whenever she wanted to share her off duty time with them.
But tonight Bonnie was in no mood for company. As she climbed the stairs to her room, Lady Brayfield called her downstairs into her sitting room. Bonnie’s heart began to beat faster as Lady Brayfield closed the door behind them.
‘Bonnie, I haven’t been disappointed since you came here,’ she began. ‘But the time has come … You cannot stay here in your condition.’
Bonnie nodded miserably.
‘Although you hardly show at the moment, I think you will agree that we must act before Richard has the slightest idea that you may be pregnant. Have you had morning sickness?’
Bonnie shook her head. ‘That finished long before I came.’
‘Have you said anything to Dora and Cook?’
Bonnie shook her head.
‘When you came I proposed that you might stay until the end of January,’ Lady Brayfield continued, ‘but I overheard Dora mentioning to Cook that she thought you might be in the family way. They had no idea I was there, or I am sure they wouldn’t have said it. However, it’s left me wondering if you’ve said anything.’
‘No, Madam,’ cried Bonnie. ‘Honestly I haven’t.’
Lady Brayfield looked thoughtful.
‘I shall start looking for somewhere to live straight away,’ Bonnie said quickly. She was struggling with her emotions. She would be sad to leave this house and her generous employer, but she had no wish to cause any embarrassment.
‘Have you any idea what you would like to do?’
Bonnie smiled wistfully. ‘I always wanted to look after children,’ she said, ‘but it’s hard to imagine how I could with my own baby to look after.’ Her eyes were brimming with tears and she willed them not to fall. ‘I would like to try and keep the baby but if I can’t, I’ll have to let him go for adoption.’
‘It’s not widely known,’ Lady Brayfield said softly, ‘but the government has made provision for single women to keep their babies. Would you like me to make some enquiries?’
Bonnie’s face lit up. ‘Would that mean I could keep my baby?’
‘It won’t be easy,’ said Lady Brayfield. ‘You’ll have to find somewhere to live and you’ll probably have to run the gauntlet when it comes to mean-spirited judgemental moralists.’
‘I don’t care what people think,’ Bonnie said fiercely. ‘I made an honest mistake.’
‘Perhaps it might be better to pretend you had a husband who was killed.’
Bonnie looked thoughtful. Eventually she said, ‘I hate lies. My mother always said a liar had to have a good memory.’
‘Your mother sounds like a remarkable woman,’ Lady Brayfield remarked. ‘Bonnie, are you sure that you couldn’t go back home?’
‘No,’ said Bonnie.
‘If it’s a question of the train fare …’
‘It’s not that. It’s the shame. I could never go home and shame my mother.’ She stood to leave.
‘Then I shall make some enquiries.’
‘May I ask one thing?’ Bonnie asked cautiously.
Lady Brayfield held her gaze.
‘May I ask why you are helping me like this?’
‘You remind me of someone I once knew,’ said Lady Brayfield turning towards the drinks cabinet. Keeping her back to Bonnie, she reached for the sherry and Bonnie knew she would not be drawn further.
As Bonnie opened the sitting room door she hesitated.
‘Is there something else, Bonnie?’
‘Thank you,’ she said, and the two women smiled.
‘By the way,’ Bonnie reminded her, ‘I’m taking Richard to buy some Christmas presents. We plan to go to Selfridges after school.’
Lady Brayfield nodded. ‘Does he have enough money?’
‘He’s saved almost £5 of his own pocket money,’ said Bonnie closing the door softly.
As she walked upstairs, it occurred to her that she would have to use some of her precious savings to buy presents for Lady Brayfield, Richard, Dora and Cook. She groaned inwardly but the moment the thought skittered through her mind, she was eaten up with guilt. How could she resent buying gifts for the very people who had been so kind to her? Wasn’t giving to others what Christmas was all about?
When the Christmas cards started to arrive at the house, Bonnie decided that she would at least send a card to her mother and sister. Woolworth’s had single cards, and she’d bought one. She didn’t have to put her address on it and even if her mother saw the London postmark, London was a very big place.
Alone in her room, Bonnie got the card out again but she couldn’t think what to write inside. Was it wise to rake up all those memories? Her mother would most likely have settled back down to normal life. What right had she to upset her again? How different everything had been last Christmas when she and Rita had put up the decorations together. They hadn’t been up to much. The same things had been up and down for all the Christmases Bonnie could remember. ‘I’ll get you some new ones next year, Mum,’ she’d promised.
‘Get some pretty ones with plenty of glitter,’ Rita had said.
A lump formed in Bonnie’s throat. She wouldn’t be keeping her promise and she wouldn’t see the old ones going up either. Sick at heart, Bonnie wrote a short note inside, addressed the envelope and stuck on a stamp, but she put the Christmas card in a drawer.
Six
As a Saturday girl, it was left to Rita to put the dresses back on hangers in the department once the customers had tried them on. It was also her responsibility to make sure each customer was given a chiffon scarf to put over her face so that she didn’t get powder or lipstick on the dresses. Most of Hubbard’s clients were happy to comply with the rule but occasionally she would get a complaint. Miss Bridewell usually handled that, and although she was politeness itself, somehow the customer knew not to argue with her if she wanted to try the dress on.
As well as Miss Bridewell, there were three other girls in the department: Sonja, a petite brunette with very high heels; Susan, a rather timid girl with bitten-down nails who seemed terrified of Miss Bridewell; and Dinah Chamberlain. Dinah was a little older than the others. She had been Bonnie’s best friend when she worked at Hubbard’s. She worked as the mannequin and spent all day modelling the clothes. She only came back into the department when she wanted to change her outfit for something else.
At the first opportunity, Rita was determined to talk to the girls about her sister. It was now December 6th, a whole month since Bonnie had left home. She still hadn’t told her mother about George but then what was there to tell? Bonnie had been frugal with
