‘Sali’s right. I told you, Rhian, I wish I didn’t have a past –’
She held a gloved finger over his lips. ‘It’s not the past that concerns me, Joey, it’s the future. Can’t you understand that?’
He slipped his fingers beneath her chin and lifted her face to his. ‘I solemnly promise you, Rhian, that if you marry me, I will never do anything to hurt you.’
‘Never?’ she whispered, wanting to believe him.
‘Never,’ he reiterated soberly. He slipped the glove from her left hand and took the ring from the box. ‘You’ll take this?’
She looked into his eyes, saw the love mirrored in them and gave him the answer he had been waiting for. ‘Yes.’
Chapter Five
Conscious only of the ring on her finger and Joey sitting beside her, the exhibition passed in a haze for Rhian. The colour, the cries of the cowboys, cowgirls and Indians, the thundering of the horses’ hooves, the smell of horseflesh and cordite when the guns were fired, made little impression. She was aware of the spectacle, but she couldn’t entirely dispel the sensation that she was watching it from a distance or even on screen in the Park Hall.
She gripped Joey’s hand, gasped along with the rest of the audience when they watched the Indian attack on the Deadwood stagecoach, saw Broncho Busters lasso horses and crack their whips. But even the ‘Ride for Life’ where a Cowboy and Indian raced their horses against one another in a re-enactment of an actual event when the loser lost not only his horse, but also his life, failed to rouse her.
All she could think about was the man sitting beside her and their future – together. She imagined their wedding: a small, special occasion with all of his family and Mrs Williams, Miss Julia and the maids at Llan House present. She pictured the dress she’d wear: white, elegant, bridal but not too bridal to wear to a party or dance afterwards. She’d carry flowers – something simple, lilies perhaps – and Bella would be her bridesmaid in a new frock in her favourite pink.
And afterwards she and Joey would honeymoon, hopefully by the sea, which she’d never seen, in a rented cottage. Spending long days and moonlit nights walking on beaches, eating romantic meals in cafés and then a train journey back to Tonypandy and … her blood ran cold as her imagination painted a picture of their daily life.
Joey going to work, not like most men in the Rhondda, dressed in moleskin trousers, flat cap and miners’ boots, but a tailored suit with a waistcoat, white collar, shirt and tie. Coming home as clean as he went out, and in between … She recalled the pretty young girls who worked in the Tonypandy store. Would she turn into a suspicious, nagging, jealous wife? Would Joey really change his wandering ways?
‘Can I get you something to eat or drink? There’s tea, orange juice, buns, biscuits and sweets,’ Joey asked when an intermission was announced so the arena could be prepared for the ‘backwoodsmen’s log chariot race’.
‘Not after that lunch we had at Sali’s.’
‘You ate about as much of that as I did,’ he reminded. ‘And it’s not that warm. How about I get us two hot teas and a packet of biscuits?’
‘If you like.’ Already she didn’t want to let him out of her sight.
‘I won’t be long.’
She felt ridiculously bereft when Joey left her side to join the queue outside the refreshment kiosk. Then a piercing voice she recognized rang down from the seats behind her.
‘Really, Edward, you told me that you had reserved the best seats and here we are, sitting in the same section and only one row away from our parlour maid.’
Rhian glanced behind her and saw Mr and Mrs Larch, Miss Julia, Master Gerald and his friend from the vicarage. Miss Julia mouthed a silent apology but she turned back quickly. It was too late to hide from the mistress but she didn’t want to fuel Mrs Larch’s indignation by staring.
‘Two teas and two buns, they’d run out of biscuits by the time I got to the head of the queue.’ Joey handed Rhian a cup and saucer. ‘Mrs Larch, Miss Larch, Mr Larch, boys.’ He acknowledged Edward and his family.
‘Mr Evans, Rhian. Wonderful show, isn’t it?’ Edward answered.
‘Yes, it is, Mr Larch.’ Setting the buns and his tea on his seat, Joey lifted his hat to the Larch ladies.
Taking courage from Joey, Rhian turned to her employers and said a shy ‘hello’. Mrs Larch ignored her but Julia gave her a broad conspiratorial smile. She had just lent her James Fenimore Cooper’s The Last of the Mohicans and the exhibition couldn’t have been more perfect to conjure up the atmosphere of the Wild West.
