‘I do agree with you on that,’ Stella said, reaching for the teapot to check if she could squeeze out another cup for them both. But Ruby put her hand over her cup, as she was full up. ‘I do wonder, though, if it is a sin to move on from a bad marriage, rather than being miserable for the rest of your life? Perhaps you should ask yourself how many days of the week you are truly happy living with Eddie, putting up with his failures and his drunkenness as you do?’
Ruby thought for a moment. ‘I’d never really thought about it. Two, possibly three days . . . There again, other weeks, if he’s flush with money he’ll come home merry, if not drunk.’
‘Are you happy to live that way? Can you see a future where you put up with what he has become every single day?’
Ruby looked at her friend with tears in her eyes. ‘You’ve certainly given me food for thought. In a way, I’ve just got on with things moving here. Apart from losing Sarah, I focused on the house, George’s happiness and my job. Eddie has not been a priority. Do you know, in my heart of hearts I’ve blanked what he has become – but something’s got to change, hasn’t it?’ She ran her fingers through her dark brown hair in frustration.
‘Your married life only has to change if you think it should. If you are happy with the way things are, then let sleeping dogs lie. Many women turn a blind eye to what their husbands get up to – that’s if they’ve picked the wrong one.’
A fleeting smile crossed Ruby’s face as she thought of the man she’d married. ‘Eddie certainly isn’t the same as he was six years ago, but you could just as easily say I’m not the same woman. We all change, don’t we?’
‘I like to think that overall people change for the good, not the bad. Speaking of which, I can hear movement upstairs. Do you want me to stay or go?’
Ruby listened for a moment. ‘That’s Mum coming down. I told her to stay in bed to rest after her experience yesterday. She was quite shaken up with what happened.’
Stella greeted Milly as she hobbled into the room. ‘Hello, Mrs Tomkins, how are you feeling today? I heard you had a bit of a fall?’
‘Bad news travels fast,’ Milly grumbled as she checked the teapot, not even noticing it was a replacement for the one broken yesterday. ‘If you must know, I’m not feeling so good. I can hardly walk on this leg, and it will probably never be the same again.’
‘Oh dear,’ Stella said, avoiding looking at Ruby, as she knew she would smile at the woman’s dramatic words. ‘I’ll make a fresh pot, then I’ll help you bring in the laundry, Ruby. It’s a good drying day.’
‘It’s unlucky to hang out washing on the Sabbath,’ Milly pointed out. ‘Something bad will happen, you mark my words.’
‘Oh, Mum. It’s just one of those old wives’ tales. Monday is not convenient for me to do the laundry as I’m working, as well you know. You are getting as bad as her next door, telling me I’ll upset God by hanging out my smalls on the Lord’s day,’ Ruby laughed.
Milly sniffed. ‘As you know, the Tomkins don’t hold with church and all that, so I can’t say what God likes and what he doesn’t. All I’m saying is it’s unlucky.’
‘Didn’t you say you married in church, Ruby?’ Stella asked, as she returned from putting the kettle on the hob.
‘I insisted on it,’ Milly butted in, crossing her arms over her chest. ‘It is good to have a wedding people can remember, and we had a wonderful do after Ruby and Eddie’s nuptials. People still talk about that party.’
‘I think Stella meant the church part, Mum.’
‘You’ve got to get married somewhere,’ Milly huffed at her daughter. ‘What’s this got to do with you hanging out your washing on a Sunday? All I said was it shouldn’t be done as it’s unlucky.’
The two women laughed at Milly’s confused look. ‘You could always do the washing yourself,’ Ruby suggested. ‘It would help me a lot if you did. There’s a fair amount with four people living in the house.’
‘I’d like nothing more than to help out, but with my dodgy ticker and now my bad leg I’m not even sure if I’m up to going back to my bit of a job at the Prince of Wales.’
Ruby felt her heart drop into her boots. ‘Please don’t say that, Mum. What with Eddie . . .’
‘Gone, has he?’ Milly’s bird-like eyes glistened with joy. ‘I thought he might once I’d given him what for.’
‘You’re jumping the gun, Mum. Eddie is still upstairs in bed, no doubt sleeping off yesterday’s booze, along with the crack on the head you gave him with our teapot. I’ll be having words with him when he comes down, so would be grateful if you could take George out with you for a little while. I don’t want him knowing what his dad’s been up to. The lad needs to grow up respecting his elders, rather than seeing their weaknesses. Perhaps a walk down to the riverside to watch the barges? I take it you can manage a short stroll?’ Ruby could see Milly thinking about her request. No doubt she’d prefer to stay at home and make her contribution to whatever was said between
