Chapter 15

‘It’s not done us any harm, that load of lies told in the paper.’ Roger Birbeck stood at the bar talking to Mary after all the tables had been cleared and the hotel had slowed down for the nightshift to take over.

‘She could have done, she could have brought it to its knees if people hadn’t realised it was just the rants of someone who hadn’t got her way.’ Mary leaned on the bar and looked at Roger, who had made her and the bar his regular stopping place before retiring for the night.

‘Beware the wrath of a thwarted woman.’ Roger sipped at his usual tot of whisky and grinned.

‘She wasn’t thwarted, though; she just didn’t realise what was expected of her if she was to be part of the Palace. I never liked her anyway – she thought she was better than any of us,’ Mary added curtly.

‘Oh, you women! Once the claws are out, they are out. I’m sometimes glad that I’m a single man,’ Roger said and then smiled at Mary, the woman who had taken his fancy for the first time in many a year.

‘Only sometimes, Roger? You surprise me,’ Mary laughed and joked with her companion.

‘Aye, well sometimes you think you could do with someone to share your time with. Just someone to natter to and share your problems, a bit like we’re doing now,’ Roger said and then thought for a minute. ‘I notice on our staff rota that you and I have the same day off, tomorrow. How about I take you out for lunch, to thank you for the kindness you show me, giving me your time and these?’ Roger waggled his glass in front of her. ‘Because you needn’t give me either.’

‘Oh, no, really, there’s no need. I only treat you as I do everyone else, there’s no need to thank me.’ Mary was taken aback; she had never thought of Roger inviting her out for a meal.

‘I insist. You were the one who pulled me up when I first came and made me realise that it wasn’t about giving orders like in the army, but compromising with my fellow work-mates. Now, I will not take no for an answer! You know Leeds better than me, so where is the best place to eat?’ Roger looked at the doubt on Mary’s face. ‘It’s just lunch, nothing more, I assure you.’

‘Well, I was planning to see my friends at Whitelock’s tomorrow. Days off are so few and far between and I plan to make the most of my time.’ She hesitated and then smiled. ‘However, why don’t we have lunch there and then you can leave me there to catch up with Nancy and my other friends? I’m sure your spare time is precious too.’

‘Whitelock’s? Isn’t that where you used to work and I’ve heard you mention how good the food is?’ Roger watched as Mary nodded her head. ‘Then that is indeed where we will go; and it will be my privilege to pay, so don’t concern yourself with that – and no strings attached.’ Roger bent over and patted Mary’s hand gently. He hoped that this would be not the only lunch he would share with her; more and more he’d thought of late that it was time that he settled down and found a wife, someone to look after him to share his life.

‘If you are sure, that would be wonderful. It would be such a nice surprise for Nancy to see me and for me to have a meal there; I could only dream about it while I worked there. It will raise an eyebrow or two, me and you dining there, and it will give them plenty to talk about,’ Mary said and smiled.

‘Then we’ll do it. Meet me at twelve prompt in the lobby and we’ll walk out together and then enjoy lunch and let them talk!’ Roger swigged the rest of his whisky back and smiled. ‘Right, I’m off to my bed, it’s been a long day.’

‘Goodnight, Roger, I just want to have a final look behind the bar, there are one or two jobs that I have yet to do.’ Mary made the excuse because lately she had found it a little embarrassing always walking up to her room with Roger. She had noticed the sniggers of the younger night staff, who seemed to be putting two and two together and getting six as they watched them climbing the stairs together. Mary watched as Roger made his way to his bed; perhaps she should not have accepted his offer of lunch because she really didn’t want to encourage him. Although she now realised he was a kind man, he was not attractive to her in any way. Well, she would go and have lunch with him but make it plain that was all it was.

‘You’re working late, Mary, is everything all right?’ William Winfield wandered into the empty, dimly lit bar and noticed Mary placing an empty glass on the shelf beneath the bar and then leant on the bar and looked around her, deep in thought.