Joey took his seat. ‘Enjoying the exhibition?’
‘It’s wonderful.’
He lowered his voice. ‘I heard what Mrs Larch said.’
‘I am her parlour maid –’
‘And you have every right to sit in the seats we paid for,’ he said warmly.
‘Sometimes you sound just like Lloyd and your father.’
‘I might not be a fully paid-up member of the Communist party like them, but I believe just as fervently in the doctrine of liberty, fraternity, equality and workers’ rights.’ That time he didn’t bother to soften his voice and Mabel Larch exhaled sharply behind them. The band struck up a march and the brass instruments drowned out all chance of further conversation.
Broncho Bill moved into the centre of the ring, the horses drew the log chariots into a circle ranged along the outer edge. Broncho Bill fired his gun, the horses reared, Joey squeezed her hand under cover of her coat and the race began.
‘Mr Larch seems a nice man.’ Joey acknowledged Rhian’s employer and his family again when they joined the crowd streaming away from the marquee.
‘He is kind and thoughtful, his first wife was too.’
‘You’ve not said much about his second.’ He took her hand and guided her through the mass of people. ‘In fact, you never say much about life in Llan House, apart from the doings of Mrs Williams and the other maids.’
‘Servants should never talk about their employers outside or inside the house.’
‘That sounds like one of Mrs Williams’s maxims.’
‘You’re beginning to recognize them.’
‘But if what the second Mrs Larch said about not wanting to sit close to one of her maids is an indication as to what she’s like –’
‘It is, and I’ll say no more on the subject,’ she interrupted. She had been terrified of Mrs Larch ever since she’d slapped her, and she didn’t want to discuss her with Joey for fear she’d let something slip. He and Sali had questioned her long and hard about the bruises on her face and she’d never been entirely sure that they’d believed her story about colliding with Bronwen in a doorway. The mistress had a hot temper, but Joey’s was worse, and there was no saying what he’d do if he discovered that Mrs Larch had harmed her. She looked around. ‘We’re walking into town?’
‘I told you I have to call into the store. I’ll only be a few minutes. You don’t mind, do you?’
‘Of course not.’
‘I thought we’d accept Sali’s invitation to tea, that way we can talk about our engagement on the way back when we won’t be surrounded by people. And we can also break the news to Sali and Lloyd when he comes home from work.’
‘I’m wearing your ring so there’s nothing more to talk about.’
‘Given the trouble I had in getting you to accept it, there’s lots to talk about. Like where and when we are going to get married, where we are going to honeymoon, where we are going to live. What kind of furniture and china we are going to buy –’
‘We’ve months to settle all that,’ she broke in quickly.
‘Months! I’d like to get married before the summer.’
‘Joey, let’s not talk about this now,’ she urged as a tall, fat man pushed his elbow into her face.
‘I don’t think I’ve ever seen Ponty so full.’ He sidestepped past the man only to find himself in the centre of a crowd of giggling girls.
By walking in the road instead of the pavement, th
ey finally managed to push their way through Bridge Street and Taff Street into Market Square.
‘I’ll have a look around ladies’ fashions while you search for your boots.’ Rhian smiled at the doorman who ushered them into the store.
‘There’s an excellent bridalwear department.’ He bent his head to hers and she pushed him away.
‘Not in public.’
‘That’s another thing we have to discuss,’ he whispered. ‘The list is growing longer by the minute.’
‘Mr Evans.’
‘Miss Gulliford, beautiful as ever.’ He took the middle-aged supervisor’s hand, lifted it to his lips and kissed it. ‘Is Mr Horton in his office?’
Rhian watched him flirt with Miss Gulliford before walking away. Joey was right; they did have a lot to discuss. And she suspected that he wasn’t going to like some of the things she was going to say.
‘Mr Watkin Jones is stocktaking, Mr Evans. He should be able to help you locate the boots, that’s if they were delivered here by mistake.’ Mr Horton reached for the bell on his desk. ‘Can I offer you a cup of tea before you go upstairs?’
‘No, thank you, Mr Horton. As I said, this is my day off and I’ve promised to visit my brother.’
