Henrietta Sees It Through (14 page)

When Evensong came back she took a violent liking to the kitten. I encouraged this at first, as she was in low spirits after her illness and needed outside interests.

But she gives him such enormous meals that now he has retired from the mousing business altogether and lies in heavy slumber all night on a cushion on Evensong's chair, and the mice have returned to their carefree scamperings.

Yesterday the kitten insisted upon getting into Perry's basket. This was too much for the old dog, who had been behaving very nicely up till then, and he growled and showed his long, yellow teeth.

‘Come along, General James,' I said. ‘You mustn't bother old gentlemen,' and I lifted him out.

The kitten immediately got back again. I lifted him out a second time and sat him on my knee. ‘If you worry that dog too much he'll bite you, and serve you right,' I said.

The kitten jumped lightly off my knee and got into Perry's basket again, curled up and lay down, rested its little grey head against Perry's black satin side, and immediately fell into an innocent sleep.

Perry looked up at me with a despairing expression, showing the whites of his eyes. I could only shrug my shoulders, for the situation seemed to have got out of hand.

Even Charles lowered
The Times
and looked at Perry in silence. Then he said gravely, ‘You know, Perry, even David had a young wife to keep him warm in bed when he was old.'

Perry gave Charles a long, meaning, Man's look. Then he sighed, laid his chin on the kitten's head, and went to sleep.

The kitten stirred and stretched and put one little grey paw round Perry's neck. But Perry never even stirred.

Always your affectionate Childhood's Friend,

H
ENRIETTA

P.S
. When the kitten is not in Perry's basket it sits on Charles's chest. Charles says ‘Damn the cat!' but it is easy to see that he is really flattered and pleased. In all the fourteen years we have had him, Perry has never shown him so much kindness.

 

 

 

December 22, 1943

M
Y
D
EAR
R
OBERT

As what Mrs Whinebite calls the ‘Natal Day' draws nearer, everybody is getting frightfully excited about Faith's baby. The Conductor has lost half a stone in weight, and Charles says he is beginning to doubt whether he will pull through. Faith says she is going to have her baby on Christmas Day, and as she generally does what she makes up her mind to do, I expect she will. Everybody thinks it is very unreasonable of her to interfere with poor Charles's Christmas, but as Charles and I decided some weeks ago that we would ignore Christmas as much as possible this year, it doesn't really affect us much. What Charles really is worrying about is whether Faith gets him up in the middle of the night or not, and he has promised her half his sweet ration and four clothing coupons if she has her baby between nine thirty a.m. and seven thirty p.m.

The Conductor haunts our house. He is so afraid Charles may go down with flu that he runs in two or three times a day to enquire about his health. As Charles is nearly always out, the Conductor falls to my lot and, fond as I am of him, his doubts, apprehensions and fears are beginning to wear me down.

‘She still insists that it's going to be on Christmas Day,' he said this evening, when he arrived and flung himself down into a chair.

‘Well Christmas Day is a lovely day to be born on.'

‘Is it?' said the Conductor hollowly.

‘And if you're worrying about Charles you needn't, because——'

‘I'm not worrying about Charles.'

‘Oh.'

‘And another thing, Henrietta,' said the Conductor, cupping his chin in his hand and looking at me with
haggard eyes, ‘everybody will expect us to call the baby, Noel.'

‘What's the matter with Noel? It's quite a nice name.'

‘It's all right, if it
is
Noel, but I am so afraid people will say No-well, like that awful carol.'

Even as he spoke there was a scuffling at the front door, the letter box was pushed open by cold little fingers, and three shrill, snuffling voices began the well-known tune. ‘No-well, No-well,' they sang, beginning flat and going flatter.

The Conductor screamed and covered his ears. I ran out with a sixpence and the carol-singers scampered off into the darkness. I will say that for our carol-singers, they never wait to finish their tune. Give them a copper and they're off in the middle of a line.

When I got back to the drawing room the Conductor was lying back in his chair, looking white. ‘I shouldn't worry if I were you,' I said. ‘After all, nobody says No-well Coward. Everybody says Nole Card.'

‘No-well . . . No-well'

The Conductor said he didn't like Nole either, but at that moment Charles came in. The Conductor got up at once and went and peered anxiously into his face. ‘You all right, Charles?' he said.

‘Quite all right, thank you,' said Charles, who is under no delusions about the Conductor's solicitude.

‘No aches or pains anywhere?'

‘None, thank you; but I want a drink.'

‘You look rather grey in the face, Charles.'

‘Of course he's grey in the face!' I shouted. ‘And so would you be if you had to work as hard as he does. You people have no consideration for anybody. Now go home, and stop bothering him about Faith and her beastly little baby!'

The Conductor turned and looked at me reproachfully. ‘
Et tu, Brute?
' he said, and walked out of the house.

‘Bit hard on the Old Boy, weren't you?' said Charles, as he helped himself to whisky.

‘It's all very well, Charles,' I grumbled. ‘I have to endure him all day.'

‘I sometimes think,' said Charles, ‘that Doctors' Wives have a lot to put up with.'

‘And it's only taken you twenty-four years to discover! Marvellous!'

