Dolly Morris took it upon herself to approach the Thornburys regarding Mary’s situation, although she knew that her proud sister would have raised objections had she known. But Dolly believed that if you knew someone who might be able to make a difference, then it didn’t do any harm to ask; after all, they could only refuse, and on the other hand they might not.
Nora listened quietly to what Mrs Morris had to say and promised that she’d bring the matter up at her next women’s meeting. She often felt contrite about her behaviour towards Mary when they’d first met, and now realized that the reason behind her false superior manner was the fear of her own inadequacies coming to light. Now that she knew that William had known the truth about her all along and that it hadn’t made any difference to him, she felt that she could hold her head high, that there was no further need to pretend; she was as good as anyone. Or almost anyone. There were some women in her group who were decidedly superior and one of these was Mrs Warrington, mother of Henry and Elizabeth.
She had discussed Mary’s situation with William and told him that she wanted to ask for opinions from the women’s group. If there was no encouragement from that quarter, perhaps he might have some ideas of what could be done.
‘Mary won’t want any handouts from us, and of course she doesn’t know about her sister’s intervention, but isn’t it wonderful how they help each other? It’s such a close-knit family.’
He agreed that it was. ‘People without much do tend to help those with even less. Ask the ladies by all means. There already are charitable organizations helping out the poor, but there are some people, like Mary, who wouldn’t dream of asking for help even though they need it.’
She was very nervous of standing up and speaking to the assembled women. Her previous fear had been that she’d be considered unqualified to have a worthwhile opinion, but that was the old Nora; now she could speak out with knowledge and experience of what life could really be like.
When Mrs Warrington, the chairwoman and natural leader of the group, asked if there were any issues to be discussed, Nora stood up. She was trembling, but soon got into her stride as she told of a family who had been brought to her attention, who because of lack of work for the husband and unsuitable housing were finding it very difficult to manage. ‘With one child and expecting another, there is not enough money for both rent and food.’
Before she could go on to ask for suggestions or opinions, Mrs Warrington interrupted. ‘There are adequate soup kitchens in the town, and facilities are available when a child is sick. I don’t think we can do anything further about an individual family. We are living in the twentieth century now, and there has been much improvement in all our lives. The Junction Street scheme to form a square for her majesty’s statue has been started, and there are new reading rooms and lecture rooms which are open to women as well as men.’ She took a breath and Nora interrupted her, as she had been interrupted.
‘I wasn’t speaking of facilities,’ she said plainly. ‘I know of those. I was speaking on the subject of poor housing and lack of work for some in our affluent society. It is strange, is it not, that the two subjects often go together?’ She looked round the group of women, some of whom shuffled in embarrassment or found something interesting to look at in their laps; it was rare for anyone to disagree with Mrs Warrington, who had returned to her seat as if the subject were closed.
‘And so, ladies, to conclude,’ Nora continued: ‘in order that we do not waste the committee’s precious time, if any of you would care to approach me during our tea break with suggestions or recommendations on this contentious issue of the have-nots, I would be very pleased to discuss them.’
She was fuming, and felt that steam was coming out of her ears as she sat down. Mrs Warrington stood up again with a face like thunder.
‘Mrs Thornbury,’ she said icily, ‘you are perhaps unaware or have forgotten that all suggestions and recommendations must come through the committee, who will then make a decision.’ She glanced round the room and challenged any opposition. ‘Any more business? No? Then I suggest we break for tea.’
So that’s that, Nora thought as she sipped her tea. Her first impulse was to take her leave immediately, but then she considered that if she did that she wouldn’t ever feel like returning, and on the whole she enjoyed the company of most of these dozen or so women. She was pleased, therefore, when a young woman sidled up to her and said she would like to speak to her outside when the meeting was over; and then another, older woman, Mrs Walker, also came to talk to her, discussing generalities until Mrs Warrington called the meeting to order. Before returning to her seat, Mrs Walker murmured, ‘If I might have a word later, I have a suggestion about the family of whom you were speaking.’
Nora heaved a breath. She felt that she had won a battle, but kept her face straight so as not to show how delighted she was.
When Mrs Warrington finally declared the meeting closed, the young woman who was new to the group told Nora her name was Georgina Kemp and said hastily, ‘Sorry to rush off, but I have young children at home. I just wanted to say that my husband works for the railway and he’s told me that they’re about to have an employment drive; seemingly they are short of suitable porters. If the man of whom you told us applies now, he may get to the front of the queue, so to speak, before a queue actually starts.’
She dashed off, waving away Nora’s thanks, leaving her to speak to Mrs Walker. ‘May we talk on our way out, Mrs Walker?’
Mrs Walker nodded and they left together, walking away from the building towards Albion Street.
‘That woman considers herself so superior,’ Mrs Walker said without preamble. ‘She was a nurse, and is now a doctor’s wife, so she must feel that she has gone up in the world. Not that there is anything wrong with being a nurse,’ she added, ‘not at all. An excellent band of women.’
‘You mean Mrs Warrington?’ Nora asked, hedging. ‘I don’t know her very well, but I must say I was rather surprised at her response. I thought that helping families in distress was the main purpose of the group.’
