Secrets to Keep

CHAPTER NINETEEN





No one was prepared for the sudden change in the weather. Overnight the temperature had dropped over ten degrees and Aidy was among the thousands of people living on the east side of England, from Newcastle down to just before Northampton, who went to bed to a light drizzle pattering against their windowpanes and opened their curtains the next morning to be greeted by a thick blanket of snow, at least three inches deep, which was growing deeper from the blizzard still raging. Thankfully George had filled the water jugs the previous evening as the standpipe in the jetty was frozen solid now, thick, lethal-looking icicles hanging from it.

Children were about the only ones who delighted in this weather. Few adults did as it brought with it an extra strain on their already stretched resources, having to find the money to buy the additional fuel needed to combat sub-zero conditions. The thought of trudging through the biting snow-filled winds to work brought few people joy, Aidy included. At least for her, though, at journey’s end her place of work would be warm. The doctor would not, for reasons Aidy couldn’t work out, employ a daily to do for him, but he did pay a night watchman three shillings a week to come in at six each morning after his shift had finished, to set the fires in the downstairs rooms and bring enough fuel in to see them through the day.

Ty having already left on his morning round, before she started her other duties Aidy was going around replenishing all the fires. She pictured the doctor and the nun, trudging from house to house in the freezing cold, barely having time to warm up properly before they were off to their next port of call. She didn’t envy them in the least. Most people, though, would offer them a cup of tea, unless they happened to be the desperately poor type who hadn’t any to offer. She doubted, though, that Doc would have time to spare to stand and drink one as he’d a long list of patients to get round this morning, but Sister would probably snatch a minute or two as, lucky for her, her list for today was light compared to some days. Whether she had time or not, Aidy doubted Beattie Rogers would let her leave without refreshment as the woman had made it clear to Aidy yesterday that she meant Sister to have one with her, so she could satisfy her own curiosity about life inside a convent.

Then Aidy froze. That was what Doc had asked her to do yesterday, add Beattie Rogers’ name to the list of Sister’s calls today, only the visitor had annoyed her so much she had forgotten to do it.

Aidy was furious with herself. If Beattie’s wound wasn’t checked today but left until tomorrow and infection set in, it could be too far advanced to stem its spread, and then Beattie could end up losing her arm and it would be all Aidy’s fault. There was nothing for it. She had to go and find Sister, tell her she’d another patient on her list to call on that she’d forgotten to add. Being the kind person she was, Aidy was sure Sister Teresa would be understanding, but she wasn’t so sure her employer would, should he find out. Her lapse had potentially serious repercussions. He might therefore deem Aidy not fit for the responsible post of his receptionist any longer, which in turn would have very serious implications for her family and herself.

Without further ado, she abandoned the coal bucket to wrap herself up warm against the Arctic conditions, lock up the premises, and set off on her search. Half an hour later, having called on at least half a dozen of the patients, Aidy was icy cold and wet.

Hopefully Sister would be here, she thought, as she purposefully rapped on the door of the next house, so Mr Coleman would hear. Stanley Coleman had had a tumorous growth removed from the side of his neck a week or so back by Doc, leaving a gaping hole which had not yet healed. Sister was keeping her eye on it. Aidy could hear the deaf old man slowly shuffling his way down the passage to open the door to her, and willed him to hurry before she became frozen to the spot.

When he finally did and Aidy asked her question, he slowly shook his head and shouted back, ‘Sister ain’t due to come for another four days. She came yesterday, ducky.’

Aidy’s heart sank. She should have known that, since she’d written up the list of calls herself. ‘You haven’t seen her going about at all then, on your way to the shops perhaps, Mr Coleman?’

‘Ain’t been out, love. Don’t intend to either. Got to be a damned sight warmer before I’ll put me nose out of the door. Me wife’s out, though. I could ask her if she saw Sister on her travels when she comes back.’

‘I’ve seen her.’

Aidy turned to see a woman beside her, so covered in white she resembled a snow woman, just like Aidy herself in fact. She was weighed down by heavy shopping bags.

She shouted over the wind, ‘Didn’t mean to eavesdrop but yer can hear Stan halfway down the street, even in this blizzard. If it helps, I saw Sister about fifteen minutes ago, going in the back gate of a house in Gladstone Street, just as I was cutting through the jetty on me way to the butcher’s. I remember thinking at the time that I hoped she was wearing summat warm under her habit or she’d been needing treatment herself for pneumonia.’

