Catherine Cookson by Justice Is A Woman

Author:Justice Is A Woman
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Published: 2011-08-27T22:40:55+00:00

PART FOUR

Between the years 1931 and 1938 the atmosphere in the house changed yet again. Whereas during the year the little girl had lived, the feeling of pity and compassion had been overall, and even after Elaine’s first breakdown there had been added deep concern and un stinting love, from the day of the pit accident, compassion and love had been swept away, never to return.

It took a year for Elaine to recover from her relapse, but the pattern of life for Joe did not change; there remained the ever-present probability of further relapses, and so he had no need to make excuses about refusing invitations, or even about him and Elaine being seen together.

As time went on, it was imagined by many that Elaine’s frequent trips to London were really sojourns in private clinics, but here they were wrong. She did stay in London, but she enjoyed her trips there, and she made no bones about telling Betty that but for these breaks her life would be intolerable. And on this, Betty agreed with her.

Betty’s existence over the years had followed much the same pattern as previously, the only change being the length of her stays with Lady Ambers; they were sometimes extended to a month, for the old lady was now much more frail, though only; it should be said, in her body, for her mind was as alert as ever, and Betty often felt like succumbing to her persuasive attempts to get her to leave the house altogether .. But then, there was the boy, and Mike ..

and Joe. Hardly a day went by but Mike expressed his need of her; and, in a less demonstrative way, so did Joe.

Elaine still needed her too, for she had to have someone to whom she could talk and recount the details of her visits to London; and, of course, she needed someone to take care of her son in her absence.

That Elaine loved her son, Betty had no doubt, and she seemed to prove this by demanding that he be in her company for every moment after he came home from school. The only time she didn’t want him near her was when he had his screaming fits. And of late these had increased. On three occasions this last week he had raised the house in the middle of the night and had lain in a lather of sweat and fear. Even so, Betty hoped they would never indicate to the boy the real reason for his nightmares, for she felt that Martin was such a sensitive boy that a revelation of that kind could be very harmful to him.

The doctor had said he believed that Martin would grow out of his problem, but over seven years had passed since the first one and the fits of screaming were still as intense as they had been on that first night; and now that he was growing rapidly and was very tall for his age, the fits eemed to take their toll of his strength.

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