Cicely swept into the room. ‘It’s a lovely day outside,’ she told Ruby. ‘Oh, I do hope the sun is shining when Luke and I are married.’ She ran to the window and looked out across the lawns to the horizon. It was a warm and glorious day. The sun was high in the heavens, the blue sky was clear, and just outside the windows a robin could be heard trilling a delightful melody. It was 6 June and the day of her wedding was almost upon them.
‘It’s going to be all right, Ruby,’ she said, swinging round to stare at the figure bent to her sewing. ‘Luke and I are going to be so happy, I know it.’ Her face grew serious. ‘I really can’t understand why you don’t like him, Ruby,’ she remarked sadly. ‘He’s a fine man, and I love him.’
‘He’s devious.’ Ruby kept her gaze on her work. Even when she sensed Cicely’s horror at her words, and even though her mistress was already making her way across the room towards her, she still did not look up.
All these weeks, ever since Cicely had revealed the date of the wedding, Ruby had tried to dissuade her. She had lost count of the number of times Cicely had threatened her with dismissal, and she was sent from the room in disgrace on more than one occasion. As a punishment, Ruby had been returned below stairs for two days where Cook took great delight in making her suffer. ‘Outta favour, are you?’ she taunted. ‘Serves you right, you little madam!’ It seemed to infuriate her when, far from rising to the cruel jibes, Ruby merely set about her work with new determination. ‘Mark my words, you’ll come unstuck,’ the envious woman predicted with glee. ‘It ain’t natural for a servant to be so friendly with the mistress. Tears’ll come after the laughter, and it’s only a matter o’ time before she sends you on your way.’
‘One more word, Ruby, and you’ll drive me to do something I might regret,’ Cicely warned now.
Her answer was to concentrate intently on her sewing, not even flinching when the needle jabbed her thumb and brought blood. Like her mam had so often said: ‘Know when ter keep yer mouth shut.’ Ruby tried to follow that good advice, but it was hard.
Lately she had been greatly tempted to betray Luke’s real nature to the love-blinded Cicely. The awful truth had trembled on the tip of her tongue: of how Luke had not denied that Cicely was only the means to an end, and of how he’d deliberately waylaid Ruby in that dark alley. To this day she was convinced that if the dogs had not been there to distract him, he would have forced himself on her. She was under no illusion about what might have happened then; however much she detested him, and even though she would have fought him with all of her strength, she was no match for a man like Luke.
All of these things she was tempted to tell Cicely, yet she was also deeply reluctant, not least because her mistress would be shocked and hurt to discover the truth. It was a dilemma. If she spoke up, Cicely’s heart would be broken, and if she said nothing, and the wedding went ahead, her heart would no doubt be broken soon enough. Ruby had hoped and prayed that somehow, Cicely might somehow discover these things for herself, and the wedding would be called off. She even entertained ideas that Luke himself might call it off. It was only now, in these final days before the ceremony, that Ruby knew it would go ahead exactly as he had planned. And she was frantic.
‘You’re not to say things like that about him!’ Cicely was trembling with anger. ‘Luke and I are to be married shortly, and I will not have you defaming his character.’ She was standing over Ruby, her small fists clenched by her sides. ‘Why are you so set against him?’ she demanded. ‘Are you jealous? Is that it?’
Shocked to the core by Cicely’s accusation, Ruby looked up. ‘Jealous?’ she asked incredulously. Placing her sewing on the chair arm, she forced herself to remain calm. ‘Oh, Cicely, you don’t know what you’re saying,’ she murmured fondly. ‘It’s you I’m concerned about. He means to hurt you, I know he does.’ She stood up, her dark blue eyes beseeching as she asked, ‘Please, Cicely. Think hard before you go through with it. He’s using you, and you can’t see it.’
‘Oh?’ She gave a small wry laugh. ‘Using me now, is he?’ Her vivid blue eyes were piercing, but as she spoke they were bright with tears. ‘Well, go on then!’ she snapped. ‘You’ve been trying to tell me something these many weeks. You’ve already warned me he’s all kinds of a scoundrel, that he’s bad.’ She demanded in a sarcastic voice that grew louder with every word, ‘So, please, don’t stop there. Tell me the worst. What are these dreadful things he’s supposed to have done? Why is he bad? What makes you say he’s using me? Has he told you that? HAS HE?’
She paused, seeming surprised by her own wild emotions. She made a sound like a sob, but then she straightened her shoulders and blinked the tears away. When she spoke again, it was in an uncertain voice and her eyes were softer, almost like those of a wounded animal. ‘No, don’t say anything,’ she pleaded. ‘Because, whatever you tell me, it won’t make a scrap of difference to how I feel about him.’ Her gaze momentarily faltered. ‘I love him, do you see?’ Holding her head high, she announced in a proud voice. ‘Luke and I will be married in eight days’ time, and there isn’t a thing you can say that will stop it.’ There was dull pain in her eyes now. She was too proud. Too certain. And somehow too afraid.
At first, Ruby was stunned. In all the heated arguments she and Cicely had exchanged with regard to Luke, never once had Ruby seen beneath that cool exterior. She saw beneath it now though, and suddenly the truth came to her like a bolt out of the blue.
‘You know?’ she murmured, disbelievingly. ‘You know he’s bad, don’t you?’
Ruby wondered whether her own insistence over these past weeks had made Cicely think hard. Or had she somehow discovered for herself that the man she was to marry was a cheat and a womaniser?