Aidy frowned. As far as she was aware they didn’t have any patients in Gladstone Street at the moment who needed the services Sister provided. Regardless, at least thanks to this woman’s hawk eyes she was closer to finding her quarry. ‘You don’t happen to know what number Gladstone Street she was going into, I suppose?’

The woman shook her head, which caused the build up of snow on her headscarf to dislodge and cascade over her shoulders. ‘No, sorry, love. But I’d only just turned into the jetty, so at a guess I would say number four or six … eight at the most.’

Gladstone Street on a nice day was less than a couple of minutes’ walk away, but now Aidy was battling against the blizzard it took her over ten minutes to reach.

She tried number four first but the shabby young woman who answered the door, a snotty-nosed baby in her arms and a grubby-looking toddler clinging to her skirt, told her that no nun had visited her that day. She advised Aidy that if she was making enquiries next door, she’d better go round the back as the old lady who lived there couldn’t answer the door anyway. She had broken her hip a few months back in a fall and was still recovering in a makeshift bed in the back room. This information gave Aidy hope that at last she had found Sister. And she also had the answer to why the nun was in this street when it was not on her list today. Beattie Rogers had told her that Sister made it her business to find out if any old bodies were in need of her help, and would call upon them to offer her charity to them. Obviously the old lady next door was one of these cases.

After the young woman had shut the door on her Aidy stood for a moment, surrounded by the swirling snow, wondering if her trudge around the back would be worth all the trouble. Sister might have come and gone by now. But her need to find the nun was desperate. She couldn’t leave any stone unturned.

When she went to open the back gate a few minutes later, it was apparent that someone had recently gone through it as it opened easily and a mound of snow was piled the other side against the wall. There was also a trail of footprints, albeit rapidly filling with snow, leading up to the back door. Aidy hoped Sister Teresa had made them and not the milkman.

There was a gap to one side of the net curtain that hung against the back window. Looking through it, Aidy saw an old lady lying in a makeshift bed in the recess at the back of the room. She appeared to be asleep. She also saw a long black garment draped across a dining chair by the ancient oak table. She was positive it was Sister Teresa’s cloak. Hopefully she had found her quarry at last.

Tapping lightly on the back door so as not to frighten the old lady from her sleep, she then let herself deftly inside, hurriedly shutting the door behind her and making her way into the back room. The old lady obviously had acute hearing as she was sitting up and looking suspiciously across at Aidy when she entered.

In an apologetic tone Aidy said to her, ‘I’m very sorry to come in without being asked, only I saw you were sleeping through the window and didn’t want to startle you by knocking.’ She thought she’d better introduce herself and added, ‘I’m Aidy Nelson, from the surgery.’

The look of suspicion vanished from the old lady’s prune-like face to be replaced by one of delight. In her aged voice she said, ‘Oh, then welcome in, deary. I am such a blessed woman today, having all these unexpected visitors. Would you like a cuppa? Only I’m sorry to say you’ll have ter mash it yerself … as yer can see, I’m indisposed at the moment. I am getting around a bit more now. In fact, I was out of me bed and hobbling round with the help of the walking sticks the hospital borrowed me for a good ten minutes earlier this morning. Carrie, me neighbour next door who comes in every morning to light me fire for me and regularly pops back to keep a check on it, helped me up and then back to bed afterwards, good old soul that she is. Only me little walk around tired me out and that’s why yer caught me napping.’

‘I appreciate your offer of tea but I’m looking for Sister Teresa. I need to speak to her urgently and I understand she could be here? That is her cloak on the back of your chair, isn’t it?’ Aidy wondered where Sister actually was as there was no apparent sign of her apart from her cloak.

The old lady looked disappointed for a moment that Aidy hadn’t come to visit her after all but then her face brightened. ‘Yes, dear, it is hers. And wasn’t that a lovely surprise for me? The good Sister calling in to see if I needed anything doing as she’d heard through a patient she attends a few streets away that I’d broke me hip a few weeks back and couldn’t do much for meself just now. I’m a widow, yer know, lost my Arthur a couple of years back from a heart attack.

