Chapter Forty-Six

The next day, Helen had decided to give her father and Gloria their Christmas present early. It was something she knew all the women would want to be a part of and help celebrate, which was why she had organised a little party and had let her staff leave early.

Rosie, Dorothy and Angie were the first to arrive.

‘Do you want us to do anything?’ Rosie asked, looking around the office.

‘I just thought we could move these tables together,’ Helen said, walking over to the main sorting desk.

Polly came banging through the main door, carrying a wooden box. Seeing them manoeuvring the table, she laughed.

‘Oh, I’ve just had a feeling of déjà vu!’ she said.

They all looked up and knew she was talking about the day they had moved this very table in order for her to give birth to Artie, who had decided to come early.

‘Ugh,’ said Angie, looking down at the wooden top. ‘And we’re gonna eat off this?’

‘Who says there’s going to be food?’ Martha said, coming in behind Polly and carrying another box.

‘Yer can’t have a party without some nosh,’ said Angie.

‘And Angie would be right,’ Helen said, walking into her office and coming back out with a tray of sandwiches and sausage rolls.

Polly put the box down and started to take out bottles of lemonade and dandelion and burdock, which she had got from the Admiral. Martha followed and unpacked her box, which contained bottles of beer, as well as a bottle of port and a half-bottle of whisky.

‘Blimey, there’s only gonna be …’ Angie did the addition in her head ‘… eleven of us.’

‘Any leftovers can be divided up and taken home,’ Helen said, walking over to Marie-Anne’s desk, where she had left a tray of clean and polished glasses.

‘The lovebirds have arrived!’ Dorothy shouted out on seeing Hannah and Olly walk through the door.

Hannah blushed as Olly took her hand and they sat down at the table.

‘Where’s Gloria?’

‘She’s gone to wait for Jack at the main gates,’ Martha informed them. They all knew that Jack was coming straight to the yard from Crown’s.

Polly had just started to pour the drinks when Bobby walked in, stopping to hold the door open. A second later, Georgina appeared, her handbag and her little boxed-up Brownie slung over her shoulder as she had just come from a rather boring cheque presentation.

‘Georgina!’ Helen exclaimed. She had been unsure if she would turn up. ‘So glad you could make it.’

Bobby followed her in.

The door was just closing when it was once again pulled open.

‘Yeah!’ Dorothy called out. ‘Last but not least!’

Gloria and Jack walked into the open-plan office, both with big smiles on their faces.

They all knew that Gloria was particularly happy today as she had got a Christmas card from Gordon. Bobby had reassured her that Opportune’s role in the war was now mainly escorting convoys and minelaying, but it still didn’t stop her worrying. She’d told them it was the best Christmas present she could ever have received, and they knew she meant every word.

‘This looks like a proper party,’ Gloria said, looking at Helen. ‘I thought yer said it was just a little get-together?’

Jack chuckled as he looked around at the office, which had been decorated a week ago for the run-up to Christmas. Every day, another paper chain had been added, or a string of tinsel. Christmas cards were also dotted around the room.

‘Ah,’ Helen explained, ‘Marie-Anne and her cohorts asked me if they could go to town on the decorations this year.’

‘No guessing what your answer was,’ Jack laughed. He caught Bobby taking a seat next to Dorothy and nodded over at him. ‘All right, Bobby?’

‘Couldn’t be better,’ came the reply. Jack knew this to be true. He had never seen Gloria’s son so happy.

As everyone settled at the table, Polly continued to pour the drinks and Martha handed out plates. Helen told everyone to tuck in. Looking across at Georgina, she thought she looked a little nervous, or was there something worrying her?

‘Is your father all right?’ she asked.

Georgina nodded. ‘Yes, he’s fine.’

‘And work’s going well?’ This question was from Gloria, who had also noticed that Georgina looked a little pale. Anxious, even.

‘Oh, yes, yes,’ she tapped the top of her camera. ‘All well there.’

‘And the Echo’s still up for you doing the photos on Christmas Day?’ Dorothy asked.

There was a communal sigh from the women.

Angie let out a ribald laugh. ‘We can’t complain. We’ve been here more than five minutes and she’s only just mentioned the extravaganza.’

‘Yes,’ Martha laughed. ‘Must be a record.’

Dorothy rolled her eyes.

Georgina let out a nervous cough and started to shuffle uncomfortably on her chair. She hadn’t touched her drink or her sandwich.

Picking up that something was amiss, Rosie looked at her friend and furrowed her brow.

‘Actually,’ Georgina said, ‘there’s something I need to tell you all.’ Her tone was deadly serious, causing everyone at the table to stop chattering and concentrate on their friend.

