examined the fading bruises.
âWell enough to go back to Mauraâs house,â Binnie said. âTake a word of advice, Llinos, donât let that man come anywhere near you, heâs insane.â
âI know, Binnie, I hate him for what heâs done to you, and to me and my mother come to that.â Binnie touched her shoulder and sighed. âIâd better go. You do understand that my place is with Maura now, donât you?â
Llinos forced a smile. âOf course. Iâll drive you over to Greenhill, if you like.â
âThanks.â Binnie had been moody and noncommunicative since the beating but now she felt they might just get back to the old footing.
As she drove away from Pottery Row with Binnie seated beside her, Llinos glanced at his set face and wondered what he was thinking. She could not help wondering if he was going out of her life for ever.
âYou will come back to work when you are fully recovered, wonât you?â
He was silent for a long moment. âAye, Iâll come back so long as that man keeps away from the place. I swear Iâll be ready for him if he tries anything again.â Binnieâs voice was low, strained, his anger almost tangible.
âIf once I started hitting him,â Binnie said, âI wouldnât know when to stop.â
When she reached Greenhill, Llinos looked around at the small houses and the narrow courts. She watched as a small boy urinated in the street, and wrinkled her nose.
âIt must be difficult to keep up standards in a place like this.â
Binnie looked at her. âSometimes you sound such a snob, Llinos, do you know that?â
âIâm sorry,â Llinos was angry, âbut if these people have to use the middle of the roadway as a privy itâs no wonder that plagues and pestilences begin here.â
âGo home, Llinos.â Binnie lifted his small bag of possessions from the cart and climbed down into the road. âIf you are too high and mighty to see the clean linen blowing on the washing lines and the gleam of the glass in the windows and the scrubbed steps then itâs time you found out what real life is all about.â
âYou think I donât know?â Llinos was hurt by his tone. âI work like a slave at the pottery, I do all the jobs that the apprentices do and more. I go hungry sometimes and when I fall into bed I ache so much I canât sleep.â
Binnie rested his hand on her arm, looking up at her from the roadway, his eyes dark in his pale face. âIâm sorry, Llinos, I suppose Iâm still out of sorts. Iâll see you soon, right?â He walked rapidly away and without turning round, vanished into one of the houses.
After their exchange of angry words, Llinos thought Binnie might give in his notice but to her relief he resumed work the following Monday. His presence made the load lighter for Llinos but somehow the old spirit of camaraderie that had existed between them was gone. Binnie was respectful but that was all.
Llinos knew, with a sense of loss, that Binnieâs life had changed, he had grown away from her. The easy friendship they had shared had vanished when Binnie had fallen in love with Maura. It was obvious that the Irish girl was far more important to him than Llinos or the Savage Pottery could ever be.
They worked hard that week. Llinos, Watt, Binnie and the apprentices, as well as some of the women from the row, turned out a sizeable stock of pottery. Old Ben needed to work extra time to keep the fires alight in the kilns.
Much of the stock was needed to fulfil existing orders. At last, trade seemed to be picking up.
An enterprise the size of the Savage Pottery should be turning out a great deal more pottery than it was but at least now they were producing enough wares to make it a viable proposition.
On Saturday night, the workers had time off to relax and spend their wages in town. When everyone had left it