Tiger Bay Blues (36 page)

‘I … I …’

‘That will be all, Mrs Mack.’ Edyth felt sorry for the housekeeper. Although, from the defiant expression on Mrs Mack’s face, the woman was preparing to argue with Micah.

‘Reverend Slater asked for biscuits, Mrs Slater. I told him straight, Reverend Richards didn’t have a sweet tooth.’

‘Reverend Richards is no longer the incumbent here, Mrs Mack, and Reverend Slater does have a sweet tooth. I will make cake and biscuits just as soon as I have had an opportunity to go to the shops to buy the ingredients,’ Edyth broke in, wondering what the woman was building up to.

‘If you give me some money I could go to the baker’s in Bute Street and see if they have any cakes left.’

‘We’ll manage until Monday, Mrs Mack. I’ll do some baking then. You have our dinner to cook,’ she reminded her.

‘Yes, Mrs Slater.’

Edyth shivered in the draught Mrs Mack created when she opened and closed the door. The sitting room was a little warmer than when she had put a spill to the fire, but there was still a definite, damp chill in the air.

‘I’m sorry,’ she apologised to Micah. ‘This room isn’t at all comfortable.’

‘It didn’t occur to Mrs Mack to warm the house for your return? Thank you.’ He took the tea she poured him.

‘Evidently not.’ Edyth handed him the sugar bowl and milk jug.

‘I have wondered if she behaves the way she does simply to be perverse, or if she genuinely likes to upset people and make them suffer.’ He sipped the tea. ‘Still, that’s enough of Mrs Mack, who you have taught to make a decent cup of tea. Edyth, the miracle-worker, I salute your superior skills.’ He replaced his cup on its saucer.

‘I didn’t teach her anything, just told her to make fresh when people wanted it.’

‘It sounds simple, but I used to visit Reverend Richards after his wife died and Mrs Mack never took any notice of the orders he gave her. To change the subject, did you enjoy your trip? The weather was dreadful, but perhaps that doesn’t matter on a honeymoon.’

‘It started raining on Sunday and hasn’t let up since, but Swansea and the Gower are beautiful even in the rain. Not that we saw much of it. We had … an emergency at home. Harry’s brother-in-law, David, had an accident, so we returned to Pontypridd on Sunday evening.’

‘David – I met him at your and your sister’s wedding. He is all right?’ he asked solicitously.

‘He will be. He fell and broke his legs, ankles and pelvis: Harry’s wife Mary was dreadfully upset, but everything was more or less back to normal when Peter and I left my parents’ house this morning.’ She firmly closed the subject. ‘Tell me, how are things on the Bay? I wasn’t sure what kind of welcome I’d get, but so far it has been wonderful.’ She looked at the fruit and flowers she’d laid on the sofa table.

‘There’s no one like Bay people for welcoming and accepting strangers into their community. And I’m sorry to call on you so soon, but when I heard that you’d returned to the vicarage …’ He gave her a deprecating smile. ‘You can’t limp in the Bay without someone from two streets away rushing to offer you a bottle of Sloane’s liniment,’ he explained. ‘I hoped you’d consider doing me a favour. It’s not for me, it’s for someone else. But please don’t feel that you have to do anything about it if you don’t want to.’

‘After what you did for me, I’m hardly likely to refuse you any reasonable request, Micah.’

‘It’s Judy Hamilton.’

‘The singer in your band? The one whose grandmother died the night you rescued me from the police station.’

‘Rescued might be a bit strong; the police weren’t about to birch or hang you. But yes, that’s the girl. She’s had a terrible time the last few weeks. Her grandmother left her the contents of her rented house, not that there was anything particularly valuable in it. But her long-lost father – who abandoned her when she was a baby and returned to swindle her – sold it all. The buyer came when most people from the Bay were at Pearl King’s funeral, so there was no one around to stop the men from cleaning out the place. Judy was left with the clothes she stood up in. And the woman who employed her as a housekeeper sacked her shortly before her grandmother died.’

‘That’s dreadful.’ Recalling the frock she had given Judy at Bella’s wedding and remembering they were the same size, Edyth began to mentally sort through her wardrobe for clothes she could do without.

‘She’s living with her uncle – you know him, Jed King – at the moment. But his house is small and full to bursting with his family. Judy has looked for a live-in position in the Bay and Cardiff, but jobs are rarer than reindeer around the docks these days, especially for girls. Two days ago I met her in the street. She’d just registered with one of the agencies that send Welsh girls to London as domestics. She was upset because they warned her she couldn’t expect as much money as a white girl, that’s if they found her a position at all.’

