Winners and Losers (51 page)

‘I'm not even a decent delivery boy.'

‘You are young, good-looking, bright and charming. You were a brilliant repairman and I'm sure that given time you will become an excellent sales assistant, assistant manager and, given your knowledge of Tonypandy and the training you will receive from the manager of the Pontypridd store of Gwilym James, eventual manager of the Tonypandy store.'

‘Lloyd also said no made-up jobs,' he snapped.

‘It won't be. Look at this.' She thrust the copy of the minutes Mr Horton junior had written and pointed to a section Mr Richards had underlined:

‘A conservative estimate is twenty trained staff to start in the Tonypandy Department Store within two months, training to be carried out in Gwilym James department store, Pontypridd.'

‘We'll be lucky to have you.'

‘And this house?'

‘We'll close it up and ask Betty Morgan to keep an eye on it.'

‘You have it all worked out, don't you?' he said bitterly.

‘No, I don't, Joey,' she said honestly, ‘but what I do know is that we can't sit back and feel sorry for ourselves, or allow your father, Lloyd and Victor to worry themselves sick about us when they need every ounce of energy to look after themselves. Good things aren't going to happen unless we make them.'

‘After what happened today you can talk about good things?' he mocked.

‘The first good thing I want to happen is Lloyd, Victor and your father's release from prison. And I intend to start fighting for that with every means at my disposal first thing tomorrow. Which is one of the reasons I intend to see Geoffrey Francis, after I've met Mr Richards.'

‘I'm with you there.' He finally began to show some signs of enthusiasm.

‘Tell me, do you hate the idea of working in a department store that much?'

‘What would an assistant manager earn?'

‘Trainee assistant managers in Gwilym James
,
and that's what you will be next Monday morning if you decide to take the job, receive one pound ten shillings a week. I've done no favours for my brother, and although I hate to say it after recommending him for the position, he's not a particularly good assistant manager, but he still gets the going rate of three pounds a week. The manager of the Tonypandy store would get more than four pounds a week.'

‘That's more than I would have earned in the colliery even if we had been given our pay rise. You really think I could do the job?'

She saw the excitement in his eyes and breathed a heady sigh of relief. If she could sort out Joey it would be a start. ‘There's only one way to find out. But I warn you, the training won't be easy. Mr Horton, the manager of Gwilym James, is a stickler and a tartar. If he catches you flirting with the staff or customers he'd probably put you in the modern day equivalent of the stocks,' she said not entirely humorously, ‘and you'll have Geraint to contend with. He hates me, but he hates Lloyd and all of you more.'

‘I met him –once.'

‘Then you know what I mean. So, what do you say?'

‘Anything has to be better than moping around here trying to pay the bills on fifteen shillings a week. But what about you?'

‘I have some ideas of my own,' she said lightly. ‘It's high time I became more involved with the businesses Harry will own one day.'

‘You have the children.'

‘And I have Mari and a full staff to run Ynysangharad House and you to help me face Geraint when I move there.'

He fell serious. ‘This is a gamble, Sali. I may not be up to doing what this Mr Horton wants of me, but you do know that even if I make a go of it, my father, Lloyd and Victor will never work in a shop. Especially one Harry will inherit.'

‘I know, Joey,' she agreed, ‘but let's take it one step at a time. As soon you wake up tomorrow, go down to Pontypridd and ask them to send the carriage up early. I'll have everything packed by the time you come back. Now we've made the decision, the sooner we move the better.'

‘You understand?' Sali looked from Mr Jenkins to Mari and the housekeeper.

‘Mr Geraint and Mrs Watkin Jones aren't going to like it,' the housekeeper warned Sali.

‘This isn't their house for them not to like it,' Mr Jenkins pointed out.

‘I agree, Miss Sali, it's an ideal solution,' Mari said. ‘You, Master Harry and your husband's family will occupy the main house and Mr Geraint and your mother will move into the separate wing. It's been closed for about five years but I check it periodically and I've seen no sign of damp or decay. It shouldn't take more than a day or two to air the rooms once we get the fires lit. Do you want us to air the separate dining and drawing rooms there as well?'

‘Please, Mari. Given that I have two young children, I wouldn't want them disturbing my mother or Geraint, so I think we should run the two households as entirely separate entities. I will occupy the master bedroom, Mr Joseph the blue room, and you'll need to prepare two –no three –other bedrooms for my father-in-law, Mr Victor Evans and his fiancée Miss Williams and hold them in readiness. If their appeal is successful, and we hope it will be, they could be with us within a few weeks. Bella will of course sleep in my room and you can put a bed for Master Harry in the dressing room off my room until he gets used to the house. Then he can move into the nursery.'

