The Shadow of the Sycamores (32 page)

‘Oh! It’s you Tina? What a scare you gave me.’ A short pause and then, ‘How long have you been there?’

‘Long enough. We’ll go upstairs – I have to talk to you in private.’

Once in the cell-like bareness of the girl’s bedroom, Tina’s heart turned over at the sight of her face – still flushed from what she had clearly been doing a few minutes earlier. She’s just an innocent, the nurse mused, a pure innocent … and so’s the boy. They wouldn’t know they’d done anything wrong. Unfortunately, it was up to her to disillusion them – to prise them apart.

‘Anna,’ she began, softly, ‘What were you doing in that shed with Jerry?’

There was no hesitation, although the round cheeks took on a deeper hue. ‘We were making love.’

‘Do you know what can happen when you make love with a boy?’

‘It’s wonderful,’ Anna sighed. ‘Have you ever made love with anybody?’

Hardening her heart, Tina said, perhaps more curtly than she meant, ‘Making love can result in making a baby, didn’t you know that?’ The perplexed face gave her all the answer she needed. ‘When was the last time you had the curse?’

The perplexity became utter bewilderment and Tina regretted not having taught her the facts of life before letting her loose with Jerry. It had been up to her – this whole business was her fault.

‘Anna Cairns is with child, I am afraid, Mrs Miller.’ Shuffling his feet, Doctor Watt was clearly uneasy about imparting this knowledge.

The Superintendent’s wife stared at him as if he had said something obscene – which he had, as far as she was concerned. ‘You must have made a mistake!’ she declared, icily. ‘How could it have happened?’

Irked at her manner, Dr Watt snapped, ‘Surely a woman of your age must know that?’ Then, realising how serious the matter was for the Millers who were acting in loco parentis for the girl, he added, ‘It was Tina who told me to make the examination so you had better ask her. I will not abort the child if that is what springs to your mind. For one thing, the mother is as sane as I am, as you very well know, and both she and the father are in perfect health.’

He stalked out, leaving Dolly breathing convulsively, her face livid, but, after a few minutes, she rang the bell to summon one of the maids. ‘Tell Tina I want to see her,’ she instructed the girl. ‘At once!’

It was all the nurse’s fault. Dear God! What a scandal there would be! Anna’s father would likely sue The Sycamores for allowing such a travesty to occur. She and her husband would be thrown out of their jobs when they had done their best to look after those in their care – yes, their very best! And it had taken carelessness on the part of just one lowly nurse to knock the foundations from under them.

Being a fair-minded woman, however, Dolly realised that perhaps it had not been Tina’s fault. Maybe Jerry was not to blame either. It
could
have been one of the old men in their basket chairs; always casting lustful eyes at the young maids who were bending down to pick up something from the floor. She had reprimanded Jonathan Gall, ninety last month, several times for stretching out his bony hand to touch a well-rounded bottom and, even worse, for having his hand in his pocket fondling his privates. It must be he who had … raped poor Anna.

Tina disillusioned her on this, however. ‘It wasn’t Jonathan. Mrs Miller. It
was
Jerry Rae, the gardener’s boy. But he’s a good laddie and they likely didn’t know they were doing anything wrong.’ Tina ventured a quick glance at her mistress and said, hastily, ‘It wasn’t his fault or Anna’s – it was my fault. If I hadn’t thrown them together …’

‘Yes! It
is
your fault,’ Dolly spat out. ‘What on earth did you think they would do? Two youngsters ready for … they could not help themselves.’ Dolly dabbed her damp top lip. ‘I have no option, Tina. You have proved that your judgement is not to be trusted and I must ask you to pack your things and leave immediately.’

On the verge of tears, Tina murmured, ‘Please don’t be too hard on them, Mrs Miller. They’re young and in love …’

‘I shall do what I have to! You are dismissed.’

Saying not another word, the nurse turned away sadly but Dolly called, ‘Do not go anywhere near that girl before you leave. She will be confined to her room until we arrange what is to be done with her.’

