Once back on the estate everything was in preparation for the coming birth. One thing that was comforting was that Jill now had quite a good circle of young married friends around in the district. Bob and Anne Christie from Eskdale about 1 ½ hours away were especially close friends as both had conceived at Trinco at the time of my accident, and they would both be in confinement together at the Nursing Home. Both would travel the long three hour twisty journey once a month to Hatton for their check ups with Dr Dowce, who in the case of Jill was a bit concerned in that he was fairly certain that he could now hear two hearts beating. Finally in mid April about a fortnight before the due date, he said that he would be happier to be absolutely sure with an X ray which we arranged at Badulla Hospital. Father drove her down and both waited for the result, and then the Sinhalese Radiologist returned beaming with all smiles, two fingers raised “ Madam there are two. You can see the spines : Congratulations”. After that Bob and I took 4 days off and left Anne and Jill at Hugoland to talk, dream and plan for babies, and we drove down to the sea on the east coast to a tiny run down rest house at Arugan Bay. Bob Christie was a Protestant from Dublin and had enlisted aged 18 for the last year of the war in the Royal Navy. Like all the Irish regardless he loved talking, and he once told me that he and all his family just had to have company and yarn, like he needed air to breathe. The sea and weather was ideal and the following morning we took the slow ferry route northward and at the first ferry was a Tamil who had just shot a leopard which upset me but there was nothing that I could do about the poor creature, so I purchased the skin from him, brought it back to the resthouse, pegged and stretched it out and dried it with local rock sea salt. Later I sent it Colombo for curing and it is here to this day….poor animal. We got home and the following day I took Jill over to Hatton in case things came with a rush and with our isolation, I felt that I could not take the risk.
Once there, I was greatly relieved to know that my Honey was safe at the nursing home ready for the birth which could come any day. Whilst she was waiting Ray Beadon a senior planter from St Leonards in Udapussellawa had been rushed in for an emergency appendix operation. Jill helped the nurses on the final sterilization of the surgical instruments. Dr Dowce had been told explicitly by Ray that he wanted his appendix saved and placed in a bottle of formalin as he wanted to keep it on his mantlepiece when he got home,a wish with which he obliged! The following evening still very frustrated and with still no sign of any activity, she went out to dinner on a nearby estate where the wife was an ex- nurse. She had a gin and tonic, and safely returned and then suddenly at four in the morning Hazel the nurse on duty noticed a leg showing. Dr Douce was summoned and first Peter who was a breech birth and an hour later Janet were safely born. Whilst all this was going on I was blissfully unaware busying myself on the Estate. On 1st May “Labour Day” I rose early as normal and was taking muster with the men at 6 am, when the servant Velaithan came running down to say, that he had a telephone message from the nursing home to say that all was well and Lady had given birth to a boy and a girl. It was incredible that the message had come through at all with the chaotic slow telephone system in Ceylon. So frantically eager I leapt into the little black car and drove off on what was the most exciting day of my life.
Three hours later after the tedious drive through the great tea district of Dimbula and past the beautiful wide St Clair Falls and then the long deep Devon Falls, I was at the Hatton home. Jill was now more radiant than ever, exhausted of course after all the night’s activity and next to her in tiny cots were the two tiny babes, Peter 5lbs 8ozs and Janet 5lbs 6 ozs both perfect with dark black hair . They were absolutely beautiful especially Janet who seemed to have quite the most perfect features with a small exquisitely shaped mouth and pretty face and nose. Peter was more boyish and very hairy all over his back which reminded me of Grandfather Chasseaud who had hair on his shoulders, with large hands and feet. On that bright sunny morning to see all three safe and well, I was so thankful that I gave a prayer to God. Jill was looking so peaceful and radiant and content after her long ordeal in the early hours.
If I could write the beauty of your eyes
And in fresh numbers number all your graces,
The age would come and would say, “this poet lies;
Such heavenly touches ne’er touch’d earthly faces.
Shakesspeare
Above all I was so pleased for the babes to be able to grow up in each others company on the isolated tea Estate and it was an extra bonus that they were both different sexes. They would have the companionship that I had so missed as a child with only occasionally having Ian and Barbara Gordon to play with, whereas I knew that they would always grow up together with that firm bond that only twins can ever have. But to see Jill with the two safely at her breast, in this little nursing home, with the kind nursing staff, all under the control of the soft, quiet, avuncular Dr Dowce, seemed perfection beyond belief. It was decided that she would stay on in the home for a further fortnight to be on the safe side and so get over the trauma of the birth as well as having medical attention to see to the stitches etc that had to be looked at. Also Candy, the excellent senior SRN nurse, who was a Jaffna Tamil and quite charming , agreed to come back to Hugoland for a couple of days and settle her into to her new routine. I returned to the Estate late that afternoon thrilled with all that I had seen and oh so very thankful that a most critical hurdle had been safely crossed.
A couple of days later sister Helen turned up on her way to New Zealand to see Ian. It was like everything to do with Helen quite a stressful experience. She wanted to see Jill and joined me on the trip over to the home early one morning. As we passed along the road by Talawakelle a Tamil woman and her son were walking in the middle of the road. I sounded my horn and the son went one side, the woman the other and I passed to go between. But at the last minute the woman decided to join her son and walked straight into the car. I braked but the headlight smashed and the glass cut right through her sari into her bottom. Luckily the hospital was only a few hundred yards away and I took her there, and then went to report the matter to the police, which in Ceylon can be an absolute nightmare and can take all day. I walked in told the officer what had happened and the duty sergeant came out looked at me and smiled. He had recognised me and introduced himself as a sinhalese from the next village to Hugoland. We all had a chat and swopped reminiscences about people we knew when he asked me why I was there. I told him of the accident and my wife just having given birth to twins and my need to get on quickly.
“ No need to worry.... you just go. This woman was a fool and now she has been treated we can all forget it. Just leave it all to me.” So once again with luck on my side we were able to continue our journey and see my Honey and her twins.
