Selina had harboured a few doubts about the young woman at first. But Nancy had been an attentive nanny so far, it could not be denied, and on her return from Porthcurno she’d heard nothing but good reports from Mrs Hawley about her cousin’s hard work and sweet, bubbly nature.
Worried, she gently pushed the door wide to Nancy’s room, peering inside. ‘Hello? Can I help?’
But it was not a child being sick. To her shock, Nancy herself was kneeling on the floor, the new maid crouched beside her, holding out a bucket.
Nancy vomited once more, then turned an ashen face in her direction, her eyes wide with fright. ‘Oh,’ she groaned unhappily, ‘Cousin Selly … I’m so sorry.’
‘Sorry?’ Selina came inside, swiftly closing the door so thechildren would not hear them. ‘What is there to be sorry about? If you’re unwell, that’s hardly your fault …’ Then she gasped. Nancy had straightened to accept a damp facecloth from the helpful maid, and her thin nightdress was straining in a tell-tale manner across a gently rounded belly. ‘Good God …!’ Restraining herself, she dismissed the maid with a word of thanks, asking her to take the bucket with her, and waited until the girl had scurried away before saying with difficulty, ‘Nancy, forgive me, but … Please tell me you’re notpregnant?’
Nancy sat heavily on the edge of the bed, hugging herself. ‘Not much point trying to deny it, is there?’ she muttered.
Selina exhaled slowly. ‘I see. And the child’s father? Are you and he going to be married?’
Nancy shook her head miserably. ‘I told him about the baby, and he … he said it was my problem. That I should either try to get rid of it or give it up for adoption.’
Horrified, Selina exclaimed, ‘What a beast … Then he must be made to marry you, that’s all there is for it.’
‘He won’t do it. He’s gone overseas with the navy. Says he may never come home.’ Nancy blenched, holding her belly as though feeling queasy again.
‘Then we must write to his commanding officer. I’ll do it if you don’t want to. As your cousin and employer, I can insist that he returns home and—’
‘I don’t even know his surname,’ Nancy blurted out.
‘Oh Lord.’ Selina closed her eyes, feeling a little queasy herself. But after a moment’s thought, she said crisply, ‘Well, I’d better have the whole story. But not now. You can get the children up as usual and leave them with their tutor after breakfast. Then you and I will go for a walk,’ she addedwarily, ‘away from prying eyes and ears. The fewer people who know about this, the better.’ She hesitated. ‘Does the maid know you’re pregnant or does she simply think you’re sick?’
‘Peggy knows,’ Nancy admitted unhappily. ‘She caught me throwing up last week and knew at once. Her sister’s expecting a baby too, so she knows the symptoms.’
Selina wanted to scream. A scandal was the last thing she needed. But perhaps the maid would be discreet enough to keep her mouth shut. ‘I’d better have a word with Peggy myself, make sure she doesn’t talk out of turn. Meanwhile, you should get dressed. Unless you’re too unwell to deal with the children today?’
Nancy shook her head, not meeting her gaze. ‘I … I’ll be fine now. The sickness is only when I first get up.’
Although not feeling terribly sympathetic, Selina gave Nancy a hug. She might have behaved foolishly, even recklessly, but she was still her cousin-in-law. ‘Never mind,’ she said, aware that the young woman must be feeling scared and in need of comforting right now rather than disapproval. ‘You’ve got yourself into a pickle here, but we’ll try to find a way through together.’
Once the children were safely installed in the schoolroom with their tutor, and she and Nancy had breakfasted, Selina pulled on her wellington boots and coat and collected a wicker basket from the porch. ‘We’ll walk the dogs and gather any wood we see for kindling,’ she told Nancy, and whistled for the dogs, who came running.
They crunched across the snowy lawn and into the woodland that adjoined the grounds, the dogs runningeagerly ahead. Selina, who hoped to drive into town later, studied the skies with concern. But it was barely snowing now, and Mr Underhill, the groundsman, had cleared the drive all the way to the main road, where she could hear an occasional vehicle passing by.
‘Now nobody can overhear us, perhaps you could tell me about this young man.’ Selina stooped for a few twigs that would make useful kindling once dried, shaking off the snow before nestling them into her basket. ‘I take it you didn’t know him very long, given that you don’t even know his surname.’ She tried not to sound unsympathetic, understanding only too well how quickly one could fancy oneself in love. ‘How did you two meet?’
‘At a dance,’ Nancy admitted. ‘Reginald was rather dashing in his uniform. Tall, dark, handsome, and ever so charming.’ Her smile faltered. ‘I had no idea what kind of man he was deep down. I believed what I saw. You must think me a complete idiot.’
Selina shook her head. She had blindly adored Johnny, her own soldier beau who’d made a girl pregnant while serving in France and broken off their engagement to marry her. Although she’d tried hard to put that betrayal behind her, she suspected it might never be possible.
‘No, it usually takes a while to know someone well enough to judge their character. This sounds more like a whirlwind romance. Besides, men feel things differently to us.’ She bent to collect another snow-covered twig. ‘We may fancy ourselves in love, and imagine it to be reciprocated too, while a man’s only saying what he thinks we want to hear.’ She saw Nancy blench and could have kicked herself. ‘Sorry, that’s probably not helpful.’
‘No, you’re right. Reggie was so warm and friendly; I fell head over heels in no time. He took me to the pub once, and to the cinema a few times. But looking back, he couldn’t have meant all those sweet things he said, could he? He only wanted one thing, and afterwards …’ Nancy blushed, pushing gloved hands into her coat pocket. ‘P-Please don’t think b-badly of me,’ she stuttered, ‘but Reggie came to the house one night when my parents were asleep and threw a stone up at my window. I let him in through the back door, just to see what he wanted. We started kissing and … Well, one thing led to another.’
Embarrassed by this candid revelation, Selina looked away. Carefully, she tugged a fallen branch free of the undergrowth. ‘And after that?’
‘I saw him about town, but he always said he was too busy to stop and talk. I didn’t know what to think. Then I heard he was dating another girl.’ Nancy’s voice choked with tears. ‘I confronted him and he told me it was all over between us. I was almost glad at first, because I knew I’d been a fool, falling for his smooth talk. But then …’ She closed her eyes.
‘Then you discovered you were pregnant.’
‘Yes,’ Nancy said in a small voice. ‘It was awful. He’d been officially demobbed by then, but had joined the Royal Navy instead – he wanted to see the world, he claimed – and was set to go overseas. So I knew I had to be quick. I didn’t know who his parents were or where he’d been living, but I saw one of his friends in the street and told him I needed to speak to Reginald urgently. He came to the house the next day, but only when my parents weren’t there. I think he was afraid my father knew about us and would punch him.’
Selina looked at her sympathetically, hearing the hurt inher voice. ‘And what did Reginald say when you told him you were expecting?’
‘He called me a little idiot. He was so angry.’ Nancy wiped away another tear. ‘He said he wasn’t the m-marrying kind, and didn’t care about being a father. Well, you know the rest … Reggie left town that week and I’ve not seen or heard from him since.’
