A Daughter's Dream Page 9

  ‘I’m sorry something bad happened to you,’ I told her. ‘You’ve got to make up your own mind, of course, but I think you should see John and tell him the truth.’

  ‘Perhaps …’ She smiled and I could see she wanted to change the subject. ‘Harold asked me to marry him again. He refuses to give up and says he’s going to ask me every couple of months until I say yes.’

  ‘I would really like to meet him.’

  ‘Perhaps next time. Anyway, I’m pleased things went well for you this weekend. You are certainly going to have a lot of work in the next few weeks, Amy.’

  ‘The most intricate work is on the evening dresses, the others are fairly straightforward. If Margaret could be persuaded to do a few hours overtime it shouldn’t be a problem.’

  ‘I should imagine she would be glad of the money.’ Lainie looked at me thoughtfully. ‘It’s really you who should benefit from this, Amy. Your friendship with Mary seems to have brought in quite a lot more custom, and I think the made-to-order clothes should be entirely your department.’

  ‘Have you had other clients asking about my designs?’

  ‘Yes, this weekend. A woman came in on Saturday. She was obviously wealthy and she asked specifically for you. I told her you would be in the showroom this morning and she said she would call in again.’

  ‘If I take on more work it means you will have to get that extra seamstress you were thinking about.’

  ‘Yes, well, it might be worth it if trade builds up.’ Lainie was thoughtful. ‘If I wanted to get married – and I’m not saying I’ve made up my mind yet – do you think you could manage the shop? You would need to employ more staff, but you and Matthew could live in the rooms over the shop if you wanted. It would give him longer to save for the house and business he wants and I would feel happier about leaving this in your hands.’

  ‘Do you think I could manage it?’ I stared at her excitedly.

  ‘I don’t see why not,’ she said and smiled as she saw that I was pleased with her idea. ‘I’ve been thinking about this for a long time, Amy. I wasn’t sure it would work out, but you’re so good with the customers, and this design business is exactly what you need. You are wasted as a shop girl.’

  She was echoing Mr Maitland’s words, but I didn’t tell her so. For some reason I was wary of mentioning Mary’s father too often, though I couldn’t have explained why. I suppose I was afraid that if my aunt or my parents thought he might be a bad influence on me they might try to stop me visiting Mary.

  I wasn’t a foolish girl, whatever they might think, and I knew that it wasn’t usual for an older man to show a particular interest in a young girl – unless he had something particular in mind. From Mary’s protective attitude towards me I had gathered that any attention her father paid me might not be in my own interests. I was a shop girl, not one of Mary’s well-bred friends, and I supposed as such I might be considered fair game. If I wanted to continue visiting Mary as a friend, I should have to stay well clear of her father.

  She had warned me that I couldn’t be both her friend and his, and after thinking about it for a while, I believed I had found an explanation for her cryptic statement.

  I thought that perhaps Mr Maitland liked to have affairs with pretty young women. He was an attractive man, and his wealth must appeal to many girls in the same kind of situation as myself. I could imagine that a lot of girls would leap at the chances he had offered, but I wasn’t one of them.

  I was a marriage or nothing sort of girl. And I was going to marry Matthew.

  Mary didn’t invite me to her house for a couple of weeks, though I saw her at least twice a week during that period for fittings. I couldn’t have gone anyway, because I was working all the time, on her gowns and on one for another lady who had asked me to make her a simple afternoon dress.

  Mrs Simpson had come into the shop on the Monday morning and had spent half an hour persuading me to show her my designs. I did so reluctantly, remembering that Mary had wanted me to work exclusively for her, but in the end I was persuaded.

  ‘Yes, I would like that in the dark-blue material,’ Mrs Simpson said when I finally gave in. ‘You will do that for me, won’t you, Amy?’

  ‘Yes, but you may have to wait for a couple of weeks. We have a big order on at the moment.’

  ‘Good things are always worth waiting for,’ she said, smiling mysteriously. ‘As perhaps you may discover one day.’

