Liza of Lambeth
Heinemann, Hardback, 1947.
8vo. xv+137 pp. Jubilee Edition. Preface for The Collected Edition, 1934 [vii-xi]. Preface for the
Jubilee Edition, 1947 [xii-xv].
First published, 1897.
Second Impression, 1897.
Third Impression, 1904.
Fourth Impression, 1906.
Fifth Impression, 1914.
Sixth Impression, 1915.
Seventh Impression, 1918.
Eighth Impression, 1920.
Ninth Impression, 1925.
Traveller’s Library, 1930.
Collected Edition, 1934.
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Then they all set to. Pork-pies,
saveloys, sausages, cold potatoes, hard-boiled eggs, cold bacon, veal, ham,
crabs and shrimps, cheese, butter, cold suet-puddings and treacle,
gooseberry-tarts, cherry-tarts, butter, bread, more sausages, and yet again pork-pies!
They devoured the provisions like ravening beasts, stolidly, silently,
earnestly, in large mouthfuls which they shoved down their throats
unmasticated. The intelligent foreigner seeing them thus dispose of their food
would have understood why England is a great nation. He would have understood
why Britons never, never will be slaves. They never stopped except to drink,
and then at each gulp they emptied their glass; no heel-taps! And still they
ate, and still they drank – but as all things must cease, they stopped at last,
and a long sigh of content broke from their two-and-thirty throats.
'Yus,' went on Mrs. Kemp, 'I've 'ad
thirteen children an' I'm proud of it. As your poor dear father used ter sy, it
shows as 'ow one's got the blood of a Briton in one. Your poor dear father, 'e
was a great 'and at speakin' 'e was: 'e used ter speak at parliamentary
meetin's – I really believe 'e'd 'ave been a Member of Parliament if 'e'd been
alive now. Well, as I was sayin', your father 'e used ter sy, "None of
your small families for me, I don't approve of them," says 'e. 'E was a
man of very 'igh principles, an' by politics 'e was a Radical. "No,"
says 'e, when 'e got talkin', "when a man can 'ave a family risin' into
double figures, it shows 'e's got the backbone of a Briton in 'im. That's the
stuff as 'as built up England's nime and glory! When one thinks of the mighty
British Hempire," says 'e, "on which the sun never sets from mornin'
till night, one 'as ter be proud of 'isself, an' one 'as ter do one's duty in
thet walk of life in which it 'as pleased Providence ter set one – an' every
man's fust duty is ter get as many children as 'e bloomin' well can." Lord
love yer – 'e could talk, I can tell yer.'
'I've been very unfortunate of lite,'
remarked Mrs. Hodges, as she licked her lips, 'this mikes the second death I've
'ad in the last ten days – women, I mean, of course I don't count bibies.'
She
scarcely knew why she objected to his caresses; but they bored her and made her
cross. But luckily the blessed institution of marriage came to her rescue, for
Jim and his wife naturally had no particular desire to spend the afternoon
together, and Liza, seeing a little embarrassment on their part, proposed that
they should go for a walk together in the forest.
'Oh, it wasn't 'is blows I
minded so much, Mrs. Kemp,' replied Mrs. Stanley, 'an' don't you think it. It
was wot 'e said ter me. I can stand a blow as well as any woman. I don't mind
thet, an' when 'e don't tike a mean advantage of me I can stand up for myself
an' give as good as I tike; an' many's the time I give my fust husband a black
eye. But the language 'e used, an' the things 'e called me! It made me blush to
the roots of my 'air; I'm not used ter bein' spoken ter like thet. I was in
good circumstances when my fust 'usband was alive, 'e earned between two an'
three pound a week, 'e did. As I said to 'im this mornin', "'Ow a
gentleman can use sich language, I dunno."'
'I didn't know 'e was like
that!' said Liza.
'Didn't yer? I thought the
'ole street knew it by now,' said Mrs. Cooper indignantly. 'Oh, 'e's a wrong
'un, 'e is.'
'It wasn't 'is fault,' put
in Sally, amidst her sobs; 'it's only because 'e's 'ad a little drop too much.
'E's arright when 'e's sober.'
