Read Online A Sudden Sun by Trudy Morgan-Cole - Free Book Online
Authors: Trudy Morgan-Cole
Ads: Link
poor boy—lost in France—I’m so sorry for your loss, my dears,” she finished, with a glance that swept from Grace to Grandfather, taking in Jack and Daisy along the way.
Once it had been commonplace for people to offer sympathy over Charley’s loss: it happened every time Grace spoke to someone in the year after his death. Now it had been a long time and she realized with a start that she had, not exactly forgotten Charley, but had stopped feeling his loss every day. It was as if Charley had been moved to a different room, the room full of dead people, and she no longer expected to hear his voice or step among the living. That realization struck her like a second loss.
At dinner, Mrs. Parker carried all before her on a wave of conversation, and Aunt Daisy, who loved talkative guests, rose to the challenge. They talked about the flu epidemic and the difficulties of men returning home from the conflict, which drew Jack into conversation. Jack was the sort of man with whom older ladies were always charmed, Grace had noticed, and Mrs. Parker engaged him in a discussion of the differences between the American veterans and the Newfoundlanders. Then she asked Grace about her volunteer work at the hospital. Mrs. Parker herself, it appeared, volunteered in some capacity with the Red Cross in New York, “but not, of course, the sort of work you do. Mrs. Hunt has told me so much about how you are right in there working with those poor wounded men, and all the rest. You’re like your mother in spirit, too—always going about doing good, as it says in the Good Book.”
“Oh well—there’s such a great need, you know,” Grace said. “I do the little things—change sheets, and bring dinner trays, and sometimes read to the men to keep their spirits up.” An image of Ivan Barry’s ruined face appeared in her mind; she felt small, as if she were using his suffering to make herself look brave and generous.“The doctors and nurses do all the real work, of course.”
“I’m surprised you didn’t train for a nurse yourself.”
“I thought of it, during the war, but …”
“But you’d have wanted to go overseas—so many girls did—and it would have been too hard on your parents—especially on your poor mother. Losing her boy overseas was bad enough. A mother is almost prepared to lose a son in war, but a daughter?”
Mrs. Parker steered the conversation in Grandfather’s direction next, asking what he thought of President Wilson’s idea of a League of Nations. She herself thought it was a grand plan, though she knew many people in New York who disagreed. Jack and Grace joined the discussion, leaving Daisy to talk with Mrs. Golding about mutual acquaintances, of which they fortunately had several.
In the parlour after supper Mrs. Parker positioned herself next to Grace on the small settee, and leaned in close. “You must come and see me while I’m here,” she said. “I’m in town for another month at least—well, of course how long depends on what happens with poor Father. I’ve cabled your mother and she sent back a message that it’s impossible to come this time of year. Is that true? There’s a railway line all the way out there now, isn’t there?”
“There is,” Grace said. Honesty, and perhaps a desire to tarnish Mrs. Parker’s warm memories of Lily, drove her to say, “It’s not impossible. But Mother doesn’t like to go anywhere much anymore.”
“How sad.” Mrs. Parker looked down at her own plump, pretty hands, playing with her fan. “I would go out to see her, but—dear Papa, you know. I must stay near him…. But I would so love to see your mother again. I feel she’s had a hard time. There’s no life without sorrow, is there? My own has been that I have no children alive—only two sweet angels in Heaven. Say you’ll come to see me while I’m in town, darling, even if your mother won’t.”
Grace said she would, indeed, come.
“I work with some very interesting people
Once it had been commonplace for people to offer sympathy over Charley’s loss: it happened every time Grace spoke to someone in the year after his death. Now it had been a long time and she realized with a start that she had, not exactly forgotten Charley, but had stopped feeling his loss every day. It was as if Charley had been moved to a different room, the room full of dead people, and she no longer expected to hear his voice or step among the living. That realization struck her like a second loss.
At dinner, Mrs. Parker carried all before her on a wave of conversation, and Aunt Daisy, who loved talkative guests, rose to the challenge. They talked about the flu epidemic and the difficulties of men returning home from the conflict, which drew Jack into conversation. Jack was the sort of man with whom older ladies were always charmed, Grace had noticed, and Mrs. Parker engaged him in a discussion of the differences between the American veterans and the Newfoundlanders. Then she asked Grace about her volunteer work at the hospital. Mrs. Parker herself, it appeared, volunteered in some capacity with the Red Cross in New York, “but not, of course, the sort of work you do. Mrs. Hunt has told me so much about how you are right in there working with those poor wounded men, and all the rest. You’re like your mother in spirit, too—always going about doing good, as it says in the Good Book.”
“Oh well—there’s such a great need, you know,” Grace said. “I do the little things—change sheets, and bring dinner trays, and sometimes read to the men to keep their spirits up.” An image of Ivan Barry’s ruined face appeared in her mind; she felt small, as if she were using his suffering to make herself look brave and generous.“The doctors and nurses do all the real work, of course.”
“I’m surprised you didn’t train for a nurse yourself.”
“I thought of it, during the war, but …”
“But you’d have wanted to go overseas—so many girls did—and it would have been too hard on your parents—especially on your poor mother. Losing her boy overseas was bad enough. A mother is almost prepared to lose a son in war, but a daughter?”
Mrs. Parker steered the conversation in Grandfather’s direction next, asking what he thought of President Wilson’s idea of a League of Nations. She herself thought it was a grand plan, though she knew many people in New York who disagreed. Jack and Grace joined the discussion, leaving Daisy to talk with Mrs. Golding about mutual acquaintances, of which they fortunately had several.
In the parlour after supper Mrs. Parker positioned herself next to Grace on the small settee, and leaned in close. “You must come and see me while I’m here,” she said. “I’m in town for another month at least—well, of course how long depends on what happens with poor Father. I’ve cabled your mother and she sent back a message that it’s impossible to come this time of year. Is that true? There’s a railway line all the way out there now, isn’t there?”
“There is,” Grace said. Honesty, and perhaps a desire to tarnish Mrs. Parker’s warm memories of Lily, drove her to say, “It’s not impossible. But Mother doesn’t like to go anywhere much anymore.”
“How sad.” Mrs. Parker looked down at her own plump, pretty hands, playing with her fan. “I would go out to see her, but—dear Papa, you know. I must stay near him…. But I would so love to see your mother again. I feel she’s had a hard time. There’s no life without sorrow, is there? My own has been that I have no children alive—only two sweet angels in Heaven. Say you’ll come to see me while I’m in town, darling, even if your mother won’t.”
Grace said she would, indeed, come.
“I work with some very interesting people
Similar Books
