Comfort Me With Apples by Elizabeth Murphy

Author:Elizabeth Murphy
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Canelo Books
Published: 2019-04-28T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Fourteen

Anna and her aunt spent most of Thursday baking in preparation for Dorrie and Michael’s visit but they were constantly interrupted by demands and complaints from the pseudo-invalid upstairs.

‘Even your young legs must be aching with all this running up and downstairs,’ Clara said finally and at the next fretful cry of ‘Anna’ she stumped upstairs.

‘What do you want now?’ she demanded.

‘I want Anna,’ Mrs Furlong said sulkily.

‘She’s in the middle of some very tricky baking. You want us to be ready for Dorrie, don’t you?’ Clara said bluntly. When her sister-in-law nodded she said, ‘Then stop calling Anna every five minutes. We’ve got work to do. And another thing, the doctor said to rest so you’d be ready for Dorrie, not be lying in bed when she comes home.’

‘I exhausted myself. The doctor said so,’ Mrs Furlong wailed.

Clara said roughly, ‘And you want Dorrie to think that and feel guilty?’

‘No, no, I wouldn’t upset my darling girl for the world. She loves me so,’ she said, dabbing her eyes, ‘but I still feel weak.’

Clara made an impatient gesture but she said, ‘Stay here until tomorrow morning, then. Anna can bring up a tray shortly but you must stop bothering us,’ and Mrs Furlong meekly agreed.

Later Anna took up a tray containing a pot of tea, a large jug of herb tea and a wine glass and a generous helping of ham, bread and butter and fruit cake. She was in a fever of impatience for a call from Mrs O’Brien and thought this should stop her mother asking for her.

It was seven o’clock before a small boy delivered a note. Anna told her aunt she was going to see Mrs O’Brien and left immediately. She worried that she might have to see Mr D’Arcy but it seemed he had already left.

Anna and Mrs O’Brien sat together on a sofa at one side of the fire and Dr O’Brien sat facing them.

‘I don’t like to talk about such things to a girl with your upbringing, Anna,’ he began, ‘but Maureen tells me she’s prepared you. I’ll tell you straight out. When we got there he was gone. Gone with this wealthy old blackguard. An MP and pillar of society so at least they’ll try to hush it up.’

‘God forgive him. Poor Eugene,’ Mrs O’Brien murmured, taking Anna’s hand.

‘Poor Eugene!’ Dr O’Brien exploded, jumping to his feet. ‘He’s a grown man. He knew what he was doing.’

‘But the temptation, Paddy. Being pulled two ways. You have to pity him.’

‘I don’t!’ shouted Dr O’Brien. ‘I don’t have to pity him or forgive him either for the deceit. Pretending to be in love with this poor girl to pull the wool over our eyes. I had my doubts about him but when I thought he was in love, planning marriage…’ He picked up the poker and rattled it furiously against the bars of the grate.

‘It was all a plot, a scheme to get at my money,’ he went on. ‘D’Arcy let out more than he realised on the way to London and I got more out of him.

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