Eve had risen early and come down to the kitchen where she’d had her breakfast with Ada and Winnie and caught up with the local gossip and how things had gone in the last week while she had been away. Jack hadn’t left her side, but now as she prepared a tray for Mary who was still sleeping, he made no attempt to follow her as she left the kitchen. Ada had told her Mary had made a great fuss about shutting the dog out because he had growled at her when she had first arrived. ‘I think it was the fur coat she had draped over one of the suitcases,’ Ada confided. ‘Apparently she didn’t want to pack it in case it got squashed. I think Jack thought it was some sort of animal.’
‘It was once, more than one,’ Eve said flatly. Mary had told her with some pride the coat was mink and had cost a fortune. She had seemed to set great store by it.
On reaching the bedroom she entered quietly and placed the tray by the side of the bed. Mary was fast asleep, her hair spread out over the pillows and her breathing quiet and even. She didn’t look like a married woman who was expecting a baby in three months’ time. Asleep like this beneath the covers, Mary was her baby sister again, fragile and appearing far younger than her seventeen years. ‘Mary.’ She shook one slim shoulder gently and as her sister opened her eyes, she murmured, ‘I’ve brought you a breakfast tray.’
Mary rubbed her eyes and yawned. ‘What time is it?’
‘Seven o’clock.’
‘Seven o’clock? Heavens, Eve, it’s still the middle of the night. I usually sleep the mornings away.’
‘You do?’ Eve stared at the sleep-flushed face.‘That’s a funny way to run a household, isn’t it?’ Her sister had told her she had a housekeeper and maid at home.
Mary pouted her lips for a moment. ‘Not really. Things are done differently down south. I - we entertain a lot.’
‘But not when your husband is away surely?’
Mary stretched and yawned again. ‘Life doesn’t stop when he’s not there. And we have lots of mutual friends.’
‘Have you a photograph of him or a small portrait?’
‘Not . . . not with me. I meant to bring one but I forgot.’
‘And his family are from where?’
‘Sussex.’
‘I thought you said Surrey yesterday.’
‘Surrey, Sussex, it’s all the same.’ Mary sat up in bed and now she appeared every one of her seventeen years and more besides, the sheer material of her nightdress clinging to her body as the covers fell to her waist.
Eve took a deep breath. She had to ask. If she was wrong and mortally offended her sister she’d beg her forgiveness but she had to ask. She placed the tray on Mary’s lap and then sat at the end of the bed as Mary began to drink her tea.There was no easy way to say it. ‘Are you really married to this man?’ she asked quietly.
Mary placed the cup back on its saucer. Eve had expected outrage or at the very least a vehement protestation, but as Mary’s blue eyes met hers she saw the lovely face was wary. For answer she held out her left hand on which a wedding ring nestled beside a pretty ruby and seed pearl ring.
Eve’s voice was low when she said, ‘Anyone can buy a ring, Mary. You know that as well as I. Look, if . . . if you’re in trouble, I would rather know now, not find it out later. I’m asking you as your sister and because I love you but I won’t be lied to. There will always be a home for you here, you know that. Caleb - Caleb wouldn’t see you in need and Mildred has always favoured you, but even she wouldn’t like being made a monkey of. Tell me the truth. Are you married or not?’
There was a long silence and Eve’s heart rose up in her throat, its beating choking her. She had known. The minute she’d walked in this house last night and seen her sister sitting there, she had known something was very wrong.
‘I said I was married because I didn’t think you’d want people to know with me being . . .’ Mary touched her rounded stomach. ‘A husband at the front sounds acceptable.’
Eve’s eyes widened and her lips opened and shut without emitting words a few times before she could say, ‘So you are not married.’ It was worse having it confirmed.
‘No, I’m not married.’
‘What - what does the father of your child intend to do for you? He’ll support you, I hope.’
‘Do for me?’ Mary laughed harshly. ‘Oh, Eve.’