‘To be honest, dear, he wasn’t that much of a loss to me. He were a good man when I married him, but over the years he grew more and more miserable, and by the time he retired he was no joy at all to be around. He’d sit in his chair all day, moaning and groaning about anything and everything he could have a grumble at, expecting me to run after him. We had three lovely daughters, though. They each come over to see me as much as they can, but they all live two bus rides away and have families of their own to see to so they can’t get in as often as they’d like. I’m lucky with my neighbours though …’

She was rattling on and Aidy was loath to interrupt her but she really needed to tell Sister what she had to then get back to the surgery. She’d been absent for well over an hour by now and was worried she could have missed important telephone calls or visitors urgently looking for the doctor.

‘I’m very sorry to interrupt you, Mrs … er … but I really do need to speak to Sister urgently. Where is she?’

‘Oh, er … upstairs. She very kindly offered to freshen my bed up with clean bedding while she was here and give the room a sweep and dust as I’d not used it since my fall. I’m hoping to start sleeping back up there very soon. I did tell her she needn’t go to all that trouble as one of me daughters would see to it, but she said it would be her pleasure. She must be doing a good job as she’s been up there a good while. I expect she’ll be down in a minute.’

Or she could be another five and Aidy should be getting back to work. ‘Would you mind if I just went up and saw her? I really do need to get back to the surgery,’ she politely asked.

The old woman looked hard at Aidy for a moment. It was apparent she wasn’t happy about having a stranger in her bedroom. Obviously nuns didn’t count. Finally she said, ‘Well, I suppose not. You must be honest if you’re the doctor’s receptionist. When you get to the top of the stairs, turn right and go along the short corridor. My room is at the end, at the front of the house.’

Aidy found the door to the bedroom shut. Politely tapping on it while announcing, ‘Sister, it’s me, Mrs Nelson from the surgery,’ she immediately opened it and went inside. Her mouth open ready to deliver her message, the words died on her lips and her jaw dropped in disbelief at the sight that met her.

Sister Teresa was kneeling on the bare floorboards by a tallboy. The bottom drawer was wide open. Items of clothing had been removed from it. In one hand she was holding an open oblong cigar-type box, and in the other a locket which she seemed to be in the process of inspecting. The skirt of her habit was spread out and on it were several pieces of jewellery – difficult to say whether it was expensive or not from where Aidy was standing – and a pocket watch. By the side of the pocket watch lay a bulky pouch. She was staring frozen faced at Aidy.

The two women looked at each other for several moments before Sister Teresa seemed to give herself a mental shake and broke the silence with, ‘You startled me, Mrs Nelson. I’ve been giving Mrs Franks’ room a freshen up, ready for her to move back into.’ She nodded her head in the direction of a pile of dirty bedding at the side of the door where Aidy was standing to prove her point. ‘While I was up here, Mrs Franks asked me to find a brooch that her husband had bought her. She wanted to have it close to her as a reminder of him, as she’s missing him so much. That’s what I’m doing … looking for it. I can’t seem to find it, though.’

With narrowed eyes, Aidy responded matter-of-factly, ‘Well, that’s odd because the old dear has just told me that she wasn’t missing her husband at all and in fact his death was a relief to her.’ Her voice began to take on an accusing note. ‘I know what I’m seeing, Sister, and that’s you rifling an old lady’s jewellery box! Those pieces on your skirt are what you’d already picked out for yourself before I interrupted you.’ Her face darkened then. ‘You’re no more a nun than I am! You’re a thief, using a disguise to carry out your robberies. Very clever, I must say. Whoever would suspect a nun of doing anything so ungodly? Huh! No wonder you didn’t want me to go on some of your home visits with you.’

Then, suddenly, memories of past conversations came flooding back to Aidy. ‘You’ve done this before!’ she exclaimed. ‘Three times, to my knowledge. To a Mrs Crosby, Mrs Potter and another old dear …’ the paused for a moment, fighting to remember the name of the old lady presumed to be insane ‘… called Mrs Willows. And how many more I don’t know about, eh? Got yourself a nice little racket going on here, haven’t you, Sister? But, in all honesty, I think you could have chosen your victims a little more wisely. As you’ve probably realised by now, people round here ain’t got what it takes to make you rich.’ Aidy glared at her darkly. ‘So, come on, lady, just who are you?’

