The Baker's Sister, page 15
‘Don’t worry, I’m good at sums and I’ve watched Meg many a time,’ Daisy reassured her. ‘I know how she wants her customers to be treated.’ She smiled as a customer came through the door. ‘Go on, I’ll be fine,’ she said as she turned to the customer.
Janet went into the bakery’s kitchen and hoped that she had done right, but it seemed to make sense to her. Daisy was costing nothing that morning and if it worked out well she would mention her help to Meg. Perhaps now Daisy’s fortunes had changed Meg might offer her a permanent job with her, seeing that Meg was now living in Headingley and up to now had not shown her face since leaving earlier in the week.
* * *
It was late Friday morning. Rosie’s mum had given her blessing to Meg using the recipe Rosie had provided (after making sure it was all exactly right). Meg had decided that she would visit her own bakery that afternoon to see how Janet was coping and then pop in to Joe Dinsdale’s to see if he could secure a good supply of lemons for her, else it would be pointless making the curd at that time of year.
Rosie assured her that once the morning rush had gone, she could manage on her own, so with the baking all done, Meg buttoned up her coat and walked the mile and a half to her bakery on York Street. A good brisk walk she enjoyed as a rule, but she was feeling tired. She was juggling so many things at the moment – even her wedding seemed to be taking back place to everything else that was going on in her life. Running two bakeries and keeping an eye on Frankie’s comings and goings had to take priority over her happiness at the moment. Frankie had collected their wedding cake from her bakery and had told her that he had already started to prepare it but refused her permission to see it until the day, saying that he wanted to see her face on the day when it was presented to her at Langroyd Hall.
Meg said hello to one of her regular customers as they came out of her bakery on York Street and opened the door expecting to see Janet behind the counter. Instead, there was Daisy, her face happy but looking quite flushed as she realized that she had been caught helping out in her bakery.
‘Meg, we didn’t expect you!’ Daisy exclaimed and looked towards the bakery doorway hoping that Janet would walk through and explain.
‘No, obviously not!’ Meg said then smiled. ‘I take it you are helping Janet out by the looks of that pinny.’
‘I am. I hope that you’ll forgive us. It gives me someone away from motherhood for an hour or two. My mother has agreed to look after Charlie just for a few hours and it’s helped Janet out why you have been helping Frankie. I’ve not taken any pay, it is just a favour – Janet would not do anything like that without your say so.’
‘Your mother’s got young Charlie? Now that is a turn up for the books. But you shouldn’t be working here for nothing. I’d better do something about it now you are here.’ Meg shouted through to the bakery. ‘Janet, come here, let us get this straight.’
Janet came through and looked as flustered as Daisy had been. ‘I’m sorry, I couldn’t cope on my own, and when Daisy came along and offered I didn’t think that you’d mind with it being Daisy and you both being friends,’ she said, the words spilling out of her. She stood sheepishly in front of Meg. ‘It’s only been for an hour or two just till I get the baking finished and have tidied up for the next day.’
‘Well, now, what am I to do?’ Meg looked around with her hands on her hips and noted all was looking tidy and the shelves were full. ‘Daisy, are you enjoying working with Janet? You look a different person, I must say.’
‘I am, I want for nowt now Jimmy McEvoy has come into my life,’ Daisy explained. ‘I came to tell you, but then I found out you were at Headingley. My Jimmy has promised to provide for both me and Charlie, no matter what. However, I’d still like to be able to stand on my own two feet, just in case he turns out to be another bastard. I’m not falling for that again.’ Daisy paused. ‘Please don’t be cross at Janet. I was doing it as a favour to both you and her. Repayment for you both being good to me when I was down on my uppers. Everyone needs help at sometime and you have always been there for me, no matter what.’
‘This Jimmy McEvoy, he works in the glass factory, doesn’t he? He’s been the one you’ve been walking out with when I’ve been looking after Charlie.’
‘Aye, he is, sorry I should have told you sooner, but I thought you’d think the worst of me.’ Daisy started to take off her pinny, thinking that her time helping out at the bakery had come to an end.
