The Back of Beyond (7 page)

It dawned on him suddenly that there should have been a third sister, and almost as if she had read his mind, Rosie said, ‘You'll have to excuse Peg. She objected to not being allowed to ask a boy to tea like her older sisters, and she's taking her dinner downstairs.'

‘She'll get over it,' announced Tiny, wiping his mouth with his linen napkin and pushing back his chair, extra wide and clearly made especially for him. ‘Now, Dougal,' he said, ‘it's time for you and me to adjourn to the residents' sitting room to get our business done. Gwennie, you had better stay here with Alistair, and Marge and Peg'll help your mother to clear up and do the dishes.'

And before he knew where he was, Alistair was left alone with Gwen. ‘I feel awful, you having to stay with me while your mother and sisters are slaving away downstairs,' he whispered. ‘I could easily sit here and wait till you give them a hand.'

‘You don't need to whisper, nobody'll hear us. Don't you like being alone with me?'

‘I'd do anything to be alone with you … for ever.'

She smiled and whispered, shyly, ‘Why don't you make the most of it, then?'

This made him pull her off her seat and on to his knee. It wasn't exactly comfortable, two of them on one dining-room chair, but they were making the most of it when Tiny poked his head round the door. ‘So this is the way things are?' he exclaimed, giving a great guffaw of laughter at the guilty way the two young people sprang apart. ‘I thought it might be, but I wasn't sure. I came to let you know that Dougal has said his piece and they're all gathered in our sitting room, but … Alistair, I think you and I should have a little talk, too? Off you go, Gwennie, this won't take long.'

Wishing that the floor would open up and swallow him, the trembling, scarlet-faced Alistair was sure that the man would tear him apart for daring to kiss his eldest daughter so fervently. ‘I'm very sorry, Mr Jenkins,' he began, the words quavering slightly, ‘I shouldn't have …'

‘So you think I'm going to bawl you out? You look like a rookie in front of the ser'nt major. Good God, Alistair, I was young once myself, hard as it may be to believe. I took advantage of every opportunity I could to kiss a pretty girl, and, even if I say so myself, my Gwennie, like my other two daughters, is a very pretty girl. In fact, I'd go as far as say I'd have been disappointed in you if you hadn't kissed her, but there's kissing and there's kissing, if you see what I mean, and you were a bit too … you're serious about her, aren't you?'

‘Yes, I am, Mr Jenkins …'

‘Tiny, for goodness' sake! Mr Jenkins sounds like I'm a preacher.'

‘I
am
serious about Gwen … Tiny. I love her, and I mean to marry her some day, when I can afford to support a wife.'

‘Is money the only reason you're holding back?'

‘Of course it is. I'll have to find a house and furnish it …'

Tiny pulled thoughtfully at his earlobe. ‘I think we had better join the others. What I had planned to say to Dougal will apply equally to you, so listen carefully.'

Alistair followed him through to the back room, where a magenta-faced Dougal was standing holding Marge's hand, while Peggy and her mother, both smiling expectantly, were sitting on along sofa with Gwen, who lifted her downcast head as the two men entered and eyed her father with some apprehension.

He let his eyes roam around them before plumping down on what was meant to be a two-seater couch but he filled it completely. ‘I've just had a bit of a surprise,' he said, finally. ‘I had prepared a little speech saying I was giving my blessing on a marriage between my daughter, Marjory, and Dougal Finnie, a young Scot …'

He was interrupted by the clamour of his family voicing their congratulations to the happy pair, and had the grace to wait until things were quiet again before he continued. ‘I was going to say I was looking forward to having Dougal as a son-in-law and give him a few words of advice, but …' He looked round the assembly once again, stopping when he came to the nervous Alistair, who had taken up his stance beside Gwen, and letting out another of his deep belly laughs. ‘I'm not a blinking cannibal, boy, so don't look as if I was ready to throw you in a pot.'

Rosie stepped in now. ‘Get on with it, Tiny. It's not fair to keep them in suspense.'

