Promise the Doctor (7 page)

‘Pure emotional imagination,’ she told herself firmly as the lights of the outskirts of Wilborough came into view. ‘I’m overtired after such a full day. That must be it.’

Just the same, when the suburb of Wilborough in which the General Infirmary was placed behind them and they were heading quickly for their own part of the town, she felt a sudden urge to be safely in her own small room, tucked up in bed, and free to think about Quentin Moyser, the house at Vanmouth and all the things which had happened to her since Mr. Belding had appeared at the hospital.

‘Come with me to take the car away, Joy,’ Pete invited as he turned into Cranberry Terrace. ‘It’s always a help, negotiating that corner in the dark.’

In common with most of the houses in similar roads in Wilborough the garages at the back of the houses had been added as an afterthought when motoring became a popular mode of transport. Consequently there was not always much room, to drive into the garages erected opening out on to the back lanes of the terraces, and Cranberry Terrace was no exception.

‘All right,’ Joy agreed cheerfully. ‘Don’t blow your horn—it’s after hours. I’ll just give one ring on the bell and then Mum’ll know we’re back. I always do that when I’m coming in late.’

She hurried out of the car and gave one sharp press to the bell in the door, then she was back in the car and beside Pete again even as the hall light came on and she knew Aileen was waiting, ready to put a match to the gas. ‘Been quite a day.’ The car was safely in the garage and Joy stood by the folding doors at the back, waiting for Pete to reach up and to lock them. ‘But I’ve enjoyed it.’

He pulled the doors closed, reached up for the bolt, then, before she could move, his arms came down and were around her. For a moment Joy felt herself stiffen, then she tried to pull herself from his grasp, but she struggled in vain, and after a moment or so, feeling that such a struggle between herself and Pete was both a ridiculous and an undignified affair, she stood absolutely still.

‘That’s better.’ Pete’s voice was
almost
normal, but his hold on her slender form did not slacken, and she could feel his breath on her cheek, even though she turned her head.

‘Joy,’ he went on, suddenly breaking the strained silence which had fallen between them, ‘this isn’t the way I wanted—intended—things to be, not at all. But somehow events recently have pushed me into this. I don’t just mean what happened tonight. I mean everything that’s happened since Miss Barnes left her house and her money to you.’

‘It doesn’t make any difference to ... any of us, Pete,’ Joy said firmly, although she knew she was not speaking the truth. It was going to make a great deal of difference, not only to herself but to all of them, Pete included.

‘It does.’ Pete was normally a quiet, non-argumentative young man, but just now he was stirred as Joy had never known him to be stirred before. ‘It means, for one thing, that you, all of you, will be going away, going out of my life, unless I’m lucky enough to find some way of following you all later on ... and that doesn’t seem very likely at the present moment. But you know I shall follow you all just as soon as ever I can. You’re all the family I’ve got, Joy. Not that I’m worried about them—although I’m fond enough of you all, you know that. But it’s
you
I’m thinking of. Just you, Joy.’

‘You can come over and see us, just as soon as we get settled, Pete.’ She tried desperately to put things back on their old familiar footing, but he would not listen.

‘That isn’t what I mean at all,’ he said doggedly, ‘and you know quite well that it isn’t. I hadn’t intended to say anything like this to you for ages. Not for a few years yet, anyway. Mr. Simpson promised me a partnership in the firm if I “showed promise”, and I was quite content to try and work hard and work up to that in time. Mr. Abbicombe, the insurance broker, told me he could arrange for me to borrow enough money to put into the firm when the time came, and a reasonable way of repayment. Oh,’ he said with a sudden and totally unexpected bitterness she found strangely touching, ‘I’d got it all worked out. I was going to wait until I could have something to show you, something to prove I’d be able to take care of you, to take some of the burdens of the twins and their education, their future, some of the care of Lana from your shoulders ... and then this Miss Barnes has to come along and leave you with a house of your own, something I can’t hope to give you for years and years, and then only with a mortgage tacked on to it, if we’re lucky enough to get a mortgage, that is—and enough money to keep the place going, without it costing you as much as things are costing you now!’

‘Pete, I ...’