While Aidy looked on, the woman kneeling on the floor bent her head as though in prayer and remained like that for several moments before she let out a deep, despondent sigh. She then slowly lifted her head and, one by one, picked up the items arranged on her skirt and put them back in the cigar box. She then put the box back in the bottom drawer of the tallboy, the clothes back on top, and shut the drawer. She picked up the pouch bag from off her skirt and rose to her feet. She put the pouch into a side pocket of her habit, clasped her hands in front of her and slowly walked over to the old lady’s bed where she sank down. Then, looking across at Aidy, she fixed her eyes on hers and said with conviction, ‘I am what you see, Mrs Nelson. A nun.’

Aidy sneered at her in disgust. ‘A nun who’s a thief?’

Clearly and precisely, she replied, ‘Yes, I am.’

Her honesty shocked Aidy. She had expected her to deny it, try to convince Aidy she had not seen what she had, wriggle out of it somehow. ‘But why? What good are those bits of jewellery to you? You can’t wear them, can you? You’re not allowed.’

‘No, nuns aren’t allowed anything pretty, or any frippery at all. I planned to sell the pieces when I’d got enough together, to make the amount I needed.’

Aidy was staring over at her, mystified. ‘But what do you need money for? The Church provides you with all you need, doesn’t it?’

‘My material needs … food … a bed … but the Church doesn’t provide for my physical needs as a woman, Mrs Nelson.’ She heaved a deep sigh as her grey eyes blazed back at Aidy with a deep sorrow, the like of which she had never witnessed before. ‘I have faith, I believe in God, but that doesn’t mean I wanted to give up my freedom to live a bleak life serving him. I wanted to have fun like other girls, have boyfriends, get married, have children, grandchildren … but my mother had other ideas for me.’

A look of horror filled Aidy’s face. ‘You mean, she forced you to become a nun?’

‘That’s exactly what she did. From a very early age my mother found God through her Sunday School teacher, herself a nun, who I can only think glamorised the life in my mother’s young mind. It became her dream to become a nun, to give her life to doing the Lord’s good works and securing her place beside Him when her time came. But when she informed my grandparents of her intention they were horrified, wouldn’t hear of it, flatly refused to give their consent. So she calmly announced to them that she didn’t need their permission when she reached the age of twenty-one. She was determined to become a nun and would let nothing stop her.

‘Mother was an only child. After she was born, it wasn’t possible for my grandmother to have any more children. According to my father, my grandfather was a very forceful type of man, the sort who got his way whatever it took. He was desperate for a male heir to pass on the family business to. He’d started from scratch and spent his life building it up to the success it was then. He had a factory that made ribbons and tapes. The only way he was going to get his heir was through a grandchild.

‘My mother was an attractive woman, but she made herself unattractive by the plain, dull clothes she wore, had her hair cut short in the style of Joan of Arc. Everyone she came across, she would try to convert to the faith, to become the Lord’s shepherds and do his good works. When she wasn’t doing her Church works, she was reading the Bible. My grandfather threatened to disown her, cut off her allowance, anything to get her to stop her nonsense. But nothing he did worked. With the age of twenty-one fast approaching, when she’d be legally free to become a nun, my grandfather made it his mission to find Mother a husband.

‘My father was an employee of his, a clerk in the accounts department, a very mild-mannered man, kind and gentle, who supported his widowed mother. My grandfather saw him as the ideal victim. My father was called into his office and accused of embezzling the firm’s money to the tune of a thousand pounds. He was given a choice. Either he could go to jail for a very long time or he could secure himself a decent future by marrying the boss’s daughter. My father really didn’t have a choice. He was also told to use any means necessary to get my grandfather an heir.

‘I’m not privy to how my father got my mother pregnant as he was too ashamed ever to talk of it … I can only assume he somehow got her intoxicated and had his way with her. My mother never knew of her own father’s part in her downfall as that was part of the deal. She therefore blamed my father entirely for shattering her dream of becoming a nun, and never let him forget it. She made his life a living hell.

‘The irony is that a month after my parents were married, my grandparents were both killed when the horse that was pulling their coach bolted and they were overturned. My mother was sole heir to their estate. The first thing she did was have my father dismissed from his job. She made it impossible for him to get another so that he was at her mercy day and night, because she also made sure he had no money and couldn’t leave her. Besides, he adored me and couldn’t bear the thought of leaving me alone with her. My mother knew this. The only social outings we went on were Church-associated. The only books in the house were religious ones. The only visitors to our house were connected to the Church.

