A Family Christmas (42 page)

Far more worrying than the measles was the time a few months later when Lucy was woken in the early hours by Rosie. ‘Mam, our Violet’s sick.’ Lucy was out of bed before the words were out. She could hear her daughter’s racking cough echoing through the house. She was used to dealing with croup and
decided
to take Violet down to the kitchen. Lucy filled the boiler by the fire to heat up the water. With another kettle on the fire it should provide enough steam to allow Violet to breathe freely again. Sometimes the walls and windows were running with steam by the time the bout of croup had passed. This time was different. Violet had vomited all over the pillow, a mixture of vomit and mucus. The little girl was hot and seemed to be fighting for breath.

Lucy hurried back to her room and shook John awake. ‘John, I think we should have the doctor. Our Violet’s sick.’ John pulled on his trousers and hurried to where the child’s coughing resembled the sound of a barking dog.

‘You’re right. I’ll fetch Doctor Sellars.’

Lucy attempted to wipe up the mess, then decided to strip off the covers and replace them with clean ones. ‘Go sleep in our bed, Rosie. There’s a good girl.’ Rosie didn’t need telling twice. She loved the warmth and special scent of her mam’s bed. In fact it was a treat for any of the children to be allowed to snuggle down in the warm place their mother or father had vacated.

By the time John arrived with the doctor Violet’s head was being held over a basin of steaming water, but still the coughing continued. ‘It’s croup again, doctor.’

‘No, Mrs Grey, not this time. I’m afraid it’s Whooping Cough.’

‘Oh no.’ A child on Second Row had died of the
complaint
only a few days ago. ‘What can we do for her?’

‘There isn’t a lot we can do except keep her warm and dry. I can prescribe a mixture, but I’m afraid only time will heal; normally it takes about six weeks. Unfortunately it is highly contagious, so your other children will probably have already been infected. You could of course isolate Violet and hope the others escape this distressing illness. Though it may already be too late. Please keep the boy away from school. If we can avoid an epidemic it will be for the best. If you can send someone for the medicine it will be ready in the morning.’ By this time Violet seemed to have got over the coughing bout.

‘Now, I suggest you try and get some sleep whilst you can.’

‘I’ll fetch the medicine in the morning then. Thanks for coming, doctor.’ John went to see the doctor out.

‘You’re welcome.’

Violet was asleep when John went upstairs. The little girl was flushed and exhausted. ‘I’ll stay with her.’ John lay down on the bed by his daughter’s side. ‘You go back to bed, Lucy. It’ll be a busy day tomorrow what with Bernard off school and trying to keep them apart. Get some sleep.’

‘Thanks, John.’ Lucy was dreading the next coughing fit and the thought of the others already being infected. There was also the dirty bedding to
be
laundered. Oh well, she had never expected having children to be all a bed of roses. So long as Violet recovered, nothing else mattered. Lucy slipped into bed next to Rosie and felt her daughter’s arms encircle her. The children might bring her worry on occasions, but on the whole they gave her more joy than pain. Lucy made herself comfortable and was on the verge of dozing off when Rosie began to cough, a nasty whooping sound. Lucy said her prayers for her daughters to recover, and for her boys not to have already caught the frightening illness.

Miraculously, the boys remained healthy and Rosie didn’t seem as badly affected as her sister. However Violet sometimes seemed on the verge of suffocating and on one occasion the poor child had turned blue in the face. Mrs Greenwood sent up an infusion of red clover, which she swore would relieve the symptoms and it certainly seemed to help. The neighbours ralied round as usual; Mr Marshall remembered taking Lewis up to a spring on the common and believed it had helped the boy get better in record time.

As soon as the girls were well enough to walk so far, Lewis volunteered to take them and let them drink the pure spring water. For the next month he continued to take them whenever he had the opportunity, by which time they were not only looking and feeling better but Lewis had also built up a close friendship with the little girls. He pointed out
the
wild flowers and insects they encountered on the way and once when a red admiral settled on Violet’s cheek, Lewis told her it was giving her a butterfly kiss. After that, Rosie would ask for a butterfly kiss each time they passed that particular spot. Lewis would bend and flutter his eyelashes on each girl’s cheek. ‘There,’ he said. ‘We don’t need a butterfly to give you a kiss; my eyelashes work just as well.’ The girls would squeal with delight and Lewis would wish the girls were his daughters and Lucy his wife. He realised he had the next best thing when suddenly they began to address him as Uncle Lew. Soon the boys were following their example.