Rosie looked at Helen and back to Georgina, wondering if she knew what this was all about. Helen’s expression told her she didn’t.

‘What is it you need to tell us?’ Dorothy said, flashing Bobby a concerned look. They had all welcomed Georgina into the fold and thought the world of her. She had also been a good friend to Rosie and had helped her by spending time with Charlotte when she’d gone through a stage of not wanting to be on her own.

Suddenly, Georgina took a huge gulp of her port and lemon and declared:

‘It was me.’

Everyone looked at her and waited for further clarification.

‘It was me that did Miriam’s dirty work for her.’ Georgina looked at Helen, a little guiltily. She was aware this was probably not the topic of conversation Helen had anticipated for her little Christmas soirée.

‘You were the private eye that found out our secrets for Miriam?’ Dorothy asked.

Georgina nodded solemnly. ‘I was … Well, Miriam didn’t know it was me doing the work. She thought it was my father. I think she was under the misapprehension that I was Dad’s secretary.’

‘So, it was you who found out about my real mother?’ Martha asked.

A nod and a guilt-ridden look from Georgina.

‘And about both our mams?’ Angie said, cocking her head in Dorothy’s direction.

Another nod and another equally guilt-ridden look.

‘And about my aunty being in debt?’ Hannah asked.

Georgina looked shamefaced. As if Hannah and her aunty hadn’t had enough worries on their shoulders, without her actions having the potential to add to them.

‘I’m sorry,’ Georgina said. ‘Really, so sorry. There isn’t any excuse, other than I would never have done it if I had known you all back then … Never … I promise you.’

Everyone was quiet for a moment. Bobby looked at Dorothy, who didn’t appear angry, and at his mam and Jack, who also didn’t seem in any way outraged – just shocked.

‘I feel terrible,’ Georgina said, trying her hardest to keep her feelings in check. She did not want to cry and for them to feel sorry for her, for that to detract from the fury that they would – should – feel towards her. ‘I should have told you all from the start, but I didn’t. I could pretend I didn’t because of “client confidentiality”, but that would be a lie too.’

She took a deep breath. She had come this far; she needed to get it all out, like excising a boil.

‘I didn’t tell you because I was ashamed of the work I had done. And of the consequences of that work.’ She looked at Gloria and Jack for the first time. ‘I wouldn’t blame you one bit for hating me and never wanting to see me again.’

Her eyes flickered to Rosie. She was the person she was most concerned about, but her friend’s attention seemed to be on the rest of the women’s faces, gauging their reactions.

Bobby sat back in his chair. So, this was the person who had provided the ammunition for Miriam to banish Jack to the Clyde? The air was still. No one was eating or drinking. Everyone looked totally gobsmacked, which was not so surprising. Never in a million years would he have thought this bookish, very strait-laced young woman had worked as a private eye.

‘So, that’s why I agreed to come today,’ she said, casting a look at Helen. ‘I couldn’t carry this guilt around with me any more.’

She stood up.

‘So, I just want you to know. All of you …’ She scanned the faces around the table. ‘I’m so sorry for all the heartache my actions have caused.’

Helen looked at everyone and then back at Georgina. She was one of the proudest and most stoic people she knew. As well as probably one of the most intelligent.

‘Georgina, sit down … please,’ she implored. ‘Because that’s not quite the whole picture, is it?’

‘There’s more?’ Angie asked, agog.

‘More, but in a good way,’ Helen said, her eyes surveying the women’s faces. ‘You see, Georgina was also responsible for helping me to find out about Bel’s true paternity, and for providing me with the report.’

‘The report that helped bring Jack home?’ Polly said.

Helen nodded. They all knew how Helen had given the report to Bel, who had used it as leverage when she and Pearl had gone to confront Mr Havelock last Christmas.

Georgina looked at Helen and then at the rest of the women. They didn’t look as though they were going to lynch her.

Martha gave Georgina a gap-toothed smile. ‘Well, I’d say that easily evens the score.’ She looked at her workmates. ‘The way I see it, Georgina helped to get Jack banished but she also helped to get him back.’

‘And,’ Hannah was quick to agree, ‘in a funny kind of a way, it worked to Aunty Rina’s advantage … Miriam finding out that the business was in a load of debt led to Rosie and Gloria getting her a job with Vera – and we all know how that worked out.’

Everyone chuckled thinking of the two women, chalk and cheese, one always grumbling about the other and loving it.

Georgina couldn’t believe it. They were laughing. They didn’t hate her. They were forgiving her.

‘And it’s not as if we’ve suffered, is it, Dor?’ Angie said. ‘My mam’s gonna get caught out eventually. It’s just a matter of time.’

