Ironmonger's Daughter Read Online Free Page B

physical differences between the two as they played happily together. Connie was a sturdy-limbed child who toddled around confidently; Molly was inclined to fall about as she tried to copy her playmate. Helen noticed that Connie was already an inch or two the taller and she felt a lump in her throat as she watched Molly smiling and laughing at Kate’s fair-haired daughter, wondering if Molly’s evident difficulties had already started to give her pain. Connie seemed to be a very placid child, and she never become angry or annoyed at Molly’s awkward shows of affection. Helen felt a great comfort in seeing Connie accept her daughter, and yet it only made her think of the problems her daughter would probably have to face as she grew older. How many times would Molly be rejected, pushed away, and perhaps even laughed at? She hoped with all her heart that Connie would always be a friend and would protect Molly from others’ cruelty.
     
    Early in 1923, trade at Armitage picked up and Kate got a permanent job there. She worked a stamping machine and although the work was hard and repetitive she was happy in the knowledge that at last she was bringing in a steady wage, even if it was barely a pittance. Overall the wages paid to the Armitage workers were very poor. There was some unrest amongst the factory hands and talk of joining a trade union, but no one wanted to be labelled as a troublemaker and so the griping was normally aired at the street corner and the doorsteps after working hours.
    George Armitage, the owner of the factory, had an intuitive feeling that his workers’ discontent could become dangerous. He stood at the window of his large comfortable office looking down at the yard, a smart, upright man despite his advancing years. The factory that he had built up from practically nothing had been his whole life, but now that his wife had died he was beginning to feel very weary, and he realised that perhaps it was time for his two sons to take over the running of the business. His elder son Peter would assume general control, and Gerald would take responsibility for organising the production. He sighed as he thought of the problems that would arise. There was too much tension between the two brothers. Peter was competent and seriousminded, and happily married with a young son, whereas Gerald was overconfident and brash, and his marriage was breaking down badly. George knew that his boastful younger son would try to dominate Peter, and he realised that discontent among the workers would be aggravated if Gerald went ahead and sacked Joe Cooper, the well-liked young foreman, and some of the older hands on the factory floor. George Armitage gazed out over the yard as the wind disturbed scraps of paper wrapping and torn pieces of cardboard. I wonder what all this will come to, he thought.
    His thoughts were disturbed as Gerald opened the door and walked confidently in.
    ‘Hello, Gerald,’ George said. ‘Sit down for a minute, can you? I’ve just been thinking about a few things.’
    As Gerald made himself comfortable in an easy chair he noticed the worry and concern on his father’s face. He always felt irritable when his father called him in to discuss business, for he believed that the matters which often caused his father so much concern could be summarily resolved quite simply, without so much fuss. His lack of real power in the company irked him, and he was impatient for his father to hand over control to him and Peter.
    George Armitage looked over at his son with stern eyes. ‘Are you having any trouble with the workers wanting to join trade unions, Gerald?’ he asked shortly.
    Gerald shrugged dismissively and a ghost of a grin appeared on his chiselled features. ‘Well, I’ve heard rumours about rumours, Father,’ he said. ‘But it’s not worth paying any attention to them. If they are true, it’s only one or two idiots getting above themselves. Most of the hands are no problem at all.’
    ‘Mmm.’