‘Talk about kicking someone when they are down,’ Edyth cried indignantly.

‘The coloured people who live in the Bay and rarely venture out of it have no idea of the prejudices they are likely to encounter outside. People are simply people here, not Afro-Welsh, Asian, Chinese, Arab, or Maltese – or any name other than their own. They’re simply known as Dai who lives up the road or Mary who runs the corner shop – or Judy who sings. Judy’s seen a little of what it can be like for coloured people on the outside and not just in the agency. She’s been turned down at auditions because of the colour of her skin.’

‘That’s appalling.’

‘I’ve read newspaper articles about your father and I can see you’re his daughter,’ Micah said drily. ‘I haven’t said anything to Judy, but I thought that perhaps you and Peter might be thinking of taking on another maid.’

‘We certainly need good help.’

They were disturbed by a knock at the door. Edyth scrambled to her feet and opened it.

‘I came to see if you’ve finished your tea.’

‘Not yet, Mrs Mack. I’ll carry the tray into the kitchen when we have,’ Edyth answered.

‘I just happened to catch what Pastor Holsten was saying just now –’

‘By listening at the keyhole, Mrs Mack?’ Micah enquired bluntly.

She folded her arms across her flat chest. ‘We don’t need a maid in this house. Especially a coloured girl.’

‘That is for me and Reverend Slater to decide, Mrs Mack, not you,’ Edith said firmly. ‘And let’s get a few things clear from the start. First, you do not eavesdrop on my or the Reverend Slater’s private conversations. And secondly, in this house the only thing that matters is a person’s character. Not their colour, politics or religion.’

‘I’d like to hear you say that to Reverend Slater’s face.’

‘I beg your pardon?’ Edyth said icily, stunned by Mrs Mack’s effrontery.

‘If a coloured girl sets foot in this house, I’m packing my bags and that’s final.’

‘You’ve just given me one more reason to employ her, Mrs Mack.’ Edyth met Mrs Mack’s stare head on. The housekeeper was the first to turn aside. Muttering, she retreated to the kitchen.

‘Do you mean it?’ Micah asked. ‘You’ll take Judy on? I don’t mind telling you, I was expecting a much harder fight.’

‘I need to employ someone who knows what a duster and scrubbing brush are.’

‘Judy’s grandmother taught her to cook and clean. Pearl King came to the Bay as a kitchen maid and her cooking was superb.’

‘You don’t have to sell Judy to me, Micah,’ Edyth laughed. ‘But it will be as much Peter’s decision as mine.’

‘Why, you’re the lady of the house, aren’t you?’

‘Yes … yes, I am,’ she said decisively. ‘And if Judy coming here means Mrs Mack will go, we can pay Judy Mrs Mack’s wages and I can work alongside her to get the house as I want it.’ She thought through the idea. ‘If Judy can cook, that will have Peter convinced. He’s had too many inedible meals put in front of him lately to want any more. And if she can’t cook all the dishes he likes, I can teach her.’

‘You can cook?’ Micah asked in surprise.

‘You thought my father brought up his daughters to be ornamental just because we have help in the house?’

‘It happens.’

‘Not in the Evans household. Mari is one of my mother’s oldest friends, and we have two maids because there are so many of us and my mother works full-time as a buyer in Gwilym James.’

‘The department store?’

‘Yes.’ As always with people outside of the family, Edyth didn’t tell him the store was part of Harry’s enormous trust fund.

‘In that case, I apologise. I had you down as being one of the idle rich.’

She laughed again when she returned to the carpet next to the hearth. ‘You knew I intended to go to college and train as a teacher.’

‘So you did.’

‘How soon can Judy start?’

‘Ten minutes ago.’

‘I thought you hadn’t said anything to her?’

‘I haven’t, but I told her that I’d look around.’

‘If she’s going to live in I ought to go upstairs and check the attic rooms. I know Mrs Mack sleeps in one, so presumably that is all right, but I have no idea what condition the others are in.’

‘In this weather they are going to be cold and damp,’ he said, ‘but with luck there’ll be fireplaces in them. I can lay a fire in the room to air it, and if there’s a mattress on the bed we can prop it in front of the fire.’

‘And if there’s no bed and no mattress?’

‘She can have mine until you get a chance to buy both.’