‘After seven years of misery my father could stand no more. He came to my bedroom one night, waking me up as he sat on my bed. With tears rolling down his face, he told me that he was going away and not coming back. He then told me the story I have just told you in the hope I’d understand and forgive him for what he was about to do. Before he left he hugged me so tight I couldn’t breathe. I never saw him again. That night he threw himself off a bridge in front of a train.

‘From as soon as I could understand, my mother made it clear what her ambition for me was. I was to live the life that had been denied her. I was going to become a nun and spend my life carrying out the Good Lord’s work. Unfortunately, I had not inherited her or my grandfather’s forceful nature but my father’s kind and gentle one. I was no match for her. Consequently, against my will, at the age of sixteen I joined the convent as a novice. I wasn’t even allowed to keep my own name, but known as Sister Teresa Mary from that moment on.

‘I had thought my life under my mother’s rule was joyless enough, but inside the convent it was worse. My room was no more than a cell, big enough to take a cot bed and a small chest for my spare habit and change of underwear, the window too high up in the wall for me to see out of. The only adornment was a picture on the wall of the Holy Mother and child. My day started at four when I’d rise for prayers. As soon as they finished I helped prepare our breakfast of porridge, and spent the rest of my time on my knees, scrubbing the floors, the only breaks for prayers and lunch of bread and water. At four-thirty I would return to the kitchen to help prepare the evening meal. That was my life for two years.

‘The convent had an annexe in the grounds that held two wards used to nurse the very elderly in the convent’s vicinity, their way of doing good works for the local community, and Mother Superior decided I had the makings of a nurse. She assigned me to learn nursing under a strict disciplinarian of a nun who was eighty if she was a day and would punish me severely for the slightest mistake I made. She would make me kneel in the corner of the ward on a rough piece of matting that dug into my knees and recite the Lord’s Prayer, over and over, until she decided I’d had enough. I remained under her tutelage for ten years and when she died I took her place in charge of the ward, but I can assure you that I never punished any novice under my wing in any other way than verbally.

‘For those who freely choose their vocation it is a very rewarding life, but I detested every minute of it, everything about it. When all the other sisters were saying their prayers in praise of God, I was damning him as much as I was damning my mother for the life I’d been forced to live. The only thing that kept me sane was knowing that she could not live forever, that one day she would die, and then, as her only child, I’d be sole heir to her estate.

‘I would lie in my cell at night and plan the life I would finally have for myself. I would only take from my inheritance enough to buy myself a little house, and the rest I would give away to good causes. I hoped the money that had caused such misery to some, might bring joy to other people. To keep myself, I would get a job using the skills I had learned as a nurse. I hoped I might one day meet a nice man to love me and that we’d live happily ever after.’

She gave an ironic laugh. ‘I should not have underestimated my mother. She had decided at my birth that she would make a present of her daughter to God, in replacement for herself. She made sure I couldn’t have any opportunity of flouting her wishes and leaving the sisterhood by bequeathing her entire estate to the convent. Without the means to start a new life for myself in the outside world, I was trapped. A few pounds, two or three at the most, was all I needed, but I had no way of obtaining them. There was nothing I could do but resign myself to a life that was pure purgatory to me. Accept the fact I would never know what it would feel like to be loved, kissed, hold my child in my arms, cook a meal for my family and sit around a table watching their happy faces. Then, out of the blue, a way to make my escape was presented to me. It was an opportunity I just couldn’t let pass. Another might never come my way.

‘A nun who had been on a missionary trip in the Congo returned. Mother Superior was busy deciding where she would prove most useful. The decision was made that she would take one of the nurse’s places on the ward, and another nun would nurse where she was needed – out in the community. Mother Superior decided that this area was in most need of a nun’s services at the time, and that I was to be that nun. I am sure she will never appreciate what a gift she gave to me! Getting away from the strict regime of convent life for a few hours a day was like being released into paradise for me.