  I wondered what she meant, but I was too busy to dwell on it. Mary’s clothes were taking up all my time and I was working nearly every evening to catch up – though I did take one off to go to the cinema with Lainie to see Gloria Swanson in a new film directed by Cecile B. DeMille. To me this actress symbolized the new era of freedom that modern women were enjoying, her sensual performances on screen matching the scandal that characterized the real lives of many Hollywood celebrities.

  In the past year or so, Fatty Arbuckle, the popular comedian, had been charged with causing the death of a starlet at a wild party, and a director had been murdered. Two actresses had been suspected of being involved, but though they were not charged, their careers were ruined. Fatty Arbuckle’s films were removed from cinemas across America, despite his being acquitted. And there was talk of another popular actor having died in a sanatorium from taking drugs.

  When Mary came into the shop at the end of that week she apologized for not having asked me over for a while.

  ‘I have so many prior engagements,’ she told me with a sigh. ‘Most of it is such boring stuff, Amy. I wish I could take you with me, but they are not the sort of people you would want to know – Aunt Emily’s friends. It’s all visits to the opera or the ballet, and some very stuffy evening parties. It bores me to death and I’m sure it would you, Amy.’

  ‘I wouldn’t expect to be invited to the houses of your friends, Mary.’

  ‘Paul is giving an afternoon party soon. He told me that he is going to invite you. I’ll have one of Daddy’s cars pick you up – it’s on Sunday next. I think he chose that day especially so that you could come.’

  ‘That is very kind of him,’ I said. ‘But I’m not sure I shall be able to come. Matthew is telephoning this evening. He may be coming up this weekend.’

  ‘Can’t you put him off?’

  ‘No, not if he wants to come. We don’t see each other very often as it is, Mary.’

  ‘Oh well, if you would rather be with him …’

  I could see she was annoyed but I wasn’t going to put Matthew off for Paul’s sake.

  ‘I’d like to come and see you another time, Mary. I’m your friend, not Paul’s.’

  ‘Yes, I suppose you are. It’s just that he asked specially, and I wanted you there.’ She pulled a wry face. ‘It doesn’t matter. I shall probably have a party myself the following week. Daddy is going away so it will be safe to have my friends round.’

  ‘I would like to come then if I can,’ I said, but as she frowned, I said, ‘No, I shall come, Mary. Matthew won’t come two weeks running.’

  ‘Will this afternoon dress be finished by tomorrow?’

  ‘Yes. I’ll work extra hours on it to make sure it is.’

  ‘Thank you. You are so nice to me, Amy.’ She smiled, her good humour restored. ‘Have you heard about Jane?’

  ‘No – what about her?’

  ‘She’s engaged to Sir Andrew Barclay. He’s fifty if he’s a day, but very rich. He gave her a huge emerald and diamond ring, which she is flashing under all our noses. She’s acting like the cat that got the cream – but I’m sure she only took him because she heard what Paul said that night. She isn’t in love with him. She can’t be – he’s so stuffy and boring.’

  ‘That was foolish of her,’ I said. ‘She can’t really want to marry him, can she?’

  ‘Oh, I don’t know, he’s got pots of money. If she can’t have Paul, she might as well take the money.’

  ‘I feel sorry for her. I think she’s making a terrible mistake.’

  Ma
ry shrugged. ‘Perhaps – but it’s what most of the girls do in the end. All the attractive men are looking for heiresses, and there aren’t enough to go round. I think Millie will probably settle for Alan, unless she can find someone with more money.’

  ‘At least Alan is young and attractive.’

  ‘I told you he likes you, didn’t I? He keeps asking me when you are coming to a party again.’ Mary’s eyes sparkled with mischief. ‘He would be a much better catch than your Matthew.’

  ‘I’m in love with Matt.’

  ‘Oh well, you know your own mind,’ she said, dismissing the subject. ‘I’ll be in for my fitting again tomorrow.’

  I finished making the adjustments after she had gone, then took the dress through to Margaret in the workrooms.

  ‘Can you get this done this afternoon?’

  ‘Yes, I think so,’ she said, then hesitated. ‘I was wondering … A few friends are having a little do this Sunday afternoon. Would you like to come?’