Both John and Lucy were pleased their children were giving Lewis the affection he so deserved. When the weather was good John and Lewis would relax up at the allotments, competing good-naturedly as to whose vegetables thrived the best, and sharing everything they grew. Lewis’s lettuces heartened in their frame and his beans grew long and straight enough to win a prize at the local show. John produced the finest crop of peas anyone had seen for years; unfortunately the kids got to them and ate the lot. The only things to fail – and the one thing Lucy requested, to add colour to her salads – were the radishes. Lewis tended them with care and John even sent Bernard after the ragman’s horse with a bucket and spade, but even the horse droppings couldn’t improve the thin, puny-looking radishes.

‘A waste of good growing ground,’ Mr Marshall admonished.

Still, for Lucy’s sake the men persevered, and failed. The friendship between John and Lewis, however, grew from strength to strength, and John and Lucy’s children grew as dear to Lewis as if they were his own.

Chapter Twenty-eight

IT WAS ALMOST
the end of 1938 when the telegram came for Robbie and it was short and to the point.

‘MEET MY OFFICE TEN AM THURSDAY URGENT STOP P TOMLINSON STOP.’

Robbie immediately arranged time off work, rang Nellie to arrange lodgings and caught the first available train to Blackpool.

When Louisa paid her weekly visit to Lucy she told her friend she was optimistic that Robbie would return home a free man. Lucy wasn’t convinced. From what she had heard of divorces they were long drawn-out affairs and could take years. However, Louisa proved to be right. Paul had greeted Robbie warmly and with an air of optimism.

‘Well, Mr Grey, I think you may soon have cause for celebration.’

‘You mean I can have a divorce?’

‘No, Mr Grey. I mean I doubt very much that you will need one.’

‘What?’

‘With the cooperation of Prudence’s father, I sought an annulment of your marriage. For two reasons. The first being that Prudence Goodman was
of
unsound mind and had been for some time. The second reason being that the marriage had never been consummated. A certain Doctor Sellars has provided evidence of that. I am fairly confident that at eleven thirty this morning the Probate, Divorce and Admiralty Division of the High Court will declare your marriage to Prudence Goodman null and void. So, Mr Grey, shall we be on our way?’

Paul picked up his briefcase and bustled out to his car with Robbie hurrying behind, trembling so much he could hardly open the car door. He was still trembling when they arrived back at the lawyer’s office two and a half hours later. ‘Well, I don’t know what to say except thank you.’

‘Oh I think it’s Reverend Goodman you should be thanking. Without his help, a divorce would certainly have been necessary.’

Robbie couldn’t help thinking it had been Herbert’s fault in the first place. He only realised how shocked he must have been afterwards, when he remembered running his hands over the solid oak desk in Paul Tomlinson’s office and casually remarking on what a magnificent piece of furniture it was, and how much work had gone into the making of it. It was then that the lawyer insisted on Robbie taking a tot of brandy. It was after he had almost choked on the potent spirit that it suddenly dawned on Robbie that he was a free man, no longer shackled to Prudence and free to marry Dot. He seemed to shed the weight that had lain so
heavily
on his shoulders. His spirits lifted and Robbie grinned at the man who had been worried about his mental state just moments before.

‘I can’t believe it.’ Robbie took the lawyer’s hand and shook it warmly. ‘Does this mean I am free to marry again? Immediately?’

‘Well, yes it does, but damn it man, I should think twice before doing so for a second time.’

‘Think twice? I’ve thought about nothing else for twenty-four hours of the day, every day.’ Robbie took out his wallet. ‘Now, how much am I in your debt?’

‘Nothing. Let us put it down to experience. It’s certainly been a new one for me. The first null and void marriage I’ve come across. It just proves the old saying that we’re never too old to learn. No, Robert, you don’t owe me a penny; I’m more than happy to know that right has prevailed.’

Robbie was pleased at the lawyer’s use of his christian name and read the documents Paul had given him. ‘But what about the court costs?’

‘Forget them. I might need a favour myself one of these days. Besides, I’m feeling quite proud; these cases are extremely rare you know.’

