Chapter 12
A tall slim fragile-looking girl with long side-swept black hair cascading over her left shoulder, Geraldine Fitch-Templeton stood on the Wildmores’ doorstep several days later. A large black Mercedes was sleeking discreetly down the drive as Lisa opened the door.
Geraldine teetered herself into the hall on high spiky heels and looked around at the corniced ceilings and the massive staircase. Apparently they were considered satisfactory. She shook off an outer layer of supple suede. Then, somewhat theatrically and rather incongruously, Lisa felt, the girl drew a neatly-folded overall out of a crumpled paper bag.
Lisa eyed her suspiciously: the petulant look, the high heels she hadn’t bothered to wipe on the doormat, the crumpled bag. But the sight of the neatly folded overall lulled Lisa into a sense of seemliness. It was only when Geraldine had donned the overall that Lisa returned to her original impression. Two large fresh daubs of red - tomato ketchup, or perhaps tomato soup - leered at her like saucer eyes. Looking below the red patches Lisa noticed the stitching on one of the patch pockets had been torn away, and that two front buttons were missing.
‘Perhaps you’d better bring another overall tomorrow,’ she managed to say. ‘I’ll put this one into the machine with all the other washing.’
Geraldine agreed happily, an impish grin spread wide. Seb, unaware of his mother’s reservations, tried to make friends.
‘I got bwuthers,’ he told Geraldine proudly. ‘More bwuthers.’
He tried to pull her up the first tread of the staircase and so on to the triplets’ room. Geraldine, retreat cut off by Lisa, tottered beside him up the stairs. Lisa made a list in her head: flat heels, hair kept neatly tied back, no dangling jewellery. It was going to be an uphill task.
‘He’s telling you about the triplets,’ Lisa interpreted for Seb as they walked into the babies’ nursery.
A look of boredom crossed Geraldine’s face as she looked at the eager little boy. She unclasped the hand he’d confided to her and walked towards the cots. But the sight of the three identical infants appeared to rouse latent maternal feelings.
‘Ooh, look at that!’ she giggled. ‘Don’t they look sweet! May I hold one of them?’
‘Sit down,’ Lisa said hurriedly. ‘I’ll bring one over to you.’
Janus, Lisa saw, was still awake, but not crying. He was lying in his carrycot, his eyes a little dulled. He’d brought up some of the mid-morning feed. Lisa even suspected that he was still losing weight. Was something wrong with him?
Susan Andrews, right from the first visit after her holiday, had been sure the goat’s milk was causing problems.
‘I thought goat’s milk was supposed to be better than cow’s,’ Lisa had queried, surprised. ‘Seb really thrived on it.’
‘I’d switch to formula,’ Susan had said, quiet, assured, checking the babies’ weight against Rita’s notes on that first visit after she’d taken over from the relief midwife. ‘Janus has lost almost six ounces since he was last weighed.’
‘I know,’ Lisa had agreed, thankful that Susan couldn’t know the real reason. ‘It is odd. He used to be a lusty feeder - positively greedy compared to Jeffrey!’
‘I’m sure he’s allergic to the goat’s milk,’ Susan had insisted. ‘Did you notice any bloating, early on? Face on the puffy side? Always a sign.’
Bloating? What did she mean by bloating? Had Rita put something about that in the notes? Lisa thought that unlikely. ‘Just a bit chubby,’ she’d told Susan, guardedly. ‘Only because he positively guzzled the stuff.’
‘Well, never mind; we’ll get him round. Each child develops at a different pace,’ Susan had soothed her. ‘I’ll bring some formula tomorrow.’
‘Cow’s milk, you mean?’
Susan had looked thoughtful at first, then smiled at her. ‘I thought we might try soya bean modified to resemble human milk,’ she’d said. ‘Let’s put both Janus and James on it.’
It had surprised Lisa that Susan hadn’t included Jeffrey.
‘Well, all three to make things easier,’ she’d added. ‘Give it a try. You can always change to something else if that’s not right.’
Susan’s unexpected attitude had made Lisa wonder whether Don had, after all, mentioned his suspicions to his family.
She picked Janus up. He did look better. Quite bright again, strong fingers grasping at her hand. She smiled at him and lowered him on to Geraldine’s lap.