‘I wouldn’t lie to you,’ she promised. ‘Everything I’ve said about him is true.’ If ever there was a time to show Cicely just how evil he was, it had to be now. Now, while she was vulnerable and uncertain, while she was open to the truth at last. ‘And yes, he did as good as tell me that he was using you to get at your father’s money. There’s a lot of hate in him, don’t you see? There’s something wrong with him. Something dangerous. Oh, Cicely, send him on his way. Be rid of him once and for all. There’ll be a young man for you one day, good and worthy of you. Not him, though. Not Luke Arnold.’
‘Is that all?’ Cicely’s voice was cold now.
For a long awful moment, Ruby wondered whether she should tell of that night in the alley. It was a strange and inexplicable thing, but she felt dirtied by that incident. Time and again she had looked back over it and searched her heart. Was there any time when she might have given a glance, one look, that could have given him the impression that she was easy game? Always the answer came back: No. All she had ever felt for Luke was a certain revulsion. But wait, she reminded herself. Wasn’t there just one moment, one fleeting instant when she thought him deeply attractive? She closed her mind against such disturbing thoughts. Cicely was waiting. Would she tell or wouldn’t she?
Ruby faced those startling blue eyes with a fierce strength. Reluctantly, she spoke out. ‘I know he doesn’t love you, Cicely.’ Every word was bitter on her tongue. ‘I know it because he’s even made approaches to me. One evening some time back, when I missed my tram… he…’ She hesitated, but if she didn’t thrust that last awful truth home, Ruby knew that the moment would be gone and it would be too late. ‘It was dark. He waited for me… pushed me into the alley.’ She hated herself, but if she could make Cicely see sense, it would be worth it. ‘He said he wanted me. If I hadn’t managed to get away,’ she closed her eyes at the memory, ‘God only knows what might have happened.’
While Ruby was speaking, the tears were flowing down Cicely’s face. She didn’t doubt Ruby’s words because she had seen the way Luke’s eyes were drawn to her when he thought no one was watching. Deep down, Cicely knew that he was a womaniser, and possibly that he did have ulterior motives for marrying her. But, like all women in love, she tried not to see the obvious. It was far less painful to pretend. And anyway, she had high hopes that, once they were married, he would make a good and loyal husband. To her mind, a life with Luke was better than the lonely existence she suffered now. She could not send him away. Nor could she let the world know her humiliation; especially not Ruby, who was unusually perceptive, and would fight tooth and nail for her friends. The last thing Cicely wanted was for Ruby to come between her and Luke. And so she fought for at least a semblance of dignity. ‘You’re a liar.’
‘You know I’m not.’
‘Leave me. I want you out of my sight… out of this house.’
‘You’re dismissing me?’ Ruby could hardly believe her ears. Her only intention had been to show Cicely what she was letting herself in for, and somehow it had all rebounded.
‘Get your things and leave. Your wages will be sent on to you.’
It was painful for Cicely to send Ruby away, but she had been left with no choice. If it was all to come right between her and Luke, it was better for Ruby to be out of the way. Out of his way. Ruby loved her, she knew that. She knew also that she would never find a truer friend. But it was Luke she wanted now, and only him. These past months he had crept up on her like a disease, until suddenly there was no room in her life for anyone else. She was shocked to find that also included her own dear father. In that moment she realised just how much she was sacrificing for this man whom she hardly knew. But then, where love was concerned, the heart dictated and all reason flew out the window.
‘Do you really want me to go… and never come back?’ Ruby’s dark eyes were like a blue turbulent ocean as she looked up at this woman who had been so close to her.
Cicely couldn’t bear to see Ruby’s face, and so she turned away. ‘I never want to see you again,’ she murmured. ‘And if I hear you have spoken to my father about any of this, I will never forgive you.’ Behind her the hush was deafening. She heard the soft footsteps going across the room, and it took all of her will-power not to turn about and call Ruby back. Then she thought of Luke, and he was all that mattered now. The door closed. She went to the armchair and sank into it.
‘I’m sorry, Ruby,’ she whispered. ‘I can’t lose him because of you.’ There were no tears now. Her face was set like stone. She closed her eyes and gave herself up to thoughts of her wedding. Somehow, though, all her excitement was gone. Instead she felt only anxiety, and a determination to be so good a wife to him that he would never want to part from her.
At the bottom of the stairs, Ruby paused to look back. The full implications of the scene in Cicely’s room had only just sunk in. ‘I never want to see you again’, that’s what Cicely had said! Stunned, she sat on the bottom step, her head bent into her hands. It was really true. She was dismissed, and she was never to set foot in this house again.
‘God almighty, what have I done?’ she asked herself. Now she would not be able to keep an eye on Cicely as she had planned. At one time there had been mention of her going with Cicely, should she and Luke find themselves a new house. Now she would be at his mercy. ‘You’re a big mouth, Ruby Miller,’ she told herself. ‘When will you ever learn?’ Another thought struck her so hard that she sat up straight and cried out loud, ‘Whatever will I tell me mam?’
Jeffrey Banks was rounding the corner from his study when he heard her. ‘Is everything all right, Ruby?’ he asked, striding towards her.
Flustered by his sudden appearance, she sprang up to face him. ‘Sorry, sir?’ she muttered. She was thoroughly miserable, and it showed. ‘I were just thinking out loud.’
‘You’re upset about something, I can see that, Ruby.’ There was something not quite right here, he thought. His glance went up the stairs in the direction of Cicely’s room before coming back to examine Ruby’s face. ‘Do you want to talk about it?’
‘Not really, sir.’
He smiled in that kindly way she had come to know. ‘I might be able to help,’ he suggested. ‘Whatever it is, I’m sure it can’t be all that bad.’
Ruby took a deep breath. ‘I’ve been dismissed, sir.’ He would know soon enough anyway.
