Lizzie went hot and then cold. ‘I – I don’t know – I can’t imagine.’ Then she thought a bit harder. ‘They’d say I had to go home. They wouldn’t let me stay in London.’
‘OK, well, we won’t say that then. But, darling, I can’t have you here. I made a mistake. You’ll have to share a flat with other girls. Lots of people do it. It’s fine. I’ll help you. Help you with the rent, too.’
‘But why can’t I stay here?’
‘You’re far too pretty! I was relying on you looking like your mother, but you’re far prettier than she ever was.’
Lizzie blushed but didn’t speak.
‘The thing is, Barry means well, but if he made a pass at you, I’d have to ditch him and he helps out quite a lot with bills and things.’
Lizzie was a bit shocked but she could see the sense in this. It was a shame that Gina obviously felt it was easier to get rid of her than to keep Barry under control.
‘When do you want me to leave?’ Her voice was hardly more than a whisper. The thought of leaving Gina’s cosy little house in the best part of London was devastating. And how would she cope living with girls she didn’t know?
And then she took a breath and thought back on all the new experiences she’d had in the past week – was it really only a week? – and here she was, looking different, being different from how she hadbeen all her life. She would be fine, she told herself. Ofcourseshe would be.
Fortunately Gina was unaware of the mixture of excitement and terror that was filling Lizzie’s head.
‘Well, I’m not going to throw you on to the street! I’ll give you at least a couple of weeks.’ Gina smiled, obviously pleased to have got the difficult part of the conversation over. ‘I’ve got the evening paper from last week here. We’ll find you somewhere lovely. It’ll be far more fun than living with your old aunt.’
‘You’re not at all old!’ said Lizzie.
‘I’m older than you, sweetheart, which is why I can’t have you living here.’
Chapter Four
Lizzie’s new hairstyle and short dress attracted a lot of attention when she arrived at the basement kitchen on Monday morning. Not all of it was positive.
‘How will you put your hair up? If you want to wear a tiara?’ said one girl, Saskia, whose long chestnut locks were currently confined into a chignon. She was one of the haughtiest girls there and Lizzie felt flattered she even spoke to her, even though it was to say something negative. Saskia didn’t mention Lizzie’s short dress.
‘I don’t think I’ll ever need to wear a tiara,’ said Lizzie, but sensed her mother would probably say something very similar to Saskia.
Saskia went on, ‘I mean, I’m going to have my photographs done and the photographer definitely said I shouldn’t cut my hair beforehand. I’m hoping to get intoCountry Life. The “girls in pearls” photograph? Although I’ve got diamonds.’
‘Diamonds aren’t suitable for a very young girl,’ said Mme Wilson, breaking into the conversation.‘And can we all settle down? It’s time for class to begin.’
‘You look wonderful!’ whispered Meg to Lizzie as everyone found places. ‘Very “with it”.’
‘You don’t think it’s a bit – modern?’ asked Lizzie.
‘Of course not,’ Alexandra declared. ‘You’re very trendy!’
Mme Wilson was less impressed. She merely looked at Lizzie and suggested she put on her overall quickly to cover her knees.
‘I won’t be able to hang around,’ said Lizzie, the moment they were on the pavement at the end of the day. ‘I need to go and look at a flat. I have to move out of my Aunt Gina’s house.’
‘Really?’ said Meg. ‘Why?’
Lizzie hesitated before speaking. She didn’t want to imply Gina was unkind, or that she herself was a flirt out to ‘get’ Gina’s man. ‘Because Gina has a boyfriend – a manfriend – and Gina thinks he might turn his attentions to me.’ Lizzie bit her lip. It seemed terribly unlikely to her that Barry would prefer her, so young and unsophisticated, to her dashing Aunt Gina. But he had made very flirtatious remarks when he’d taken them to the theatre so it was a possibility.
‘How awkward,’ said Meg. ‘So, you’re going to look at a flat now?’
Lizzie nodded. ‘Gina seems quite keen to get me out of the way, even though I was really helpful and was doing her mending!’
Alexandra laughed. ‘How ungrateful of her.’
Lizzie laughed back. ‘I know! Outrageous!’
