Only Time Will Tell (The Clifton Chronicles, #1)(92)

‘Not any longer she doesn’t,’ came back the immediate reply. ‘She left a couple of years ago. Haven’t heard a dickybird from her since.’

‘There must be some mistake,’ said Harry, bounding up the steps to join his friend.

‘Do you have any idea where we might find her?’ asked Giles, keeping his voice low.

‘No,’ said Hattie. ‘But you could have a word with Doug, the night porter. He’s been here for ever.’

‘Thank you,’ said Giles and, turning to Harry, added, ‘There’s bound to be a simple explanation, but if you’d prefer to leave it . . .’

‘No, let’s find out if Doug knows where she is.’

Giles walked slowly across to the porter’s desk, giving Harry enough time to change his mind, but he didn’t say a word. ‘Are you Doug?’ he asked a man dressed in a faded blue frockcoat with buttons that no longer shone.

‘I am, sir,’ he replied. ‘How can I help you?’

‘We’re looking for Mrs Clifton.’

‘Maisie don’t work here any longer, sir. She must have left at least a couple of years back.’

‘Do you know where she is working now?’

‘I’ve no idea, sir.’

Giles took out his purse, extracted half a crown and placed it on the counter. The porter eyed it for some time before he spoke again. ‘It’s just possible you’ll find her at Eddie’s Nightclub.’

‘Eddie Atkins?’ enquired Harry.

‘I believe that’s correct, sir.’

‘Well, that explains it,’ said Harry. ‘And where is Eddie’s Nightclub?’

‘Welsh Back, sir,’ replied the porter as he pocketed the half a crown.

Harry left the hotel without another word and jumped into the back of a waiting cab. Giles got in beside him. ‘Don’t you think we should get back to school?’ said Giles, looking at his watch. ‘You can always tell your mother in the morning.’

Harry shook his head. ‘It was you who said you’d interrupt your mother even if she was addressing the Mothers’ Union,’ Harry reminded him. ‘Eddie’s Nightclub, Welsh Back, please, cabbie,’ he said firmly.

Harry didn’t speak during the short journey. When the cab turned into a dark alley and came to a halt outside Eddie’s, he got out and walked towards the entrance.

Harry banged firmly on the door. A shutter slid open and a pair of eyes stared at the two young men. ‘The entrance fee is five shillings each,’ said a voice behind the eyes. Giles pushed a ten-shilling note through the hole. The door swung open immediately.

The two of them made their way down a dimly lit staircase to the basement. Giles saw her first and quickly turned to leave, but it was too late. Harry was staring, transfixed, at a row of girls seated on stools at the bar, some chatting to men, others on their own. One of them, wearing a white see-through blouse, a short black leather skirt and black stockings, approached them and said, ‘Can I help you, gents?’

Harry ignored her. His eyes had settled on a woman at the far end of the bar who was listening intently to an older man who had his hand on her thigh. The girl looked to see who he was staring at. ‘I must say, you know class when you see it,’ she said. ‘Mind you, Maisie can be choosy, and I have to warn you, she doesn’t come cheap.’

Harry turned and bolted back up the steps, pulled open the door and ran out on to the street, with Giles chasing after him. Once Harry was on the pavement, he fell to his knees and was violently sick. Giles knelt and put his arm around his friend, trying to comfort him.

A man who had been standing in the shadows on the other side of the road limped away.





EMMA BARRINGTON



1932-1939





44


I’ll never forget the first time I saw him.

He came to tea at the Manor House to celebrate my brother’s twelfth birthday. He was so quiet and reserved that I wondered how he could possibly be Giles’s best friend. The other one, Deakins, was really strange. He never stopped eating and hardly said a word all afternoon.

And then Harry spoke, a soft, gentle voice that made you want to listen. The birthday party had apparently been going swimmingly until my father burst into the room, and then he hardly spoke again. I’d never known my father to be so offhand with anyone, and I couldn’t understand why he should behave in that way towards a complete stranger. But even more inexplicable was Papa’s reaction when he asked Harry when his birthday was. How could such an innocuous question bring on such an extreme reaction? A moment later my father got up and left the room, without even saying goodbye to Giles and his guests. I could see that Mama was embarrassed by his behaviour, although she poured another cup of tea and pretended not to notice.

A few minutes later, my brother and his two friends left to go back to school. He turned and smiled at me before leaving, but just like my mother, I pretended not to notice. But when the front door closed I stood by the drawing-room window and watched as the car disappeared down the driveway and out of sight. I thought I saw him looking out of the back window, but I couldn’t be sure.

After they had left, Mama went straight to my father’s study and I could hear raised voices, which had recently become more and more common. When she came back out, she smiled at me as if nothing unusual had happened.