‘This is a moment I'm going to cherish all my life,' he told her, ‘so let me proceed at my own pace.' First grinning reassuringly at Alistair, he directed his words at Dougal. ‘The thing is, I cannot let Margo go. I need her here, because I would never get another girl to act as waitress-cum-chambermaid-cum-kitchenmaid as my three do. No one else would put up with me, the way I order them about, but as I always say, what's the good of keeping three dogs and barking yourself?'

Dougal was looking aghast. ‘But Tiny, you said … you gave your permission …'

‘And I meant it, every word, but … you can't take her away. You will move in here. As I see it, you'll be sharing her room without having to pay a penny for rent, getting all your meals without having to stump up for board …'

‘What's the catch?' Dougal's eyes had narrowed. ‘There must be something.'

‘You will do any odd jobs that need doing, decorating, moving furniture and any heavy lifting, but only in the evenings and weekends. I'm not expecting you to give up your job. And that's it!' Tiny turned to Alistair now. ‘You heard what I said to Dougal, so is there something
you
want to ask me? Or would you rather do it in private?'

Gwen's hand-squeeze was enough for Alistair. ‘We don't need to do it in private. I would be grateful if you would give your permission for me to marry Gwen, maybe next year some time?'

‘Next year?' Tiny erupted. ‘I'm giving you the chance to make it a double wedding! It'll save putting two lots of stress on my wife and be less of a financial strain on me. We'd have everything over in one go and the hotel would get back to normal.' Noticing Alistair's sudden pallor, he said, ‘You're not getting cold feet are you?'

Rosie stood up at this point. ‘Give the boy a chance to get his breath back. Come on, Peggy, help me to make some coffee.'

‘No, Mrs Jenkins … Rosie,' Alistair corrected, because of her slight frown, ‘don't bother. I don't need time to think. I love Gwen, and I think she loves me …'

The girl blushed to the roots of her hair but said, firmly, ‘Yes, Mum, I do love him.'

‘And if Tiny wants a double wedding,' Alistair went on, still addressing his future mother-in-law, ‘I can't see any problem … if
you
don't object.'

‘I'm delighted,' she beamed, ‘but we'll need a few weeks to prepare everything.'

Tiny took over again. ‘We'll ask the vicar how soon he can fit in the wedding …'

‘The banns'll have to be called for three weeks running,' Rosie pointed out, ‘and it's too late for tomorrow to be the first time, so it'll be next Sunday and the two after that.'

‘So we'll make it in four weeks, boys. That'll give us enough time …' His wife's frantic signal made Tiny stop to amend this. ‘Five weeks from today apparently, to please my dear Rosie. Does that suit you?'

It was Gwen who made the decision. ‘That's perfect, Dad. Marge and I can choose our wedding gowns together, and there'll be time for alterations if they're needed.'

‘The wedding breakfast will be here in the hotel, so nothing too fancy, eh?'

‘Can I go with them and get my dress, as well?' queried Peggy. ‘I'll be bridesmaid for both of them, won't I, and I'll have to look nice.'

Thinking that a new dress would save her youngest daughter taking umbrage again, her mother nodded.

‘How many will I have to cater for?' Tiny wanted to know. ‘Just family, isn't it?'

‘And Dougal and Alistair's families, as well,' Rosie reminded him.

Neither of the young men commented on this until they were on their way back to Hackney. ‘I don't know what my mother's going to say about this,' Alistair declared. ‘I haven't even told her I've been seeing Gwen.'

Dougal pulled a face. ‘She likely knows by now. I told my Mam in my last letter and she'll likely have told yours.'

‘The wedding'll not come as such a surprise, then, thank goodness.'

Manny Isaacson was delighted by Alistair's news. ‘I'm so happy for you, my boy. I was rather selfish, you know, hoping that you would not be looking for another job with more pay so that you could afford to marry your Gwen, but this seems an ideal arrangement for everyone concerned. However, there is one thing you have not touched on. Are you not thinking of giving Gwen an engagement ring? She might feel envious of her sister …'

‘Gwen's not the jealous kind.'

‘Nevertheless, I think that she should have one, and nothing would give me greater pleasure than to …'

‘No, Manny,' Alistair interrupted. ‘I won't let you
give
me one, but maybe you're right. Maybe I
should
get her an engagement ring, but I want to pay for it myself.'