She looked at him in surprise. ‘You really do care for Judy, don’t you, Micah? Is she Lutheran?’ She wondered if finding jobs for people was all part of the service Micah offered as Pastor of the Norwegian church.

‘She’s Catholic, but I hate to see people getting a rough deal in life, whatever God they worship. And Judy’s had a streak of bad luck through no fault of her own. Jed’s wife means to be kind, but she has a houseful of children of her own to look after and another on the way. She’s overworked and irritable, and Judy is an easy target. It’s not her fault or Judy’s, but they’d both be better off out of one another’s company. You know what it’s like, or if you don’t, you can imagine. Two women trying to share the same kitchen inevitably leads to quarrelling.’

Edyth decided the news that Peter’s mother was going to move in with them couldn’t have reached the Bay yet. So Mrs Mack had to be close-mouthed about some things. ‘Even if I manage to sort out a room for Judy, I still have the problem of what to do with Mrs Mack, that’s if she doesn’t walk out in a huff.’

‘She won’t,’ Micah predicted. ‘She has too cosy a berth here to jump ship, despite her threats to do just that.’

‘I don’t like the woman but I hate the thought of her having to go into the workhouse.’

‘She won’t,’ Micah replied confidently. ‘I told you, she has a nest egg. She’ll find lodgings soon enough. There are always people willing to take in paying guests to make a few extra shillings. Even a Mrs Mack.’

Among the many important things Edyth had earmarked to discuss with Peter was money. He had continually told her that they wouldn’t be rich but she had no idea what his stipend was. He had mentioned that his father had left him an annuity, so they couldn’t be that badly off. She didn’t even know what he was paying Mrs Mack. Her mother’s maids earned twenty pounds a year plus their keep, Mari more than twice as much. She could start Judy on twenty pounds a year and raise it later if the girl was worth extra. And she had savings of two hundred pounds, so if Peter objected to paying the girl’s wages as well as Mrs Mack’s – if the housekeeper stayed – she could always pay Judy herself.

‘Do you think Judy would accept an offer of twenty pounds a year plus keep? On a month’s trial during which she could leave or I could terminate her employment?’ she asked Micah.

‘That sounds more than fair to me. There are girls from the Bay living in as maids who get only six pounds a year plus keep.’

‘Given my father’s history of organising strikes for better working conditions and a decent living wage for everyone, he would never forgive me for exploiting someone.’

‘Edyth … Micah, what on earth are you doing?’ Peter stood in the doorway and stared at the sight of the two of them sitting on the floor.

‘We decided that your chairs are too grand for us to sit on, Peter.’ Micah climbed to his feet and offered Peter his hand.

‘The suite isn’t very comfortable, Peter,’ Edyth said quietly.

‘It encourages people to sit up properly, so it may take a little getting used to.’

Edyth could hear Florence Slater’s voice behind his explanation.

‘We thought you were in the dining room with the committee.’

‘The meeting finished ten minutes ago.’

‘I didn’t hear the men leaving.’

‘Probably because you were too busy laughing and gossiping in here. We could hear you all through the meeting.’

‘I hope we didn’t disturb you.’

Clearly agitated, he chose not to answer her question. ‘I’ve just left Mrs Mack crying in the dining room. She says you’re replacing her with a coloured girl.’

‘I never said replacing. Micah asked me if I could find a place for Judy Hamilton, the singer with the Bute Street Blues Band –’

‘The last thing we need in this house is a singer,’ Peter declared.

‘She’s not a professional, Peter,’ Micah explained. ‘She’s lost her position as a daily housekeeper.’

‘Why?’ Peter asked abruptly.

During the time it took Micah to explain Judy Hamilton’s background, Edyth had decided that no matter what Peter said, she would employ the girl. She had given in to all of Peter’s demands – that his mother live with them, that they employ Mrs Mack, that they defer the consummation of their marriage until they move into their own house, that they have separate bedrooms, she hadn’t exactly agreed to the last one; it was still up for discussion as far as she was concerned, but if the vicarage was to be her home, then she would employ whom she liked.

‘I have already told Micah to offer the girl the job, if she wants it, Peter.’

‘No matter what Mrs Mack says.’ His expression grew chilly.

‘You did say I could run the house any way I wanted to.’ He hadn’t actually but she knew he wouldn’t argue the fact in front of Micah. ‘Give me ten minutes to check the attic, Micah. If one of the rooms up there can be made ready for Judy, she can move in right away.’