A Wedding at Mulberry Lane

by Rosie Clarke

  Peggy gave her a long considering look. ‘Is there any chance that you might be pregnant?’

  ‘What?’ Maureen stared at her in shock. ‘No – I mean I suppose I could be, but I think…’ She looked into Peggy’s eyes. ‘It never occurred to me. Rory said he was careful but – I haven’t had a period since two weeks before we fetched Shirley home…’

  ‘You didn’t realise that you were late?’

  ‘No, I didn’t even think about it,’ Maureen said. ‘I’m only a few weeks late.’ She counted up in her head. ‘Yes, it can’t be longer than five, but with the long hours we work I’m not always regular…’ She met Peggy’s worried gaze. ‘Could the faintness be a sign?’

  ‘I’ve never had it take me like that,’ Peggy said, ‘but some women react in different ways. It could be just that you’ve been working hard and then the worry over your dad – any number of things. I think you should go to the doctor, Maureen, love. It might just be tiredness – unless you’ve noticed anything else?’

  Maureen shook her head. ‘I haven’t even thought of myself, Peggy. I’ve been visitin’ Dad at the hospital and helpin’ Gran with Shirley, and I went to the wholesaler for Violet.’

  ‘I thought you weren’t goin’ to let her drag you back?’

  ‘I’ve told her I’ll help where I can, but I’m not goin’ in the shop.’

  Peggy nodded, looking at her thoughtfully. ‘Do you think your dad would give Jack Barton a shot at runnin’ it for a while?’

  ‘Do you think Jack would take it on?’ Maureen frowned. ‘I could ask Dad – sound him out, if he’s well enough.’

  ‘Perhaps you should talk to Violet about it first? If she’s desperate enough, she might give him a chance.’

  ‘Yes, perhaps,’ Maureen said. ‘I don’t want to worry Dad – and Violet would be a fool to say no. It would only be for a short while anyway.’

  ‘Yes, Jack only has a couple of months; just to see Sam buried and get Tommy settled. He’ll have to go back to prison once his parole is up.’

  ‘It’s not a nice prospect for him,’ Maureen said. She stood up a little cautiously, but then smiled. ‘It’s gone; I probably stood up too quickly or somethin’.’

  ‘Go to the doctor in the mornin’,’ Peggy advised. ‘You want to know – whatever it is, Maureen.’

  ‘Yes…’ Maureen met her gaze. ‘What do I do if I am pregnant?’

  ‘If you’d known sooner you could have written to Rory.’

  ‘No! That’s over. Rory doesn’t need to know.’

  ‘It’s not easy being an unmarried mother round here, love. You know what folk are. They all pull together in a crisis, but give them the chance to tear your reputation to pieces and they will.’

  ‘Yes, I know,’ Maureen said. ‘Well, maybe it’s just tiredness and overwork – but even if I am pregnant I’m not goin’ to run off. If people want to talk about me let them.’

  ‘That’s the spirit!’

  Peggy smiled and watched her leave. If Maureen was having her lover’s child it would be hard for her. She wouldn’t be the first unmarried girl to have a soldier’s child during wartime, but folk would expect him to marry her and when he didn’t – some of the gossips would tear her reputation to bits. Peggy would stand by her friend – after all she would be in the same boat if Laurie hadn’t insisted everyone must think her baby was his. Maureen would need some good friends, because her father would be upset and angry, and Violet would seize her chance to moralise. Hilda Jackson would stand by her, but she wouldn’t be happy about it.

  Peggy sighed. Perhaps it was just tiredness making Maureen feel faint, but she had a feeling that the girl had been very unlucky…

  Chapter 27

  Janet put her daughter down on the floor, leaving her to play with a truck of coloured wooden bricks she’d bought at the market, as she opened the letter. It was from Mike and her heart gave a leap of excitement as she saw what he’d written.

  They’ve told me I should be able to come home next weekend, Janet. The doctor is having a look at me tomorrow and then I have to wait for some stitches to come out, but after that I can come home for a few days. They say it’s just a trial run to see how we cope. I shall be brought back in an ambulance, because you don’t drive and there’s no available car, but I’ll let you know exact details next week. I shall telephone to make the arrangements so that you’re expecting me. I hope this is all right and won’t be inconvenient for you or your mother?