Visibly shocked, Jeffrey told her to: ‘Make your way to my study. I’ll be along in a moment.’ He waited until Ruby had done as she was bid, after which he went up the stairs and into Cicely’s room.
Outside, the wretched girl scurried along the landing, gaily flicking her feather duster over the many paintings that lined the walls. When she came to Cicely’s room and heard the raised voices, she glanced furtively about. Then, satisfied that she was alone, bent her ear to the keyhole. ‘Well, I never!’ she declared, ‘Well, I never!’
A few minutes later she was tripping her way down the stairs and into the kitchen, where she related the entire episode to Cook. ‘Ruby’s been sent packing,’ she said, all wide-eyed and excited. ‘The master’s upstairs now, taking Miss Cicely to task, but she won’t give way. “I can’t have her around any more.” That’s what she told him. ‘‘Ruby’s become too full of herself, and it’s no good sending her below stairs because she’s been spoiled, and there’s no longer anywhere she can suitably fit into this household.”’
Cook was ecstatic. ‘I knew it!’ she cried jubilantly. ‘I knew that young woman would overstep the mark.’ She returned her attention to rolling out the pastry. ‘I told her didn’t I, eh?’ she demanded. ‘“It’ll all end in tears,” that’s what I said. And now it has. She was so pleased that she could hardly contain herself. In fact, the wretched girl was startled out of her wits, when Cook suddenly instructed her to, ‘Sit yourself down, girl. We’ll partake of a drop o’ brandy together.’
Jeffrey Banks waited for an answer. When none was forthcoming, he repeated his question. ‘What happened between you two, Ruby?’ He was standing in his study, with Ruby facing him. ‘You’ve always been such good friends.’ He couldn’t understand it. Just now when he spoke to Cicely, he had been distressed to see how adamant she was.
‘I’d rather not say, sir.’
‘I’m deeply disappointed, Ruby.’ She was barely an arm’s reach away, and he was amazed at her beauty. The night of the party, when he had foolishly allowed that little charade, there had been many comments from the other guests. Astonishing comments that had made him think for a long time afterwards. To save face and deter the curious, Ruby had been introduced as being close to the family. Strangely enough, not once, but many times the observation was made to him that she bore a strong resemblance to himself.
At the time he had taken little notice. But later, when he had time to think, he wondered. And the more he thought on it, the more likely it seemed. He looked at Ruby now: that sweetheart face and those strong dark eyes that twinkled blue in one light and black in another. He let his gaze surreptitiously rove to her hair, abundant brown hair the colour of rich chocolate. It stabbed at his heart when he realised that it was true what those people had said. Ruby did have the look of him! Certainly, though his hair was now streaked with grey, there had been a time when it was the same colour and texture as Ruby’s. And those eyes, those blue eyes that were speckled black. Why! He might have been looking in a mirror.
Seeing her there, in these circumstances, he had the strongest urge to take her in his fatherly arms and comfort her. After all, it would have been the most natural thing in the world, because now he was convinced. Lizzie’s daughter was his daughter too.
‘Won’t you tell me what took place between you and my daughter?’ he asked fondly. Thinking, my other daughter. It wasn’t the first time a master had fathered a child out of wedlock, and it wouldn’t be the last. But somehow he held himself above all others, and was determined secretly to do his best by Lizzie’s girl. ‘You don’t want to leave, do you?’
‘It’s for the best, sir.’ Ruby didn’t like lying to this man, but she felt cornered. She had not forgotten Cicely’s warning: ‘If I hear you’ve spoken to my father about any of this, I will never forgive you.’ If she was to tell him the truth, then any faint chance of a reconciliation with Cicely would be gone forever. She daren’t risk that.
‘Why do you say it’s for the best?’ he wanted to know. ‘I don’t understand. You and Cicely have been so good for each other.’ He gazed at her for a considerable time during which Ruby felt decidedly uncomfortable. Presently he said, ‘Whatever it is that’s caused you and Cicely to fight, I’m sure it’s no more than a storm in a teacup.’
‘Cicely has dismissed me, sir, and I think it’s best if I go now.’
‘But I don’t want you to go.’ When Ruby looked at him with clear steadfast eyes, he folded his two hands behind his head, then raising his face to the ceiling, sighed. ‘Women!’ he muttered. ‘There’s no fathoming them.’ He sighed again, as though there was a great weight upon him. He felt trapped, and angry, and truly believed that here was his own daughter, yet he had no right to claim her as such. All the same, he found he couldn’t let her go so easily. ‘Ruby, I want to know what happened between you and Cicely.’ His voice was firm and he stared at her with serious eyes. ‘I have asked her and she won’t speak of it. So now I’m asking you.’
‘It’s best left alone, sir.’ She felt threatened. The more he probed, the more she felt the need to run. ‘If Cicely wanted you to know what we disagreed about, she would have told you.’
‘Ah! So you did disagree about something. I knew there was more to this than met the eye.’ Something occurred to him then, though for the life of him he couldn’t think why it should. ‘Was it because of my future son-in-law? Did you disagree about him?’ He was inwardly shocked that such a thing should come into his mind.
Ruby was also shocked – so much so that the truth slipped out. ‘I don’t like him, sir.’ The minute the words left her lips she cursed herself.
He answered in measured tones, ‘You don’t like him? Now why would you say a thing like that, child?’ He asked himself much the same question. Why would he think the two young women had fought because of Luke Arnold? He watched Ruby closely, and realised that she was already regretting her admission. He was afraid there might be a deeper motive for the fight between her and Cicely. ‘You love my daughter, don’t you?’
‘Very much, sir.’