A wistful Seb laid a hand on the rocker arm supports and stood silent, looking on, as Geraldine sat rocking Janus on her knee. Long earrings dangled in sympathy. Lisa’s heart leapt as she saw Janus’s eyes begin to gleam, a little hand apparently about to reach out to grasp the glittering gold. She intercepted the child’s intention with her fingers. She could have sworn he tried to shake her off as though impatient. Was that a flash of irritation at her interference? He was much too young for all that. She was beginning to imagine things.
‘And you’ll have to take those shoes off, Geraldine, before I can let you carry a baby around. You could easily trip.’
The girl tossed off her shoes. They scrambled sideways on the floor, gaping and hazardous.
Lisa looked at them, lying askew, black patent leather reflecting up at her. ‘Someone could trip over those,’ she explained wearily.
At once the firm body coiled forward, Janus held in mid-air, as the shoes were kicked under the rocker. Would this girl really do? Lisa saw her edging Janus on one side and taking hold of his wrist.
‘What a darling bracelet,’ she said, twisting the baby’s arm to read the inscription. ‘Is it silver or platinum?’
‘Be careful of his arm! Turn the bracelet if you want to see what’s written on it.’
‘Oops; sorry. That is a clever idea,’ Geraldine went on, unperturbed. ‘D’you leave them on all the time, even at night?’
‘They stay on round the clock,’ Lisa said, standing full height. ‘I was going to alert you about that. No one but their father or myself is to take them off - no one, you understand.’
‘What about me? I shall be – ’
‘No!’ Lisa broke in, shrill, then forced her voice calm and reasonable. ‘I have to make that a really strict rule. I can’t even allow the midwife, or the Health Visitor, to take them off.’
Mascara-fringed eyes opened wide. Lisa had the girl’s full attention now. ‘You mean you could really mix them up?’
‘I mean other people could, and I’m not taking any chances. I can’t always be around.’
‘Would it matter that much?’
‘Of course it could matter!’ Lisa insisted as emphatically as she dared. ‘Supposing one of them was on medication? Giving it to the wrong baby might cause a tragedy!’ Lisa, triumphant now, felt confident about underlining her wishes. ‘Janus, for instance, has been feeling a bit queasy. He might need something to settle him. So you’re never to take the bracelets off, under any circumstances whatsoever.’
‘Of course, Mrs Wildmore. I won’t forget.’
‘It’s rule number one.’ Lisa walked over to examine Janus’s bracelet. The silver encircled his wrist snugly, intact, five capitals spelling out:
J A N U S
She saw the baby’s head lolling slightly back. Geraldine had got up and was walking with him, looking around the nursery. Lisa watched nervously.
‘And there’s another thing, Geraldine.’
‘Do call me Gerry.’
‘Gerry. Be very careful of their heads. Make sure your arm is below the curve of the neck. They need the support at this age.’
‘Like this, d’you mean?’
‘Exactly like that. You won’t forget now, will you?’
A whispering at the back of Lisa’s mind, a feeling of uncertainty. It wouldn’t be safe to leave this girl alone with her children. She felt unguarded, vulnerable to this stranger who had invaded her home. Her family was now exposed to prying eyes.
‘Did you know you were going to have triplets?’
Why was this girl so curious, asking so many questions? ‘I suspected there was more than one,’ Lisa said shortly. She took Janus from Geraldine. His nappy needed changing. ‘Disposable nappies are very simple to put on. The gathered bit goes at the back.’
‘This milk looks different, somehow. Sort of grey.’ Geraldine slithered long fingers around the spare bottle still in its warmer. ‘Is it a special formula?’
‘We’re trying out soya at the moment.’
‘You’re vegan?’
‘No,’ Lisa explained. ‘We started off with goat’s milk. But Susan Andrews - that’s the midwife - thinks Janus may be allergic to animal milk. Soya does seem to suit him better.’ She turned back to Geraldine. ‘But, whatever concoction we use, always spray a bit of it on the inside of your wrist. It should feel neither hot nor cold.’
She forced a smile as the explanation of each humdrum task mollified her into accepting that these children were quite ordinary infants. ‘Always hold them up against the support of your shoulder and your arm when you’re giving them a bottle. That gives the air bubbles a chance to rise.’
‘Very good, aren’t they?’
