Tiger Bay Blues (22 page)

Edyth looked around the dismal, cold dark room. Live here? If she was going to be mistress of this vicarage there was a lot of work to do, and not only in the parish. Peter had warned her they wouldn’t be rich, which presumably meant there’d be little, if any money for new furniture. But she had some savings. There was no way that she could live in this dreary room, not with this wallpaper …The doorbell rang, shattering her vision of light distempered walls and elegant, art deco furniture.

‘That’ll be the ambulance. I couldn’t bring myself to watch them carry out the old Reverend – not if you paid me.’ Mrs Mack collapsed on the sofa.

‘I’ll answer it.’ Edyth walked down the tiled passageway. The only light came from a skylight and a window halfway up the stairs, but the area was brighter and warmer than the sitting room. The floor and wall tiles were scuffed and in dire need of a good clean and polish. But then, she reflected, she wasn’t mistress of the vicarage yet, and given her father’s opposition towards her marriage to Peter, might never be.

She opened the door. Her parents were standing on the doorstep. Her mother looked uneasy, her father sombre.

For the first time in her life, she was afraid to face them and she didn’t like the way it made her feel. Not one little bit.

*……*……*

Lloyd made the first move. ‘May we come in?’ he asked gruffly.

‘Of course, I’m sorry.’ Edyth stepped back and held the door open. ‘I wasn’t expecting you so soon. The housekeeper thought it would be the ambulance.’

‘Your face …’ Sali stammered, when the light fell on Edyth.

‘It’s not coming for me. I’m fine. These are just a few scratches.’

‘Then someone else is ill,’ Sali said in concern. ‘Peter?’

‘It’s for Reverend Richards. The doctor has sent for an ambulance to take him to the Infirmary. Peter is upstairs with him now.’

‘We’ve heard it from Mr Holsten but I’d like to hear it from you, Edyth. How did you get those injuries?’ Her father removed his hat and followed her mother into the hall.

‘A woman mistook me for someone else last night, but I’m fine, I really am. It’s nothing.’ Sensing that she was protesting too much, she fell silent.

Lloyd looked around the hall. ‘So, you haven’t taken up residence yet?’

‘You know she hasn’t, Lloyd,’ Sali rebuked. She kissed Edyth’s cheek. ‘Mr Holsten said that you’d been attacked by some women last night who mistook you for someone else. He warned us that you’d been slightly hurt, although I must say after seeing you, it looks a great deal worse than that.’

‘He said he recognised you in the police station, after the police had taken the women into custody. Who did they mistake you for?’ Lloyd asked.

Edyth blessed Micah’s tact. ‘I have no idea. They didn’t want to talk, only fight.’

‘You poor darling.’ Sali stroked Edyth’s face.

‘I know I look dreadful, but I really am perfectly well. Mr Holsten and his sister put iodine on the cuts. That always makes them look worse.’ Edyth knew she was being unfair, but her mother’s concern irritated her more than her father’s suspicions and direct questioning.

‘Mr Holsten mentioned that you spent last night with him and his sister in the mission,’ Sali continued.

‘I did.’ Edyth explained about the train being held up outside Bridgend but she stopped short of telling her parents that the women who attacked her were prostitutes, or that they’d torn her frock. And she also kept the theft of money from her purse to herself. She took her parents through the house and into the cheerless sitting room. As soon as the housekeeper saw them she left her chair and curtsied.

‘Mrs Mack, these are my parents, Mr and Mrs Lloyd Evans. Mam, Dad, this is the Reverend Richards’s housekeeper, Mrs Mack.’

‘Pleased to meet you.’ Sali extended her hand but Mrs Mack bobbed another curtsy. Lloyd however, gripped her hand and shook it firmly.

‘Pleased to meet you, Mrs Mack.’

‘Would you like some tea, madam, sir?’

‘No, thank you,’ Lloyd replied at the same time as Sali said, ‘That would be nice, thank you, Mrs Mack.’

‘I’ll make some anyway. Like as not, the Reverend Richards will be able to manage a cup. He’s fonder of his tea than he is of his Sunday dinner.’ The housekeeper shuffled out of the room, still dabbing at her nose with her handkerchief.

‘She’s upset about the Reverend Richards,’ Edyth explained superfluously. ‘She was telling me before you came that she has been his housekeeper for over forty years and she’s afraid that if anything happens to him she’ll lose her home as well as her job.’