‘Yet you say you don’t like her husband-to-be? I can see now that you were brave, or foolish, enough to tell this to my daughter. She was deeply offended, and that was why she dismissed you.’ He waited for Ruby to confirm this, but she remained silent. Her silence told him a great deal. He decided not to press her further. ‘Very well, Ruby. I won’t badger you,’ he promised. ‘Perhaps in time, you and Cicely will mend your differences?’
Her eyes shone then. ‘Oh, I do hope so, sir, I really do.’
For one dreadful moment there, she’d believed he would not let her go until she had confessed everything. She was tempted to. There would have been great satisfaction in telling him about the villainous Luke, how he meant to steal all of Cicely’s inheritance, and how he felt nothing for her but contempt. Ruby was fearful of what the master would say if he knew Luke had propositioned her. She so much wanted to spill it all out and wholly discredit him in this man’s eyes. Only the knowledge that Cicely would hate her forever made her hold back. Still and all, wherever she was, she would do her utmost to keep an eye out for Cicely’s well-being. If it ever became known to Ruby that Luke was ill-treating Cicely, she would move heaven and earth to punish him.
Without realising it, Ruby had stirred Jeffrey’s suspicions, but on seeing the set of her pretty mouth, and knowing how reluctant she had been to speak all along, he realised that Ruby had said as much as she was going to. He admired her loyalty to Cicely. ‘Yes. Perhaps the two of you will do better without interference from me,’ he agreed. ‘But what will you do now? Have you work that you can go to?’ He knew Lizzie’s family lived from day to day, and it worried him.
‘No, sir. I have no work. But I’ll find it soon enough.’
‘Where will you look? There isn’t much to be had.’ He felt responsible for her.
‘Don’t worry about me, sir. I have a good strong back, and I can turn my hand to anything.’
‘Hmmm.’ He was mentally weighing the situation. ‘Tell me something, Ruby?’
‘Yes, sir?’
‘What would you like to do?’ He added swiftly, ‘I believe you would prefer to stay here with my daughter, but other than that, what would you like to do?’
At first, she was surprised and puzzled by his question. ‘What? You mean, if I had a choice and I wasn’t poor?’
That hurt him. She shouldn’t be poor. Lizzie shouldn’t be poor either. ‘Yes, that’s what I mean,’ he confirmed.
Ruby didn’t have to think twice. ‘Why, I’d like to have my own milliner’s. Later, when I’ve saved enough, that’s what I mean to do. I’m good at making and mending hats, d’you see, sir.’ In fact, it had already crossed her mind to approach Cicely’s own milliner, to ask Widow Reece if she needed an assistant.
He smiled then. ‘Your own milliner’s, eh? I didn’t realise you were so ambitious.’
He had unwittingly stumbled on to Ruby’s dream, ‘Oh, yes, sir,’ she said, and her whole face was aglow. ‘One day I mean to get my mam and dad and the childer out of Fisher Street and into a nice place. A place where there ain’t no bugs to suck your blood when you’re asleep, where the rats don’t run about in the yard and the rain don’t stream down the bedroom walls.’
Realising she was getting carried away, she clamped her mouth shut and dropped her gaze to the carpet. By! If her mam was here, there would be hell to pay. Fancy opening her heart to the gentry like that! ‘I’d really like to leave now, sir.’
‘Of course.’ He strode to the door and watched her walk towards him. She moved gracefully and he was proud to think he had fathered her. When the two of them were facing each other, he kept the door closed, telling her, ‘I’ll try my best to make Cicely see reason. Meanwhile, I’ll arrange for your wages to be sent to you.’ He touched her arm and she stared at him in astonishment.
‘Thank you, sir.’ He drew away, and it was as though the incident had never happened. ‘But I’d be grateful if you didn’t upset Cicely on my account. It might make things worse between us,’ Ruby warned.
He nodded. ‘I understand.’ Opening the door, he allowed her through, quietly closing it behind her. Going to his desk, he sat heavily in the chair and leaned back, his forehead creased in thought as he mulled over what had transpired.
‘So perhaps Ruby has seen something in that young man that I’ve missed?’ he mused.
He was both intrigued and disturbed. Cicely was very precious to him, and he would hate to think he had misjudged the young man who had asked for her hand in marriage. Though he himself had seen Luke as a presentable and eligible fellow, hard-working and devoted to his father’s business, Ruby had other ideas. But then he reminded himself, ‘Isn’t it natural that she should feel perhaps a little jealous? After all, she and Cicely have been so close, and now Cicely is to be married.’
No! Whatever was he thinking of? It wasn’t Ruby’s nature to be jealous of Cicely’s happiness. Quite the contrary – she would be delighted if it was the right man. If it was the right man!
He couldn’t rest. In a moment he had crossed the room. Flinging the door open, he went out in a hurry, then up the stairs to Cicely’s room. He must satisfy himself that all was well, and that Ruby’s dislike of the young man was at worst passing female envy, and at best a simple misunderstanding.
Ten minutes later, he came down to the drawing-room. Cicely was with him and they were happy together. She had assured him that the disagreement between herself and Ruby was of a personal nature and had nothing whatsoever to do with Luke.
‘What could she know of him?’ she asked innocently, and Jeffrey was obliged to consider her point.
All the same, he had not altogether forgotten Ruby’s sincere confession: ‘I don’t like him, sir.’ In spite of everything, it preyed on his mind.
Ruby didn’t go straight home. If she arrived early there were bound to be questions and she wasn’t ready for them. Instead she went into Blackburn town where she wandered about, gazing in the shop windows and searching her troubled mind for the best way to explain what had happened. If only she could find work before she went home, the shock to her mam wouldn’t be so bad.