  Janet’s eyes stung with tears, because Mike’s letter sounded so unsure. He ought to be filled with joy that he was at last being allowed to come home and it hurt that he wasn’t sure of his welcome, despite her visits to the hospital and her assurances that she would welcome him back.

  ‘Something the matter, love?’ Peggy asked as she walked into the room and saw that Janet was crying. ‘Letter from Mike?’

  ‘They’re sending him home next weekend for a few days, Mum. It’s a trial run to see how we cope…’ She handed her mother the brief letter and Peggy read it, nodding and looking sad.

  ‘Yes, I see why you’re upset, love, but this is a big moment for Mike. He has accepted your marriage, but still doesn’t know who he is – and it must feel so strange to be told you can visit your home when you know nothing about it.’

  ‘Oh, Mum, I want to put my arms round him and kiss it all better like I do with Maggie…’ Janet sniffed and scrubbed at her eyes with a hanky.

  ‘Well, that’s probably the best thing you can do, love,’ Peggy said. ‘Mike will at least know that he’s loved and wanted here. We’ll do all we can to make him comfortable and happy – and for now that’s the best we can hope for.’

  ‘Yes, I’m so lucky that he’s coming home to me,’ Janet said and flicked away the tears. ‘I wasn’t sure it would ever happen.’

  ‘Well, now it has and that’s wonderful, my love.’

  Janet looked at her. ‘Are you all right, Mum? Not feelin’ tired or sick or anything?’

  ‘I’m fine,’ Peggy said stoutly. ‘At least, I shall be when this funeral is over. I can’t help thinkin’ how lucky I am to have my family around me – and poor Tilly’s lying there in the hospital while they bury her Sam.’

  ‘You’ve done all you can, Mum.’

  ‘Yes, I have – and Maureen has got Jack Barton the chance of a job in the shop. Violet Jackson says she’ll see him and if she thinks he’s all right, she’ll give him a chance just until Henry gets home.’

  ‘Do you think Mr Jackson will ever be able to run the shop again?’

  ‘I’m not sure, but Maureen says she won’t and Violet maintains she can’t – but Henry is gettin’ a bit better. Maureen told me his left arm doesn’t work properly and he was having difficulty in gettin’ his words out, but they’re givin’ him some therapy for that. He’ll be in the hospital for weeks yet, but he should make it – providing he doesn’t have another stroke.’

  ‘Well, I’m glad for him and for Maureen,’ Janet said. ‘Yesterday she brought me a little bonnet she’d made for Maggie. It was very pretty and warm for the cooler weather.’

  ‘Maureen loves kids,’ Peggy said, looking thoughtful. ‘You like her, don’t you, Jan? You wouldn’t turn against her if people said things about her?’

  ‘What do you mean?’ Janet looked at her, puzzled. ‘What are you hintin’ at, Mum?’

  ‘Oh nothin’,’ Peggy said. ‘I’ll leave you to look after things here, Jan. I’d better leave now or I’ll be late at the church. I shall tell Jack there are a few sandwiches here if he wants to bring anyone back.’

  ‘I doubt he’s got many relations to bring back,’ Janet replied. ‘I’m going to put Maggie down to sleep for a while and then I’ll open up. Nellie will give me a hand…’

  ‘Yes, I don’t know what we’d do without her.’

  Janet watched her mother leave. What had she meant about Maureen? A little frown creased her brow as she puzzled over it and then she nodded, a smile creeping over her lips. T
here had been something in the way Maureen looked at Maggie yesterday – a sort of tender wistfulness. Janet would never blame her friend for getting into that kind of trouble, but she knew a lot of others in the lanes might…

  *

  Janet was serving a woman with two coffees and rock buns when a soldier entered and came up to the bar. Looking up, she saw it was Gordon Hart and he was wearing a new stripe on his uniform sleeve.

  ‘Hello,’ she said. ‘Congratulations on the promotion, corporal. Are you on leave?’

  He nodded. ‘I’ve been on a training course and I did well so I got the promotion and a couple of weeks leave. I wondered if you knew where Maureen or her grandmother was, please. I went to Mrs Jackson’s house but it was empty.’

  ‘They’ve gone to a funeral with my mother,’ Janet replied. ‘I don’t know if you knew that Sam Barton was killed in an accident on the bomb sites?’

