Settling the Account (62 page)

‘There, see?’ Maudie cast a triumphant look
at her mother. ‘Pa does like it. You should make one sometime,
instead of cooking the same old things all the time.’

Lizzie drew herself up to her full height.
‘I
think
,’ she said haughtily, ‘that I know how to cook
decent meals. I
think
I’ve fed a husband and seven children
properly for twenty years. You’d better tell me if I’m not cooking
you decent meals, Frank.’

‘Lizzie, you’re a wonderful cook,’ Frank
said, unsure whether the sinking feeling in his stomach was from
the unfamiliar food or the sense of impending conflict. ‘You know I
love your cooking. That’s how you hooked me in the first place, you
know.’ That brought a smug smile to Lizzie’s face, though Maudie’s
lips tightened a little.

Frank took the coward’s way out when the
meal was over, readily taking up Richard’s suggestion that the two
of them have a stroll in the garden while the women cleared away
the lunch things. Maudie had established a pretty border of flowers
in front of the verandah, though the heavier work of the garden was
left to a boy who came around once a week.

‘I suppose we’ll have to interfere if blood
flows,’ Richard remarked, casting a wary look towards the house.
‘It’s probably best to leave them to it otherwise.’

‘I think that’s for the best,’ said Frank.
‘We had a couple of cats like that once, snarling at each other all
the time. Beth used to be in tears over them. They sorted it out by
themselves in the end—they had a really good set to, then they
curled up together and went to sleep.’

‘I just hope it doesn’t come to blood
first.’

‘I shouldn’t think so,’ Frank said. ‘Maudie
looks well, doesn’t she?’

‘Oh, she’s in the peak of health. Of course,
she was such a healthy girl anyway, she’s taking pregnancy in her
stride. She certainly doesn’t need a doctor hovering over her and
checking on her progress all the time—she puts up with it very
graciously, though,’ Richard added with a fond smile. ‘A doctor
does have some extra privileges when he’s also the father.’

‘The first one’s really special,’ Frank
said, calling up pleasant memories of the time when they had first
suspected that Lizzie might be with child. ‘All kids are special,
of course, but the first time… well, you’ll see for yourself.’

‘I’m looking forward to it.’ Richard glanced
in the direction of the parlour, where they could now hear Lizzie
and Maudie setting out tea things. ‘I suppose we should go inside,’
he said reluctantly.

‘Wait until they call us. No sense joining
in till we have to.’

‘Good idea. Shall we sit out here, then?
I’ve had enough walking for now.’

They sat on the verandah, talking in low
voices while vaguely aware of the two women moving about in the
parlour. Maudie opened the parlour window, and the sound of the
women’s voices became clearer.

‘You’re having a rest of an afternoon like I
told you to, I hope,’ they heard Lizzie say.

‘Richard says it’s a good idea for me to
rest, so I have a lie-down every afternoon,’ Maudie answered.

‘Does he just? Well, I hope you’re getting
plenty of exercise. Rest is important, but you’ve got to get enough
exercise, too.’

‘I know that,’ Maudie said. ‘Anyway, Richard
takes me for a walk nearly every evening. We go for a walk along
the riverbank where there’s not too many people around.’

‘Of course I never had to worry about
whether I was getting enough exercise,’ said Lizzie. ‘I had that
much work to do when I was your age, looking after your father and
the house and all, I used to be worn out at the end of the day. I
even used to help your father with the milking before I was
carrying you. Not that I would have wanted it any other way. I
thought it was my duty to look after my husband.’

‘I look after Richard,’ Maudie said sharply.
‘Are you saying I don’t?’

‘It seems to me that you do what suits you.
You don’t scrub, do you?’

‘Neither do you,’ Maudie countered. ‘Maisie
and Beth do all the scrubbing. Anyway, I scrubbed enough floors for
you to do me one lifetime. I think it’s nice that Richard doesn’t
want me wearing myself out.’

‘My name is coming up a little more than I’d
choose,’ Richard murmured to Frank. ‘I do wish Maudie would leave
me out of these discussions.’

‘Humph!’ Lizzie snorted. ‘Richard spoils
you. Anyway, you just see that you get enough exercise. It makes
the whole business a lot easier when the time comes. And another
thing, every day you should—’

‘Oh, don’t go on, Ma,’ Maudie interrupted.
‘I don’t want to hear all that stuff. Richard’s told me all about
what I should and shouldn’t be doing, I don’t need you nagging at
me.’