'A little drop too much! I
should just think 'e'd 'ad, the beast! I'd give it 'im if I was a man. They're
all like thet – 'usbinds is all alike; they're arright when they're sober – sometimes
– but when they've got the liquor in 'em, they're beasts, an' no mistike. I 'ad
a 'usbind myself for five-an'-twenty years, an' I know 'em.'
The rain of September made
no difference to them; they went as usual to their seat beneath the trees, and
Jim would take Liza on his knee, and, opening his coat, shelter her with it,
while she, with her arms round his neck, pressed very close to him, and
occasionally gave a little laugh of pleasure and delight. They hardly spoke at
all through these evenings, for what had they to say to one another? Often
without exchanging a word they would sit for an hour with their faces touching,
the one feeling on his cheek the hot breath from the other's [79]mouth; while
at the end of the time the only motion was an upraising of Liza's lips, a
bending down of Jim's, so that they might meet and kiss. Sometimes Liza fell
into a light doze, and Jim would sit very still for fear of waking her, and
when she roused herself she would smile, while he bent down again and kissed
her. They were very happy. But the hours passed by so quickly, that Big Ben
striking twelve came upon them as a surprise, and unwillingly they got up and
made their way homewards; their partings were never ending – each evening Jim
refused to let her go from his arms, and tears stood in his eyes at the thought
of the separation.
'Time!' shouted some of the
men – 'Time!' and Mrs. Blakeston stopped to rest herself.
'It don't seem 'ardly fair
to set them two on tergether. Liza's got no chanst against a big woman like thet,'
said a man among the crowd.
'Well, it's er' own fault,'
answered a woman; 'she didn't oughter mess about with 'er 'usbind.'
'Well, I don't think it's
right,' added another man. 'She's gettin' it too much.'
'An' serve 'er right too!'
said one of the women. 'She deserves all she gets an' a damn sight more inter
the bargain.'
'Quite right,' put in a
third; 'a woman's got no right ter tike someone's 'usbind from 'er. An' if she
does she's bloomin' lucky if she gits off with a 'idin' – thet's wot I think.'
She seized the poker, and in
a fury of rage rushed at him.
'Would yer?' he said,
catching hold of it and wrenching it from her grasp. He threw it to the end of
the room and grappled with her. For a moment they swayed about from side to
side, then with an effort he lifted her off her feet and threw her to the
ground; but she caught hold of him and he came down on the top of her. She
screamed as her head thumped down on the floor, and the children, who were
standing huddled up in a corner, terrified, screamed too.
Jim caught hold of his
wife's head and began beating it against the floor.
She brandished her glass,
and that reminding her, she refilled it and Liza's.
'Ah, Liza,' she remarked,
'you're a chip of the old block. Ter see you settin' there an' 'avin' your
little drop, it mikes me feel as if I was livin' a better life. Yer used ter be
rather 'ard on me, Liza, 'cause I took a little drop on Saturday nights. An',
mind, I don't sy I didn't tike a little drop too much sometimes – accidents
will occur even in the best regulated of families, but wot I say is this – it's
good stuff, I say, an' it don't 'urt yer.'
'Buck up, old gal!' said
Liza, filling the glasses, 'no 'eel-taps. I feel like a new woman now. I was
thet dahn in the dumps – well, I shouldn't 'ave cared if I'd been at the bottom
of the river, an' thet's the truth.'
'You don't sy so,' replied
her affectionate mother.
'Yus, I do, an' I mean it
too, but I don't feel like thet now. You're right, mother, when you're in
trouble there's nothin' like a bit of spirits.'
'Well, if I don't know, I
dunno 'oo does, for the trouble I've 'ad, it 'ud be enough to kill many women.
Well, I've 'ad thirteen children, an' you can think wot thet was; everyone I
'ad I used ter sy I wouldn't 'ave no more – but one does, yer know. You'll 'ave
a family some day, Liza, an' I shouldn't wonder if you didn't 'ave as many as
me. We come from a very prodigal family, we do, we've all gone in ter double
figures, except your Aunt Mary, who only 'ad three – but then she wasn't married,
so it didn't count, like.'
They drank each other's
health. Everything was getting blurred to Liza, she was losing her head.
