‘The loan of your teapot is more than enough. I’m very grateful,’ Ruby said, turning away so that Stella didn’t see the sadness in her eyes.
‘You know you can talk to me and it will go no further. I can tell your Eddie is at the bottom of this.’
Ruby gave a bitter laugh. ‘Isn’t he always?’
‘I’m a patient listener,’ Stella said. ‘Why don’t we fill that teapot and have a good chat?’
Ruby left Stella with her tea and popped out into the back garden to check the washing on the line. It was strung from the back of the house to a pole at the end of the garden. A wooden prop she’d found lying in the grass was ideal for holding up the line halfway down, where it tended to sag under the weight of the washing. She unpegged a couple of items that were already dry and threw them over her shoulder as she checked the rest. Ruby kept the hanging sheets between her and the garden next door, just in case Miss Hunter was already up and about. She didn’t feel like a barney this early in the morning. Hurrying back inside, she put the few dry items over a wooden clothes horse she’d found in the cupboard under the stairs. She blessed the day she’d moved to this house, as she’d never in her life had so many pieces of furniture along with bits and bobs for the kitchen. Ruby loved this little house in Erith and could gladly live out her days here. She smiled to herself as she sat back down at the table.
‘That’s a lovely smile, what put that on your face?’
‘I was thinking how I could live out my days here in Alexandra Road. I’ll hang on to this house until my dying breath, Eddie or no Eddie.’
‘That’s fighting talk if ever I heard it,’ Stella said as she topped up her cup.
Ruby picked up a teaspoon and stirred the tea thoughtfully. ‘At the moment I feel as though I don’t know the man I married. Eddie is a bit older than me, and he knew a lot more about life when we got hitched. I was expecting our George when we walked down the aisle. I was forced into marrying him in that sense, but I truly loved him. He courted me, gave me little trinkets and spoke of his dreams for the future. Six years ago, he was a man who other women fluttered their eyelashes at. I was considered a lucky girl. My heart skipped a beat every time he said my name. But the more he worked for Cedric Mulligan, the more he changed.’
Stella, who had been listening without interrupting Ruby, frowned. ‘I know that name from somewhere.’
‘Eddie fell in with him while we lived in the Woolwich area. He would do odd jobs for the man, and I honestly thought it was all innocent. I had no reason to question my husband at that time. Gradually his drinking became worse, and he didn’t always bring money home at the end of the week. From the nice rooms we first rented that I’d tried to make into a lovely home, to others where we had to move at the dead of night before the landlord came knocking. Four times this happened and each time the rooms became fewer and smaller, and we moved closer to the unpleasant side of town. I feared going out on my own with a young child. My mother moved in with us, but for me it was an added burden. By then I knew that not everything Eddie did was above board. He would collect debts that were owed to Cedric. He also got to know the runners in the pubs who took bets on horse races. A few pennies bet on a nag became shillings, and the more money he lost the blacker his moods became. The Eddie you know – it’s not the man I first knew. And after last night, I’m at a crossroads in my life.’
Stella could have cried for the young woman opposite her. In the little time she’d known Ruby Caselton, she had found her to be a responsible and intelligent person. Since moving to Alexandra Road, Stella hadn’t found a neighbour she felt she could talk to. So when Ruby collapsed at her feet that day, it was as if someone up there had handed her a friend. There was an age difference, so in some ways Ruby was the daughter she’d never had. Add to that, her gorgeous little boy George was almost like a grandson. With three sons, Stella felt at times that she lacked female company. By now she’d hoped her eldest son, Frank, would have been courting, but so far he’d not had a serious lady friend. However, she had noticed the way he watched Ruby and how much time he’d had for her when she was ill. In an ideal world, she could see her Frank and Ruby setting up home at number thirteen. There would be no drunken husband or interfering mother, just Frank, Ruby, a new baby, and young George.
She shook her head to clear her preposterous thoughts. Daydreaming could be dangerous. Instead she would be the best friend she could to Ruby, and at the moment that was clearly what Ruby needed the most. She sipped her tea, then cleared her throat, as what she was about to say made her nervous. ‘Ruby, do you think perhaps it would be best if Eddie was no longer in your life?’
Ruby nodded her head in agreement. ‘I do. It sounds bad of me to say so, but