‘I know.’ He gave a despairing groan which was instantly shattered by his next spate of words which seemed to come tumbling over themselves in an effort to make her understand. ‘I’m glad for you, for all of you. You know that. That was a big enough pill to swallow on its own account, knowing you could go on being as independent as the old lady herself, to the end of your own days if you wished, without what happened tonight. When we met that Doctor Quentin and I saw the way he looked at you, I knew right away things were going to be ... wrong for me, right from now onwards. He fell for you, Joy. I don’t blame him. But you don’t know anything about him! He’s good-looking. He seems to have money, and everything his heart could wish for, including a nice home, good parents and all the rest of it. Why isn’t he married and established in a home of his own somewhere, with a wife to look after his welfare and his practice or whatever you call it? Maybe he’s just a gay philanderer, and you’re going the right way to let him break your heart!’

The ready colour flew into Joy’s cheeks. Surely she had not looked at young Doctor Quentin in any way likely to give Pete cause for what was tantamount to an accusation of flirting?

‘You have no right to say such things,’ she told him angrily. ‘We’ve only just met the doctor and his family, and they’re very charming and friendly people. There’s no necessity whatsoever for all this sort of thing! You may be almost like an elder brother so far as I’m concerned, but I intend to live my own life...’

‘That’s just it,’ Pete burst in, equally angrily. ‘I’m
not
your brother, and I don’t look upon you as a sister either! I’ve thought about this ever since your mother agreed to let me undertake articles. I could have done some other job, maybe some manual work on the buildings or in a factory, and made enough money to set up a house a lot sooner than this. But I was working on a long-term policy, on something that’s going to be with me all my life, even if there are slumps again or anything like that. I might even try for Inland Revenue work. There’ll always be people with my kind of training there, and opportunities for promotion.’

‘I couldn’t agree more.’ Gently but firmly Joy managed to disengage herself from Pete’s arms until she stood just a little apart from him. ‘Don’t think I’m being unkind, Pete,’ she said gently. ‘It’s just that I’ve never thought of you—of anyone—in this way, and this has been an emotional and sufficiently exhausting day as it is without all this at its ending! It won’t be long before we’re both getting up to go to work,’ she reminded him. ‘Put all this behind you for the time being, there’s a good lad. Mother and Lana and Cousin Emma will all be waiting to hear what the house is like and all about everything, so it’s going to be ages before we get to bed.’

‘Mother, Lana, Cousin Emma and the twins!’ Pete said, still
angry
, but now there was a bitterness in his tone which had not been there earlier. ‘You’re always the same, Joy. That’s what makes me love you, I think. You always think of all the others first, just as you’ve always lumped me in and along with them ... what’s best for all has always been your ideal. It’s a wonderful thing, this family feeling, but it’s
you
I’m thinking of! I love you, Joy...’

He moved forward and would have taken her in his arms again, but she was too quick for him. Deftly she moved towards the small door which led into the tiny suburban garden.

‘You don’t,’ she said gently. ‘You’re just ... used to me, used to my being there all the time. You’ll meet some other girl, maybe before we expect it, with only herself and her own affairs to think about.’

‘That’s what I’m trying to tell you.’ Pete moved to stand beside her, his tone pleading. ‘You never know, your mother might meet someone yet. She’s a lovely, charming woman. The twins’ll grow up. They’ll leave you and lead their own lives! Lana doesn’t care about you or anyone else nowadays, but she’d be off like a shot if she met a wealthy man who was interested in her ... and Cousin Emma’ll not mind anything, so long as someone looks after her and she can make herself a little useful in return.’

‘I won’t listen.’ Joy put her hands over her ears and opened the door. ‘In the morning you’ll be sorry you said all this tonight,’ she prophesied, ‘and I’ll be willing to forget it ... but I meant what I said, Pete. Remember that. I’ve always looked on you as a brother, and that’s how I’m sure I shall always think of you. I’ll tell Mother you’ll be along in a minute, shall I?’ and without waiting for a reply she turned and hurried into the house as fast as she possibly could.

CHAPTER VII

The last month the little family were to spend at Cranberry Terrace seemed to be crammed in every moment, there was so much to do. Pete had taken himself off to Mrs. Parrott’s house on the other side of the road, the morning after he and Joy had paid their first visit to Fernbank. Aileen, who had grown to look upon him as a member of her own family, was a little hurt at first, but after Lana and Joy, to say nothing of Emma, had said all they had to say on the subject, she seemed a little more contented.

