Free Lily of Love Lane by Carol Rivers

furniture.
    ‘Is that why you came to the market?’ Lily asked.
    ‘Yes, I keep an eye out for interesting pieces.’
    ‘We don’t have much that’s of great value,’ Lily confessed, ‘as it’s often broken or chipped, like the chamber pot.’
    He smiled. ‘Yes, but often I can have a piece restored if it’s not badly damaged.’
    ‘Like the dealers that come from up West. They think we don’t know how valuable some things are. I often tell Reube we’re selling too cheaply but he likes to turn a
profit.’
    ‘Sensible man,’ he agreed.
    ‘I could always put a piece by for you. I mean . . .’ Lily felt she was presumptuous to suggest it, but added hesitantly, ‘that is, if you come our way again.’
    He looked into her eyes. ‘I’m sure I will.’
    He didn’t refer any more to his dead wife although Lily was hoping he might. She was even more certain now that he must have loved her very much.
    When they arrived in Oxford Street, the traffic almost came to a standstill. From Shoe Lane to Ludgate Circus, taxis, buses and motorized vehicles had jammed the way. But Lily was content. There
was time to look out of the window at the busy shops. Marshall & Snelgrove’s in particular displayed eye-catching new fashions above which the advertising slogans were waving in the
breeze. ‘A full shingled head for twenty five shillings.’
    ‘Look!’ Lily gasped. ‘I’ve always wanted to sit in one of those places and have my hair waved!’
    ‘But that would be a sin,’ Charles replied as he gazed at her, his dark eyes intense. ‘I haven’t ever seen a more beautiful head of hair than yours, Lily.’
    She laughed in embarrassment. ‘You haven’t seen what’s under my hat.’
    ‘I’ve seen enough.’
    She blushed as she looked back through the window. Did he really think she had beautiful hair? She was always trying to straighten it, but it was easier to let it fall in its own way.
    ‘Shall we look around the stores first?’
    Lily hadn’t expected to be taken to the big shops. But before she knew it, he had parked the car in the Brompton Road and escorted her to the grand terracotta building that was Harrods.
Lily was shocked to see the hundreds of items on sale there. Everything from pens and paper to jewellery to household goods, perfumes and fashions. She was so excited as they passed through the
glass and marble halls that she could hardly speak. All the women were fashionably dressed and the men all seemed to have handlebar moustaches. She would have been very self-conscious in her old
coat and hat, but she remembered how Charles’ eyes had gone over her when he had first seen her. He hadn’t been able to disguise his approval. Every so often she straightened her back
and copied the posture of the other young women who seemed to glide through the store.
    After Harrods they went into the arcades. Here there were small salons with fashions from Paris and Italy. Lily couldn’t take her eyes off the beautiful designs and colours and every
jeweller seemed to have a more varied and sparkling display than its neighbour.
    ‘Before we look round the furniture shops, I suggest we go somewhere to eat,’ Charles said as Lily was trying to absorb every single detail. She had come up to the city before but
only with Hattie, Reube and Ben. They’d usually gone to one of the parks where they listened to the bands playing. The shops were for the wealthy and to visit them meant you had to spend
money.
    ‘Where would you like to go?’ he asked her.
    Lily was shocked to be given a choice. ‘I’m not sure. But I’ve always wanted to go back to Lyons. Uncle Noah took me once when I was little.’
    ‘Then Lyons it shall be.’
    Lily thought she must be dreaming as she was escorted into the gold fronted teashop, J. Lyons. The fascia was embellished with Victorian decoration and Lily noticed a discreet sign on the wall
announcing the first Lyons teashop had been opened in 1894.
    Inside, Lily closed her