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.Toby pushed inside and stood looking at me grimly.“Mrs.Delvecchio Schwartz sent me down,” he said.“I wanted to know about Pappy, but she wouldn’t tell me, and Pappy’s not home.”I went to make coffee, scowling at him.“Here, let me do it,” he said, shoving me out of the way.“I want to know what’s the matter with Pappy, you concentrate on that.”So I told him.He listened painfully, grinding his teeth and beating his fist on the counter.“I’m going to find that bastard and wallop him to death!”“Before you do, you’d better listen to Mrs.Delvecchio Schwartz on the subject,” I said, hiding my face in my mug.“Pappy doesn’t want a single hair on Ezra’s head harmed, she’s determined to protect him at all costs, including her baby.She refuses to sue him for child support, or inform his wife-anything that might upset the Marsupial apple cart! And Mrs.Delvecchio Schwartz will rub salt into that wound by telling you that you’re not Pappy’s husband, father, brother, uncle or cousin, so you have absolutely no right to say or do a thing.”“Isn’t love a good enough excuse?” he asked.“Pappy has no one of her own blood left.If we don’t look after her, who will?”“We are looking after her, Toby, in the way she wants us to,” I said quietly.“The damage is done, and thank God for Duncan Forsythe.If she’s not next door, then she’s already gone to the sanatorium-and no, I don’t know its name or where it is, because Duncan wouldn’t tell me.Nor can you breathe a word about this to anyone, so mind your temper! And if you yap to Harold Warner as you meet on the way in-even thinking to throw dust in his eyes-I swear, Toby Evans, that I’ll castrate you! That evil little man is nobody’s fool, and he’s dangerous.”But I doubt he heard a word I said, he was so upset.And he bitterly resented the fact that Duncan could help more than he could.I felt for him terribly.What he musthave gone through over Pappy and Ezra is something I find hard to think about.The second mug of coffee calmed him down a bit, he recovered enough to look me up and down withcontempt?“You look very satisfied,” he said harshly.“Satisfied? What do you mean?”“Pappy’s plight notwithstanding, you look as if, once the big surgeon had tidied Pappy’s future up, you and he had a fine old time of it,” he sneered.I whacked him with my open hand so hard that he staggered.“Don’t you dare come the judge of me!” I whispered.“Don’t you damned well dare! Or come the judge of Duncan Forsythe either, for that matter! Your whole trouble is that you resent other people being able to do more for Pappy than you can yourself! Well, that’s too bloody bad! Live with it, don’t take it out on me! “He was so white that the mark of my hand stood out on his skin like a naevus.“I’m sorry,” he said stiffly.“You’re right.Don’t worry, I’ll live with it.”I put my arm across his shoulders and gave him a quick hug.He returned it, slid out from under my arm, grinned at me and was gone.Not a good start to the day.I had to go to Sister Agatha’s office and explain that Pappy would be away for two weeks.“This is most irregular, Miss Purcell!” she said.“Why did Nurse Sutama not report to sick bay?”“She went to her local practitioner,” I lied.“I expect he refers his patients to places like Vinnie’s and private hospitals in the Eastern Suburbs.” Oh, why does everybody have to make it so complicated?“That is immaterial, Miss Purcell.Nurse Sutama is Staff and therefore entitled to a Queens bed no matter who her physician is.She would simply have been transferred to the care of one of our own Honorarieswho, as I am sure I do not need to remind you-are the very best.”I persevered.“Sister Toppingham, truly I cannot give you any more information.All I know is that Nurse Sutama preferred to remain under the care of her own practitioner.”“Most, most irregular!” Sister Agatha clucked, giving me a horribly shrewd glance from those pale blue eyes.She smells a rat, I’m sure of it.A starchy old biddy she might be, but you can’t be in command of a small army of young women for thirty years without realising that sometimes one and one add up to a total of three.“I apologise, Sister,” I said, giving the standard answer.“Quite all right, Miss Purcell, quite all right.” She bent to look at the papers on her desk.“You may go.”I walked into another catastrophe, though of a routine kind.Disorientated patient, Harriet Purcell’s soothing skills required.Luckily things died down about an hour later, and we sat to have a cup of tea.Sister Cas joined us-thewedding draws ever closer.But Chris had a bone to pick with me first.“Why were you late?” she demanded:“I had to report to Sister Agatha.Pappy’s still sick.” “What’s the matter?”“Nothing much, but her local doctor’s put her into hospital.”“Poor little beggar! Which hospital is she in, Vinnie’s or Sydney? Marie and I will call in on our way home.”“You can’t.She’s in a sanatorium in the country.” Chris and Marie exchanged a glance of complete comprehension and changed the subject to the wedding.Thank God that Pappy isn’t involved with someone on the staff! Chris and Sister Cas were all right, but the news of Pappy’s sudden illness will go on the grapevine for sure.Everybody knows her, she’s been a fixture in X-ray for thirteen years.Chris and Sister Cas gave me a fit of the willies, I can tell you.It’s one thing to think vaguely about the prospect of discovery, even to decide you don’t care about discovery, but when suddenly discovery stares you in the face because a beloved friend’s business is going to become public property-oh, that puts the world in perspective!What i f Mum and Dad found out? God in heaven, I’d die if Mum and Dad thought their daughter was a homewrecker! Because if Cathy E finds out, that’s what I’ll be branded.A homewrecker.Saturday September 17th, 1960When Duncan arrived at noon today, I broke it off.“I just can’t bear the suspense,” I tried to explain without going into details like the hospital grapevine and walloping Toby for making nasty remarks
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