It was as though she had said something terribly naive.‘He knows? About the baby?’As Mary nodded, Eve felt as though she was wading through treacle. ‘Then he has to face his responsibilities to you and the child surely? Is he married? Is that it? You can tell me, Mary. I’d rather know it all.’
Mary’s façade had cracked. She was biting on her lip now, her head drooped. ‘If I tell you you’ll hate me.’
‘I could never hate you, whatever you’ve done.’ Mary did not speak for a few moments but continued to gnaw on her bottom lip. ‘Are you sure you want the truth? Sometimes it’s better not to know.’
‘Tell me. Tell me everything from the day you left this house. It can’t be worse than what I’m imagining right now.’
At the end of five minutes Eve knew she had been wrong. It was worse. Numbly she rose from the bed and walked over to the window, looking out into the sunshine. This room was at the front of the inn and overlooked the village square. It was a pretty view, especially on such a lovely summer’s morning. Aware her mind was escaping into trivia, she forced herself to turn and look at Mary. ‘And this last man, this Bernard, he’s refusing to acknowledge it’s his child?’
‘He wants nothing more to do with me. He’s stopped payment for the rent, I . . . I was literally turned out into the street with just my belongings. He maintains the baby could have been fathered by any one of a number of men but that’s not true. He said I’d tried to trap him but I wouldn’t do something like that. When I knew I was expecting I tried—’ Mary stopped abruptly.
‘What? What did you try?’ Eve stared at her sister.
‘I took something, something the maid got me from one of the old wives who know all about that sort of thing. It made me ill for a week but it didn’t work. Nothing did.’
‘Mary, you could have died.’
‘Well, I didn’t.’ There was a trace of the old defiance in Mary’s voice. ‘When it didn’t work she, the maid, said she knew someone who would take it away but I didn’t dare do that, not have surgery. One girl I know, a girl in my position, was crippled last year like that and her gentleman didn’t want to know after.They don’t care, not really.All they’re concerned about is their good name and their families and their standing in their clubs. I wasn’t going to be left like Gracie with no control of my bodily functions.’
She was speaking like a woman of the night, a common prostitute, Eve thought. Her face must have reflected something of her thoughts because now Mary said, and with some heat,‘You said you wanted to know the truth.’
‘I did, I do.’They stared at each other for a moment.
‘Are you going to tell Nell?’
‘I have to tell Nell. You must see that.’
There was a small silence.‘And Caleb and Mildred?’
Eve drew in a long breath. ‘They will need to know you are not married but the rest is up to you. Nell must be told it all, that’s only right, but if you don’t want Caleb and his mam to know the rest of it, then Nell and I will respect that.’
‘I don’t. I . . . I want to make a new start here.’
‘All right.’ Eve’s head was pounding. ‘So do I take it you’re back for good?’
‘Yes. I’m done with the south. It’s out of my system now.’
‘But how were you going to explain staying here for good? With this story of a husband and all?’
‘Men are dying all the time in the war, aren’t they?’
She was still such a child in some ways. But not in others. Oh no, not in others. Knowing she was going to cry, Eve said thickly, ‘Eat your breakfast, I’ll be back in a while,’ and left the room swiftly. In the passageway downstairs, she paused fo
r a moment, straightening her shoulders, and then walked into the kitchen, clicking her fingers at Jack as she said to Ada and Winnie, ‘I’m taking him for a walk, I’ve got a headache and need to clear the cobwebs.’
She didn’t stop until she reached Nell’s back door and then she again straightened her shoulders before entering the scullery. Nell was in the kitchen, wiping Matthew’s face which was heavily caked with porridge, and she raised startled eyes to her sister, saying, ‘What’s the matter? You look awful, lass.’
Eve tried to say something but all that emerged was a strangled groan and then Nell’s arms were round her and she didn’t have to be strong anymore.
