Joan Haste

JOAN HASTE

After dinner was over she announced to Joan that they were all going out for a walk in the Park, and asked her if she would like to accompany them. Joan, of course, was delighted, for already she began to feel a want of the fresh air to which she was accustomed; but as she accepted she looked inquiringly at Mr. Bird.

«Ah, my dear», said his wife, «you are wondering how he can come out walking when his legs are crippled. Well, presently you shall see. Now go and put on your hat».

By the time that Joan was ready she found that a long wheelchair, which she had noticed standing in the passage, had been run into the sitting-room, and into this chair Mr. Bird shifted himself with marvellous agility by the help of his muscular arms, nodding and smiling at Joan the while.

«How on earth will they get it down the steps?» she wondered. Soon the mystery was solved, for, the front door having been opened, Sally appeared with three grooved boards which reached from the lintel to the pavement. The three wheels of the chair having been set in the grooves, Mr. Bird grasped the iron railings on either side of the steps, and, smiling triumphantly, launched himself with much dignity into the street.

«There, my dear!» said Mrs. Bird, while Sally replaced the boards in the passage and shut the door, «necessity is the mother of invention. Quite clever, isn’t it? But we have other contrivances that are even cleverer».

Then they started, Mr. Bird guiding himself, while Sally and Mrs. Bird who was arrayed in a prim little bonnet and mantle, pushed behind. Joan offered to assist, but was not allowed this honour because of her inexperience of the streets, at any

341

H. RIDER HAGGARD

rate until they reached the Park. So she walked by the side of the chair, wondering at the shops and the noise and bustle of the Edgware Road.

Presently they came to the corner opposite the Marble Arch, where, as usual, the wide roadway was blocked with traffic. «How will they ever get across there?» thought Joan; «it frightens me to look at it».

But it did not frighten Mrs. Bird and her family, who, without a moment’s hesitation, plunged into the thick of it, calling to Joan to keep close to them. It was really wonderful to see the skill with which the transit was accomplished; cabs, omnibuses and carriages bore down upon them from all directions, but the Bird family were not dismayed. Here and there the chair headed, now passing under the nose of a horse and now grazing the wheel of a cab, till at length it arrived safely at the farther pavement. Joan was not so fortunate, however; about half-way across she lost her head, and, having been nearly knocked down by the pole of an omnibus, stood bewildered till a policeman seized her by the arm and dragged her into safety.

«You see, my dear», said Mrs. Bird, «although you are so strong, you are not quite competent to wheel Jim at present. First you must learn to look after yourself».

Then they went for their walk in the Park, which Joan enjoyed, for it was all new to her, especially when she was allowed to push the precious chair; and returned to Kent Street in time for tea.

The rest of the afternoon and evening passed like those of the previous day, and the morrow was as the yesterday had

342

JOAN HASTE

been. Indeed, there was little variety in the routine of the Bird ménage – so little that Joan soon began to wonder how they distinguished one month or one year from another. Few customers came to the house, for most of the dress-making was put out to Mrs. Bird by the managers of large shops, who had confidence in her, and were not afraid to trust her with costly materials, which she made up, generally into skirts, and took back in the evenings.

So it came about that all day long Mrs. Bird and Sally sewed, while Jim carved endless walking-sticks, and Joan sat by giving such help as she could, now listening to her hostess’s good-na- tured chatter and now to the shrill song of the canary. At first, after all that she had gone through, this mode of life was a rest to her. It was delightful to be obliged neither to think nor to work unless she so wished; it was delightful to know that she was beyond the reach of Samuel Rock, and could not be harried by the coarse tongue of Mrs. Gillingwater or by the gossip of her neighbours. The atmosphere of goodness in which she lived was very soothing also: it was a new thing for Joan to pass her days where there was no hate, no passion, no jealousy, and no violence – where, on the contrary, charity and loving-kindness reigned supreme. Soon she grew very fond of little Mrs. Bird, as, indeed, anybody must have done who had the good fortune to know her; and began to share her adoration of the two «babies», the great patient creature who faced his infirmities with a perpetual smile, and the sweet child from whom love seemed to radiate.