‘Well, as you trained here, you should know your way to the stockrooms.’
‘I haven’t forgotten my way around, Mr Horton.’ Glad to be dismissed from the strait-laced, excessively formal manager’s presence so easily, Joey left the office and strode down the corridor to the lifts. He pressed the button and the liftboy opened the cage doors.
‘Stockroom, please.’
‘Yes, Mr Evans.’
‘You’re Geoff Matthews’s brother, aren’t you?’ Joey asked, seeing a resemblance between the red-headed boy and a stockroom assistant who worked for him in Tonypandy.
‘Yes, sir. Anything going in Tonypandy, sir?’ the boy asked as the lift travelled upwards.
‘You’re not happy here?’ Joey braced himself when the lift juddered to a halt.
‘Not happy working on the lift, sir. I’ve been on it now for six months, and I hardly see daylight during working hours.’
‘So what do you want to do?’
‘Work on menswear.’
‘You mean you want the suit that comes with an assistant’s job.’ Joey knew that no boy past the age of fourteen liked wearing the pageboy outfit of the lift operator. ‘Have you talked to Mr Horton about how you feel?’
‘Me, talk to Mr Horton, sir? No,’ the boy gasped.
‘Mr Watkin Jones then.’
‘I can’t talk to the managers, sir.’
‘You’re talking to me,’ Joey reminded.
‘Our Geoff said he can talk to you about anything, sir. That’s why I asked if there was anything going in Tonypandy.’
Joey suppressed a smile. His management style had raised a few eyebrows amongst the trustees of Harry’s estate when he had first taken over the Tonypandy store. But when the sales figures of Gwilym James in Tonypandy had risen beyond even their expectations, they’d ceased questioning his decisions. ‘You’ll never get on if you won’t talk to the managers here, boy. Tell you what, I’ll mention it to Miss Gulliford, she can bring the matter up with Mr Horton for you.’
‘You won’t have a word on my behalf with him, would you, sir?’ The boy opened the lift doors.
‘I manage the Tonypandy store, not this one, but I will talk to Miss Gulliford, and I suggest you do the same.’
‘I’ll try, sir.’ The boy climbed back into the lift and closed the cage doors.
Joey walked down the corridor that housed the stockrooms. Every door was marked with the name of a department. He stopped outside ‘footwear’ and turned the doorknob. It seemed stiff but he tried again and it burst open. Only then did he realize that the door had been locked.
Geraint Watkin Jones was kneeling between the splayed legs of a dark-haired girl, his trousers and underpants down around his ankles; her drawers lay, discarded, at their feet.
Embarrassed, but not as mortified as Tonia and Geraint appeared to be, Joey muttered, ‘Sorry, I was looking for some boots,’ before closing the door.
A few seconds later Geraint emerged into the corridor, red-faced and blustering. ‘We were stocktaking.’
‘You do know that Tonia is my cousin,’ Joey informed him frigidly.
‘It’s not what it looks like. We’re engaged.’
‘Funny, her mother never said a word to me about it the last time I saw her.’ Joey crossed his arms and confronted Geraint head on.
‘We haven’t told her yet.’
‘Could that be because Tonia’s only eighteen and you know Connie wouldn’t give you permission to marry?’
‘We need time –’
‘You might be Sali’s brother, but you’re lower than a bloody worm, Geraint,’ Joey hissed, losing his temper. ‘You don’t give a fig about Tonia; you’re after her mother’s money and business. And by taking down Tonia’s drawers you hope to get her pregnant so Connie will have to let you marry her.’
‘That is a foul thing to say, Joey, especially after the number of girls’ drawers you’ve taken down.’
Eyes blazing, Tonia wrenched open the stockroom door and joined them. ‘I love Geraint and he loves me.’
‘He’s using you!’ Joey countered. ‘This is your penniless spendthrift father and mother all over again.’
Tonia lifted her hand and slapped Joey across the face.
‘Hit me if you like.’ Joey rubbed his face but made no effort to retaliate. ‘It won’t change anything. And let’s see how strong this great love of yours is after I’ve told Geraint who owns Rodney’s Provisions.’
‘What do you mean?’ Geraint said.