  ‘Matthew is probably coming for the weekend.’

  ‘You could bring him too if you like … Unless you have something else lined up?’

  ‘No, I shouldn’t think we have,’ I said. ‘We shall visit my parents in the morning, but we usually just go for a walk in the afternoon.’

  ‘Come and have tea with us then,’ she said. ‘It’s a bring and buy sale for the church, and then a lovely cream tea. Outside if it’s fine and in the tent if not. You would both be very welcome.’

  ‘Yes, we’d like that – thank you for asking us.’

  ‘I would have asked you to come out with us before,’ she said, looking a bit shy. ‘But you’re always so busy, Amy – and of course you’re friendly with that customer. Mary … What’s her other name?’

  ‘Maitland,’ I said. ‘I am friendly with Mary, but I wouldn’t mind going out with you and your friends sometimes in the evenings – but not until I get most of this work finished. How is Mrs Simpson’s dress coming on by the way?’

  ‘I’ve cut it out,’ Margaret replied. ‘But the bias is difficult and it will need time to get the hang right. Give me a couple more days before you make an appointment for her fitting – especially if you want Miss Maitland’s dress ready for this weekend.’

  ‘Yes, Mary’s must come first,’ I said. ‘I’ve promised it will be ready, and I’m going to do the embroidery on the cuffs this evening.’

  ‘She’s lucky you put all that work in for nothing,’ Margaret said. ‘I saw a dress of this quality in a magazine the other day and it cost twice as much as you’re charging. You don’t want to let her get away with it too cheap, Amy. She’ll take advantage of you if you do.’

  ‘We’ve had a lot of trade through Mary and Mrs Holland,’ I said. ‘It’s worth giving some customers a good deal. Besides, I don’t mind doing the embroidery in my own time.’

  ‘Well, you know best,’ Margaret said. ‘But I shall look forward to seeing you and Matthew this weekend.’

  ‘I just hope he doesn’t have to cancel at the last moment.’

  ‘Keep your fingers crossed!’

  ‘And your legs,’ Sally chirped from her corner.

  The new girl smiled but said nothing. Her name was Peggy and she was good at plain hemming and buttonholes, but very quiet and reserved. I had spoken to her a few times, but she wouldn’t talk about herself.

  ‘Peggy has had a hard life,’ Lainie told me when she took her on. ‘Some wouldn’t employ her, but as long as she does her work and keeps her opinions to herself, that’s fine by me.’

  It was Margaret who had told me that Peggy had a baby. She wasn’t married, and she had been forced to do all kinds of piecework, for which she received a pittance, until Lainie gave her the job. She sat over her work all day, scarcely looking up, and was worth every penny my aunt paid her.

  I understood now why Lainie was so good to girls like Peggy. She had been through the same experience, and she gave them a chance – though they would have been out on their ear if they had bad-mouthed a customer or slacked over their work.

  I sometimes wondered what Lainie’s more snooty customers would think if they knew that two of our workforce had had illegitimate children. They would certainly turn their noses in the air, but would they withdraw their custom? Lainie was taking a risk, but it was all right as long as no one knew.

  Matthew rang that evening to confirm that he would be coming up on Saturday. He said that he was looking forward to seeing me.

  ‘I’ve had a rise,’ he told me proudly. ‘My boss is so pleased with the way things are going that he gave me another ten shillings a week.’

  ‘That’s good, Matt. I’ve got something to tell you – but it will keep until the weekend.’

  ‘You are being very mysterious.’

  ‘Well, it isn’t certain yet. It’s just something that might happen.’

  ‘Oh, well, in that case it will keep. I like certainties.’

  ‘Yes, I know, but it might work out for us,’ I said. ‘And we’ve been invited out on Sunday afternoon. It’s a bring and buy sale for Margaret’s church – and a cream tea. I said we would go, is that all right?’

  ‘Yes, why not? I would much prefer you to make friends with Margaret than Mary Maitland.’

  ‘Mary is all right. She gave us a really good order.’

  ‘But Lainie had to give her a big discount. You could design dresses and put them in the shop if you really wanted to, Amy – or send your designs out as you were doing.’

