‘Oh, it’s kind of exciting though, isn’t it?’ Juliet squealed. ‘I know war is terrible and all that, but all those soldiers going off to fight nasty Mr Hitler is kind of glamorous. Don’t you think?’
Her father interrupted her, uncharacteristically harsh. ‘Don’t be so stupid, Juliet. There is nothing exciting or glamorous about war. It’s just bloody and destructive and destroys lives and property. I can’t believe you would say something so silly, especially given what happened to Jeremy. Anyway, we are a neutral country, so even if there is a war, it won’t be anything to do with us, thank God.’ Richard’s face was white with rage.
Everyone was looking at him in dismay. He never spoke in this tone to anyone, even the most irritating of his patients.
Juliet just stammered, ‘Solange, je suis désolée, I should not have said that, I’m sorry Daddy…’ Her voice trailed off.
Richard looked at his stricken daughter and guilt flooded through him. He took her hand across the table, instantly contrite for upsetting her.
‘No pet, I’m sorry. It’s just I saw so many young people the last time thinking it was going to be all medals and victory dances and it was…it was… There are no words.’ He couldn’t finish. Though Richard encouraged his war veteran patients to deal psychologically with what they’d seen and experienced, he did the complete opposite himself; he simply never spoke about it and, in as much as it was possible, tried not to think about it. Seeing it all happen again, watching the conflict in Europe build with every passing week, was bringing it all back to him. Thank God, de Valera was keeping Ireland neutral. He couldn’t bear the thought of James joining up. He was beginning to understand the terror his parents had felt when he had decided to go to France in 1916. With the thoughtlessness of youth, he had not concerned himself with their fears, thinking them old and fussy. Now, as a father himself, he couldn’t even consider the prospect of his children being involved in any kind of war, suffering the deprivation that conflict brings, having someone point a gun at them, trying to kill them. Killing them. It gave him a pain in his chest even thinking about it.
Solange broke the silence, ‘Ah, Juliet, my darling girl, I am so happy you think this way, maybe that is how I thought when I was a young girl like you, too. Your papa and I, we have seen too much in the last war. They were terrible times, and if you had been there, you would never be the same again. We are not angry with you, you are young and only see the good in things, and this is how it should be. I pray you never have to find out what war is really like. I hope that they will find a way of dealing with this Hitler. Maybe it was not right to blame Germany for everything in the last war. They have been left with nothing, and this is dangerous. But they were so cruel; I find it hard to forgive them, even now. Jeremy always said he liked the Germans before the last time. War makes people do things they would not ordinarily do. You and he went there on a holiday once, didn’t you, Richard? He said it was a walking holiday, but I think it might have been more of a beer-drinking holiday! I wish so much that you could have known Jeremy, he would have been delighted with you both, would he not, Richard?’
Effortlessly, Solange lifted the mood and did as she always did – made everything all right.
‘Oh, he really would, he was so much livelier than me, ye would have had great fun with him,’ Richard agreed.
‘Ah, you’re not so bad.’ James gave him a playful punch on the shoulder. ‘Did you really go to Germany? You never told us.’
‘Yes, it was in 1913, in the summer. Of course, it was Jeremy’s idea, but we had a great time. It’s a beautiful country, Germany, you know? And really friendly, too. It was so hard for me to believe they were the same people capable of such savagery. I don’t mean on the battlefield, that was just war, but in the way they treated the French in the villages and towns they occupied. It was hard to comprehend how men – fathers, brothers, sons – how they could be so unfeeling.’
Juliet was uncharacteristically quiet during the meal, and Richard looked at his daughter, feeling ashamed that his words had deflated her so much. Wanting to restore the buoyant mood of earlier, he asked brightly, ‘So, what’s the plan for the next few weeks? Seamus Hickey has been watching the swallows and all indications are telling him there’s a fine warm spell coming. I met Mrs Dalton in the shop by the way – she asked when you were coming home.’