‘And so it was to begin with,’ Mrs Walker sighed. ‘But now that Mrs Warrington has reorganized the committee the direction appears to have changed. However,’ she went on briskly. ‘This family of whom you spoke. My husband is on the housing committee and interviews those who are in need of more appropriate accommodation. Ask the woman in question to go along and ask for an appointment with Mr Walker; tell her to take her child with her and say that her husband is out looking for work and can’t come himself. My husband will be sympathetic, especially if I discuss the situation with him first, which I will do this evening. What is the name of the family?’
‘Harrigan,’ Nora said. ‘I can’t thank you enough.’
‘Not at all,’ Mrs Walker said. ‘We must do what we can; and but for the grace of God, it could be us! We mustn’t forget that.’
‘Indeed we mustn’t,’ Nora fervently agreed. ‘How fortunate we are.’
She hurried home and asked Oswald and Lucy if they’d like to take a walk to High Street to see Mary. Oswald said he was too busy catching up with work he had to take back to school the following week but Lucy eagerly said she would and ran upstairs to change her shoes and get a coat.
‘We’ll see a change in Sally,’ Nora told her as they set off, ‘and Mary’s expecting another baby this year. Imagine that. A new baby in a new century.’
‘Are you going to have another baby, Aunt Nora?’ Lucy asked.
‘Erm, I hadn’t planned to.’ Nora smiled. The child was so direct; there was a time when it had irritated her, but now she found it refreshing and honest. ‘But sometimes they come along unexpectedly.’
Lucy sighed and frowned. ‘I can’t work out how it happens.’
‘There’s no need to try,’ Nora answered. ‘It will all be revealed in due course. Not for a few years, but eventually.’
‘Does Oswald know?’
Nora hesitated. Who would explain the intricacies to Oswald when the time was right? She hoped that William would. ‘No, I don’t think he does, but it’s not a subject that girls should discuss with boys, ever.’
‘Because it’s got nothing to do with them?’ Lucy asked, and Nora quickly took her hand to cross the road and avoid answering.
Mary was home and Sally, who was walking but not yet talking much, hid behind her mother’s skirts until Lucy enticed her out by playing peek-a-boo.
‘Joe’s working today, I think, as he’s not come back home,’ Mary told Nora when she explained why she’d come. ‘He goes to ’docks early every morning to try and get tekken on; but I’ll tell him to go straight to ’station yard tomorrow morning.’ She clasped her hands together. ‘I can’t thank you enough, Mrs Thornbury.’
When Nora then told her of the link with the housing committee Mary was ecstatic and started to weep. ‘This room was supposed to be a bright start to our married life, but it’s awful. I’m constantly worried about Sally: she’s always got a cough and I’m sure it’s because it’s so damp; we’ve no inside tap and we share a privy. It’s no way to bring up children; it’s not what I’m used to. My family were allus poor, but it was never like this, never!’
‘I’m so sorry, Mary. You might think that when I say I understand I really don’t, but although I—’ Nora hesitated. ‘Well, when I was alone with Oswald, before I met Mr Thornbury, I often went without food in order to feed him. The little I earned just didn’t go far enough, so I genuinely do understand.’
Mary wiped her eyes and gazed at her in astonishment. ‘Really? How – how did you manage to work when you had a child?’
‘I left Oswald with a child minder; she was thirteen, one of a family of six. It was a risk and I wasn’t happy about it, but I had no other option.’ Nora couldn’t believe that she was confiding in such a manner, but she was dismayed that so little had altered in almost ten years. ‘It isn’t right,’ she said. ‘It’s time for change.’
‘Mary!’ Lucy was screwing up her nose. ‘Sally has made a big smell.’
A week later Ada opened the door to Mary. ‘Can I have a quick word with Mrs Thornbury?’ the older woman asked. ‘You can tell her I won’t keep her long.’
Ada raised her eyebrows and, grinning, she dipped her knee. ‘Come in, ma’am,’ she said, and Mary gave her a nudge and then waited in the hall.
‘Hello, Mary.’ Nora came down the stairs. ‘Has something happened?’
Mary gave a huge smile. ‘Yes,’ she said. ‘My Joe has been offered a job as a railway porter! Regular hours and a uniform provided. He starts tomorrow – and …’ She took a deep breath. ‘I’ve been told that I can have a look at a place off Mason Street. Man I saw said that it’s on ’list to be pulled down eventually but it’s in better condition than ’one we’re in now; it’s on ’ground floor with an inside tap and our own privy and a cooking range, and if we tek it we’ll be next in line for a new house when they’re available.’
‘Mason Street? That’s not far from here, is it?’
‘That’s right, ma’am.’ Mary beamed. ‘Keep going up Albion Street and it’s right at ’top, near to ’fire station. It’s where our Dolly’s moved to and hers is very cosy, though she’s due to be rehoused as well.’
‘So you’ll take it?’
‘I will,’ she said. ‘It’ll be so nice to be near Dolly and not far from Charles Street where my sister Susan’s husband has opened another shop.’ She sighed, and then smiled. ‘It’ll be so nice to be close to everybody again.’