A New Dream by Maggie Ford (world of reading .TXT) 📕

both at the heartlessness of this unknown young man and at the foolishness of her sister. ‘And where is he now?’

‘I don’t know.’ The reply tore at Julia’s heart.

‘Sometimes he was away,’ Stephanie went on as if excusing him. ‘He said it was stock exchange business. That was his work. I wouldn’t see him for a few weeks. A girl I knew laughed when I told her and said, “Business, he calls it? Darling, you don’t think you’re his only bit of stuff, do you?” I didn’t believe her. But when I told him I’d missed two of my monthlies, he was so angry and said he was going away for a while. I remembered then what that woman had said. When I asked him to his face he admitted that I was not the only girl in his life. He said the women he preferred were far more mature than I was and knew how to look after themselves. I’ve not seen him since.’

And probably never will again, thought Julia. But her sister was still talking.

‘He bought me such lovely clothes and bits of nice jewellery. We’d go dancing and to nightclubs and he paid for everything, so he must have loved me or he wouldn’t have splashed out like that. I just hope he’ll come round to feeling better about – about the baby. He did suggest I should get rid of it but then said it was nothing to do with him. Now I don’t know what to think.’ Stephanie was wringing her hands with indecision. ‘Perhaps he’ll come back. I do still love him.’

Julia resisted a strong temptation to call her a silly little idiot. ‘And if he doesn’t?’ she said in an as even a tone as possible. ‘How are you going to tell Mummy?’

She saw Stephanie’s eyes widen with terror. ‘I can’t tell her!’

‘You probably wouldn’t have to. She will see as time goes on. But you shouldn’t wait for that. You should tell her.’

‘I can’t face her. I’ll kill myself! She’ll hate me!’

‘No she won’t,’ Julia said quietly, ignoring her sister’s dramatics.

But terror had begun to turn to defiance. ‘I only did what you and Simon have been doing. I thought, if they can do it, then so can I.’

‘Simon and I are intending to marry soon. This Jimmy chap hadn’t even proposed to you. You hadn’t even had a promise of an engagement.’

‘I thought we would get married.’

‘Then it seems you were wrong.’

Fear had begun to shine again in Stephanie’s eyes. ‘I don’t know what to do,’ she repeated. ‘I know he loved me. I’m sure he’ll come back. He couldn’t be so cruel as not to. He loved me. He said he did. I can’t tell Mummy. She was so upset when you and Simon started to live together; she said that sort of thing isn’t done and that she was so ashamed and could never hold up her head again. What will she say to me with no one to marry?’

Cupping her hands to her face, she broke down in tears again, sinking on to her knees and leaning forward so that her head almost touched the floor.

Julia’s anger evaporated and she quickly lifted Stephanie up to hold her tightly, knowing that Betty and their workers would soon be arriving. She couldn’t have them walking in on such a scene and wondering what was going on.

‘Come on,’ she urged sharply. ‘Pull yourself together. Look, I’ll take you upstairs to Mother and I’ll do the talking.’

‘No, I don’t want to face her. I can’t! I’ll die as soon as I see that look on her face, the look she gave you when you went with Simon.’

‘I wasn’t having a baby,’ Julia retorted. Even in this crisis Stephanie had the capacity to hurt without thinking. ‘I’ll take you up to the workshop. You can wait in Simon’s dining room until I come back.’

‘I can’t go in there!’ Stephanie gasped but her sister already had hold of her arm and was marching her to the stairs leading up to the stockroom, calling to Simon to come down to the shop. Simon was mystified as he passed them but Julia motioned to him with a discreet shake of her head, mouthing that she would tell him later.

‘Oh, it’s you. What do you want?’ Her mother’s greeting was so cold that had Julia’s errand been less urgent she would have turned on her heel and marched back down the stairs. Victoria was in her dressing gown and Julia guessed that she’d still been in bed.

‘There’s something I have to tell you,’ Julia blurted out and then paused. This matter needed to be approached gently. ‘Mummy, can I come in?’

She felt like a stranger standing at the door, her mother staring at her, unsmiling, with a querying look as if she were a casual caller.

‘It’s very important!’ she urged, and at the tone of her voice her mother stepped back without a word to allow her to come in.

James and Ginny had already left for work and the flat was silent. Victoria sat down in one of the lovely brown Moroccan leather armchairs Julia had bought for her. She didn’t invite Julia to sit down.

‘So, then, what is it you want?’ she asked, looking up at her daughter. ‘You hardly bother to come up here these days.’

‘That isn’t my fault, Mummy.’

‘In a way it is, Julia. While you persist in living with this man…’

‘He isn’t this man, Mother, he’s my fiancé and as soon as we can we will be married.’

‘Then you are taking long enough to get around to it.’

Julia held herself very stiff and upright, refusing to be humbled, and came to the point. ‘What I’ve come here to tell you has nothing to do with me or Simon. It may take a little time to explain so do you mind if I sit down?’

To the faint ring of sarcasm her mother gave a shrug and a deep sigh. ‘I suppose you had