‘I’m afraid she’s very bad.’
‘D’yer think she’s goin’ ter die?’ she asked, dropping her voice to a whisper.
‘I’m afraid so!’
As the doctor sat down by Liza’s side Mrs. Hodges turned round and significantly nodded to Mrs. Kemp, who put her handkerchief to her eyes. Then she went outside to the little group waiting at the door.
‘Wot does the doctor sy?’ they asked, among them Tom.
‘’E says just wot I’ve been sayin’ all along; I knew she wouldn’t live.’
And Tom burst out: ‘Oh, Liza!’
As she retired a woman remarked:
‘Mrs. ‘Odges is very clever, I think.’
‘Yus,’ remarked another, ‘she got me through my last confinement simply wonderful. If it come to choosin’ between ‘em I’d back Mrs. ‘Odges against forty doctors.’
‘Ter tell yer the truth, so would I. I’ve never known ‘er wrong yet.’
Mrs. Hodges sat down beside Mrs. Kemp and proceeded to comfort her.
‘Why don’t yer tike a little drop of brandy ter calm yer nerves, Mrs. Kemp?’ she said, ‘you want it.’
‘I was just feelin’ rather faint, an’ I couldn’t ‘elp thinkin’ as ‘ow twopenneth of whisky ‘ud do me good.’
‘Na, Mrs. Kemp,’ said Mrs. Hodges, earnestly, putting her hand on the other’s arm. ‘You tike my tip—when you’re queer there’s nothin’ like brandy for pullin’ yer togither. I don’t object to whisky myself, but as a medicine yer can’t beat brandy.’
‘Well, I won’t set up myself as knowin’ better than you Mrs. ‘Odges; I’ll do wot you think right.’
Quite accidentally there was some in the room, and Mrs. Kemp poured it out for herself and her friend.
‘I’m not in the ‘abit of tikin’ anythin’ when I’m aht on business,’ she apologized, ‘but just ter keep you company I don’t mind if I do.’
‘Your ‘ealth. Mrs. ‘Odges.’
‘Sime ter you, an’ thank yer, Mrs. Kemp.’
Liza lay still, breathing very quietly, her eyes closed. The doctor kept his fingers on her pulse.
‘I’ve been very unfortunate of lite,’ remarked Mrs. Hodges, as she licked her lips, ‘this mikes the second death I’ve ‘ad in the last ten days—women, I mean, of course I don’t count bibies.’
‘Yer don’t sy so.’
‘Of course the other one—well, she was only a prostitute, so it didn’t so much matter. It ain’t like another woman is it?’
‘Na, you’re right.’
‘Still, one don’t like ‘em ter die, even if they are thet. One mustn’t be too ‘ard on ‘em.’
‘Strikes me you’ve got a very kind ‘eart, Mrs. ‘Odges,’ said Mrs. Kemp.
‘I ‘ave thet; an’ I often says it ‘ud be better for my peace of mind an’ my business if I ‘adn’t. I ‘ave ter go through a lot, I do; but I can say this for myself, I always gives satisfaction, an’ thet’s somethin’ as all lidies in my line can’t say.’
They sipped their brandy for a while.
‘It’s a great trial ter me that this should ‘ave ‘appened,’ said Mrs. Kemp, coming to the subject that had been disturbing her for some time. ‘Mine’s always been a very respectable family, an’ such a thing as this ‘as never ‘appened before. No, Mrs. ‘Odges, I was lawfully married in church, an’ I’ve got my marriage lines now ter show I was, an’ thet one of my daughters should ‘ave gone wrong in this way—well, I can’t understand it. I give ‘er a good education, an’ she ‘ad all the comforts of a ‘ome. She never wanted for nothin’; I worked myself to the bone ter keep ‘er in luxury, an’ then thet she should go an’ disgrace me like this!’
‘I understand wot yer mean. Mrs. Kemp.’
‘I can tell you my family was very respectable; an’ my ‘usband, ‘e earned twenty-five shillings a week, an’ was in the sime plice seventeen years; an’ ‘is employers sent a beautiful wreath ter put on ‘is coffin; an’ they tell me they never ‘ad such a good workman an’ sich an ‘onest man before. An’ me! Well, I can sy this—I’ve done my duty by the girl, an’ she’s never learnt anythin’ but good from me. Of course I ain’t always been in wot yer might call flourishing circumstances, but I’ve always set her a good example, as she could tell yer so ‘erself if she wasn’t speechless.’
Mrs. Kemp paused for a moment’s reflection.
‘As they sy in the Bible,’ she finished, ‘it’s enough ter mike one’s grey ‘airs go dahn into the ground in sorrer. I can show yer my marriage certificate. Of course one doesn’t like ter say much, because of course she’s very bad; but if she got well I should ‘ave given ‘er a talkin’ ter.’
There was another knock.
‘Do go an’ see ‘oo thet is; I can’t, on account of my rheumatics.’
Mrs. Hodges opened the door. It was Jim.
He was very white, and the blackness of his hair and beard, contrasting with the deathly pallor of his face, made him look ghastly. Mrs. Hodges stepped back.
‘’Oo’s ‘e?’ she said, turning to Mrs. Kemp.
Jim pushed her aside and went up to the bed.
‘Doctor, is she very bad?’ he asked.
The doctor looked at him questioningly.
Jim whispered: ‘It was me as done it. She ain’t goin’ ter die, is she?’
The doctor nodded.
‘O God! wot shall I do? It was my fault! I wish I was dead!’
Jim took the girl’s head in his hands, and the tears burst from his eyes.
‘She ain’t dead yet, is she?’
‘She’s just living,’ said the doctor.
Jim bent down.
