Nightingales on Call (29 page)

‘That pad isn’t to save your knees, Nurse. You’re supposed to put it under the bucket to stop it making rings on the clean floor.’

Effie looked down at the pad, then at the bucket. Colour swept up from her starched collar, engulfing her whole face in burning scarlet. ‘Oh! I – I thought Sister was being kind, Nurse.’

Dora smiled. ‘Sister isn’t that kind, I’m afraid. Not to us nurses anyway.’ She caught sight of Effie’s helpless expression. The poor child looked as if she might cry. ‘Don’t get upset about it. It’s only your first day, you can’t be expected to get everything right,’ Dora said kindly.

‘But I’m not getting anything right!’

‘You’re doing better than I did on my first day, I assure you.’

Effie gave her a trembling smile. ‘Thanks, Nurse.’

After ward-cleaning was over and everything had been put away, it was time to serve lunch to the patients. The porters brought the food up to the ward on trolleys, and Sister Parry served it out for the nurses to take to the patients.

Dora was given the job of feeding Emily. As the child was refusing solid food, Sister instructed Dora to prepare some bread and sugar soaked in warm milk for her instead. Dora sat beside the bed, one arm under Emily’s pillow to prop her up, and encouraged her to take the mixture from the spoon she held to her lips.

‘Come on, love,’ she coaxed. ‘Just try a little bit. It’ll do you good.’

Emily didn’t resist Dora’s efforts, but she didn’t welcome them either. She lay in Dora’s arms like a doll, looking up at her with those great wide eyes. The vacant expression in them frightened Dora. Being sent back to the orphanage must have been hugely upsetting for her, Dora thought. It had sent her into some kind of deep shock, as if her spirit had somehow abandoned her body, leaving behind an empty shell.

‘I wish you could tell us what was wrong with you, love,’ Dora whispered. ‘Then we could make you better.’ But Emily didn’t respond.

After a great deal of encouragement, Dora finally managed to spoon half the bowl of bread and milk into the little girl’s unresisting mouth. She had expected Sister Parry to complain about her taking so much time, but she merely inspected the bowl, nodded and said, ‘That’s more than she managed yesterday. Very good, Doyle.’

‘Thank you, Sister.’ But just as Dora was glowing from the unexpected compliment, Sister added, ‘Now perhaps you’d like to explain what Archie Duggins is doing in a private patient’s room?’

Lucy was sent off duty at one, and told to return at five. She was changing out of her uniform at the nurses’ home when the maid knocked on the door and announced there was a telephone message for her, and could she call Mr Bird at her father’s office urgently?

Lucy’s heart jumped in her chest. It was all she could do to stay composed as she told the maid, ‘Thank you. I’ll be down in a moment.’

She forced herself to finish changing, but all the time her thoughts were racing. It had to be news at last. And surely it had to be good news, too? If it were very bad, Gordon would have come to the nurses’ home himself.

She risked a smile at her reflection as she smoothed her chestnut hair, carefully arranging the waves over her shoulders. It was good news, she knew it. Her father had returned, and he had managed to sort out all their problems, just as she had known he would. Now everything would be back to normal, and she wouldn’t have to worry herself to sleep any more.

Gordon Bird took a long time to come to the telephone. Lucy stood in the empty hall, tugging at her thumbnail between her teeth, listening to the echoing silence.

Finally, she heard his voice at the other end of the line. ‘Lucy?’

‘Uncle Gordon?’ Anxiety got the better of her. ‘Is it my father? Has he come home?’

‘I’m afraid not, my dear.’ Gordon’s voice sounded weary. ‘I’m sorry.’

Lucy swallowed down her disappointment. She had got used to the constant nagging feeling of anxiety ever since her father disappeared. But to have her hopes raised and dashed again was almost too much for her.

‘But I’m afraid something else has happened,’ Gordon went on. ‘Something very unfortunate, that I felt I should warn you about.’

Every muscle in her body tensed in instant terror. He was going to say her father’s body had been found, she knew it. It was the news she had been expecting ever since he went missing.

‘Yes?’ She could barely manage the word.

‘It’s about Leo Alderson. He knows your father has disappeared, and about the problem with the bank. He has the whole story, and he intends to print it.’

Lucy’s mouth went dry, remembering that night outside the nurses’ home. She might have known Leo wouldn’t stop digging until he’d uncovered everything. ‘Where did he get it from?’