‘I like that! I try to help you a bit, just
like any mother would, and I’m accused of nagging! I’m only
thinking of you, you know. I only want to be sure you have as easy
a time of it as you can. I’ve been through it all myself, so I know
what you need to be told.’

‘I don’t need to be told anything! Richard’s
explained it all to me.’

‘Oh dear,’ Richard said quietly.

‘Richard? What does Richard know about
having a baby? Correct me if I’m wrong, but I don’t
think
Richard’s a woman. I don’t
think
he’s ever had a baby.’

‘There’s no need to talk silly. Richard’s
delivered dozens and dozens of babies, he knows all about it.’

‘Your father’s delivered
hundreds
of
calves. It doesn’t make him a cow, does it?’

‘It makes him an expert, though,’ Maudie
answered smartly. ‘Cows don’t deliver one another’s calves, do
they?’

‘My wife has a quick mind, hasn’t she?’
Richard murmured to Frank.

‘Afraid so. She’s got a quick tongue, too,’
Frank agreed.

‘It’s not the same,’ Lizzie said. ‘I’m sure
Richard knows his work well enough, but it’s not the same as
bearing a child. There’s things only a woman can tell you.’

‘Richard says women forget what it was like
afterwards. And it’s so long since you finished having babies, you
must have just about forgotten everything.’

‘It’s not as long as all that,’ Lizzie said
indignantly.

‘Yes, it is! It’s years and years. Kate’ll
be starting school in a year. I bet you hardly remember anything
about it.’

‘Seven children, I’ve had! I think I know
something about the subject.’

‘But you’ve finished having them. You’ve
forgotten.’

‘Forgotten, indeed! At least I knew
something to forget in the first place! The cheek of it, a green
girl like you speaking as if you know the least thing about bearing
a child.’

‘But I do,’ Maudie insisted. ‘Don’t you ever
listen to anyone? Richard’s told me all about it. He even showed me
in a book.’

‘A book!’ Lizzie said, disbelief in her
voice. ‘What’s a book got to do with it?’

‘Oh, it’s a lovely book—it’s got pictures of
babies inside their mothers and how they get out and all sort of
things. Richard explains things really well. He told me I probably
know more about it than you do now.’

Richard looked pained. ‘I didn’t say it
quite like that,’ he murmured. ‘And I certainly didn’t expect to
have it repeated against me.’

‘Oh, he did, did he? You can tell Richard he
can keep his opinions to himself, thank you very much.’

‘Don’t worry,’ Frank whispered, seeing the
younger man wince at Lizzie’s fierce tone. ‘Lizzie’s got a soft
spot for you, she won’t hold it against you for long.’

‘I sincerely hope not,’ Richard whispered
back.

Maudie obviously knew she had the advantage.
She pressed it home ruthlessly. ‘It’s such a good book, Ma.’ The
challenge in her voice was clear from where the men sat. ‘Richard
would probably lend it to you if you wanted to find out about
babies. Shall I ask him if you can read it?’

The silence that fell in the parlour was
like the pause between lightning and thunder. Richard closed his
eyes for a moment as though in pain, then turned to Frank. ‘Maudie
has gone too far,’ he pronounced, and Frank could only agree.

They waited for the explosion, but Lizzie
said nothing to Maudie. Instead she appeared on the verandah a few
moments later, wearing her coat and with Frank’s jacket over her
arm.

‘Put your jacket on, Frank,’ she said,
thrusting it at him. ‘We’re going home.’

‘Aren’t you staying for a cup of tea?’
Maudie’s voice came through the window. ‘I’ve made a chocolate
cake.’

Lizzie did not answer her daughter. She
turned to Richard and gave him a long, cold stare. ‘There are some
things, Richard, that can’t be learned from books.’

‘Oh, I’m very aware of that, Lizzie,’
Richard said. ‘Maudie,’ he called towards the window. ‘Come out
here, please.’

There was a moment’s silence. ‘No,’ Maudie
said, her voice clear though quiet.

‘Maudie,’ Richard called again in a sterner
tone, but got no answer. ‘I’m sorry, she’s a little overwrought
today,’ he said. ‘I think perhaps she should lie down for a
while.’

‘I know what that girl needs,’ Lizzie said
grimly. ‘And it’s
not
a lie-down.’

