No Wings to Fly Read Free Page B

‘There’s water in the kettle, so if you want to wash now . . .’
    As Lily moved to follow her stepmother, her father said, ‘When you’ve got a minute you can go upstairs and tell your brother to come down and eat.’
    ‘Edwin –’ Mrs Clair protested from the scullery door.
    ‘The boy’s got to eat,’ he said. ‘Working on the farm all day, he’s got to keep his strength up.’
    As Lily went upstairs a few minutes later, she wondered why her father had relented so soon where Tom was concerned. It was not like him to be so quickly forgiving.
    When the time came, the four sat down to eat the cold lamb and vegetables that Lily and her stepmother had brought to the table. Neither Lily nor Tom spoke as they ate, and there was little conversation between their parents. Their father, in particular, seemed more than usually preoccupied. Soon after the meal was finished Tom said his goodnights and went upstairs.
    When he was gone, Lily and her stepmother started to clear the table, while Mr Clair moved to his chair. When all was in order and the dishes had been washed and dried, Lily went back into the kitchen. Her stepmother had taken up her darning, while her father leant back smoking his pipe. Lily took her own sewing basket from the shelf and resumed her work on the bodice she was making for a new dress. For some minutes there was silence, then Mr Clair said:
    ‘So, Lily, my girl, what kind of a day have you had at the Mellers’? They keep you hopping, no doubt?’
    Lily, glad of his interest, said, ‘Oh, it went pretty much asusual, Father. These days the men are out in the fields most of the time. They hardly come to the house. Mostly it’s just me and Mrs Meller and the other maid. It’s a big house and there’s always plenty to do.’
    ‘I’m sure there is. She’s still lending you her books, is she?’
    At this, Mrs Clair gave a breathy little snort, which was enough to make Lily hesitate before replying, but then she said, ‘Yes, she is. She lets me take anything I want. She says I should read everything.’
    ‘Read,’ Mrs Clair said dismissively without looking up from her mending. ‘Who’s got time for reading? How some women manage to run a house with their heads stuck in a novel half the time, I’ll never know.’
    ‘Oh, but she doesn’t only read novels,’ Lily said. ‘She reads other things too. Last week she gave me a book about the Chartists.’
    At Lily’s words her stepmother gave a contemptuous little sniff and said, ‘Chartists, hmm,’ but Mr Clair said to Lily, ‘And did you find it interesting?’
    ‘Oh, yes,’ Lily said, eyes wide. ‘They’re trying to make changes. Not only do they want
all
men to have the vote, but women as well.’
    Mrs Clair hooted at this, and shook her head in wonder. ‘Lord almighty,’ she said, ‘if that’s the kind of thing you’re learning at the Mellers’, I should think it’s time you put your mind to something else. I thought you went there to work, not to have your head stuffed with nonsense.’
    ‘Now, then, Mother,’ Mr Clair said to his wife. ‘It’s nice the woman takes an interest in the girl. She knows she’s got a brain.’
    ‘Got a brain, is it?’ Mrs Clair said. ‘What does a girl want with politics, I’d like to know.’
    ‘Oh, but she thinks a girl ought to know about such things,’ Lily said, ‘especially me, seeing as how I’m‘prenticed to be a teacher. She says there’ll come a time when girls are taught as boys are taught. For girls it won’t be all needlework and drawing and how to bake a pie. The girls should be taught grammar, she says, and physics and chemistry too, and they should –’
    Mrs Clair broke in at this. ‘Enough,’ she said, flapping a hand. ‘No more. You’re going to find out, young lady, that a girl needs to learn only as much as’ll fit her for her life. Which, if she’s lucky, will mean marriage to a decent man and having a decent home. And I’d like to know where