‘That’s true,’ Dorothy agreed, looking at Bobby, so glad he knew the truth about her mother’s bigamy. ‘Both our mothers have been walking a fine line for ages.’

Rosie leant forward and put her hand over Georgina’s.

‘I can’t help thinking that you’ve been too harsh on yourself,’ she said, looking at her friend directly. ‘Because when you did your work for Miriam, I believe you found out something about me, but you held it back, knowing how potentially devastating it could be.’

Georgina forced herself to return her friend’s look. She could feel tears forming in her eyes and she blinked hard to keep them at bay.

‘You found out about Lily’s, didn’t you?’ Rosie asked. ‘You found out that I used to work there before my accident.’ She touched the light smattering of scars on her face self-consciously. ‘But you never let on, did you? And you never let on to Helen either?’

Helen was suddenly aware of everyone looking at her. She tried to keep her shock from showing. So, Rosie had been a working girl!

‘That’s right,’ she said. ‘Georgina never breathed a word.’

The room was charged. Rosie’s ‘other life’ was never openly talked about.

‘Well, in my opinion,’ Gloria said, breaking the silence and drawing the conversation away from Rosie and back to Georgina, ‘I really don’t think there’s anything to forgive.’ She looked at Jack, who nodded his agreement.

‘There’s nothing to feel guilty about, Georgina,’ he said. ‘Yer were just doing your job. Looking after yer ’n yer father, keeping food on the table ’n a roof over yer heads. If Miriam hadn’t employed yer, she’d have paid someone else to find out everyone’s secrets, and they certainly wouldn’t have held back what they found out about Rosie here.’

The women all mumbled their agreement.

Georgina felt her chest constrict as she desperately held back the tears and the myriad emotions welling up inside of her, bursting to come out.

‘Well, I think this deserves a toast!’ Hannah said, smiling at Georgina and looking around the table. ‘A toast to friendship!’

‘Hear! Hear!’ everyone chorused. ‘To friendship!’

Georgina tentatively lifted her glass.

‘To friendship,’ she said. It was what she had always wanted – and been terrified of losing.

Everyone clinked glasses, making sure that theirs touched Georgina’s – their eyes showing her that there were no unspoken resentments.

They all took a sip of their drinks.

‘And the best Christmas Extravaganza ever!’ Dorothy chipped in.

Everyone groaned and rolled their eyes, but they still made the toast.

‘To the best Christmas Extravaganza ever!’

‘Time to tuck in, everyone,’ Helen ordered, getting up and putting on the wireless. She was pleased to hear the early-evening programme was playing festive songs. Walking back to her seat, she smiled as she saw that Dorothy and Angie had already started quizzing Georgina about her past life as a private eye. They were clearly captivated. Everyone else was listening, equally curious.

Over the next twenty minutes, Georgina continued to be grilled about all aspects of the job. What was the strangest job she’d had to do? The most exciting? Dangerous? Where did she get her information from? Did she have to pay people? When the conversation turned to Georgina’s work at the Echo, Helen leant towards Rosie, who was sitting to her right.

‘You know, I always suspected Georgina was holding something back – that for some reason she was protecting you.’ It had always puzzled Helen how Rosie had been able to afford to send her sister, Charlotte, to boarding school and then, more recently, to the Sunderland Church High School. Now she knew. ‘When I heard about Maisie and her work at Lily’s, well, I started to wonder.’ She looked at Rosie and gave her a half smile. ‘I’m guessing that was why you didn’t want Charlotte to come back here to live?’

Rosie took a sip of her drink and nodded.

‘So Charlotte knows?’ Helen asked hesitantly.

Rosie nodded.

‘Must have been difficult – telling her?’ Helen couldn’t stop herself. She had been so curious for so long.

Rosie let out a bitter laugh. ‘Just a little.’

‘But you obviously worked it out,’ Helen said.

‘We did,’ said Rosie.

Helen desperately wanted to ask about Peter and how he had reacted to Rosie’s past, especially as he’d been a detective for the Borough Police, but she knew this was a step too far. ‘You know I would never judge, don’t you?’ she said instead.

Rosie looked at Helen. ‘I appreciate you saying that.’

They were both quiet for a moment, looking at everyone as they chatted away, the noise getting louder, the Christmas songs adding to an atmosphere that seemed to have become even more festive since Georgina’s confession and absolution.

Helen decided this was the perfect moment to go ahead with what she had planned to do – the reason she had organised this intimate Christmas party. She took a deep breath and tapped her glass with a teaspoon.

The noise quietened down.

‘I have a confession to make too,’ Helen said, suppressing a chuckle on seeing Dorothy nudge Angie and nearly knock her off her chair.