‘Yes, Miss Sali.' Mari beamed. She had considered Sali to be her mistress ever since Sali's twelfth birthday when she had taken control of her late father's house after her mother had fallen prey to hypochondria. But it had been a long time since she had heard Miss Sali give so many orders and so decisively. ‘Will you and Mr Evans be in to lunch?'

‘We will, Mari. An early one at twelve o'clock, please, as I have a meeting with Mr Richards before the trustees' meeting. Joey will take care of Harry while I am out. Perhaps they could both explore the house.'

‘I'll tell cook.' The elderly housekeeper, who hated change, hurried away to break the news to the rest of the staff, that new management had taken over the running of the household and there was no saying what might happen.

‘It is good to have you and Master Harry in residence, Mrs Evans.'

‘Thank you, Mr Jenkins,' Sali said gratefully to the butler. ‘It is good to know that you approve of our being here.'

Chapter Twenty-six

‘You're early, Mrs Evans.' Mr Richards glanced up from his cup of tea and roast beef sandwich when his clerk showed Sali into his office at one o'clock.

‘I am sorry, Mr Richards, but after studying the minutes of the meetings you gave me yesterday, I thought we had a great deal to discuss.'

‘Can I get you anything?'

‘I've just eaten a substantial lunch at Ynysangharad House, Mr Richards, but please, don't let me stop you from eating.' Sali took the plate and cup he had set aside and placed them back in front of him. ‘Joey and I have just moved into Ynysangharad House.'

The solicitor sat stunned, as Sali outlined the changes she'd put into motion in the house in the course of one short morning. ‘You approve, Mr Richards?'

‘The trustees have been trying to get you to move in for months -'

‘And now I have. Now, about these minutes.' Sali removed her gloves, opened her handbag and took out the papers. ‘It says here that the solicitors have found a property in Tonypandy they consider suitable for a Gwilym James store and you intend training staff with the intention of opening it within two months.'

‘That is correct. However, two months may be a little optimistic. In my experience carpenters can be slower than their estimates, especially when it comes to fitting out a store.'

‘And you think that you'll need approximately twenty new staff to begin with, and probably more long-term.'

‘We will.'

‘You know my husband's younger brother, Joey?'

‘A collier.'

‘He was a repairman, but until we moved out of Tonypandy this morning he was working for Rodney's.'

‘So he has experience of working with customers.' Mr Richards brightened a little.

‘He has. He also knows everyone in Tonypandy, and, because he wasn't exactly at his best yesterday, you might not have noticed that he can be very charming. What I would like to suggest is that he start training in the Pontypridd store as an assistant manager. Mr Horton will soon find out whether he is suitable for a position in Gwilym James. If he is, he could be transferred to Tonypandy when it opens.'

‘As manager.'

‘He wouldn't be experienced enough after only two months' training, Mr Richards.'

‘Then as a full assistant manager under Mr Watkin Jones.'

‘No, Mr Richards, as a full assistant manager under Mr Alfred Horton.'

‘You know something, Mrs Evans, I believe that for Master Harry's sake, you should take a more active part, both in the businesses he owns, and on the board of trustees.'

‘Thank you for your confidence in me, Mr Richards. Do you think that I can count on the support of the trustees from this firm when I put these suggestions to the board this afternoon?'

‘I most certainly do, Mrs Evans.' He smiled and rang the bell on his desk to summon his clerk. ‘I most certainly do.'

Mr Horton positively bristled with pride as he looked around his fellow trustees. Like Mr Richards he had listened in muted silence when Sali had proposed bringing down men from Tonypandy to train as assistants for the new store, but his entire attitude to her idea had changed to enthusiastic endorsement when she suggested that when the store opened, his son manage it.

‘It will cost Gwilym James a ridiculous amount in extra wages with no return until the Tonypandy store opens, Sali,' Geraint commented disparagingly. ‘This store will have assistants positively tripping over one another in their eagerness to please customers. It will create havoc and put people off from shopping here.'

‘Do you agree, Mr Horton?' Sali addressed the manager.