‘Liza, Liza, speak ter me! Liza, say you forgive me! Oh, speak ter me!’
His voice was full of agony. The doctor spoke.
‘She can’t hear you.’
‘Oh, she must hear me! Liza! Liza!’
He sank on his knees by the bedside.
They all remained silent: Liza lying stiller than ever, her breast unmoved by the feeble respiration, Jim looking at her very mournfully; the doctor grave, with his fingers on the pulse. The two women looked at Jim.
‘Fancy it bein’ ‘im!’ said Mrs. Kemp. ‘Strike me lucky, ain’t ‘e a sight!’
‘You ‘ave got ‘er insured, Mrs. Kemp?’ asked the midwife. She could bear the silence no longer.
‘Trust me fur thet!’ replied the good lady. ‘I’ve ‘ad ‘er insured ever since she was born. Why, only the other dy I was sayin’ ter myself thet all thet money ‘ad been wisted, but you see it wasn’t; yer never know yer luck, you see!’
‘Quite right, Mrs. Kemp; I’m a rare one for insurin’. It’s a great thing. I’ve always insured all my children.’
‘The way I look on it is this,’ said Mrs. Kemp—’wotever yer do when they’re alive, an’ we all know as children is very tryin’ sometimes, you should give them a good funeral when they dies. Thet’s my motto, an’ I’ve always acted up to it.’
‘Do you deal with Mr. Stearman?’ asked Mrs. Hodges.
‘No, Mrs. ‘Odges, for undertikin’ give me Mr. Footley every time. In the black line ‘e’s fust an’ the rest nowhere!’
‘Well, thet’s very strange now—thet’s just wot I think. Mr. Footley does ‘is work well, an’ ‘e’s very reasonable. I’m a very old customer of ‘is, an’ ‘e lets me ‘ave things as cheap as anybody.’
‘Does ‘e indeed! Well Mrs. ‘Odges if it ain’t askin’ too much of yer, I should look upon it as very kind if you’d go an’ mike the arrangements for Liza.’
‘Why, certainly, Mrs. Kemp. I’m always willin’ ter do a good turn to anybody, if I can.’
‘I want it done very respectable,’ said Mrs. Kemp; ‘I’m not goin’ ter stint for nothin’ for my daughter’s funeral. I like plumes, you know, although they is a bit extra.’
‘Never you fear, Mrs. Kemp, it shall be done as well as if it was for my own ‘usbind, an’ I can’t say more than thet. Mr. Footley thinks a
deal of me, ‘e does! Why, only the other dy as I was goin’ inter ‘is shop ‘e says “Good mornin’, Mrs. ‘Odges.” “Good mornin’, Mr. Footley,” says I. “You’ve jest come in the nick of time,” says ‘e. “This gentleman an’ myself,” pointin’ to another gentleman as was standin’ there, “we was ‘avin’ a bit of an argument. Now you’re a very intelligent woman, Mrs. ‘Odges, and a good customer too.” “I can say thet for myself,” say I, “I gives yer all the work I can.” “I believe you,” says ‘e. “Well,” ‘e says, “now which do you think? Does hoak look better than helm, or does helm look better than hoak? Hoak versus helm, thet’s the question.” “Well, Mr. Footley,” says I, “for my own private opinion, when you’ve got a nice brass plite in the middle, an’ nice brass ‘andles each end, there’s nothin’ like hoak.” “Quite right,” says ‘e, “thet’s wot I think; for coffins give me hoak any day, an’ I ‘ope,” says ‘e, “when the Lord sees fit ter call me to ‘Imself, I shall be put in a hoak coffin myself.” “Amen,” says I.’
‘I like hoak,’ said Mrs. Kemp. ‘My poor ‘usband ‘e ‘ad a hoak coffin. We did ‘ave a job with ‘im, I can tell yer. You know ‘e ‘ad dropsy, an’ ‘e swell up—oh, ‘e did swell; ‘is own mother wouldn’t ‘ave known ‘im. Why, ‘is leg swell up till it was as big round as ‘is body, swop me bob, it did.’
‘Did it indeed!’ ejaculated Mrs. Hodges.
‘Yus, an’ when ‘e died they sent the coffin up. I didn’t ‘ave Mr. Footley at thet time; we didn’t live ‘ere then, we lived in Battersea, an’ all our undertikin’ was done by Mr. Brownin’; well, ‘e sent the coffin up, an’ we got my old man in, but we couldn’t get the lid down, he was so swell up. Well, Mr. Brownin’, ‘e was a great big man, thirteen stone if ‘e was a ounce. Well, ‘e stood on the coffin, an’ a young man ‘e ‘ad with ‘im stood on it too, an’ the lid simply wouldn’t go dahn; so Mr. Browning’, ‘e said, “Jump on, missus,” so I was in my widow’s weeds, yer know, but we ‘ad ter git it dahn, so I stood on it, an’ we all jumped, an’ at last we got it to, an’ screwed it; but, lor’, we did ‘ave a job; I shall never forget it.’
Then all was silence. And a heaviness seemed to fill the air like a grey blight, cold and suffocating; and the heaviness was Death. They felt the presence in the room, and they dared not move, they dared not draw their breath. The silence was terrifying.
Suddenly a sound was heard—a loud rattle. It was from the bed and rang through the room, piercing the stillness.
The doctor opened one of Liza’s eyes and touched it, then he laid on her breast the hand he had been holding, and drew the sheet over her head.
Jim turned away with a look of intense weariness on his face, and the two women began weeping silently. The darkness was sinking before the day, and a dim, grey light came through the window. The lamp spluttered out.
The Great Exotic Novels and Short Stories of Somerset Maugham Page 75
