Chapter 9: Maudie

Gertie meets Johnnie’s Grandmother

Her friendships with her ‘sisters’, Evie and Milde, were firmly established by the end of the calendar year and Gertie had also found a great friend in Johnnie’s grandmother Maudie, who was 81 by the time Gertie first met her in November 1948.

Maudie, the Dowager Lady Standhope, was originally Maud Jenks, the daughter of a wealthy Lancashire Textile Mill owner who had built his fortune up from nothing and was a great believer in using child labour and exploiting his workers right to the end of his industrious life. Maudie was cut from the same industrious cloth of total work ethic but much more attune to putting an end to the immorality of child and labour exploitation. Her husband Jacob Weinstein was a great supporter of his wife in this respect.

Maudie lived on the outskirts of Blackpool in a rather rambling, brightly-painted stuccoed bungalow, with a lady’s maid Kathleen, who was in her 70s, living with her and a young driver Edward living in a room over the detached garage.

Gertie had driven one of Johnnie’s cars there all the way from Derbyshire, in the quiet traffic of a winter Sunday morning. Gertie had also driven up to Derbyshire from London on the Friday afternoon when the bank closed early for a change for the weekend.

Both Grandmother Maud and Gertie laughed over the incongruity of the bright red and white “L” learner plates on front and back of a brand new dark blue Rolls Royce. Maudie insisted that as Gertie was virtually family that she was to call her “Maudie” rather than make her sound even older by constantly reminding her she was a grandmother. She was also very taken with the idea of Gertie learning to drive, when Johnnie usually had his own driver who he had given this whole weekend off so that Gertie could get in plenty of practice on the road before taking her Ministry of Transport Driving Test.

“Well, Maudie,” Gertie explained, “I won’t be taking this car to the Diving Test Centre, boy, would that cause a stir! No, Johnnie has accumulated half-a-dozen cars in his underground garage where he lives and I have driven them all for at least an hour each in busy London traffic over the last two weeks until I am comfortable enough to take my driving test next month. However, the Roller is the most comfortable car that Johnnie has and it’s perfect for a long run in the country, even if it does burn petrol at an alarming rate.” Gertie laughed, “Your young driver’s taken a fancy to the Roller as soon as we parked in front of your garage and asked Johnnie all sorts of questions about it. That’s why Johnnie abandoned me shortly after he introduced us, so he could go back to your garage.”

“Why did he disappear with Edward, Gertie, dear? He’s normally so attentive to me when he visits.”

“Apparently your garage is fitted with an hydraulic lift, and your driver was going to put the Roller up on the ramp so they could check the underneath. Johnnie jumped at the chance to see the ramp in action and took the Roller’s keys and virtually threw them to your driver so that Edward, is it?, could drive the car up onto the ramp! I think he was dying to see parts of the car normally denied to him. I told him when the car was ready for inspection, he could go and play, so long as they played nicely and not to get grease on his suit. Then Edward piped up that he had a spare sent of overalls fresh back from the laundry, so there was no fear of ruining Johnnie’s Sunday Best! So Johnnie decided that by the time he had changed his clothes Edward would have the car up and ready. I won’t be surprised if Johnnie installs a ramp at his own garage in the next few weeks. Honestly, Maudie, those boys and their toys!”

“They do love their motors though, don’t they? I just have the one car, been with me for years,” Maudie confided. “My driver Edward’s a country boy and asked to have the ramp put in because he was worried about corrosion living this close to the salty sea. The car’s a Rover built in 1938 so it is already a decade old. It is comfortable and does for me, but as soon as the ramp was installed the car was hoisted up and Edward keeps everything that could possibly attract rust covered up and regularly recovered in grease, bless his cotton socks. Edward is my maid Kathleen’s great nephew.

“Well, Gertie my girl, while the boys are playing with their toys we must talk about how you and Johnnie are getting on. I’m particularly interested in how you are proceeding, as a couple, intimately,” Maudie said as they sat next to each other on a settee with a low coffee table in front of them, facing the drawing room’s roaring fire. “Back in my day, there were never any opportunities to court like normal people could, we were always chaperoned whenever we were together after we were engaged. I’m sure some chaperones looked the other way, according to my friends, by I had two very keen unmarried aunts who wouldn’t even allow us to hold hands, very frustrating, but we were Victorians back then in 1880s, I’m sure that is very different now.”

Gertie, who started out looking forward to meeting this rather grand old lady and hoping to build a nice relationship with him, especially as Johnnie told on the drive over that he loved his Granny very much and regarded her as not only a kindly woman but ne with a bright and lively outlook on life. Now Gertie was quite literally speechless and despite herself, imagined she looked like a rabbit caught in the headlights with the sleekest grandest motor car bearing down on the poor thing. Only Gertie was ‘the poor thing’.

Maudie had expected this response from the innocent young lady sitting next to her, so she leaned across and held her hand, caressing the back of it with a gentle thumb.

