A Family Christmas Read online

  ‘Oh I do. Like I said, it’s a happy house. I couldn’t have stood it with Prudence Goodman for much longer.’

  Will laughed. ‘She’s not bad-looking though.’

  ‘You ’ave her then.’

  ‘No thanks. I wonder if she’s all there. It’s her eyes; they’re all cold-looking and staring.’

  ‘She’s not all there – you’re right.’

  ‘Besides, you’ve got Dot. Who’d swap her for Prudence? Or for anybody else, come to that?’

  ‘Well I wouldn’t swap her for anyone in’t world. I love Dot, yer see.’

  Will blushed as he wondered if he dare ask. ‘’Ave you ever? Yer know.’

  ‘What?’

  ‘You and Dot? I thought with yer being a few years older, yer might ’ave.’

  ‘Oh, that?’ Robbie shook his head.

  ‘I thought being as yer love ’er, yer might ’ave.’

  ‘No. I might if I didn’t love ’er, but I’ll not spoil things. I respect her, that’s why.’

  ‘I just thought yer’d know what it was like, that’s all.’

  Robbie suddenly felt rather stupid. He supposed it was unusual not to have had sex at his age. ‘I could have had it if I wanted to,’ he told Will. ‘Prudence Goodman was asking for it.’

  Will’s eyes widened. ‘She actually asked you to do it?’

  ‘Well, not asked in so many words. Just flaunted herself at me, showing all she’d got, more or less.’

  ‘So does that mean they’re asking for it if they show all their private bits?’

  ‘Usually.’

  ‘Only, Mrs Pattersall up in’t new houses always invites me in when I deliver her greens, then she perches on’t edge of the table and lifts ’er frock up so that I can see ’er thighs over ’er stocking tops. She always pretends to be fastening ’er suspender. Does that mean she’s asking for it?’

  ‘Probably, but if she’s married you’d end up in trouble, perhaps in hospital if her old man found out, so I shouldn’t bother if I were you.’

  ‘No.’ Will was disappointed. ‘Only I keep wondering what it’d be like. What with all me mates ’aving done it except me.’

  Robbie laughed. ‘Is that what they tell yer? Don’t take any notice of ’em. The more they brag about it the less likely they are to ’ave done it.’

  Will brightened up. ‘Really?’

  ‘Well, I wouldn’t tell anybody even if I had.’

  ‘So I’m not different then, from everybody else?’

  ‘Don’t be daft. When you meet the right girl things’ll work out, you’ll see. Anyway, I shouldn’t be telling you about me love life. But if you’re ever worried about anything you can always tell me and I’ll tell you if I am worried, OK?’

  Will grinned. ‘OK.’ He felt a lot better for his chat with his new room mate. Robbie was right: it was a happy house and even more so now he had someone to talk to.

  ‘Why aren’t you eating?’ Louisa watched her daughter toying with her boiled egg.

  ‘I’m not feeling too good this morning.’

  ‘In what way?’

  ‘I feel like I might be sick.’

  ‘Oh dear, perhaps you shouldn’t go to the library today.’ Herbert was concerned about his daughter.

  ‘No, I shall be all right. I’ll just drink my tea, although even that’s making me feel queasy. I’ll go get ready.’ Prudence smiled to herself as she left the table. She hoped she could smuggle the medical book back onto the library shelf without being seen. She had found all the information she needed within its pages and it wouldn’t do for her mother to find the book in her room. How devious she was becoming in her attempt to win Robbie Grey. She smiled maliciously as she thought of the bloodied blanket squares of her last two menstruations she had washed herself in the small hours rather than leave them for her mother to launder; they had been folded neatly and replaced in the drawer. That had been the first stage of her plan – now it was time to move a stage further. Prudence considered herself clever. In fact the poor girl desperately needed help for her obsession.

  Lucy had been sick for the last three mornings, but unlike Prudence had told no one. It was Enid Slater who heard her retching in the lavatory as she was hanging out the whites on the line. She waited for Lucy to come out. ‘Are yer all right, love?’

  ‘Not really. I think I must have eaten something that didn’t agree with me.’

  ‘Come on, let’s ’ave a cuppa.’

  ‘No, you come to ours – the little ones’ll be waking soon. I’ll make one. I’m feeling better now.’