‘Not at all, Mrs Evans. In fact I can think of several projects that I have been meaning to undertake for some time that could be facilitated by the addition of extra staff. Reorganization of the stockroom and displays, a thorough stock take, and if I might be so bold as to suggest that we hold a pre-Christmas sale. With extra staff, albeit trainees available, we wouldn't need to hire any temporary assistants ...'

Realizing that Mr Horton would regale them all afternoon with ways of utilizing the extra staff if he allowed him to monopolize the meeting, Mr Jenkins interrupted. ‘Shall we take a vote on Mrs Evans' proposal that we actively recruit staff for the Tonypandy store in Tonypandy. And secondly that we train them in this store? All in favour?'

Sali looked at her brother, but Geraint was the only trustee who failed to raise his hand, at either motion.

‘Carried with one abstention.' Mr Jenkins made a note on the sheet of paper in front of him.

‘I would like to raise another matter,' George Owens, the director from the Capital and Counties said after the motion had been noted. ‘Some of you may be aware that Mr Hardy is putting the Mason and Hardy department store in Cardiff on the market next year. I have met with Mr Hardy. He informed me that he intends to retire in June when the present lease on the premises expires, and as neither his, nor the late Mr Mason's sons are interested in running the business, he feels that both the staff and customers will be best served by a change of management. The store is operational, profitable and fully fitted. I put it to the committee that we should consider purchasing both the lease and the store.'

‘Could we afford to finance the opening of a new store in Tonypandy as well as take over Mason and Hardy's in Cardiff, Mr Owens?' Mr Jenkins enquired.

‘It would reduce the trust's cash holdings to below two thousand pounds, Mr Jenkins, which in my opinion would be a far more satisfactory situation. Money should be used to make money and I believe both of these ventures to be as sound as any I have seen. And don't forget, Mason and Hardy's is already a profitable store.'

‘Would we change the name from Mason and Hardy to Gwilym James, Mr Owens?' Mr Horton asked.

‘That is for the trustees to determine, Mr Horton. However,' Mr Owens gazed intently at the men gathered around the table, ‘I believe these things are best done slowly. Do we all agree that at present, Mason and Hardy's is not run to the same,' Mr Owens paused, ‘shall we say, high standards as Gwilym James?'

The nods around the table precluded a vote.

‘But it is fully staffed and stocked, and we would be taking it over as a going concern. What I suggest is, that we invest the profits in the modernization of the store. When, and only when, we are satisfied that Mason and Hardy is of comparable quality to Gwilym James, will we change the name. I think now is the time to take a vote on whether I initiate further enquiries along those lines, Mr Jenkins.'

Mr Jenkins rested his elbows on the table and pressed his fingertips together. ‘All in favour?'

For once Geraint was the first to raise his hand, and Sali realized that he was hoping to be made manager of the Cardiff store.

Mr Jenkins again noted the proposal and the vote. ‘Carried unanimously.' He removed his pocket watch from his waistcoat and opened it. ‘Lady and gentlemen, it is almost four o'clock. Does anyone wish to raise any other pressing business?'

‘I do, Mr Jenkins.' Sali looked down the table and wondered how she had ever found the board of trustees intimidating. After all, they were being paid to administer her son's estate. ‘I will try to be brief, gentlemen. I don't doubt that you are all aware that my husband, his brother and father have been imprisoned.'

Geraint tilted his chair back and stared at the ceiling. She ignored him.

‘I do not propose to go into the rights or wrongs of the case or make excuses for what I consider to be a severe miscarriage of justice. Suffice to say their legal advisers are working on an appeal. However, to get to the point, this morning, my children, myself and my brother-in-law moved into Ynysangharad House.'

Geraint sat upright, slamming his chair down on all four legs.

‘I am certain that I speak for all the committee, Mrs Evans, when I say that we are pleased to hear that you have done so.' Mr Jenkins smiled at her before looking to Geraint, who was staring at his sister.

‘I have asked Mr Richards to find a tutor for Harry, hopefully one who can start immediately, meanwhile I will supervise his education. I do not want Harry to be tutored as an only child, so I have decided to look for half a dozen children or so around Harry's age who can be taught alongside him in Ynysangharad House.'

‘Very commendable.' Mr Jenkins nodded. ‘Do you have any children in mind, Mrs Evans?'

‘No, Mr Jenkins, I had hoped that yourself and the committee could assist me. If any of you know of children Harry's age who live within easy distance of the house and who would like to be educated alongside my son I would be grateful if you could ask their parents to contact me. It is my intention to turn the library into a schoolroom.'

‘The library!'

