THE BONDAGE OF LOVE (26 page)

And she said, "Oh, it hasn't been priced yet, dear; I'm just sorting. But wait a minute! Give it me here." I took it off and handed it to her, and she went out and along a passage, and I heard her call, "Gwenda!" Then after some prattle she comes back and says, "It's such a good coat and it's hardly been worn, you know. But Gwenda says, and she knows about furs, and she thinks the collar is Russian mink, but that it's been tacked on. You see?

At the back." She began to show me.

Then she said, "But I'm afraid it will be six pounds. Because you wouldn't get anything like that under sixty now." And when I said straightaway, "I'll take it," she said, "Oh, that's nice, dear ... And look at this!" And what did she do but bring this out? " Daisy now took off her coat, then plucking at the front other dress, she said," "This would suit you," she said, "and this too hasn't been worn much either. They go under the arms, dear, you know; it's the perspiration.

But this shows no sign of wear. " When Daisy lifted up her arm, they all started to laugh, and she said, " She was right. No sweat marks.

Then out she brings a two-piece. It was brown and a lovely thick material.

And it had something in its favour for me. Anyway, the skirt didn't reach me knees. "

"How much did you pay for that?"

"Three-fifty, and I could see then why only a certain type came to this shop: for that three-fifty, in the Oxfam shop in Broad Street, you could buy a complete outfit."

"Did she bring your boots, too, out of the basket?" It was Willie, and he was grinning at her. And she said, "Oh, me boots? No. Now they were a bargain. And she told me the history of them. Umpteen people must have

tried them on, and she said she always told them not to pull the zip of the right hand one well up, because it stuck; once they got it up, they couldn't get it down. And she said, " You know, it's true, because there was one day if took half an hour to release the customer. And so, since then, when I warn people they must be careful of the zip and not to take it right up, it seems to put them off. So they have lain there this past year, and they're a beautiful pair of boots. " She asked my size, and when I said five, she said

" How wonderful! Would you like to try them? " Well, I tried them. And look!"

She turned her right leg to the side to show them the zip stopped two inches from the top.

"Why don't you try closing it?" said Bill, on a laugh.

"I'll open it for you."

"Not on your life! I'd have to go to bed in them. But' - nodding towards Fiona now she said, 'they are lovely inside. Sheepskin."

"How much did she sting you for those?" asked Sammy.

"Just a pound," she said, "I think she was glad to get rid of them."

Fiona said in amazement, "A pound! D'you know. Daisy, that quality and that size would cost anything from eighty to a hundred today."

That a fact? "

"That's a fact. I paid sixty-five pounds for Katie's ankle boots, and they're nothing compared with those."

Straightaway putting out her hand, Daisy pushed Katie in the shoulder,

saying, "Well, I've got one up on you at last."

Before Katie could retaliate Sammy asked, "What did Mike get?"

"Oh, well, you wouldn't believe it." Daisy shook her head.

"You should have seen how he came down those stairs; and I've never seen him look so ... well, the only word I can say is, happy. As you know, Sammy, Mike's always got a perpetual scowl against life; but he looked handsome. He did. Well, he was never bad-looking."

"I thought he was very good-looking," put in Katie.

"Oh, you did?" Daisy had turned quickly towards Katie.

"I'll tell him, then."

"Yes, do. Quite macho."

"Oh-ho!" Daisy laughed now.

"That'll tickle him."

"Anyway," Sammy said, 'tell us, woman, what did he get? "

"Well, he got two pairs of smashing trousers, lovely stuff, and a tweed jacket, the like he has never had. But the main thing was the overcoat, and he kept telling me it was a Crombie, made in Scotland.

I've never seen him go over the top about clothes before; but then he's never had anything like that. "

"Well, if it's a Crombie, it's the tops."

She looked at Bill and said, "Well, it looks it. It's a fawnish colour, almost a light brown, and you would swear he'd had it made to measure. I tell you, I've never seen our Mike look so happy. He also got two shirts and a pair of boots. Oh yes, and a pair of shoes. And Miss Gwenda must have fallen for him, because she put all his odds and ends in a plain bag. And when me da saw the stuff he was absolutely miffed; and me ma's going there to get him some odds and ends."

