“Mama?” Sybil’s voice sounded through the phone. “How are you doing?”
Cora had curled herself up in one of Rosamund’s comfortable chairs. Yesterday she went to a doctor in London, the coughing seemed to worsen. She got some different medication to help loosen the mucus in her lungs and the order to make daily walks to activate her lungs. This way, the mucus would be easier to cough up. “Not much better, but I hope that the new medication is going to work.” She told Sybil everything about her doctor’s visit and the advice she got. Cora knew how interested Sybil was in everything medical. “How are things at home?”
It stayed silent for a second, Cora heard Sybil breathe in. “You are missed.” She said.
Cora felt her heart ache. She could imagine how Robert was feeling and behaving. Was he eating? She suddenly thought, and was he able to sleep? The last part was hard on her end, too. Every night, images of Robert and Jane haunted her.
“Mama?” Sybil said cautiously. “Why did you leave Papa?”
Cora swallowed. She could have known, Sybil would figure out, that it was not just for her health that she went to Rosamund. “I did not leave your Papa sweetheart.”
“Is it because of Tom and me?” Sybil continued.
“What? Oh no, no, no, no. It is not that sweety.” Cora wished she could wrap her arms around her little girl. “Your Papa and I are not fighting because of who you love. Darling, do not worry, Papa will get used to having Tom in our lives.”
“If it is not that, why are you not coming home?” Sybil’s voice cracked.
Cora felt a tear rolling down her cheek. “Darling, I need a bit more time before I can come back.” She paused for a second. “You know what, why are you not coming here for the weekend?”
She could hear Sybil cheer up. “That is a wonderful idea, I will tell Papa and pack my bag immediately.”
“And Rosamund will pick you up from the station, just let us know when you will arrive.”
“Can Mary and Edith come too? We will make a girls weekend out of it.”
Cora chuckled, “If they want to.” She could not see Mary going on a trip together with Edith, but who knew.
“Are you ready for a walk?” Rosamund popped her head around the corner. She spooked Cora. “Look at you, you cannot go for a walk all wrapped up in a blanket.” Rosamund continued.
“Sybil, darling, let us know when you arrive, and we will be there, I need to hang up. My drill master is urging me outside.” Cora joked and gave Rosamund a smile. “See you in three days.”
Sybil’s voice sounded serious. “But that advice of the doctor is very good. You need to listen and go for that walk. You will feel better, I promise.”
“Doctors orders, come on.” Rosamund insisted.
+++
“Are you all going to London tomorrow?” Robert said surprised, they were all sitting at the dinner table. Violet had come to join them.
“Not me, Papa.” Mary said. “I do not have time, Mama can decide to leave this house, but we have so much work for the next events left.”
“Mama is in London for her health, Mary you know that this is not fair.” Edith said defensive.
“We are not all, that stupidly naïf as you are, Edith.” Mary sneered back.
“Well, well, girls. Watch your manners.” Violet said. She turned to Robert. “Cora is in London to recover, is she not?”
Robert nodded. “She is.” He could not say more without his voice breaking. What if Cora wanted a divorce? How was he going to deal with the girls. Where would the girls go, were they going to stay here, or follow Cora? And where would Cora go? All her family lived in America. He almost gasped. What if she left for America. He would never see her again. His mother noticed his shock.
“Girls, you can go through, your Papa, and I will follow.” Violet said, urging the girls out of the dining room.
“But we have not had desert yet.” Edith complained.
“You can eat that in the drawing room, now chop chop.”
Once Mary and Edith left the room, Violet turned towards Robert. “And now you are going to tell me what is wrong.”
Robert did not look up. He twirled the wine that was still in his glass. “Cora’s lungs are not improving. Rosamund told me that they went to a doctor to get her checked out again.”
“Robert, if Cora’s health was that bad, you would be there with her. No, there is something else.”
Robert sighed.
“I noticed that you did not eat much, and you drink a lot. Now, I know you long enough to know something is wrong. The girls are in a different room, there is no staff around. You can tell me.”
He could tell her. How, he could not even tell Cora. Let alone his mother. There was a small chance that Violet would support him, because she still treated Cora as if she did not know how to run this household.
“I am waiting.” Violet said.
Robert looked up. “Cora and I have to figure some things out, and it was better for us that she would be away from here for a while.”
“So, you two are lying about her health towards your children and me?”
“Oh, no, Mama.” Robert raised his eyebrows in shock. “I wish her lungs were better, but unfortunately, they are not.”
“She could have stayed here. Our doctors are good, especially Dr. Clarkson.”
“Mama, it was better for her to go to London. We are it discussing this any further.”
“As you wish, you would rather talk about Tom?”
+++
Rosamund padded Cora’s back while she was leaning with her hand against a wall to steady herself. “The doctor was right. Walking helps loosen the crap in your lungs.” She offered Cora a tissue.
Cora used it gratefully and asked for a second one to blow her nose.
“As long as it is coming back every time, it does not help, does it?” Cora said, slightly annoyed. “Can we please start walking back? This is our second walk today, and I am exhausted.”
Rosamund hooked her arm in Cora’s and bumped her shoulder softly against Cora’s. “But it is keeping your mind of things, is it not?”
Cora had to admit. She had so many coughing fits during their walks that there was no time to mull over Robert’s escapades, and in the evening, she was now so tired that she fell asleep instantly.
Tomorrow Sybil and Edith would come. She had hoped to feel better and do something fun with them. She rarely did something with just her girls these days. They were growing up so fast. Sybil would soon leave their house. Once Mary would start dating Matthew, she would also leave soon. The only one who would stay was Edith, she thought, poor Edith, she always struggled with everything in life. Cora worried if she had given her enough attention in her younger years.
First, she had Mary, a first born is always difficult when Edith came, things were easier. Edith had been an easy baby who did not ask much, and it happened a lot that Cora’s attention went to Mary instead of Edith. Mary asked a lot of her time. Then came Sybil, her darling cuddly baby. She had loved soaking up her warmth, her small body wrapped around her chest. It took Robert and her quite some time before they finally held a healthy baby in their arms again. They never had a boy, Robert’s biggest wish. Her last pregnancy was unexpected, but more than welcome. Unfortunately, the little boy did not survive the hard stumble she made, stepping out of the bathtub.
Cora felt Rosamund grip strengthen on her arm. “Let’s have another coughing fit, it will stop your worrying.”
Both ladies laughed so hard that Cora ended up in an actual coughing fit.
Verhalen van Traan 