‘It’s only likely the boy’ll want to get settled in while you’re still here to turn to if things don’t work out just as he has hoped and planned,’ Emma said philosophically. ‘He’s a young man now, Aileen, not the boy you took in, shattered and forlorn by what had happened to hi
m.
He knows he’ll have to fend for himself now he’s more or less on his feet, and he knows he has you and this family to thank for that—and it’s only likely he’ll want to make sure he’ll be as comfortable as he expected across at Mrs. Parrott’s. If he isn’t I dare say he’ll be back here, asking you to help him find somewhere else before you leave for Vanmouth. He knows you have all sorts of connections in the business world, and he’ll very likely be back before you know it to take advantage of the fact.’

‘He knows Mrs. Parrott has two nieces who have done very well for themselves. He’s probably got an eye to the main chance,’ Lana contributed a little scathingly. ‘Didn’t one of the girls win some sort of small fortune in a fashion competition or something not so very long ago?’

‘I don’t think that sort of thing interested Pete very much,’ Joy had said before she gave any thought to the conversation. Lana gave her a curious glance.

‘Don’t you believe it, love.’ She sounded bored and disillusioned. ‘Money in the bank or the pocket, or the prospects of a partner whose earning capacity can equal his own, means a lot to every ambitious young man. I know the girl who’s Tony’s main model has worked with him on the contract I’d had my eye on in those two fashion magazines, and they’re pulling in a nice fat salary each out of those alone ... that was how
we’d
planned it,’ she ended bitterly, ‘and that goes for almost every man, in my opinion. If you’d been left the
value
of this house and its contents, instead of more or less having to live in the place and look after whoever it was you tell us cares for the house and grounds, as well as the rest of us, Pete wouldn’t have thought twice about asking
you
to marry him! With capital behind him he could start up on his own account, and that’s where the money’s made in his line of country.’

Continuing to get ready to leave for the bus from the end of the terrace which took her to the bottom of the hill where the General was situated, Joy felt a sudden surge of thankfulness that she had not confided in Lana about Pete’s astonishing outburst on their return from Vanmouth. She was about to go through the door when Lana spoke again.

‘By the way,’ she asked casually, ‘what about this doctor friend of yours, the one you met when you went
to
see Fernbank? Has he got any money, do you know?’

Joy felt the warm colour in her cheeks and hastily stooped as though to attend to the laces of her sensible ward shoes, but when she spoke she was relieved to note nothing of the turbulence of emotions which shook her at the mention of Doctor Quentin sounded in her voice.

‘I’m afraid I don’t know anything about his personal affairs,’ she said stiffly. ‘I’ve no doubt you’ll be able to discover all you want to know when once we get there. He’ll be your doctor, you know. I thought you would rather we all went to him as our family doctor than the only other one in that area.’

‘I don’t really mind.’ Disinterest was back in Lana’s voice. ‘I don’t suppose either of them will be able to do anything for me, any more than Doctor Frankton and the hospitals round here have been able to do. I just thought it might be worth while ... cultivating his friendship.’

Joy went out at that point, giving the door an unnecessarily sharp slam behind her. How different Lana was since her accident! She knew a long illness, or a long time of being in bed and with little or nothing to do, often played queer tricks on the personalities of people, but she had never expected her own sister to change in quite such a fashion.

‘She doesn’t mean it,’ Joy told herself firmly as she boarded her bus, but the nagging thought persisted that Lana did indeed mean what she said, and though her scope might be limited, tied as she was to her bed or day couch, there was no denying the fact that she looked even more beautiful than ever, since her long inactivity and stay indoors had given her a delicate, fragile air which was undoubtedly appealing.

With an effort Joy dismissed all worrying thoughts of home from her mind as she began her work of the day. Tomorrow she and Pete were summoned to the court in Vanmouth where the case of the boy on the bicycle and the lorry and trailer which had hit him was to be heard. Matron had been most helpful about arranging time off for Joy to attend the court, but she was certainly not looking forward to the trip with Pete, not after what had happened when they returned
home last time!

