“We might have been sisters,” Eve said softly, “if Alfie had survived.” She refolded the house plans and handed them back to Audrey. “It looks like your new home isn’t going to be as luxurious as what you’re used to.”
“Robert says we’ll live a very ordinary life in America. I’ll need to learn how to cook and run a home.”
“I thought Robert’s family was rich.”
“They are. But we want to live on our own, apart from their expectations. You already know I can’t cook. Maybe you could teach me how.”
“I suppose that’s one way we can stay occupied while we wait.” Eve managed a smile as she patted her middle again.
“And I don’t know the first thing about taking care of a baby, do you?”
“Not much. But if we can learn how to change tires on a lorry, we should be able to change nappies.” For the first time since she arrived, Eve smiled.
“You haven’t touched your tea or the biscuits,” Audrey said, gesturing to the tray. “Aren’t you hungry?”
“I’m famished. I haven’t eaten since this morning.”
“Then let me ring for Robbins. I’ll ask Tildy to fix you a proper lunch.”
“I have a better idea,” Eve said, pulling herself to her feet. “Come down to the kitchen with me and I’ll give you your first cooking lesson.”
“We don’t need to start right away. You just arrived.”
“I came here to work, not to sip tea with you. Now, do I have a job or not?”
“Of course you do, but—”
“The bride ships are setting sail, Audrey. You’d better learn how to cook for that husband of yours and to take care of that house he’s building. There’s no time to waste.”
The midwife rode her bicycle out to Wellingford Hall on a warm June evening to deliver Eve’s baby. Audrey begged Eve to move to a more comfortable room, but she insisted on giving birth in her simple servant’s room on the third floor. She asked Audrey to stay beside her through it all. “I’ll show you how to do it,” she said with a smile, “just like I showed you how to drive a car and how to cook a chicken dinner for your husband.”
“You taught me so much more than that,” Audrey said as she held Eve’s hand between contractions. “You taught me how to be brave.”
“And don’t forget that I convinced you to tell Robert you loved him.”
“Oh, I’ll never forget that! I only wish . . .” She started to say that she wished she could help Eve find someone to love, but Eve’s groan cut off Audrey’s words as pain gripped her again. Eve still hadn’t told her who the baby’s father was. It wouldn’t matter once Eve gave up the baby for adoption, but she hadn’t agreed to that yet, either.
“You’ll change your mind and go under ether at a hospital after watching me,” Eve said when the pain subsided.
“If you can do it, then so can I.” But Audrey couldn’t deny her fear.
Several long hours later, Eve gave birth to a baby boy. Her joy as she held her son in her arms erased all the lines of pain on her face. “I’m going to name him Harry after my father,” she said, kissing his tiny clenched fist.
When the room was put right and the midwife returned home, Audrey pulled a chair close to Eve’s narrow bed. “Would you like me to take him so you can sleep?” she asked.
“I’m too excited to sleep. Look at him, Audrey. Isn’t he perfect?” The scrunched red face made Audrey smile. She watched Eve stroke the baby’s ginger hair and realized with a shock who Harry’s father was. During all those wonderful hours that Audrey spent with Robert, Eve had been with Louis. Audrey had been blind to their affair.
“Is Louis Dubois Harry’s father?” Audrey asked. She’d tried not to reveal her shock and disapproval, but judging by Eve’s angry response, it had leaked through.
“Yes, Audrey. Of course Louis is his father.”
“But . . . but Louis is married. He has a child!”
“Well, surprise. Neither of those things stopped him from fathering another one.”
“Oh, Eve. You must see that under the circumstances, the best thing to do is to give the baby up for adoption.”
Eve pulled Harry close as if Audrey might snatch him away. “I can’t give him up.”
“How will you live? He’ll grow up in disgrace.”
“The war produced a lot of fatherless babies. Little Harry will have plenty of company. Who’s to say his father wasn’t killed in battle?”