‘What are you doing? Don’t take your pinny off! If Janet says she needs you, then you must stay, and if it helps you out now you have mended things with your mother, then I’ll be glad to keep you working here.’ Meg smiled. ‘I know it’s hard work and that I have asked a bit too much of Janet. It is different when you own the business, you put in the hours because it is yours, but this last day or two I have realized just how much I have worked and am still working.’
‘Oh, that’s a relief. I thought that you would play merry hell with me,’ Janet said and smiled at Daisy. ‘There you see, you’ve tidied yourself up, got a job, and got yourself a fresh fella. A few weeks ago you looked as if you’d given up on life.’
‘Why don’t you say it as it is, Janet?’ Daisy laughed. ‘You never do hold anything back.’
‘It’s best to say it as it is, you know where you stand with folk then,’ Janet replied and looked at Meg. ‘Have you come to look at the books and look at what we want to order? I’ve all waiting for you as I knew you’d be visiting shortly, but I thought that it would be late afternoon when you came.’ Janet was clearly still uncomfortable that she had been found with Daisy helping her.
‘Yes, I’ll come and look at everything but first I want to be clear. I’m glad Daisy is here, especially seeing now she’s courting Jimmy. Actually, Daisy, I was going to walk down there but perhaps you could ask for me if he’s a manager? I need to know the price of jam jars, in bulk. Would you mind asking him and I’ll pick up the price on Monday? That is, if you will be here and if Janet thinks you will be needed?’ Meg watched the two women exchange a look. ‘We’ll have to talk about your payment of course, and hours, Janet, now I know Daisy is here and working.’
‘I’ll be here, if I’m wanted and aye, I’ll ask him,’ Daisy said. ‘It’s all he talks about, the orders and how much glass they’ve blown and sold. He’s steady is Jimmy, not a fly-by-night.’ Daisy looked quizzically at Meg. ‘What are you wanting so many jam jars for?’
Janet added, ‘We are not expected to be making jam as well as baking, are we?’
‘No, you’ll not be making jam, I’ll be making it at Headingley,’ Meg told them. ‘Frankie has gas ovens and hobs, and I can control the temperature better over there. Although I might ask you to sell some, if I can make a profit once I’ve priced it all up.’
‘Lord above, you never stop thinking about how to make money,’ Daisy laughed. ‘You’ve come a long way from the lass with no money on that back street. I’m glad for you. I always knew you had it in you, you were always a determined devil.’
‘And I’m glad that you have found a good man. I bet Janet hasn’t told you, but you do know she’s walking out with George from Dinsdale’s?’ Meg winked at Janet as she shook her head at Meg giving her secrets away. ‘It seems we all have a good man in our lives.’
‘Aye, well let us hope that they are all they promise to be, along with your Sarah’s man,’ Janet said. ‘I was a bit worried when you read out Spitalfields as her address but I didn’t want to say anything.’
‘You’ve heard from Sarah and she’s living in Spitalfields with a man?’ Daisy asked Meg.
‘Yes, I have, she assures me she’s alright. I’ve written to her but not got a reply yet. I’m beginning to wonder if life is as good as she’s letting on, from what I’ve heard of Spitalfields. I know there’s a big fruit and vegetable market there, so I don’t think it is as posh as she says.’
‘Isn’t that where Jack the Ripper stalked his victims or somewhere near?’ Daisy said unthinkingly.
‘It is – but just for once, I kept my big mouth shut,’ Janet told her. ‘Sarah will be alright, Meg, I’m sure she will. It sounds like a posh house that she’s living in and at least you have got her address now.’
Meg felt her stomach churn with worry. ‘Oh Lord, I should have known that she was living in a rough area. She’ll tell me anything, will that lass. What have I done to deserve a sister like Sarah? I only hope that she replies and keeps in touch.
‘Now, let us have a look at how we are doing and then I’ll make my way back down into Headingley. That needs a lot more looking after than here. Frankie’s baker there had really let things slip, but we’ll get it back up and going. The baking is already proving to be popular and Rosie there is a good worker. You’d both like her, she’s a farmer’s daughter, with good ideas.’