‘Yes, Mr Winfield, I’m perfectly fine. I’m just clearing the last glass away.’ Mary looked at her employer; she always found herself feeling flustered when he caught her by surprise on his walks around the hotel. ‘May I ask how you are? Are you recovering from your upset? If I’m not being too presumptuous.’

‘Oh, Mary …’ William pulled one of the high-backed stools up to the bar and sat down on it. ‘I’m surviving, but I don’t think I will ever be the same man.’ William looked bashfully at Mary; he felt he should not find talking to one of his staff so easy, but she was so good at listening – and she was also very attractive, he suddenly thought as he looked at her in the dim light. ‘I can’t thank you enough for being there for me after Faith left; I’m afraid I was in a bit of a mess.’ He smiled now and looked at Mary. ‘Can you pour me a gin with a splash of tonic, please? I just feel I could drink one before I retire. I would also appreciate your company, if you would care to join me? And I promise not to moan and complain about my lot. After all, how can I complain? I have more than some men will ever have in their lifetime – it’s just that, at this moment, I have no one to share it with me. Someone, I’m sure, will see me as a good bet – but at least she’s put any gold-diggers off my scent with her slander, so I should thank her for that.’ He laughed and took his glass of gin and tonic from Mary.

‘I’m sure you’ll have no problem finding someone who is perfect for you.’ Mary’s heart fluttered as William’s hand touched hers as she passed him his drink. She longed to say, ‘I’m here, I’ll share your life with you, please look at me and sweep me off my feet.’ She had kept her thoughts to herself for so long, since the day she had looked at the plans for the Palace outside the library. Now William was with her and they were alone and he was talking to her as a friend – Roger Birbeck could never make her feel like she did, talking to William.

‘Are you not having a drink yourself, Mary? It’s on the house.’ William took a sip of his long cool drink and looked at her.

‘I don’t drink, sir. I’m afraid drink played a large part in my early childhood and I saw and heard what it does to families, so I’ve never touched the stuff.’

‘Now that’s a novelty – the best bar manageress in Leeds and she really doesn’t drink! How ironic is that? I thought you were just saying that in your original interview so as to secure the job.’ William shook his head. ‘Was it your father who drank? How somebody could drink before putting food on the table I can’t understand.’

‘No, sir. I never knew my father; it was my mother who had a love of gin towards the end of her life. I believe she drank it only to shut the real world out because her life was falling apart.’ Mary dropped her head, feeling ashamed of her upbringing.

‘The poor woman! It must have been hard, bringing a child up on her own. Society is all too fast to judge.’ William looked at the glass of gin he was drinking. ‘And it would be all too easy to lose yourself in drink, although, unfortunately, the worries of the world do not disappear that easily, I know that – so don’t worry, this is just the one for tonight.’

‘I’ll serve you for long as you want, sir, everyone needs a release sometimes and I’m not here to judge,’ Mary said and smiled sympathetically.

‘How do you always know what to say until it comes to my name? Please, Mary, will you drop the sir? I’m William when we are by ourselves. You have seen me at my worst and at my best and you have not said a word to anyone about my struggles. Now that is the sign of a friend, not an employee, and I’d like you to think of me as such.’ He swigged the last bit of his drink and stood up. ‘Remember, from now on it’s William! Right, I’ll leave you in peace. Goodnight, Mary.’ He waved his hand and walked out of the bar, leaving Mary wondering if it had been the drink talking or if William Winfield really did regard her as a friend. How much she hoped that it was the latter!

‘Miss Reynolds.’ Roger Birbeck held his arm out for Mary to link into as she smiled and walked towards him in the busy lobby of the Palace.