‘The first patient I attended was a Mrs Miller. She had had a leg amputated and I was to check the stump for infection and redress it. As I finished my work on her, she asked if I would be kind enough to go up to her bedroom and fetch a shawl for her as she was feeling the cold. I would find it in the second drawer of her tallboy. I had retrieved the shawl for her, and as I was about to leave noticed a little china dish on top of the tallboy. It held several pieces of dusty, tarnished jewellery. Not elaborate by any means, just cheap pieces the old lady had obviously been given over the years. That was when the means to escape my awful life and make a new one became clear to me. How easy it would be for me to take one of those pieces! When the loss was discovered, who would ever suspect a nun of taking it? It was apparent the things in the dish hadn’t been worn for years and were just lying there gathering dust. On its own, one piece might reap only a penny or two from a second-hand dealer, but if I managed to collect enough …

‘To steal is wrong, however valid you may consider your reason for doing so, and especially from defenceless sick people. But when someone is in a desperate situation and sees a way out being given to them, then all sense and reason leave them. With today’s items, I was of the opinion that I finally had enough for my needs.’ She paused, looking enquiringly at Aidy. ‘May I enquire how you found out what I was doing?’

Aidy had become deeply absorbed in the terrible story she had just been told. She couldn’t imagine how it must have been for this woman before her, having to live such an austere existence against her own will in order to satisfy her mother’s need. She gave herself a mental shake. ‘I didn’t. I just came to find you. I forgot to put a patient’s name on your list after Doc asked me to yesterday.’

‘Oh, I see. Then it appears I will be swapping one cell for another.’ With a look of sadness clouding her face, shoulders slumping in resignation, Sister Teresa unclasped her hands, stood up and asked quietly, ‘Will you be accompanying me to the police station or do you trust me to present myself there, Mrs Nelson?’

Aidy stared at her blankly. This woman had been imprisoned her whole life. Would it be right to subject her to more years on top? Maybe the wrongs she had done in order to escape her purgatorial existence could be put right so that none of her victims was left to suffer from her misdeeds. And Aidy herself had the means to help her finally change her life to the one she wanted to live. She had a feeling that should she offer the chance to her, she would never come to regret it.

‘Let’s not be hasty, Sister. First things first, what is your real name?’

‘Oh, er … Ruth. Mother’s choice. Had to be something religious.’

‘Religious or not, I wouldn’t have minded being called that instead of the name I was burdened with. Ruth is very pretty and it suits you. Well, Ruth, to make a new life for yourself, all you need is a place to sleep and some food to eat while you find yourself a job and then put some money together to get yourself somewhere to live, isn’t that right?’

The nun was looking at her quizzically. ‘Yes, that is all. Along with a change of clothes.’

‘Not much then.’

‘No, but beyond my reach.’

Aidy smiled at her. ‘Not any longer. As long as you don’t mind sleeping on a flock mattress squashed into one end of a tiny parlour, and putting up with three boisterous kids constantly mithering you, an old lady who never shuts up chattering and myself, then you’re welcome to come home with me and stop with us until you’re on your feet.’

Sister Teresa was gawping at her dumbfounded.

Aidy laughed. ‘I really mean it.’

The other woman’s shoulders lifted, the look of doom left her face and was replaced by one of pure joy that was a delight to witness. ‘You have my promise that I will return every item I stole to its rightful owner.’

Aidy said to her, ‘Can you please make Mrs Willows a priority? Her daughter is trying to have her committed as a lunatic on the basis she’s gone doolally, misplacing her own jewellery and accusing others of stealing it from her. The truth is that the daughter wants rid of the burden of her so is seizing on this as an excuse.’

Ruth was visibly horrified that her actions had had such far-reaching repercussions and promised Aidy faithfully that she would return Mrs Willows’ property to her today, as soon as she had finished her round.

Aidy then said to her, ‘Now I wouldn’t blame you for wanting to get straight back to the convent, to tell Mother Superior you’re leaving the order and pack up your things … well, I don’t suppose you’ve got much to pack … but first, could you please make a visit to the patient I forgot to put on your list? Otherwise it could end up with me getting the sack for forgetfulness, and then I wouldn’t have a place to offer you to stay in.’

Ruth assured her, ‘Of course. It’s only fair I should finish off my list of calls. I have waited long enough for this moment, thought it would never come, so a little longer will prove no trial to me. It’s only right too that I personally inform Doctor Strathmore why I will not be providing my services to him any longer. I do hope Mother Superior will find another nun to assign to the surgery to replace me.’

