She nodded. “I was such a fool, Georgie,” she said. “Such a bloody fool. There was this man, you see. He was just perfect—handsome, debonair, big motorcar, lots of money. A Hollywood producer, or so he said. You know how they talk over there. He made me think he was so successful and he knew everybody. I suppose it was being out of my own environment, but I fell for him rather hard. It was all wonderful and I actually believed he loved me. I really thought he wanted to marry me.” She put her hand up to her mouth and turned away from me, taking a moment to collect herself before she continued. “Well, now that I look back on it, he didn’t actually say the word ‘marriage,’ but he certainly implied it. Or implied that he wanted us to be together, and I believed him.” She turned away again, staring out at rain that was now streaking the windows. “I’ve always made fun of you for being so naïve. I can’t believe how stupidly naïve I was. I bloody well believed him, Georgie.”

I nodded, to show that I understood.

She sighed. “I was usually so careful, you know. Took the right precautions. So good about my little bowler hat. But I suppose I let my guard down with him. And when I found out that I was—you know—I thought, ‘Well, so what? He’ll marry me.’ So I told him.”

“And what did he say?”

“He was completely offhand. He said it wasn’t really his business, but since I was such a nice kid he knew of a doctor who took care of these things. Wouldn’t charge me too much.”

“Belinda, how horrid. So you came home.”

She nodded. “I came home. I didn’t know what to do. I realized I couldn’t have the baby, of course. There was no way. My family would cut me off completely. So I had no alternative. I’d heard other girls talk about this place, so I made up my mind in the middle of the night, and I bolted. Didn’t want to tell a soul. I thought I could take care of it and be back in London and nobody would be any the wiser.”

“You came here to have an—?” I couldn’t make myself say the word out loud.

She nodded. “I was supposed to have it yesterday. But when it came to it I couldn’t do it. I simply couldn’t do it, Georgie.”

“So what’s going to happen now?” I asked. “What will you do? Where will you go?”