Julia was watching the scenery as the New York Central Railway train continued its journey to the American city. She had needed a break from Toronto, a break from William, and more importantly a break from seeing him and Enid Jones together. There was a difference between knowing William was courting Mrs. Jones and actually witnessing it. The telegraph case had given her ample opportunity to see their burgeoning romance. It had become quickly obvious to Julia that William had definitively moved on. She had sent a telegram to Ruby informing her of her arrival.
Julia had been on the platform for several minutes when she finally saw Ruby. A half smile came to her face. She was late… as usual. Ruby ran to her and gave her a big hug. Ruby stepped back, looked at her older sister, guessed correctly, and without any hesitation blurted out:
"What did that bastard copper do you to Jules?"
Julia shook her head and laughed. The way she was feeling right now, only Ruby could make her laugh, and she had managed it on her first utterance. Yes visiting Ruby had been a good idea.
"Oh Ruby, William is of legal birth and you know it."
Ruby noticed that Julia had not denied that something had happened. She looked around the busy train station.
"Let's get you home. You look exhausted."
Julia responded with a sad smile: "Well I've not been sleeping well of late."
Ruby's heart went out to her sister. Unlike most people, she knew there was more to Julia Ogden than the successful career woman persona she displayed to the world. Her success had come at a cost; a cost that seemed to demand payment every so often. She linked her arm with her older sister and led her out of the station.
"Well Julia, you made a good decision to come here. This time I promise you, we will have so much fun."
And fun they did have. The fortnight Julia spent in New York was filled with parties and many an evening, the two sisters would only make it home in the early hours of the morning. Ruby had even come home alone on a handful of times. Last night had been such an occasion. Ruby was having her morning coffee by the time Julia walked in the door. Julia went to the kitchen, poured herself a cup and sat down at the table in front of her sister. Ruby, without saying a word, got up, went to her bedroom, came back with a small box which she put in front of Julia.
"Here, have mine. At the rate you're going, you'll run out soon, and trust me, with some of these men; you definitely do not want to go without."
Julia blushed as she looked at her sister. She picked up the box and absently looked at it. Lost in her memories she said nothing for a while. Finally, she lifted her head and looked at Ruby:
"Do you remember when I gave you "the talk" and gave you a box of these?"
Ruby smiled at the shared memory: "And I'll always be grateful you did that Julia."
Another talk was needed. Ruby had been waiting for Julia to open up. But now, two weeks into the visit, it had become obvious that without prompting, Julia was going to stay silent.
"You know Julia. It was more than the sex education that I appreciated from that talk. The life lessons about choices and consequences; the respect yourself and others will respect you, have always stayed with me. I doubt anybody, even Mother, could have done better than you did that day."
At the mention of her mother, Julia's eyes filled up. "Oh Ruby, that part of the talk was a verbatim copy of what Mother told me when I turned sixteen, so in a sense that was Mother talking to you."
Ruby reached across the table and took Julia's hand in hers: "And what would Mother say now if she could see you."
By now tears were liberally flowing down Julia's cheeks. It had taken years for Julia to recover from that fateful winter. She'd had agonized over what to do about her pregnancy for weeks. She had barely recovered the botched abortion when a telegram had arrived informing her of her mother's death.
Julia looked at her sister: "Bringing Mother into this. That's not fair Ruby."
Unrelenting, Ruby fired back: "Unfair yes. But true, and you know it."
Julia opened her mouth to say something and then defeat came to her face and Ruby could not stand it anymore. She stood up and took her older sister in her arms as she cried. After a while, she slowly walked her over to the settee where they both sat down. Ruby spoke first.
"I take it William and you, it's over."
Julia took a long breath: "Yes."
Ruby waited for Julia to say more. After a few moments Julia started speaking.
"We had a case. A young girl was found dead, drained of her blood. During the investigation we discovered that she had been pregnant, and in a desperate effort to terminate the pregnancy, she ingested pennyroyal oil. She died from it. "
Julia stopped for a moment and looked at Ruby. "Isaac was her doctor. William wrongly thought he was involved. He even suspected me of wrongdoing. It became very ugly Ruby. I knew I had to tell him."
"And you did?" asked Ruby.
Julia's voice lowered to a whisper: "Yes."
Ruby took Julia's hand in hers again: "I gather William did not take well to the news."
Julia had a humourless laugh. "Well that is an understatement Ruby."
Ruby looked at Julia: "Are you sure it's really over Julia? Perhaps he just needs time to absorb the news."
Julia's voice broke as she answered: "Oh yes. It is definitely over Ruby. You should have seen his reaction. The worse is, he does not even know everything yet. Just finding out I once had an abortion overwhelmed him. Can you imagine his reaction if he were to find out it left me sterile?"
"Maybe you should give him a chance. William struck me as a thoughtful intelligent man. Surely he would understand the situation you were in?"
Julia shook her head: "No Ruby. You did not see the look in his eyes. Remember years ago when I told you I was afraid that one day I would see that look in the face of the man I love. Well I saw it. And that's only to the news that I had an abortion. If he were to find out the consequences of my abortion…."
"Maybe in time he'll….?" continued Ruby.
Julia did not let her finish. "No Ruby. He won't. Not that it matters anymore anyway. He's already moved on. He's been seeing another woman." Julia hesitated for a few seconds.
"Oh Ruby. She's a widow, with a child. " Julia laughed sadly. "Her fertility is not in doubt."
Ruby had no words to comfort her sister. She could only take her in her arms as Julia cried.
Julia stayed another week in New York. A week spent with days at museums coupled with early nights. Finally it was time to go home. Ruby escorted her to the train station. She looked at her sister: "You look better Julia."
Julia smiled to Ruby. "I feel better Ruby. Thanks to you."
Ruby looked at Julia: "You know what you need Julia? You need a change. Go out. Meet people. Do something different. I just tried hot air ballooning for the first time last month. It was exhilarating. An old friend of mine just opened up a school of aeronautics in Stoufeville. His name is Reginald Poundsett. You should look into it."
Julia thought about it for a second, and then answered: "What a brilliant idea Ruby. I think I will."