There was a long silence. ‘He invited your mother out to tea,’ Gordon said heavily. ‘She told him everything. It wasn’t her fault,’ he added hastily. ‘Alderson caught her unawares. Clarissa thought it was an interview for the society pages. You know what your mother is like, she doesn’t always grasp the seriousness of a situation.’

‘Oh, I know what she’s like,’ Lucy said. She could just imagine Leo Alderson plying her mother with champagne, flattering her, making her feel as if she could confide her troubles in him.

Clarissa was already overcome with self-pity; all it would take were a few drinks and some sympathetic flattery from a handsome stranger, and she would be only too willing to pour out all her bitterness and resentment about her husband.

Oh, Mother, how could you be so stupid? Lucy thought.

‘What can we do?’ she asked her godfather.

‘There is nothing we can do, at the moment. I will instruct your father’s lawyers, prepare them for the worst. They may be able to issue a few veiled threats to the newspaper’s proprietors. But I’m afraid we must sit and wait, see what happens next.’ Her godfather sighed heavily. ‘I’m so sorry to be the bearer of bad news, my dear. But I thought you should know, just in case . . .’

‘Just in case our name is splashed all over the newspapers in the morning,’ Lucy finished for him.

Her mind was racing as she put the receiver down. Just when she thought the situation couldn’t get any worse, it did.

She didn’t blame her mother, not really. Lady Clarissa was simply no match for someone as clever and charming as Leo Alderson.

Lucy suddenly remembered the card Leo had given her. She had meant to throw it out, but for some reason she had kept it in her drawer. Now she was glad she had.

Sit and wait and see what happens
, Gordon Bird had advised.

‘I’m sorry, Uncle Gordon,’ Lucy murmured to herself. ‘I was never very good at waiting.’

LUCY MET LEO
in a pub in Fleet Street, the kind of ancient place where men in powdered wigs had once gathered to gossip. Today it was crowded with journalists in shabby suits and lawyers in pinstripes, clustered together around battered tables. Rows of dusty bottles lined the walls, and the air was filled with the sound of guffawing laughter and cigarette smoke.

It took her a moment to pick Leo out in the crowd. But he must have been watching out for her because he stood up and waved.

Lucy picked her way through the crowd towards the corner table where he stood waiting for her.

‘Well,’ he grinned. ‘This is an unexpected surprise, Miss Lane.’

‘You gave me your telephone number.’

‘Yes, but I didn’t expect you’d have the nerve to use it.’

He held out his hand in greeting. Lucy ignored it.

‘You’re the one with the nerve, Mr Alderson. What do you mean by harassing my mother?’

He looked so pleased with himself, Lucy wanted to slap him. ‘No harassment, I assure you. I merely extended an invitation to tea at the Ritz, which your mother graciously accepted.’

I’ll bet she did, Lucy thought. She could imagine how willing her mother would be to accept such an invitation. Such treats had been rare lately.

‘Lady Clarissa is a charming lady,’ Leo went on. ‘Very – forthcoming.’

‘And I’m sure you’re more than capable of winning women round!’ Lucy spat at him.

He gave her a maddening smile. ‘I don’t seem to have managed with you. Perhaps we could start again? Can I offer you a drink?’

‘No, thank you.’

‘At least sit down.’ He pulled out a chair for her. ‘Unless you want to draw attention to yourself in a public house full of journalists?’

Lucy plonked herself down reluctantly opposite him. ‘I won’t allow you to print that story,’ she said.

There it was again, that maddening smile of his. ‘I fail to see how you can stop me. Or do you plan to get your father to make it go away? I guess that’s what you usually do in times of crisis, isn’t it? Turn to Daddy. Except in this case you can’t get him to ride to your rescue because you don’t know where he is.’

It was the truth, but it still made her angry. ‘You know nothing about me or my family!’

‘Excuse me, but I think I do. As I said, your mother was most forthcoming.’

Lucy took a deep breath and launched into the speech she’d prepared. ‘Look, I don’t know what my mother told you, but she’s got it wrong,’ she said. ‘My mother is easily confused. She doesn’t understand my father’s business.’

‘She seemed to have a pretty fair grasp of the situation from what I could gather,’ Leo replied. ‘Unless you have some other information for me, Miss Lane? If you could tell me where I might find your father, for instance, I would happily not run the story and admit my mistake. Can you do that?’

