A New Dream, Maggie Ford [books to read romance txt] 📗

to her sister’s in Hoxton, not too far away, and had promised not to lose touch with her former employer’s wife. It had occurred to her that they were now on equal footing but she tactfully refrained from saying so. She’d tried to wave away the wage Julia’s mother had pressed into her hand, protesting that she’d stayed on out of friendship, but had finally accepted.

‘Here’s me address, Mrs Longfield,’ she said, handing her a slip of paper as they got into the taxi. ‘Now keep in touch, won’t you, Madam? If you need anything, please write. Me sister don’t have no telephone.’

Neither will we any longer, Julia thought bitterly as her mother did her best to stifle tears. She knew just how her mother felt. The parting was overwhelming her too, but she held back her own sorrow.

‘Thank you, Mrs Granby,’ she said on behalf of her mother who was almost falling into the taxi with Stephanie holding on to her. ‘You’ve been a good friend and we will keep in touch. And thank you for all your kindness in staying on with us.’

‘You’re very welcome,’ Mrs Granby gulped. ‘Take care of yourselves, all of you.’

She remained standing there as Julia climbed into the taxi and the vehicle whisked them away. With a last wave, Julia settled in beside her mother and put an arm about her shoulders. ‘We’re going to be all right, Mummy,’ she soothed. ‘Nothing lasts for ever, not even horrible things.’

Her hopeful words made very little difference to her mother who was still weighted down with misery by the time they reached their destination. Nor was the first sight of their new home likely to improve the woman’s feelings. Victoria’s face creased again at the sight of the upper windows of the flat, situated above a run-down-looking haberdasher’s in the street that branched off the western end of Bethnal Green Road.

With Stephanie and Virginia supporting her, and young James dragging his feet at the rear, it was left to Julia to pay the taxi driver. She turned hastily away from his sour expression at the size of her tip, reflecting that he was no doubt in better financial straits than they at this moment. Walking away from the taxi, she followed her family down the short alley beside the grubby-looking shop to a door that served the flats.

Stephanie’s face was a picture as they entered the dark hallway to the stairs. ‘Is this all our father’s solicitor could come up with?’

‘He didn’t have to come up with anything,’ Julia said sharply, but quickly mellowed, too unhappy to argue. ‘He doesn’t act for us now. We can’t afford to pay him any longer. It was nice of him to find this for us.’

‘But here!’ Stephanie burst out. ‘Surely he could have recommended something better than this? With father’s business gone we didn’t have to go on living this side of London. Couldn’t he have found something nearer the West End?’ Hating to face her old friends she now wanted to move as far away as possible, where no one knew her, reacting in a similar way to her mother.

‘This was all we could afford,’ Julia snapped as she began leading them up the stairs, the others helping their still drooping mother.

Yes, it was early days and grief would be with them for some time to come, thought Julia as she now led the way. But the sooner her mother began to face up to realities the better. What had happened couldn’t be changed and lamenting the past wasn’t going to help. It could even make things worse than they were.

She wasn’t being hard. She too was nursing her own misery but she was not her mother and realized that she would never really know just how Victoria felt. She hadn’t much loved her father, but her mother had and was now thoroughly lost without him. That much she could understand.

Two flights of stairs, passing the first-floor flat on the way, brought them to their own door. Inserting the key, Julia opened it to step straight into the kitchen. Behind her she heard the shocked gasps of the others. And who could blame them, she thought.

‘At least the place is furnished and in a reasonable condition,’ she said quickly, but that didn’t seem to impress her family as they stood in the tiny space, five people immediately becoming a crowd.

To add to the difficulty, it was made even smaller by having three doors: the one they’d just entered; another to the living room; and a third Julia knew led to the narrow back bedroom which she had already told herself would be James’s. The larger front bedroom that led off the living room would be for the rest of them. Mother would be pleased! Julia almost smiled at the uncalled-for thought.

Under the small kitchen window that overlooked a back yard was a stained butler sink and a small wooden draining board, next to it a black gas stove, clean but old and against one wall a small wooden table with shelves above it.

On a hook near the sink hung the tin bath. Julia looked quickly away, remembering the spacious bathroom in their old house.

‘Through here,’ she said before any of them could speak, and led the way through to the living room.

It could have been worse, she told herself fiercely as she gazed about, trying not to think of the spacious, cosy home they’d just left; the home she had thought she would never leave until her marriage. Her mind flew instantly to Chester and she felt her eyes grow moist and her throat tighten.

‘Dear God, but this is awful!’ Stephanie broke out. Her sister, having helped their mother to the well-scuffed brown leatherette settee, was gazing around in horror.

Stemming her tears, Julia swung round on her. ‘What were you expecting then, Buckingham Palace?’ she spat.

Stephanie hardly noticed. ‘Is this all you could find for us, Julia? Honestly, there’s hardly room to have a good sneeze! Surely