Rainy Days for the Harpers Girls. Rosie Clarke

if Milly was bad…’ Ma’s eyes closed and she leaned back weakly against the pillows. ‘For her sake… it doesn’t matter about me…’

      ‘How would I go to work if you were gone?’ Marion asked and brought her a cup of hot sweet tea. It wasn’t what the doctor had recommended, but it was what Ma wanted.

      ‘You could let Kathy stay home,’ her mother said. ‘Milly will be at school in another year – and then Kathy can watch her… I shan’t be missed then.’

      ‘Ma, don’t!’ Marion said, feeling hollow inside. ‘We all love you – think of us…’

      ‘I’ve hung on until you’re old enough to cope,’ Ma said and sipped her tea. ‘He’s broken me, Marion. I’ve got nothing to go on for…’

      Marion turned away angrily. Her mother was ill; she didn’t know what she was sayin’. Once she felt better, she would regret it.

      ‘You’ll be all right,’ she said, struggling to hide her feelings. ‘You’ve got to be, Ma. Milly still needs you.’

      ‘I suppose she does…’ Ma sighed, pushing away the hardly touched tea. ‘For a bit longer – but I count too, Marion, and I’ve had enough…’

      Marion’s tears trickled down her cheeks as she left the room and went to see if her little sister was all right. Milly was sleeping but her temperature was normal. She’d taken her mother’s illness lightly – but Marion knew the doctor was right, something more, something fundamental, was wrong with her mother. She didn’t know if it was a physical illness, but, whatever, it was dragging her down, sucking her will to live.

      When Doctor Phillips returned, she would tell him what was worrying her. Perhaps if he sent her mother to the infirmary, they could make her better… but did her mother really want to be well again? Did she use her illness as an excuse to keep her husband from her bed?

      5

      ‘That is beautiful work…’

      The man’s voice made Minnie’s spine tingle and she caught her breath, hardly daring to turn around. It couldn’t be him and yet she’d heard the name of their manager and wondered, but somehow it was still a big shock to see him standing there in her room.

      ‘I was away when Mrs Harper took you on, so I wanted to welcome you to the staff…’

      ‘Mr Stockbridge…’ the word was strange on her lips, because he’d always been Jonathan to her.

      For a moment, her hands lingered on the exquisite gown she’d been embroidering. Minnie made herself breathe slowly, but she knew him, the feeling of intimacy so awkward after all these years but still there. He had changed little, a bit wider round the middle perhaps, but still that same grave face and open grey eyes that seemed to see into her soul. She wasn’t sure if he remembered her – but why should he? He’d had so much more in his life than she’d ever experienced… and they hadn’t met for over twenty years, when she’d told him she could never marry him. Yet, as she stared at him, it was if it were only yesterday.

      ‘Miss Minnie…’ he said and the sudden shock in his eyes told her that he’d just realised who she was and was stunned. ‘I saw the name, but it didn’t occur to me that it could be you…’

      ‘Mr Stockbridge,’ she replied her cheeks on fire. ‘I didn’t realise you were the manager here, well, not at first. No one told me until after I started working in the department…’ It had been too late to draw back then; besides, she’d been curious as to what he would look like after all these years.

      ‘How are you – and Miss Lumley?’ he asked, frowning as he recovered from his shock at seeing her.

      ‘Mildred passed away last year,’ she said, a catch of sadness in her voice. ‘It meant I couldn’t afford to go on living in the boarding house. Mrs Craven offered me a home and she spoke to Mrs Harper about a position for me. Mrs Harper was very kind and said she’d never seen such exquisite work…’

      I’m sorry to hear about your sister…’

      ‘It was such a shock…’ Minnie said in a choked voice.

      ‘Yes, of course, it would be. I hope you’re feeling better now?’

      ‘Yes, thank you…’ Minnie offered a small smile.

      ‘Well you’re here now.’

      Yes, I was very lucky to get the position.’

      ‘I was interested when I saw the invoices for your work,’ he told her, explaining why he’d come down to visit. ‘We’ve done alterations before this, but the embroidery is new…’ He was struggling against shock or emotion, she wasn’t sure which, and she gave him time to recover.

      ‘It can make such a difference to a plain gown,’ Minnie said, enthusiasm coming to her rescue and banishing the crippling shyness. Her love for her work overcame the embarrassment at seeing him for the first time in years and she spoke of what was in her heart. ‘How is your wife? I heard you married…’ And Mrs Harper had told her he had a daughter named Becky, who was seventeen years old, but she’d been too reticent to ask more questions.

      ‘My wife died soon after our daughter was born,’ he said soberly. ‘I live alone with Becky and a woman comes in to do the housework and cooks a meal for us sometimes. I often make do with a light supper and Becky has her lunch at school when she goes but she is capable of making her own these days… quite the young lady now…’ He smiled at the thought. ‘A lovely girl…’

      ‘Oh…’ Minnie wasn’t sure what to say, but then she realised he was talking too much because, like her, he wasn’t sure what to say. This meeting was just as awkward for him. ‘I am so sorry you lost your wife. It must have been hard bringing up your daughter alone…’

      ‘My mother was alive then, if you remember?’

      Minnie nodded. She remembered his mother very well. Mrs Stockbridge had not particularly liked Minnie and she’d often wondered if that was why he’d accepted her refusal of his proposal so easily.

      ‘She helped and I employed a nurse until Becky went to school. It was difficult, but I had a little money from my father’s will…’

      Minnie sympathised with his predicament. She knew only too well how hard it could be living on a legacy from a parent and a small wage. Of course, as Harpers’ manager, he would now be earning far more than she ever had from her sewing.

      ‘Is your daughter well?’

      ‘Yes, very – she is the light of my life…’ He coughed nervously and then recovered his composure, assuming his role as manager. ‘Well, I shall leave you to get on with your work, Miss Minnie – and welcome to Harpers. We like our staff to be happy…’ He hesitated, then looked back at her and for a moment she saw the old Jonathan, the man she’d loved so very much. ‘It’s wonderful to see you again, Minnie…’

      ‘Thank you, sir,’ she said and emotion rose in her throat, making her incapable of further speech. She thought she saw a flicker of something like regret in his eyes as he moved away.

      After he’d gone, Minnie discovered she was shaking. She’d never expected to see Jonathan Stockbridge again, hadn’t imagined he would bother to visit her room. After all, he was the general manager and she was just a seamstress; she wasn’t sure she would have taken this job if she’d known he was the manager here before she’d applied for the position and then she hadn’t been able to turn it down because she’d needed it so badly. However, now that awkward first meeting was over and it would never be as bad again. He would probably avoid her department and she would do nothing to attract his attention. His embarrassment had been painful, she’d seen that at once – and she was sorry. He’d married a few months after she’d told him she could never leave Mildred and that showed he hadn’t felt the deep love that had stayed