Constance waited up, but there was no sign of Jill that evening. She wondered if she’d changed her mind, assumed that Denis had persuaded her to stay. Maybe he’d promised to change, but Jill had once told her he’d given that assurance before.
Though Constance knew it was wrong, and she should be pleased that their marriage might be saved, she couldn’t help feeling disappointed. It would have been lovely to have Jill helping her to run the refuge.
‘Constance, my brother has just turned up,’ Penny said as she walked into the drawing room. ‘I’m going to make us mugs of hot chocolate. Do you want one?’
‘Yes, please, I’ll come down. I’ve got something to tell you, though I’m not sure it’ll happen now.’
‘That sounds intriguing,’ Penny said as Constance followed her down to the basement.
‘Hello,’ Melvin said to her, smiling warmly. ‘I’ve been reading up on gardening, but there’s not much that needs doing at this time of year.’
‘No, I suppose not. The garden will look lovely in the spring. It’s been planted with all sorts of bulbs, but don’t ask me to name them.’
‘It’ll be nice seeing what comes up then,’ he said. Soon afterwards Penny put mugs of drinking chocolate on the table.
Constance sat opposite them and said, ‘It’s not definite, Penny, but a possibility, that Jill Black will be moving in with us.’
Melvin’s brow rose. ‘Jill Black, Denis’s wife?’
‘Yes, that’s right.’
‘But why would she do that?’ Penny asked.
‘I’m not at liberty to say – that would have to come from Jill – but suffice to say she has good reason to leave him.’
‘I bet he’s knocking her about,’ Penny said knowingly.
‘In that case, he deserves it if she leaves him,’ Melvin said. ‘I’ve no time for men who lay into women. My mum can be a nightmare, but my dad has never laid a finger on her.’
‘He’d find himself flat on his back if he did. Mum wouldn’t put up with it and she’s good at wielding a frying pan.’
‘You’re right there,’ Melvin said, grinning. ‘I wouldn’t want to cross her.’
‘I did cross her over my baby, and look what happened. She wouldn’t let me go home with Kimberly.’
‘My niece is gorgeous so it’s Mum’s loss.’
‘But Kimberley is missing out on having a family,’ Penny said sadly.
‘She’s got you and me, and between us she’ll get lots of love,’ Melvin said reassuringly.
Constance was touched as she listened to Melvin. He really was a lovely young man, so kind and thoughtful, and her feelings towards him were warming more and more. If she ever married again, she hoped it would be to someone like Melvin. However, she was still married to Albie, and after what she’d been through, even when free, she wasn’t yet ready for another relationship.
There was no sign of Jill the next morning, and Constance had a bad feeling. Jill had been so sure that she was going to leave Denis, but what if instead of persuasion, he had beaten her into submission? Constance worried that Jill could be injured, unable to leave, and so she left William with Penny while she travelled to Battersea.
It was a cold, windy day, but thankfully she was soon able to hail a taxi. Alighting outside Jill’s house on Kibble Street, she saw curtains twitching, but was too concerned about Jill to care as she knocked on her front door. There was no reply, so she crouched down to look through the letterbox and saw Andrew’s pushchair in the hall. It meant that Jill was probably in, so she knocked again.
‘Jill, Jill,’ she shouted through the letterbox.
‘I heard a right racket last evening,’ Jill’s elderly neighbour said, clutching a cardigan around her as she came to stand by her side. ‘It was earlier than usual.’
‘What sort of racket?’
‘Denis shouting and the kid bawling.’
‘Have you heard anything this morning?’
‘Denis went to work as usual and other than the kid crying for a while, it’s been quiet.’
‘I’m worried about Jill. I need to get in,’ Constance said, then bent down to shout through the letterbox again.
‘What’s going on?’ Ivy Nelson asked, joining them.
‘She’s worried about Jill and wants to get in.’
‘Why? Do you think she’s ill?’ Ivy asked.
‘Something like that,’ Constance told her.
‘You could try the back door.’
‘Yes, I’ll do that,’ Constance said, turning to the neighbour. ‘Can I go through your house to the alley at the back? It’ll save me having to go to the top of the street and round to it that way.’
‘Yeah, all right.’
‘I’ll come with you,’ Ivy said.
‘There’s no need.’
‘Yes, there is. If Jill’s in a bad way you might need help.’
They all heard it then, the sound of Jill’s son wailing loudly in obvious distress, and, too concerned to argue, Constance ran through the next-door house with Ivy on her heels.
In Jill’s back yard they found the half opaque glass door was locked. Still hearing Andrew’s wails, Constance looked around frantically. ‘We need to get in.’
‘Hold on,’ Ivy said, bending down to pick up a large stone. ‘Stand back, I’m going to chuck it at the glass.’
