The Mersey Angels

by Sheila Riley

  3

  ‘Do you think any of these lot have actually seen action?’ Anna asked Ellie, her best friend and fellow nurse, as they sat together at the lavish fundraising dinner hosted by Archie and Ruby, knowing the money raised would go towards enabling The Red Cross to equip Ashland Hall, which, it was hoped would become an auxiliary hospital for injured soldiers returning from overseas.

  ‘I doubt some of them have seen their feet in years, never mind action,’ said Ellie through unmoving lips, smiling and nodding to the upper echelon of society. People who did not need much encouragement to open their wallets to attend Aunt Ruby’s popular fundraising dinner parties, the likes of which Ashland Hall and its staff had not seen in many a long year.

  Anna laughed, her eyes skimming the length of the fifteen-foot banqueting table that hosted some of the top masterminds, and her thoughts turned, as always, to Ned. Her darling.

  Engineer, first-class, Ned was a serving Chief Petty Officer in the Royal Navy and had shared so much of her formative twenty-two years. He too had come a long way since he was rescued by Ruby and Archie when his widowed father, a gypsy fist-fighter, was killed. Ned was the one man she loved with every beat of her heart. He and Anna had been friends from the moment they set eyes on each other back in Queen Street along Vauxhall road, before… before her home was burned down that Christmas Eve, six years ago, when she lost her mother and her three brothers. The two youngest died in the fire and Sam was shipped off to Canada by the church.

  Anna had been taken in by Ruby and Archie and had worked in the Emporium. Ned worked for them too and both Anna and Ned regarded Ruby and Archie as their family.

  Ruby gave a knowing smile, she had a good idea that both girls were not enjoying another sumptuous banquet after a full day’s work at the Seaforth Military Hospital, which was full to bursting with injured soldiers who had been brought back from the Front.

  Nevertheless, Ruby knew such functions were necessary to boost funds and hopefully, to enable them to open Ashland Hall as a fine voluntary nursing establishment. Being the best it could possibly be was the least she could do to help her brave boys to recover. All she had to do was persuade Archie that it was a good idea to turn their home into an auxiliary hospital, but she was a mistress of persuasion where her beloved husband was concerned. He would see things her way, she was sure.

  Looking round the banqueting table, where honoured paying guests were enjoying the best food and drink that money could buy, Ruby knew the Reverend Giles Harrington, her abhorrent brother-in-law and mentor of her long-lasting heartache, would have given his eye-teeth to entertain some of this lot. And although Ruby had invited her despised in-law and her mild-mannered sister, May, to Ashland Hall many times, the answer was always the same resounding refusal.

  Maybe Archie had been right after all, Ruby thought, maybe she had invited the vicar so she could rub his nose in her rightful inheritance of Ashland Hall, which the God-fearing cleric had planned to take for his own after she had disgraced her father. Ruby now realised; May would have had no say in any matters concerning Ashland Hall if Giles Harrington had got his grubby paws on their former home after their father was killed.

  However, the reading of her father’s Will proved she, formerly known as Lady Rowena Ashland, was the rightful owner of Ashland Hall, and almost everything else her father owned. Ruby suppressed a secret smile knowing she had never even heard some of the unholy words that came out of the reverend’s mouth before he scuttled off back to Scarborough four years ago. Until her father died, Giles had not known where his sister-in-law, Rowena, was living or that as Ruby Swift she had run a successful business close by on the Liverpool dockside for twenty years.

  Dabbing the corners of her mouth with a fine lawn napkin, Ruby allowed a satisfied smile. Revenge, she thought, truly was a tasty dish when served cold.

  She would have been far happier if Harrington had not ordered her sister, May, to go back to Scarborough with him, however, May was his wife and as such he would expect her to do his bidding. She had been bequeathed the hunting lodge and Ruby knew her sister would have loved to put her own stamp on the self-sufficient, five-bedroomed lodge nestled in the vast grounds of Ashland Hall. But the toady reverend would not hear of her staying on here without him.

