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

much with emotion that she had to stop, but her mother had finally become subdued, making no reply.

‘So, will you come?’ Julia asked in a steadier voice.

A few minutes later Victoria was being helped into Simon’s new little Austin, bought only three weeks ago. She sat in silence the whole short distance to the hospital, either because she’d never been in a motor car before or because Julia’s words had shocked her into silence. Still without uttering a word she let herself be helped from the vehicle and up into the clanking lift to the floor Stephanie was on.

Outside the ward they were met by Ginny whose face told them that something was wrong. But before they could question her a nursing sister swished towards them, her face, grave and efficient but kind.

‘Ah, there you are! Who is the father?’ she went on, the briskness of her tone moderating as she looked directly as Simon.

Julia spoke for them, talking fast. ‘He’s out of the country and isn’t able to be here, but I’m her sister. I left a note for her brother,’ which she had done, ‘and he’ll be along later, I expect. This is her mother.’

‘Ah,’ the woman said quietly, leaving Julia to suspect that she had gleaned the circumstances surrounding this particular patient as she took in the older woman’s expression.

‘I’m afraid I have to tell you, my dear, that your daughter’s baby was stillborn. I’m so sorry. Your daughter is still very weak. She has had a very traumatic experience and will take some time to recover. I think it would be wise to recommend that she spend a few weeks in a convalescent home, if you agree. She is very low, and her body needs building up, you understand.’

Yes, they understood. Julia tried not to feel relief that Stephanie would be elsewhere for a while, for all she was shaken by the news.

She sat now by her sister’s bedside. Her mother hadn’t yet come in to see her. She was too distraught and was weeping in Ginny’s arms. But Julia could feel no sympathy for her, felt she deserved none. She had grown hard and didn’t care for the feeling it gave her.

Stephanie was asleep. When she finally awoke, Julia would compel her mother to come in and hold her hand. Maybe the contact would help things to get back to normal. Even if she never forgave her eldest daughter her way of life, at least she might forgive Stephanie and that was more important. The girl, like her mother, had lost something precious and needed a shoulder. As she was thinking these thoughts she saw her sister slowly open her eyes.

‘Hullo, Stephanie,’ Julia whispered. ‘How are you feeling?’ For answer her sister nodded sleepily, and Julia went on cautiously, ‘Has anyone told you anything about the baby?’ She half expected Stephanie to burst into great heaving sobs and feared this might weaken her further.

Instead, her sister closed her eyes and said softly, ‘They said I lost it.’ There was a short pause, a deep sigh and then, ‘Just as well, I suppose.’

Julia wondered if she’d heard her right. But she had, and the shock almost robbed her of her voice. ‘You don’t mean that, Stephanie. You can’t mean that!’

She expected some emotional reaction, some display of anger, but Stephanie merely closed her eyes and mumbled, ‘I don’t want to talk just now. I just want to sleep.’

She never once mentioned the baby again, and with no one else willing to bring up the subject, it was as if she had never had a baby. To Julia it seemed totally unnatural for a mother not to feel the slightest sense of grief at the loss of her baby, even if it was illegitimate. Many a time she wondered if her sister didn’t perhaps grieve inside. If she did though, she kept it very well hidden.

After Stephanie had spent several weeks recuperating in the convalescent home, Julia expected her to return to live with their mother, with everything back to normal. She felt a great relief that the months of having to put her up in her and Simon’s room were over. She broached the subject with her mother the day before Stephanie was due to come home.

Her mother’s voice was hard. ‘She’s a grown woman. When she is better she’ll be able to find her own place.’

Shaken by the reply, Julia protested, ‘But she has no money, no job. How can she be expected to find enough to pay for somewhere to live?’

‘She’ll soon be back to normal, as bouncy as if she had never had a baby; no contrition, no shame, no hint of regret, still as trim as ever and foil of herself. She’ll soon find work.’

‘And meanwhile where is she to go?’ Julia queried acidly. ‘We can’t go on having her with us indefinitely.’

But her mother merely gave a shrug and turned away, the corners of her mouth pulled down, a reflection of how set her mind was. No matter what Julia said she would not be persuaded to have Stephanie back home or to hear any more about it.

Simon shook his head in astonishment when Julia told him of her mother’s hardness. ‘We’ll have to find her a flat ourselves,’ he said.

‘But she has no job and no money for rent.’

‘Then we’ll just have to pay her rent for her,’ he said generously.

By the summer of 1925 there were more jobs to be had but Julia knew her sister. She’d never take just anything. Despite the trauma and stigma of having carried an illegitimate child, Stephanie had lost none of her self-confidence or vanity. Even while recovering her strength in the convalescent home she had continued doing her nails, making up her face and trying on her dresses. They still fitted her perfectly, her figure having returned to normal already. Her sights were set on rejoining the bright young things she had come to know and she was looking forward to the