Chapter Fifteen #2
Having reached the long ride of oak and beech trees that marked the boundary of her late sister’s large estate, they stopped walking. The dogs played in the undergrowth nearby, sniffing and rustling about in the snowy bushes, no doubt catching the scent of a rabbit.
‘Please don’t cry. Honestly, he’s not worth it.
’ Yet Selina’s protest was half-hearted.
She herself had cried for weeks over Johnny’s betrayal, and later shed tears of pure fury over her neighbour Cameron Bourne when she discovered that he too had been playing her for a fool.
Sometimes it was better to get the grief out and not let it fester.
Selina gave Nancy a quick hug, seeing how cold and pale she had become.
‘What I don’t understand,’ she added with a frown, ‘is why you came here, asking for work as a nanny. By your own admission, you already knew by then that you were pregnant.’
Nancy’s weeping intensified. ‘It … It wasn’t my idea,’ she sobbed, burying her face in her hands.
‘Here, take my hanky. It’s clean.’ Selina was perplexed. ‘But whose idea was it, then?’
‘I was so scared, I tried to pretend it wasn’t happening at first. But when my clothes started to get tight, I knew it couldn’t be long before people started to guess. So I told my parents.’
‘I take it they weren’t particularly supportive?’
Nancy sniffed into the hanky. ‘They threw me out.’
Even though she had half suspected this, Selina was still shocked to hear it confirmed. ‘My goodness. In your condition?’
‘My father was furious,’ Nancy said, barely coherent.
‘He called me horrid names … Told me to pack a bag and never come back. Behind his back, my mother gave me money for the train and suggested I should come here. She urged me to be honest with you about the baby and pray you’d take me in, since Sebastian and I were cousins. ’
Selina felt a flurry of frustration. ‘I wish you had been honest.’
‘I know it was wrong to lie to you, but I was so frightened.’ Nancy raised a tear-stained face, her eyes fixed on Selina’s. ‘Please say you won’t throw me out … I’ve nowhere else to go.’
Faced with that pleading look, Selina knew she had no choice.
Besides, her real fury lay with Nancy’s parents, who had thrown their pregnant daughter out into the streets with nothing but a suitcase of clothes and the train fare to Bodmin.
‘Of course I won’t turn you away. You made a very silly mistake.
But it isn’t the end of the world.’ She was thinking hard, still unsure how to deal with the situation.
‘I mean, it’s a bit tricky. I’m not sure what we should tell people once you begin to show, or even if Thornton Hall is the best place for you to have a baby.
’ At Nancy’s apprehensive look, she shook her head.
‘But clearly you must stay here for the time being. So please don’t worry. ’
‘Oh, thank you so much. And I can still look after the girls,’ Nancy insisted, her face brightening. ‘Nobody need know the truth yet. I’ve been wearing my baggiest clothes, trying to hide my tummy. Though I know that won’t work forever.’
‘No,’ Selina agreed. ‘But I see no reason why you shouldn’t keep working for the time being.
Peter doesn’t need a nanny, of course. But the girls have grown very fond of you.
’ She stamped her feet; they were turning to blocks of ice, despite her boots.
‘Shall we walk back to the house? I don’t think there’s much more wood out here for the gathering,’ she said, picking up the basket.
‘This will have to do for kindling. But there are plenty of logs up at the house. And surely this cold weather must ease off soon, don’t you think? ’
Nancy agreed with a happier smile, and they walked briskly back to the house, the dogs bounding around them, tails wagging.
She had spoken optimistically, trying to keep her cousin’s spirits up, but, in truth, Selina was not at all comfortable with the situation.
She now had a young unmarried woman in the house who was expecting a child, and while she wasn’t particularly bothered that Nancy had behaved recklessly with this young man, she knew most of their neighbours would think otherwise.
With the help of important local figures like the doctor and William MacGregor, she had worked hard to be accepted as part of this tight-knit community after her sister’s tragic death.
But this unexpected pregnancy was likely to cause one hell of a stink.
The longer she could keep Nancy’s condition quiet, the better. But she would need to take William MacGregor into her confidence, at least. He managed the estate and had a right to know.
As soon as Selina had parked her car in a snowy side street in Bodmin town centre, Peter jumped out of the passenger seat, buttoned up his overcoat and said brusquely, ‘Thanks for the lift into town, Aunt Selly. I’ll meet you back here later.’
Selina stared at her nephew, bemused. ‘I thought you were coming to lunch with me and Mr MacGregor.’
‘Sorry, not hungry.’ Peter turned up the collar of his coat, looking up and down the street. ‘Will you be long?’
‘About an hour,’ she said reluctantly. The boy had been behaving awkwardly since coming home from school, and William had agreed to discuss his behaviour today, man to man, in the hope of settling him down, since it was clear he would never confide in his aunt.
‘The thing is, Peter, I was rather hoping you and Mr MacGregor might have a chat—’
‘Later, maybe.’ Peter trudged away, hands in his pockets, leaving Selina frustrated.
William was waiting for her at a corner table. He stood up at her approach, looking surprised. ‘Hello, where’s Peter?’ The solicitor pulled out a chair for her and she sat down, feeling flustered.
Briefly, she explained what had happened. ‘I don’t know what to do about him,’ she admitted with a sigh. ‘He’s not rude as such. I just feel we can’t talk anymore.’
‘I wouldn’t worry too much. Boys his age can be difficult.’ His eyes twinkled at her as he summoned the waiter. ‘I’ll walk back with you after lunch and have a word with him if you like.’
‘Thank you.’
The restaurant was draughty, and the menu limited, many items crossed off due to food shortages.
