Justice Is a Woman (26 page)

made for the end bedroom on the landing.

It was strange, Mike remarked, that she was helpless enough to have Betty dancing

attendance on her

all day, yet she could get out of her bed at night to lock the doors and then again in the morning to open

them. Wasn’t it about time he woke up ?

Yes. Joe decided, it was about time he woke up.

A week from the night he had reached the decision in the kitchen, he paid his first visit to Newcastle. He

also got into the habit of downing a double whisky before going to bed. And so a new

pattern was set.

2. 49

Between the years 1931 and 1938 the atmosphere in the house changed yet again.

Whereas during the

year the little girl had lived, the feeling of pity and compassion had been overall, and even after Elaine’s

first breakdown there had been added deep concern and un stinting love, from the day of the pit

accident, compassion and love had been swept away, never to return.

It took a year for Elaine to recover from her relapse, but the pattern of life for Joe did not change; there

remained the ever-present probability of further relapses, and so he had no need to make excuses about

refusing invitations, or even about him and Elaine being seen together.

As time went on, it was imagined by many that Elaine’s frequent trips to London were

really sojourns in

private clinics, but here they were wrong. She did stay in London, but she enjoyed her trips there, and

she made no bones about telling Betty that but for these breaks her life would be

intolerable. And on

this, Betty agreed with her.

Betty’s existence over the years had followed much the same pattern as previously, the only change

being the length of her stays with Lady Ambers; they were sometimes extended to a

month,

for the old lady was now much more frail, though only; it should be said, in her body, for her mind was

as alert as ever, and Betty often felt like succumbing to her persuasive attempts to get her to leave the

house altogether .. But then, there was the boy, and Mike ..

and Joe. Hardly a day went by but Mike expressed his need of her; and, in a less

demonstrative way,

so did Joe.

Elaine still needed her too, for she had to have someone to whom she could talk and

recount the details

of her visits to London; and, of course, she needed someone to take care of her son in her absence.

That Elaine loved her son, Betty had no doubt, and she seemed to prove this by

demanding that he be in

her company for every moment after he came home from school. The only time she

didn’t want him near

her was when he had his screaming fits. And of late these had increased. On three

occasions this last

week he had raised the house in the middle of the night and had lain in a lather of sweat and fear. Even

so, Betty hoped they would never indicate to the boy the real reason for his nightmares, for she felt that

Martin was such a sensitive boy that a revelation of that kind could be very harmful to him.

The doctor had said he believed that Martin would grow out of his problem, but over

seven years had

passed since the first one and the fits of screaming were still as intense as they had been on that first night;

and now that he was growing rapidly and was very tall for his age, the fits

eemed to take their toll of his strength. This worried Betty.

When she mentioned her worries to Joe he admit ted that he too had been concerned for some time

ibout the boy’s health, and he told her that Marcus Levey had suggested he go to his

brother for ad-ice.

What he expected or even hoped this might >e he hadn’t indicated to Betty, but he

stressed hat he was

out of patience with Dr. Pearce’s view that time would do the healing.

On this particular day in early December 1938, letty was walking up the drive with

Martin. David had

met the boy from school and herself from the own, where she had been doing some

shopping, and now

as she and Martin walked briskly towards the house they continued the conversation they had begun in

the car.

“But he’s sure of it, Aunty Bett,” insisted Martin.

“You see, his father is a Jew, being Mr. Levey’s brother; and they have cousins who have come over

from Germany, and one of the cousins had a news paper and knew everything about what

was going on,

and he’s sure there’s going to be a big war.”

“Well now, that’s silly talk, because I’m sure you know that Mr. Chamberlain’s been

over to Germany,

and Mr. Hitler and he have come to an agreement which has done away with all this talk of war...”

“Manny says his father says his cousin says that the people in England don’t know what they’re talking

about.”

Betty put her head back and laughed; then, looking down at him, she said, “Have you

done Frederick

the Great at school?”

“Frederick the Great? Well, I don’t think so, no.”

“Well, I remember learning something he was supposed to have said. It goes, “ My

people and I have

come to an agreement which satisfies us both. They are to say what they please, and I am to do what I

please. “

And I think that holds good today. People will always say what they please, what suits them, but

crowned heads nearly always do what they please, even if they lose their heads in the doing. “ Again she

laughed; and now Martin laughed with her as she ended, “ So it’s no good us worrying

one way or the

other, is it? “

“No, I suppose not.” He now put his head on one side and his expression was thoughtful as he said,

“I’m not sure if I would like to go to war:

I don’t like killing things; rats or even beetles. In biology the other day John Dolan said I was a cissy

because I hated looking at the inside of a rat, but I’m not a cissy, am I, Aunty Bett? “

“Of course you’re not, you’re a very boyish boy, as your ripped trousers have proved at times.”

“Elizabeth said she wouldn’t mind if there was a war.”

“Elizabeth said that?” Betty paused in her walk, and the boy looked up at her, nodding emphatically,

saying, “Yes, she did, because then she’d be able to go and be a nurse.”

“But she can be a nurse without there being a war.

“But she wouldn’t be nursing wounded soldiers, and that’s what she wants to do, nurse wounded

soldiers.”

“Oh? When did Elizabeth say this?”

They were walking on again and the boy answered immediately, “Oh, last night when we

were down by

the greenhouses and ...” He stopped abruptly and cast a quick glance up at Betty; and she returned his

look.

“You won’t tell Mummy?”

She shook her head, then said, “But you do know you’ve been forbidden to go to the

cottage.”

“But I wasn’t at the cottage, Aunty Bett, I was down by the ...”

“It’s all the same.” Her voice was quiet now.

