Better Days will Come. Pam Weaver
lay on the settee listening to the murmur of voices outside in the corridor. Serves you right, she told herself miserably. You never should have come here in the first place.
She heard the front door slam and a few minutes later, Lady Brayfield returned. Bonnie moved as if to get up but LadyBrayfield held up her hand and sat in the chair opposite. ‘How long have you been pregnant?’ Her voice was gentle but her mouth was set in a tight line.
Bonnie’s face burned with shame and embarrassment. Here it comes, she thought. The lecture … the moment when she said think of the shame and disgrace you’ve brought on your family, and what about your reputation, etc, etc. Bonnie had never had ‘the lecture’ herself but she remembered the way everybody had treated her neighbour Mary Reed when she got pregnant by a Canadian soldier during the war. ‘Keep the baby?’ Mary’s mother had screamed when Mary told her. ‘Don’t be stupid. Who is going to marry you with another man’s baby?’
In the end, poor Mary had been forced to give her baby up for adoption.
Lady Brayfield looked at her steadily. ‘How on earth did you expect to keep it a secret?’
Bonnie swallowed the lump in her throat. It was no use. Obviously the doctor had told Lady Brayfield of her condition. ‘I thought that if I worked really hard, by the time you found out, you might let me stay a bit longer.’
A silence trickled between them.
‘At least you’re honest,’ Lady Brayfield said finally.
‘I’m not very far gone,’ said Bonnie in small voice. ‘And the agency said it was a temporary post. I thought if I earned a little money I could …’ Embarrassment welled up inside her. It was time to go. She pushed the blanket aside.
‘You’ve been told to rest, Miss Rogers,’ Lady Brayfield said firmly. The tone of her voice was authoritative but not unkind. ‘Let us discuss the matter.’ She paused. ‘I take it that you have been deserted?’
Something rose up inside Bonnie to defend George but how could she? She’d been to the station every day for more than a week and she’d made sure plenty of people saw her looking for him, but of course he hadn’t turned up. Time and again she’d asked at the station master’s office but he’d left no message either. She had written to Pavilion Road but that was six days ago and as yet she hadn’t had a reply. She knew she wasn’t the first girl he’d slept with. How could she be? George was older than her and experienced in his lovemaking. She’d been an utter fool. How many other girls had given themselves to men only to find themselves left with the consequences? The story was as old as the hills … But she couldn’t possibly say all that, so she just nodded miserably.
‘Could you not go back to your mother?’
Bonnie’s eyes widened. ‘I can’t. My mother is a widow …’
Lady Brayfield nodded. ‘How many months are you?’
Bonnie’s voice was small. ‘Four.’ Was it really only four months since she and George had lain in bed together dreaming big dreams? He was determined to go abroad. They’d even toyed with the idea of going to the Congo.
‘The principal food crops are cassava, bananas, and root crops,’ George had told her after he’d read a few books from the library. ‘Hot and humid. The central part has rain all year long.’
‘Sounds wonderful,’ she’d cooed.
‘No it doesn’t,’ he’d laughed, and then he’d kissed her again. Bonnie could feel her eyes smarting.
Lady Brayfield pushed herself deeper into her chair. ‘I have a proposal, Miss Rogers. We shall say nothing of this to Dora or to Cook.’
Bonnie frowned. Dora must be the name of the maid who opened the door and presumably it was Cook she could hear singing in the kitchen.
‘Richard is very contrite after his outburst,’ Lady Brayfield went on. ‘He’s not a bad boy. It’s not the first time he has told me he doesn’t want to live with his father, albeit he has never been violent before. My daughter, Richard’s mother, is in a nursing home. She’s had a nervous breakdown and needs complete rest. I only want to do what is right for the child.’
She rose to her feet and stood facing the window. Whatever she was about to say, Bonnie had already warmed to her.
‘My son-in-law is an ambitious man,’ Lady Brayfield continued with her back to Bonnie. ‘He is very strict, which is probably why Richard does not want to go to Africa. Now I’m beginning to wonder if that’s why my daughter …’
Her voice trailed off but she stayed by the window, her back ramrod straight. A couple of times her hand went to her face but she didn’t turn around. Eventually, and with a beautifully composed expression, she turned back to Bonnie. ‘I was very impressed with the way you conducted yourself when Richard … er … did what he did. You didn’t retaliate or swear at him.’ She paused. ‘That took tremendous self-control, Miss Rogers. You have excellent references and Richard needs a young person, someone with drive and energy. His time is mostly taken up with prep school but at the weekends, and with the Christmas holidays coming up, he needs to be amused. Quite frankly, Miss Rogers, I am too old for party games.’
Bonnie sat up. She should say something and say it now. How much energy would she have once the baby started to show?
‘After this incident, perhaps it wouldn’t be in the boy’s best interest to send him to live with his father,’ Lady Brayfield went on. ‘Not yet, anyway. That being the case, I propose that you come here until after Christmas. I really cannot be without someone right now. Quite frankly, Miss Rogers, I need help. Would you be willing to come for a short period? It would give me time to find another girl for the New Year.’
Bonnie’s jaw dropped. ‘I won’t let you down, Lady Brayfield,’ she whispered.
‘Clearly your referees had no idea you were pregnant,’ she continued, ‘so I am taking a gamble that you are not promiscuous.’
Bonnie had never heard the word before but the meaning wasn’t lost. ‘I made a stupid mistake,’ she mumbled.
Lady Brayfield went to her handbag. ‘Then we shall leave it there and not talk about it again. Agreed?’
‘Agreed,’ said Bonnie looking up with a half smile.
‘I shall pay you £2 a week, all found. Is that agreeable?’
Bonnie’s eyes widened. This was more than she could ever have hoped for. ‘Yes, yes thank you.’
Lady Brayfield handed Bonnie a pound note. ‘I have to take Richard to the dentist this afternoon and he is waiting outside to apologise for his disgraceful behaviour. When you are fully recovered, fetch your things and Dora will help you settle in. This should cover your taxi fare. You can start tomorrow.’
With that, she swept out of the room. Bonnie could have kissed her. What an amazing woman. The place where Richard had kicked her was still painful but it was almost worth it to land on her feet in this way. She looked around the room. What a wonderful place to work. It was so warm in this house. No draughty corridors, no sitting huddled around a meagre coal fire for warmth. Of course she knew her newly found comfort wouldn’t last, but for the moment, she had been handed a lifeline. A couple or three weeks here and she could put a little more money in the post office. Lady Brayfield had given her more than a job. She had given her hope.
Four
Every day seemed like a week to Grace. She was on ‘Packing’ in the factory. The sweaters came off the production line and were put into boxes. It was the job of her and her colleagues to steam any creases out and fold the sweaters neatly, three in a box lined with tissue paper. They worked at a table, in pairs, facing each other.
The new factory was a lot more modern than the old one. In the morning, they played Housewives’ Choice