‘Good morning, Mr Birbeck, it’s a lovely day for luncheon together.’ Mary returned the smile and put her arm in his. Walking through the lobby and into the bar she noticed the girls looking at them as they made for the street entrance onto the Headrow. Holding her head up high, she smiled again and turned to wink at them all and then watched their faces as Roger pulled the door open for her as she held onto her newly bought hat, decorated with feathers, that had caught her eye in the hatters across the street from the hotel. The three girls behind the bar, giggled and nudged one another; Mary, their boss, was walking out with the hotel manager – now that was a tasty bit of gossip. She must see something in Roger Birbeck that no one else saw, because he wasn’t that blessed with looks or an affable manner, but perhaps their work had brought them together. The girls went quiet and got on with the jobs as William Winfield entered the bar.

‘Did I just see Miss Reynolds arm in arm with Mr Birbeck?’ William asked with some concern in his voice.

‘Yes, sir, they looked as if they were walking out together. Didn’t Miss Reynolds look beautiful? I’d say that was a new hat that she was wearing especially for the occasion,’ Molly replied, wondering why William was so put out by the sight.

‘Well, I don’t like my staff to fraternise with one another so publicly; I’ll have to speak to them once they return,’ William said sternly, frowning, while in the Headrow, Mary kept her arm linked in Roger’s.

‘Well, this is most pleasant,’ she said as they walked down down the street to where Whitelock’s sat in the corner of a yard thronged with customers waiting to be seated for lunch. Mary and Roger joined the queue.

‘It is indeed pleasant, Mary, I’m so glad that you accepted my invitation to lunch, it makes this old man very happy,’ Roger said. He was very blessed to have such a beauty on his arm, he thought, looking at Mary in all her finery, but he sighed at the length of the queue for lunch. ‘Do they always make people wait to be seated? Do you not think that it’s bad management?’

‘Now, Roger, you are not at work now! Plus, it isn’t bad management: people like the personal touch and it makes folk think, when they see people queuing outside, that the food and drink must be good. Which it is, as you will soon find out.’

Mary and Roger stepped a few places nearer the doorway.

‘I think I’d do it differently, but if it works, it works,’ Roger said and watched as the next four people in front of them were taken in and the waiter came out and looked at them.

‘Bloody hell, Mary, I didn’t recognise you with that posh hat on your head! And look at your dress, you look a right toff!’ Jake grinned as he looked at the woman who had helped both him and Nancy in life. ‘And who is this fine gentleman on your arm? Have you got yourself a suitor?’ Jake opened the door and ushered Mary and Roger to a table as she replied.

‘You mind your language, Jake Ingram, and no, Mr Birbeck is not my suitor, we are just good friends.’ Mary looked around her and noticed the table next to the bar and placed back in a quiet corner was available. ‘Can we have the table over in the corner, Jake? Then we are seated out of the way of everyone’s gaze. I recognise half the people who are dining here and I used to serve most of them and I don’t want to have to talk to them when I’m having lunch myself.’

‘You tell me that you two are not courting yet you need the most discreet table in the restaurant? I’ve heard that one before!’ Jake showed them to the table and Roger looked at him in disbelief at the familiarity between a lowly waiter and the woman who had charge of the Palace bar. ‘Hey, Nancy, look who I’m serving here!’ Jake yelled the full length of the bar to gain Nancy’s attention. ‘It’s Mary and she’s with a fella!’

The whole room turned and looked at the couple.

Nancy scowled and walked up to the end of the bar where Mary and Roger sat. ‘Well, I think the whole world knows that you’re here now, lass, thanks to big gob! It’s good to see you. How are you keeping? Very well, it looks, by the way you are dressed. Now, who’s this, then, and is it serious?’ Nancy looked Roger up and down as he sat at the table next to Mary. She didn’t think much of what she saw – he looked stuffy, full of self-importance and older than Mary.

‘I am Roger Birbeck; Miss Reynolds and I work together at the Palace and we are friends only,’ Roger replied before Mary had the chance to say anything, and then he hid behind the menu that Jake had given him.

‘Yes, Roger and I work together, Nancy, we’ve just come for lunch as a treat and then Roger is going to leave me so that we can talk while you work if you have the time, although you look as busy as ever.’ Mary looked at the people and waiters lined up at the bar, waiting to be served.