Juliet obliged with a knowing smile. ‘Daddy, you know well the only reason she was asking was so that big lump of an eejit Danny Dalton can waltz up here, thinking that he’s God’s gift to women and whisk me away to the dance in Skibb.’
‘Would that be so bad?’ her father asked, a hint of an answering smile playing on his lips.
‘Are you serious? Danny Dalton is a spoiled mammy’s boy and I’ve no more interest in him than in the man on the moon.’
Mrs Canty piped up from the stove, ‘Dead right too, Juliet. All them Daltons are a bit cracked. Sure, his Uncle Connie, his father’s brother, is above in the county home, convinced the Blessed Virgin is living in the snug of Sheehan’s pub in the village. I’ll tell you this for nothing, there was never yet a Dalton that was the full shilling as the years went on. You’d be landed with him then, Juliet, and he rambling and doddery. Sure anyway, every young lad in the parish will be up now that they know you’re back.’
‘Will ye all lay off her,’ James said, ever ready to defend his twin. ‘Juliet has no interest in any of those fellas. She is setting her sights much higher, imagining all the lads she’ll meet up in the university.’
Juliet glared at her brother.
They’d talked on the train to Skibbereen about their plans and had both agreed that telling their father straight out what they wanted to do was the best way. They knew Solange would back them up and that even if their father was against their chosen careers, then it was better to be open and honest about their dreams. Still, this wasn’t the best way to approach it, especially on their first night back and everyone so pleased to see them. Things had gone badly when the subject of war came up, so best leave anything contentious alone for the moment. She had intended to wait a few days, to get her father on his own and explain quietly, in private. This was not the plan, blurting it out like this.
James, however, seemed determined. ‘Yes, we were talking on the way down. She’ll make a wonderful doctor, don’t you think, Dad?’ he asked, his face a picture of innocence.
Richard glanced at Solange for advice on how to handle this. She was, however, paying very close attention to spoon out the last traces of the delicious apple crumble and custard Mrs Canty had made.
‘Well…mhmm… It’s…it’s not really a suitable career for a lady, is it really? Lots of blood and infected toenails and that sort of thing. I’m sure Juliet has no interest in spending a life paring corns or examining varicose veins.’ He finished with a laugh.
Juliet stared intently at him. When she spoke, it was with the steely determination he remembered so vividly from her childhood.
‘I don’t see why not, Daddy. If it’s a good enough career for you, why not for me? I want to study to be a doctor. I thought you’d be pleased. Proud of me, even. Obviously I was wrong. Perhaps the height of your ambition for me is marriage to the likes of Danny Dalton and a big brood of kids and never leaving the parish so I’ll look after you in your old age. Was that your plan, Daddy? Well, I’m sorry to disappoint you but that won’t be happening.’
Juliet’s voice was shaking with emotion. She pushed her chair back from the table and made for the door. Before exiting the kitchen, she turned.
‘And by the way, James doesn’t want to do medicine; he’s going to study art. So now, nothing is working out as you planned, is it?’ She slammed the door behind her.
Silence descended on the room, the clock ticking loudly on the mantle. After what seemed to Solange to be an interminable delay, Richard spoke.
‘Is this true?’ he asked his son quietly.
James hesitated, less
confident about his own talents than his sister’s. ‘I think so. I’ve always loved art, even since I was little and the brother that taught it at school, Brother Jerome, said I was good enough to earn a living from it.’
‘And what kind of income do you expect to earn from drawing pictures? James, for God’s sake, be reasonable. Art is all well and fine for the aristocracy or for women whose husbands will provide for them but do you intend to marry, have a family someday? Because let me tell you something, rearing children doesn’t come cheap and painting pictures won’t put food on the table or shoes on their feet.’
James’s reaction was typical of him and the opposite of his sister’s. Calmly, he said, ‘Dad, you know that good doctors are born not made. You were born that way, everyone says it, with that need to fix people in you – you had it from you father. From what Solange has told me about Jeremy, he had it too, in spades. The thing is, Dad, I don’t. I could do the work at college, and maybe pass the exams, but I wouldn’t make a good doctor, I just wouldn’t. I’d spend all my time painting in my head. Juliet is fiery and a bit wild sometimes, we all know that, but she longs to help people and make everything right. She would make a great doctor if you just gave her the chance.’
