Chapter Text
Julienne had been surprised when she was summoned back to the Mother House with little warning, but hadn’t really had a chance to think on it. Monica Joan had been so unwell all winter, that she had been struggling to keep up with her own duties and the running of Nonnatus House. She had spoken with Mother Mildred regularly but had clearly missed the bigger picture, hadn’t put together the subtext about what was going on elsewhere in the order. Once she’d arrived in Chichester however, Julienne quickly realised that this was a gathering of the most senior sisters and what that might mean. The news Mother Mildred shared seemed expected to the others, and however much of a shock it was, the decision was final.
Very quickly, the conversation turned to the possibility of members transfering to other orders, of what could be retained as they sold the few remaining assets the order still held to try and square off their debts. Julienne let the voices wash over her, struggling to process half of what her sisters were saying. She couldn’t quite seem to get past the fact that she had missed the signs of decline for so long that the axe had fallen and Julienne hadn’t even noticed. The Order of St Raymond Nonnatus was to close in a scant few months and there was nothing she could do about it.
“What about you and your sisters, Sister Julienne?” Hilda asked, a gentle hand on her arm and a cup and saucer held out for her.
“I….” she said, swallowing and taking hold of the saucer only for half the tea to slosh over the edge. “Well, you said there were some… that we could find alternatives… for active sisters?”
“A number of orders have said they would willingly accept our sisters into their covenants,” Mother Mildred said gently.
“Well, I am sure for Sister Veronica that will be of interest. Perhaps to live in fellowship and work in the community?”
“I am sure that could be arranged. And you, sister?”
“I… I will need to… Sister Monica Joan...”
“For those who are not fit to serve,” Mother Mildred said hesitantly. “There is a greater challenge. Sisters Constance and Martha will be moving to a National Health home for the elderly, as they require more medical care than it is appropriate to expect another order to support.”
“Of course,” Julienne said, her mind running sluggishly through what this might mean.
“Perhaps Sister Monica Joan would like to join them?” Sister Rose said.
“You’ve clearly never met Sister Monica Joan,” Hilda said quietly.
“I would ask her,” Julienne said, studying her cup. “Only, she’s…” The times when her sister was of sound mind these days were fleetingly rare. “I will have to pray on it but… I don’t know that I could send her anywhere where I could not be also.”
“Well, not all decisions need to be made today,” Mildred said with a sigh. “I am sorry to have overseen the end of what has been a long and fruitful mission, but I have faith that there is more that God will have each and every one of us do in his name.”
“What will you do?” Rose asked her.
“I intend to return to Hong Kong. There is a small order that I worked with there with whom I will serve for the rest of my days. But we will gather again before then,” she said with a smile. “And now is the time for tea and cake.”
In the end, Julienne did not make it back to Chichester. Monica Joan had contracted pneumonia a few days before the service of dissolution and while both Phyllis and Trixie had offered to look after her, Julienne couldn’t bring herself to leave. Having to watch her sisters’ and colleagues’ faces as she had shared the news had been the worst part of it all thus far. Their responses had varied, but she couldn’t begrudge any of them their anger, distress or frustration.
Shelagh and Dr Turner were consumed with trying to find a way to keep the maternity home open, determined to keep the district nursing aligned with the practice. Nancy was the first to leave when she found a post that worked for her and for Colette. Phyllis decided quickly that this was an appropriate time for her to resign from active midwifery and seemed content with this and the prospect of taking a part time role as an examiner with the Royal College of Midwifery. The news that Trixie was expecting her first child seemed a particular blessing and the timing was fortuitous.
It took Sister Veronica a little longer to make her decision about what she might do, which seemed to require a great deal of soul searching. Julienne helped as much as she was able, and certainly didn’t condone some of the muttering she heard from the others regarding the authenticity of Veronica’s distress. After all, Julienne had taken the same vows as her sister, and chosen to serve the Lord in this way in particular. For herself, the decision had been a more private one but she’d known before she’d even arrived back in Poplar that where Monica Joan went, she would follow.
While Monica Joan might be entitled to a place in a national health facility, Julienne did not require the care they offered and was too old to be accepted as a member of staff. Despite her own and Mother Mildred’s best endeavours, while Julienne herself would have found welcome, none of the other religious orders had felt able to take on the care of her sister and all that entailed and she understood that too. Eventually, the diocese that the mother house belonged to suggested another solution. They had a facility where retired clergy reaching the end of their life were cared for by a select number of brothers and lay staff. It was overseen by a priest and was a holy community which seemed a positive start.
Naturally, women were not usually accommodated, but it was agreed that if Sister Julienne was willing to serve as a member of staff, then a room could be found for Sister Monica Joan for as long as required. It was the best possible solution in the circumstances really, and while she tried to explain what was happening to her sister, she knew that it didn’t really sink in. As had been the way for so long, Monica Joan’s mood was closely linked to that of the group as a whole and the more things changed, the more unsettled she became and the less time Julienne could leave her alone.
“Are you sure that’s everything?” Fred asked, as she brought her case down to the landing the final morning.
“Few possessions, an advantage of our way of life in this circumstance,” Julienne said quietly, smiling when Fred looked pointedly at the boxes of books belonging to Monica Joan just off to the side. Everything was packed, it was just so little of it that was coming with them. They’d been living out of boxes for weeks. Boxes of medical equipment that was going to the maternity home or the health board. Kitchen equipment and crockery, bedlinen and furniture that would be donated. It had been the box of Bibles and breviaries that had broken Julienne though, and then the log books she’d found when looking for something else entirely.
On both occasions she’d been alone but she didn’t believe for a moment that those who knew her best had not seen the vestiges of her distress. However, they were good enough not to press the matter.
Today there would be no fuss, the disruption already enough to have resulted in more than one meltdown from Sister Monica Joan. But Fred had worked his magic as always and she seemed calm for now.
“Ready?” he asked Julienne quietly.
“As I’ll ever be,” she said after a moment, stepping out of the front door and closing it behind them.