Coronation Wives by Lizzie Lane Page A

rear, with Pamela in the pushchair.
    ‘Sorry we’re late. We had to see Alfred first,’ said Edna breathlessly. ‘He’s a gorilla,’ she added in response to Janet’s puzzled expression. ‘Hold on a minute until I get these ice creams sorted out.’
    Three Lyons Maid vanilla ice creams were unwrapped and popped into three sets of wafers. The two eldest children were given whole ones; the youngest made do with half, Edna keeping the remainder for herself.
    Susan was first to get her ice cream and placed herself next to Janet. ‘What’s that monkey doing?’ she asked.
    ‘Eating fleas,’ said Janet.
    ‘Well, I prefer ice cream,’ said Susan and followed it with a lingering lick, almost as if she were trying to make the monkeys jealous.
    Satisfied that the children were occupied watching the monkey colony and out of earshot, Edna looked at Janet, said nothing but merely waited for her to begin.
    ‘I’d been to the pictures,’ Janet began. The words came easier than she’d expected and the story poured out. Edna remained silent.
    At last Janet finished all she had to say and felt better for it. Having someone listen but not comment made her realize how much she’d needed to talk about it, to get the experience out into the open.
    ‘Who else have you told?’ asked Edna.
    ‘I went to the police station.’ Janet stared at a pair of monkeys who were presently squabbling over orange peel. ‘They made me feel cheap, as though I wanted it to happen, so I ran from there. That was on the day I bumped into you.’
    Edna’s expression was deadly serious. ‘The law is run by men and is biased. They’d say it was your word against his – if they should ever catch him. Would you recognize him?’
    Polly shook her head. ‘Perhaps his accent, but then …’ She couldn’t be sure. Everything seemed so unfair. There seemed so little she could do.
    Edna eyed the monkeys, her hands clasped and resting on the barrier. ‘You have to put it behind you.’
    ‘It’s not easy. I feel so second-rate.’
    Edna laughed.
    Janet frowned. ‘What’s so funny?’
    Edna’s expression turned serious. ‘You’re such a good-looking girl. How could you possibly be second-rate?’
    ‘You know how it is. I’d hoped to meet the right man and have a white wedding just like any other girl.’
    ‘You can still do that.’
    Janet’s face and voice contorted with despair. ‘How can I? You have to be a virgin to have a white wedding.’
    Something in Edna’s look made her feel terribly young, terribly naive.
    ‘It’s not that important.’
    ‘It is to me! I made myself a promise a very long time ago that I would be a virgin on my wedding day.’
    ‘Goodness! What an odd thing to say. I was beginning to think that idea had had its day. Obviously I was wrong.’
    Janet gazed at something in the distance that was there but wasn’t, a memory from when she was younger and had come home to find … She shook the experience from her mind.
    ‘I suppose so,’ she said softly. ‘But I had my reasons for wanting that. It doesn’t matter now. Anyway, it was different for your generation.’
    Edna waited for her to continue but, realizing that she wasn’t going to explain herself, took her courage in both hands and said, ‘Not everyone is a virgin when they marry. I wasn’t.’
    Janet stopped eyeing one particular monkey who was holding his hands out to the watching crowds, like a beggar asking for alms. ‘You? I can’t believe it! I mean, you’ve got Colin and three kids …’ Janet’s voice trailed away.
    Edna shrugged, gave a tiny smile and shook her head so that her brown curls fell forward from the pink slides she waswearing to pin it back. ‘No one is perfect, Janet. Not even me. Not even your mother.’
    Janet prickled at the last remark. No, her mother was not quite the respectable woman she pretended to be. But that too was a secret. ‘I’m not like my mother at all. That’s why I can’t tell her anything. We’re