He cursed himself for frightening Mrs James unnecessarily and felt directly responsible for this latest misfortune. ‘I was well on me way to becomin’ a nurse, Dr Knowles,’ Mabel told him miserably. ‘I’d been hopin’ to go from there to start trainin’ in a year or two, only . . . only—’ ‘Only now you’ve got to be mother and father to your brothers and sisters, you poor child,’ he said heavily. ‘All I can say is that you’re young, Mabel, only eighteen, and there’s plenty of time ahead of you to become a nurse, but – oh, dear, I’m so sorry.’ ‘And unless Dad turns up again pretty soon, I’ll have to earn some money, Dr Knowles. If I go back to cleaning the Polytechnic’ – she grimaced – ‘I’ll have to leave the house very early and Alice’ll have to do a lot more to help.’ She spoke grimly and the doctor ached with pity for her, unable to think of anything useful to add, though privately he resolved to find some sort of suitable work to tide her over.
