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Authors: Yelena Kopylova
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should
happen, had pleased him more than if he had come up in a straightforward way and said that Elly was
going to have a baby; and it proved one thing conclusively to him: his father didn’t like her any more than
those in the kitchen did, or those in the cottage.
“Well, I’ve got to go,” he said.
“Oh, and by the way, I’d almost forgotten to tell you, the London visit has borne fruit at last: we got an
order this morning for a thousand cases, a third of them with fancy beading.”
“Good! Good!”
“Be seeing you.”
“Be seeing you, lad.”
As Joe reached the door, Mike twisted around in his chair and said softly, “I think I’d better have a
thicker carpet put in here’ he motioned towards the floor ‘against the day when she finds out you’ve
done it on her.”
Joe’s only answer to this was a jerk of the chin, and as he went down the stairs and made for his wife’s
sitting-room again, he was thinking it would take more than a carpet to smother her
reactions if his
trickery were to work out as he hoped it would.
But Elaine did not even raise her voice when she discovered she was pregnant; she was too shocked
and dumbfounded, and at first she would not accept the evidence her body was presenting to her. Her
monthly cycle had always been irregular but it had never caused her distress, being
merely an
inconvenience.
Her first bout of morning sickness took place on a Sunday, and she put it down to the roast duck she’d
eaten at the dinner-dance in Newcastle the previous evening. This, together with a
number of cocktails,
must, she thought, be the cause of the upset. She lay in bed until noon, and Joe sat by her side for quite
some time holding her hand and stroking her damp forehead while she talked
intermittently about the
future, the near future, the autumn.
Couldn’t they go up to town and spend a few weeks with her Uncle Turnbull? He’d be so glad to have
them because they would be like paying guests. It was very embarrassing for her uncle to be reduced to
that state, but there it was, he couldn’t afford to entertain any other way now. There was so much on in
town in the autumn and if they could get Cousin Kathryn up out of the depths of the
country, her name
was a key that fitted so 7i many doors they would be invited to all kinds of functions. She placed her
fingers around his bony wrist as she ended this statement:
“You could be gay, you know, Joe, if you’d only let yourself go. Why, last night at the table you had
everyone rocking. You were very witty. Do you know that? Not just humorous, but really witty.”
“Was I?” His reply sounded inane.
“I didn’t know there was any difference.”
She slapped his arm.
“Don’t be silly,” she said.
“But what about it, going up to town, I mean?”
“We’ll see.” When he rose from the bed she pulled herself upwards against the pillows and coaxed
further: “Joe! Joe, I want an answer.”
“And you want it to be yes?”
“Please.”
“I’m ... I’m sorry, Elly; it’s no good making a promise that I might have to break. I’ve got a business to
see to, and things are precarious; you know they are. Our men are being subjected to all kinds of insults,
and assaults too. I’ve told you about the ugly scenes in the town, all because they didn’t come out in
sympathy in the beginning. They’ve forgotten that some of the men gave up a day’s pay to them for
weeks.”
“But you’ve got a manager and staff to see to things.”
“Yes, they’re all very well in their place, but it’s my responsibility, and I must be here.”
“And I must be here too?” Now she was sitting bolt upright in the bed, and she tossed her head so
sharply that her cap of short, shining hair seemed to spring away from her scalp for a moment.
“I’m fed up,” she said.
“Do you hear me? I’m fed up! I haven’t a soul to talk to.”
“Don’t be silly.”
“Don’t tell me I’m silly. You tell
happen, had pleased him more than if he had come up in a straightforward way and said that Elly was
going to have a baby; and it proved one thing conclusively to him: his father didn’t like her any more than
those in the kitchen did, or those in the cottage.
“Well, I’ve got to go,” he said.
“Oh, and by the way, I’d almost forgotten to tell you, the London visit has borne fruit at last: we got an
order this morning for a thousand cases, a third of them with fancy beading.”
“Good! Good!”
“Be seeing you.”
“Be seeing you, lad.”
As Joe reached the door, Mike twisted around in his chair and said softly, “I think I’d better have a
thicker carpet put in here’ he motioned towards the floor ‘against the day when she finds out you’ve
done it on her.”
Joe’s only answer to this was a jerk of the chin, and as he went down the stairs and made for his wife’s
sitting-room again, he was thinking it would take more than a carpet to smother her
reactions if his
trickery were to work out as he hoped it would.
But Elaine did not even raise her voice when she discovered she was pregnant; she was too shocked
and dumbfounded, and at first she would not accept the evidence her body was presenting to her. Her
monthly cycle had always been irregular but it had never caused her distress, being
merely an
inconvenience.
Her first bout of morning sickness took place on a Sunday, and she put it down to the roast duck she’d
eaten at the dinner-dance in Newcastle the previous evening. This, together with a
number of cocktails,
must, she thought, be the cause of the upset. She lay in bed until noon, and Joe sat by her side for quite
some time holding her hand and stroking her damp forehead while she talked
intermittently about the
future, the near future, the autumn.
Couldn’t they go up to town and spend a few weeks with her Uncle Turnbull? He’d be so glad to have
them because they would be like paying guests. It was very embarrassing for her uncle to be reduced to
that state, but there it was, he couldn’t afford to entertain any other way now. There was so much on in
town in the autumn and if they could get Cousin Kathryn up out of the depths of the
country, her name
was a key that fitted so 7i many doors they would be invited to all kinds of functions. She placed her
fingers around his bony wrist as she ended this statement:
“You could be gay, you know, Joe, if you’d only let yourself go. Why, last night at the table you had
everyone rocking. You were very witty. Do you know that? Not just humorous, but really witty.”
“Was I?” His reply sounded inane.
“I didn’t know there was any difference.”
She slapped his arm.
“Don’t be silly,” she said.
“But what about it, going up to town, I mean?”
“We’ll see.” When he rose from the bed she pulled herself upwards against the pillows and coaxed
further: “Joe! Joe, I want an answer.”
“And you want it to be yes?”
“Please.”
“I’m ... I’m sorry, Elly; it’s no good making a promise that I might have to break. I’ve got a business to
see to, and things are precarious; you know they are. Our men are being subjected to all kinds of insults,
and assaults too. I’ve told you about the ugly scenes in the town, all because they didn’t come out in
sympathy in the beginning. They’ve forgotten that some of the men gave up a day’s pay to them for
weeks.”
“But you’ve got a manager and staff to see to things.”
“Yes, they’re all very well in their place, but it’s my responsibility, and I must be here.”
“And I must be here too?” Now she was sitting bolt upright in the bed, and she tossed her head so
sharply that her cap of short, shining hair seemed to spring away from her scalp for a moment.
“I’m fed up,” she said.
“Do you hear me? I’m fed up! I haven’t a soul to talk to.”
“Don’t be silly.”
“Don’t tell me I’m silly. You tell
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