She felt her throat tightening again. ‘Yes,’ she croaked. ‘I was, but I wasn’t brave. I was told to leave.’
Why am I telling him this? We don’t know each other, and now that the theatre’s closed he’ll probably take up other engagements and I’ll never see him again. That’s the life we lead.
Yet she felt compelled to talk. The catharsis of her discussion with Jenny was not yet complete. ‘You see, a young man I knew – he – assaulted me – and …’
‘You became pregnant,’ he said in a low voice. ‘And your parents thought it was your fault? A classic tale.’
Numbly she nodded. ‘Yes,’ she said hoarsely. ‘And now I have a son, a handsome beautiful son.’ Tears welled in her eyes and coursed down her face and she brushed them swiftly away. ‘And that’s why I’m in the state I’m in.’
The breakfast was brought and put in front of them. Two plates of bacon, eggs, sausage, tomatoes, fried bread and black pudding, and a separate plate of freshly baked bread and muffins.
‘Eat up,’ he said firmly, topping up her coffee cup. ‘And then we’ll talk. If you want to.’
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
‘I think I’m all talked out,’ Delia said, looking down at the food on her plate and wondering if she could eat it all. ‘I had a long discussion with my friend Jenny last night. In fact,’ she glanced at the clock on the wall, ‘she insists on coming back today to take me to her rooms so we can try and make some sense of my situation.’
‘Which is?’
‘I’m a single woman, not earning much, with no home to call my own and a son to support.’
He poured her more coffee from another jug that had been brought to the table, and she thought how nice it was to have something done for her, even something so simple as being poured a cup of coffee. It might seem trivial to some, but it gave her a wonderful sense of warmth and cordiality.
‘And where is your son now?’
‘He – erm, I left him with some people I know,’ she hedged. ‘He’s staying with them for the present, until I decide what I should do next.’
He nodded and went on eating. Then he patted his mouth with a table napkin. ‘Is he old enough to be at school?’
‘Yes.’ She dropped her voice and traced a pattern on the plate with her fork. ‘He’s ten. That’s my main dilemma. I want him to go to school; he’s a bright boy and he deserves an education.’
‘The man who did this to you should be helping you,’ he said in a terse whisper, ‘but I suppose he didn’t want to know?’
To give Jack Robinson his due, she thought, he was quite ignorant of my pregnancy. He had been a youth whose only thought was of taking his pleasure, not of any consequences that might ensue; and as he was committed to marrying someone else, what could he have done? She had never before given thought to what havoc would have been caused if she had confessed to Peggy Robinson that long ago day.
‘I never told him,’ she answered bleakly. ‘He was about to marry someone else.’
They finished their breakfast in silence, and then Giles said, ‘It’s a predicament, I quite agree, and I wonder how you’ve managed to survive for the last ten years. What you need now is some kind of work that is stable and regular and where you can stay in one place.’
She nodded. She knew that already. It was easy enough to work out the answer, not so easy to carry it out. To change the subject, she told him about the arrangement she hoped to make over Christmas with the Maritime Hotel and he congratulated her on the plan. Then she glanced at the clock again. ‘I hate to rush, but I should be leaving,’ she said, and reached for her purse. ‘I said I’d meet her at the Maritime.’
Giles called for the bill and paid, ushering away her offer to pay half. ‘I’ll walk with you, if I may?’ he said. ‘And I’m sorry I haven’t come up with an answer, but I’ll work on it. Put on my thinking-cap.’ He smiled.
Delia was relieved, and thought that her confession hadn’t been as difficult as she had feared; perhaps some people were more broad-minded and tolerant than she’d previously thought.
From Trinity Square they cut through Posterngate and walked alongside the warehouses on Princes Dock, pausing to watch a ship come in to berth. The gangplank was lowered and the crew came down, some heading towards the Seamen’s Mission, others hurrying towards the nearest hostelry; then Delia and Giles turned away from the icy wind blowing up the dock from the estuary and cut down more sheltered streets towards the hotel.
‘Won’t you come in and meet Jenny?’ she asked him. ‘She’ll be here fairly soon.’
He agreed that he would, and they had only just taken a seat when Jenny arrived. They both rose to greet her and Delia said, rather shyly, ‘Jenny, I’d like you to meet Giles Dawson. You’ve heard me speak of him. Mr Dawson, this is Miss Jenny Robinson, a friend I have known since childhood.’
Giles Dawson took Jenny’s outstretched hand and gave her a short bow. ‘Delighted to meet you, Miss Robinson. It must have been very agreeable for you and Miss Delamour to meet again. I am glad that she has your friendship and support in her present dilemma. If I can help in any capacity, then do tell me.’
He turned to Delia and gave her a short bow too, and wishing them good day he took his leave.
Jenny watched him go and then turned to Delia. ‘Well! You told him! How brave you are after all.’
‘I – I didn’t intend to. It was just that last night, when I got back from our meeting, I was so distressed that I’m afraid I was rather