But the off-ration food was as delicious as ever, and while they ate, they discussed how the household was coping with the constant blackouts and the possibility of installing a generator at the hall for emergency use.
Selina, tucking eagerly into her meal, could not help contrasting her life now with her days as a Land Girl in Porthcurno.
Then, they had gulped down sausages in gravy or rabbit stew for their main meals, with bread and butter pudding afterwards or tinned fruit with a dash of condensed cream.
Tasty enough after a long day’s work in the fields, but she couldn’t ever remember being presented with slivers of duck cooked with orange for her lunch.
Some days she felt like pinching herself.
But while these posh lunches with William were marvellous, they also served to remind her that she didn’t truly belong in this world.
It was only through caring for her late sister’s children that she was even living at Thornton Hall, and if the solicitor didn’t always insist on paying for these meals, she could not have afforded to walk through the door.
Such thoughts kept her feet firmly on the ground …
Guiltily, Selina recalled her other reason for lunching with William today. ‘There’s something else I need to discuss with you,’ she began, patting her mouth with a napkin. ‘It’s rather delicate, I’m afraid.’
William looked at her gravely. ‘Whatever it is, I hope I can help.’
Lowering her voice, Selina explained about Nancy and her unfortunate situation. William’s eyes widened, but he said nothing, merely listened in silence until she’d finished.
‘I wondered if you had any advice for me,’ she added, searching his face hopefully.
‘I’ve told Miss Furniss she can stay for now.
But it can’t be long until her condition becomes obvious, and I’m worried what people may say.
Not worried for myself,’ she added hurriedly, in case he misunderstood her concern, ‘but for the children. I don’t want them to hear any nasty gossip about their nanny.
Though if she stays until after the birth, I’ll have to explain her pregnancy to them … Peter might understand, but the girls?’
‘Well, quite,’ he agreed sombrely.
Selina bit her lip, wishing she could read his expression.
‘Do … Do you think I should have told Nancy to leave?’ she asked falteringly.
‘She did come to the hall under false pretences, and now she’s put us in the most dreadful fix.
Only I didn’t feel I had a choice. She’s not been well, poor girl, and she has nowhere else to go, and with all this snow … ’
He was shaking his head. ‘No, of course she must stay. You did the right thing.’
‘Oh, thank goodness.’ Selina sagged with relief. She would have hated to argue with him if he’d told her to send Nancy away. ‘So what now?’
‘I’m not sure. But at least nobody else knows yet. For now, I suggest you do nothing.’
She felt soothed by this common-sense advice, and agreed heartily, but her good mood didn’t last. Waiting for Peter beside the car after lunch, chatting to William, she turned at the sound of her name and saw her nearest neighbours on the moors, Helen and Cameron Bourne, crossing the road towards them.
The Bournes, brother and sister, were dressed alike, both wrapped up against the cold in funereal black.
Selina stiffened. She hadn’t forgiven Cameron for trying to worm his way into her affections after Bella’s death, perhaps thinking he could influence Peter’s financial decisions if he became the boy’s uncle.
And she disliked his sister too since discovering Helen and Peter’s father had once had a fling behind Bella’s back.
Both siblings had proved themselves untrustworthy, even treacherous, and she shuddered as they approached.
But since they were well known and respected in Bodmin, she kept a polite smile on her face.
‘Hello,’ she said coolly as they all shook hands. ‘The snow’s been bad on the moors, hasn’t it? How have you been coping?’
‘Oh, we’re used to the snow. I suppose you must find it difficult as a newcomer.’ With a dismissive smile, Helen glanced with sly interest at William. ‘You two been lunching together? How cosy.’
‘We meet regularly to discuss estate business,’ William told her brusquely, and it was clear he had little time for the Bournes either.
‘And there’s plenty to discuss, I hear,’ Cameron said, looking away as he adjusted his gloves.
‘Ah, there’s Peter …’ Her nephew, who’d just emerged from a bookshop along the street, waved cheerfully.
‘We heard about his expulsion, of course.’ Cameron lowered his voice.
‘The lad needs a firm hand. Something I daresay he hasn’t had since his father died. ’
Selina’s lips tightened. ‘We must go, I’m afraid. The girls will be waiting—’
‘But don’t they have a nanny now?’ Helen interrupted sweetly, her eyes alight with malice. ‘A cousin of theirs, I believe? And rather, erm, tubby.’ She laughed behind her hand. ‘Or she will be soon, from what I hear.’
Selina felt abruptly sick, her chest tight, and did not know what to say.
She barely registered William saying goodbye to the Bournes and then helping her into the passenger seat, saying, ‘Let me drive you home. You really shouldn’t have come out in this snowy weather, not as a new driver.
’ Looking surprised, Peter bounded into the back seat, and William set off back to Thornton Hall.
‘I’ll have a word with Peter another day,’ he muttered, glancing at her sideways.
‘You look done in. It’s the weather, I expect. ’
She agreed, her whole body cold and icy. But they both knew it wasn’t the weather that had left her standing numb and speechless in the street back there.
Selina had no idea who had spoken out of turn.
The maid, perhaps, or a visiting tradesman could have noticed Nancy’s growing waistline and drawn his own conclusions.
They might never find out. But if the Bournes knew about the pregnancy, then it was likely the whole town did too.
Helen and Cameron Bourne, eager for this opportunity to get back at her, would have made sure of that.
Nancy would soon find every face set against her in this Cornish backwater where unmarried mothers were still shocking and unacceptable. And the girls and Peter would suffer for it too as their family became the source of cruel local gossip.
Whatever was she going to do?