  Mrs Slater searched Lucy’s face. ‘Are yer sure it’s summat you’ve eaten and not summat you’ve done that’s brought it on?’

  ‘What do you mean?’ Lucy looked puzzled, then she blushed. ‘Oh, oh Mrs Slater, I can’t be pregnant again so soon, can I?’

  ‘Well, if you’d been breastfeeding I’d ’ave said no, but seeing as Rosie’s on the bottle I’d say possibly.’

  ‘But I had to put her on Allenbury’s; I didn’t have enough milk. I so wanted to breastfeed but I couldn’t.’ Lucy was almost in tears.

  ‘And no wonder, you were still in shock over Evelyn, and looking after Bernard an’ all. ’Aven’t yer seen the curse since Rosie was born?’

  ‘No, it must have happened on our Nellie’s wedding night.’ Lucy was terribly embarrassed. Mrs Slater must think they were sex mad. ‘That was the only time we’ve …’ She couldn’t say any more to Mrs Slater but the woman didn’t seem at all disgusted.

  ‘Nowt to be ashamed of, love. After all you are married. Anyway it looks to me as though there might be another little Grey on the way. On the other hand, it could be summat you’ve eaten, like yer said.’

  ‘No. Now I think about it I feel pregnant. I’ve been in and out to use the po umpteen times these last few nights, just like I was with Rosie.’

  ‘Do you mind, love? About ’aving another so soon?’

  ‘No, not at all. More the merrier. I wished for a large family and it looks like I’m going to get my wish.’

  ‘Well, I suppose they’ll bring each other up, like the Murphys.’

  ‘Oh, Mrs Slater, I shall never sit about all day letting them run riot like Mrs Murphy does. Although they all seem happy and healthy.’

  ‘I know, love, only kidding. If I saw you sitting down for five minutes I’d think the world was coming to an end.’

  ‘I wonder what John’ll say. I hope he’s pleased.’

  ‘Too late now, even if he isn’t.’

  ‘Oh, and what will our poor Mary think? She wants a baby so much, it doesn’t seem fair, somehow.’

  ‘No it doesn’t, but don’t let it spoil your carrying of the child. It’s God’s will, after all.’ Rosie suddenly let out a wail, then they heard Bernard pattering about the bedroom. Enid Slater laughed as Lucy jumped up and ran upstairs. Lucy was going to need all that spare energy with a husband, two strapping lads, a toddler and two babies to see to. She took the empty cups to the sink and washed them. The lass would need a bit of help at times, and while Enid continued to enjoy reasonable health, she would make sure she was there to offer it.

  The first week in July Nellie welcomed her first paying guests into her home. The advert in The Lady had attracted enough holidaymakers to fill the guest house until the end of August. Nellie began with three married couples, two elderly sisters and a family of four.

  ‘That’ll be enough for the first week,’ she told Tom. ‘I’ll see how I cope before filling all the rooms.’

  A cleaner had been employed but Nellie hadn’t found a suitable girl to wait at the tables and assist in the kitchen. One applicant had seemed a bit scruffy and another had begun making eyes at Tom, even during the interview. For the time being Margaret Johnson was quite enjoying working alongside her daughter-in-law, though she wouldn’t like to be tied permanently, not at her age. Nellie’s set menu at breakfast seemed to suit all the guests and with two choices at dinner everyone seemed satisfied. The compl
iments on her cooking delighted Nellie. The family with the two little girls and the elderly ladies took advantage of the light supper, which was served in the comfort of the lounge where the guests could chat or listen to the wireless.

  Nellie decided she would go shopping for some toys and board games so that the children would be entertained. The three couples were never seen after dinner – they were probably dancing on the pier or seeing a show. Tom gave them all a key to the front door so they could come and go as they pleased. ‘No use expecting visitors to Blackpool to be in by a certain time,’ he said.

  At the end of the first week the two ladies booked for another two weeks in September and in the visitors’ book commented on the comfort of the rooms, the friendly atmosphere and Nellie’s cooking.

  ‘Well, I think that went rather well.’ Margaret waved the last of the guests on their way.