Charles laughed and stretched his feet out to the fire. ‘You should avoid sarcasm, Henrietta,' he said. ‘It doesn't suit you.' Then, after a short silence: ‘Do you really hate being a Doctor's Wife?'

‘Well, I do rather.'

‘Of course, the telephone is maddening.'

‘It isn't the telephone so much; though, of course, it does send you crackers sometimes——'

‘What, then?'

‘Well, I've never yet heard somebody call me the “Doctor's Wife” without wanting to bash them on the head.'

‘But you are the Doctor's Wife.'

‘I know but people don't say, the “Soldier's Wife”, or the “Stockbroker's Wife”, or the “Architect's Wife”, as
though they had no life of their own - at least, only in Germany, which is an uncivilised country.'

‘I see what you mean,' said Charles; ‘though I can't see why you mind so much. What else?'

‘I hate people having to pay you.'

‘You'd hate it still more if they didn't.'

‘Well, I think it's awful. The other day Mrs Whinebite said: “The Income Tax is bad enough, and now we've got an
enormous
Doctor's Bill to pay,” and she glared at me.'

‘You needn't worry,' said Charles. ‘She hasn't paid it.'

‘And then people seem to think that because I'm a Doctor's Wife I ought to know all about illness. The other day, down at the Bee, they were all talking about a new drug called penstemon.'

‘That's a flower, but let it pass.'

‘And when I said “What is penstemon?”——'

‘The word is “Penicillin” actually.'

‘——they all said, “Fancy the Doctor's Wife not knowing!” and there were peals of merry laughter, and somebody said, “Poor Charles”.'

‘What you want is a little gin,' said Charles.

‘There isn't any.'

‘Oh, yes there is. I put away a little drop for the day when I might come home and find you very, very low. And I think, my dear Henrietta, that day has arrived.'

Always your affectionate Childhood's Friend,

H
ENRIETTA

 

 

 

January 12, 1944

M
Y
D
EAR
R
OBERT

Faith always said she was going to have her baby on Christmas Day, and she did. The birth was what the doctors call ‘easy and uneventual' (as though any birth could be either!), and Faith came through with flying colours, but we had a terrible time with the Conductor.

It was about four o'clock on Christmas Eve morning when I woke up and found the Conductor sitting on my bed.

‘It's me,' he said, in a shaking voice. ‘Faith's begun.'

‘Did the nurse send you?' Charles opened one eye to ask the question.

‘Nurse doesn't know yet. I thought I'd better come for you first. Darling Faith woke up and said she felt a distinct Twinge.'

‘Go back to bed and don't be a fool,' said Charles crossly. Then he drew the bed clothes up to his chin and closed his eyes.

‘Don't worry,' I said, squeezing the Conductor's hand. ‘Nurse will send in plenty of time,' and after a bit I persuaded him to go back home to bed.

I was just dropping off to sleep again when the telephone rang. This was the Conductor to say he had found Faith asleep and looking very lovely.

After all these excitements I lay awake until morning and got up feeling cross and tired.

At midday on Christmas Day, Faith really did begin her baby and rang me up to say so. ‘Didn't I say it would be Christmas Day?' she said triumphantly.

‘Good for you, Faith. No-well.'

‘No-well. You'll keep the Conductor with you, won't you? He gets on nurse's nerves.'

‘He gets on mine too. You won't let it drag on, will you?'

‘Don't you worry,' said Faith, and rang off.

After lunch, just as I was going upstairs to lie down, the Conductor arrived with a note from Charles saying I was not to let him out of my sight until everything was over. The Conductor began his Anxious Father Pacing at once, but after a bit he said he felt stifled in the house, and dragged me out to pace with him in the road outside. It was nearly dark before I could persuade him to come back inside and have a cup of tea. Then, at seven-thirty, when he had worn quite a track on the drawing-room carpet, Charles walked in.

‘Is it all over?' croaked the Conductor.

‘Good Lord, no. I want a drink, and my dinner.'

‘Do you mean to say, you are going to sit here eating and drinking while darling Faith——'

‘My dear Chap, I shall look after Faith much better with a hot meal inside me. Now let's all have a drink. Henrietta, you look tired.'

‘I am tired, Charles.'

Charles sat down placidly to his dinner, but I could see by the way he ate it, and didn't stop for his coffee, that little No-well must be on the move. The Conductor refused all food and sat glowering at Charles, but later the very strong whisky which Charles had given him, and which he had drunk absent-mindedly, began to work and he dragged me to a chair by the fire, and sat at my feet and began to tell me about the time he had first met Faith, and what she had worn, and what the Conductor had thought, and what he had said, and what she had said. The fire was warm, the Conductor's voice is soothing, and my head began to nod. When Charles came in later the Conductor and I were both asleep.

The Conductor and I were both asleep

‘Morning, Daddy!' said Charles brightly.

The Conductor sat up and blinked like an owl. Then he turned pale-green. ‘Charles——' he faltered.

‘It's all right,' said Charles. ‘You've got a daughter. Faith's fine.'

The Conductor sprang to his feet with a yell. ‘I've got a daughter!' he shouted, and began capering around the room. ‘Wake up, Henrietta, I've got a daughter!'

‘No-well, No-well,' I said flatly.

‘Are you absolutely exhausted, Henrietta?' said Charles kindly.