‘Tinkering with education is what has got this country into the mess it’s in,’ Margot retorted, instantly destroying her friend’s plan.
‘All this money wasted on Working Men’s Institutes gives the masses ideas they are not equipped to handle. There are certain matters, and matrimony is one, for which they are quite unfitted.’
‘I say, Mama, leave off,’ Bertie chuckled. ‘This is beginning to sound like a sermon.’
‘If the status of family life, and society with it, is not to be eroded, adequate funds must be found.’
Bertie laughed. ‘You’re surely not suggesting that marriage should be the prerogative of the rich? That a chap should buy himself a bride, like he buys a motor or a steam-yacht? Bit hard on everyone else, what?’
‘Don’t be foolish, Bertie,’ she snapped. ‘I never said the poor could not be blessed with the sanctity of marriage.’ Manufacturing a laugh, as if the very idea were preposterous. ‘Heaven forbid! I am simply suggesting that when matrimony is contemplated, proper provision should be made. A few years of careful saving before people embark upon it might save us all a good deal of trouble in the long run.’
‘That shows how much you know,’ Lily burst out, unable to keep quiet any longer. ‘My parents would never have been wed at all in that case, which wouldn’t have been quite fair on me, now would it?
‘Upon my word.’ Margot fanned herself furiously, overcome by the vulgarity of Lily’s reckless interruption. But Lily did not even notice, too busy ploughing heedlessly on.
‘They’ve barely scraped a living all their lives. And whose fault is that? Not their own, I can tell you. They’ve striven to keep a roof over their heads, in one o’ them pig sties you dare to call houses. I’ve wondered at times why they bothered. Even a pig would turn up its nose.’ She was on her feet, tears spilling out as fast as the words, heedless of how far she had breached the bounds of good manners. But then, this was what she had come for, wasn’t it? Too late now to turn back.
‘They saved what they could, and I’m damned if I’ll let my family be blamed for daring to marry, just because they’re poor. Or for living in a stinking hole like The Cobbles that your husband, as landlord, should have sorted out long since!’
A gasp from the assembled company met this reckless remark and Lily held her breath. Edward Clermont-Read’s face bore an expression of shock, as if he’d never considered the matter before. As if the idea he might in any way be negligent was entirely new to him. But then, what possible excuse could he give? Lily had taken her revenge at last.
He stepped forward, eyes blazing with anger. ‘Are you implying that I’m to blame for the state of The Cobbles?’
Lily pulled herself up to her full five feet four inches. ‘Aye, that’s exactly what I’m saying.’
‘You don’t perhaps think the folk who live there bear some responsibility for the mess?
‘No, I don’t, as a matter of fact.’
‘I’ve spent a small fortune repairing roofs and walls that are as quickly broken again. I once put in an experimental water system with a tap at the end of one street, only to find someone stole the damned thing! Certain youths in the district actually seem to take pleasure in destruction.’
Lily knew this to be true, but not for the world would she admit it. This man would never understand the sense of defeat that permeated the place, nor how one tap in one street could cause such outrage and envy in the rest that they’d sooner see it destroyed.
‘We’re not all like that. Our house is as clean as my mam can make it, make no mistake,’ pride compelled her to explain. ‘And you’ve done naught about our running damp, nor the cockroaches, nor ...’
‘Enough
!
We have
ladies present
,’ Edward coldly stated, his tone making her shiver even in the heat of her argument.
Selene pointedly added, ‘Which you, of course, are not.’
An outbreak of giggles started, growing into a chorus of bubbling delight, and Lily stood as if struck, her heart sinking with dismay. This wasn’t at all the affect she had meant to achieve. The object had been for these toffee-nosed friends of his to be disgusted with Edward, not herself.
Desperately she attempted to rectify her slip with a spirited defence. ‘So what if I’m not a lady? I’ve naught to be ashamed of. My mam and dad are decent folks who’ve every right to wed if they wants to, and have children. Six to be exact. And if I were born afore they’d quite tied the knot, what of it? They had problems over religion, and needed to find a house to live in. It makes no odds to me,’ she finished on a fine note of defiance, realising too late how far her temper had taken her. Cheeks pink, Lily’s voice faded into silence. What could she do now to rectify her blunder? Oh, dear Lord, save me, she prayed. Didn’t Rose say I’d hurt meself more than them? And I have.