  ‘Yes.’ Nellie was ecstatic. The real test would come in the next few days though, when she would have to cope with a full house. It was whilst Nellie was on the way to the wholesalers in Tom’s car that she had a brainwave. ‘Tom,’ she said, ‘do you think Lily would come to Blackpool?’

  ‘Lily?’

  ‘Yes, as a waitress. She would have to live in of course, but she’d be ideal.’

  ‘It would take up one of the single rooms.’

  ‘Yes, but there’s the attic. You were talking about having it decorated and furnished. What do you think?’

  ‘Well, I wouldn’t like any of the guests to have to climb up there but yes, it would make a perfect bedsitting room for Lily. Still, she might not want to leave Cragstone. After all, she’s very young.’

  ‘Shall I write and enquire?’

  ‘Certainly, but don’t bank on her accepting.’

  ‘How long will it take to prepare the room?’

  ‘Knowing my mother, not more than a week or two. She’ll have the whip out otherwise.’

  Nellie couldn’t wait to see how Lily would respond to the suggestion. ‘I shall write tonight,’ she said.

  ‘And I’ll round up a couple of decorators for estimates.’

  Nellie sighed happily as Tom parked the car. Then they went to stock up on food for this week’s expected guests.

  Chapter Seventeen

  LOUISA GOODMAN PLACED the seed cake in the oven. She must remember to purchase some more caraway seeds when she went shopping. She felt the familiar dull pain that heralded her monthly bleeding and went upstairs to find a cloth and some safety pins. She opened the drawer and felt quite faint as she realised there had been none of Prudence’s dirty ones to wash in the last month. Her pulse raced as she thought about the sickness her daughter had experienced over the past few weeks. She slammed the drawer shut and hurried downstairs to where Prudence was as usual enthralled in one of her romantic novels.

  ‘Prudence, when did you last have your period?’ she asked.

  The girl kept her eyes on the page. ‘I’m not sure.’

  ‘You must know if it came two weeks ago when it was due.’

  ‘Oh! I never noticed it was missing.’

  ‘You mean it is now two weeks late?’

  ‘Oh no, more than that,’ Prudence answered innocently.

  ‘Prudence, tell me what happened when Robert came to your room.’

  ‘I’d rather not.’

  ‘I shan’t ask you again. I shall go and ask Robert.’

  Prudence forced the sobs to her throat and tears to her eyes.

  Louisa drew her daughter into her arms. ‘Why didn’t you tell me before?’ Prudence’s performance would have put Greta Garbo to shame as she cried as if her heart was about to break. ‘Prudence, I’m going to get your father and then we must take you to a doctor.’

  ‘No. I can’t. No one must know, not when I’m not married. I’d be too ashamed.’

  Louisa hurried out and across to the vestry where she knew her husband would be arranging his Sunday sermon. ‘Herbert, you must come home. Something terrible has occurred.’ Louisa began to panic at the shameful words she was about to utter. ‘I believe Prudence is … I believe she’s pregnant.’

  ‘What?’ Louisa watched the colour drain from her husband’s face. ‘What are you saying? Our daughter would never be capable of such a thing.’

  ‘Oh, I think she would.’

  Herbert paced the vestry floor, his hands clasped on his chest as if in prayer. ‘Robert Grey. I’ll kill him for this.’

  ‘And what good will that do? Besides, you’re the one who preaches forgiveness. Our daughter is just as guilty. In fact, I wouldn’t have put it past her to have seduced him.’

  ‘What are you talking about? What’s got into you, woman?’

  ‘Don’t call me woman.’

  ‘I’m sorry, but well, you are a woman. Oh, Louisa, the shame of it. He’ll have to marry her.’

  ‘Yes, but he doesn’t love her, Herbert. I know he doesn’t.’

  ‘You don’t know, and anyway that can’t be helped. He should have considered that when he sullied an innocent girl.’

  ‘Innocent? Are you sure about that?’

  ‘Oh, Louisa, I’m not sure about anything. Are you really certain she’s …?’ Herbert couldn’t bring himself to say the word.

  ‘Well she’s either pregnant or there’s something else wrong with her.’

  ‘She must see a doctor, make certain.’

  ‘She doesn’t want to, says she can’t, being unmarried.’

  ‘Then Robert must marry her. I’ll go see him. There’s no alternative.’

  ‘He’ll be at work.’