With this in mind, Ruby made her way to Widow Reece’s shop. It was a sizeable place, right at the top of King Street, straddling the corner and almost facing The Sun public house. This was a busy thoroughfare and Widow Reece did a thriving business here.
Pausing outside, Ruby looked in the window, admiring the splendid display. At the back, the larger wide-brimmed hats, boaters and boas made a colourful collage from one side to the other, while smaller hats took up the foreground. These were cleverly positioned on stands of varying heights, each hat carefully chosen so that one colour complemented another. There were hats that were fancy and extravagant, exquisitely bedecked with feathers and veils, then there were small round hats with a variety of chin-straps – some as fine as gossamer that might snap in a high wind, others as wide as a woman’s neck, and beautiful silk straps that came over the hat to culminate in a beautifully tied ribbon at the throat. The colours were breathtaking: blue like a summer sky, pink as heather, and white as the winter’s snow.
The shades and styles reflected Widow Reece’s many years of experience. She knew instinctively what kind of hat a woman would want to be seen in, and it was no wonder that her expertise was sought far and wide. It was even more astonishing that she did everything herself, with her own two hands, from design to creation. She chose the material, dyed it, cut and shaped it, moulded it into a hat, and finally dressed it with silk and feathers. According to the older inhabitants of Blackburn, Widow Reece had never been known to have an assistant.
‘What would I do with one?’ she had been heard to ask. ‘I’d only spend valuable time training her, and then likely as not, off she would go at the first sign of marriage and children.’
It was fourteen years since her own husband had gone from this life, and she had thrown herself into her work to forget the loneliness. Now, at sixty-two years of age and no longer handsome, she was a private woman, accustomed to living and working alone, and preferred it that way.
It was this thought that caused Ruby to hesitate. Somehow, she couldn’t really see Widow Reece changing her habits after all this time. Disillusioned, she toyed with the idea of not going into the shop at all. But then she reminded herself that there was only one other milliner’s in the whole of Blackburn. It was a miserable little place down Nab Lane, and the woman who owned it was even more miserable. No. Ruby told herself that if she really wanted to work in a milliner’s, she had to summon up courage and have a word with Widow Reece. After all, she could only say no. But Ruby hoped with all her heart that she would say yes.
Widow Reece stayed behind her counter, eyeing Ruby with curiosity, while Ruby did the same to her. The woman looked much older than when Ruby had last seen her, nine months ago when a selection of hats was brought to the House for Cicely to choose from. Widow Reece was now snow-white and her fine-featured face was creased with a multitude of deep meandering wrinkles. She seemed smaller too, and when she rounded the counter to examine Ruby more clearly, she walked with a slight limp. ‘I don’t know what makes you think I’m looking for an assistant,’ she remarked. ‘To tell you the truth, I’ve been considering selling up. Did someone send you here?’ She was not unfriendly.
‘No. I came of my own accord,’ Ruby answered. She thought that at one time Widow Reece must have been a real beauty. Her nose was straight and very slightly tipped at the end, and her pale eyes were round and smiling. There was an air of graciousness about her, although sadly overwhelmed by the onset of old age.
‘I’ve seen you before, I think.’ The woman peered through narrowed eyes at Ruby, at the lovely face and those rich blue eyes – dark striking eyes that a body would not easily forget. ‘You’re Cicely Banks’s lady’s maid. Am I right?’
‘In a way,’ Ruby affirmed. ‘I was her maid.’ It hurt her to say it in the past tense like that. ‘But now I’m looking for work in a milliner’s.’ Shame washed over her as she anticipated the next question. Ruby couldn’t bring herself to say she had just been dismissed, and so went on hurriedly, ‘I just wondered whether you might have need of an assistant? I’ve been told I have a natural talent for mending and making hats.’ She was so anxious not to be turned away that she hardly paused for breath. ‘I wouldn’t want a big wage, and I’ll stay as late as you like. I don’t mind how much sewing and mending I do, ’cause my fingers are used to it. Later, though, I would like to help make the hats. I don’t mind getting dye on my hands. In fact, I’ll do anything and everything with a good heart…’
‘Goodness me!’ Widow Reece put her hands to her face and rolled her eyes. ‘You’re making me breathless!’ she cried.
Ruby drew in a great gulp of air. ‘Sorry, ma’am,’ she replied. ‘It’s just that… well, I really do need work, and I have such an interest in the making of hats.’ She saw how the other woman’s face fell, and her heart fell with it. ‘You’re telling me you ain’t got no work then?’
There followed a long pause while Widow Reece looked Ruby up and down. Ruby stood stiffly to attention, her heart in her mouth and the faintest of hopes stirring inside her. She daren’t speak, was almost afraid to breathe. Presently she was told, ‘Come with me.’ As the other woman turned and made her way into the back room, Ruby followed.
‘Look around you,’ Widow Reece said, waving her slim gnarled hand in an extravagant gesture. ‘Tell me what you think.’ She went to the window, grabbing the curtains with both hands and thrusting them all the way back. The afternoon light flooded in, illuminating every corner of that little room.
Ruby was astounded. Her mouth opened and her eyes grew round like two ocean-blue pools. ‘It’s wonderful!’ she said in a hushed voice. ‘Why! I ain’t never seen the like.’ There were trestles and tables, shelves and cupboards, a set of drawers and an oak wardrobe with its doors open; every available space, every shelf, every surface, and even most of the floor, was piled high with hats in varying stages of development. The colours were blinding, every one imaginable, all shades of pink and blue, green and brown, yellow, red and orange.
Like a rainbow, Ruby thought. I’m standing in the middle of a rainbow! She was exhilarated.