He kept his voice steady, not pleading, but not belligerent either.
‘I want to paint. Will I make any money at it? Who knows? If I don’t, I’ll get a job doing something else to pay the bills. I won’t be asking you for handouts if that’s what you’re thinking. You wanted to go off and join the Great War, and you told me yourself Nana and Granddad were dead set against it, but you went anyhow because you knew what was right for you. Juliet and I, we’re the same. We know what we want, or at least we want the chance to try it, anyway. Is that too much to ask?’
Richard didn’t answer, and James quietly got up from the table. ‘Thanks for a lovely dinner, Mrs Canty, it was delicious,’ he said, kissing her on the cheek. Approaching Solange, he bent to kiss her, too. ‘Good night, Solange.’
‘Bonne nuit, James,’ she said, patting his hand.
Mrs Canty used his departure to make her escape too. She’d not seen Richard so miserable-looking since that tinker of a wife of his took off, good riddance to her.
Solange poured two small brandies and placed one in front of Richard.
‘No thank you, Solange.’
‘Drink it,’ she replied. ‘It will do you good.’
They sat in silence sipping their drinks, the house going quiet around them.
‘Now what?’ Richard broke the silence. ‘Do I just allow James to throw his life away on some foolish notion? Or send Juliet up to Cork to train as a doctor so she can have a lifetime of examining farmers’ prostates and children’s snotty noses?’
Solange smiled gently at him. ‘You can see why she’s upset though, can’t you? It was always the plan that your son would take over the practice, and you would have been delighted to see James doing all those things – but it’s not suitable for Juliet? James is right; you do know that, don’t you? You cannot make a doctor, not really. The good ones are born for it, as you were, as Jeremy was, but James? No.’
‘But Solange, that’s this week, you know what young people are like. Change their minds as often as their socks. It will probably be some new figarie next week.’
‘Perhaps,’ Solange agreed, ‘but I don’t think so. Would it really be so terrible to see Juliet qualify as a doctor? You often said in many cases women might make better doctors, especially for female patients – so why not Juliet? James will be guided by you, but Juliet is stubborn. She might just decide she’s going anyway.’
‘Not without the money for fees, she won’t. No, it’s wrong for her. She wouldn’t stick it, she’s not one for the books, you know that,’ Richard said, draining his glass. ‘Good night, Solange.’
He made for the door and with his hand on the handle, he turned.
‘I know you have their best interests at heart, so please don’t encourage these fantasies they are both having. If we stick to our guns, they’ll come round and see sense.’
Solange looked at the closed door and wondered what she should do. Richard was so distant sometimes that trying to talk to him was very difficult. Juliet didn’t lick her stubbornness off a stone, as Mrs Canty said. Moreover, he had a point. She was sure his objections to her studying medicine didn’t stem from the old-fashioned belief that women shouldn’t be doctors, but more from his correct perception that Juliet wasn’t particularly academic. The nuns had had great difficulty getting her to study anything except music and French. Also, Solange wondered if he was afraid of history repeating itself if Juliet did manage to qualify. Wars needed doctors. Yet he’d been happy to let James study medicine. Perhaps he believed James was steady, and would stay in Dunderrig and not go seeking adventure. Some solution would have to be found.
Chapter 11
The following morning dawned bright and sunny and both twins woke early. Meeting on the stairs, they decided to get a quick breakfast and head out for the fields to discuss the events of last night out of earshot.
James knew Juliet had been crying, but he didn’t mention it. He knew she liked the world to think she was tougher than she really was. Besides, he had something he wanted to talk to her about.
Luckily, their father had morning surgery and had finished his breakfast before they arrived into the kitchen. Mrs Canty was baking bread as they entered.
