The Liverpool Nightingales, page 31
That’s when she saw a face at the back of the church that she hadn’t expected to see. She had to hold back a gasp. How did she get in? thought Alice, looking straight at Nancy Sellers, another nurse from their group of probationers, but no friend of hers and definitely not a friend of Maud’s. Nancy had set herself against Maud right from the start and, not only that, she had tried her best to steal Harry away as well. What was she doing here, today of all days? There was absolutely no way that she would have been invited.
Alice looked directly at Nancy and she could see a small smile on her face as she sat alone in the pew, wearing a neat blue gown that perfectly matched the colour of her eyes. She knew that Nancy could see her, but it never so much as registered on her face. She just sat, looking straight ahead, her eyes bright and almost boring into the backs of Maud and Harry as they stood at the altar. Any minute now they’ll be coming down the aisle, thought Alice, turning back to scrutinize the bride and groom to make sure that neither of them had seen the unwelcome visitor. When she looked to the back of the church again, Nancy had gone, as quietly as she had entered. Alice was left wondering if she’d really been there at all or if she’d imagined the whole thing.
Slightly out of breath, Alice slipped back into the pew, just in time to see the bride and groom kiss before they turned to face the congregation. Maud looked radiant and Alice had to admit that her new husband was a very handsome man indeed. She knew from the times he had visited Stella’s place with Maud that he was very charming too, but there was always a restlessness about Harry that gave Alice an unsettled feeling. It made her worry for her friend.
But there Maud was, married now, and as she stood with Harry, in front of the altar, the pale grey of her gown setting off the dark of her hair, Alice couldn’t help but smile. Maud was looking straight at her and Eddy and they were all smiling.
As the couple started to walk down the aisle, Eddy, who could never do anything quietly, whispered loudly, she ‘She looks so beautiful, shame he didn’t get a new jacket though, he always wears that old, green thing.’
‘Shhh,’ said Alice instinctively, knowing, as always, that Eddy never meant any harm, but she didn’t want Maud to hear.
And then the wedding party were standing up and rustling around as they made their way out of the pews. The bride and groom had been directed to a table at the back of the church to sign the register, and so the wedding guests had a few minutes longer outside the church waiting for them to reappear.
Alice could feel the excitement of the small group. ‘Hurrah!’ they all shouted the moment Maud and Harry emerged from the church. Miss Fairchild squealed with delight as she and Alfred threw handful after handful of rice.
Seeing how pleased and elegant Maud looked, she even had a white silk flower in her hair, Alice couldn’t help but feel happy for her.
Moving the baby back up on to her shoulder, still rocking side to side, Alice couldn’t help but wonder what was going to happen now, for her and Victoria. She still couldn’t believe that only last year she’d stepped off a train with her bag packed for a new life as a trainee nurse, feeling such a buzz of excitement and unaware at the time that there was a baby growing inside of her. After just one night with Jamie. One night. How could that happen? Well, she knew, of course, how it could happen: she’d quite enjoyed the happening. But it was so unfair. And she’d never heard a word from Jamie. Not that she’d expected it – for both of them, it had been just one night: a way of saying goodbye. She had been sad to see him go, of course she had, but that sadness was outweighed by the excitement of leaving home herself and coming to Liverpool.
But that one night had changed everything for Alice. In a space of weeks, she’d realized that she was expecting a child and she’d gone from being an excited nurse probationer to someone fearful of being found out and needing to hide her growing belly. Knowing, for sure, that she wouldn’t be able to finish the work that she’d only just begun.
THE BEGINNING
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PENGUIN BOOKS
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First published 2019
Copyright © Kate Eastham, 2019
Cover photos © Colin Thomas and © AKG Images
The moral right of the author has been asserted
ISBN: 978-1-405-93661-3
Kate Eastham, The Liverpool Nightingales