‘I bet that is where the idea for jam came from? We should have warned her not to give you any ideas!’ Daisy exclaimed.
‘Not just any jam, jam made with lemons and perhaps rhubarb,’ Meg told them as she sat down at the bakery’s table and started looking through the accounts.
‘Both will be that tart, it will never sell,’ Janet said.
‘We’ll see. I think it will, but then again I might be wrong!’
Meg looked at the immaculately kept books and one weight left her. She need not worry about her bakery on York Street. It was in good hands she thought as she looked at the list of goods needing to be ordered from Dinsdale’s. Janet might be a little outspoken, but she was as honest as the day was long.
Chapter 16
That Sunday morning, both Frankie and Meg were tired and wanted to make the most of a lie in bed. But that would not be the right thing to do, Meg knew, as she prepared to return to her room.
‘When are you going to stop this charade of leaving me early in the morning before Ada catches you in bed with me?’ Frankie asked. ‘She won’t care – she knows we are to wed.’ He pulled on Meg’s arm urging her not to go back into her unslept bed before Ada came up from the kitchen to see to her needs.
‘I don’t want her to think I’ve no morals,’ Meg said primly. ‘It is bad enough that we are living under the same roof and yet we are not married. I’m no better than Daisy really.’
‘You’ll live to regret taking that one on, I bet my last shilling on that.’ Frankie leaned his head back on his arms and looked at the woman he loved.
‘No, I won’t. She’s changed. The manager from the glass factory sounds to be a decent man and he’s already proposed to her.’ Meg hesitated. ‘Frankie, I’d really like to have her as my second bridesmaid. I’m going to ask her next time that I see her. After all, she is one of my dearest friends.’
She was surprised at his response.
‘On your own head be it. You know what I think,’ he said, nowhere near as negatively inclined to the idea as she had expected. ‘However, let’s make a compromise: you have Daisy as your bridesmaid and I’ll keep Mrs Baxter on. You looked so tired yesterday evening and you must admit that it is good to come home to a decent meal ready and waiting for you.’
Meg matched his wry smile. ‘We are not doing so well at cutting back on expenses, are we?’ she said with a half-laugh. ‘You want to keep Cook on and I’ve just taken on Daisy as a shop girl and my bridesmaid. But we have a deal… Oh, Lord, I can hear Ada coming in downstairs! I’ll see you at the breakfast table.’
Meg ran back to her unmade bed and waited for Ada to appear to pull back her curtains for the day.
A little later, at the breakfast table Meg reminded Frankie that he’d promised to come and listen to Alice Dent that morning.
‘Yes, for my sins. I still don’t know why I should tag along with you. It’s no place to be seen for a decent businessman. All she speaks of is putting our expenses up and our outgoings more. No wonder the mill owners hate her – as well as all men, now she seems to be making herself known for the suffragette movement that’s just turning women’s heads.’ Frankie pulled the bone out of his kipper to the side of his plate.
‘I’ll stand by her when it comes to mill girl wages,’ Meg told him. ‘Perhaps not so much on her forward views of women’s suffrage. But I do think when it comes to mill girls, if they were men that were employed, the mill owners would be paying them more. And as I told you, I noticed Rosie’s wage was a lot lower than it should be. If she is to help me with my new venture and it becomes a success then I’d like her to be paid better.’
Frankie looked up from his breakfast. ‘What new venture is this? What are you planning now? I thought that we were cutting back not expanding?’ he said loudly.
‘Rosie gave me an idea. Her mother makes the best lemon curd and rhubarb jam, she gave me the recipe for both last week. I’m going to make it and sell it in both bakeries. Don’t worry – I’ll pay for the initial expense from the profits at York Street just until I can see if it sells or not.’ She looked down at her scrambled eggs and hoped that Frankie was not going to protest over her new idea.
‘But you are forgetting we are a patisserie and bakery, not a jam factory. What do we want with selling preserves?’ Frankie asked and wiped his mouth with his napkin.