‘Well, if it isn’t the greatest pair of cafflers God ever put in shoes. Your Daddy is in wicked form this morning with the shenanigans of the pair of ye. Juliet, you have his heart broken. And James, a painter no less! Well, I don’t know, but I hope for yeer sakes Solange is able to talk him around because he went out to surgery this morning like a divil. I’m glad ’tisn’t my corns he’s looking at today, I can tell you!’
Despite her words of admonishment, they knew Mrs Canty was only half serious. She, like Solange, would always defend them to their father as she had done since they were babies.
‘Now what’ll ye have? A few rashers and an egg maybe?’
Both twins were anxious to get away and so refused the offer of a cooked breakfast, wolfing down soda bread slathered with hand-churned butter and Mrs Canty’s own blackberry jam and large mugs of tea.
‘See you later, Mrs C,’ they chorused as they left by the double doors that led into the stone courtyard.
Neither of them spoke until they’d climbed the fence into the long field. Instinctively, they made their way to the large copper beech that dominated the emerald green landscape surrounding it. Often as children, they sat facing each other on a high solid branch from which they could see the azure sea twinkling in the distance.
Agile as ever, they clambered up.
‘I just can’t stand the way he just issues a decree like some kind of Caesar, and that’s that. We all have to bow and scrape, the Master has spoken…’ Juliet was still outraged at what she saw as her father high-handedness. ‘It’s not like he did what Nana and Granddad told him either, it’s so hypocritical and…’
‘I got a letter from Edith,’ James interrupted. ‘Did you? It was waiting here for me, but the name and address were typed, I suppose so no one would guess who sent it.’
Juliet’s shocked expression answered his question.
‘What did she want?’ she asked finally.
James pulled the letter from his pocket and handed it to his sister.
‘I’m sure she meant it for both of us. I think she just posted it to me because…well, because it saved her the price of a stamp, I suppose.’
‘No, because she always preferred you to me, that’s why.’ Juliet’s reply was matter-of-fact. ‘Dear James,’ she read aloud, then laughed a little shrilly. ‘God, she’s got mad writing, hasn’t she? For one that was all about neatness. Remember her plaguing us about our clothes?’
She shivered, and continued: ‘Dear James, I know it must come as a surprise to hear from
me after so long, but I felt that I should stay away while you and your sister were still young, rather than risk upsetting and confusing you. I have no idea what your father has told you about me, but I would like to meet you both, to explain my side of things, as it were. Do either of you ever come to Dublin? If you do, or if you could make the journey without too much trouble, I would like to meet you both for tea, perhaps in the Shelbourne. I look forward to hearing from you. Fondly, your mother, Edith. Fondly!’ She was ready to explode. ‘Is she serious? Nothing for years, not since we were small and now this?’
James said nothing.
Juliet squinted at him in the bright sunlight, raking his face for a reaction. His blond hair curled lightly on his neck and his green eyes were as emerald as her own. She knew exactly what was going on in his head.
‘You’re thinking we should see her, aren’t you? Please tell me you’re not serious.’
‘Well, I think we should talk about it at least. She is our mother,’ he replied quietly. ‘Aren’t you even a bit curious as to what happened? Daddy won’t say, and Mrs Canty just starts ranting until Solange stops her. Remember when we were about ten and Katie McCarthy told us our mother left because Daddy was in love with Solange and we came home all upset? Solange put us right about that, but she never really explained what actually happened. I just think there is something that we weren’t told, and I’d like to know what it is. This is the only way we’ll find out.’
‘Jesus, James, do we have to? I don’t remember much, but what I do remember is all bad. I don’t really care why she left, and it’s not like we’ve had a rotten life without her. Solange was a better mother to us than she could ever have been. Why can’t we leave well enough alone? Not to mention Daddy would have a fit if we told him we were meeting her. God knows we’re in enough trouble as it is without giving him any more reasons to be angry with us.’
Juliet felt in her jacket pocket for her cigarettes and a match. James knew that despite her bravado, she adored their father and hated being on the wrong side of him.
Jean Grainger Box Set: So Much Owed, Shadow of a Century, Under Heaven's Shining Stars Page 10
