The Doorstep Girls Page 15

  ‘Why can’t we have our wages today if our hours are being cut?’ Grace asked boldly. ‘Why should we have to come back tomorrow if there’s no work for us?’

  The other women were of the same mind but the foreman shrugged. ‘Nowt to do wi’ me.’ He was newly promoted and, although pleased to be showing his superiority, he didn’t want trouble. He jeered, ‘Tek it up wi’ management if you’re not satisfied.’

  Grace was furious. ‘Right! I will. I’ll see Mr Newmarch.’

  ‘Grace!’ Ruby breathed over her shoulder. ‘Dare you do that?’

  Grace saw that all the other women who had gathered around were looking towards her expectantly. ‘Yes,’ she said defiantly. ‘He can’t eat me. He can sack me but if I’m only going to have two days’ work anyway –’ She shrugged. Two days’ work was better than none at all, but it was worth a pittance and she was prepared to take the risk. ‘Is anybody coming with me?’

  One woman spoke up. ‘I’ll come. I’m sick o’ this. We’ll be beggin’ in ’streets next.’

  ‘And I’ll come,’ said another and then another.

  ‘Come on then.’ Grace beckoned and a crowd of women followed her out of the mill block, trailed in turn by a straggling group who were not quite brave enough to join the main throng.

  ‘Of course he might have gone home already,’ Grace said to Ruby, who had also rushed after her as they marched towards the office block. ‘No! There they are. Mr Newmarch! Mr Newmarch!’

  The Newmarch brothers were standing in the entrance of the two-storeyed red brick building waiting for their chaise to be brought to them. They both looked up as they heard the call.

  ‘Mr Martin Newmarch, sir,’ Grace called, and Ruby let herself be drawn back into the crowd as Grace hurried forward. ‘Could you spare a moment, please?’

  ‘What is it?’ Martin came out of the recessed opening. ‘Is something wrong? Oh!’ He recognized her. ‘It’s Miss Sheppard! What can I do for you?’

  ‘I’m sorry to bother you, sir, you’re no doubt on your way home, but –’ She swept an arm to encompass the women behind her. ‘We – these women and me have been told that we haven’t to come in tomorrow, that we are being put on two days’ work.’

  ‘Yes, yes, I’m sorry about that,’ he began. ‘We realize that there might be hardship but—’

  ‘It’s not about that, sir,’ Grace cut in. ‘If there’s no work for us then that can’t be helped, but we would like our wages today. We don’t want to have to come back tomorrow to get them.’

  ‘I don’t understand.’ Martin frowned. ‘Who said you have to come back tomorrow?’

  ‘Foreman did, sir. He said we had to collect our wages then.’

  ‘Why is that, do you think?’ Martin turned to his brother.

  ‘Perhaps the wages haven’t been worked out yet.’ Edward hazarded a guess and casually brushed away cotton dust from his coat. ‘Everybody gets paid on a Saturday.’

  ‘But we’re not working on Saturday, Mr Newmarch.’ Grace stood her ground. ‘So why should we have to come in specially? And it wouldn’t take ’clerks more than a few minutes to work out two days’ work for fifty women.’ Her tone was slightly mocking as she spoke. ‘These women know to a penny how much is due to them. They can work it out.’

  Martin drew in a deep resigned breath. ‘Come with me, Miss Sheppard. I’ll see what I can do.’ He led her through the wide portico which was decorated with dressed stone, and with a coloured fanlight above the wooden door, and into the office section.

  ‘Mr Staniland. Excuse me!’ Martin Newmarch, she noticed, was as deferential to the manager as she had been to him. He explained the situation and Mr Staniland gazed at her as Martin was speaking.

  ‘And you are one of our workers, are you?’ he asked. ‘A spokeswoman!’

  Grace considered before answering. ‘I suppose I could be called a spokeswoman, and yes I am one of your workers, sir. Have been since I was nine years old.’

  Mr Staniland raised his eyebrows at this. ‘Really! Well, in that case I think the situation can be resolved for you.’

  ‘Not just for me, sir,’ she interrupted. ‘For all of ’women out there. They need that money, sir. For most of them it’ll put bread in their mouths. Tomorrow they’ll have to look for other work if they’re not coming in to ’mill.’

  He nodded. ‘It must be hard for them, I agree. Very well. Go up and see the clerks, Newmarch, and perhaps you, Miss –?’

