again.’

‘Go on and enjoy yourself,’ Albert grinned, catching Lily’s arm and forcing her to sit down opposite him.

When Phoebe-Ann had gone, Lily tutted but Albert smiled. ‘Perhaps Rhys’s coming might be the making of her. He just might be the right one.’

‘I should be so lucky! Oh, maybe you’re right. Perhaps I’m getting to be an old misery, it’s just that I keep thinking of poor Emily.’

‘They say lightning doesn’t strike twice in the same place, Lil. Stop worrying, love.’

 

Rhys Pritchard was a dark-haired, dark-eyed, well-built young man in his early twenties and as soon as Lily was introduced to him she liked him. As soon as Rhys was introduced to Phoebe-Ann he fell in love with her. He was quiet by nature and even a little shy in the company of girls. It stemmed, he supposed, from not having any sisters and mixing solely in the company of men. Phoebe-Ann was unlike any girl or woman he had ever met. She dazzled him with her hazel eyes, her short, shining hair, her lithe figure and her vivacity. She was like a bright star, he thought. His eyes followed her every movement and he wondered how soon he could ask her out. He’d been brought up strict chapel and was eager to observe the proprieties, especially as he was a guest in the house, a stranger to the family, except Albert.