‘Dear me,’ said Margot at last into the ensuing silence, making a great show of being shocked even as she dabbed tears of amusement from her eyes. ‘What a dramatic life you must have led.’
How splendid, she thought, that she’d succeeded in showing the girl up for what she truly was: a common slut. A good thing too that Bertie should be witness to her shame. Now she. addressed her son with gentle regret, tinged very slightly with reproof. ‘You see what a tangle you have put us all into, Bertie.’
‘Tangle?’
‘By bringing poor Miss Thorpe upon our picnic, you have succeeded only in embarrassing her, and ourselves, by her revelations. I can’t imagine what you were thinking of.’ Margot smiled wearily upon her guests, seeking their sympathetic support.
To Lily’s great surprise, a red stain swept up Bertie’s neck. ‘Steady on, that’s going it a bit strong, old thing. Lily has the right to speak up for her family, if she wants to.’ The sound of his voice, as much as his valiant defence of her, brought Lily’s head round for this was not the conciliatory tone he usually adopted when addressing his mother. He was clearly very angry on Lily’s behalf and meant Margot to recognise that fact.
‘Bertie, it’s all right,’ said Lily, laying a hand upon his arm.
Edward too stepped forward to drop a hand on his son’s shoulder. ‘I believe enough has been said. Too much, Bertie. I suggest you leave it there.’
But he shook the hand away. ‘Lily hasn’t embarrassed anyone. It’s no fault of hers what her parents did. That was damned near an insult. Take it back, Mama. Lily’s my friend.’
‘No one needs a friend like Lily Thorpe.’
‘
I
do.’
‘Stop being naughty, Bertie.’
‘Dammit, I’m not a
child
!’ He clenched and unclenched the hands held stiffly at his sides, cheeks fiery, while Margot continued to speak condescendingly.
‘Darling boy, you know full well that I have your best interests at heart.’
‘So long as I do as you say.’
‘Run along and talk to Dora, there’s a dear. Your father will see poor little Miss Thorpe back home to where she belongs.’
‘What if I refuse to run along, or let you take Lily home?’
Margot’s eyes flashed. ‘We want none of your temper tantrums this afternoon, Bertie. You’ve brought shame enough upon your family. There are girls whom one marries, and those one dallies with. We all know which sort of girl Lily Thorpe is. She’s practically confessed it from her own lips.’
An awed silence fell upon the assembled company, the only sound that of a wood pigeon cooing in the woods behind them, and the crackle of Bertie’s long-forgotten fire where he’d meant to toast muffins.
Now he met his mother’s gaze unflinchingly. ‘Lily can’t be blamed for her own birth.’ He lifted his chin in a gesture of defiance. ‘I’ve told you, she’s my friend. My very dear friend. Lily’s a good sport and dashed good fun to have around. Not always making jibes at a chap, or wanting to put him down. Dammit, I might even marry her.’
Margot’s face went white then bright red. ‘You’ll do no such thing!’
Bertie put his arm about Lily and pulled her close to his side. ‘I just might.’
The opportunity for revenge was simply too tantalising for Lily to resist. ‘And I might just accept,’ she said. Whereupon, for once in her life, Margot Clermont-Read actually fainted.
Lily stood on the Persian carpet in the ‘little’ drawing room, facing Margot Clermont-Read with head held high. The gloomy landscapes seemed to oppress her, adding to her depression. The heat of the small fire in the grate suffocated her, so that Lily could scarcely breathe. What have you done? a voice asked, somewhere inside her head.
‘What d’you think you are about?’ asked Margot, echoing the thought. ‘Have you no compassion? Are you so out for revenge you would heartlessly ruin my poor boy’s life?’
What followed was the most difficult hour Lily had ever spent in her life. Margot spoke at length about Bertie. How he was a foolish boy who had taken temporary leave of his senses.
‘Fascinated, no doubt, by your cheap feminine allure. What sort of person does that make you, Thorpe?’
