‘I’m not giving my money to them!’ she had replied hotly.
He had seen the flicker in her dark eyes and had been awed by her. ‘Are you working already?’
‘I’m learning how to be a teacher –’
He had whistled under his breath. A teacher, now that was really something.
‘You must be smart.’
‘Smart enough to want to get out of here,’ Alice had replied, leaning against the railings.
She had realised in that moment that this was the first conversation she had ever had as an equal. Ethel and Gilbert loved her, but she was a surrogate daughter to them. As for Hilly, she was grateful and looked up to Alice as her role model. But Victor was different; they had talked easily, from the heart.
‘You’ll get out in time.’
‘Not if Miss Lees has her way,’ Alice had replied quietly.
His curiosity had been stirred. ‘How d’you mean?’
‘She wants to train me up to be her assistant.’ Alice had replied. ‘I think she wants me to stay and eventually take over from her.’
Victor had been goggle-eyed with amazement.
‘God …’ Then he suddenly turned and moved away, leaving Alice standing alone by the gate.
But not for long; she too had heard the footsteps and had already been making her way back to the entrance when Evan Thomas moved in front of her.
‘Hello, Alice,’ he’d said pleasantly, his Welsh accent strong.
‘Hello, sir,’ she’d replied, moving past him.
Immediately he had stepped into her way.
‘You look pretty this afternoon, Alice.’ She had said nothing. ‘Pretty as a picture. Almost flushed about the cheeks. What’s that with, then?’
‘The heat, sir,’ she had replied coolly.
He couldn’t have seen her talking to Victor or he would have reported her to Miss Lees already. No, Alice had realised, he was just fishing, scenting something in the air.
‘You want to watch overheating yourself, Alice. You should stay indoors and not excite yourself.’
She had looked him square in the eyes. I know you don’t like me, Alice had thought. But I’m not going to be stupid enough to let you catch me out.
‘You’re right, sir,’ she’d said at last, walking past him. ‘Thank you for your concern.’
That day was almost a year ago, and since that time Alice and Victor had become more than friends. As Clare Lees relied more and more on her protégée, she little realised that Alice was sneaking off to meet Victor Coates whenever she could. Although she had bored of her evening wanderings, Alice now found a new reason to escape Netherlands. Victor might protest, insist that they were heading for trouble, but he always gave in.
They would usually meet under the viaduct, Alice waiting impatiently, or running to Victor if he arrived first. What began as an innocent prank soon altered, though; their friendship was immediate – and so was their attraction. Aware of her age and wary of her exuberance, Victor tried to resist. But they were children who had had little affection in their lives and now took it, greedily, from one another.
It was dangerous in more ways than one. If Clare Lees found out, Alice’s rise would be over and the hated Welshman would become the favourite again. And with him would go Dolly Blake, clinging to his coat-tails like an angry beggar. Then what would there be left for Alice? Going into service, or a factory. But there was something else to consider. If they were caught Victor would be sent away. Alice shivered. If Victor was sent away, her life would be empty. And she couldn’t follow him, because she would never know where he had gone. They would never tell her.
She couldn’t bear that; couldn’t stomach the thought of losing him. They had tried to resist each other, only touching hands at first and whispering to each other, but after a year passed every touch of the hand became more powerful than the last. Her voice he heard above everyone else’s; his face she saw amongst the scores of children at the home. They had found love in each other and were holding on to it against all the odds. And the very danger of their situation made their feelings stronger daily.
So the months passed. With Clare Lees, Alice was dutiful and patient. She would made a fine teacher, Clare said, it was good to know that the future would be in a steady pair of hands. Ethel was proud of her too. As was Gilbert. But at night Alice forgot every duty heaped on her head and crept out to the town. Or, as this evening, to the partition railings where she rested her cheek against the bars, only an inch away from Victor’s.
‘Do you love me?’ she asked, looking up at the huge summer moon.
‘You know I do,’ he whispered.
She moved towards him, her hands pressed against the bars. ‘Then why don’t we run away?’
‘They’d catch us!’
‘They wouldn’t!’ Alice replied firmly. ‘Don’t you want us to be together?’
‘More than anything,’ Victor replied, ‘but it would be wrong. We have to wait, Alice. I’m nineteen now; when I reach twenty-one I’ll have finished my apprenticeship and we can get married –’
‘That’s two years from now!’ Alice replied, her face half lit by the yellow moon. ‘How can you ask me to wait two years? You don’t have to work with Clare Lees. You don’t want to get away from here as much as I do.’
He caught hold of her hand. She could get so excited, he thought, so fired up.
‘Ssssh!’ he warned her. ‘Two years isn’t long, Alice. I love you, you know that. If we wait we can do it right –’
She pulled her hand away from his. ‘I don’t want to do it right! I want to live now, not in two years’ time. Anything could happen in two years!’ Her voice rose suddenly and she got to her feet to move away.
Hurriedly Victor caught at the hem of her summer dress.
‘Hey! Don’t run away, let’s talk, Alice, please.’
But she was past talking that night. Angrily she pulled away her skirt and moved off, Victor watching her as she turned and walked through the heavy double doors of the entrance hall.
He waited for her at the viaduct the following night, and the night afterwards. But she didn’t come. On the third night he waited in the rain and then, after midnight, turned to leave. Only then did he hear her footsteps and moved back to the railings, just as Alice – wet hair sticking to her head – ran to him and brushed her lips hotly against his neck.
Victor’s hand grasped hers. ‘Oh, thank God, thank God. I thought you’d never come again.’
‘I had to,’ Alice replied. She had tried to keep away, but couldn’t resist any longer. ‘I missed you, I missed you so much.’
‘Then you agree that we’ll wait?’ Victor asked her, holding her face in his hands.
‘Yes, yes!’ she said, tossing her wet hair away from her face. ‘If I can … I’ll try, Victor. But I hate it at Netherlands. I hate it more and more every day. I’m lying to everyone, even Ethel. As for Clare Lees, I’m betraying her and it makes me feel so guilty.’
‘But she was never kind to you.’
‘I know,’ Alice agreed, ‘I know! But all this creeping about’s not funny any more. I care about you, Victor. It was a joke at first, but now, if anyone found out and they sent you