But after a while, as her body and mind shook off their weariness, these things began to pall; she longed for work,

343

H. RIDER HAGGARD

for anything that would enable her to escape from her own thoughts – and as yet no work was forthcoming. At times, tiring of Jim’s smile as he hewed out libellous likenesses of herself upon his walking-sticks, and of the trilling of the canary, she would seek refuge in her own sitting-room, where she read and re-read the books that Henry had given her; and at times, longing for air, she would escape from the stuffy little house to the Park, to walk up and down there till she grew weary – an amusement which she found had its drawbacks. At last, when she had been a fortnight in Kent Street, she asked Mrs. Bird if there was any prospect of getting employment.

«My dear», was the answer, «I have inquired everywhere, and as yet without success. To-night I am taking this skirt back to Messrs. Black and Parker, in Oxford Street, and I will ask their manager, who is quite a friend of mine, if he has an opening. Failing this I think you had better advertise, for I see that you are getting tired of doing nothing, and I do not wonder at it – though you should be most thankful that you can afford to live without work, seeing that many people in your position would now be reduced to starvation».

That night, Mrs. Bird returned from Messrs. Black and Parker’s with a radiant countenance.

«My dear», she said, «there is a coincidence, quite a wonderful coincidence. The young woman at Messrs. Black and Parker’s whose business it was to fit on the cloaks in the mantle department has suddenly been called away to nurse a sick uncle in Cornwall from whom she has expectations, and they are looking out for some one to take her place, for, as it chances, there is no one suitable for the post in their employ. I told

344

JOAN HASTE

the manager about you, and he said that I was to bring you there to-morrow morning. If they engaged you your pay would be eighteen shillings a week to begin with; which is not much, but better than nothing».

Accordingly, on the following morning, having arrayed herself in her best dress, and a pretty little bonnet that she had made with the help of Sally, Joan set out for Messrs. Black and Parker’s in the company of Mrs. Bird.

Messrs. Black and Parker’s establishment was an enormous one, having many departments.

«You see it is a first-class shop, my dear», said Mrs. Bird, glancing with veneration at the huge windows filled with chefs-d’oeuvres of the milliner’s and other arts. «Now follow me, and don’t be nervous». And she led the way through various divisions till she reached a large box built of mahogany and glass labelled «Manager’s Office. No admittance except on business».

At this moment the door of the box opened, and from it issued an oiled and curled specimen of manhood, with very white hands and hair so wavy that it conveyed a suggestion of crimping tongs.

His eye fell upon Joan, and he bowed obsequiously.

«Can I do anything for you, madam?» he said. «We are so full this morning that I fear you are not being attended to».

«She is not a customer, Mr. Waters», said Mrs. Bird, emerging from behind Joan’s tall shape: «she is the young person about whom I spoke to you, who wants a situation as showwoman».

345

H. RIDER HAGGARD

«Oh! is she?» said Mr. Waters, with a complete change of manner; «then why didn’t you say so at first? Well, she’s a pretty girl anyway. Step in here, miss, and take off your jacket, please, so that I can see what your figure is like».

Joan did as she was told, although she felt a hate of this individual swelling in her heart. Mr. Waters surveyed her critically for half a minute or more, shutting first one eye and then the other, as though to bring her better into focus.

«Any experience?» he said laconically – «I mean of business».

«No, sir, none», Joan answered. «Ah! I see: a lady, I suppose».

«I am not a lady, sir», replied Joan.

«Ain’t you? – then you imitate the article very well». «Just what I feared», murmured Mrs. Bird, shaking

her head.

«However», he went on, «we can overlook that fault; but I have another doubt about you. You’re too good-looking. Our customers like to see their things tried on a fine figure, of course, but they don’t like to see them tried on a girl who makes them look common dowds beside her. Why, a three-guinea mantle would seem a better thing on your back than a fortypound cloak on most of them. You’d show off the goods, I dare say, but I doubt that you would frighten away custom».

«I thought that tall people were always wanted», hesitated Joan.

