But Charlie, six foot tall and burly with it, wasn’t going to let some rotund if infuriated woman stand in his way. With one hand he thrust her aside, the other holding his sister by her upper arm. ‘Where’s this bloody so-called employer of me sisters? I need ter see ’im.’
‘He’s in surgery. He’s busy,’ cried Mrs Jenkins, hurrying after him, thoroughly infuriated at being so manhandled. ‘You can’t go in there when he’s in consultation.’
‘Can’t I?’ Charlie bellowed. His eyes had followed her brief glance in the direction of a door across the hall. Still hanging on to Ellie, he made for it, bursting through to startle the man’s patient almost out of his skin. But Bertram Lowe had already become aware of raised voices in the hall and was ready for him. From behind his desk he turned to calmly face the intruder.
Four
Bertram Lowe looked towards his patient. ‘I am so sorry, would you please excuse us for a moment, Mr Partridge?’ he said in a quiet, polite voice.
As the surgery door closed, he turned back to take in his slim scullery maid and the burly, well-muscled man still holding her by the arm.
‘Now, sir, who might you be?’ he enquired in an unruffled tone.
‘I’m ’er brother – that’s what I am.’
‘I see.’ No two siblings could have looked more unalike. ‘And what is it you want?’
Mrs Jenkins appearing at the door, all flustered, stopped whatever his visitor was about to say. ‘I tried to stop him, Doctor Lowe…’
He cut her short with a wave of his podgy hand. ‘That’s quite all right, Mrs Jenkins. Thank you. You may carry on with your duties.’
‘Do you want me to call for assistance, sir?’ she asked, eyeing the big man.
‘No, it’s quite all right, thank you.’
As the woman left, he cast his pale gaze back to the pair. ‘Now then, can I help you?’
Charlie took a deep breath in through his nose, his initial belligerence fading a little. ‘I want to know what this one’s doing ’ere.’
‘As you can see, she is employed as a kitchen maid.’
‘Scullery maid! Skivvy! I bet you ain’t even paying ’er any wages.’
‘Of course I pay her.’
‘And what about what she says she owes you?’
‘She owes me nothing.’
‘Then what the bloody ’ell are you up to with ’er? I’m her brother and I’ve got a right to know what you’re up to. If you think you can—’
‘My good man,’ Doctor Lowe interrupted. ‘If you are suggesting there is something underhanded in my employing this girl and her sister in my establishment, I assure you, you are entirely mistaken.’
‘Then what you want with ’em?’ Charlie bellowed. At that moment he looked and behaved so much like her father that Ellie leaned back from the hold he still had on her arm. But she stayed quiet in case a word from her would make matters worse.
Doctor Lowe remained completely unruffled. ‘I happened to be in need of staff replacement and the two girls were looking for work, so I engaged them. There is nothing strange about it, as you appear to imagine.’
Some of Charlie’s bombast again deflated a little, though he continued stubbornly, ‘Then we’d better see what me other sister says. Where is she?’
‘She is with my wife, upstairs in our living quarters.’
‘Right! We’ll see what she says,’ Charlie said, letting go of Ellie at last to make for the door, yelling out, ‘Dora, come down ’ere! I want yer!’
But Mrs Lowe had already come out of her room, having heard raised voices and Dora’s name being yelled. Dora’s hand in hers, she descended the stairs slowly. Seeing the small, plump, motherly figure and the trusting way Dora held her hand, Charlie’s belligerence faded.
‘I’m sorry, missus; I didn’t mean to disturb you.’
The woman didn’t reply, but Dora let go the hand and ran down the rest of the stairs to him, suddenly filled with emotion, tears in her eyes.
‘Charlie! Oh, Charlie, we wondered where you was. Something awful happened while you’ve been away.’
‘I know.’ His voice had grown softer. He put both arms around the thin frame. ‘Ellie told me. I’d ’ave given anything to be ’ere, but I didn’t ’ave no idea.’
‘We was in such a state,’ Dora said, going into an instant torrent of words. ‘There was only me and Ellie with Mum when she died and we didn’t know what to do. Dad and you was gone and we ’ad no money and no one to care for us. We didn’t even ’ave enough for a grave and we was already way behind with the rent and had an eviction order weeks ago ’cos Mum was ill and we didn’t know where you or Dad was. We was at our wits’ end and no one could take us in because they ’ad kids of their own. If Doctor Lowe hadn’t helped us out I don’t know what we’d ’ave done.’
Hardly coming up for breath she told the rest of the story in as fast a flood as before, ending with, ‘He’s been kind to us and so ’as Mrs Lowe too.’
Ellie found her voice. ‘We don’t want to leave ’ere, Charlie. We’re both all right ’ere. If you take us away, where are we going to live? In digs? I know you ain’t got no proper job. But I’m working now. I can hold up me head and earn me own living.’
‘As a blooming skivvy,’ Charlie repeated, confused but on the defensive still. ‘A scullery maid.’
‘If she does well while in my service,’ Bertram Lowe put in, ‘she will inevitably rise in status, with higher pay. But if they want to go with you, Mr Jay, I shall not stop them.’ Charlie seemed taken off guard. ‘Well, I don’t know,’ he muttered awkwardly. ‘I suppose it’ll be orright. But I intend to hang around a bit, just to see ’em orright and be ’ere in case they ain’t.’ His blue eyes flared for a