Before she went in search of her husband to pass on the dire news, it occurred to Dolly that the trauma of a pregnancy and the ordeal of the actual birth might bring on a repeat of the mental breakdown that had brought Anna to The Sycamores in the first place. It would be as well, therefore, to have Tina there to look after her. Praying that she had not left yet, Dolly headed for the staff’s quarters, trying to find a plausible apology for the way she had so peremptorily dismissed the young woman minutes before.

Tina was making a last minute check to see that she had left nothing when Mrs Miller knocked and went in. ‘Tina, I am really sorry. It was the shock that made me lose my temper. It was not really your fault, my dear. How were you to know they would …?’

‘I should have known, Mrs Miller.’

‘Do not be so hard on yourself. You thought it would be good for Anna to get to know someone of her own age and you were not to know that the boy would take advantage of the situation.’

‘I don’t think he meant to take advantage,’ Tina sighed. ‘I think it was a case of … well, I don’t suppose he’d ever had any experience of girls and Anna certainly had no experience of boys, so it was a catastrophe just waiting to happen. I should have known.’

‘Perhaps you should but I was too hasty. It came to me, after you left me, that Anna will need help to see her through her confinement and who better than you? You have always been a friend to her and she trusts you.’ Dolly regarded the nurse hopefully. ‘I hope you will overlook my earlier remarks and take on the job? Be a … mother figure for her?’

‘Thank you, Mrs Miller. There’s nothing I’d like better.’

‘That’s settled, then.’ Dolly’s pleasure at having ironed out this wrinkle faded as she went downstairs. She still had to face her husband’s anger.

A hasty telephone call to Anna’s father’s bank in Edinburgh gave Raymond Miller their address in France and he penned a very cautious letter telling Mr Cairns of his daughter’s condition and asking for her to be removed from The Sycamores as soon as possible. It took a week for the reply to reach him.

His fingers were unsure as he opened the envelope, and a quick scan made him thump his desk in frustration. ‘Good God! Listen to this, Dolly!’ He took a deep breath and read out what Mr Cairns had written.

‘As we placed our daughter in your care, trusting you to look after her properly, we set the responsibility for her fall from grace squarely on you. Since I made a contract with you,
I shall let my bank continue to send the cheque every six months. I am not, however, prepared to provide for the child who, but for your laxity, would not exist at all. I would suggest that either you make her get rid of it or have the father make an honest woman of her. Failing that, make him provide for it.’

Removing his horn-rimmed spectacles, the Superintendent looked at his wife. ‘What kind of man is he? Having lost one daughter, wouldn’t you think he would be more loving towards the only one he has left?’

Dolly was lost for words. She had never come across such blatant callousness and what she felt was too foul to say aloud. If the man had been there, she would have … sworn at him!

Husband and wife regarded each other helplessly until Raymond said, ‘There is only one way open to us, as far as I can see. Get one of the maids to find the gardener’s boy and bring him here. I will have to try a bit of negotiating.’

The summons to the Superintendent’s office came as quite a shock to Jerry. He couldn’t think of any reason for it but he laid his tools down neatly and went inside. ‘You sent for me, Mr. Miller?’

‘Er … yes … Jerry, isn’t it?’

The youth was surprised by the man’s obvious unease but waited silently.

‘You have … um … been seeing quite a lot of … Anna Cairns, I believe?’

That was no secret so Jerry said, ‘Aye, Tina thought it would be good for her to get to know somebody her own age … of the opposite sex.’

‘So I believe. Well … um … it may have been good as an idea but … as you are no doubt aware, it has not worked out so well in reality.’

A cold shiver went up the boy’s spine. ‘What do you mean?’

‘I mean that because you let your passions run away with you, Anna is now expecting a child.’ Jerry’s obvious bewilderment made him go on, ‘Did you not know that … um … what you did … could have such a result?’

‘No, I didn’t know.’

There was no doubt that he was telling the truth and Raymond felt his anger slipping away. ‘Well, it seems that neither did Anna but that is exactly what happened. I have notified her father but … um … he appears to have a heart of stone or no heart at all. He suggested that she gets rid of it but Doctor Watt has said he will not terminate the pregnancy. The other suggestion Mr Cairns made was that you should … make an honest woman of her.’

‘An honest woman?’

‘Are you prepared to marry her and give the child your name?’

