Read Online The Tangling of the Web by Millie Gray - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Millie Gray
Ads: Link
face.” I turned round to see who they were speaking about and the man behind me said, “It is you, isn’t it? Wait until I tell my mates that there I was waiting to see James Mason in A Star Is Born and who else is in the queue wanting to see the film but none other than his previous co-star Margaret Lockwood!” Next thing they were all running to get bits of paper so I could give them my autograph.’
Flora rose to fill the kettle again. Maggie dropped her head and looked as if she was trying to pull her hair out. Sally sat dumbfounded whilst she wondered if Josie would ever stop these flights of fancy and get herself grounded in reality.
2
1960
‘But, Mum,’ twenty-year-old Margo protested, ‘Annie Burgess, who just works gutting fish in Croan’s factory, is having her wedding reception in the Assembly Rooms in Edinburgh.’
Sally wrinkled her brows and shrugged before suggesting, ‘But surely you mean the Assembly Rooms in Leith.’
‘No, Edinburgh. And that’s because her granny, on her mother’s side, is a Newhaven fishwife and she’s contributing towards the festivities.’
She stood back to get a good look at her daughter, who, she conceded, was a better-looking woman than she was, but then Margo was taller than herself by six inches and had been fortunate enough to be endowed with the ginger-blonde locks of her father’s people. The only assets Margo took from herself were her ability to speak up for herself and her crystal-blue eyes, which, somehow, like her late Granny Peggy’s, lacked warmth.
Sally, who hated to be reminded of her mother, responded with a wry chuckle. ‘Ah well, thankfully your grandmother, Peggy, on my side, has been keeping the good Lord company for five years now. And your other grandmother, Flora, has had to swallow her pride and take on the job of cleaning up every day in the Four Marys pub on the Shore in Leith.’ Sally huffed before adding, ‘And all because she let her nephew, William, sweet-talk her into him running her wee Highland croft for her.’ Sally sighed before going on. ‘Only problem with that is, he says he can’t make a penny from it, so that means she has to stump up to pay the running costs.’
‘So you’re saying Granny won’t be pitching in with any help for my wedding.’
‘That’s right. After she sends the money north this month to pay the rates on Culloden, she won’t have enough left to help you finance the hiring of a telephone box.’
Sally wished she could be cruel enough to be truthful and also say, And I might add that the thought of you and Johnny Souter, who haven’t an ounce of common sense between you, getting married is the stuff of nightmares.
Irritated by Sally’s lack of enthusiasm, Margo spluttered, ‘That’s you all over, Mum. You’re only happy when you’re shooting my dreams down in flames.’ Margo hesitated before adding, ‘But this time there is a way for my aims to come true – whether you like it or not.’
‘There is?’
Fearing retaliation from her mother, Margo waltzed around the table. ‘Yes, and it’s so simple.’
Simple, thought Sally. Sometimes, my dear Margo, I think you are just that.
Unaware that her mother was questioning her intelligence, Margo smiled affectedly before simpering, ‘Yes. Now that Daddy has got a job on a Saturday night serenading the customers in the posh Albyn Rooms in Queen Street no less, that is where I should have my wedding.’
‘As we are not related to Andrew Carnegie,’ Sally managed to splutter through her laughter, ‘where do you think we’ll get the wherewithal to pay what they would charge?’
‘Staff get a small discount,’ Margo immediately retaliated.
‘Sort of. But Maggie and I getting a buckshee dinner there on a busy Saturday night because we help clear up when the customers leave is very different to taking over the whole premises for the night.’
‘I know that,’ Margo protested. ‘But as Daddy is so well in with the owner now …
Flora rose to fill the kettle again. Maggie dropped her head and looked as if she was trying to pull her hair out. Sally sat dumbfounded whilst she wondered if Josie would ever stop these flights of fancy and get herself grounded in reality.
2
1960
‘But, Mum,’ twenty-year-old Margo protested, ‘Annie Burgess, who just works gutting fish in Croan’s factory, is having her wedding reception in the Assembly Rooms in Edinburgh.’
Sally wrinkled her brows and shrugged before suggesting, ‘But surely you mean the Assembly Rooms in Leith.’
‘No, Edinburgh. And that’s because her granny, on her mother’s side, is a Newhaven fishwife and she’s contributing towards the festivities.’
She stood back to get a good look at her daughter, who, she conceded, was a better-looking woman than she was, but then Margo was taller than herself by six inches and had been fortunate enough to be endowed with the ginger-blonde locks of her father’s people. The only assets Margo took from herself were her ability to speak up for herself and her crystal-blue eyes, which, somehow, like her late Granny Peggy’s, lacked warmth.
Sally, who hated to be reminded of her mother, responded with a wry chuckle. ‘Ah well, thankfully your grandmother, Peggy, on my side, has been keeping the good Lord company for five years now. And your other grandmother, Flora, has had to swallow her pride and take on the job of cleaning up every day in the Four Marys pub on the Shore in Leith.’ Sally huffed before adding, ‘And all because she let her nephew, William, sweet-talk her into him running her wee Highland croft for her.’ Sally sighed before going on. ‘Only problem with that is, he says he can’t make a penny from it, so that means she has to stump up to pay the running costs.’
‘So you’re saying Granny won’t be pitching in with any help for my wedding.’
‘That’s right. After she sends the money north this month to pay the rates on Culloden, she won’t have enough left to help you finance the hiring of a telephone box.’
Sally wished she could be cruel enough to be truthful and also say, And I might add that the thought of you and Johnny Souter, who haven’t an ounce of common sense between you, getting married is the stuff of nightmares.
Irritated by Sally’s lack of enthusiasm, Margo spluttered, ‘That’s you all over, Mum. You’re only happy when you’re shooting my dreams down in flames.’ Margo hesitated before adding, ‘But this time there is a way for my aims to come true – whether you like it or not.’
‘There is?’
Fearing retaliation from her mother, Margo waltzed around the table. ‘Yes, and it’s so simple.’
Simple, thought Sally. Sometimes, my dear Margo, I think you are just that.
Unaware that her mother was questioning her intelligence, Margo smiled affectedly before simpering, ‘Yes. Now that Daddy has got a job on a Saturday night serenading the customers in the posh Albyn Rooms in Queen Street no less, that is where I should have my wedding.’
‘As we are not related to Andrew Carnegie,’ Sally managed to splutter through her laughter, ‘where do you think we’ll get the wherewithal to pay what they would charge?’
‘Staff get a small discount,’ Margo immediately retaliated.
‘Sort of. But Maggie and I getting a buckshee dinner there on a busy Saturday night because we help clear up when the customers leave is very different to taking over the whole premises for the night.’
‘I know that,’ Margo protested. ‘But as Daddy is so well in with the owner now …
Similar Books