‘Yes, but the lemon curd is nothing like I’ve ever tasted before, and it adapts well for baking. I made some lemon tarts with a bit that was leftover on Friday morning and by the time I had come back from my bakery they had all sold,’ she said. ‘I’m not wrong, Frankie, people would buy it and it keeps well once jarred. It would fill that shelf by the door and just bring a little bit more money in if you had it in your bakery at Headingley.’
‘This is all money spent – and there were you telling me what I could and could not spend. I’m not happy with spending money on jam. It is not what we do,’ Frankie replied gruffly.
‘Just let me try and if it doesn’t work within the first month then I will not mention it again. In fact, if it is not showing a profit by the time we get married, then I will never mention it again.’ Meg regretted her words as soon as she had said them. Would she make a profit? It was a gamble and if she was seen to be spending money recklessly then she would never be able to stop Frankie from spending his on just what he wanted.
‘A month, then,’ Frankie agreed, ‘and we are not stopping long listening to Alice Dent. She can afford to put fancy idea’s into people’s heads. She will have never been poor in her life if her family home is anything to go by. Don’t forget, I’m still the man of the house,’ he added and then quietly finished his breakfast.
Meg said nothing but wondered if she had pushed Frankie too far. Was she indeed foolish taking on jam-making when they were trying to save every penny? Frankie, this time, might be right, she thought as she felt the tension in the room between them. She had lectured so much about spending money, and now she was doing just that.
* * *
Alice Dent stood on a soapbox outside the Hyde Park Hotel. Unlike Speakers’ Corner in London’s Hyde Park, this wasn’t a place well-known for demonstrations, but the new housing in the area was filling up with the sorts of people that Alice knew could be swayed by her ideas. She was dressed in a warm long tweed skirt with a jacket to match, under which she had a white high collared blouse and a hat upon her head showing off various coloured feathers upon it.
‘Well she’s certainly well dressed and she’s got a voice on her,’ Frankie said as Meg and he listened to her usual speech upon the needs of women and the failings of the working places run by men. ‘I don’t believe in all of what she says. Some things cannot be done without changes in Parliament. She needs to go and make changes there first. She’s a firebrand, Meg, I’d still prefer you to keep her at arm’s length.’ Frankie linked his arm through Meg’s as the women in the crowd cheered and some men booed and shouted insults at her.
‘Who’ll look after the bairns? Married women belong at home,’ a man’s voice shouted.
‘Get home, you toffee-nosed bitch.’ A ruddy-faced angry man shouted and swore as he pushed his way forward to knock her off her box.
‘Help her, Frankie, that man’s going to attack her!’ Meg shouted at her fiancé as the man grabbed at Alice’s skirts.
Frankie pushed through the crowd and stood in front of the red-faced man who raised his fist to Alice then thought better of it as Frankie, dressed like a gentleman, raised his cane, and hit him over the knuckles hard. ‘Don’t you dare, my good man. You might not believe in the words that she says but that is not the way to prove it.’
‘She’s a troublemaker. Look at all these women listening to her, when they should be at home with their men making them their dinners. Women should be at home,’ the man said and stood back wondering whether to take on the gent that had come to her rescue.
‘Where I’m sure your good woman is! Now go home and leave those that believe in her to listen. Like you, I don’t like some things she is saying but it is a free country and everyone deserves an opinion.’
The man swore under his breath.
‘She’s giving women fanciful ideas. It’ll cause bother yet.’ The bruiser of a man spat on the floor and decided to retreat from the crowd. Alice looked down at the conflict then continued with her speech.
Frankie walked back to Meg’s side.
‘Thank you, she could have been hurt.’ Meg put her arm through his and squeezed it tightly. ‘Are you alright?’
‘Yes, I am, but she does know how to inflame views, especially in men. Once she has finished we will return home, my dear. I think that she is best left to her views.’
‘But she is right, isn’t she, Frankie. Women are not equal. We should have the same pay, be able to vote for our government and be able to study like a man,’ Meg said and looked across at Alice as she bowed to the applause coming from mostly young women who wanted change in their life.