Jerry gasped with shock. ‘Mr Miller, I would give the world to be able to marry Anna but I can’t afford to keep a wife – let alone a child …’

‘We shall have to come to some agreement then. If you are willing to take the step, that would be the biggest hurdle cleared.’

The other hurdles did not take long to negotiate and, within fifteen minutes, Jerry was walking back to where he had been working. His mind was in a whirl, his legs were shaking but, all in all, he concluded, he couldn’t be happier. He was to get an increase in pay, not all that much but at least they were to get their meals and clothes paid for them and they were to have the old lodge at the end of the driveway as a home.

For a moment, his soaring thoughts came to halt. Although he hadn’t known why, he had always felt guilty about making love to Anna. He’d had a feeling that it was wrong and exactly how wrong it was had been proved now but, strangely, he hadn’t been punished for it. In fact, what he had hoped to achieve some time in the future had been given to him with no strings attached. He and Anna had played with fire and been burned but it had been the best thing that had ever happened to them.

Of the five people closely involved in the forthcoming marriage, two were relieved that they had escaped so easily from what
could have meant the end of their careers and two were blissfully happy, although scarcely able to believe their good fortune. Only Tina had misgivings. In her mind, the youngsters were not being punished for the terrible crime they had committed, for it
was
a terrible crime. Instead, they were being rewarded. Not that she wanted the poor things to be made unhappy but it might be better for them if they’d been reprimanded to some degree. It would let them know they couldn’t always do what they wanted. There were always other people to consider.

Mrs Miller had relied on her to look after the girl and, by Jove, she would not make a mistake again. Not that it mattered now – it was too late, like locking the stable door after the horse had bolted. She had also to make sure that as few people as possible got to know, to make those of the workers who realised what had happened swear not to spread it about. It wasn’t a good advertisement for The Sycamores that the youngest patient had been allowed to get in such a condition – and practically encouraged to do so, some folk would say.

There was one shadow lurking at the edge of Jerry’s joy. He knew he should let his parents know about the wedding – and the baby – but he couldn’t face his mother’s disappointment in him. She had trusted him to behave and he had let her down badly. One good thing was that he wouldn’t have to contend with Anna’s father as well. Mr Cairns had made it quite clear that he wanted nothing to do with her or her child.

Poor Anna, the boy thought. He was determined to make it up to her for all the love she had missed in her childhood … and to shield her from any nasty gossip.

As it happened, a far more serious event took most minds at The Sycamores off Anna and Jerry. The Archduke Ferdinand of Austria and his wife were assassinated in Sarajevo and Britain declared war on Germany on the fourth of August. The chaplain, a young man with no ties, volunteered his services to the army and the marriage, which had been arranged for the tenth, had to be postponed until a new minister could be found. The replacement who eventually turned up was an old bachelor and, having been given no information about the bride’s condition,
happily performed the ceremony, smiling vacuously at the young couple and their two attendants, the Superintendent and his wife. Anna had asked Tina to be her bridesmaid but she had refused on the grounds that ‘it would be out of place’.

No others were present and Jerry told himself that the news of his wedding could safely be kept from his parents until times were more settled. It might be best to wait until after the infant was born. Having a grandchild would surely blunt his mother’s anger at him.

New Year’s Day was far more exciting for twenty-four-year-old Mara Rae than it had ever been and all because of Leo Ferguson. He had called for her two evenings a week in October, had been accepted by her parents as a suitable suitor and had graduated to coming for her every night during November. Unfortunately, December had turned out to be less favourable for ‘walking out’. Gale-force winds and icy conditions meant that they were forced to remain indoors. As a special treat, however, after the bells had rung in the new year and the four of them had drunk a toast to ‘health, wealth and happiness’, Henry had said they could have half an hour on their own in the parlour.

‘But remember,’ he had warned Leo, albeit half in jest, ‘if you are even two minutes longer, I’ll come in to make sure you are not taking any liberties with my daughter.’

‘Oh, Father!’ Mara protested, her cheeks scarlet with embarrassment.

Her young man shook his head. ‘You have no need to worry, Mr Rae. I love Samara, and I will take no liberties, I promise.’