‘They’ve only just been fed.’ Lisa grinned at her new helper. ‘You haven’t heard them in full cry.’ She laughed. ‘You might consider changing those earrings for earplugs when you have.’
Geraldine laughed back at that.
‘Seriously, they’ll pull at those long earrings. Perhaps you could wear some which don’t dangle.’ She studied the girl - exceptionally pretty, expertly made up, expensively dressed. ‘And your hair. It’s really lovely, but perhaps you’d keep it pinned out of the way while you’re with us.’
Geraldine looked up at Lisa, eyes showing dark. ‘If you really think that’s important.’
‘I do. And now perhaps you’d look after Seb in the playroom,’ Lisa directed her. She replaced the sleepy Janus in his cot. ‘He loves being read to. I’ll help Mrs Donahue get some lunch together.’
The new mother’s help arrived with alacrity as soon as Lisa called that the meal was ready. ‘Where’s Seb?’ Lisa asked, looking round for him.
‘I suppose he’s still playing. Seb!’ Geraldine bellowed without moving. ‘Lunch!’
‘Ssh! You’ll wake the triplets. Perhaps you’d go and fetch him, Gerry.’
The girl appeared thin to Lisa, almost anorexic. That didn’t turn out to be the case. It seemed incredible that anyone so thin could eat so much. She ate voraciously, as though she feared the food that she’d been given would be taken away if she were slow to get it down. She wolfed her first helping, accepted more, disposed of that, looked round for thirds and maybe fourths.
‘I’m afraid it’s raining.’ Lisa looked disconsolately out of the playroom window. ‘I’d hoped you and Seb could go for a nice walk. You’ll just have to stay in and amuse him indoors.’
‘We could play hide and seek,’ Geraldine suggested. ‘It’s a lovely big house for that.’
‘Up to a point.’ Lisa wasn’t altogether happy at this idea. ‘The triplets’ room, my studio and the bedroom, and Alec’s study, are strictly out of bounds.’
‘I’s hide!’ Seb said happily, and ran off into the living room.
The girl seemed oddly snoopy to Lisa, but at least she could entertain Seb. Maybe she could even learn to bottle feed a triplet while Lisa watched her, instructed her in the art.
Lisa found herself going into the nursery to check again that the silver bracelets were secure. She was becoming obsessive about checking them but she simply could not stop herself.
‘How’s Geraldine working out?’ Alec asked her that evening. ‘She didn’t say much about the children when I drove her back.’
‘Bit on the clumsy side,’ Lisa said dully, tired but content. Geraldine was an awkward girl: two broken cups, a baby bottle cracked on the kitchen tiles and coffee spilt on the living room carpet was the score to date. Worse, she’d only just been prevented from wedging Seb’s fingers in the nursery door. In spite of these misadventures Lisa felt she could not do without her. Whatever her shortcomings, she would serve to keep others away.
‘She’ll get into the swing of it after a while,’ Alex bantered easily. ‘Her people seem awfully nice; offered me a drink.’ He smiled at his wife encouragingly. ‘I thought she sounded quite promising. Bubbly; full of fun.’
‘She wants to bring her dog.’
‘A dog? She’s got a dog?’
‘A terrier,’ Lisa said indifferently. ‘A bull terrier, she told me. Apparently her mother’s people breed them.’
‘Good little dogs.’
‘I don’t know that I can cope with a dog as well.’
‘Just make her keep it outside, Lisa. You’ve got to have some help; I checked again. The agency can’t find anyone who’d consider working in such a rural area.’
Misgivings pushed aside Lisa allowed Geraldine to bring her dog, Duffers. Seb seemed to enjoy playing with him and this, in turn, persuaded Geraldine to pay at least some attention to the little boy.
‘He needs his boots on when it’s wet,’ Lisa sighed, seeing Seb’s ruined shoes and wet socks.
‘Sorry, old thing.’ The girl laughed cheerfully at the child. ‘Let’s see what we can do to get them on.’
‘For goodness sake, Gerry! Change his socks first!’
‘What a muggins!’ the girl said, amiably enough, crashing upstairs in muddy shoes which left a brown-stained trail to Seb’s bedroom.
There could be no complaints on the grounds of cheerfulness, Lisa was aware. She decided to concentrate on training the girl in the easy task of looking after Seb.