Love & Sorrow Read Online Free

helluva lot
mair tae life than aw such bloody falderals. Guid God Almighty, if anybody on
this earth should ken that surely to hivven it’s ye, ye daft bitch.”
    When Meg insisted she still didn’t know what Nellie was
trying to tell her, Nellie shooed her brood of children into the hall out of
earshot and said: “Uch, ye’re supposed tae be the brainy one o the family.
Ah’ve telt ye once but Ah’ll tell ye again … it’s ma guid man, Rab. He’s fed up
wi yon lang sea voyages and bloody months on end without sae much as a sniff o
the marriage bed. That’s whit for Ah telt ye he’s got himsel a job on the boats
that gae up and doon the Clyde atween the Broomielaw and the likes o Dunoon and
Rothesay.”
    Meg realised with a pang that Rab’s totally unexpected
career change very effectively put paid to her frequent visits as she
remembered Nellie’s previous words on Rab’s feelings towards herself.
    “Not only will ye be seeing less o Wee Becky, but ye’ll
need tae be payin me a wheen mair … at least another couple of hauf croons a
week should jist aboot dae it.”
    Hearing Meg’s intake of breath at this news Nellie went
on: “Think on it, hen. Rab’ll no be gettin sich guid wages for yon skittery wee
trips up and doon the Clyde. Onywey, if yer no gonnae be forkin oot a king’s
ransom for lodgins, ye’ll be able to gie me mair o yer hard-earned sillar tae
keep Becky fed and clothed in ma hoose.”

 
    ***

 
 
 
    Chapter 6

 
    Towards the end of that same week Meg said farewell to
Mrs Farley and later said a tight-lipped hello to old Mrs Martin.
    Despite the fact that the main rooms in the house were
high-ceilinged and spacious, the room allocated to Meg proved to be neither and
resembled nothing so much as a nun’s cubicle or a prisoner’s cell.
    Meg smiled grimly. Perhaps both descriptions are very
apt for not only will I be living like a nun in this mausoleum, but I’ll be a
prisoner and a slave to the demands, whims, and fancies of that cantankerous
old woman. Oh well, as the saying goes I’ve made my bed, so now I’ll just have
to lie on it.
    One consolation was that she still greatly enjoyed her
work in the haberdashery and she knew that in Petronella’s eyes she was a
Godsend as in addition to working hard in the shop Meg also gave of her best to
old Mrs Martin.
    Days, weeks, and months drifted past with fewer and
fewer opportunities to visit her daughter Becky and in a quiet spell in the
shop Meg was thinking sadly about this as she tidied up a box of ribbons. Head
bent to her task Meg heard a sound from across the counter and looking up was
astonished to find herself eyeball to eyeball with a beshawled Nellie. Wonder
of wonders there was Becky wrapped up cosily in the shawl. At first too
surprised at this unexpected encounter to think or speak rationally Meg could
only stare in delighted amazement at her visitors.
    Nellie finally said: “Don’t worry yer heid, hen. Ah’m
no here looking for mair money, for gie ye yer due, Meg, yer postal orders aye
arrive regular as clockwork.”
    Meg nodded, but wondered then why her sister had chosen
to come to the shop.
    Before she could ask, Nellie forestalled her. “Ah
happened tae bump intae yer auld landlady and she let the cat oot o the bag as
tae where ye worked. So, Ah thocht tae masel there’s nae time like the present
and jist hopped ontae a tramcaur, and here Ah am.”
    Since it would be clear to the most casual observer the
shawlie woman was not in the process of buying anything and was taking an
inordinate amount of time chatting in her loud coarse voice Meg was aware that
Miss Martin was casting meaningful glances in her direction. Even so, Meg,
greatly daring, stretched out a trembling hand to caress the sweet little baby
face peering out from the folds of the shawl.
    Miss Martin materialised at Meg’s side and in her most
carefully articulated, down-putting voice said: “Is there something with which
we may help