  ‘We’ve got another customer who wanted us to make a dress for her. I suppose we might get more if we advertised the fact, but Mary wants me to design just for her.’

  ‘If you ask me, that young lady wants too much of her own way. Besides, when we get married you won’t have time to run after her.’

  I didn’t reply. There was no sense in arguing with Matt. I loved him but I didn’t want to give up my friendship with Mary just yet. It was for this reason that I didn’t mention the party the following week, or the one Paul was giving that I had refused to attend.

  Matthew took me to the cinema on Saturday. It was an old-fashioned comedy with the Keystone Cops and we laughed all the way through, even though we had seen it before. Afterwards we walked home because it was a lovely evening, Matt’s arm about my waist.

  ‘I shall be glad when I can come back to London,’ Matthew said. ‘But it won’t be so much longer. I was thinking that we might manage to get married by next spring, Amy.’

  ‘That would be lovely,’ I said, clinging to his arm and smiling up at him. ‘But if Lainie gets married we might manage it before that.’ I explained about the offer she had made me and he frowned over it for a few minutes. ‘Don’t look like that, Matt. It was only a suggestion.’

  ‘I want us to have our own house,’ he said. ‘But it might be a way of bringing the wedding forward if the rent isn’t too much – I don’t want to use money I’ve put aside for our house.’

  ‘You mean you will think about it?’

  ‘Yes – if Lainie gets married. But don’t get your hopes too high, darling. She obviously hasn’t made up her mind yet.’

  ‘I think she may; she just isn’t quite ready.’

  I didn’t tell Matthew about Lainie’s son, that wasn’t my secret. If she wanted him to know she would tell him herself.

  As we joined a queue at the hot pie shop to buy our supper, a man tipped his hat to me as he walked by.

  ‘Good evening, Miss Robinson. It is a pleasant evening, is it not?’

  ‘Yes, sir,’ I replied. ‘Very pleasant.’

  He walked on past, then hailed a taxi. Matthew looked at me.

  ‘Who was that?’

  ‘Mary’s father. I met him at her home. He approved of my designs – told me I should be working for a fashion house.’

  ‘For goodness’ sake, don’t listen to him!’ Matthew said. ‘I didn’t like the way he looked at you, Amy. Just be careful of him. Men like that are dangerous.’

  ‘I’m
not a silly child, Matt. I do know what goes on – and I shall be careful. I told him I wasn’t interested, and that I was going to get married soon.’

  Matthew nodded, but I could see that he was controlling his annoyance with difficulty. He hadn’t liked my seeing Mary before and he certainly wouldn’t be happy about it in future. I should just have to keep my visits to Mary’s home to myself.

  The next day was just as warm, perfect for the church sale. We had lunch with my parents, and then left to join Margaret and the others. The sale was held in a large field at the back of the church, and there were lots of stalls selling needlework, cakes and sweets made by the ladies who ran the stalls. There was also a white elephant stall, which had all kinds of second-hand items for sale, including a rather pretty pair of brass candlesticks, which I decided to buy for my bottom drawer.

  As well as the stalls, there were games going on for the children – the sack race and the three-legged race being open to all. Matthew and I joined in the fun. He came second in the sack race, but we were a poor third from last in the three-legged event.

  ‘Never mind,’ Margaret said afterwards. ‘You’ve done your bit by the look of things, Amy. Now you can come and have your tea.’

  The scones were delicious and had been made by the ladies who helped out at the church. We ate them with lashings of cream and jam, laughing as we got the cream on our noses. I recalled the last time I had eaten scones and realized that this was a much nicer event, the people more friendly than Jane Adams and her brother.

  All in all it was a pleasant afternoon and we both enjoyed ourselves. We were tired and happy as Matthew took me home later.

  Lainie was out so we had the parlour to ourselves. Matthew drew me to him as we sat on the sofa and his kisses were so passionate that they made me tremble with anticipation.

  ‘I love you so much,’ he murmured throatily. ‘I think about being with you all the time, Amy. If your aunt gets married we’ll do what she suggested. It won’t be for long – just until I can get us our own home.’