‘Connie’s father was so worried that her husband would gamble away his business and life savings that he left everything to Lloyd. And, knowing my brother, if you do force Tonia to marry you, he’ll see that you don’t get a single penny of Connie’s money, or a share of her business.’
‘Is this true?’ Geraint demanded of Tonia.
‘What if it is?’ Tonia dismissed carelessly. ‘It doesn’t matter. We love one another. You said we’d elope. That we’d marry in Scotland. Tell Joey that you’re arranging everything.’
‘I am, but we have to be practical, Tonia.’
‘Practical. You sound like my mother. We’re in love … we …’
Tonia looked from Geraint to Joey. In one blinding instant she saw him through Joey’s eyes. Joey opened his arms. But she held back, standing firm and upright as tears poured down her cheeks. ‘I hate you, Joey Evans. Hate you! As long as I live I’ll never forgive you for this.’
‘I’m sorry, Tonia.’ He glared at Sali’s brother. ‘I’ll see you again, Geraint, and when I do it will be a pleasure for me.’ Forgetting all about the boots, he walked away.
Tonia ran after him. ‘Promise, Joey, you won’t tell anyone what you saw. Promise! You have to promise!’ Her voice rose hysterically. She rested her hand on his shoulder. ‘Promise!’
‘I promise, Tonia.’ Knowing that if he looked at Geraint again he’d hit him, he didn’t turn around.
He heard Tonia run back down the corridor. The stockroom door slammed shut. He heard Geraint knocking at it and calling Tonia’s name, but he didn’t look back. Devastated by the thought of how Geraint had hurt the girl he’d regarded as his little sister, he stood in front of the lift cage and pressed the button.
‘Did something happen in the store?’ Rhian asked. She and Joey had walked back through the town and were heading over the bridge towards Ynysangharad House.
‘What makes you ask?’ he answered warily.
‘You’ve a face like thunder and you’ve hardly said a word since we left.’
Already regretting his promise to Tonia, because the last thing he wanted was to begin his engagement to Rhian by lying to her, Joey decided a half-truth was better than an outright evasion. ‘I had an argument with Geraint Watkin Jones.’ He squeezed her
hand lightly. ‘I’m sorry, I’m a fool to let it upset me and spoil what’s left of our day.’
Rhian returned the pressure of his fingers. Having suffered from Geraint’s arrogance herself, she was aware of the hostility between Sali’s brother and Lloyd’s family and respected Joey’s decision not to burden her with the details.
‘So,’ Joey determinedly pushed the scene in the stockroom into the ‘to be thought of later’ compartment of his mind, ‘what do you say to a June wedding?’
‘That would be lovely. It will give us over a year to plan everything.’
‘A year! No, no, no, that won’t do at all. I was talking about this June.’
‘But it’s April already.’
‘Father Kelly will only need three weeks to call the banns so we could make it May.’ He chose to deliberately misunderstand her.
‘Joey, I’ve only just agreed to marry you.’
‘You need time to get used to the idea?’ He stopped to open one of the high gates to the drive.
‘Frankly, yes.’ She walked through and waited for him to close it.
‘I’d be happy to walk up the aisle with you tomorrow.’
She took his arm again. ‘Then you want Father Kelly to marry us in your Catholic Church?’
‘Not if you want to marry me in your Methodist Chapel,’ he answered easily.
‘I’d like to know more about your religion.’ Her brother had insisted that she attend chapel with him twice every Sunday until she had run away and left him. Since then she had attended the chapel in Tonypandy with Mrs Williams and the rest of the staff of Llan House, but it was more from habit than any strong religious feelings or commitment on her part.
‘Surely you don’t want to convert?’ Joey was alarmed at the thought of the time it would take Father Kelly to instruct her, time which would undoubtedly delay their wedding.
‘I don’t know enough about Catholicism to answer that.’
‘If you ask Father Kelly to tell you about the Catholic Church, you’ll convert,’ he predicted dryly. ‘Please, don’t feel that you have to. Megan hasn’t, and neither has Sali, but then Lloyd’s a Communist and atheist like my father so he wouldn’t want her to. There’s a nice enough service for mixed couples, we’ll go for that one.’
Sinners and Shadows Page 9
