A New Dream - Maggie Ford (interesting novels to read TXT) 📗

As Julia sat down in the opposite chair to her mother’s, on the other side of the small fire, a strained silence fell on the room. This was going to be even harder than she had expected; her mother’s hostile attitude wasn’t helping.

‘It’s about Stephanie,’ she began carefully. ‘She’s downstairs at the moment. There’s something very important about her that you need to know but she can’t bring herself to tell you in person. I said I would speak to you for her.’

Her mother lowered her head, her lips a quivering pout. ‘I’m afraid Stephanie is not the girl I hoped she would be,’ she said, her voice shaky. ‘She cares for no one’s feelings, always gadding out to these awful dance places with their noisy jazz, kicking up her legs until all hours, tiring herself out. Heaven knows what they get up to, dresses almost above their knees. She spends all night sometimes with her idiotic friends instead of coming home. Like you, she pleases only herself.’

‘Mummy, she’s young,’ Julia excused. ‘It’s a different generation from yours and…’

‘This younger generation!’ her mother cut in. ‘Virginia and James are also the young generation but they don’t gad about like her. I can rely on them. They care for me. If it wasn’t for their thoughtfulness I’d be here all on my own for all you and your sister care. Your poor father…’

‘Mummy, listen to me,’ Julia interrupted. With her mother in this mood how was she going to explain Stephanie’s predicament? Victoria would probably go into hysterics or faint clean away. There was no other way but to tell her as gently as she could.

‘Mummy,’ she began, ‘Stephanie’s in an awful state. She came to me early this morning, crying.’ She ignored her mother’s startled exclamation and ploughed on. ‘She’s been seeing a young man for nearly a year now and…’

‘She’s said nothing to me about it. Who is he? I hope he has money enough to…’

‘I’m afraid he’s given her up,’ Julia began, but was again interrupted.

‘How typical! No more than I’d have expected of her. What has she done to have him give her up as you put it?’

There was nothing for it other than to come right out with it. However gently said the news was going to be shocking.

‘Mummy, Stephanie’s pregnant!’

There was a stunned silence before her mother said faintly, ‘What?’

‘She’s three months gone.’

On impulse Julia stood up and started to move towards Victoria to offer comfort but found herself pushed violently away as the woman was galvanized into action. There was no frantic weeping, no spasm of swooning or even hysterical screams. But the push was so strong that Julia almost lost her balance. Her mother was now on her feet and making for the bedroom Stephanie shared with Ginny now that Julia had moved in with Simon.

Hurrying after her, Julia found her scrabbling through Stephanie’s drawers, the floor already littered with some of her stuff.

‘What are you doing, Mummy?’

‘You can take all this away, all that belongs to her,’ was the angry reply. Without even turning round to look at Julia she went over to the dressing table to drag the contents from those drawers too, sweeping the surface clean of any make-up belonging to Stephanie. ‘She’s no daughter of mine. Take it away! Everything! She doesn’t live here any more.’

‘You can’t do that, Mummy. Where is she to go?’

Her mother was already moving to the wardrobe, dragging out skirts, dresses, blouses, jackets, coats, hats to be flung on the floor with the rest.

‘She can go wherever she likes – go and find the man who got her into that condition and appeal to his good nature, if he has any. Or she can live with you, the pair of you well matched. Take all you can to her now. The rest will be outside the door.’

So it was that she and a sobbing Stephanie gathered up armfuls of clothing, jars and bottles of make-up, perfume and toiletries, all strewn carelessly outside the door, to struggle down the stairs from their mother’s flat, up the other stairs and into the stockroom. Here they piled everything in one corner until a proper place could be found for it all.

It was arranged that for the time being Stephanie should sleep on the couch in Simon’s living room.

‘It’s not ideal, but where else can she go at such short notice?’ he said so quietly and evenly that Julia felt overwhelmed by his unselfish generosity.

‘Simon, I don’t know how you feel but I can’t think about our wedding with all this going on,’ Julia said. ‘You do understand, don’t you, darling?’

‘I do understand, my sweet. Christmas has come upon us so quickly, what with everything else, as you say, going on.’

He didn’t seem at all put out, which brought relief on the one hand and on the other made her wonder why he should agree so readily.

‘I wanted so much for us to be married before the New Year.’

He drew her to him as they lay in bed, his arm tightening about her. ‘I know, my love. I did too. But it’s impossible now that you have your sister to look after. You’ve been so good to her, taking her in as you have. How can I pile more responsibility on you? It’s just going to have to be postponed.’

‘Yet again,’ she whispered against his chest.

‘Let’s just sort your sister out. Then we can make new arrangements and next time it will be definite, I promise.’

He was so understanding, so unruffled, even when Julia repeated to him all those horrid things her mother had spat out earlier. As far as Victoria was concerned there was only one decent child left in her life. ‘And that child is James,’ she’d wept. ‘James will never put me to shame as you and your sisters have, all three of you carrying on like trollops!’

‘There’s nothing wrong with Ginny!’ Julia had said indignantly. Ginny was a lovely girl, a good girl,