«Tall people!» said Mr. Waters, with an admiring snigger; «just you look at yourself in this pier glass, and I think that you will see something else there beside height. Now, I’ll give

346

JOAN HASTE

you a bit of advice: you drop this show and go on to the stage. You’ll draw there; yes, even if you can’t sing or act a bit, there are hundreds who would pay to come and look at you. By George! I’m not sure that I wouldn’t myself».

«I do not wish to go on the stage», answered Joan stiffly; and Mrs. Bird behind her murmured, «No! never!» in sympathetic tones. «If you think that I shall not suit», she added, «I will not take up your time any longer».

«I didn’t say that, miss. Here!» – and he put his head out of the door and called to a shop-woman – «just give me that velvet mantle, will you? Now, miss», he said: «you fancy that Mrs. Bird’s a customer, and let me see you try to sell her this cloak».

Joan’s first impulse was to refuse, but presently a sense of the fun of the situation prevailed, and she rose to it, mincing, smiling, and praising up the garment, which she hung upon her own shoulders, bending her graceful shape this way and that to show it in various lights and attitudes, till at length Mrs. Bird exclaimed, «Well, I never! – you’re a born actress, my dear. You might have been bred to the business. I should have bought that cloak long ago, I should, though, saving your presence, Mr. Waters, I don’t think it is worth the price asked».

«You’ll do», said the manager, rubbing his hands, «if only you can forget that you are a lady, and have nous enough to flatter when you see that it is welcome, and that’s always where ladies and their clothes are concerned. What’s your name?»

«Haste: Joan Haste».

«Very well, Miss Haste. Let’s see: to-day is Saturday, so you may as well begin on Monday. Hours nine to seven, dinner and

347

CHAPTER XXV

«I FORBID YOU»

On the following Monday morning Joan began her career as a shop-girl, to describe which in detail would be too long, however instructive it might prove. Her actual work, especially at this, the dead season of the year, was not so hard as she had expected, nor was she long in mastering her duties; but, accustomed as she had been to a country life and the fresh air, she soon found confinement for so many hours a day in the close atmosphere of the shop exceedingly irksome. From Kent Street to Messrs. Black and Parker’s was but a quarter of an hour’s walk; and, as Joan discovered by experiment, without exposing herself to many annoyances it was impossible for her to wander about the streets after dark in search of exercise. As a last resource she was driven to rising at the peep of day and taking her walks abroad in the Park so soon as the gates were open – a daily constitutional which, if wholesome, was not exhilarating, and one that could only be practised in fine weather and while the days were long. This craving for air, however, was among the least of her troubles, for soon it became clear to her that she had no vocation for shop life; indeed, she learned to loathe it and its surroundings. At first the hu-

349

H. RIDER HAGGARD

mours of the business amused her a little, but very shortly she discovered that even about these there was a terrible sameness, for one cannot be perpetually entertained by the folly of old ladies trying to make themselves look young, or by the vanity of the young ones neglected by nature and attempting to supply their deficiencies with costly garments.

What galled her chiefly, however, were the attentions with which she was honoured by the young men of the establishment. Worst of all, the oiled and curled Mr. Waters singled her out as the object of his especial admiration, till at length she lost her temper, and answered him in such a fashion as to check his advances once and for all. He left her muttering «You shall pay for that»; and he kept his word, for thenceforth her life was made a misery to her, and it seemed that she could do nothing right. As it chanced, he could not actually discharge her, for Joan had attracted the favourable notice of one of the owners of the business, who, when Mr. Waters made some trumped-up complaint against her, dismissed it with a hint that he better be more careful as to his facts in future.

For the rest, she had no amusements and no friends, and during all the time she spent in London she never visited a theatre or other place of entertainment. Her only recreation was to read when she could get the books, or, failing this, to sit with little Mrs. Bird in the Kent Street parlour and perfect herself in the art of conversation with the deaf and dumb.

As may be imagined, such an existence did not tend to cause Joan to forget her past, or the man who was to her heart what the sun is to the world. She could renounce him, she could go away vowing that she would never see him more; but to live

350