She stared down at the worn wooden surface of the table. ‘No,’ she muttered.

‘I thought not. Now, are you sure I can’t get you that drink? You look as if you need one.’

As she watched him at the bar, his fair head towering above everyone else’s, Lucy wondered if she had started off on the wrong track. Leo was a man, after all. Perhaps she should have appealed to his sense of chivalry, rather than storming in and making demands?

She forced herself to smile charmingly at him when he returned with her drink.

He eyed her uneasily. ‘What’s that for?’ he asked, setting her glass of brandy down in front of her.

‘What?’

‘That smile.’ He tilted his head consideringly. ‘Oh, I get it. You’re turning on the charm, now.’ He smiled. ‘Novel though it might be to find out what you’re like when you’re trying to be nice, I have to warn you you’re not going to change my mind. I’m still running that story.’

Lucy glared at him. ‘You’re despicable.’

‘I’m just doing my job.’ He spread his hands.

‘You’re going to ruin our lives, purely so you can see your own name in print?’

‘Unless you can give me a good reason why I shouldn’t?’

Lucy gulped down her drink. The brandy burned a fiery trail down her throat but she hardly noticed. ‘If word gets out that my father is missing, we lose everything,’ she said simply.

Leo frowned. ‘I don’t understand?’

‘He borrowed heavily to fund this German deal. If the banks find he’s disappeared, they’ll foreclose. We’ll lose our home, all our money, probably the clothes we stand up in. My mother and I will be destitute.’ She looked at him. ‘I suppose my mother didn’t mention that part?’

It gave her a small sense of satisfaction to see Leo Alderson lost for words. He sank back in his seat, his blue eyes fixed on hers.

‘Are you serious?’

‘I’m hardly going to lie about it, am I?’ It was strangely liberating to tell the truth for once. Lucy felt a weight lift from her shoulders.

‘How could your father do something like that? I mean, risking his business is one thing, but gambling your home . . .’

‘I suppose he thought it would pay off.’ Lucy shrugged. ‘It always has in the past. He didn’t know the German government would step in and nationalise the factories, did he?’

Leo stared at her. ‘And still you defend him,’ he marvelled. ‘Even after he did this to you.’

‘He’s my father,’ Lucy said. ‘He’s given my mother and me everything we could ever want. He made a mistake, but he’s still a good man.’

‘So where is he now?’ Leo leaned forward, his hands flat on the table. ‘Why isn’t he here, taking care of you when you need him? I’m sorry, Lucy, but where I come from a good man would stay and protect his family, not put them in danger and then run off and abandon them to their fate.’

‘Shut up!’ She cut him off abruptly, her nerves strained to snapping point. ‘You don’t know what’s happened to him. None of us does. He might even be . . .’ She broke off. Even now, she couldn’t allow herself to say the word.

Leo was silent for a moment. ‘You think something might have happened to him?’ he said softly.

‘I can’t think of any other explanation.’ Lucy traced a sticky ring on the table with one finger. ‘My father would never abandon us. Truly, he’s not that kind of man.’ He was her hero, and she couldn’t allow herself to think badly of him, no matter what. ‘But he’s not used to losing either. I worry that perhaps his pride just couldn’t take it, and he – he decided to end it all instead.’

She drew in a deep, steadying breath. She wouldn’t allow herself to cry in front of Leo. That really would be too humiliating.

‘Hey, come on. You just said yourself, your father’s no quitter. He wouldn’t do something like that.’ Leo reached across and covered her hand with his. ‘He’ll show up, you’ll see.’

‘If he does, it will be too late.’ Lucy slid her hand out from under his. Leo Alderson was the last person she should be seeking comfort from.

She set her glass down on the table and stood up. ‘I should go,’ she said. ‘Thank you for seeing me, Mr Alderson. I’m sorry I took up so much of your time. I daresay you have a story to write.’

As she started to walk away, he suddenly said, ‘I won’t run it.’

Lucy stopped. ‘I beg your pardon?’

‘I’m not going to write the story. I can’t see you and your mother out on the street, no matter what a scoop it might be.’

Lucy stared at him warily. She couldn’t allow herself to feel relieved or grateful. Life had dealt her too many blows lately for her to let her guard down. ‘What changed your mind?’ she asked.

His eyes met hers. ‘I reckon you deserve a break, don’t you?’ he said. ‘Just promise me one thing. When your father comes home, I want to be the first to know about it.’