Chapter 97
From the Journal of Grace Bailey - vol. 4, 1918/Jan.-Feb. 1939. Jan. 15, 1939
I woke up thinking that I felt Van's warm breath on the back of my neck as he teased me into full consciousness. Then came another memory-the chill of the floor of Mother's foyer as mind and spirit reeled from the reality of his death. The sharp slash of pain overwhelmed me. I was barely conscious of my own scream. I sobbed violently into my pillow.
Is this what it was like every morning for Mother after Father died. How did she stand it? I suppose she had her responsibilities to make her get out of bed. If it weren't for morning sickness, I'm not sure that I ever would.
At least I managed to make it through the entire service at 1st Presbyterian without another bout. It was still humiliating running away in the middle of complimenting Rev. Hall on his sermon to vomit into the flower-filled urn by the church doorway. Of course, he told me to think nothing of it. It could happen to any expectant mother.
Honey insisted over my protests on preparing Sunday dinner. On reflection, I should probably be grateful. Cooking is always a pleasure, but I still felt a bit drained. From the way everyone hovered around me, you would have thought I was dying.
I was pleased that Jim accepted my invitation to join the family for the occasion and to bring Pritchard and Audrey Collins with him. I was glad of the opportunity to repay him for acting as part of the honor guard and Audrey for coming all the way to Northbridge for the funeral. It was heartwarming to see their obvious affection for each other. I shouldn't have been surprised when, after standing up and asking for our attention, Jim announced that he and Audrey were engaged. All of us congratulated the two of them at once.
From the Journal of Maisie McGinty Jan. 15, 1939
I looked at my dad. He was smiling as Miss Collins showed off her engagement ring. He had a right to. The diamond was only slightly larger than a grain of sand, but the setting was silver plated. It wasn't easy to find something that good that Mr. Flett could afford, even with the boost in pay from his appointment as vice principal and a generous payment plan.
Not to mention that he will have to support Miss Collins after she leaves her teaching job in Northbridge to marry him. She is sorry to be leaving her students but won't miss Kenneth Baird's cheapskate attitude towards school funding. Apparently, he and his handpicked school board consider it a rotten shame that people expect them to shell out dough for things as unimportant as books, desks, blackboards, coal for heat in the winter, and salaries for teachers and janitors.
Miss Collins overheard him say once to one of his cronies that Mrs. Bailey and her husband were fools to set up a fund to support the schools here in New Bedford. "There's no need to indulge students. The ones who really want to learn will get themselves an education any way they can. The rest don't matter. Life has no place for weaklings who can't compete. They deserve to go to the wall."
Grace Mainwaring to Sally Henry Jan. 15, 1939
I thought that nothing could dim my happiness in Jim and Audrey's good news until that evening. Mother had Maisie and me sit down in the parlor for an urgent talk. According to her sources in Ottawa, the Prime Minister is finally starting to realize just how dangerous the fascists are. He is about to ask parliament to double the defense budget, and it looks likely that parliament will let him. He ought to quadruple it, but at least it's a start.
This news means that the entire western world except for the United States is preparing for war. The tinder, dry as noon in the desert, is being gathered and piled high. It won't be long before a spark comes along and sets it on fire. Even though there is no other choice, it is still sobering to know that young men will soon be marching off again to fight and die. All we can hope for is that Hitler, Franco, Mussolini, and their fellow fascists are consumed by the conflagration to come.
Next Week: An expectant mother. Grace's Corner. "Awake at Last."