‘That’s the Church for you. Use people and then abandon them to the workhouse when they reach old age.’ Lloyd went to the window and stared at the church wall.

‘Micah Holsten told us that Peter came to fetch you from the Norwegian mission this morning.’ Sali sat on the sofa.

‘He telephoned Peter first thing.’ Edyth was aware that her mother was only talking in the hope of ending her father’s tirade against the Church by drawing him into conversation.

‘Peter wasn’t here when you arrived last night?’

‘He was out visiting a sick parishioner. After I called here, I was involved in the scuffle Mr Holsten told you about …’

‘Just who did those women think you were, Edyth?’ Lloyd repeated. He turned and looked her in the eye.

‘One of their acquaintances, I assume,’ she answered evasively, but he wasn’t to be put off so easily.

‘They thought you were a prostitute?’

‘I didn’t have chance to talk to them. The police came along, arrested them and took me to the police station as well, to make sure that I was all right, which as you can see, I am.’

‘What time was this?’

‘It was after midnight when Micah Holsten saw me in the police station and suggested that I spend the night with his sister.’ Edyth omitted all mention of how she had arrived at the police station, hoping that was one piece of information her parents would never hear.

‘It’s just as well that Micah was there. I’ve never hit one of my children, but I don’t mind telling you that I don’t know whether to hug or spank you at this moment. What possessed you to walk around Bute Street so late at night?’

‘I was supposed to arrive early in the evening. The train was delayed …’ A lump rose in Edyth’s throat and her voice tailed into silence.

‘What’s important is that you’re safe and well now, Edie.’ Sali jumped up and hugged her.

Lloyd turned from the window and looked at them both. ‘Have you anything to say to us, young lady?’

‘I’m very sorry, Dad. I should never have left Swansea the way I did.’

‘It’s you we’re thinking of, darling.’ Sali led Edyth to the sofa. ‘Anything could have happened to you while you were wandering around the dock area alone at that time of night. It simply doesn’t bear thinking about.’

Lloyd was more direct. ‘Sailors leave ships with two things on their mind: getting drunk and having a good time. And when drunk, most men aren’t responsible for their actions. Just be very grateful that you were attacked by women, not men.’

‘I really am very sorry. I know I shouldn’t have come down here so late. It would have been better if I’d caught the last train back to Pontypridd when I reached Cardiff station.’

‘You had no right to leave Swansea in the first place,’ Lloyd snapped.

‘Hindsight’s a wonderful thing,’ Sali said soberly.

‘Did you just leave the college, or did you tell them you were going?’ Lloyd finally left the window and sat on one of the chairs.

Edyth loathed admitting that she’d lied to the bursar but, as she would have to contact the college to let them know she wasn’t returning, she didn’t doubt her father would find out what she’d done sooner or later. ‘I said Harry needed me,’ she admitted in a small voice.

‘Why would your brother need you?’ Lloyd delved in his pocket in search of his pipe.

‘I said Mary was ill.’

‘So you told lies as well.’

‘What’s done is done, Lloyd.’ Sali kept a grip on Edyth’s hand. ‘We both agreed on the journey down here that there’s no point in forcing Edyth to go to college when she doesn’t want to be there.’

The doorbell rang; they heard Mrs Mack speak to someone. Footsteps echoed up and down the hall and stairs.

‘That must be the ambulance.’ Edyth rose to her feet.

‘Reverend Richards won’t want strange women fussing around him while he’s being carried out of his home. You stay with your mother. I’ll see if they need help.’ Lloyd left the room.

‘I’ve made the most awful mess of things, haven’t I, Mam?’ Edyth crossed her fingers under cover of her skirt in the hope that her mother would contradict her.

‘I can’t understand what you hoped to accomplish by coming here,’ Sali answered frankly.

‘I wanted you and Dad to take me seriously. Did he say anything to you about me?’

‘As I just said, we agreed on the journey down here that there’s no point in forcing you to go to college.’

‘Nothing else?’ Edyth pressed.

‘No.’

‘I see.’

‘Nothing, that is, until we saw Mr Holsten, then your father said he was relieved that you were all right.’

‘Mam –’

‘I know you want to talk about Peter but I don’t, Edyth,’ Sali said firmly. ‘Not until your father returns.’

They sat in silence for ten minutes, then the front door slammed and an engine started up outside. The door opened and Lloyd walked in followed by Peter. It was obvious the atmosphere between them was cool. Peter immediately walked up to Sali and offered her his hand.