She need not have worried. Pete was just as friendly and as helpful as he had always been when he tooted the horn of the little car outside their door the following day. He made no references to Doctor Quentin or to his own affairs, but kept the conversation going on topics of everyday interest obviously culled from the morning’s paper.

They arrived at the court in good time and were shown where to sit. Doctor Quentin was there and he waved to them, but Pete neither moved nor spoke. The case was soon over, and Joy realized that her unspoken fears of acting as a witness to an accident had been completely without foundation. The lorry-driver was exonerated from blame, and as the boy, a certain Tom Robinson, was still in hospital he was not there to hear the warning given by the magistrate to boys who tried to hang on to the backs of moving vehicles to help them along the road.

Doctor Quentin was waiting for them outside the court. He greeted them with a friendly smile and looked appreciatively at Joy in her smart navy and white mufti.

‘If you care to run up to The Poplars,’ he told them, ‘that’s the name of our house, Mother said would you care to join us for lunch? If you would rather call at Fernbank, I know Mrs. Wrenshaw will be able to dish up something choice in a matter of minutes, she loves to do things like that, but you’ll be very welcome at home, I do assure you.’

‘Thank you very much,’ Pete answered before Joy had time to choose which would give least offence to the two women she had already decided she liked very much, Mrs. Moyser and Mrs. Wrenshaw, ‘but I thought we might be a little pushed for time and so I took the liberty of ordering a lunch for us both over the telephone this morning. I’ve booked a table at that restaurant I saw on the corner when we came before, the Golden Pheasant.’

‘And a very good meal they serve too,’ Quentin said without rancour. ‘When do you hope to move in?’ He spoke directly to Joy so that this time Pete had to remain silent.

‘The first of June,’ she told him, ‘or, to be more precise, the last day of May. That will give me a week at home to help Mother with the packing and whatnot. It also means that if we’re out of Cranberry Terrace
before
June the first, Mother gets one third of the quarterly rent returned, since they have someone waiting to come in. That should just about pay for the removal and the ambulance.’

‘Ambulance?’ Quentin’s brows shot up, then he nodded, smiling. ‘Oh, yes, for your sister. Will you leave that for me to arrange, Miss Benyon? I think I may be able to help.’ He half turned away and then back to her again. ‘By the way,’ he said, ‘I haven’t heard of your being over for interview at St Lucy’s. You aren’t waiting until you are settled, are you?’

‘I’ve an appointment there for this afternoon,’ Joy informed him. ‘The Matron at Wilborough telephoned through for me this morning. She thought it better than having to make another journey or leave it until we arrived here.’

‘I agree.’ Quentin nodded again and once more turned back to his own car. ‘Good luck,’ he said cheerfully. ‘You’ll get on very well with Enid Penrose. She’s a charming woman. Leave the ambulance to me, don’t forget, and we’ll look forward to seeing you before long.’

He was gone with a cheery wave of the hand, and Joy was not conscious of staring after his car until Pete gave her an ungentle and brotherly prod to attract her attention.

‘If you want to be on time for your appointment,’ he said crisply, ‘then we’d better get a move on in finding our bearings for that restaurant again!’

It was not long before they were seated at a small table for two in the lovely restaurant of Pete’s choice. When she looked around her and cast a quick, experienced eye at the prices on the menu, Joy immediately offered to ‘go Dutch’, but with a lordly gesture Pete waved the offer on one side, and, wisely, she refrained from saying anything more.

The meal was perfect and excellently served. How she repressed a shiver when the bill was presented to Pete Joy never knew, but Pete accepted it calmly, counted out some money from his wallet and, as yet another gesture, she was certain, laid a generous tip on the plate.

‘I’ll drive you to the gates of the hospital,’ he offered, ‘then I’m going to take a walk around the town for an hour or so before I come back for you. I just wanted to see what sort of openings there are likely to be in my line, if I ever decide to follow you all.’

‘Very well.’ Joy forbore to say he needn’t bother about looking for accommodation as well. She wasn’t sure as yet that she wanted Pete back as a member of their household. It would be different if he ever found some other girl. She’d rejoice with him then as, one day, she hoped she’d rejoice when Rex found a girl of his own with whom he’d be happy to spend the rest of his life and who would be right for him. But not just yet!