“You know what your mother means, don’t you?”

The boy was looking ahead now and his voice was stiff and with an adult tone to it as he said, “I like

Elizabeth, Aunty Bett. I’ve always liked Elizabeth and I’m not going to stop speaking to her.

Anyway—’ He now jerked his head and looked up at Betty as he went on, “Father’s

never said I

shouldn’t talk to her, or go to the cottage.

Father likes Elizabeth, he likes her very much, and he likes Hazel. and David. I. I don’t see why people

should be disliked just because they’re black;

David can’t help being black. Anyway, Elizabeth isn’t black, so what does Mother keep on about? I

don’t understand it. I would like her to tell me why she doesn’t like her. I did ask her once, but she got

into a temper and became ill. “

“Martin—’ Betty drew him to a stop as they

reached the curve in the drive and, bending towards him, she said softly, “Don’t pester your mother with

questions like that. And don’t go out of your way to see Elizabeth when your mother is at home. When

she’s away in London well, I can’t keep an eye on you all the time, can I?” She now

grinned at him, and

slowly he grinned back at her, then in a very un boyish fashion he suddenly reached up and put his arms

around her and hugged her, and as she held him tightly for a moment he said, “Oh, Aunty Bett, I wish you

were my mother. I do, I do.”

They were standing apart now; her eyelids were blinking, and she swallowed deeply

before saying,

“Now, that’s very nice of you, Martin, but ... but don’t repeat it ever again because ...

well, your mother

loves you very much and she would be greatly hurt if she even imagined you thought

such a thing.”

“I’m ... I’m sorry. Aunty Bett.”

“Oh, don’t be sorry’ she put out her hand and gently touched his cheek ‘it’s the nicest and best thing

that’s ever been said to me believe that, Martin and I’ll always treasure it, but ... but don’t say it again,

just in case ... you understand?”

“Yes, Aunty Bett.”

They walked on again, and as they rounded the bend she said, “Look, there’s your

grandfather waving

to you,” and the boy looked up towards the observatory and waved his hand wildly back; then as they

approached the house he said, “I nearly had a fight about Grandpa yesterday.”

“A fight? Why was that?”

“John Dolan and Arthur Brown both said he was a mystery man and that likely he had

committed a

crime, else he wouldn’t stay up there in the glasshouse all his life. They said he had been there since he

was a young man.”

“What utter nonsense! Didn’t you tell them that he suffers from severe arthritis and can hardly walk?”

“Yes, I did, but Arthur Brown said that was just a hoodwink. I would have belted him if he’d been on

his own, but John Dolan was with him and he’s bigger than me and it would have been

two to one. You

know what they said. Aunty Bett ? They said he had food put on a lift and winched up to him from the

outside. John Dolan said he had seen it actually happening. Oh, I could have bashed his head’... As they

entered the house Betty was laughing heartily as she said, “You know what they must

have seen? The

scaffolding in place when they were re-pointing the walls and putting the odd slates on the turret.

John Dolan was one of the boys who came at the time and collected the windfalls with

you, wasn’t he ?

“

“Yes, he was.”

“Well then, that’s what he saw. He’s got an imagination, has Mr. John Dolan. You

remind him of the

scaffolding when you next see him.”

“Oh, there you are. You’re late.” They both stopped as Elaine came down the stairs, and it was Betty

who answered as she glanced at her watch, “I don’t think so; he’s come straight from

school and I from

the town.”

^59

“That might be so, but I saw the car come into the drive over five minutes ago.”

Betty only just prevented herself from exclaiming loudly, “Oh, God in heaven, woman!”

What she

forced herself to say was, “We decided to walk the last bit, Elaine, and we stopped to look at the blue

tit’s nest.”

As Betty looked at her sister, so smart, so petite, she wondered how one such small body could hold so

much animosity. She also thought that people such as Elaine brought a sort of virtue to lying. She

watched her now put her arms around her son and lead him towards the stairs, saying,

“I’ve been

thinking: how would you like to come to London with me next week to do the Christmas

shopping?”

“But we don’t break up until the twentieth, Mummy.”

“Oh, I could write and ask the headmaster to excuse you; it would only be for a few

days.”

“But I’ve got a test and have to do homework;

and then there’s the school play, remember? It’s The Tempest and I’m one of the .. “

The boy’s voice trailed away as his mother’s arm was pulled abruptly away from his

shoulders. Left

standing on the top stair, he watched her hurrying towards her room before he turned and looked back

down into the hall where Betty was still standing. And when she shook her head at him and pointed,

stabbing her finger forward, he recognised and reluctantly obeyed her implied meaning and followed his

mother into her sitting-room.

“When is she coming back this time?” asked Mike.

“Well, as far as I know, next Friday,” replied Betty.

“Why, of course; she’ll have to give herself time to titivate the place up with jingle bells and tinsel, won’t

she? It’s a farce.” Mike turned to Betty, who was pouring out the tea at a side table, and he repeated,

“Do you hear what I say? It’s a farce, because there’s no Christmas spirit in this house any more. How

in the name of God our Joe sticks her is beyond me. And his life. What life has he got? I once said to

him, don’t make the same mistake as I did, lad. That was when he was first married.

Well, he didn’t;

the mistake he made was in marrying her in the first place.” He now took the cup from Betty’s hand and,

nodding at her, he went on slowly, “And I did make a mistake, a very big mistake, lass.

I’ll tell you

about it some day afore I die, if you haven’t guessed it already.”

She stared back at him and said, “No; I haven’t made a guess at any particular mistake you’ve made.”

“What do you mean, particular?”

“Just what I say.” She returned to the table and lifted her own cup;

and only when she was seated z6i