Mary lay in a pool of sunlight. She had finished the breakfast Eve had brought and had slipped down under the covers again but now she raised herself slightly, glancing round the room. It was pleasant, comfortable. Not in the same league as what she had been used to over the last two years, but still nice. She had often peeped into these guest rooms when the daily from the village had finished cleaning them and thought how bonny they were, certainly compared to the attic room. And now Eve had this room as her own. Of course Mildred’s was better and Caleb’s would likely be in line with his mother’s.With the jewellery she had sold once she had known Bernard intended to be rid of her she had a nice nest egg to furnish a room, a couple of rooms, if need be, exactly how she liked.
Slipping out of bed she walked across to the window and peered outside. Could she stand living here? There would be no dinners out, no dancing, no shows and parties. But if she married Caleb she would be mistress of this inn and she could persuade him to drive into Newcastle now and again for a night at the theatre. Yes, she could do that. And as mistress of this place she could take her ease. The child could be cared for by Eve or that young girl in the kitchen. Certainly with a bairn hanging round her neck like a millstone she couldn’t go back to her old life. Or she could leave the child here and disappear. She’d done it once before, she could do it again. But she didn’t have to decide now.
Oh, how could she have been so foolish as to get caught in this way? Her mouth tightened. But Bernard hadn’t been like Clarence. Bernard had expected her to take care of that side of things but he hadn’t always given her due warning of his visits, turning up more than once when she hadn’t been prepared. He had been a pig of a man, Bernard. She wasn’t sorry to be rid of him in some ways.
Padding back to bed she slid under the covers, her hands resting on the mound of her stomach until a movement in her belly caused her to remove her hands, her nose wrinkling with distaste. She couldn’t wait to own her body again. How some women could choose to subject themselves to this she didn’t know. But for the moment there was nothing she could do about it except bide her time. But she would be comfortable here while she waited. That was the important thing.
‘She’s back?’
‘Yes, yes she’s back and expecting a child like I said. There’s . . . well, there’s no easy way to say it, Caleb. She isn’t married or betrothed to the man. He’s married and now that she’s in the family way he has denied all responsibility. He’s quite well off, I understand, but in spite of that has refused to help her in any way.’
Eve watched him struggle to take in what she had said. It was the second time she had visited Caleb since he had been transferred to the hospital in Sunderland but the first time, a few days ago, he had been in pain and too exhausted from the journey to hear about Mary. She had also, she admitted silently, wanted one last time with him without Mary there between them. Instead she had filled the time talking about Nell’s baby which had arrived early, a little boy they’d named Robert, and inn business. But today he was sitting up in bed and looked rested and so she broke the news immediately she sat down. She had wanted it over and done with.
‘He’s abandoned her?’ Caleb ground out grimly. ‘Was she living with him or is he still living with his wife?’
‘I think she lived in her own apartment.’
‘She was his mistress.’ His jaw clenched. ‘A kept woman.’
‘I suppose so.’
‘Did she know he was married from the beginning? ’
‘Caleb, you’ll have to ask her these things.’ On the way to the hospital she had decided that as she wasn’t going to lie for her sister but she couldn’t tell Caleb the truth, not all of it anyway, that was the stance she would take. ‘She . . . she wants to come and see you if you are agreeable.’
He said nothing to this, staring into the distance for a few moments. His face was brooding, withdrawn.
‘I said she could stay at the inn for as long as she wants to. You don’t mind?’ Even as she said it, she was railing at herself for hoping he might show some reluctance.
Caleb roused himself. ‘Of course I don’t mind.’ Mary. Back at the inn and in the family way. He had imagined she was gone for ever, he’d told himself he would never see her again. It had been the only way he had been able to come to terms with losing her, to try to forget her and block her out of his mind. And now she was back. His heart was pounding so hard it hurt. ‘This man, he seduced her and then led her up the garden path. Something must be done about it.’
‘I don’t think it was altogether like that.’
‘Of course it was like that.’ He saw the look on her face and realised his voice had been too sharp. He said quickly, ‘I’m sorry, Eve, but these hooray-Henry types are all the same. I’d have the lot strung up if I had my way. When . . .’ he paused, rubbing his hand across his mouth, ‘is the baby due?’