‘Well, at least let me take you out to dinner. It would have to be tomorrow though, then I need to go home. I’m sure you’ll know of a decent place.’

‘Very well, I shall bring my wife and you must invite Tom and Nellie. I’ll ring them when I’ve made
a
reservation.’ He grinned at Robbie. ‘I’m warning you it won’t come cheap.’

Robbie grinned back. ‘It’ll be worth it, whatever it costs.’

‘To marry the girl you love? Yes it will, if you truly love her.’

‘I do, I definitely do.’

‘Now, let me run you to Tom’s.’

‘No, thanks all the same. The last time I left your office I felt like throwing myself from the top of the tower. Now I feel like I could climb to the top. I’d like to walk.’

‘Very well, and if you should ever need my services again, you know where to find me.’ The two men shook hands again, both satisfied with the outcome, but sorry for the Goodmans who, despite making things right for Robbie, must be feeling nothing but despair at the whole sorry episode.

Robbie called at a toy shop before going to Nellie’s and bought a teddy bear for the baby. He opened the door of a jeweller’s but then realised he had no idea what size ring Dot would require, so closed the door again, cringing as the shop bell rang out, leaving an assistant glaring at him through the glass. He breathed in the salty air and threw back his shoulders. A couple of teenage girls stared at him and giggled as he gave them a wink. Robbie Grey was a happy man.

Nellie was delighted to see Robbie and catch up on the news from home. She was even more pleased
that
their friend had solved Robbie’s problem so satisfactorily. He insisted on paying for his bed and board despite Tom’s protests, but agreed to eat with the couple rather than in the guests’ dining room. When he told them he had decided to go to Liverpool and visit Prudence, Tom insisted on driving him there the following morning. ‘I don’t think it’s something you should do alone,’ Tom said. ‘I doubt it will be a very pleasant experience.’

‘I know that, but it’s something I need to do. If I don’t it’ll be hanging like a cloud over me for ever.’

‘Very well, but I’m going with you. Besides, we shall be there and back in half the time the bus takes.’

As it happened the visit wasn’t as horrendous as Robbie had feared. Prudence was seated in a pleasant room, working on her crocheting. When Robbie walked towards her she glanced at him and carried on.

‘Hello, Prudence. How are you?’

‘Fine. Do you like the mat I’m making?’

‘It’s pretty.’ It was just a long tangled length of silk thread.

‘It’s for my house when we move in.’

‘Your house?’

‘Yes, haven’t they told you I’m getting married?’ A porter wheeled a patient into the room. ‘Maurice.’ Prudence beckoned him over. ‘Come and meet this man. I forget his name but I think he used to be a friend of mine. This is Maurice, the man I’m going
to
marry. Isn’t he handsome?’ The porter grinned. ‘I sure am. Though not the marrying type, I’m afraid. Still, it gives young Pru here something to look forward to. Pleased to meet yer. Did you know Pru back in Yorkshire?’

‘Yes. Actually we were married for a time.’

The porter laughed nervously. ‘Sorry, but I didn’t know any of her husbands were real. According to her, she’s had at least half a dozen husbands. I’m apparently about to be the seventh. Not blooming likely. Still, it keeps her happy, all the arranging.’

Prudence beckoned for her visitors to come closer. ‘Don’t tell my father, but we’re going to have a baby.’

‘Oh, when is it due?’ Robbie asked.

‘Any day now.’

‘Well I’m pleased for you.’

Prudence counted out the chains. ‘One, two, three.’ However she seemed oblivious now to anything happening around her.

‘We’re going now, Prudence. Goodbye.’ There was no reaction from the patient. Robbie looked questioningly at the porter.

‘Don’t worry about Pru, she’ll be all right. She’s had electric shock treatment and it takes their memory away for a while but it’ll come back eventually.’

Robbie frowned, concerned. ‘Isn’t that painful?’

‘No, I don’t think they feel anything.’

Tom wondered how he could know that if he had
never
had the treatment himself. The porter went off to help another patient.

‘Come on Robbie, let’s go.’ Tom led Robbie from the room. They encountered the porter again on the way out.

‘Look after her, Maurice, won’t you,’ Robbie said.

‘Oh, don’t worry about Prudence; she’s happy enough up there in the clouds, so long as she’s a wedding to plan.’