  ‘Sheppard, sir. Grace Sheppard.’

  ‘Perhaps then, Grace Sheppard, you will ascertain how many women there are so that our calculations are the same?’

  She smiled jubilantly and went outside again. She raised her arm in triumph and the women cheered and gathered around her. ‘God bless you, Grace,’ somebody shouted, and another one bantered, ‘Now can you get us an increase and two more days?’ ‘And a free dinner!’ somebody else suggested.

  She laughed, the success making her eyes sparkle. ‘Don’t expect the impossible,’ she called back and turned, still with a smile on her face, to find Martin Newmarch behind her.

  He looked down at her. ‘It’s done,’ he said. ‘The wage clerk will be down in five minutes with their money.’

  ‘Thank you so much, Mr Newmarch.’ She beamed at him. ‘We’re very grateful. You can’t possibly know what it means to these women.’

  ‘No,’ he said slowly. ‘I don’t suppose I can. And you, what does it mean to you?’

  She hesitated, then said, ‘I think it means that I shall look for other work, Mr Newmarch. I can’t manage on two days’ money.’

  ‘I’m sorry. But I understand.’ He studied her. ‘If you need a reference you may give my name, but,’ he hesitated and pursed his lips, ‘if I might make a suggestion. Don’t tell a future employer that you have acted as a spokeswoman for your fellow workers.’ He gazed at her frankly. ‘They might not understand.’

  She blinked and contemplated. ‘I’ve always been honest, sir.’

  ‘I’m sure you have.’ He gave a slight smile. ‘But honesty doesn’t always pay. I’m not suggesting you should lie, but be circumspect, Grace. Consider what you do and say.’

  She didn’t understand what he meant, but she was sure he meant well. As the women suddenly rushed forward as the wage clerk appeared, he put on his top hat, which he had held in his hand, tapped it with his finger and moved away to the waiting chaise.

  ‘What do you make of that?’ Edward grinned as he took the reins. ‘An agitator!’

  ‘Not a bit of it!’ Martin was brusque. ‘Nobody else was brave enough to ask for their dues.’ He gave a short laugh. ‘She told me once before that the workers were afraid of us.’ But she isn’t, he repeated to himself. Even at the risk of losing her job she’ll speak out. I admire that, he admitted, she’s got mettle. So rare in a woman, especially in a woman of her class. Yet she looks so angelic, unlike Georgiana, another rare woman but one who has determination and fortitude written all over her.

  ‘What?’ he said as Edward finished speaking. ‘What did you say?’

  ‘I said that her friend didn’t appear to be with her,’ Edward murmured. ‘They’re usually together.’

  ‘Mm!’ Martin was non-committal. ‘I didn’t notice.’

  She was conspicuous by her absence, Edward pondered. Perhaps after tomorrow night I shall be able to put her out of my mind.

  ‘I shan’t go to ’public baths tonight after all,’ Ruby decided. ‘I’ll go tomorrow seeing as I’m not working. Do you want to come, Grace?’ she asked suddenly. ‘I’ve got a spare penny.’

  ‘Ooh, I don’t know! Yes! I’ll go halves. Why not? What a treat, a warm bath, not a wash by ’fireside!’

  Although Grace had the luxury of warming a pan of water over the fire and getting washed in the tin tub by the hearth, Ruby hadn’t had that advantage and had only ever washed in cold water drawn from the pump in an iron pail. The next morning they both set off towards the Humber bank where the baths were situated.
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  The public baths were newly built, especially for those who had no facilities of their own, but not everyone could afford them. Most people of that district had the priorities of feeding themselves and paying their rent, which came well before the luxury of warm baths. These baths had hot, cold, warm and vaporized water and after much discussion, Ruby and Grace decided that they would have the hot water.

  They paid their pennies, were given a towel and a small piece of soap and were shown into separate cubicles. Each contained a large white bath, which a woman was filling with hot water.

  Ruby undressed slowly and looked at her tattered clothing. She wore a cotton shift beneath her skirt and shirt and nothing more. She had no stockings, nor had she ever possessed such things.

  ‘Are you in yet, Ruby?’ Grace called from the next cubicle. ‘It’s bliss! Absolute heaven. When I’m rich I’ll do this every day!’