"How much did he spend altogether?" Willie asked.

"Eighteen pounds. And' - again she was nodding at Bill 'he could only do that because of you. And if over these holidays you've made anybody happier than the rest, I think it's him. I'll never forget his face when he came down those stairs into the lower shop in that coat."

"And what did all yours cost you?" Katie was asking.

"Fourteen pounds-fifty. But mind, I could have had four of me usual rig-outs for that, and a hairdo."

"Well, thank God, we've been saved any more shocks."

"Oh you!" She jerked her head towards Bill, and in answer, he said, "You, an' all." And they smiled at each other. Then turning to Fiona, Daisy said,

"You know something? I can't get over the old girl

in that shop. She must have been . well, kicking seventy herself;

the veins on the back of her hands were standing out like pike staffs

"Is that how you tell age?"

She turned to Willie now, saying, "Yes, it is, in a way. But ... but there she was, at a holiday time, sorting out all that stuff, and likely would keep open all day. And it's voluntary, you know. Oh, yes, she looked a voluntary type, and I bet she wasn't in need of a penny either. Well, when you wear Chanel, you must have a bit put by."

"Chanel scent, you mean?"

"Yes, Chanel scent, that's what I mean."

She jerked her head towards Bill now, and when he said, "How d'you know about Chanel?" she almost snapped back "That's my business!

Anyway, I bet I know more about it than you do. "

"I bet you don't. I've paid thirty pounds for a bottle of it for her mother.

And that monkey there," he stabbed his finger towards Katie, 'she poured the lot over herself. But' - he smiled now 'it saved you from being murdered, didn't it? "

"How's that?"

"Oh, it's another long story. But how did you recognise the smell of Chanel?"

"It's a private matter."

"Well, that's not going to stop you from telling us, is it?"

She looked at Fiona, saying, "He's nosey, isn't he?"

"Yes. Yes, he is nosey. Daisy. But I, too, would like to hear."

"Well, all right then. But let it be a warning to you." She turned back to Bill, making a deep obeisance with her head.

"Well, it's like this. There were three bosses at our place. One we called Highchurch.

He was the fellow who built the concern, and he would pop in every now and again. Lowchapel, as we used to call the second, was a stiff-neck.

The third one we'll call Mr. X. He was very popular. Not that I saw

anything of him, for the offices were right over at the other side of the yard, and being down in the basement . By the way, did I tell you, I've been promoted? I'm head of the packing section now. Eight under me. "

"Oh, that's good!" This came from all quarters. And as they looked at her, they registered her pleasure, for her face looked bright, her round dark eyes twinkling. Then she said, "To get on. The Chanel business started, oh, long before that. I've only been in my elevated position for the last five weeks, and it's got one drawback; I can't make any more excuses about going sick, or mema being in bed, or some other futile excuse, because I was never believed.

Anyway, the manageress upstairs has been known to say, " If they are a trouble'" she now mimicked the voice of the manageress " give them a little power, and it works wonders. " So that's what they did with me."

When the laughter died down she went on, "I'd never seen this bloke this third boss, more than twice and then from a distance. Until one night I was crossing the yard with the lasses and he was going the other way to get into his car, one of those

BMWs, you know, a smasher, and he smiled at us. The others went all goofy and giggly, but not me. Mind, he was a good-looking bloke and even my mates used to ooh and ah about him. Well, I've never oohed and ahed about anybody and I wasn't going to start about him. " She now pulled a face, " And anyway, I wasn't like the rest, was I? And he must have noticed. "

I bet he did. "

Again she was nodding towards Bill, saying, "Being of the male tribe, you would." Then turning quickly and almost apologetically, she said to Fiona,

"I can't help it, Mrs. Bailey; he asks for it."

"Well, if he asks for it," said Fiona, 'you give him back as much as he sends. You have my free permission

"Well, that's good enough for me. Anyway, where was I? Oh aye. The night that I was a little late in coming out; it was the Friday and the parcels all had to go out, and I was by me self when I went out of the gates and making for the bus stop, and he comes along right up to the kerb, stops the car and says, " Can I give you a lift? " Well, well!" She drew in a long breath here.