It was thrown with force and the glass shattered. Ivy reached carefully inside to open the door. ‘Come on,’ she urged.
They found Andrew in his playpen, red-faced and crying frantically. Ivy picked him up to soothe him, saying, ‘I’ll see to the boy. You see to her.’
Constance was sickened by what she saw. Jill was sprawled on the sofa, her face bloody, her lip split, and there was more blood in her hair. ‘Jill … Jill, it’s me, Constance,’ she said, kneeling down in front of her. ‘Jill, can you hear me?’
‘Maybe we should call an ambulance.’
‘No … no …’ Jill gasped, ‘don’t do that. Andrew! Is Andrew all right?’
‘He’s just a bit upset, that’s all,’ Ivy assured. ‘Connie, get her cleaned up and then we can better see the damage.’
Constance ran to the kitchen and found what she needed, returning with a bowl of water and a sponge to gently wipe Jill’s face. It didn’t look so bad once the blood had been sponged off, but it was severely swollen.
‘I … I told Denis I was leaving him, Constance, and I really wanted to move in with you last night, but he went potty.’
Constance threw a look at Ivy, but she was busily comforting Andrew. ‘Do you still want to leave him?’ she asked softly.
‘Yes, but he kicked me with his boots on and I think I’ve got a cracked rib. I managed to feed Andrew this morning, but then I had to put him in the playpen. I felt so bad and I think I may have passed out again.’
‘Do you think you can walk?’
‘I’ll have to try. I’m scared, Constance, I need to get out of here before he comes home again.’
With no other choice, Constance turned to Ivy. ‘Would you mind taking care of Andrew for a bit longer, just while I pack a few things for Jill and then find a taxi?’
‘Yeah, go on. Do what you have to do.’
Constance thanked her, while worried about what Ivy had heard. She hadn’t asked where she was taking Jill, which meant she had probably overheard what had been said. If it got back to Albie it was sure to arouse suspicion. Would all her plans come to nothing? God, she hoped not.
When Dora arrived home from work, she had barely greeted Albie before Ivy came in through the back door.
She looked excited about something and without preamble said, ‘I’ve got something to tell you.’
‘I’ll go and get ready for work,’ Albie said, obviously in no mood to listen to any gossip.
‘Don’t go, Albie. This concerns you.’
He lifted his brow quizzically and Ivy said, ‘You look like Roger Moore when you do that. I love him as Simon Templar, the Saint.’
‘What are you talking about, Ivy?’ asked Dora.
‘It’s a programme on television.’
‘They do your eyes in.’
‘Yeah, you’ve said that before, but mine are fine. Anyway, enough about that,’ Ivy said as she sat down. ‘I’ve got something important to tell you. It’s about Connie and Jill Black.’
‘What about them?’
‘Jill’s hubby has been knocking her about, so she’s gone to live with Connie.’
‘No, that can’t be right,’ Albie said. ‘There’s no way Connie’s father would take her in.’
‘I know what I heard. Perhaps Connie isn’t living with her father. Perhaps she’s got her own place.’
‘No, she’d have said, and anyway she hasn’t got any money of her own to pay for a flat.’
‘Her father could be paying the rent.’
‘I doubt that. He’s too tight.’
‘I’m just telling you what I heard,’ Ivy said huffily.
‘Where did you hear it?’ Dora asked.
Ivy sat forward in her chair and started at the beginning, both Albie and Dora looking puzzled by the time she’d come to the end of her story.
‘So Connie was here, in Kibble Street, this morning?’ Dora asked.
‘Yes, I’ve just told you that.’
‘She came to see Jill?’
‘Yeah, but she didn’t have William with her. I expect her dad was looking after him.’
‘You must be joking,’ Albie said. ‘There’s no way Burton Blake would look after a kid.’
‘You once mentioned his staff, a cook and cleaner. Maybe one of them was looking after William.’
‘Yeah, Mum, that could be it, but I still can’t see the man letting another woman with a kid move in. There’s something funny about all this. I don’t know what Connie is up to, but I intend to find out.’
‘Thanks for telling us, Ivy, but I’d best get our dinner on now.’
‘Yeah, me too. My old man’s due home any minute now and he’ll be expecting his grub on the table,’ Ivy said, bustling out again.
While his mother was busy in the kitchen, Albie remained sitting in his chair by the fire, deep in thought as he continued to turn over what Ivy had told them. Something didn’t add up and his suspicions grew. When Connie had brought the baby here on Sunday, he’d been to the house in Clapham to talk to her father. There’d been nobody in, no staff, nor her father. Connie had said he’d been at his club, but she’d seemed evasive and failed to meet his eyes.
Thinking back on it now, Albie realised that Connie had been lying, and if he was right with what he suspected, he’d make the bitch pay. And pay dearly for trying to make a mug out of him.