  Ruby was aware May’s desires had obviously counted for nothing, as far as Giles Harrington was concerned, and she was glad he was not here, brown-nosing some of the most powerful businessmen in the north-west, some of whom she had discreetly given a financial helping hand, in days when their bank balance needed it most, and were now returning the favour.

  ‘Thank you, Hargreaves,’ Ruby said as her plate was removed. She had reinstated her father’s trusted staff, whom Giles Harrington had dismissed without so much as a thank-you, when he thought May, or rather he, would inherit Ashland Hall. The loyal staff had served the family well over the years, so when Ruby took her rightful place in the great mansion, she was determined to bring them back where they belonged. Those, that is, who had not already volunteered to fight for King and country. These were the people she trusted, and who trusted her.

  The old guard, as her darling Archie called them, knew how to treat important people who enjoyed the cachet of banqueting at the same table as King Edward VII, who had weekended a couple of times a year in days gone by. Ruby intended to uphold Ashland Hall’s quality reputation as an auxiliary hospital and made sure the dinners were a money-raising success.

  ‘This house was legendary in its day,’ Ruby said, regaling her guests, who loved to hear the royal stories they could then pass on. ‘Ashland played host to royalty during the annual Waterloo Cup.’ The Waterloo Cup, as everybody knew, was a three-day event held in February, when Great Altcar hosted the most important event in the hare-coursing year. ‘My father plied his guests with ten-course dinners,’ she told the gathered generals, officers and high-rolling contributors to the cause.

  ‘The banquets were good for business in those days, so my father told me,’ Ellie informed Anna. ‘His Majesty came to Ashland Hall when he attended The Grand National steeplechase at Aintree, just a few miles up the road. Everybody who was anybody wanted an invitation.’

  ‘Nothing has changed there,’ Anna answered. ‘The formal dinners obviously taught Ruby a valuable lesson she would never forget’

  ‘No wonder this lot have no compunction about parting with their money when they have royalty to compete with,’ Ellie whispered to Anna, pleased she had stayed on at Ashland Hall when her parents, May and Giles, went back to Scarborough. ‘To say they dined at the same table as His Majesty is obviously enough to have them reaching for their wallets.’

  ‘Ruby opening her previous account books, more like.’ Anna gave a conspiratorial smile as, having no appetite, she moved her food round her plate. ‘She is determined to do all she can to help her brave boys. She knows these successful men would dare not refuse after her helping hand earlier on in their own careers.’ Anna’s mind was temporarily taken off her worry of Ned serving on board ship in the middle of who-knows-where. If truth be told, Anna wanted to do more than just attend fundraising dinners. The only question was what could she do?

  ‘You seem distracted,’ Ellie said, seeing her friend’s food hardly touched. ‘Are you feeling out of sorts?’

  Ned had been gone twenty months and his letters were becoming more sporadic. The last one she received from him had been read so many times the paper was beginning to grow thin round the edges. She had not heard anything from him for weeks, which made not seeing him even more unbearably raw. However, she was not going to burden Ellie with her worries about her beloved childhood sweetheart who grew to be so much more. ‘I think I’m tired after the large intake of wounded servicemen which came in today,’ Anna answered.

  ‘Yes, we hardly stopped to draw breath. And we also had a talk from a member of The Royal Army Medical Corps who told us they carried out their first successful blood transfusion at the beginning of the year, using b
lood that had been stored and cooled. They are introducing it to military hospitals,’ Ellie told Anna, who knew this medical practice would be a phenomenal turning point if it was made available to all.

  ‘I’ve heard all the hospitals are running out of beds,’ Anna said, wearily.

  ‘I know,’ Ellie answered, ‘the Red Cross are clamouring for private houses to care for the wounded.’

  ‘Ruby wants to turn Ashland Hall into a hospital,’ Anna said, and Ellie nodded.

  ‘Yes, of course, I expected Ruby to want to do such a thing to help the cause. Not to mention the government grant involved.’ Ellie had a gleam in her eye as both girls tried to stifle a giggle. It was a well-known fact that Ruby had a heart of gold. But she also had a strong head for business.

