For Better For Worse (24 page)

Sarah knocked quietly and pushed the open door wider as Kaye was saying, ‘All babies get fractious at times, dear. He’ll settle down soon.’

‘But I’m so tired,’ Annie complained.

Sarah took in the scene. Annie was sitting dejectedly on the edge of her bed. Kaye sat with her arm around Annie’s shoulder and Lottie was rocking the drawer while Edward screamed the house down.

‘Ah,’ said Kaye, relief in her voice. ‘Here’s Sarah. Sarah’s a mother. She’ll know what to do.’

They all looked up at her expectantly. Annie was as white as a sheet with large dark circles under her eyes. Kaye was in her dressing gown but Lottie was only in her nightie. ‘My baby didn’t cry,’ Lottie told them quietly. ‘My baby was a good baby.’

‘I’m sure he was,’ said Sarah, stopping to give Lottie an encouraging squeeze on her arm and a smile.

‘He just won’t stop,’ Kaye appealed to Sarah.

‘He doesn’t like me,’ Annie whinged.

‘It’s not you he hates,’ Sarah said. ‘It’s that shawl. You need to take it off.’

As she advanced towards the drawer, Annie leapt to her feet. ‘That’s what they told me to do in the Mother and Baby Home,’ she said defensively. ‘Sister said …’

‘All babies are different,’ said Sarah, lifting the top blanket from Edward’s shoulders. ‘Can’t you see he doesn’t like being trussed up like that?’

‘I’ve put him down exactly as the midwife showed me,’ Annie insisted.

Their eyes met in a look of mutual animosity. ‘Please yourself,’ said Sarah huffily and turned to leave.

‘No, wait!’ cried Kaye. Sarah remained where she was but she didn’t turn back. ‘Annie,’ Kaye continued, ‘you’ve just admitted to me that you’re desperate. I’m sure you’ve done everything possible to make Edward happy, but plainly he’s not. Perhaps we should give Sarah the benefit of the doubt?’

‘But …’ Annie began again.

‘It really wouldn’t hurt to try, would it?’ Kaye insisted. ‘And if it doesn’t work, we’ll send for the doctor.’

Annie swallowed hard and let her shoulders sag. ‘Oh, all right then.’

Kaye turned to Sarah. ‘Sarah?’

Sarah’s heart was already thumping with indignation and she was sorely tempted to stalk out of the room, but for the sake of the baby she couldn’t do it. It took every ounce of her strength to turn back to the cot where Edward was becoming very hot under the collar. His mother had wrapped his arms so firmly in the shawl that he couldn’t move at all. With the hand of expertise, Sarah lifted him from under the covers and removed his cocoon. The baby flailed his arms angrily but almost immediately became a lot calmer. Sarah dabbed his sweaty head with the shawl and said gently, ‘There, there, little man. That’s better, isn’t it.’ She looked at Annie. ‘Have you got a cold flannel somewhere?’

Lottie produced one and Sarah wiped the baby’s forehead with it to cool him down, all the while talking softly to him. The three women watched as she lay him back down again. He protested for a few seconds but then lay quiet.

‘So it was the shawl?’ said Kaye incredulously.

Annie dabbed her eyes and looked into her baby’s bed. ‘Oh Eddie …’ she said softly. ‘I’m sorry.’

He moved his head slightly, his unfocussed eyes searching for her, then he lifted his hand and two fingers spread themselves involuntarily. It looked a little like Churchill’s victory sign, but because his hand was facing the wrong way, it was more like the much ruder ‘up yours’ sign. Despite herself, Sarah giggled. Annie glanced at her and sniggered. Then Kaye chuckled, and without fully comprehending why everyone was laughing, Lottie joined in. It was a pivotal moment.

Back in her own bed, Sarah lay in the dark thinking about Peter again. Helping Annie out had changed a lot of things but not the one thing that mattered. As soon as Christmas was over she would tell Peter that if the offer was still there, she would marry him. The sooner the better.

A good night’s sleep was what everybody needed and on December 23rd that’s just what happened. The atmosphere in the house on Christmas Eve was totally different. It may have been because everyone was looking forward to the big day, but it felt so much more than that. Sarah began the day bright and early by cleaning out her pram and polishing the coachwork. When she saw Annie coming downstairs for breakfast, she said, ‘If you want Edward to have a little bit of fresh air, you are welcome to use the pram.’

