‘I don’t see how we ever can,’ Delia could hardly speak, she was so choked. ‘You don’t know the half of it, Mrs Robinson, and when you do you won’t want to know me, any more than my ma or da did all those years ago.’
‘Now then, now then,’ Peggy protested. ‘I onny know that somebody took advantage of you when you were onny an innocent young girl, and you must stop blaming yourself. You’ve made a good job of bringing up your son under what must have been very difficult circumstances, and I can tell you, from what I’ve discovered about him, he’s a boy to be proud of.’
Delia wiped her eyes and blew her nose. ‘Thank you,’ she snuffled. ‘I am proud of him. I’ve been lucky; he’s never been a minute’s trouble since the day he was born.’
‘That’s not luck,’ Peggy said firmly. ‘That’s ’way that you’ve taught him. You don’t get good manners and politeness from luck, but onny by what you’ve been taught. Now come on, dry them tears. Here’s our Jenny wi’ a cup that cheers, which is just what we all need.’
Jenny was carrying a tray with teapot, milk, sugar, and four cups and saucers. She put it down on the table and called to her father, who was hovering in the scullery. ‘Come on, Da. I’m going to pour the tea.’
They sat quietly as they drank, Peggy and Aaron making desultory conversation about the weather to fill in the expanse of silence. Finally Aaron put down his cup. ‘Now then, Dorothy,’ he said, looking straight at Delia. ‘Sorry – Delia. That’s a pretty name, by the way. I like it. It suits you, the young woman you have become and not ’quiet scared little lass you once were. You were, weren’t you? Frightened of your own shadow?’
Delia hesitated for a moment and then said, ‘I was never afraid of the dark; only of people. I was always afraid of doing or saying the wrong thing. That’s why I was quiet, so that I didn’t make any mistakes.’ She gave a slight shrug. ‘The odd thing is that I’m not afraid of standing up to sing in front of an audience.’
‘Well, just fancy that,’ Aaron commented. ‘Why’s that, do you think?’
‘Because I’m now someone else. I’m not the family drudge who can do no right, but a singer, and people pay to hear me. A friend explained it to me; he said that I was wearing a sort of invisible cloak or mask to hide behind.’
‘Well,’ Aaron muttered. ‘Would you believe it? I’ve nivver heard of such a thing, have you, Mother?’
Peggy shook her head. ‘No, I haven’t, but I can believe it. We all act differently in front of different people.’
Aaron looked up from the contemplation of his knees. ‘I don’t. At least I don’t think I do.’
Jenny smiled at her father. ‘No, I don’t think you do, Da. You’re always the same, no matter what. Thank goodness,’ she added. ‘It’s reassuring to know that some people never change.’
‘So what now?’ Aaron asked. ‘What ’we going to do about ’little lad? No matter what we think or do, he’s the one who’s important. It’s his future that’s at stake. I tek it that you’ll stay in ’same profession, which can’t be all that reliable, I suppose, though I know nowt about it.’
‘It isn’t reliable, Mr Robinson,’ Delia said. ‘Performers are lucky to get a booking from one season to the next, and tastes change. Audiences often like something new, although fortunately they still like the old songs.’
‘So you can’t stay in one place for long?’ Peggy asked. ‘You have to move to a different area for a new audience?’
‘Like a travelling troubadour?’ Aaron put in.
‘Yes, something like that,’ Delia admitted and put down her cup. ‘Which was why – which was why …’ She could feel her eyes filling up again. How could she explain the desperation she had finally felt? No prospect of work, no prospect of a roof over their heads without money to pay for lodgings, but worst of all no prospect of an education or a proper home for her son.
‘No place to call home?’ Peggy said gently. ‘Is that why you came back; in the hope that your parents would help you?’
Delia bent her head and nodded. How stupid she had been to think such a thing; they had turned her away at the beginning of her troubles, so how could she have been so senseless as to think they might have had a change of heart? As Jenny had just said, some people never did change and her parents could be included in that category.
Aaron was about to say something when they all heard the click of the latch on the scullery door and the sound of children’s voices.
Delia wiped her eyes and patted her cheeks and gave a wide smile as first a little girl and then Robin tumbled exuberantly into the room. Robin stopped dead on seeing his mother and then flew into her arms.
‘Oh, Mother,’ he said, kissing her over and over again. ‘I never expected—’ He turned to Peggy. ‘Is this the special treat you said, Granny Peg, and nothing to do with our dinner?’
At Peggy’s nod, for she was too emotional to speak, Robin hugged his mother again, saying, ‘You’re much better than Yorkshire pudding, Mother, even though I could eat you up.’
None of them heard the click of the latch a second time or heard Jack’s tread as he came into the kitchen, or even noticed him standing there, staring, until Molly piped up.
‘Da, do you know who this lady is? Cos I don’t.’
CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
Jack came forward, shaking his head at Molly’s question. ‘I – I don’t think so, though I’d guess