  ‘No, I hadn’t heard about that,’ Gordon said. ‘Poor lad. I expect Maureen has probably written but I didn’t get her letter…’

  ‘Mum has made some sandwiches and a sponge for anyone who wants to come back afterwards. I expect Maureen and her gran will. Shirley stays to lunch at school and Anne brings her home in the evenings. We’ve all been lookin’ out for her, Mr Hart.’

  ‘Yes, I know. Mrs Tandy told me when I saw her outside her shop just now,’ he said. ‘I have to be grateful to a lot of friends – but mostly to Maureen…’

  ‘Well, here she is,’ Janet said as the door opened and about ten people entered. ‘It looks as if a few turned up to say goodbye to young Sam then…’

  Jack Barton walked up to the bar and handed over a pound note to Janet. ‘It’s all I can afford,’ he said. ‘If you can give people tea or coffee or a soft drink. I don’t have enough to pay for sherry I’m afraid.’

  ‘That’s all right; Mum put out a half-bottle,’ Janet said. ‘She couldn’t spare any more, but it will go round once I think. The sandwiches are under the tea towel if you want to hand them round…’

  ‘I’ll do that,’ Maureen said, coming up to the bar. She smiled. ‘Hello, Gordon, it’s good to see you back. I hoped they would give you leave soon. We’ll have a talk later, but Shirley is fine. Janet, your Mum said will you ask Nellie to make tea for everyone please.’

  Janet nodded and went to the door leading into the kitchen, calling out to Nellie. She walked back to the bar and started to pour sherry into small glasses, setting them on a tray on the bar.

  ‘Maureen, I’m so pleased you’re here,’ Gordon said. ‘Mrs Tandy told me you were back in London, and Janet here said you were at the funeral, but I must have missed your last letter.’ Janet noticed that his smile was a caress as he looked at Maureen. ‘I can’t thank you enough for what you did when Mum died – fetching Shirley back straight away. I’d have been out of my mind with worry if I hadn’t known you would look out for her.’

  ‘Shirley was never really happy down there,’ Maureen said, seeming to dismiss her part in Shirley’s rescue, as if she were a little embarrassed. ‘I know you didn’t want her to be here in the Blitz, but I think the worst is over – for the moment anyway.’

  ‘Can you spare me half an hour or so when this is over?’ Gordon glanced towards the funeral guests.

  ‘I’m afraid I’ve got to leave in a few minutes,’ Maureen said. ‘I’ve been transferred to the London Hospital and I start my first shift this evening, but I want to visit Dad first. Where are you stayin’?’

  ‘I’ve taken a room in a boarding house. I’ve got three weeks leave and it’s my intention to take Shirley out as much as I can while I’m home, make a fuss of her. I’d hoped we might see somethin’ of you?’

  ‘You’ve heard about my father?’ He nodded. Maureen hesitated, then, ‘Yes, I’ll come when I can, but I don’t have much time between visitin’ Dad and my job,’ she said. ‘Look I’m goin’ to take the food round, Gordon. Come to the house at about three tomorrow afternoon, after I’ve had a couple of hours sleep, and we’ll talk. In the meantime, you could have tea with Gran and Shirley when she gets home from school this afternoon. You’re welcome to visit her whenever you like…’

  Janet thought that Maureen seemed a little evasive, as if she felt awkward about something, her eyes not meeting Gordon’s embracing gaze.

  Maureen picked up two plates of sandwiches and started the rounds. Janet watched Gordon’s eyes following her and smiled inwardly. It was very obvious to her that he thought that Maureen was wonderful...

  Chapter 28

  ‘We are very pleased to have you, Nurse Jackson,’ Sister Morrison told her when she reported for duty that evening. ‘I know Sister Martin very well and she has highly recommended you to us. We can certainly do with a capable pair of hands.’

  ‘Thank you, Sister,’ Maureen said. ‘It suited me very well to be transferred to London for personal reasons. I shall try to help you as much as I can.’

  ‘Good. You will be on the medical ward for the moment, which may seem a little strange since you’ve been used to dealing with wounds and soldiers. However, nursing is made up of all kinds of work, and we’ve got our most senior nurses looking after the injured. You will be handing out medicines, making up beds and treating lesser problems on a women’s general ward. I hope you won’t miss the glamour of working in a military hospital?’

