THE BONDAGE OF LOVE (46 page)

Daisy. I . " She stopped. And Daisy, walking towards her, said, " I know what you're going to say, Mrs. Vidler; you hardly knew me. And it's me, all right. You've only got to listen to me, haven't you? "

"Oh, my dear girl--' but what she would have added was interrupted by the clinking of glasses on the tray Sammy was carrying into the room.

But she wasn't to be denied.

"Are we going to have a party?" she called out to her daughter.

"Not quite, Mother," said Fiona, and something in her voice made Mrs. Vidler walk over to her and ask, "Are you all right, dear?"

"Yes, Mother, perfectly all right. Come and sit down here."

47i

When Mrs. Vidler sat down, she glanced about her as she said, "All the family's here except Mark. That's nice, isn't it? It isn't often we're all together now."

The next five minutes was taken up with the clatter of glasses and settling the children with their mugs of lemonade.

Mamie was seated beside Angela and in the process of pushing the end of her handkerchief into the top of the child's dress and saying, "You don't want your frock splashed, do you? because this is the one you like."

Daisy stopped in front of her, saying, "Still busy at your nursing, Mamie?"

"I ... I wouldn't call it nursing, Daisy, not real nursing." The words came slow but clear.

"Oh, I don't know," said Daisy.

"I'm told that children's nursing is more trying than looking after adults."

Mamie looked up into Daisy's face as she said, "I'm so glad you're going to marry Willie, because Willie's nice. He's like Sep, isn't he?"

For a moment Daisy couldn't find an answer to this, until a quick thought flashed through her mind, and she said, "Yes, they both have many of the same qualities, the main one being that they're kind."

Then she was given another question before she had time to remark on the previous statement.

"Will Sep be coming today?"

"Oh, not today, I don't think. He's ..." She couldn't say that Sep was going to a disco tonight, but she also knew that if he had been invited up here he would have jumped at the chance. She saw the disappointment plain on the girl's face and she heard herself saying, "He'll likely be over tomorrow; that's if you would like him to come and give him a game. "

"Oh; oh, yes, I would like that. Yes."

"Well ... well, I'll tell him."

"Thank you. Thank you, Daisy."

What she must do is tell Willie, and get him to ask Sep over. She'd have to have a talk with their Sep. He was very fond of Mamie, she knew that, but fond wasn't enough. And the girl was quite normal now.

Quiet, yes, but quite normal. At times she talked very sensibly and

thoughtfully. And what was more, she was quite rich in her own way.

But Sep wasn't the mercenary type and he had taken to her from the first time he saw her, and she certainly hadn't been very attractive-looking then, and had been petrified of Sep. It would be odd, wouldn't it, if . "Oh, all right! All right! I can hear you."

She was answering Bill, and he countered with, "Well, if you can hear me, come over here and stand near this bloke that you've inveigled into giving you a ring ... By the way, where's your ring?"

"I haven't got one."

This brought remarks from all around the room, "You haven't got a ring?"

"No. I wouldn't have one. Willie wanted me to have one; in fact, he had it picked out for me, but I wouldn't have it."

Bill's words came slowly now as he said, "Would you mind telling me your reason for not having a ring, when you tell me you're engaged to be married?

It's usually done with a ring."

'"Well, I'm not a usual human being, as you know. So I said, no ring until I know how ..." She stopped and glanced at Willie, and they exchanged a smile before she turned to where Fiona was now sitting on the edge of the couch, and her voice was soft as she said, "I wanted to know how I was going to be received first; or if I would be received. I wasn't going to put myself where I wasn't wanted." This caused the concerted response, "Oh, Daisy!"

And Bill exclaiming, "Did you ever hear anything like it in your life? She's got a nerve, you know, when you think of it."

"Dad! Get on with it, will you?" And to this Bill answered, "I can't get on with it until I'm offered a glass; until we're all offered a glass."

There was a scramble now to bring the tray of glasses round, and when

everyone had a glass in hi hand. Bill looked at the pair in front of him, and began, "Willie is my son," then paused, and in the pause Willie bit tight on his lower lip because he really felt that this man was his father, not the man he had never known and whom, by all accounts, he wouldn't have liked.

This man, he could say, he loved.

Bill had resumed his toast, "And if I'd had to choose a wife for him from all the smart, beautiful and clever girls in this town ... in this county, I would have picked on Daisy Gallagher. So, let's drink to them both."