Over by the window a long shelf stretched right across the wall, and here, displayed in all their glory, were the finished articles, resplendent in veils and feathers, extravagant neck-ties and silken roses. ‘Oh! They’re so beautiful!’ Rushing to the window, Ruby couldn’t resist reverently running her fingers over them. In all of her life, she would never forget this glorious experience.
When she turned, Widow Reece was smiling. ‘You’ll do,’ she murmured, nodding her head. ‘I wasn’t sure at first, but now I know.’
Ruby daren’t believe what her instincts were telling her. ‘Are you saying I can work with you?’ she asked in a trembling voice.
The other woman came to her then. Placing a gentle hand on Ruby’s shoulder, she said warmly, ‘To create a thing of beauty, you have to think with beauty. You need a certain love and reverence for the thing you are creating.’ She relaxed into the nearest chair and keeping her eyes on Ruby’s face, went on, ‘Any woman can appreciate a beautiful hat, but there are only a very few who can actually create it with their own hands. Though it isn’t the hands themselves that create it, because they are only the tools. It’s the heart that creates it, the heart that weaves the magic. You need to have a particular imagination, a certain passion for what you’re doing.’ She smiled wistfully. ‘Do you understand what I’m saying? You have to have the magic in your heart in the first place.’
‘I can see how that might be, ma’am,’ Ruby admitted. She understood everything that was being said, and she knew it was right.
‘Just now, when you came into my work-room, I watched you closely for a reason. Seeing you enthralled, seeing how your eyes lit up and the way in which you caressed the finished creations, I knew then… you have the magic in your heart. And, yes, I can find work here for you. If you still want it.’
Ruby could hardly believe her ears. ‘IF I STILL WANT IT?’ she cried. ‘Oh, you can’t know how much.’
‘Very well then. One month’s trial. You may begin on Monday morning. You’ll start at seven and finish at six for six days a week.’ She was delighted to see that Ruby didn’t flinch at the mention of these long hours which might have daunted a less enthusiastic person. ‘Your wages will reflect the fact that you’re on a trial period. To start with, I’ll pay you ten shillings a week. Is that satisfactory?’
The first thought that struck Ruby was that she would be earning less than before. Yet she set that disappointment against the fact that she would be doing what she had always wanted, and it would stand her in good stead for the future, ‘Very well, ma’am,’ she agreed. ‘And thank you.’
‘Don’t call me “ma’am”. There are no servants here. I am your employer and you my employee. You can address me as Mrs Reece. By the way, what’s your name, young lady?’
‘Ruby Miller.’
‘Miller, eh?’ That amused her. ‘Miller. Well, would you believe it! You’re already partway a milliner, aren’t you?’
‘I never thought of that.’ Somehow it pleased her. Perhaps the good Lord meant her to be a milliner after all.
‘And where do you live?’
‘Fisher Street.’
The smile momentarily fell from her face. ‘Oh?’ She saw the disappointment in Ruby’s dark eyes and was instantly ashamed that she should have shown her distaste for that particular area. ‘We all have to start somewhere, I suppose.’ Beaming from ear to ear, she saw Ruby to the door. ‘Of course, you’ll be required to wear one of my straw boaters to and from these premises. A form of advertising do you see?’
‘I would like that.’
Regarding Ruby with quizzical eyes, Widow Reece revealed, ‘It’s odd, you coming here today, because until this morning I had no intention of ever letting anyone else touch my precious hats. I suppose it’s been creeping up on me, but like the foolish old woman I am, I chose to ignore it. It’s my hands, do you see?’ She held out her gnarled fingers showing their bony crooked knuckles. ‘I’m losing my grip… and when a milliner begins to lose her grip, she begins to lose her livelihood.’
‘I’m sorry.’ Ruby thought it very sad.
‘Oh, you mustn’t be sorry. Especially when it’s got you into my work-room.’ She laughed out loud and startled Ruby by actually shaking hands with her. ‘I’m counting on you to be my fingers,’ she murmured softly. In a brighter, stronger voice she added, ‘Well, good day then, Miss Ruby Miller. I shall expect to see you at seven on Monday morning.’
‘And I’ll be here, Mrs Reece, ready and willing to get to work,’ she promised.
‘Hmmm.’ She looked Ruby up and down and was pleased with what she saw. This young woman was unusually lovely, trim and smart with a certain flair that would attract the customers. Oh, yes, she was good material, and eager to be trained. More than that, the young lady had a decidedly pleasant and engaging nature. Lately, Widow Reece had been afraid that she would be forced to close her shop. That would have broken her heart. Now, though, she saw a new lease of life for herself, through engaging Ruby, and it occurred to her that it must have been the hand of Fate that had guided the girl here today. Her gratitude shone through as she spoke. ‘I’m glad you came, and hope this is the beginning of a very fruitful association.’
‘So do I,’ Ruby answered. ‘Oh, so do I.’ And she could think of nothing else as she made her way back to Fisher Street. At least she could tell her mam she had secured other work. What was more, it was work she had always longed to do.
All the same, as she pushed open her front door, Ruby was already missing Cicely. Even the thought of working in Widow Reece’s shop couldn’t take the heartache away altogether.
Lizzie threw up her hands and wiped them down her face, peeping at Ruby over her fingers. ‘God bless and love us, gal!’ she cried anxiously. ‘I knew there were summat yer wanted to tell me. All night long you’ve been fidgeting and fussing… hardly touched yer tea… and now, when yer dad’s out and the childer abed, yer after giving me a heart attack!’