Lily couldn’t bring herself even to consider the question. Revenge or no, she’d gone too far, and knew it. It made her tremble to think how she’d dared to stand up to Margot Clermont-Read in the first place. What her mam would say if she knew she’d revealed all the family secrets in that shameful way, Lily didn’t care to consider. Really she’d no idea how to extricate herself from this mess without losing even more face.
Yet even as these thoughts raced through her head, Margot’s switch to the use of her surname, as if Lily were a servant and of no account, infuriated her afresh. If the woman imagined this tactic would intimidate her, then she’d badly misjudged her adversary. As this thought took hold, laughter welled in Lily’s throat. By heck, you had to keep your sense of humour in all of this! What a laugh that Margot Clermont-Read should be in fear and trembling because Lily Thorpe, a girl from The Cobbles, had said she might marry her precious son. Lily pursed her lips tightly together, to keep the laughter in check.
‘Since you refuse to speak, I’ll tell you what kind of person you are - a common whore!’
Lily flinched. What was the woman suggesting now? ‘I beg your pardon, I’m no such thing.’
‘You’ve been seen going in and out of a certain notorious house in Fossburn Street,’ Margot informed her.
Lily gasped. "Oo told you that?’
Margot’s eyes gleamed. ‘Never mind who told me. Is it true?’
‘It’s true I visit, right enough. Rose is my friend. Surely you don’t imagine…’
‘Oh, but I do. And if Bertie were to hear of it, he would think so too.’
What could she say? How could she defend herself without condemning Rose and Nan? Only a blind man or a fool wouldn’t know what went on in that house. But Margot would never believe Lily wasn’t involved. Tarred with the same brush, that would be her opinion.
‘Think what you like, Bertie’ll never believe it.’ Lily could only hope this was true. Then in a calm and reasonable voice, ‘All I ask is justice. You never even came to Dick’s funeral, just sent a few flowers and washed your hands of him. Mr Clermont-Read thought he could buy off my grief, as if it were a business transaction. Neither one of you thought to apologise to, or help, his poor widowed mother.’
Margot wasn’t listening. She drummed her fingers upon the arm of her chair, barely waiting until Lily had finished speaking before continuing with her own line of argument. ‘I would’ve thought that even a woman of your low morals would stop short of such wickedness. Bertie is a sweet sensitive boy who wouldn’t hurt a fly. If you care for him in the smallest degree, as you claim to do, you must release him. Would you make him a laughing stock, a pariah among his friends?’
‘Happen my revenge is in seeing you sweat.’ Lily almost smiled, though inside she felt cold and numb, as if this were some other person attacking Margot Clermont-Read and not herself at all.
Margot leaned back in her seat, folding plump, ringed hands upon a stiffly corseted stomach. ‘Ah, of course. In that case, I suspect the matter can be settled quite quickly. Sweating is not something I approve of. We’ll accept, for the sake of argument, that you have won, that you have gained your revenge, or justice, whatever you care to call it. Will that do?’ She reached for her purse and drew out a tightly rolled bundle of notes. ‘There’s twenty pounds. More than you usually get paid for your services, I warrant. Certainly more than your Godforsaken family have ever seen in their entire pathetic lives. Take it and go. But
leave my boy alone!’
Lily stared at the banknote as if so much as to touch it would scald her fingers. Then she lifted her furious gaze to Margot’s.
‘Keep your money. If you want to know, I’d no intention of ever going through with it. Bertie only said it to annoy you. I backed him for the same reason.’ She stepped closer and wagged a finger in Margot’s furious face. ‘But I’ve had enough of being treated like dirt. If he asks me again, happen I will marry him. D’you hear me? And spend the rest of my life making you regret you ever clapped eyes on Lily Thorpe.’
Bertie, apparently, had suffered a similar painful interview with his father. They’d rarely seen eye to eye, and this did not help matters one bit. To Lily’s great surprise and almost, it had to be said, her triumph, Bertie stuck steadfastly by her. He claimed that after these months they’d enjoyed together, he’d quite fallen for her and no one, not even his snobbish parents, could alter his feelings. Edward was furious.