Roland, unseen by the cheering crowds, kissed his Victoria. ‘We are going to have the best life,’ he said. ‘I am going to make it my life’s work to make you very, very happy.’ And without question, Victoria knew, he would.
There were roars of laughter and Emily’s vision blurred as she scanned the room. She saw everyone cheering, her nurses clapping, Biddy crying. Then she saw her, her mam, standing in the corner, near the door, with Richard and Harry. Her mother’s hands were around her boys’ shoulders and she was hugging them into her sides. The boys were jumping up and down and waving their arms and cheering her on. They were in the clothes they’d been wearing on the night they’d died, and they almost looked as if they’d come from another era. Her mother’s smile shone with love and it said to her, ‘We are ready to go now. Live your life, Emily. Be happy.’
21
Sister Theresa was always the first into St Chad’s, but this morning her steps were hastier than usual. She turned the polished brass handles and the large wooden doors creaked slowly open on to the familiar sight of the dark church and its huddled rows of pews. The smell of old oak, holy smoke and unanswered prayers assailed her senses. Lighting a candle, she made her way straight down the aisle to the statue of the Holy Mother.
Lorcan Ryan’s prayer stool was half out of a pew and she stopped to bend down and push it back in. She was distracted because she had barely slept the previous night for worrying about a First World War widow who was about to be evicted.
It was Dessie Horton who had come to her and said, ‘If there is a mother in need in this parish, leave a note at the foot of the statue of Our Lady and someone will look out for it. Don’t ask me any more, Sister. Return to Our Lady first thing the following morning. Someone will help.’
Who, she had no idea. Dessie Horton wasn’t the poorest man on the streets, but he wasn’t rich either. And since he’d proposed to Emily Haycock not two weeks earlier and would doubtless be married soon, Sister Theresa couldn’t think that he’d have much cash to spare. He had been adamant about one thing, though. ‘If you tell one person, Sister, no more notes will be answered.’
She had racked her brains to think who it was who took her notes. There were no new worshippers attending St Chad’s and church life had remained the same, except for one thing: the brown envelopes of money that miraculously appeared every time she left a note asking Our Lady to help. The church doors were never locked and Sister Theresa knew that the envelopes were taken during the night, for it was only after the last Angelus Mass that she left her notes. She had thought of asking Noleen Delaney whether she’d seen the mystery benefactor, but she didn’t dare break her promise to Dessie.
The penny candle lit her way along the white marble floor as it reflected the light. There it was. The brown envelope, at the feet of Our Lady, always in the same place. Sister Theresa dipped her knee, blessed herself and tucked the envelope inside her habit. She looked up and the serene face of the Holy Mother smiled down at her. She wondered whether her serene expression had deepened since the day she had begun leaving small miracles for the mothers of Lovely Lane.
The doors opened and Sister Theresa turned around to see Lorcan Ryan entering the church.
‘Oh, Lorcan,’ she said in the hushed tones she always kept for church, ‘are you on your way from or to work?’
‘From, Sister. I thought I would just call in on my way home. I’ll be back tonight for the Angelus.’
Sister Theresa smiled. ‘You are a good boy, Lorcan. The best. Your mammy is a very lucky lady to have a son like you. Close the door on your way out, would you now? I’ll be back across for Mass soon.’
Lorcan watched her leave, saw the envelope was gone, dropped to his knees and gave thanks. Once his prayers were said, he made his way to Biddy’s house, to let her know the widow, the mother, was safe.
We hope you enjoyed this book.
Nadine Dorries’ next book, Christmas Angels, is coming in winter 2017
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Acknowledgements
I can never write a book without saying a big thank you to my editor Rosie de Courcy. She inspires me and spurs me on. We fire ideas off each other and she understands what I want to write and achieve, often before I do myself. She’s the best editor in the business – a legend who has worked with all the greats and not a day goes by when I am not truly grateful that, now, she is mine.
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About Nadine Dorries
NADINE DORRIES grew up in a working-class family in Liverpool. She trained as a nurse herself, then followed with a successful career in the health industry in which she established and then sold her own business. She has been the MP for Mid-Bedfordshire since 2005 and has three daughters.
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About The Lovely Lane Series
It is 1953 and five very different girls are arriving at the nurses’ home in Lovely Lane, Liverpool, to start their training at St Angelus Hospital.
Dana has escaped from her family farm on the west coast of Ireland. Victoria is running away from a debt-ridden aristocratic background. Beth is an army brat and throws in her lot with bitchy Celia Forsyth. And Pammy has come from quite the wrong side of the tracks in Liverpool.
Now they find themselves in a very different world. From formidable Matron, to terrifying Sister Antrobus. From kind housekeeper, Mrs Duffy, to Dessie, who rules the porter’s lads – not to mention the doctors, who range from crusty to glamorous. Everyone has their place at St Angelus and woe betide anyone who strays from it.
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About The Four Streets Trilogy
In the tight-knit Irish Catholic community of the Four Streets, two girls are growing up.
One is motherless – and hated by the cold woman who is determined to take her dead mother’s place. The other is hiding a dreadful secret which she dare not let slip to anyone, lest it rips the heart out of the community.
What can the people of the Four Streets do when a betrayal at the very heart of their world comes to light?
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First
published in the UK in 2017 by Head of Zeus, Ltd.
Copyright © Nadine Dorries, 2017
The moral right of Nadine Dorries to be identified as the author this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act of 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book.
This is a work of fiction. All characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.
9 7 5 3 1 2 4 6 8
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
ISBN (HB): 9781784975098
ISBN (XTPB): 9781784975104
ISBN (E): 9781784975081
Design: Madeline Meckiffe
Photography: © Colin Thomas and Popperfoto/Getty Images
Author photo: © Cassie Dorries
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The Mother's Of Lovely Lane Page 39