She had come into the parlour from putting Lottie upstairs and was seated in the horse-hair chair by the fireside when Ruby told her that she wouldn’t be going back to her place with Cicely. In an instant her mam was on her feet and pacing up and down. ‘What in God’s name have yer done, eh?’ she demanded. ‘I warned yer not to get too friendly with the gentry. And now it’s cost you yer job.’ She slewed round to see Ruby’s sad eyes staring up at her, and was filled with remorse. ‘Oh, sweetheart, I don’t mean to go on,’ she apologised. ‘I expect yer feeling bad enough, without me nagging at yer, and I know yer were that fond o’ Cicely.’ She sighed long and deep. ‘But we’ll all be worse off without that second wage coming in.’
Ruby held out her hand. ‘Mam, come and sit down. It’s not as bad as it seems because I’ve got something else to tell you.’
Perching herself on the edge of the chair opposite, Lizzie waited, her pretty brown eyes focused on Ruby’s face and her hands nervously folded on her lap. ‘Summat else?’ she asked. ‘Well, go on then, lass. What else?’
‘I’ll still have a wage coming in,’ she said proudly. ‘Widow Reece has set me on at her shop, and I’m to start on Monday.’
Lizzie was agape. ‘Widder Reece? What… the milliner’s at the top o’ King Street?’
‘That’s right, Mam,’ she said proudly.
‘Well, I never!’ A reluctant little smile turned up the corners of Lizzie’s mouth. ‘Is that right, lass? Widder Reece has taken you on, when she allus swore she’d never let anybody within a mile of her workshop?’ This was a real turn up. But then, Ruby was allus interested in that kind of work, and no doubt the widder saw what a fine helper she’d be getting in Ruby.
‘There’s only one drawback, Mam,’ she admitted. ‘I won’t be getting the same wages as I was with Cicely. I’m to be given a month’s trial, and started at ten shilling a week.’
‘Ten shilling!’ Lizzie shouted. ‘I’m buggered if she ain’t taking advantage. Yer not accepting that, are yer?’
‘I’ve already given my word. And, to be honest, Mam, I’m really looking forward to it. You know I’ve always wanted to do that kind of work. Even though I think the world of Cicely, I knew there would come a time when I’d want to move.’
She could hardly contain her excitement. ‘Widow Reece has given me the opportunity I need. I’ll work hard for her, and I’ll learn all there is to learn. I’ll save and save until I can start a shop of my own.’
Lizzie was angry. ‘There yer go again!’ she snapped, ‘Dreams. Big impossible dreams. It ain’t right that a lass of your sort should be entertaining such grand ideas.’
‘They’re not impossible dreams,’ Ruby protested. ‘I can make them come true. It will take a long time, but I know I can make them come true.’
To her mind, what she planned had never been a dream. All her life she had wanted something of her own, something that would bring her the kind of independence and respect that Widow Reece had enjoyed. Something that would raise them all out of this place. It hurt her when her mam spoke like this, dismissing her ambitions as though they were a sin. ‘Oh, Mam, don’t you believe in me at all?’
Lizzie stiffened. ‘Well, o’ course I do,’ she declared. Though she would never admit it out loud, Ruby was her darling and her favourite. She was her first-born and, more than that, Ruby was herself when she was young. But the other side of her character belonged to her father, a man educated in the skills of business, a man with a razor-sharp mind and fine intellect. Lizzie was convinced that Jeffrey’s blood in Ruby’s veins caused the driving ambition that wouldn’t let her rest.
There had been a time when Lizzie herself had entertained ideas above her station, when she too wondered what it would be like to be a lady of consequence, to be someone other folks would look up to. To her never-ending shame she had been drawn to Jeffrey Banks, a rich and powerful man above her station, a man whose attentions had set her foolish young heart racing. But for all that, he was a good man, and to this day Lizzie had no doubt that he had loved her. Yet she could never forgive herself for what took place on that night. To her dying day she would see it as a terrible sin and a shocking weakness in her past. Ruby was a constant reminder of that awful, wonderful episode. Now, in her, Lizzie saw a dangerous need that could only end in heartache. ‘I’ve told you afore, I don’t want you talking about not being content with what the good Lord gave yer!’
Lizzie truly believed she had to reprimand Ruby for her own good. It never occurred to her that she might be punishing Ruby for the sin she herself had committed. All she could see was the wrong of it all. Mixing with the gentry was wrong, wanting was wrong, looking beyond the street in which you lived was wrong. Deliberately drawing the conversation away from Ruby’s new work, she asked suspiciously, ‘What happened at the big house, our Ruby?’ Up to now, all Ruby had told her was that she and Cicely had parted.
Believing it was best to tell the truth, Ruby answered, ‘I was dismissed.’ And, before her mam could explode, she went on in a sad voice, ‘I didn’t want that, Mam. I thought if Cicely moved house, I would be going with her.’ Her eyes were bright with tears as she looked at Lizzie. ‘I’ll miss her, Mam. And I’m so afraid for her.’
‘What d’ yer mean, afraid? And whyever did yer get dismissed? Was it the mistress or the master who put yer out?’ At the back of her mind, she had the numbing notion that Jeffrey Banks might somehow have discovered that Ruby was his own daughter, and that was why he had shown her the door. ‘Oh, Ruby lass, whatever did yer do to get dismissed?’
