‘Libertatem per Lectio’
Bulletin No. 20
SSL. A situation of the utmost delicacy has arisen. Can anyone give Dorotha’s sister Adela a home from May onwards? I can’t explain on paper; suffice to say I would not ask if it were not something of an emergency. Adela needs a nurturing home, love and discretion. As always, I look to you, my librarian sisters, for your compassion.
Joyce
PS I wish you aHappyNew Year.
It was seven p.m. on New Year’s Eve, but Joyce didn’t have the heart to celebrate. Since Adela’s confession when they’d got back from that hellish school in Canning Town the previous evening, her emotions had vacillated between practicality and panic.
A baby... how had Joyce not spotted it before now? But looking at Adela, nursing a cup of cocoa on her bunk, she realised how well concealed her bump was in the baggy siren suit that she wore constantly. It was little wonder she’d missed it, what with everything else going on too.
They sat with their backs to the track, talking in whispers. Fortunately, most of the underground community was watching a singer perform on the westbound track in a New Year’s Eve concert that Dore had arranged, so they had some relative peace and quiet.
Joyce pressed gently, asking only the most essential questions. She got the distinct feeling that if she showed the slightest judgement, Adela would bolt. She may have been an old head on young shoulders, but she was still only seventeen and about to face the worst situation a young unmarried woman could find herself in.
‘When?’
‘I don’t know, but I’m guessing April or May.’
The same time the travelling library was due to close.
‘I’m so sorry you felt you couldn’t tell me before.’
‘For a long time, I wasn’t certain, and then I buried my head in the sand, as you say.’
Adela stared through the steam from her cocoa, her beautiful blue eyes huge and haunted. ‘What am I to do?’
Joyce breathed out slowly. ‘We’ll work it out, don’t worry.’
A sudden thought occurred to Adela.
‘The authorities,’ she panicked. ‘Will they deport me back to Poland if they find out?’
Joyce set down her cup and held her hands tight. ‘No, of course not. It’s not a criminal offence to have a baby out of wedlock.’
Adela squeezed her eyes shut.
‘But it is a stain I will never wash off.’ Her voice started to shake. ‘I can’t keep this baby, I can’t.’
Joyce wanted to argue with her, suggest perhaps that there was a way, but honestly, she just couldn’t imagine a world in which that would be tolerated.
‘I’ll write to the Secret Society, see if perhaps one of them can offer you sanctuary and a connection to a mother-and-baby home. You can have the baby, give it up for adoption, then recover with one of the girls before coming back here...’
‘As if nothing ever happened,’ she replied, her tears flowing faster.
‘Forgive me,’ Joyce said. ‘I was just trying to be practical.’ She touched Adela’s cheek. ‘I know your life will forever be changed by this. I promise to be here for you throughout, like you’ve been here for me.’
Adela shook her head. ‘You don’t have to, Joyce. You’ll be tainted by association if anyone finds out.’
Joyce smiled sadly. ‘Oh, Adela. I’m not going anywhere.’
Her smile was so sad, Joyce’s heart splintered. ‘Thank you. Can you please promise me one thing?’
‘Anything.’
‘You’ll never speak of this to Dorotha. If, please God, we’re reunited, you must never tell her about this.’
