The Middle Age of Mrs Eliot (2 page)

‘I don’t particularly want to be honest when the rest of the
committee
behaves so spinelessly.’ She smiled at Mr Darlington.

‘All right,’ she amended, ‘against
my
advice
and
Mr Darlington’s.’

‘Mr Darlington is not a member of the committee,’ Lady Pirie said with a chuckle intended to appease the secretary.

‘Mr Darlington has to manage the staff,’ Meg declared. ‘All right. The thing’s done. We have Mrs Masters’ old governess’s great-niece or whatever other piece of family piety. An untrained social visitor. But she is responsible to Mr Darlington and through him to the committee as a whole. Not Mrs Masters’ personal employee.’

‘Now Meg,’ Lady Pirie said. She remembered at times that she had after all brought Meg Eliot into the work of the Society. ‘I do think we should wait until Mrs Masters is here.’

‘I know you do, Viola, but I don’t trust you all not to let Mr
Darlington
down.
He’s
responsible for Miss Rogers’ work.’

‘I can’t help thinking,’ Mr Purdyke said, ‘that it would not be fair to say anything before we’ve talked to Miss Rogers herself. I’m sure Darlington won’t mind my saying so.’

‘I think she may be in the office,’ Mr Darlington said,

‘Oh dear,’ Mr Purdyke complained.

‘You mean you know she is,’ Lady Pirie declared.

‘Mr Darlington’s very efficient, Viola,’ Meg smiled at him and he faintly smiled back.

‘There are other words for it,’ Lady Pirie said, laughing.

‘Ask her to come in,’ Meg requested. ‘But before you do so, what do you think of her general work?’

Mr Darlington’s rather cherubic face looked earnest, his small mouth set gravely.

He looks like a hockey-playing spinster when he’s trying to be fair to people, Meg thought; he’s a nice man and I’m all on his side, but how do women marry such unromantic little men?

‘To be perfectly fair,’ he began.

‘You don’t have to be
perfectly
fair,’ Meg said. She could not bear him to look so solemn.

‘Oh yes, he does,’ Lady Pirie said.

‘Well, don’t fall over backwards doing it,’ Meg amended.

Mr Darlington smiled. ‘Shall I go on?’ he asked and continued, ‘I
think she might be very good. Of course, she’d be better if she’d had some training. But she’s hard working and sensible. Her manner’s a bit unfortunate at times but I suspect’ – he assumed his professional psychological air – ‘that she’s nervous at having got the job by
unorthodox
means.’

‘I don’t think that’s a very
fortunate
phrase to use about any girl,’ Meg commented, ‘but you think the Society should try to keep her?’

‘Yes,’ said Mr Darlington, ‘I do.’

‘Well,’ said Meg and she smiled at Lady Pirie, ‘we must try, then, mustn’t we?’

Miss Rogers’ manner that afternoon was certainly most
unfortunate
. She was a heavy busted and broad hipped young woman and she scowled at the committee from beneath a fringe of black hair. Mr Darlington placed a chair for her which she ignored. Meg did not smile at her but she said:

‘We just wanted to know how you were liking the work, Miss Rogers.’

‘All right.’

‘Good. I’m glad of that because Mr Darlington’s given such a good report of you that we shouldn’t want to lose you.’

Miss Rogers said nothing but she sat down.

‘The Latimer Road area’s not the nicest beginning,’ Meg said. ‘If she’s survived that she’ll survive anything, don’t you think, Mr Purdyke?’

Mr Purdyke was vague about the area but he said: ‘Yes. A very difficult district.’

Meg waited for Miss Rogers to register Mr Purdyke’s vagueness; then she began to discuss the relative difficulties of the streets in Miss Rogers’ area, asking her about her particular cases as she did so. At first the girl responded shortly, then with increasing eagerness; and then suddenly she said: ‘Well, are you satisfied that I’d done my work?’

‘Yes,’ said Meg, ‘I am. But why do you ask?’

‘Because you didn’t want me to have the job.’

‘Really,’ said Lady Pirie, ‘I don’t think anyone should have told you that.’

‘Oh, my dear Viola,’ Meg laughed, ‘committees always talk You’re quite right, Miss Rogers, I didn’t. I prefer trained social workers. In principle I’m sure I’m right. Though in your case I was wrong.’

Miss Rogers smiled rather awkwardly.

‘Thank you,’ she said.

But Meg maintained her serious, straightforward manner, ‘Oh, I’ve no doubt you can learn a lot still,’ she declared. ‘For instance refusing Mrs Tucker her gin. That seems to have been a mistake.’