‘But it’s nothing salacious, I’m afraid. Nothing as juicy as working as a private eye.’ Helen smiled at Georgina, whose cheeks were now rosy and who looked happier than she had ever seen her before.

‘I really organised this party so that I could get you all together and we could all enjoy a Christmas present I’ve managed to get – thanks in part to Georgina.’

Everyone turned to look at Georgina.

‘A rather unusual Christmas present I’ve managed to get for Gloria and my father,’ Helen said.

Everyone’s attention now swung to Gloria and Jack, who were sitting next to each other, looking relaxed.

Helen pulled out an envelope from her handbag.

‘Can you pass this to my father and his wife-to-be, please?’

Helen handed the brown, very unfestive-looking present to Georgina, who passed it to Gloria.

Narrowing her eyes suspiciously at the envelope, Gloria turned to Jack and gave him a puzzled look.

‘Go on, open it,’ he encouraged. He, too, seemed perplexed.

‘Do yer know what’s inside?’ Gloria asked him.

He laughed and shook his head. ‘I’ve no idea what my daughter’s been up to.’

Everyone fell silent as Gloria gently tore open the envelope.

Pulling out the document, she turned it the right way up and started to read. Jack sat forward and read it with her.

Everyone looked at Helen.

‘Cor, the suspense is killing us,’ Angie said. ‘What is it?’

Helen laughed. ‘It’s Dad’s official divorce document. It’s what’s known as a decree nisi, which means the divorce is not quite there – but nearly.’

Everyone was puzzled.

‘It means,’ Gloria said, looking at Helen and showing her how thankful she was, ‘that we just have to wait six weeks before it becomes official.’

‘That’s when Dad will get the decree absolute,’ Helen explained. ‘Provided there are no last-minute challenges, which there won’t be. There’s no way Mother’s going to object.’ Helen looked at Georgina. ‘Is there?’

Georgina shook her head. ‘I doubt it very much.’

‘How come?’ Martha asked.

‘I thought there was no way Miriam was going to agree to it?’ Polly asked.

‘It was a bit of a team effort, wasn’t it, Georgina?’ Helen said.

They were all looking from one woman to the other.

Jack and Gloria looked up. Both had tears in their eyes.

‘Well, let’s just say someone pointed out to Miriam what would come out in a court case if she went ahead and continued to defend the divorce,’ Helen explained.

‘And I’m guessing you had to have the evidence to bring up in court?’ Dorothy said. Suddenly, she sat up straight and looked at Angie. They stared at each other, wide-eyed.

‘The Grand!’ they shouted in excitement, before turning their focus to Georgina.

‘That’s why you were waiting in the rain outside the Grand!’ Dorothy exclaimed.

Georgina looked at Helen.

‘That’s right,’ Helen said. ‘Although I think Mother’s concern about the photos taken of her staggering out of the hotel in the early hours was more to do with the state she looked, rather than what she might have been up to.’ She glanced over to her father, who was still looking shocked but happy. Very happy.

‘Georgina also gave sworn statements to be used in any legal proceedings. They outlined the work she did for Miriam that enabled her to banish Dad to the Clyde. The solicitor – a very nice chap called Mr Emery – seemed confident that a judge would see this as tantamount to desertion. An enforced separation as well as cruelty. Of which there was more evidence. But let’s just say, when Mother read the folder full of statements and saw the photographs, she signed on the dotted line. And hey presto, Mr Emery did his stuff and we are now just weeks away from a full and proper divorce.’ She looked at Gloria, who was wiping away a stray tear, and then at her father, who had his arm around his future wife’s shoulders, holding her close. No one needed to say it, but the divorce and subsequent marriage would be a blessing for Hope too.

‘Oh. My. God!’ Dorothy said. ‘I’ve just thought – you’ll be divorced in time to get married on Valentine’s Day. That would be sooo romantic!’

‘This is brilliant news!’ said Polly.

‘It is,’ Gloria said, looking at Helen. ‘I don’t know what to say.’ She turned to Jack.

‘I think we’d like to say “Thank you”,’ Jack said, regarding his daughter, who, he thought, had changed so much since he had been away. ‘You’re the best daughter a father could wish for.’

‘And the best friend – ’n soon-to-be best stepdaughter – I could wish for,’ Gloria added.

They all raised their glasses again.

‘A toast!’ Polly said.

‘To love!’ Hannah said, taking hold of Olly’s hand.

‘To a happy marriage!’ Bobby said, looking at his mam. She certainly deserved it.

‘I’ll second that,’ Helen said, looking at her father and thinking that he certainly did too.