As the glasses were raised and voices mingled, crying, "To Daisy and Willie.

To Daisy and Willie." Bill said, "Just stand where you are and hold on to your hats, so to speak. And Mrs. Vidler, would you mind moving your carcass from the couch for a minute and standing by me?"

"Not at all, sir. Not at all. How could anyone resist such a polite invitation?"

Bill now shouted to Katie and Nell, "Stop your giggling, you two! And listen. But first, I want you, miss." He now tugged Daisy from Willie's hold and pushed her towards the couch, saying, "Take your seat next to your marra." And when Daisy was plopped down beside Fiona, they looked at each other, then laughing, they turned back to Bill who was pointing towards them as he cried, "There sit the two most devious people I've ever come across."

"We're not!" Fiona and Daisy's voices were mingled in protest, and to this he answered, "Shut up!" Then, looking at the others about him, he said,

"Minnehaha, there, has, for your information, been attending the polytechnic for the last year or so, and she has gained three 0 levels, one in English, one in Social Studies and one in History."

Exclamations of well done and good show came in high tones from the others and again Bill cried, "Shut up, will you! You haven't heard it all.

Moreover, some time ago, she applied to the Open

University. Do you hear? The Open University. But that's not all. She

didn't know, nor did anybody else, that my wife had secretly applied at the same time and was also preparing herself to take up a degree course in

English. And this day as ever was, this very morning, they both received letters of acceptance. "

"Well I never!"

"Good for you!"

"I can't believe it."

"And you've kept this to yourself all this time?" This was Nell's voice above the rest. And now she was stabbing her finger into Fiona's chest, saying, "I thought you and I were as close as sisters?"

And Bill now shouted back at her, "Now you know, don't you? If her husband didn't know, why should you?"

"Because, Bill, women talk to each other; they can't get through the stupidity of men!"

"Quiet, all of you!" said Bill.

"Let's drink again to two wonderful people and the Open University."

When glasses were again raised and there was about to be more chatter, he said, "Just one minute. There is enough deviousness about when it is practised by two individuals, and I'm not going to add to it, so, I will come into the open. There's a saying, " If you can't beat 'em, join them. " And so I have decided after deliberation that I might have a shot at this Open University lark myself. There are two subjects I've always been interested in, one is maths I was pretty good at maths at school, up to a certain

level, of course the other is geography. Even as a boy I could tell you the produce of most countries and their capitals and a river here and there. I loved maps. You see, and you must know that with my set-up, I can't see me going into old age sitting watching her expanding her mind while I'm going into my dotage and spluttering over my porridge."

The laughter became mixed with high-voiced comments of "Oh, we can all see that," and, "Well, you're near that stage now. Don't you think it's too late to be trying a different tack?" And from Sammy, "You know, Bill, maths is not just figures;

it's mainly ideas. "

"Well, sir, I've got the idea that I'll put you in your place one of these days."

As the back-chat and laughter went on, Fiona looked at this man whom she loved so dearly, who was big in all ways, but who had a flaw in him that touched on her life and could wipe out all his good points;

and he knew this.

If you can't beat 'em, join them.

And he would do what he said. He would take up something. It would have been quick thinking to choose maths and geography. Even if he could take those, what good would this boastful attempt do him in the end? In her case, she had seen the course at the Open University as a sort of fulfilment, and at the same time as a freeing of some part of her shackled mind. And it had been shackled by her love for him:

everything had

revolved around him, because he had demanded that it should.

And so it would go on.

If you can't beat 'em, join them.

Oh, Bill Bailey! Bill Bailey!

--- THE END ---

n

Bill Bailey came into the life of young widow Fiona Nelson and her three children as a lodger. He appeared to be ordinary enough but behind his rough charm lay some remarkable qualities, which were to have a great and lasting effect on the future lives of Fiona and the children.

Before long Fiona and Bill are married and they embark on a life together.

They adopt a child and have one of their own. But their path is never

smooth, and fluctuating fortunes take them from success to failure and back again . Collected together in one volume for the first time, Catherine

Cookson's first three Bill Bailey novels are richly entertaining tales of family life and relationships which touch the heart and offer much shrewd observation of the human condition.

Three magnificent novels in one volume:

BILL BAILEY

BILL BAILEY'S LOT

BILL BAILEY'S DAUGHTER

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