Miss Rogers was confused.

‘Mrs Masters agreed with me.’

Meg suppressed a smile.

‘Yes,’ she said dismissing this lightly, ‘you should have gone to Mr Darlington about that, of course. But I’m more interested in
your
reasons. As a general rule we should never take such a thing on
ourselves
, should we, Viola?’

Lady Pirie, anxious to appease, said, ‘No. But perhaps Miss Rogers had a special reason,’

‘Yes, exactly,’ Meg said casually, ‘that’s just what I was interested in.’

‘Drink’s a very dangerous thing for old people living on their own,’ Miss Rogers declared.

Mr Purdyke seemed impressed by this answer, so she said directly to him, ‘Miss Tucker’s very lonely.’

Meg smiled.

‘That after all is why Aid to the Elderly is concerned with her, Miss Rogers. But because people are lonely and old we can’t treat them like children. Not unless there’s some urgent medical reason. There’s no doctor’s report in Mrs Tucker’s case, is there, Mr Darlington?’

He shook his head.

‘But if they’re doing something harmful to themselves,’ Miss Rogers said.

‘Oh come,’ Lady Pirie cried, ‘a drop of gin isn’t as bad as all that,’ and she chuckled. But Meg took Miss Rogers’ suggestion more seriously.

‘Perhaps it may be. But we’re out to help those old people to lead independent lives. The right to harm oneself a bit is surely the essence of independence. Why, one shouldn’t even interfere where people are close to one, let alone with strangers.’

She paused for a moment; then to heighten the absurdity of the whole matter she produced an absurd example.

‘My husband’s an inveterate gambler. I’m sure it’s frightfully bad for him to waste his money like that. But I would no more think of refusing to telephone to his bookmaker for him if he was ill …’ She
left the absurdity in mid-air and then turned quietly to drawing the general conclusion.

‘That really is the value of this training business I’m so keen on. It gives you at least a few basic rules in a job where, in the main, you’re thrown back on personal decision all the time. Don’t you agree, Mr Purdyke?’

‘Oh, indeed,’ Mr Purdyke said. He could hardly say less with Mr Darlington, all trained, sitting there; but he added, ‘I think Miss Rogers was trying to use her initiative.’

Meg carefully mistook his intention.

‘Yes,’ she said, ‘but you’ll know better next time, won’t you, Miss Rogers? You’ll go to Mr Darlington if there’s any query. But you’re obviously cut out for this work.’ She paused for a moment. ‘I wish,’ she said, ‘you could take a social service course. Apart from this job, qualifications are so important in the modern world.’

‘There is an evening course – a shortened one,’ Mr Darlington began and Lady Pirie grunted to show that she was not out of touch.

‘Why, that’s a good idea, Viola,’ Meg said, ‘but do you think, Miss Rogers, you could do evening work as well as this? Lady Pirie
suggests …
’

The girl’s heavy body sagged a little.

‘I don’t know that I could afford the fees at the moment, to be honest.’

‘Oh! I think the committee could do something about that,’ Meg cried, ‘surely. Unfortunately I shan’t be here but you’ll make it clear to the rest of them that it has my support, Viola, won’t you? We haven’t got Mr Purdyke’s view yet, though.’

Mr Purdyke hastened to agree with Lady Pirie. Meg only just checked herself from saying something about Mrs Masters’ undoubted support of the idea. Mr Darlington would like the joke, but such jokes often proved too costly pleasures. Miss Rogers’ thanks she deflected on to Lady Pirie.

She could not avoid a small sigh of relief as the girl left the room. It’s the thought of all that lumpy underwear that revolts me so, she decided.

*

As soon as Miss Rogers had gone, Mr Purdyke also took his leave. He found the meeting an increasing strain since Mr Darlington had introduced these little red American cloth chairs with metal legs, but
he had to admit that the dirty cream distempered offices of the Society did need a note of brightness,

Mr Darlington, who hated disorder, would normally have escaped to his private office, leaving the slopped tea cups and overflowing
ashtrays
to tomorrow’s cleaners. He wanted still more, however, to
continue
talking to Meg Eliot, and so he stayed, perched on the edge of the table and sucking at his empty pipe.

‘If I may say so, Mrs Eliot,’ he said, ‘you handled that beautifully.’

