A Lesser Evil - Lesley Pearse [47]
Fifi offered her a cup of coffee and they chatted for a few minutes, then Yvette asked what had happened about Angela.
Fifi told her the gist of it, then finished up saying that Dan seemed to think Alfie wouldn’t dare hurt her again.
‘I think it is Dan who must watch out,’ Yvette said warningly. ‘Alfie is a bad man, and Molly, she is worse. They find it good to hurt people. You both must take good care.’
Fifi was in a very serene and happy mood as Dan had woken her with lovemaking, so she gently ribbed Yvette and asked if she wasn’t over-reacting.
‘I leeve next door to them.’ Yvette reproved her with a stern look. ‘I ’ear things I do not want to ’ear, all the time. You are young and pretty, your Dan is strong and handsome, they would take pleasure in spoiling the ’appiness you ’ave. Move away, Dale Street is not for you.’
Fifi could not take this seriously, it sounded such a melodramatic thing to say. But she was delighted to have Yvette visit her, and she wanted to know more about her, so she agreed she’d talk to Dan when he came home.
‘Your concern is very touching,’ Fifi said sincerely. ‘But tell me about your customers. I see you in the window sewing at nights and I’m really curious about who wears the clothes you make.’
‘They are grand ladies,’ Yvette said with some pride. ‘I used to work for a fashion ’ouse in Mayfair and I get to know some of them there. I do a little sewing and alterations on the side, but soon many ladies ask me to make clothes for them. So I leave the fashion ’ouse and now I make clothes only for them.’
‘Have you got the whole ground floor?’ Fifi asked. She knew perfectly well she had, as she made it her business to discover such things, but she hoped the question might make Yvette ask her over.
‘Yes, it ees much like Frank’s. The front room where I work, then there are double doors through to the bedroom at the back. Behind down the passage is the kitchen. I ’ave the garden too. But I cannot use it, not with them next door.’ She paused, grimacing. ‘I too should move away to a better place, but it is hard to make a move on my own.’
‘How long have you lived here?’ Fifi asked as they sipped their coffee.
‘I come just before Christmas in 1946,’ Yvette said. ‘Eet was a very long, cold winter in 1947, I think sometimes I will die of the cold and I am so lonely because I know no English. But the Ubleys, the Jarvises and other people who have gone away now were kind to me. I even theenk then that Molly Muckle was my friend.’
‘What did she do to you?’ Fifi asked.
Yvette shrugged. ‘She use me, and rob me. When I will not let her come into my flat any more she insult me. But I ’ave said enough, I must go now. Just you take care, even little Angela will steal from you if you let ’er in ’ere again. Molly will make ’er.’
Fifi did not tell Dan any more than that Yvette had made them the cushions as a housewarming present. She knew that he would not take her warning seriously. He would probably laugh and say Yvette was in need of a good rogering. That was his prescription for all troubled or neurotic women. Besides, Fifi couldn’t really take it seriously either, Yvette was well-meaning but she spent too long on her own, and perhaps that made her brood on things other people would barely notice.
During the following week Fifi often saw Angela outside in the street during the evening. The swelling had gone down on her eye, but it was still very badly bruised. She looked listless, often just sitting on the kerb watching other children playing. But there were no other obvious injuries.
Two weeks later, however, Fifi had something more to worry about than what her neighbours were doing. Her period didn’t arrive, and as she had always been regular, by the time she was a week late she was absolutely certain she was pregnant.
Having a baby was not part of their plan. They had talked about having children in the future, but not for a few years until they had a secure place to live and some money saved. They had always been so careful too. Dan had often joked that he ought to buy a gross of Durex at one