  ‘Oh yes. I’ll go later. I’m going to see James. See what he has to say on the subject.’ Herbert slumped into his chair, his head in his hands. It was the first time his wife had ever seen him cry. Her heart was breaking as she took her beloved man in her arms.

  ‘Come on, my love, let’s go home.’

  ‘They must marry, Louisa. Just imagine the talk amongst the parishioners if our daughter becomes an unmarried mother. I don’t think I can bear the shame of it.’

  ‘No, you’re right. We must see Robert tonight.’ She led her husband out and locked the vestry door, her heart filled with sadness and sympathy for her husband and anger towards the girl who was causing him so much pain. She felt guilty for her thoughts but she knew in her heart that it was all her daughter’s fault. Try as she might, Louisa couldn’t bring herself to lay the blame on Robert Grey’s shoulders.

  The atmosphere in the kitchen reminded Lucy of the night her father died. Reverend Goodman had taken possession of her mother’s chair by the fire. Robbie was standing face to face with James. His face was deathly white and sweat beads rested on his brow. ‘I never touched her, James. I swear I never laid a finger on her.’

  ‘You were in her room undressed, Robbie.’

  ‘I know. Only because she tricked me. She called for help.’

  ‘I would have heard her, Robert. The first I heard was when she called you to get out.’

  ‘That was only because I wouldn’t cuddle her.’

  ‘Robbie, you’ll have to marry Prudence. It’s matter of honour. When a man’s been in a girl’s room he must do what is right by her.’

  Lucy poured tea into her pretty cups, privately thinking James’s attitude was more to do with him losing his home than it was about doing right by Prudence Grey.

  ‘Are you certain she’s pregnant? I mean if Robbie says he never touched her …’ she asked.

  ‘Well, nobody else has been in her room. My daughter wouldn’t lie.’

  ‘I just don’t think Robbie would either,’ Lucy pointed out.

  John had kept silent until then, leaving the matter to his elder brother. ‘Lucy, I really don’t think it’s anything to do with you, love.’

  Lucy blushed. ‘I’m sorry, John.’

  ‘It’s all right.’ John smiled sadly at his wife.

  ‘So it’s settled then. My brother’ll do right by your daughter,’ James told Herbert.

  ‘B
ut I love Dot,’ Robbie said in desperation.

  ‘So I can arrange the wedding then?’ Herbert felt the tension slip away as he prepared to leave.

  ‘I shall be proud to have you for a son-in-law, Robert.’ Herbert held out his hand for Robbie to shake.

  ‘But it’s not fair. I don’t love Prudence.’

  Herbert held Robbie’s hand and patted the back of it. ‘Love will grow, never fear. The child will bring you closer.’

  The look in Robbie’s eyes almost brought Lucy to tears. He searched the room appealing for help, but none was forthcoming. James couldn’t meet his eyes. He knew he was sacrificing his brother’s future in order to hang on to his house and Jane’s job. He felt bad about doing so but knew if he let Jane down, his own future wouldn’t bear thinking about.

  When Will arrived home an hour later only Robbie, John and Lucy were in the kitchen.

  ‘What’s up?’ Will said. ‘Has somebody died?’

  Robbie stood up and went towards the stairs. ‘I wish I had,’ he said. ‘I wish I was dead.’

  Prudence smiled to herself when she knew her plan had worked. All she had to do now was carry on keeping her periods secret and pray she would become pregnant for real after the wedding in a month’s time. She could stop feigning sickness now and was eating as much as she could in order to put on weight. The medical book had told her all she needed to know about pregnancy, and most importantly about miscarriage – should that become necessary. If only Robbie would stop acting so unreasonably and begin to look forward to the wedding. Prudence thought he would come round once Dot Greenwood was out of the picture and she gave him the comfort of her body. She sighed in anticipation. Robert Grey would soon be hers, and she couldn’t wait to welcome him into her bed.

  ‘Well, I must say this is a right kettle o’ fish.’ Boadacea poured boiling water onto a handful of camomile flowers to make a cordial. The best thing for shock, and Dot was certainly in shock. She hadn’t stopped crying since dinnertime. Robbie wasn’t much better; in fact he looked as though his face had been dipped in the flour bin. Little Arthur had listened intently to what Robbie had to say.