Lizzie was still bristling with indignation
as Frank drove her home, thinking somewhat regretfully about the
chocolate cake as the buggy bounced along.

‘The cheek of it,’ Lizzie grumbled. ‘A slip
of a girl like her, talking to me like that. Show me books, will
she?’

‘Take no notice, Lizzie,’ Frank urged.
‘She’ll come round. Richard’ll have a talk to her.’

‘And talking to me as if I was an old woman!
Forgotten what it’s like to have a baby, indeed! Too old to have
one, she meant. I’m not even forty yet!’

‘Just a young thing, eh?’ Frank put the
reins in one hand and slipped his free arm around her. ‘Still my
little bride.’

Lizzie held herself rigid for a moment, then
softened against him and leaned on his shoulder. ‘I’m not old,’ she
said, the plea clear in her voice.

‘Of course you’re not. You’ve hardly changed
since the day we got married.’ Lizzie’s need for reassurance seemed
far more important than a strict regard for the truth. ‘Maudie’s
just showing off, that’s all. She’s full of herself because she’s
having this baby. She’ll grow out of it.’

‘The little madam,’ Lizzie muttered. ‘Too
old, am I? Thinks she knows it all, that one.’

Lizzie said no more about Maudie during the
rest of the day, but Frank saw a pensive expression on her face
from time to time. She was still rather quiet when they went to
bed.

Frank wondered what chance there was that
Richard could talk Maudie into apologising to her mother. Precious
little, he admitted to himself.

He put out the lamp and reached through the
darkness to draw Lizzie close, eager to cuddle away any lingering
distress. Lizzie moved towards him, pressing her body against
his.

Lizzie was usually obliging when the
calendar was on their side, but she was not normally an initiator.
Frank was startled to find his nightshirt being tugged upwards and
Lizzie’s naked legs (her nightdress seemed to have migrated up
towards her waist) busily entwining themselves around his. Her
mouth sought his and pressed down hard.

It was even more pleasant than it was
startling. Frank forgot that a few moments before he had felt
sleepy; his blood was up and he responded with a vigour that
gratified him as much as it surprised him. His only regret was that
it was over so quickly.

He rolled onto his back and pulled Lizzie
over to lay her head on his chest. He smiled in the darkness,
enjoying the warm languor that was creeping through his limbs.

A vague sense of unease seeped into his
awareness, bringing an unwelcome return to cold reality. ‘Lizzie?’
he said quietly.

‘Mmm?’

‘Was tonight a good sort of time? Did you
look at your calendar?’

‘It was a good time, all right.’ He did not
have to see her face to know there was a smug expression on it.

‘I thought you said the other night that it
wouldn’t be safe till next week. Didn’t you—’

‘Never mind about that, Frank.’

‘But didn’t you say we shouldn’t?’

‘Oh, I don’t know,’ Lizzie murmured. ‘I
don’t remember,’ she added unconvincingly. ‘You don’t want to worry
about all those dates. I don’t think I’m as regular as I was,
anyway—not like I used to be when I was younger. And what would it
matter if I did get with child? I’m not too old.’

Frank mulled over her remarks. ‘Let me get
that straight, Lizzie. You don’t remember if it’s the right time or
not—funny, really, you’ve always been good about the dates—you’re
not regular any more because you’re getting on a bit, and you’re
not too old to have a baby. Is that about the size of it?’

‘That’s right,’ Lizzie said, seemingly quite
unaware of any contradiction.

‘All right, then. Just as long as I’ve got
it straight.’ He felt his way towards her cheek, brushing away a
stray lock of hair before planting a kiss on the smooth flesh. ‘I
suppose one more baby wouldn’t hurt,’ he whispered in her ear.

‘Of course it wouldn’t.’

‘Just the one, though. Maudie’ll have more
babies after this one, you know. You can’t expect to keep up with
her.’

‘It’s nothing to do with Maudie,’ Lizzie
said. ‘I was thinking I might like another baby, anyway.’

‘First I’ve heard of it.’

He felt Lizzie’s hand slipping down his body
to where his nightshirt was still indecently high. ‘Waste of time,
Lizzie.’ He retrieved the errant hand, held it to his lips and
kissed it before disentangling himself from her to roll onto his
side. ‘Looks like you haven’t changed since you were my little
bride, but I’m not as young as I used to be.’ He reached out and
patted her bottom idly before settling himself for sleep. ‘Wait
till tomorrow, love,’ he murmured.