Radio Girls(2)

“And once you’re working there and not growing two heads or whatnot, she’ll have to agree it’s all right and buy us a wireless!” Lola crowed. “Of course,” she went on more musingly, penciled brows furrowing, “like as not we’ll have moved somewhere a bit more smart by then, I’d think. Don’t you?”

Maisie did, though only because Mrs. Crewe wasn’t likely to buy a radio anytime before doomsday.

Lola and the other boarders all had friends willing to host “listening in” parties, where everyone gathered to enjoy something or other from the BBC, usually the plays or music, but of late the Talks. Maisie was not so lucky, which was part of why she was so interested to know more. She secretly agreed with Mrs. Crewe that there was something terrifying about a disembodied voice, and it was bizarre that it could originate from another part of London and yet sound as clear as someone sitting across the table. A lot of people were afraid of the wireless, certain that all this new technology was a harbinger of evil spirits, or a means of bridging the gap to the spirit world. Maisie wasn’t sure what she believed.

What she knew for an incontrovertible fact, however, was that her funds had dwindled to one pound, thirteen shillings, and ninepence. Despite her nonpareil expertise with frugality, this little pile of coins represented a week of food and shelter. Her family, such as it was, lived in New York and Toronto, and none of them would respond favorably—or politely—to a request for assistance. There was nothing else for it. She had to get this job.

“Let me put some makeup on you. All those BBC girls wear makeup, I’m sure,” Lola insisted. Maisie demurred. She couldn’t risk the unknown Miss Shields thinking she was fast.

Or stupid enough to think makeup would improve me. Maisie sighed, focusing on the nose people called “Roman” when they were being kind and wishing her gaunt face boasted at least one other notable feature. I suppose I should be grateful I haven’t got a boil.

She saved her gratitude for the popularity of the bob. It was a great gift to women like herself, cursed with fine, lank hair, and she wholeheartedly embraced it. Her hair might be dull and dirty-dishwater brown, but was less offensive for being short and unmoving on her head, with a severe fringe laboring hard to give her face something approximating a shape. She wished she had a decent cloche, something with a rhinestone flourish near the ear, or perhaps a little feather. Her tired black wool hat was so plain and obviously cheap. But it was clean, and careful brushing masked the worst of the patchiness.

The forcible English tones of her Toronto-born and -raised grandmother echoed as Maisie rolled her stockings up her thighs and clamped them in place: “Well? Aren’t you going to thank me?” And Maisie was grateful that the woman’s passion for thrift and sharp things had given her the skill to mend her black wool stockings so well. Modern women wore beige or pastel stockings—some of them silk!—but black was still acceptable and these weren’t too awful, so long as no one looked closely.

Lots of luck there. She frowned at her skinny, shapeless legs, wishing she’d appreciated longer skirts more when they were still in style.

As for her shoes, she would just have to keep her feet flat on the floor to hide the holes. The cheap Oxfords had tarried valiantly for five years, but even if they could be repaired again, she couldn’t bear it. Every time she put them on, she wanted to cry.

As she tied the laces, she remembered one of the few pieces of advice her mother, Georgina, occasionally offered: “It is always best to have less if one must, so long as everything you wear is of good quality.”

Fine words from a woman who, as a struggling young actress, wore skirts to the ground and was now successful enough to always have what she called a “sponsor” to keep her in all the silk stockings she wished.

Maisie stood and put on her coat.

“Gosh, Maisie, I wish you’d borrow something of mine,” was Lola’s response as Maisie presented herself for inspection.

“Your clothes would never fit me,” Maisie said, with perfect truth. Lola was shorter than Maisie, and though she made assiduous use of straps to render her luscious figure more fashionably boyish, she wore her dresses as low-cut as daylight hours allowed. If Maisie tried to wear one, she would look like a chorus girl in a sideshow.

“Well, I suppose no one cares what anyone looks like for radio anyhow,” Lola said in her most comforting tone. “At least take a taxi there. No, you must. You’ll feel awfully grand. Here, I’ll lend you the fare.”

The coins glinted in Lola’s palm, shiny temptation. Maisie had never set foot in a cab and couldn’t imagine such extravagance, but the sudden vision of a cloth rose to pin to her hat arrested her. She might find a milliner’s on the Strand. Her hand hovered, but refused to land. She could not be pretty or smart, but as she was, she looked steady and practical. Someone must appreciate those qualities in a secretary. Besides, she hated being in debt if she didn’t have to be. She had no idea what next week was going to bring.

“Thanks awfully, but that’s all right. It’s only two o’clock. The tram will get me there in plenty of time,” Maisie assured Lola.

“Well, good luck.” Lola grinned. “They’ll want you. I’m sure of it.”

Parting with one of her precious pennies for the fare, Maisie hoped Lola was right. No one had wanted her in a very long time, and those that had taken her hadn’t kept her any longer than Richard the Third kept Anne Neville in Shakespeare’s invention.