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Authors: Anne Bennett
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when she didn’t pick up in the early spring either, and was still listless and eating less than a bird, Brian and Norahwere all for calling out the doctor to her, though Gloria wouldn’t hear of it.
And then just a week away from her nineteenth birthday she went to her room even earlier than usual. Joe had watched her moving her dinner around her plate and fully understood her parents’ concern. He decided that he would seek her out at the first opportunity and try to get to the bottom of what was wrong with her. So engrossed was he that he didn’t notice that Gloria’s door was unlatched as he passed her room on the way to his own further down the corridor.
He’d hung his jacket over a chair and had removed his tie and loosened his top button when the knock came to the door and he was stunned on opening it to see Gloria there.
‘Are you all right, Miss Gloria?’
Gloria didn’t answer. Instead she said, ‘Can I come in?’
It was the last thing that Joe expected her to say, and he looked down the corridor to see if there was anyone about who might have overheard her, before replying, ‘I don’t think that’s a very good idea.’
‘I need to talk with you privately and I can’t think of any other place where we can do it,’ Gloria said. ‘Please let me in?’
Joe was in a quandary, but he couldn’t leave Gloria standing there and so he opened the door and she walked past him and sat on the bed. He sat on the dressing-table chair opposite her, and for a second or two they stared at one another.
Gloria looked terrible, Joe thought, and with his heart in his boots he asked tentatively, ‘Are you in trouble of some sort?’
Gloria shook her head. ‘No, it’s nothing like that,’ she said, and Joe let his breath out in a sigh of relief.
He was totally shocked when Gloria went on, ‘It’s just … Joe, what do you really think of me?’
‘What tomfool question is that?’ Joe got to his feet. ‘I really think it would be better to return to your own room now, Miss Gloria.’
‘Hear me out,’ Gloria pleaded. ‘Please sit back down, Joe, and let me finish.’
Joe sat down heavily, aware that the hairs on the back of his neck were prickling with apprehension and his palms felt clammy. He said almost gruffly, ‘Miss Gloria, why are you asking me this question?’
‘Because I need to know,’ Gloria said. ‘I don’t want you to think of whether it is right or wrong and whether it’s your place to say anything about it. I just want to hear what you really think of me from your own lips.’
Joe couldn’t trust himself to speak and eventually, when the silence had stretched out between them, Gloria went on, ‘All right then. I guess it is up to me to bare my soul.’
‘Please, Miss Gloria,’ Joe pleaded, ‘don’t say anything that you are going to regret.’
‘Will you shut up, Joe?’ Gloria retorted. ‘I must tell you. I think that I have fallen in love with you.’
Joe just stared at her. He felt as if he had been kicked in the stomach by a mule. He couldn’t believe what he had just heard. The words he never imagined would be said to him had been said, and by the young woman he loved with all his heart and soul. Yet he had to reply. ‘Miss Gloria, don’t be cross at what I am about to tell you. You are young still, and the young often get crushes on people. You will probably fall in love many times before you are ready to settle down.’
Gloria leaped off the bed and stamped her foot. ‘Don’t you dare patronise me, Joe Sullivan!’ she cried. ‘I have loved you all my life, since that day on the docks when you opened the carriage door and asked me if I was all right.’
‘Miss Gloria, you were a child then.’
‘I know that,’ Gloria snapped. ‘And then I loved you as a child, but that love has changed as I have grown. Now I love you like a woman, and for God’s sake will you stop calling me Miss Gloria?’
Joe just stared at her without a word and when the
And then just a week away from her nineteenth birthday she went to her room even earlier than usual. Joe had watched her moving her dinner around her plate and fully understood her parents’ concern. He decided that he would seek her out at the first opportunity and try to get to the bottom of what was wrong with her. So engrossed was he that he didn’t notice that Gloria’s door was unlatched as he passed her room on the way to his own further down the corridor.
He’d hung his jacket over a chair and had removed his tie and loosened his top button when the knock came to the door and he was stunned on opening it to see Gloria there.
‘Are you all right, Miss Gloria?’
Gloria didn’t answer. Instead she said, ‘Can I come in?’
It was the last thing that Joe expected her to say, and he looked down the corridor to see if there was anyone about who might have overheard her, before replying, ‘I don’t think that’s a very good idea.’
‘I need to talk with you privately and I can’t think of any other place where we can do it,’ Gloria said. ‘Please let me in?’
Joe was in a quandary, but he couldn’t leave Gloria standing there and so he opened the door and she walked past him and sat on the bed. He sat on the dressing-table chair opposite her, and for a second or two they stared at one another.
Gloria looked terrible, Joe thought, and with his heart in his boots he asked tentatively, ‘Are you in trouble of some sort?’
Gloria shook her head. ‘No, it’s nothing like that,’ she said, and Joe let his breath out in a sigh of relief.
He was totally shocked when Gloria went on, ‘It’s just … Joe, what do you really think of me?’
‘What tomfool question is that?’ Joe got to his feet. ‘I really think it would be better to return to your own room now, Miss Gloria.’
‘Hear me out,’ Gloria pleaded. ‘Please sit back down, Joe, and let me finish.’
Joe sat down heavily, aware that the hairs on the back of his neck were prickling with apprehension and his palms felt clammy. He said almost gruffly, ‘Miss Gloria, why are you asking me this question?’
‘Because I need to know,’ Gloria said. ‘I don’t want you to think of whether it is right or wrong and whether it’s your place to say anything about it. I just want to hear what you really think of me from your own lips.’
Joe couldn’t trust himself to speak and eventually, when the silence had stretched out between them, Gloria went on, ‘All right then. I guess it is up to me to bare my soul.’
‘Please, Miss Gloria,’ Joe pleaded, ‘don’t say anything that you are going to regret.’
‘Will you shut up, Joe?’ Gloria retorted. ‘I must tell you. I think that I have fallen in love with you.’
Joe just stared at her. He felt as if he had been kicked in the stomach by a mule. He couldn’t believe what he had just heard. The words he never imagined would be said to him had been said, and by the young woman he loved with all his heart and soul. Yet he had to reply. ‘Miss Gloria, don’t be cross at what I am about to tell you. You are young still, and the young often get crushes on people. You will probably fall in love many times before you are ready to settle down.’
Gloria leaped off the bed and stamped her foot. ‘Don’t you dare patronise me, Joe Sullivan!’ she cried. ‘I have loved you all my life, since that day on the docks when you opened the carriage door and asked me if I was all right.’
‘Miss Gloria, you were a child then.’
‘I know that,’ Gloria snapped. ‘And then I loved you as a child, but that love has changed as I have grown. Now I love you like a woman, and for God’s sake will you stop calling me Miss Gloria?’
Joe just stared at her without a word and when the
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