“You know, I talk to Milly on the telephone every week and she thought it best that I break the ice regarding this subject. She thought it would be easier for you to discuss the subject with someone who is basically a sweet old lady, but in the long term, Milly will be your main source of help in this regard going onward. I would appreciate it if you could ring me once a week though and keep me posted on how you and Johnnie are doing, plus any other news of course. I rarely go anywhere, so it would be easier for you to ring me. Milly has my number.”

Gertie appeared to have relaxed, so Maudie pressed on.

“Good, you appear to be breathing normally again, so I won’t need the ambulance I had standing by just in case.”

Gertie looked up at her again, for the first time since this conversation turned. Maudie was smiling mischievously at her. She squeezed her hand again.

“We can get through this, Gertie, dear. Just take a deep breath. It looks like Edward will keep Johnnie occupied and Kathleen will warn us of his approach, so we won’t be disturbed. You are a lot younger than Johnnie, so tell me, dear, have you two been intimate? And by that I mean in plain speech, have you fucked each other yet?”

Gertie was more than a little taken aback by this much older woman, clearly a gentlewoman who had long been the fiercely protective matriarch of a distinguished family, a powerful personality who she had only just met, being so frank in her enquiries. But she was here with Johnnie nearby, and hoping to get on well with her fiancé’s only surviving grandmother, someone he had told her on more than one occasion that he was very fond of and wanted Gertie to build a relationship with going forward. She took a deep breath.

“Er, no,” Gertie replied, “I’ve ... we’ve ... er, we’ve only kissed and cuddled and really only in private when I’ve visited him in his really nice apartment. We have been on our own there a couple of times, I think both our parents trust us to be ... careful ... and we have been. Johnnie is a gentleman, I’ve always known that, and I’m still a girl, quite an innocent girl actually. I mean it’s been very nice, no, quite lovely, to cuddle up and Johnnie doesn’t take any liberties, so I’ve been very comfortable with us expressing our growing love at a simple lip to lip level that is intimate but wouldn’t be too out of place if we were in a public place, or cuddled up with Mama or you in the same room.”

“Very good, my dear, public decorum must always be maintained, even in front of the servants.”

“Oh dear, my maid caught Johnnie and I snogging, not just kiss kissing but really losing ourselves in ... in ... Well, it happened after he carried my poor broken body up the stairs after my first two-hour horse ride, the first time I’d ever been on a horse. Oh, it was so high up and so exciting and mean both being carried by the horse and then by Johnnie up that magnificent staircase. It was like the kiss was all part of the same wonderful experience. I was so embarrassed and then of course we were quite late for luncheon, my first luncheon if front of both his parents.”

“So Milly told me,” Maudie laughed, “she noticed that your face was flushed, while Johnnie looked a little out of sorts and even your maid was rather red-faced and couldn’t look in Milly’s eyes when she glared at her. She thought that maybe you two had...”

“No, no, not at all,” Gertie was quick to point out, “It was just ... the moment was so spontaneous and, well, quite romantic, too. Johnnie literally swept me off my feet and carried me upstairs to my room like I was light as a feather. I was already euphoric over the horse riding experience and as he released my legs with a protective arm still around me we just fell into an embrace and we had ... Not just ‘had’, we ... enjoyed, yes enjoyed ... our most passionate kiss to date ... We were floating in a dream and then Maisie knocked and entered the room and ... well, then the luncheon gong went and we were nowhere near ready and we all panicked.

“Johnnie immediately released me and fled to his own bedroom and Maisie got me changed out of my riding jodhpurs and into a simple daywear skirt and blouse for a casual luncheon in record time. Then we had to rush from the bedrooms to the dining room and we were all out of breath. All three of us were quite embarrassed at the time when we were all keen to make a good impression on Mama and Papa. But, that aside, I think our relationship as a couple was definitely hitched up a notch, so that wasn’t bad at all. As for Maisie and me, well our relationship as lady-to-be and lady’s maid, just got a little easier as we had that embarrassing moment shared just between us.”

“Well, I can see how Milly thought the worst,” Maudie smiled at the girl, who was clearly not trying to hide anything from her, and she squeezed her knee affectionately, “Not that it would’ve been life-changing, only Johnnie’s mother wanted to make sure that if you were ... you know, already having sex, that you were not being forced to do so against your Will, and, for propriety purposes, that you were taking precautions.”

“No, Johnnie and I have agreed that our wedding night will be special to us in every possible way. I know I am young and totally inexperienced in the ways of love, but I have always tried to be observant and honest in the way I deal with people, which was why I loved the theatre job so much. I enjoyed being with people who were there to have fun and enjoy the experience of an event, all of them open to be entertained and therefore in a better frame of mind to deal with other people about them, even people who appear to be naturally combative I can deal with in such a positive atmosphere. Johnnie is one of those people who is so honest that I instantly trusted him with my life. It is probably why he is so successful as a banker where honesty is so important.”

“So, my dear, you do think you love my grandson?” Maudie asked, the expression on her face, Gertie felt, was warm and relaxed and full of love for the slip of a girl in front of her.

Gertie almost choked on the emotion, “I do, I’m certain that I love him ... absolutely totally.”