Her answer satisfied both questions. ‘It was Cicely who dismissed me. She was angry because I tried to warn her against Luke Arnold.’ She went on to explain how she didn’t trust him, and believed that he would make Cicely’s life a misery. Yet she dared not say how she knew these things because then she would have to confess about that deceitful little charade at the party, and would also have to describe how Luke had pushed her into that dark alley, wanting his way with her. If Lizzie knew all of that, there would be no holding her. And so, in order to justify her suspicions of Luke, Ruby told her mam, ‘It’s well known that he wants to wed Cicely only so he can get his hands on the foundry, and Mr Banks’s money. What’s more, I’ve heard it said that he’s a womaniser into the bargain. If Cicely takes him for a husband, she’ll rue the day, I just know it. Oh, Mam, he’ll make her so unhappy.’
Lizzie was furious. ‘Yer mean to tell me that you’ve said all these things to Cicely Banks? Well! No wonder she threw yer out. She’s a grown woman, and who she chooses to take for her husband ain’t none of yer business, my girl. How many times have I told yer it’s dangerous to listen to hearsay and gossip? Come ter think of it, I ain’t heard no such talk about that young man. And haven’t I warned yer to keep yer tongue between yer teeth, else you’ll dig yer own grave with it?’ She tutted and shook her head. ‘By! Why must yer allus want to speak yer mind, when it’s often best to keep certain things to yerself?’
‘Because Cicely’s my friend.’
Lizzie sprang from the chair, her eyes bright with anger. ‘CICELY BANKS IS GENTRY!’ For some inexplicable reason, she was suddenly fearful. Yet she was instantly sorry for having yelled at Ruby like that. ‘Oh, look, lass, I don’t mean to be hard on yer.’
She came to stand behind this daughter whom she loved with a ferocity that frightened her. Placing her hands on Ruby’s shoulders, she went on in a softer voice, ‘You can’t know anything of Luke Arnold. Most of the time there ain’t no truth in gossip, and yer should never have told it to yer mistress. I know yer think the world of her, and I know yer hackles would be up if yer thought she were letting herself in for a lot of sorrow.’ She patted her hand agitatedly on Ruby’s shoulder. ‘But it ain’t your place to interfere.’
She returned to her chair and for a while there was a tense atmosphere between them. But then Lizzie asked something of Ruby that created a greater conflict. ‘I want yer to promise me summat, lass?’
‘If I can.’
‘I want yer to say that even if Cicely Banks seeks yer out and asks yer to come back you’ll say no. I have a feeling that when she calms down and has time to think on it, that young woman might regret having dismissed yer. Oh, don’t think I don’t know the affection you two have for each other, I’m not such a fool as to believe it was only one way. After all, it were her that got yer brought up from the kitchen to be her personal maid. And, God forbid, yer told me yerself that she treated yer almost like a sister.’
It was that more than anything that had frightened Lizzie, because it was too near the truth. ‘Will yer promise me, lass? Will yer refuse if she comes after yer? I don’t ever want yer working in that house again. In fact, when I come to think of it, I reckon it might be a real godsend that you’ve found a place with Widder Reece. At least she ain’t gentry as such.’
She regarded Ruby for a moment, thinking how quiet she had grown and realising that all of this must have been very hard on her.
‘I ain’t asking much, lass,’ Lizzie persisted. ‘Yer mam don’t ever ask much of yer, but now I need yer answer. Promise you’ll not go back even if she asks yer?’ She waited anxiously for she knew it was indeed a lot to ask.
Ruby had to think deeply on what her mam had put forward. If the truth were told, she had not even anticipated that Cicely would come after her, therefore had had no cause to contemplate what she might do if that happened. If Ruby knew anything at all, she knew that Cicely’s love for Luke Arnold had blinded her to everything else. It was highly unlikely that Ruby would ever be asked to set foot in that house again. Even the master had been unable to persuade Cicely to a change of heart.
‘All right, Mam,’ she conceded. ‘You have my word.’ To Ruby’s mind it was a promise that she would never be tested on. ‘I won’t let Cicely persuade me to go back.’
Lizzie was delighted. ‘Well, that’s a relief,’ she said. ‘I’m glad you’ve got work with Widow Reece, and I dare say if we all pull us belts in, we’ll manage well enough with a smaller wage.’ She settled back in the chair and glanced at the clock. ‘I hope yer father’s staying clear of them troublemakers from Arnold’s foundry. There’s summat brewing there, I reckon, and I don’t want Ted mixed up in it.’
Ruby got out of her chair and, kissing her mam on the forehead, told her, ‘We can talk later if you like. I want to see Maureen before she’s settled for the night.’
She needed to tell her friend all the news. Besides, Maureen was the only one who knew the whole truth: about Luke Arnold, the party, and everything. It was good to have someone she could confide in. The only thing Maureen disapproved of was Ruby’s reticence with Johnny, why was it that while one opened his heart, the other closed hers?
Ruby was disappointed to find that Johnny was out but Maureen greeted her with a big hug and a warm smile. Within minutes Ruby was pouring out her heart: about Cicely and Luke, about Widow Reece and her new post, and how she meant to listen and watch until there was nothing she needed to know about the business of making and selling hats.
Maureen listened eagerly. She adored Ruby, and knew there would come a day when her name would be known far and wide. As always, Ruby’s enthusiasm excited and thrilled her. Yet at the same time she was sad because she suspected that the price Ruby must pay was her love for Johnny. To Maureen’s mind, Ruby would be losing something very precious. Far more precious than all the money and influence in the world. But nothing would ever be allowed to diminish Ruby’s dream. It had grown with her until now it was as dear to her as her own life.
Now, while she listened as Ruby outlined her future at the milliner’s, Maureen was afraid. She knew without a doubt how determined and ambitious her friend was, but what concerned her most was where this new step into unknown territory would lead.
As Ruby so rightly pointed out, Widow Reece had given her a wonderful opportunity. Put that together with Ruby’s natural talents and consuming ambition, and it made a heady brew.