‘Not for three months.’
‘Thank heaven she had the sense to swallow her pride and come home. Is she well? Apart from the baby?’
‘Yes, she is very well.’
Her lips scarcely moved as she brought out the words and Caleb stared at her for a moment before putting out his hand and placing it over hers. ‘Don’t worry, everything will be all right. She’s home, Eve. That’s the main thing.’
‘So I’ll bring her with me next time.’
Caleb nodded. He didn’t know how he was going to feel seeing her again, especially with another man’s child swelling her belly, but he was going to have to face it sooner or later if she was going to be living at the inn when he got out of this place. One thing was for sure, she was no more the young innocent girl she had been two years ago than he was the same man he’d been before the war. He had loved her then, he’d nearly driven himself mad in those first days after she’d gone, thinking of another man touching her, kissing her. Since then he’d had more than one woman; he’d discovered some lassies would do almost anything for a bloke in uniform and French girls were no different to English in that respect.
He became aware that Eve was waiting for him to say something. He looked into her face, the face he no longer saw as plain but as reflecting the inner woman, the kind, gentle, inner woman, and tried to bring his thoughts to order. Again he said, ‘Don’t worry. This can be sorted out, OK? But don’t you worry anymore.’
‘I’m not.’
‘That’s all right then.’ He didn’t know what else to say. She didn’t seem herself, but then she wouldn’t, would she, after such a shock. ‘What has she told folk at the inn?’
He watched her Adam’s apple move up and down as she swallowed. ‘She’s told everyone she’s married with a husband at the front because of the baby. In due course she’s going to say she’s heard he’s been killed.’
‘That won’t fool anyone. People aren’t daft.’
‘No, I know that but it’s up to her, isn’t it?’
‘How has my mother taken all this?’
‘Oh, you know your mam where Mary’s concerned.What’s happened is everyone and anyone’s fault but Mary’s.’
Her tone surprised him. He stared at her for a moment and she stared back at him, her green eyes challenging. He had thought he knew all her moods but he couldn’t fathom her today. Quietly, he said, ‘She’s barely seventeen, Eve.’
‘I was five years younger tha
n Mary is now when I was running my father’s household.’
For the second time in as many minutes he didn’t know what to say. After a moment or two, his voice low, he said, ‘Aren’t you glad she came back rather than ending up in the workhouse or somewhere similar?’
For answer Eve said, ‘I fought to keep her out of there when my father and brothers died so I don’t think that is a fair question to ask me, Caleb.’
‘No, no, I’m sorry. It’s just that you seem . . .’
Her eyes tight on him, she said, ‘Angry? Upset? Grieved? Disappointed? Aye, I’m all of those things if you want to know and I’m not going to apologise for it either. I don’t like what she’s become. There, you have it.’ She rose to her feet, her face white. ‘But she’s my sister and I will support her all I can for as long as she wants me to. I’ll bring her with me next time and you can ask her all you want to know. All right?’
‘You’re not going already? You’ve only just arrived.’
‘I’ve things to do.’ She was pulling on her gloves as she spoke.
Caleb stiffened. For crying out loud, anyone would think all this was his fault, the way she was carrying on. He had agreed to see Mary, hadn’t he? Said she could stay at the inn for as long as she wanted to. What more could he do or say? ‘Don’t let me keep you then. Goodbye, Eve.’
‘Goodbye.’ She stared at him for a moment before turning away.
He watched her walk down the ward and out of the door and she didn’t look back and wave as she normally did.
‘Didn’t stay long today, did she?’
The man in the other bed, a rough-spoken northener who was the comedian on the ward, nodded in the direction Eve had gone.
‘She said she’d got things to do.’ Caleb was miffed and it showed. ‘Couldn’t wait to leave, quite frankly.’
Eve and Her Sisters Page 18