  Ruby laughed and put a toe into the water. ‘It’s hot!’ she exclaimed. ‘Really hot water!’ She put the whole of her foot in and then the other and gingerly sat down, holding onto the sides of the bath. Then she lowered herself until she was covered with water and her hair floated about her. ‘I’m going to stay here all day,’ she pronounced.

  An hour later when the water had gone cold and someone had knocked on the cubicle doors and told them that there were others waiting, they emerged clean and shining, their hair washed and their undergarments also washed, for they had taken the opportunity of soaping and rinsing those too and rolling them up into a wet bundle.

  Grace had brought a hairbrush which she lent to Ruby and they set off back to the Market Place.

  ‘What must it be like to be a lady of means?’ Grace said. ‘To be clean and powdered every day.’

  ‘Powdered?’ Ruby exclaimed. ‘Did you have powder?’

  ‘No, silly, but I know that ladies do. I’ve seen pictures in newspapers, advertising scented powder.’

  ‘Oh,’ Ruby sighed. ‘What luxury! Grace?’ she said. ‘Will you come with me to buy a dress from Rena’s? I don’t like to go on my own. I’m scared she might guess why I want it. She won’t say owt if you’re there.’

  ‘Yes, course I will. I’ll help you choose.’

  It was such a treat for them. Grace enjoyed the pleasure of choosing something for Ruby almost as much as if it was for herself, and Ruby put to the back of her mind why she required a different set of clothes.

  ‘How much have you got to spend?’ Rena asked. She was rather a splendid creature, dressed in a bright green embroidered gown which cast a lurid hue to her sharp features.

  ‘A shilling,’ Ruby said bravely, having decided that she would cut down on food and buy another shift which she had seen in one of the open drawers. It was cotton and trimmed with lace at the hem.

  ‘A shilling. Mm! Let me see, then –’ Rena perused the rails. ‘Yellow perhaps?’ She brought out a garish yellow gown with a bustle. She gazed at Ruby. ‘Perhaps not. Not your colour, I think.’ She looked at Grace. ‘It would be more your shade.’

  Grace shook her head. ‘I’m not buying,’ she said. ‘Just something for Ruby.’

  ‘Jamie suggested red,’ Ruby murmured. ‘But I don’t want anything too bright.’

  ‘Jamie!’ Rena exclaimed. ‘You didn’t say you were a friend of Jamie’s. Well, in that case …’ She went to another rail covered over with a white sheet, which she removed with a flourish.

  ‘These’, she pronounced, ‘are for my special customers.’

  There were white gowns, pale gold gowns, velvet and moire, floral and plain gowns. Some with bustles, some without. Others had masses of skirt to be worn with a hoop beneath, or were cut slimly with a fishtail to swirl about the ankle.

  ‘My goodness,’ Ruby said. ‘What to choose?’

  Rena gazed at her from hooded eyes. ‘Are you about to embark on a new life, my dear?’ she asked quietly, and when Ruby nodded, averting her eyes, Rena turned back to the rail. ‘Better anyway’, she murmured, ‘than starving to death.’

  Ruby sent a scared glance at Grace, but her face showed no emotion and she too turned to the rail.

  ‘Where do these gowns come from?’ Grace asked. It was obvious that they were not brand new, but who would want to be rid of such splendour?

  ‘Actresses, some of them. They have to change their gowns frequently, although’, she admitted, ‘they don’t know that with a little tuck here and a bit of lace there, they sometimes buy their own gowns back a few years later! Then, of course, there are some grand ladies who give their clothes to the poor, only they’re far too grand for ’poor to wear, and they sell to me and buy something more suitable for themselves.

  ‘This one,’ she said, pulling out a rich red gown. ‘Just the thing for you. A simple style that you’ll feel comfortable in, but a beautiful shade which will show off your dark hair.’

  Ruby fingered the velvet cloth. The skirt was full and the bodice low-cut with a lace fichu at the throat. ‘It’s beautiful,’ she whispered. ‘But can I afford it?’

  ‘You can,’ Rena said. ‘It would normally cost a florin, but I know that you’ll come back for another. You can have it for a shilling. And,’ she added, ‘you can take that shift that you’ve been admiring and pay me when you’ve got the money.’

  Ruby stood silently. It seemed that the die was cast. There was no going back. She owed Jamie two shillings and some of it was already spent at the baths. ‘All right,’ she agreed. ‘I’ll take them.’

  A church clock struck three as they walked towards home. ‘I’ll have to get Ma out of the house,’ Ruby said. ‘She’ll guess what’s happening if she sees me dressed up in this finery.’ She clutched the brown paper bag which held her future.

