Tiger Bay Blues Read Online Free PDF Page B

house.’
    ‘Do you have any sisters, Reverend Slater?’ Lloyd asked.
    ‘No, sir.’
    ‘That’s probably just as well. Tell me, do you think that the education of most children begins at home?’
    ‘Yes, sir.’
    ‘Then a woman’s education cannot possibly be wasted if she passes it on to her children.’
    ‘Your father has very definite ideas,’ Peter whispered to Edyth when Lloyd turned his back on them to continue his conversation with Toby and Bella.
    ‘Particularly on social justice and the emancipation of women. That’s why he became an MP.’
    ‘But women have the vote.’
    ‘Only after a long struggle. And we’re still a long way from achieving equal pay and equal rights in all professions.’
    ‘I take it you’re a feminist?’
    ‘You’re not?’ she challenged.
    ‘Of course,’ he agreed hastily. ‘So, what will you study in college, Miss Evans?’
    ‘English Literature.’
    ‘And then you’ll teach?’
    ‘I am going to a training college. Hopefully Swansea, if I matriculate.’ Edyth always gave the same answer to any enquiry that touched on her future, although the prospect of teaching had appealed more to Bella than to her. The problem was, other than teaching, nursing or office work, all of which she suspected would bore her witless after a while, there were few interesting occupations open to respectable women.
    She looked across the lawn towards the gazebo where the jazz band was softly playing. She would have loved to have become a professional singer or actress, but as her contributions to school concerts had proved that she had absolutely no theatrical talent and even less musical ability, her ambitions in that direction were woefully hampered.
    ‘Did you always want to go into the church, Reverend Slater?’
    ‘Please, call me Peter.’
    ‘I will, if you call me Edyth.’
    ‘I’d be delighted to, Edyth. And, in answer to your question, my parents always assumed that I’d follow my father’s choice of career when the time came. To be perfectly honest, after he died, I couldn’t think of anything else that I wanted to do. But when I was studying at Lampeter, I did truly feel that I’d found my vocation in life.’
    ‘This is a very serious conversation for a wedding.’ She glanced at the jazz band, and the pretty singer. She had skin the colour of milk chocolate, but her black hair, waved in the latest ‘loose’ style, bore no trace of Afro curls. She wondered about her ancestry.
    Peter noticed she was watching the band. ‘That girl can really sing.’
    ‘Do you like jazz?’ Edyth asked.
    ‘I prefer orchestral and chamber music. Although I occasionally listen to lighter music on the radio and I have been to a few Ivor Novello and Jerome Kern evenings.’
    Edyth hid her disappointment. She might not to be able to play a musical instrument but she loved listening and dancing to modern music. ‘What about books?’
    ‘I enjoy revisiting the classics. The Brontës, Jane Austen, Dickens and, to go further back, Homer’s Iliad, but one of the drawbacks of being a curate is lack of time. Not that I’m complaining. In fact, I’m looking forward to taking over the youth club and drama group. I’m recruiting volunteers to assist me. Do you have any time to spare, Edyth?’
    ‘I do, and I would be delighted to help in any way that I can.’ Edyth smiled up at the waitress, who was now serving them roast chicken.
    ‘As would I, Reverend Slater.’ Maggie leaned across the table, ignored her sister and beamed at Peter. ‘Edyth will be going to college at the end of the summer, while I, on the other hand, have another full year of school – and Pontypridd – to go.’
    ‘The final year,’ Edyth reminded. ‘And the most important one. You’ll be busy, Maggie.’
    ‘Not too busy to help the church.’ Maggie picked up a jug and handed it to Peter. ‘Bread sauce, Reverend, or would you prefer mint sauce with your peas?’
    Edyth didn’t see her sister as a threat,