‘Yes, I’ll try and make the time, but I can’t promise. Now, Jake looks as if he wants to take your order if you’re ready.’ Nancy looked down the busy bar; she’d no time now to talk to her old friend – besides, she looked that much grander in her swanky outfit and she had not shown her face to any of them since she’d left. But she did miss her friendship, especially now that her home life was once more in turmoil.

‘I’ll have the braised beef, Mary, what are you having?’ Roger looked across at the woman he was so proud to be with and waited for her reply.

‘I don’t know, I think I’ll have the plaice, it always looked so nice and fresh when it was being prepared in the kitchen.’ Mary had no idea how Roger Birbeck was affording this meal but she was going to enjoy every mouthful. She looked up at Jake. ‘Say hello from me to Mrs Trotter and the rest of the kitchen staff.’

‘I will, and I’m sure they will be glad to hear that you are dining with us.’ Jake smiled and took the order into the kitchen with Mary watching him and hoping that someone would come out of the kitchen and say hello to her; after all, she had worked as a team with them.

‘Are you all right?’ Roger looked at Mary as she forked her food around her plate, looking a bit down in the mouth as she gazed around her.

‘Yes, I just thought that I’d be made more welcome by my friends here, especially Nancy,’ Mary said quietly and she ate another mouthful of her lunch.

‘She’s busy – and perhaps they think you have moved on, which you have. Just think of your position now compared to working here. Your very dress speaks of your rising in the world and they are probably jealous,’ Roger said and then sat back as he cleared his plate clean. ‘The food was excellent, so enjoy your meal and then join me on a walk around the arcades. Forget them, you have new friends at the Palace and I’m sure Nancy doesn’t mean to appear rude, she’s just doing her job.’ Roger reached for Mary’s hand but she ignored it and carried on with her meal.

‘I think I’ll go back to my room after I’ve finished my lunch. I could do with a little time to myself and it will be nice just to sit and perhaps read a book, which in itself is a luxury these days.’ Mary continued eating until she had cleared her plate and then she sat back and looked around her at the busy Whitelock’s. ‘I learned a lot when I worked here; I enjoyed it and thought it was the centre of my world. However, you’re right, I’ve moved on, but I’m no snob: fine clothes do not change you and I’m still me. If folk see me in a different light it’s because they don’t know or care about anybody else’s life other than their own and see only what they want to see. Sometimes in life you have to move on and perhaps be a little selfish, grab that something that you wish for more than anything in life. My mother discovered what she wanted in life just as she found out she was dying and I’m not going to do the same as her, which is why I wasn’t going to waste my time serving behind a bar with no further prospects.’

‘I know, Mary, and I admire you for your determination. Now, don’t you get upset. Are we having dessert or a tea or do you want to leave?’ Roger asked quietly.

‘I think I’d prefer to leave and return to my room. Thank you for the lunch, it was delicious; however, next time we will eat somewhere else. I think perhaps Nancy and the staff thought I was rubbing their noses in it, dressed like I am and with you on my arm.’ Mary looked across at Roger.

‘So there may be a next time?’ Roger smiled as he stood up, ready to pay his bill.

‘Yes, if you are willing to ask me?’ Mary smiled.

‘That goes without saying, my dear,’ Roger said as he paid Jake and left a handsome tip. ‘Birds of a feather flock together and we will make our own little flock.’

Mary sat down in her chair looking out of her bedroom window down onto the busy street of the Headrow. It was thronged with traders and shoppers going about their business, involved in their own lives and making the best of their lot. She’d been in no mood to walk among them on the arm of Roger. He was a gentleman and he would make a good secure partner for life, but she had no feelings for him. He was, as Nancy has quickly pointed out, too old and, being a bachelor and having been in the army for so long, too set in his ways. She would keep him as a friend but not give him too much encouragement. She didn’t need a man in her life anyway – she was independent. Besides, the only man she could have any feelings for was way above her station in life and would never have feelings for her, no matter how kind his words had been of late. William Winfield was the man of her dreams and that was where he would always stay, no matter what she did or said.