Meg Eliot’s dark eyes glittered, ‘I hope I wasn’t too fierce with the poor thing,’ she said and by not waiting for his answer showed that her fears were a formality. ‘But really,’ she went on, and her tone
became
fierce and earnest, ‘I can’t let that moral bullying pass
uncriticized
. The paid social workers are here to administer the society’s funds for the benefit of the old people. It’s nothing to do with her whether old Mrs T. chooses to spend the little she gets on gin so long as the old creature doesn’t let herself go downhill. It’s her job to relieve the poor old thing’s loneliness, not to moralize about the results of it. We’re not a temperance society. I’m more and more convinced that we can’t afford untrained people. It’s a false economy. Indeed it would be a very good thing if the committee had to attend the course, though I’m sure very few of us would get our certificates or what have you.’

‘Well, Meg dear, when you get back from your junketing in the East, you must enrol.’ Lady Pirie checked Meg Eliot’s enthusiasm by a dry mother-to-daughter manner, ‘I’ll suggest it to the committee while you’re away.’

‘I’ll volunteer gladly if you will, Viola.’Meg winked at Mr
Darlington
.

‘Splendid,’ he said, ‘now we’re getting somewhere.’

‘We all ought to be getting on with our work,’ Lady Pirie said. ‘I’ve got to feed a hungry son, Meg. I don’t have Italians to do my housekeeping. And I’ve no doubt Mr Darlington’s got plenty to do as well.’

‘It’s nice for Mr Darlington to do nothing for a change, I think.’ Meg announced it simply as a fact.

Lady Pirie said, ‘He’d probably like to choose his own place and time for that. Missing trains because of a lot of women’s gossip …’

Meg, laughing, interrupted, ‘A
lot
of women’s gossip perhaps, Viola, but not mine. You’d miss a train for me, wouldn’t you, Mr Darlington?’

‘I’ve plenty of trains, Mrs Eliot …’ he began, but Lady Pirie said, ‘You may have, but I’ve got a lot of shopping to do and I’m relying on Mrs Eliot for a lift. Besides, she has a long and tiring journey ahead of her. I know you’re an experienced traveller, Meg, but you don’t fly about to the East and Australia every day. You’re going to need all your energies. What on earth you’re giving this party this evening for, I can’t think.’

‘We thought our old friends would like to say good-bye to us.’ Meg assumed a mock pained expression, but Lady Pirie would not be teased.

‘Good-byes,’ she said. ‘A lot of fudge.’

She sounded so cross that Mr Darlington, professionally
conditioned
to compose quarrels, called all his tact to the aid of the situation.

‘We shall miss you very much, Mrs Eliot. A lot can happen in six months. There’s this business of Mrs Chorley, for instance. I don’t know what you think, but Aid to the Elderly’s never contributed
before
where there’s a rich family in the background.’

Meg Eliot shifted squarely in her seat. She seemed to mark the change to a more serious topic by her new posture.

‘If she really wants to remain independent of her family then I think we must consider her eligible for help. But there can’t be any of this preferential treatment for distressed gentlewomen if that’s what she’s after.’

‘I think she’s difficult,’ Mr Darlington began.

Lady Pirie laid her huge bucket bag heavily down on the table.

‘Mr Darlington,’ she said, ‘this is all coming up at the next
committee
meeting. It’s quite improper to discuss it now. In the first place Mrs Eliot won’t be here, so I’m afraid her opinions aren’t going to help us. In the second place you know very well that many members of the committee have strong views on the subject. The secretary’s job is to advise the committee, not to try to make up their minds for them.’

The rather sour smile with which she accompanied her rebuke was so patently the formal softening of an order to a subordinate that it only added to Mr Darlington’s embarrassment. He seemed to look to Mrs Eliot for support, but such as she gave was indirect. Getting up from her seat, she held out her hand to him.

‘Good-bye,’ she said, ‘I look to you to keep the flag of good sense flying here every month while I’m away.’

‘Good-bye,’ Mr Darlington answered. ‘Six months seems a very
long time.’ Perhaps he remembered that he had said something very like this before, for he blushed as he had not done at Lady Pirie’s
rudeness
. ‘I hope you have a very good holiday indeed,’ he added quickly.

‘I expect I shall.’ Meg’s tone was casual. ‘Malaya will be rather ghastly, I’m afraid, apparently we shall just hit the rainy season. But the company’s paying Bill such an enormous fee to defend the case that we can’t possibly refuse. Without it we couldn’t afford the rest of the trip. And I
am
looking forward to Australia and the Pacific.
Although
I must say I have such a wonderful life anyway that I’m not as excited as I ought to be at the prospect of change.’