  ‘Who is catching your eye tonight,’ Anna asked when she noticed Ellie’s eyes were frequently drawn to the opposite side of the table, her dark eyelashes fluttering towards a handsome officer in the uniform of the King’s Hussars. Her lingering looks told Anna she was obviously enjoying his attention. Uniforms, being a common sight these days, gave men an air of authority, sophistication and bravery that Ellie could not resist, and Anna knew she was keeping up morale by writing to a few officers who were serving overseas.

  ‘Don’t you think he’s dashing?’ Ellie said, again without moving her lips, but Anna, feeling particularly glum about missing Ned, was not really in the mood to watch another of Ellie’s courting rituals.

  She pushed her plate away, as her eyes took in the huge table groaning under the weight of sumptuous food and drink. Enough to feed a small town, she thought. She had heard the rumours of rationing. Food prices had more than doubled, and a lot of food was being sent to the Front to feed the soldiers. All the news she could glean was from the newspapers and newsreel footage at the cinema.

  She knew the Royal Navy, in retaliation to the German’s Zeppelin raids, were blockading German ports and hunting U-boats. The devastation had hit the innocents on both sides, who suffered as the battle raged on. Ships were being blown out of the water. Even the secretary of state for war, Lord Kitchener, along with hundreds of men, succumbed in June, when the ship on which he had been travelling to Russia, H.M.S. Hampshire, was sunk by a German mine off the Orkney Islands.

  Ned, being part of the Grand Fleet and the biggest navy in the world, was on board a ship carrying soldiers and supplies to the Front, dodging attacks by German submarines. He must be going through a living hell to keep this country safe, she thought, and yet here she was, listening to men who spouted about what should be done when none of them had seen any action yet.

  ‘I’ve heard that reports coming back from the Front will be censored,’ said the owner of The Corby Gazette, a local newspaper that usually covered seaside outings and flower garden competitions, but now in a frenzy of patriotic fervour printed anything that even remotely hinted at news of the war, in a bid to sell as many papers as possible.

  ‘Surely such a thing would not be allowed,’ Archie said as his glass, half-tilted, stilled between the table and his lips. ‘People have a right to know how their loved ones are faring overseas.’

  ‘Apparently, there are too many gory reports,’ said the editor from the Gazette with much authority, ‘it is putting off young men from signing up. Now the initial excitement has worn off somewhat, young bucks are deciding that fighting overseas is something they have no wish to take part in.’

  ‘I must say,’ Ruby told a high-ranking businessman to her right, ‘I don’t think anybody expected the huge number of casualties that are coming back. So, I am not surprised to hear recruitment is on the wane.’

  ‘I heard tell,’ said Anna, joining in the conversation, ‘the powers that be are accepting men who were previously rejected.’

  ‘Yes,’ Ellie agreed, ‘those who were not accepted for service due to weak eyesight, defective teeth or other small physical shortcomings are now being asked to resubmit themselves for medical examination.’

  ‘Do you think you may be called up, Archie?’ Ruby sounded horrified, but Archie shook his head. He knew that his dwindling eyesight was a cause for some concern, and he would not be eligible to fight.

  ‘Not while I am fulfilling my role as a police officer,’ he said, knowing his explanation would pacify Ruby and prevent her asking any more questions.

  ‘I saw a long line of sombre-looking recruits outside the drill hall in Park Street only this morning,’ added Ellie, ‘rumour had it that they had been given white feathers by suffragettes.’ She paused. ‘The hospitals are becoming overwhelmed,’ Ellie informed the gathered company who were in the financial position of being able to offer much-needed charitable aid to the serving troops.

  ‘I take it you have all heard the call for large houses to offer their service,’ Ruby said.

  ‘Here we go,’ Ellie whispered to Anna, ‘the sales pitch.’

  ‘If anyone can get these men to part with their money, Ruby can,’ Anna agreed.

  ‘As you know, we at Ashland Hall were one of the first to offer our services for these poor wretched men being brought back on stretchers, and we are in talks about bringing in an army of able-bodied, dedicated nurses,’ Ruby turned to Ellie and Anna and beamed a proud smile, ‘led by our very own highly trained nursing angels.’

