“You ain’t no lady, Mae. You ain’t never gonna be a fine lady like Miss Pip.”
“’Oo asked you?” Mae barks, and everyone laughs.
“Who asked you,” Pippa corrects.
“’At’s what I said,” Mae asserts. “’Oo asked ’er?”
There is more laughter, especially from Ann, who seems happy not to be the girl getting taunted for once. Little by little, our awkwardness slips away, easing into a new closeness, until it feels as if we have never been apart. I’ve not seen Felicity like this in months. With Pip she’s lighter, quicker to laugh than to challenge. And I feel a small pang of envy for the intimacy of their friendship.
“What are you thinking?” Felicity asks. I start to answer, but then I realize she’s talking to Pip.
“I was thinking how different my life would have been had I done as my mother told me and married Mr. Bumble.”
“Mr. Bartleby Bumble the barrister,” Ann intones, pronouncing the Bs hard.
The factory fire girls break into a fit of giggling. This is the only encouragement Ann needs to continue.
“This is my beloved, Mrs. Bumble,” Ann says in perfect imitation of Mr. Bumble’s plummy tones. “She wears a bright bauble bought from Barrington’s Baubles.”
We’re lost to the giggles now. Ann can scarcely carry on for her own laughter. “Beware barristers bringing baubles! Better the berries than barristers!”
Felicity shrieks. “Oh, Ann!”
Ann giggles. “Bite bitter berries before becoming Bumble’s beloved!”
Pippa’s lips tremble. “Was it the better choice? I wonder.” She buries her face in her hands and cries.
“Oh, Pip, darling. Don’t cry.” Felicity runs to soothe her—Felicity, who never offers kindness to anyone.
“Wh-what have I d-done?” Pip wails. Sobbing, she runs from the room.
Bessie Timmons gives us a hard look. She’s a big girl and, I daresay, a bit of a brawler. She could give us a good pounding if she wished. “Miss Pippa’s the kindest soul what ever lived. You best not make her cry again.”
I can see from the set of her jaw that we have been warned.