The older man lifted his shoulders and turned up his palms in the expressive manner Alistair had come to recognize as a Jewish gesture. ‘I do not have much of a selection at the moment, but it should not take long to pick up something decent and reasonable.'

That very afternoon, Manny returned to the shop beaming as if he had lost a penny and found a pound. ‘It was like a miracle, Alistair,' he told his assistant. ‘You've heard me talking about young Bill Jackson? He took over his father's stall in the Portobello Road last year, if you remember. I was telling him I was looking for an engagement ring, not too expensive but not rubbish, you know? And he said he had the very thing. It seems the nephew of an old lady who had recently died was disposing of some of her belongings, and he said he didn't need the money, just wanted to be rid of them. Young Bill, a genuine man if ever there was one, gave him ten shillings for the lot, believing that what they held would be fit only for scrap. So you can imagine his amazement when he opened the second crate, to find a jewellery box with several pieces of jewellery in it, at least two of the rings, even to his inexperienced eyes, worth more than ten pounds, never mind ten shillings, as he put it.

‘He had sought out the nephew to acquaint him of this fact, but all he said was, “Keep them, and count this your lucky day.” So I asked Bill what he wanted for the two rings, and he let me take them on spec. Whichever one you pick, he said he'll be quite happy if you give him ten bob for it, which is what he paid for the whole lot, remember, and I can assure you, Alistair, that each is worth in the region of one hundred pounds.'

‘But are you sure you're not spinning me this yarn to make me feel …'

‘No, my boy, I am telling you the absolute truth, and if you are wondering why young Bill …' Manny paused with a chuckle. ‘I call him young Bill because I knew his father, but he must be over fifty and a dyed-in-the wool romantic. That is why he is making this gesture, and to show how much he trusts my judgement of you, he said you can let your young lady choose for herself.'

Gwen happened to be on duty that evening, and so the excited Alistair took the rings to Guilford Street to let her have her pick. She exclaimed over both of them then said she couldn't allow him to buy her anything so expensive, and was dumbstruck when he told her the story behind them. ‘Take the one you like best,' he urged. ‘I'll never get a chance like this again.'

Shaking her head in awe, she tried each one on the third finger of her left hand in turn and admired it from all angles, saying, ‘I can't make up my mind, Alistair. I thought the solitaire diamond at first, it catches the light so well, then I wanted to have the three smaller stones … what do you think?'

‘I'd say the solitaire looks a bit big on your finger, your hands are so dainty, but it's for you to choose.'

‘Take that one back to Manny then, and thank him for thinking about us, and … oh, yes. Tell him to thank the other man, too … I can hardly believe it, Alistair. I wasn't expecting to get an engagement ring, but I adore it.'

‘I'm not taking it for ten shillings, of course. I'll give him thirty, like Dougal …' He halted, appalled at giving away his friend's secret. ‘Oh, I shouldn't have told you that, Gwen. Promise you won't let Marge know.'

‘I promise, though I don't think she'd mind, any more than I do. We know you two don't get big wages, and thirty shillings is quite a lot.'

His heart aching with love for her, he had to kiss her for understanding.

‘What's got into you the day, Lexie?' Her body getting frailer by the day, Carrie Fraser could still glare at her daughter. ‘You've been snapping my head off ever since you came ben from the shop.'

The girl sat down at the side of her mother's bed. ‘Bella Ritchie was saying her Alistair and Dougal Finnie's having a double wedding.'

Carrie frowned accusingly. ‘You never said Alistair was going steady.'

‘I didn't know, and neither did Bella till this morning.'

‘Oh aye?' A knowing smile flitted across the invalid's pain-lined face. ‘A sudden wedding, eh? A bairn on the road, likely.'

Lexie had been wrestling with this unwelcome thought ever since Alistair's mother had left the shop that afternoon, and she still refused to believe it. ‘It's Dougal's girl's sister,' she muttered, miserably.

‘What difference does that make?'

‘Bella says the double wedding was their father's idea. He doesn't want two upheavals in his hotel, so Alistair's been rushed into it.' Although this was not exactly what his mother had said, it was the only explanation the spurned girl could accept.

‘Will the Ritchies be going to London with the Finnies, to see the weddings?'