  ‘I shouldn’t say this, but give her a penny,’ Grace suggested. ‘She’ll not resist going out to spend it. Then you’ll be able to change without her knowing. Though she’ll find out when you come back home.’

  ‘I shan’t mind then,’ Ruby admitted. ‘Not when it’s – not when it’s done.’

  ‘I’ll come and button you up when she’s gone out,’ Grace said. ‘And brush your hair.’

  Ruby bit her bottom lip. ‘Jamie said I had to buy a hairbrush,’ she remembered.

  ‘Never mind about what Jamie said, I’ll lend you mine. It’s a bit thin on bristles but it’ll do.’

  But the hairbrush pulled on Ruby’s thick mass of hair, so unlike Grace’s baby-fine texture, and she complained loudly. They were both nervous and tense.

  ‘Well, do it yourself then!’ Grace flung the brush down and burst into tears.

  Ruby put her arms around her. ‘Don’t cry,’ she whispered, her own eyes filling. ‘It’ll be all right, really it will.’

  ‘I hate to think of you having to do this,’ Grace wept. ‘It’s not right! Why should women have to submit to such humiliation just to earn their keep?’

  ‘Because there’s nothing else,’ Ruby said softly. ‘There isn’t another way, except for ’workhouse. It perhaps won’t be so bad,’ she said hopefully. ‘Mebbe it’ll be somebody nice.’ Though how can he possibly be? she wondered. What sort of a man will take a strange woman? She gave a little shudder. Just as long as he doesn’t hurt me. ‘Don’t worry, Grace,’ she reassured her. ‘I’ll be all right.’

  There was a brisk knock on the door and they both jumped. ‘Jamie!’ Ruby whispered. ‘He’s come to collect me.’

  Grace opened the door to let him in and he gave a low whistle when he saw Ruby. ‘Wow, Ruby! You look –’ He exhaled a breath. ‘Tremendous.’ He shook his head in amazement. ‘You’re beautiful!’ He held out his hand to her. ‘You’re going to make somebody really happy tonight.’

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  Edward was nervous. He had announced at home that he was going to his club and wouldn’t be in for supper. Nothing unusual in that, he thought, as he dressed in narrow wool trousers and embroidered waistcoat beneath his dark frock coat. I often stay at my club, he contended as he carefully tied a starched
lawn cravat. It’s not the first time. But he had the suspicion that his mother didn’t totally approve of him visiting the club so often, when he was soon to be a married man.

  But she had smiled and said indulgently that he must make the most of his freedom, for she was sure that Miss Gregory would want him all to herself once they were married.

  ‘I shall still visit my club, Mama,’ he said. ‘A man must have some male conversation once in a while.’

  ‘Your father hardly ever goes,’ she began.

  ‘But Father locks himself in his library every night. He isn’t with you.’

  ‘No,’ she sighed. ‘That is true. But I had hoped that you young people would want to spend time together.’ She smiled. ‘But I was always a romantic.’

  He bent and kissed her forehead. ‘May and I shall spend time together, Mama, but she won’t want me always in her pocket. She will have activities of her own to consider.’

  They were to take the occupancy of a house in Hessle. May loved the house and its grounds, though she was a little bothered that the air might be damp so near the Humber. ‘Not at all,’ Edward had declared. ‘And you will be able to sit in your room and watch all the river traffic,’ for she had delighted in a room at the front of the house which overlooked the river, and declared that if they should take the house, then that would be her sitting room.

  It was almost February and the weather was bitterly cold. He put on a heavy greatcoat with a high collar, picked up his top hat and descended the stairs. Martin was crossing the hall and hesitated. ‘I’m in two minds whether to come along,’ he said, and Edward drew in a breath, ‘but, well, perhaps not. If you see Jarvis will you tell him I’ll meet him one evening next week? Say Wednesday about seven.’

  Edward nodded and relaxed. That was a close shave. ‘I might be late,’ he said. ‘Or I might even stay in town.’

  ‘Theatre, is it? What’s on?’

  ‘Oh!’ Edward was vague, not wanting to encourage his brother into coming too. ‘Music hall or something. Something bawdy anyway!’

  ‘I won’t bother then,’ Martin said, opening the drawing-room door. ‘Not my style. I have some papers to catch up on, in any case.’