Lizzie and Meg regarded Alexandra with trepidation. Was the answer to their problems to be snatched away so soon?
‘I told you I live more or less on my own … well that’s a lie. I’ve got into the habit of lying to people – self-preservation – but it’s an awful habit.’ She took a breath. ‘I live with David. He’s the kindest, nicest person you will ever meet and he’s always looked after me – well, for about three years anyway. He’s an antiques dealer and an actor.’
‘Why might that be a problem?’ asked Meg.
Alexandra didn’t answer for a second. ‘He’s a homosexual.’ Lizzie and Meg both swallowed.
Alexandra went on: ‘As you know, being gay is illegal. If you think you might have a problem sharing a house with someone like that, or might tell the authorities or anything, I can’t have you in my home.’ She paused again. ‘And I’m not sure I can have you as my friends.’
‘It’s not a problem for me,’ said Meg. ‘Although nothing was ever said, I’m sure William, the old man my mother looked after, and who we lived with, was homosexual. He was the nicest, kindest person too.’ She smiled shyly.
‘I’m sorry to be stupid,’ said Lizzie. ‘But I’m not absolutely sure what a homosexual is.’ She found herself blushing at her ignorance. ‘I’ve led a very sheltered life,’ she added apologetically.
‘It’s when men don’t fancy women, they like other men,’ said Meg. ‘I don’t know why it’s illegal.’
‘OK,’ said Lizzie. ‘I don’t think I’ve ever met a gay person.’
‘You probably have,’ said Alexandra. ‘Only you didn’t know. Let’s go and see the house,’ she went on. ‘It’s walking distance, if you don’t mind walking,’ she said confusingly. ‘You may hate it!’
‘It would mean missing upholstery,’ said Lizzie, slightly shocked.
‘I don’t think it would matter,’ said Meg. ‘The debs quite often miss the afternoon sessions. They’re only there as a filler, to make the course seem worth the money.’
‘She’s right,’ said Alexandra. ‘But we could make it after upholstery if you’d rather, Lizzie.’
‘Let’s do that,’ said Meg, looking at Lizzie and obviously guessing that Lizzie would be more comfortable doing this.
But the moment the workroom was tidy at the end of the day and the girls could go, they didn’t dawdle. Alexandra led the way and London suddenly seemed at its best. There were cherry trees along the way bursting with blossom. Window boxes full of bulbs, daffodils, tulips and hyacinths decorated the smarter houses. Small shops, larger ones as they reached Victoria and then residential streets again. Lizzie couldn’t stop smiling, she was so excited. Londonseemed so full of possibility and promise. Living in this area would be wonderful, and completely different from the ghastly flat in Tufnell Park and even better than Chelsea had seemed?
Alexandra led them to a crescent full of tall, stately houses of at least four storeys. In front was a garden, surrounded by a wire fence. Lizzie thought it had probably once had iron railings, taken down during the war. It was full of mature trees and through the wire could be seen flowers, paths, seats and a little hut.
‘Is this the only garden?’ asked Meg anxiously.
‘No, no, there’s a small one at the back. Let’s go in. I have to warn you, the house hasn’t been properly redecorated for years.’
The hallway was dark and somehow got darker when Alexandra pressed a switch. A single bulb shone from a chandelier, throwing shadows everywhere. The light was dim but it was enough to reveal faded grandeur, a house that once had been aristocratic and elegant but now was in desperate need of a good clean. There was a staircase leading up but Alexandra said, ‘Come downstairs to the kitchen. It’s a bit cosier.’
It was cosier but it was still big. Lizzie got the impression that several small rooms had been knocked through to make a large room that ran from the front of the house to the back, so there were windows at each end. But because the room was below ground level it still wasn’t very light. Lizziecould see it was roughly divided into three areas. As you came through the door there was a large table. It was clearly for working on rather than sitting at, as there were no chairs and it had quite a few boxes of china and a broken candelabra on top. Further along there were a couple of sofas and some chairs ranged around a gas fire in the middle, like a sort of sitting room. There was an upright piano against the wall between this seating area and the kitchen area up the far end.
Here there were a couple of dressers against the wall and on them were some large stoneware storage jars full of cooking implements and wooden spoons. A blue enamelled gas stove stood next to the large wooden draining board and attached to the wall above there was a large, two-tier plate rack.
A wooden table stood opposite the sink and in the corner was a tall saucepan rack, with saucepans, all different sizes, on the separate shelves. There was a knife rack attached to the wall and Lizzie was impressed to see knives like those Mme Wilson had at the cookery school. They were not the small, serrated, wooden-handled knives Lizzie’s mother struggled with. Nothing matched but everything seemed to be in a logical order.
‘Someone who lives here cooks,’ said Meg, walking further into the room.
‘That’s David. He could have taught me to cook and, to be fair, he has tried. But I’m on the coursebecause my guardians thought I’d meet nice girls there,’ said Alexandra. ‘And of course I have!’ She made a gesture towards Lizzie and Meg.
‘Does he also play the piano, or is that you?’ asked Lizzie.
‘I can play a little bit, but you’re right, that’s David too,’ said Alexandra. ‘We love community singing! He’s a great sight-reader and so I’ve got quite good too, although as the singer, I only have to sight-read one line.’
‘I can’t read music at all,’ said Meg, possibly feeling inadequate.
‘Oh, you don’t have to! You’ll know most of the songs. Anyway, wait until David’s here. He says everyone can sing. Now come and sit down. I’ll get the fire going and then make us some tea.’
After a lot of popping and minor explosions the gas fire was alight and Alexandra went over to fill the kettle.
‘So how often do you see your guardians?’ asked Lizzie, amazed by the apparent freedom Alexandra had.