"What did I say to that? Well, I poked me head in the window and said, me ma says, no!"

There was a gurgle from around the room and Bill said, "What did you say?"

"You heard. I said, me ma says, no!"

"Well was that any kind of answer to give him?"

"Yes, it was. Oh, yes, it was, 'cos I guessed what he was after."

Fiona leant against the tall back of the couch and her body was shaking and, as Daisy listened to her laughter, she said, "That's what he did, too, Mrs.

Bailey. That's what he did. He suddenly threw his head back and he laughed.

You could have heard him in Bog's End. And when I was half-way along the road to the bus I could still hear him, and the car hadn't moved. Anyway, I thought that was that. Then, about a week later, there he was again. It was as if he had been waiting for me coming out by me self because he had stopped in the same place. But he didn't ask me in this time, he put his hand out and pushed a little parcel at me, and said, " A nice smell for a good girl.

" Then before I could say anything, he had started up the car and was off.

Anyway, I didn't open it until I got home, and as soon as I did and me ma saw what it was, and had been told how it had come about, she said to me, " And your ma says, no! "And I said to her, " I've already told him that, ma. "

You see, it was a saying between us, because when I was little, I would say,

" I want this," and " I want that," and " I want to go here and I want to go there. " And one day me ma shook me by the shoulders and said, " Your ma says, no! " Well, after that it became a sort of slogan with me. Anyway, about the Chanel: we both had a good laugh, and she said, " You keep it and don't you dare open it. You keep it with you and throw it back into the car the next time he stops. " Well, I kept that damn package in me pocket all the following week, but no car stopped

by the kerb. And then the rumours started. Well, they must have been rife upstairs, but we were the last to get them, down in the packing room. It appears there had been a stinking row upstairs in the head office, and Mr. X

had been sent off, so one rumour said, to the German end of the business.

Another said that one day he just got up and walked out, and there wasn't any row. There must have been because orders came from the boss to clear Mr. X's office. But nobody really got to the bottom of it for a month. Some said he had just gone on a holiday and would be back. And it was because of that rumour that I hung on to the bottle. Then it all came out; one of the

typists was going to have a bairn, and then we heard his wife was asking for a divorce, because the typist wasn't the first one to rock his cradle.

Eeh! " She stopped now and looked from one to the other as she said solemnly, " Just think what I escaped, just because me ma said no! When I told me ma what had happened we laughed fit to kill ourselves, because, she said, "If you hadn't said the famous words, you would likely have been one of the many." She also said that if I'd had a bairn, she was sure it would have been born fully rigged-out, with a bum- freezer, because that's what must have caught his fancy. "

Fiona leant against Bill; Katie turned her face into Daisy's shoulder;

Willie leant over the top of Sammy's high chair; and Sammy, himself, made groaning sounds, saying, "Oh, dear me!" and put his hand tightly against his side.

It was some time before calm was restored; then Fiona said, "So, you enjoyed the scent after all?"

"No, it wasn't the real scent, Mrs. Bailey; it was Chanel all right, but it was toilet water. It had the scent but it didn't last; you know, not like the proper stuff. It was supposed to be used after washing your hands.

Well, I didn't just use it for me hands, I dabbed it all over. But I

recognised it on the old dear in that shop, because it sort of clings to you, doesn't it? Not strong, just nice."

It was Fiona now who asked, while drying her eyes, "Did you have a nice time at Christmas?"

"Oh, Mrs. Bailey, you wouldn't believe it; it was a one-off Christmas Day, all right. And you know, we've got neighbours, the Misses Browns.

I think I've told you about them. Well, they came in. Eeh! My! You never know what's under people's skins, do you? The tales they told.

You talk about laugh. And you know something? They both liked a drop of the hard, they said. So they had a good measure of your whisky. But that didn't please me da: he didn't mind them having the dinner wine, oh no, but, as he said after, it was a waste giving them whisky. You know, we've always

thought they were two dried-up sticks of old maids.

Very nice, you know. Oh, always been good to us, but still old maids.