Hope - Lesley Pearse [243]
‘You just wait till she’s a bit bigger,’ Nell said as she laid Betsy down on a towel and removed the sodden napkin. ‘You’ll find it hard to deal with the washing. But come on, get that letter read; I want to hear his news.’
Hope sat back down and opened the envelope. It was only one page, and at the second line she blanched.
‘Oh no,’ she gasped. ‘Bennett’s sick.’
She continued to read, and when she’d finished she dropped the letter in her lap and covered her face in her hands.
‘Tell me?’ Nell said, hastily putting Betsy back in her crib and moving to drop on her knees in front of her sister. ‘What does the letter say?’
‘You read it, I can’t. I think he must be dead.’
Nell picked up the letter and took it over to the window for better light.
‘Dear Hope,’ she read.
I hope you are well and that the baby has arrived by now, I also
fervently hope that Bennett is now home with you and recovering his
health. I have just got back from being off with the cavalry for a
while, and of course I went looking for him only to be told he’d been
taken sick with fever. By the time I got down to the hospital he’d
already been sent off to Scutari.
Nell stopped reading when she heard Hope wail. ‘It’s all right, my love.’ Nell dropped the letter and moved over to comfort her sister. ‘He doesn’t say Bennett’s dead, only that he was sent off because he was sick.’
‘That letter is dated 20 August,’ Hope sobbed. ‘Bennett had already been ill for a while then – if he’s alive, why hasn’t he written?’
‘You know how erratic the post is from there,’ Nell said soothingly. ‘Bad news travels faster than good, we all know that. If he’d died you would have heard.’
‘You don’t know what it’s like there,’ Hope insisted. ‘Men die all the time and sometimes no one knows who they are.’
‘But he’s an officer,’ Nell said firmly. ‘They don’t lose them!’
Hope looked up at Nell with fear-filled eyes. ‘They took him to Scutari, Nell. That place is a hell-hole, everyone knows that. He’s dead. He’s never coming back to me.’
Chapter Twenty-five
Nell woke with a start, sat up and fumbled for the candle. Betsy was screaming and it was clear that once again Hope wasn’t going to move to comfort her.
It had been this way for days now, and Nell was at the end of her tether. She got out of bed, pulled a shawl over her shoulders, and taking the candle, padded barefoot across the landing into Hope’s room.
‘There, there, my little love,’ she said as she scooped the baby up into her arms. ‘Nell’s got you now.’
Betsy was soaking wet and clearly very hungry, sucking at her little fists.
Nell stripped off the wet nightgown and napkin and replaced them with dry ones, then moved closer to the bed. Hope was just the same way she’d been for days, lying flat on her back, staring into space, seemingly unaware of anything.
‘You must feed Betsy,’ Nell said.
When Hope didn’t reply, or even look at her, Nell called her name, tugged at her arm and repeated her request, louder this time. There was still no response.
‘What will Bennett say if he comes back and finds his child half-starved?’ Nell said angrily. ‘You are her mother, for God’s sake!’
‘He won’t come back. He’s dead.’
An icy shudder ran down Nell’s spine at the cold and expressionless tone of her sister’s voice.
‘If he is dead, then all the more reason for you to take care of his baby,’ Nell spat at her. ‘Sit up this minute and put her to your breast.’
Betsy began to scream again; even in the gloom of one candle Nell could see that her face was almost purple with rage.
‘You are inhuman. This little scrap wants nothing more than your milk. You can lie there for as long as you like feeling sorry for yourself, but you’ll feed her first.’
Nell put the child down on the bed and wrenched Hope’s nightdress open. Her breasts were as big as melons, the veins standing out because they were so engorged with milk. ‘You will let her feed. I won’t stand by and let you be so selfish.’
She picked up Betsy and put her to Hope’s breast. She latched on hungrily, but still Hope didn’t attempt to cradle her in her arms,