talk of the neighbourhood. And as for that Nora – words fail me!’
‘It was a terrible thing to do to tell him such a blatant lie, especially when he was going off to war,’ Sophie agreed.
Jim lowered the newspaper he’d been reading. ‘I agree but he must have been playing with fire or she couldn’t have trapped him like that.’
‘And that wasn’t the end of it, as well you know, Jim.’ Lizzie lowered her voice as she turned back to Sophie. ‘The carry-on out of her while he was away too! Utterly disgraceful! I’d have killed our Katie with my own two hands if she’d behaved like that. Nellie should have put a stop to it but she didn’t, too busy sitting with her cronies in the pub. Their Nora had fellers in and out of the place by the minutes and we all know they weren’t there just for a cup of tea!’
Sophie was really taken aback. Nora had been sleeping with other men? But that meant she couldn’t have loved Frank, as Sophie had first thought, not to do something like that while he was away risking his life. ‘How awful, how utterly humiliating for him. I . . . I didn’t know that.’
‘Well, Martha would hardly tell you, would she? She was mortified and absolutely furious. Oh, she had many a blazing row with both Nellie and Nora over it – much good that did.’
‘I don’t know why Frank put up with it, he knew what was going on. He had plenty of grounds for divorce,’ Jim said soberly. Divorce was something people seldom resorted to but in the light of Nora’s conduct quite a few of the men in the street felt the lad would be more than justified.
‘You know he’d never do that, Jim. Everything would come out in court and it would be in all the papers. It’s bad enough that the entire street knows what kind of a girl she is, but can you imagine what it would be like for the whole damned
city
to know?’
Sophie sighed; Frank Ryan’s life seemed to be such a terrible mess. ‘I’ll do the sewing by hand, maybe the girls will help.’
Lizzie looked thoughtful. ‘If they take you on at Marsden’s maybe they’d let you do a bit on one of their machines, in your break, like.’
Sophie brightened up. ‘I could ask; they can only refuse. That’s if they take me on.’
‘And why wouldn’t they? A fine girl like you and a dab hand at sewing?’ Lizzie said firmly.
It was going to be a big day for Bella, starting a new school and hopefully making new friends. When Mam had woken her up she’d told her to get a good wash and get dressed andthen she could have her breakfast, but everybody else seemed to be trying to do the same things and there was a lot of shouting and confusion, which she wasn’t used to at all.
‘It’s like a three-ringed circus in here,’ Maria hissed to Sophie as both their uncle and two older cousins rushed in and out between the kitchen and scullery, with Billy still half asleep getting in everyone’s way. Lizzie was on top note, firing instructions at everyone, which for the main part were ignored.
‘We’ll have to sort out a better system than this once we get jobs ourselves,’ Sophie muttered as she sat Bella at the table and spooned out porridge for the child.
It seemed a minor miracle that all four of them were ready to leave at half past eight. Sophie and Maria were going to walk both Bella and Billy to school and then Sophie intended to go along to Marsden’s, while Maria said she would go and see just what kind of a place this Heaton’s Department Store was.
Sophie was relieved to find that Miss O’Malley, who was to be Bella’s teacher, seemed both kind and sensible.
‘She’ll be just fine, Mrs Teare. I’ll keep my eye on her,’ she said confidently, and then she took Bella’s hand. ‘I think we’ll sit you next to Emily Taylor, Bella. She lives in Crocus Street, which is the next one to where you live and she’s the same age as you.’
Sophie smiled encouragingly. ‘There you are, Bella. I told you there would be other
‘It was a terrible thing to do to tell him such a blatant lie, especially when he was going off to war,’ Sophie agreed.
Jim lowered the newspaper he’d been reading. ‘I agree but he must have been playing with fire or she couldn’t have trapped him like that.’
‘And that wasn’t the end of it, as well you know, Jim.’ Lizzie lowered her voice as she turned back to Sophie. ‘The carry-on out of her while he was away too! Utterly disgraceful! I’d have killed our Katie with my own two hands if she’d behaved like that. Nellie should have put a stop to it but she didn’t, too busy sitting with her cronies in the pub. Their Nora had fellers in and out of the place by the minutes and we all know they weren’t there just for a cup of tea!’
Sophie was really taken aback. Nora had been sleeping with other men? But that meant she couldn’t have loved Frank, as Sophie had first thought, not to do something like that while he was away risking his life. ‘How awful, how utterly humiliating for him. I . . . I didn’t know that.’
‘Well, Martha would hardly tell you, would she? She was mortified and absolutely furious. Oh, she had many a blazing row with both Nellie and Nora over it – much good that did.’
‘I don’t know why Frank put up with it, he knew what was going on. He had plenty of grounds for divorce,’ Jim said soberly. Divorce was something people seldom resorted to but in the light of Nora’s conduct quite a few of the men in the street felt the lad would be more than justified.
‘You know he’d never do that, Jim. Everything would come out in court and it would be in all the papers. It’s bad enough that the entire street knows what kind of a girl she is, but can you imagine what it would be like for the whole damned
city
to know?’
Sophie sighed; Frank Ryan’s life seemed to be such a terrible mess. ‘I’ll do the sewing by hand, maybe the girls will help.’
Lizzie looked thoughtful. ‘If they take you on at Marsden’s maybe they’d let you do a bit on one of their machines, in your break, like.’
Sophie brightened up. ‘I could ask; they can only refuse. That’s if they take me on.’
‘And why wouldn’t they? A fine girl like you and a dab hand at sewing?’ Lizzie said firmly.
It was going to be a big day for Bella, starting a new school and hopefully making new friends. When Mam had woken her up she’d told her to get a good wash and get dressed andthen she could have her breakfast, but everybody else seemed to be trying to do the same things and there was a lot of shouting and confusion, which she wasn’t used to at all.
‘It’s like a three-ringed circus in here,’ Maria hissed to Sophie as both their uncle and two older cousins rushed in and out between the kitchen and scullery, with Billy still half asleep getting in everyone’s way. Lizzie was on top note, firing instructions at everyone, which for the main part were ignored.
‘We’ll have to sort out a better system than this once we get jobs ourselves,’ Sophie muttered as she sat Bella at the table and spooned out porridge for the child.
It seemed a minor miracle that all four of them were ready to leave at half past eight. Sophie and Maria were going to walk both Bella and Billy to school and then Sophie intended to go along to Marsden’s, while Maria said she would go and see just what kind of a place this Heaton’s Department Store was.
Sophie was relieved to find that Miss O’Malley, who was to be Bella’s teacher, seemed both kind and sensible.
‘She’ll be just fine, Mrs Teare. I’ll keep my eye on her,’ she said confidently, and then she took Bella’s hand. ‘I think we’ll sit you next to Emily Taylor, Bella. She lives in Crocus Street, which is the next one to where you live and she’s the same age as you.’
Sophie smiled encouragingly. ‘There you are, Bella. I told you there would be other
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