Hettie of Hope Street Read Online Free Page B

coldly, ‘You were off key in the first bar.’
    â€˜I was nervous.’
    â€˜If you are nervous about singing in front of me then how do you think you will be able to sing in front of an audience of a hundred?’
    Hettie did not dare look at her mother. She knew if she did she would burst into tears of shame and disappointment.

THREE
    â€˜You have been gone such an age. What happened?’
    â€˜Poor Hettie was very nervous,’ Hettie heard Ellie answering as Connie ushered them both into her cosy parlour.
    â€˜I was off key in the opening bars,’ Hettie added, watching as Connie’s expression grew grave and sympathetic, and then laughing and saying, ‘But I am to have the job because Mrs Buchanan says that I am the best of all the applicants.’
    â€˜Oh, you terror, letting me think that you hadn’t got it!’ Connie chided her, laughing back.
    â€˜And I am going to board with Mrs Buchanan’s sister, aren’t I, Mam? She lives in the same street and only takes in female lodgers. I will have lessons with Mrs Buchanan every morning for a month and then I shall sing at the Adelphi hotel every afternoon. Except, of course, for Sunday, which will be my day off. Then after that I will have two days together off each month, which means I can go home to Preston.’
    â€˜Well, inbetween times you must come here to us, then. You will enjoy listening to our school choir, and it will be so lovely to have you. Dr Kenton, the school’s music teacher, is very proud of them, and says they are far superior to the Bluecoat School boys.’
    Connie’s husband Harry was the headmaster of a private boys’ school and he, Connie and their children lived in the headmaster’s house right next to the school. In addition to her responsibilities as a headmaster’s wife, Connie was also still very involved in the nursery for children whose parents were out at work or who, in some cases, had no parents to care for them at all. She had set up this nursery prior to her marriage to Harry.
    â€˜So, when do you start your new job, Hettie?’
    â€˜Next week, but I shall need to have a new dress first, shan’t I, Mam?’
    â€˜Yes, my love, you will. Mrs Buchanan has told us that Hettie will need a proper tea dress to wear when she sings,’ Ellie explained to her sister.
    â€˜Well, you will be certain to find something here in Liverpool. We shall go out together tomorrow and look.’
    â€˜Connie, I wonder, would you mind taking Hettie to get a dress without me? Only I have already arranged to see Iris tomorrow.’
    Hettie stared at her step-mother in consternation. ‘But you must come with me,’ she protested. ‘Please, Mam, I want you to,’ she pleaded desperately. For although she wanted her new life andits independence, inwardly Hettie felt vulnerable and uncertain, and very much in need of Ellie’s love and support. How could she think of putting seeing Iris before something so important as helping her to find the right dress for her new job? Even Connie was frowning at her.
    â€˜Hettie, I am sorry,’ Ellie said, seeing the disappointed look on Hettie’s face. ‘But Iris is only in Liverpool for tomorrow, and it is important that I see her…’
    â€˜But I need you to help me choose my dress.’ Hettie was ready to burst into tears.
    After one look at her pale face and tear-filled eyes, Connie attempted to placate her by saying calmly, ‘Of course you are disappointed that your mother can’t go shopping with you, Hettie. But I can come with you and I’m sure between us we shall be able to find the right thing.’
    Somehow Hettie managed to swallow back her tears and nod her head, but it just wouldn’t be the same fun without her.
    Even worse was to come!
    At four o’clock, the whole family, including Connie’s three young children and her husband, all sat down together to