She gave a sigh. ‘I am not looking forward to my interview with her. She is a very kindly but formidable woman. What I have to tell her will come as such a shock. I have never given her any reason to believe I was so unhappy with my life. She will do her best to persuade me not to leave the order, think I am having some sort of crisis and need time to get over it, call other nuns in to reason with me, probably suggest I go on a retreat to think carefully about what I am doing, but hopefully she will quickly realise that she is wasting her time and let me go quietly.’

Then a look of utter joy filled her face again. ‘Oh, I cannot believe that after today I will no longer be living the life I’ve hated so much. I don’t know how I will ever replay you for your charity.’

‘You can do it by making sure you get that life you’ve always wanted, and settle for no less.’

By the time Aidy returned outside the temperature had risen enough to melt the falling snow to sleet, and the packed snow on the ground was starting to turn to slush. Slipping and sliding along as she hurried back to the surgery, she worked out that she would have been gone just over an hour and a half all told. Hopefully the doctor was still out on his rounds and would never know she had left the surgery unattended.

To her mortification, though, as soon as she unlocked the waiting-room door and let herself inside, Ty came to greet her. Disrobed of his overcoat and jacket which were hanging up to dry, he was rubbing his wet hair on a towel.

He said to her, ‘I returned very briefly to the surgery over an hour ago to replenish some medicine I’d used up and found the place deserted. I returned again a few minutes ago on finishing my round and you still weren’t here. Patients know to contact you here at the surgery up until two o’clock should they have an emergency and I need to be fetched, so I hope no emergency did arise while you were gone. I trust that whatever it was that took you away for such a length of time was a matter of great importance?’

A puddle of water forming around her, Aidy stared back at him blindly. Had he just arrived back when she returned, she had been going to tell him that she’d popped out minutes before as she’d heard a little boy crying in the street, lost in the snow, and had taken him home. It was plausible, she felt. But she could not do that now as he’d been back earlier and found her gone. All sorts of excuses to explain away her absence flashed through her mind, but none that would plausibly excuse such a long absence. She had no alternative but to tell the truth.

Fearing the worst, she said, ‘I know it was wrong of me to leave the surgery but, you see, as I was making up the fires after you left this morning, I realised I’d forgotten to add Mrs Rogers to Sister’s list of visits today. I knew if her wound wasn’t checked and infection set in, then it could turn really nasty. It took me ages to find Sister but eventually I did.’ With an invisible black cloud of doom swirling over her head, she added, ‘I’ll save you the trouble of telling me I’m sacked. I’ll just get my handbag and be off.’

Still towelling his hair, Ty watched her thoughtfully as she made her way to the reception desk to collect her handbag where she kept it inside a drawer. Both the things she had done were serious enough to warrant instant dismissal. Her lapse of memory could have resulted in serious repercussions for the patient involved. Leaving the surgery without anyone to deal with any sudden life-or-death situations or take important telephone messages on his behalf was expressly forbidden. He was waiting for a call from the hospital about a bed he was trying to get for a patient he suspected of having a tumour in his stomach. If he had missed that call and the bed had been given to another patient, then he would be very cross. He supposed, though, that Aidy had acted immediately she’d realised her mistake about Mrs Rogers. And he couldn’t deny that, up until today, she hadn’t given him any reason to regret taking her on as his receptionist.

If he dismissed her, how long would it take him to find a replacement for her, considering she was the only one who’d applied the last time? But should he decide to let her go, what would become of her and her family? To his utter shock, yesterday he had learned that the money she earned from him could never in any way be classed as pin money, a bit extra to give her and her husband a marginally better standard of living. Her wage, as little as it seemed to Ty, had to cover the cost of housing, keeping warm, feeding and clothing herself and four others. Jobs at the moment were proving harder and harder to come by due to the recession gripping the country. He gave a sigh. His conscience wouldn’t allow him to be the cause of Aidy and her family facing a bleak future in the workhouse.

He called across to her, ‘If you wish to leave my employ then that is your choice, Mrs Nelson, but I haven’t asked you to leave. Another incident of this nature on your part, and I certainly will be looking for a replacement for you, however, so be warned.’

With that, he strode from the room.

Aidy had just shut the drawer after taking out her handbag. She stared after him in utter shock. Under that cold, humourless exterior, it seemed the doctor did had some humanity. She breathed a huge sigh of relief, the feeling of doom evaporating as she replaced her handbag inside the drawer, stripped off her wet coat and made to hurry and complete the tasks she should have had done hours ago.