‘Mrs Evans, I’m sorry, you’ve caught me at a bad time.’

‘I rather think that Edyth chose the time, not you, Reverend Slater.’ Sali took his hand and shook it.

‘I didn’t realise that you were here until Mr Evans came to see if he could help carry Reverend Richards downstairs.’

‘You didn’t think we’d come to fetch our daughter home, Slater?’ Lloyd enquired acidly.

‘I knew you would come, sir. But I wasn’t expecting you to arrive so soon.’ Peter hovered awkwardly in front of the fireplace. ‘Please, do sit down. I’ll call Mrs Mack. Would you like tea or coffee?’

‘Mrs Mack did say she was going to make tea but with all this upset she’s probably forgotten,’ Edyth said quietly.

‘I’ll remind her.’

‘Please, don’t bother, Slater, we’ll be leaving in a few minutes,’ Lloyd said curtly.

‘How is Reverend Richards, Peter?’ Sali enquired.

‘Very ill,’ Peter murmured.

‘Which, from what you told us, doesn’t suit you or the Bishop at all,’ Lloyd observed. ‘You were hoping to be a curate here for six months, weren’t you?’

‘That was the Bishop’s original plan, yes, sir,’ Peter conceded.

‘So the Bishop will appoint someone else vicar here?’ Lloyd persisted.

‘That is for the Bishop to decide, sir, not me,’ Peter answered uneasily.

‘I know what you’re thinking, Dad,’ Edyth interrupted. ‘And you couldn’t be more wrong. Peter didn’t know that I intended to leave college or that I was coming here yesterday.’

‘Is that the truth?’ Lloyd eyed Peter sternly.

‘Yes, sir. If I had known what Edyth intended to do, I would have done everything in my power to dissuade her from behaving so recklessly.’

There was such sincerity in Peter’s voice, Lloyd believed him. ‘Then this whole hare-brained scheme was all your doing, Edyth?’

‘I tried to tell you that I didn’t want to go to college,’ Edyth protested defensively. ‘You wouldn’t listen to me. I can see now that I behaved like an idiot charging up here from Swansea yesterday, but all I could think of after you left was reaching Peter. I knew Reverend Richards was ill and Peter had no chance of being appointed vicar here if he wasn’t married –’

‘And you thought if you came here and spent the night with him I’d have no choice but to allow you to get married?’

‘No!’ Edyth gasped, smarting at the inference that she would stoop to using such a blackmailing ploy.

‘Then what?’

‘I didn’t think any further than getting here and talking to Peter. And that is the truth. No matter how many times Peter and I asked for permission to marry, you refused. You wouldn’t even talk to us about it,’ she reproached. ‘All the time I was growing up, you used to say to me and the others that no matter what our problems were, you’d always try to help. But my problem was that you refused to discuss my future or what I wanted to do with my life with me. I know what I did was wrong, but when you stopped listening to me I simply didn’t know what else to do.’

Lloyd sat back, crossed his arms and looked from Peter to Edyth, ‘Well, one thing is certain: your mother and I have lost control over you. This is not the way that I hoped to see any daughter of mine married, and certainly not under the age of twenty-one. But given the circumstances I feel that you – both of you – have left me no choice but to consent to your marriage. I can see that if I don’t, I may well lose you permanently.’

‘Do you mean that, Dad? You will give us your consent?’ Edyth asked eagerly.

‘If Peter and this parish are more important to you than your education, your independence, and your parents’ advice and wishes, Edyth, you’d better have them. I only hope that you won’t live to regret your choice. If you do, it might console you to know that the money I will save on your education should just about fund a divorce,’ he added caustically.

‘Sir …’ Peter saw the look of abject misery on Edyth’s face and the protest he’d been about to make, died in his throat. Silence fell over the room. Edyth reflected that she had won the battle, but at the cost of losing her father’s respect. It was a price she was loath to pay.

‘If you are serious about allowing me to marry Edyth, sir, I have no doubt that the Bishop will give me this parish. And that means I will be able to support your daughter,’ Peter ventured courageously.

‘How soon do you want the wedding?’

Edyth felt now that her father had finally given his consent he couldn’t wait to be rid of her.

‘As soon as possible, sir.’ Peter smiled at Edyth but she was too devastated to react.

‘It took us over a year to arrange Bella’s wedding,’ Sali said thoughtfully.

‘Edyth and I wouldn’t want anything as elaborate as your eldest daughter’s wedding, Mrs Evans,’ Peter said swiftly.