Rosie Todmarsh by Adrian Alington

Author:Adrian Alington [Alington, Adrian]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781448202997
Goodreads: 14492130
Publisher: Bloomsbury Reader
Published: 2011-12-01T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter IX

Rosie’s Dream Takes Shape

That dream of Rosie’s began to haunt her very early in young Joe’s life, as early, indeed, as those days when the boy’s only contact with his elders was a strange inarticulate language of his own. That the series of sounds which he uttered had meaning for young Joe, that they were expressive of contentment, rage, humiliation or entreaty, was to Rosie obvious and indisputable. Sometimes, it seemed to her, they were more than that, that young Joe chanted aloud, now triumphantly, now in hushed lullaby tones some unending saga of strange events of which he alone had knowledge. He sang, perhaps of the wonders of the mysterious universe whence he came, celebrating his memories of it in song before all too soon they faded.

“It’s a lovely song, duckie,” she would say to him. “What a pity you can’t tell us what it’s all about!”

In reply to which young Joe would smile roguishly at his mother like the saucy little tyke that he was, so that her heart seemed verily to melt within her stout body for the great love which she had for him.

From the very first he had been a saucy little tyke. That was Rosie’s dictum and none could deny it. A saucy little tyke, as well as a regular young Turk or pickle. And as artful as a bag-full of young monkeys.

It was remarkable how from the first the child monopolised his mother’s thoughts. Nowadays even the Crown took second place. Or rather, it would be truer to say that the Crown seemed of importance to Rosie now mainly in so far as it contributed to her dream for the future of young Joe. She ruled there now as a queen in her own right, for the licence had been transferred to her after Joe’s death. And this little kingdom of hers was made to serve her great purpose. In the old days it had been ‘easy come, easy go ‘so far as money was concerned with her and old Joe. Nowadays it was far different. The accounts, which she and Joe had tackled with so much head-scratching, even with laughing reluctance, were now, after the child’s well-being, the most important thing in her life. Unmethodical in most practical affairs—Rosie’s handbag bulging with old letters and miscellaneous junk was something of a joke at the Crown—she had become meticulous in the conduct of her financial affairs, rejoicing in every additional shilling which she could screw away into the bank after she had paid licence duty and other expenses. Everything, of course, was more expensive nowadays; the rent which she paid to Bensington’s was up, rates were up, wages were up. When first she came to work at the Crown old Joe had paid her thirty-five bob a week and provided her meals; nowadays a barmaid, living out, demanded two pounds ten, if not three quid, over and above her meals. Odds and ends like the replacement of glasses cost far more than they had done.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.