‘Yes, Geraint, the library.' Sali looked her brother in the eye. ‘Do you have any objections to my son using
his
library as a schoolroom?'

‘None at all.' He looked down at his hands.

‘I also wish to inform you that I met with Mr Horton prior to this meeting and he has agreed to take my brother-in-law, Mr Joseph Evans, as one of the trainee assistant managers destined to be employed at the Tonypandy store. The last thing Mr Evans would want is any favouritism to be shown to him because of his relationship to me. Should he prove unsuitable, he will be dismissed. I discussed some ideas of my own with Mr Horton.' She looked at the manager. ‘In the future I hope to take a more active role in Gwilym James and possibly the Market Company as my Great-Aunt Edyth did. Mr Horton has agreed that I should supervise the buying of stock for the Tonypandy store. As I have been living there for the past few years I am acquainted with the goods the colliers and their wives need. Mr Horton is arranging for me to have an office here, on the top floor. Should any of you wish to contact me, I will be working here every Monday, Wednesday and Friday from two o'clock until five in the afternoon. The remainder of the week I will work in the study in Ynysangharad House so I can be close to my children.'

‘I am sure that the entire committee welcomes your news, Mrs Evans.' Mr Jenkins looked around the table. ‘Any other business? No? Lady, gentlemen, I declare this meeting closed.'

‘May I speak to you alone for a few moments, Geraint?'

‘If Mr Horton will excuse me,' Geraint replied sullenly.

‘Of course, Mr Watkin Jones.' Mr Horton left the room.

Sali touched Mr Richards' arm. ‘I hope you will come back to the house with me for tea. I'd like to discuss investments with you?'

‘I will wait in the carriage, Mrs Evans.' The last to leave the conference room, Mr Richards closed the door behind him.

‘Investments?' Geraint sat back in his chair.

‘Mr Richards sold some jewellery for me. I intend to invest the money.'

‘You've sold Aunt Edyth's jewellery! Her will clearly states that it is yours for use only in your lifetime and is to be left to Harry.'

‘I am aware of the terms of Aunt Edyth's will. Her jewellery is in the bank. I sold the engagement ring Mansel gave me, which I think you'll concede is mine.'

‘And you've moved yourself and your brother-in-law into Ynysangharad House and arranged a job for him here?'

‘That is what I wanted to talk to you about, Geraint.'

‘Have you realized what you've done, Sali?' he railed. ‘You have put Mr Horton and me in an impossible position. You have asked him to try to turn a filthy collier into a competent sales assistant, who will have to deal with ladies and gentlemen. And you're asking me to live with the man ...'

‘No, I am not.'

‘Pardon?'

‘Let's deal with the position I have put Mr Horton in first, shall we? I asked him to consider Joey, not as an assistant but as a potential assistant manager for the Tonypandy store. But then, that is no more than I would do for any member of my family, Geraint. Even you.'

Taking her barbed remark as she'd intended, Geraint remained silent.

‘About our living arrangements,' she continued. ‘I have spoken to Mari and the housekeeper and organized you and Mother's move into the annexe. Joey, the children and I will be occupying the house and given the tension between us -'

‘Which is of your making. Marrying a common criminal -'

‘I am not arguing with you, Geraint, I am informing you of the arrangements I have made. I am not prepared to allow Harry to be brought up in a strained atmosphere, or witness any bickering between you and me, or you and Joey, and given your attitude towards Lloyd and his family there will be some.'

‘You think I would be impolite -'

‘I think there would be sharp words and arguments. Harry is not used to either. I have ordered Mari to run the annexe as an entirely separate household, although you will have your meals supplied from the kitchen of the main house. I don't believe it's fair to expect the estate to go to the expense of hiring any extra staff, so Mari will assume housekeeping duties in the main house; Aunt Edyth's housekeeper, one maid and the nurse will assume duties in the annexe.'

‘And Mr Jenkins?'

‘Mr Jenkins and Robert will continue to work in the main house. If you want any extra staff you will have to pay for them out of your wages.'

‘You know what I earn here. I can't afford -'

‘Your finances are your own affair, Geraint. For Mother's sake I will continue to allow you both to live in the house, rent and expense free. But I expect you to remain in the annexe unless you are given a specific invitation to visit the main house. If you want to use any of the carriages, you will have to clear it with me first.'

Geraint pursed his lips sullenly.

‘You have nothing to say?'

‘What about Gareth and Llinos?'

‘When they come home from school they will live in the annexe with you and mother.'