  ‘Is she talking about us?’ Anna was wide-eyed when she asked Ellie as Ruby went on to regale the local dignitaries with hopeful tales of medical care that bordered on the miraculous, in her bid to entice them to contribute to the coffers – and they did.

  ‘Still no word from Ned?’ Ellie asked only half-listening to Ruby’s speech, and Anna shook her head.

  ‘I secretly wished Ned would be injured.’ Anna was shocked at the seriousness of her words and only realised how insensitive they sounded when she saw Ellie’s shocked expression. ‘Not much,’ Anna hastened to assure her friend. ‘Just enough for him to be sent back home, so I could look after him. Care for him. Keep him safe.’ She lowered her gaze to the napkin resting on her lap as shame crept stealthily into her heart. Didn’t every girl think this way? As soon as the enormity of the notion entered her head, she regretted having countenanced such a wicked thought. ‘Of course, I don’t want Ned to be injured,’ she said, fighting back the urge to shed a tear. ‘I just need to see him. He’s been gone so long.’

  Anna missed everything about him. His cheerful repartee, his enthusiasm, his energy. She missed his lips on hers, the manly, musky smell of him when he came in from the fields, the way his large hands gently but securely curled round hers and made her feel safe. They had been friends, then sweethearts. Part of each other’s lives for such a long time. He was the other half of her. Her soul mate. Her one true love.

  This situation felt odd, that he was no longer here to talk to, to have a laugh with, to ask questions and know his reply would be given with that pragmatic, logical opinion she had come to trust.

  Anna sighed, it might feel strange, she thought, but times were strange these days. Nothing was the same any more. Life was challenging for everybody. Nobody was immune, it seemed. Even Lord Kitchener, what chance did poor Ned have?

  ‘Rupert is good-looking in that dashing officer kind of way,’ Ellie whispered, and Anna did her best to shake herself out of the doldrums. ‘He has told me he is off to somewhere called The Somme, have you heard of it?’

  Anna shook her head.

  ‘But not before he takes me to tea at The Adelphi Hotel.’

  ‘Ellie, you are incorrigible,’ Anna raised her first smile of the evening. She really must try to be strong. For Ned’s sake. The thought brought her back to the here and now and pushing her worries to the back of her mind, she said brightly, ‘I wouldn't like to be behind some of this lot in a famine.' Her glance took in the cigar-smoking general, the wily politician – too old to fight but never too old to pontificate – and she knew she could not keep up the pretence.

  ‘Excuse me,’ Anna said, quickly knowing Ellie would not miss her too much when she h
ad a dashing officer like Rupert to keep her company. ‘I’m not feeling too well.’ Her heart was too full of love and despair to entertain the gathered luminaries.

  4

  ‘The Lady Mayoress appealed for women to help with the care of the sick and wounded,’ Ruby said, taking a seat opposite Archie, at the dinner table, ‘I told her Ellie and Anna were capable nurses who will gladly offer their services.’

  Archie said nothing, knowing Anna and Ellie had not given the slightest indication they wished to come back and work in Ashland Hall. But that would be of no consequence to Ruby. He knew his beloved wife assumed that if she had a good idea, then everybody would agree to it.

  ‘There has been a positive and patriotic response to the call for requisites.’ An ardent fundraiser for the suffragist movement, Ruby was now deeply involved with raising money and provisions for the war effort. ‘When I saw neighbours donating hospital provisions, blankets, bandages, and the like, I decided I could donate beds, bedding, pyjamas, anything that might be of help.’

  Archie could almost see Ruby’s mind working overtime with schemes and good ideas. Usually more cautious than his headstrong wife, he could see the immediate need arising to accommodate wounded soldiers coming back from the Front. Ruby on the other hand saw everything in black and white. There were never any grey areas.

  He knew his beloved wife was impulsive and usually right. If she had a notion to do something, then the idea had probably been hovering in the back of her mind for a while, as she got on with all the other busy things she had to do. Then when the concept elbowed its way to the front of her long list, she had already made up her mind to do it, no matter what he thought. Although he never felt the need to disagree with Ruby, knowing she always, even if only to a cursory degree, consulted him first.