  Maureen thought there wasn’t much to call glamorous about treating young men who cried with the pain of their burns and wet the beds because they couldn’t get up.

  ‘I don’t mind what I do, Sister. The senior nurses are needed for those in greatest need.’

  ‘Well said, nurse.’ Sister Morrison gave her a tight smile. ‘This morning I’m going to throw you in at the deep end, I’m afraid. Mrs Titmarsh has an ulcerated leg that refuses to heal. I want you to dress it for her and make her comfortable. I’m afraid she also has an incontinence problem.’

  ‘Yes, Sister,’ Maureen kept her expression bland as she went off to fetch the trolley with the things she would need. It seemed that whenever she went on a new ward the Sister in charge was determined to test her by giving her all the unpleasant jobs. Not that it mattered to Maureen; one bedpan was much the same as another, and nothing could dim her happiness today.

  Her pregnancy had been confirmed by her visit to the doctor. Doctor North had told her that he was certain that she was having a baby, though he would be doing the usual test to confirm it; he was a little concerned by the fainting but inclined to think it might be a combination of overworking for months and the hormonal changes in her body.

  ‘When a woman conceives, her body decides it must protect the foetus,’ he’d explained to her gently. ‘Therefore, it may be trying to tell you that you must not do quite so much.’

  ‘I’m a nursing assistant,’ Maureen told him with a smile. ‘I am on my feet for hours on end and I’m often asked to work double shifts.’

  ‘Well, that may have to change,’ he’d replied and patted her hand in a fatherly way. ‘Your fiancé must marry you and then the problem will be solved I imagine.’

  ‘Yes, doctor. I’d like to keep working for a while. I don’t want to let anyone down and waste my trainin’.’ Maureen turned her face aside, because she couldn’t tell him that she had no intention of marrying the child’s father after what he’d done.

  ‘Once you become pregnant I think you must accept that you have a duty to your baby and everything else will take a back seat, especially as the pregnancy advances. You are only a few weeks so far, but the fainting is a concern – it may be that you will need to rest if you are to produce a healthy child.’

  ‘Yes, I see, thank you for your advice,’ Maureen said and smiled as she left, her feelings mixed, even though she’d always wanted her own children. She was happy that she was pregnant, but concerned at the thought of the future.

  It would be awkward if she fainted on duty, because the nurses were not blind and her condition would soon be suspected. Had she still been more or less en
gaged to Rory, she could’ve left to get married, but in the circumstances she needed to earn a wage for as long as she could. Maureen knew that her grandmother would never turn her out, but she would be upset once she discovered there was no hope of Rory marrying her, and an unmarried mother was looked down on in close knit communities like the lanes.

  Maureen sighed but dismissed her own problems as she greeted the elderly patient assigned her. Mrs Titmarsh was a plump cheerful lady, and apologised to her immediately.

  ‘I’m sorry, nurse. I’ve messed meself again, and my leg stinks somethin’ awful today. I’m afraid you’ve drawn the short straw gettin’ me…’

  ‘Not at all, Mrs Titmarsh,’ Maureen said cheerfully. ‘I was on bedpan duty at the military hospital for months and I’m quite used to it…’

  However, after she’d changed the woman’s nightdress and her sheets, Maureen opened the bandage on her leg and caught a smell she’d come to dread in the military hospital. The ulcer was suppurating and by the looks of the puss oozing from it, it had become infected, Maureen suspected with gangrene. Her heart sank as the woman peered at it and asked if the leg was getting any better.

  ‘It looks rather sore,’ Maureen said, because it wasn’t up to her to break the terrible news; a doctor would do that once it was confirmed. ‘I’m goin’ to fetch Sister and ask her if we should use a different cream.’

  Leaving the leg wound open to the air, she went in search of Sister Morrison and found her speaking to a young doctor. She hesitated, because experience had taught her that doctors did not relish being interrupted, but Sister looked at her in annoyance.

  ‘What is it?’

  ‘I’m sorry to interrupt,’ Maureen said, ‘but I think Mrs Titmarsh’s leg is infected – perhaps with gangrene.’

  ‘Nonsense!’ Sister glared at her. ‘It is just a nasty ulcer.’