“Good for you, Gertie, we have all felt that Johnnie was so like our own dear husbands that Milly and I were more than a little worried that all the while the war raaged, a young man didn’t have the same social opportunities to meet the girl of his dreams like our men had. Both Milly and I, she has and I had wonderful husbands and we’re certain that you will too. I speak for Milly too here, she thinks you are perfect together and I trust her judgement. From what I’ve heard previously and now what I’ve seen, I am inclined to believe you and Johnnie were meant for one another.”

“Thank you, Maudie,” Gertie said humbly, “I think Johnnie was hoping for a good response.”

“Now,” Maudie said, in a business-like manner as if the formalities had been dealt with and she was now down to discuss business, “the way the family has worked so well up to now is that we Lady wives of our Lords and so-called Masters, are like an Olympic long distance relay team. I moved out of Standhope Manor when Charlie and Milly became Lord and Lady Standhope. There can only be one head of the family and, because we women tend to start out younger than our husbands at the time of marriage, we live longer and so the job of Matriarch has always fallen on the latest Lady Standhope. One day, that Lady will be you. The younger Winters’ wives all start their families without that burden but eventually their families will grow up and that will fall to you. I am too old to be the lead in your training, but Milly is ready to do that, preferably with your understanding of your long-term commitment.”

“I have nothing but admiration for the way the Manor is run, even with my limited experience of it. It seems you cover everything including ... definitely including the conversation we are having. I am sure my mother and I, even though we love each other like mother and only daughter can, would not be so frank about ... about sex.”

“Milly and I had this very same conversation when she was only five years older than you, when she and Charlie started courting,” Maudie said. “Now we have had this exchange, even if it has been difficult for you, you will remember this when you sit down with the beau of your eldest son or daughter and you will be more prepared for it than I was back in 1885.”

“Maudie,” Gertie said, her voice constricted by emotion and more than a little croaky, “Can I hug you?”

“Of course you can, grandchild,” Maudie held out her arms in response, “it is after all the men we love that binds us all together in love.”

And they hugged. And they both cried.

Meanwhile Johnnie surrendered his love of “boys’ toys” to take up his duties as the visiting loving grandson, brought to his senses while Kathleen collected and took their finished tea cups to the kitchen. Rather than delay matters by changing out of his borrowed overalls, he headed straight to his grandmother’s sitting room, wiping his hands on a clean rag furnished by the grinning Edward.

There he saw his grandmother and his fiancée hugging each other and crying. Unwilling to disturb the emotional tableau before him, he retreated and headed back to Edward’s garage to change back into his usual togs. He smiled to himself though, rejoicing in the loving affection already developing between two of the three most important woman in his life.

Eventually, wiping her tears with a monogrammed scrap of cotton, Maudie spoke.

“Evie also keeps regularly in touch and tells me that you haven’t yet broached the prospect of having Maisie join you at Dorset House.”

“I didn’t feel I wanted to impose on Evie’s generosity...”

“Nonsense, girl,” Maudie said firmly, then continued more softly,” Evie knows that your lady’s maid is a permanent fixture where you are concerned, Evie will not be put out at all by your maid lodging with you wherever you go. No, it’s Evie’s housekeeper’s job to accommodate the personal servants of guests and ensure that he or she has the freedom of the house and its facilities to service you as you should expect to be served; the housekeeper’s additional job will be to monitor the activities of your maid and she will pull Maisie her up sharp if she tries anything on, so she won’t be allowed to slacken off in her duties to you.

“One thing I will say about one’s lady’s maids are that they will become good friends with you, that is only natural, especially as you are both young and both new to this game of being adults in a world that is quickly opening up to you, and applies equally to Maisie, who would otherwise be a lowly under housemaid for several years to come. Milly saw her potential and Maisie is shaping up well as a lady’s maid. Milly tried to find out from her lady’s maid what had happened before your first luncheon at Standhope Manor and nobody among the other servants had a single clue that anything out of the ordinary occurred at all. And, of course, nor would one lady’s maid ask another lady’s maid anything so personal, so clearly Maisie kept what she saw completely to herself; that means she ticks all the boxes, dear. However, all the while they look after you, no matter how dependable they are, you must also consider their own lives. No matter how attached you become to them and how much you think you’ll miss them if they leave, do let them fall in love and marry; let them have their own families and children, let them fulfil their own lives just as they help you fulfil yours. You can always break in a new maid but you cannot hold them back from their own independent lives. I have seen so many other titled ladies selfishly hold onto their maids and abandon them to a life of loneliness when they start to show their age. I think that is a sorry mistake. Take Kathleen, my lady’s maid ... I’ve lost count of how many maids I’ve had over the years, I’ve loved most of them, the ones I haven’t liked don’t last long, but Kathleen was my second or third maid; she was with me for six or seven years before she fell in love with a footman at the Manor, I let her go, she married had several children, and is now a loving grandmother, she is fulfilled. And we kept in contact as friends, as I have with all the ones I was particularly fond of, and, when her husband died, she found she was lonely, I sensed that from her letters. I was lonely at the time too, so I took her back and she came willingly. I’m not sure now who is actually looking after who!”