Pete drove off and left her, and Joy found herself being shown into a small waiting room by a pretty young cadet nurse, and told that Matron would see her in a moment.

Matron did not ring for her quite so quickly as that, but she certainly did not keep the girl waiting, and as she was shown into the small office with the single word ‘Matron’ on the door, Joy wondered just what sort of woman she would be working under this time.

The first minutes of her meeting with Enid Penrose were enough to convince her that Quentin Moyser had been quite right when he had said she would ‘get on very well’ with her new boss. Enid Penrose had taken the Matronship of St Lucy’s at a remarkably young age, but she dealt ably and firmly with her responsibilities, and did not allow them to narrow her own life or the lives of those about her.

Joy understood her at once. She was a woman with all the knowledge and dignity demanded of her profession, a woman who, if immediate impressions were to be trusted, was in exactly the right job. She loved her work and her brain was quick, clear and alert. She was young, but she knew the value of discipline, both for herself and for her staff, yet there was nothing of the dictator about her in any shape or form.

She glanced quickly but carefully at Joy’s letters and testimonials, her certificates of qualification, then looked up, smiling from a long-lashed pair of very dark brown eyes.

‘We’re at present without a regular Sister on the Maternity Block, Sister Benyon,’ she told Joy. ‘I suggest you begin there, if that is agreeable to you? You will, of course, change round as time passes. You can study our working rota at your leisure. I have a copy here.’ She handed Joy a neatly typed page. ‘I understand that you wish to live at home.’

‘Please, Matron,’ Joy said. ‘I promise that what I do at home won’t interfere with my work at St Lucy’s. I didn’t allow it to at Wilborough General, and I had quite a way to travel on the bus every morning.’

‘You will at least be close at hand here,’ Matron agreed, ‘if, as I understand it, Fernbank is to be your new home. One or two other people from here also live along that road and come in daily. You may be able to arrange some form of regular transport with one or other of them.’

‘I hope, in time, to buy a little car of my own.’ Joy surprised herself by the statement, but all at once it seemed the obvious thing to do. With the rent and rates now taken care of, there would surely be enough for her to run a small vehicle for herself, since previously it had been the running costs of the thing which had been a deterrent to such a purchase.

‘An excellent idea,’ Enid Penrose nodded. ‘There’s a very good school of motoring in the town, if you don’t drive already.’

‘Not yet,’ Joy said. ‘Thank you.’

They chatted a little longer, then Matron rose, touching the bell on her desk.

‘I expect you would like to see round the hospital first,’ she enquired, shaking hands. ‘I’ll have Cadet Ronsome take you round, and I shall look forward to having you report here on the first of June.’

‘I’m going to like her, very much,’ Joy surprised herself by the realization. ‘Just how did Quentin Moyser know she was just my sort of person?’

There wasn’t time for any further speculation along those lines. She followed her guide through St Lucy’s, little Cadet Ronsome a little overawed by being delegated to conduct the new Sister around the premises. She liked what she saw. The hospital was not old but not really new. There were two new wings, one of which contained the maternity block of which Matron had spoken. There were many up-to-date clinics of all descriptions for outpatients, and the staff she encountered seemed pleasant and charming people.

She thanked her guide and went outside to wait for Pete on one of the wooden forms which dotted the entrance to the hospital, but she had not been there many minutes before he came speeding back to brake in a little cloud of dust beside her.

‘Everything all right,’ he asked, beaming as she nodded. ‘Good. I’ve had a sort of adventure too.’ He switched on the engine and the car began gently to descend the gradual hill. ‘I was looking round, as I said I would, and all at once a little dog dangling a long length of ribbon behind it came pelting down the road, obviously pleased to be out on its own! I’d caught hold of the ribbon before I realized there was a girl trying to catch the dog. She was breathless and upset, but very glad to get the little beggar back. Said it was a birthday present to her mother or something and that she’d begged to be allowed to take it out. Seems she’s used to big dogs, never thought a little ball of fluff like that could have ideas of its own. Anyhow’—he put out the indicator and headed the little car in the direction of Wilborough—‘the incident might have done me some good. She says her father’s a local business man, and she’d have a word with him as to what prospects there might be for me around here, so I gave her Mrs. Parrott’s address and I’m hoping ... How did you get on?’