Annie hesitated for a second, so Sarah added, ‘Look, we don’t have to be bosom pals, but we are stuck in exactly the same position. I, for one, find it exhausting keeping up the hostility between us. Couldn’t we agree on a truce?’

Annie’s mouth formed a thin smile and she nodded. ‘Truce.’ Sarah turned towards the kitchen. ‘By the way,’ Annie added, ‘thanks for last night.’

‘You’re welcome,’ said Sarah without looking back.

Later that morning, with Edward asleep in his pram in the back garden, there was a knock on the front door. When Sarah opened it, she was surprised to see the detective who had interviewed her before the trial standing there.

‘Oh.’ Her immediate thought was that something had happened to Henry.

‘I don’t know if you remember me?’ he began.

‘I do,’ said Sarah. ‘They called you Bear, but I’m afraid I can’t remember your proper name.’

‘Detective Inspector Truman,’ he smiled. ‘Please don’t worry. There’s nothing wrong, it’s just that I wondered how you were getting along.’

‘Come in, come in,’ Sarah smiled. He seemed to fill the kitchen with his presence once he came through the door, but it was not an unpleasant feeling.

The room was warm and cosy, a hive of activity. Lottie sat at the table busily polishing the silver cutlery. She made a space for him and Sarah introduced her.

Annie came through the kitchen with a bucket of nappies. Jenny and Lu-Lu were playing shops under the kitchen table. The girls peeped out at him.

‘Hello you two,’ he said. ‘Are you looking forward to Christmas?’

Jenny nodded shyly, but Lu-Lu went back under the table. ‘My daughters,’ Sarah explained. ‘Can I get you some tea? A mince pie?’

‘Sounds wonderful,’ he said.

They made small talk and Bear – she couldn’t think of him as Detective Inspector Truman – ended up rocking Jenny’s dolly while he waited for the kettle to boil. He and Sarah sat opposite each other at the table with the tea.

‘Lovely mince pie,’ he commented. ‘Have you heard from Henry?’

‘No.’ Sarah shook her head.

‘I have,’ Annie called from the scullery. ‘When he gets out, we’re going to find a place of our own.’

‘That’s nice,’ said Bear, smiling across the table at Sarah with a quizzical expression.

‘That is Mrs
Annie
Royal,’ said Sarah. ‘Henry’s third wife.’ She suddenly frowned. ‘How did you know I was here?’

Bear looked slightly uncomfortable as he told her he’d known where she was ever since she’d been brought to the attention of the welfare people.

‘You came to check up on me?’ said Sarah defensively.

‘Not at all, but I’m glad you’re settled now,’ he smiled. ‘Actually, there is something you may be able to help me with. Did you or your husband know a Mrs Grenville Hartley?’

Sarah shook her head. ‘No, I didn’t, but I can’t answer for Henry. He had a lot of acquaintances mostly connected with his work he never introduced me to. Why?’

With the nappies rinsed and boiling away in the copper in the scullery, Annie reappeared. ‘Perhaps Annie knows the lady.’

Bear asked the question again, but Annie had never heard of Mrs Grenville Hartley either.

‘Can I borrow Jenny and Lu-Lu for a minute?’ said Annie, clearly anxious to get away. Sarah nodded uncertainly and they went upstairs.

Bear studied Sarah’s face. ‘You live together?’

Sarah nodded. ‘We
all
live here. Lottie is the first Mrs Royale’s aunt.’

‘Do you know where my baby is?’ Lottie said and Bear gave Sarah another quizzical look.

‘They made her give him up when she had him because she wasn’t married,’ she explained. ‘Lottie gets upset because she doesn’t know what happened to him.’

‘I’m sorry to hear that, madam,’ said Bear sympathetically, ‘but rest assured, he must be happy where he is. The police would have found out if something was wrong.’

Lottie smiled. ‘Yes, of course,’ she said. ‘You’re right. He would have had a happy childhood.’

Bear stood to go.

‘You never did say why you think Henry knew Mrs Hartley,’ said Sarah. ‘Who is she anyway?’

‘Who was she,’ corrected Bear. ‘Mrs Grenville Hartley was found dead on the beach near the pier. She had apparently taken her own life.’

‘I remember hearing about that,’ said Sarah, her hand automatically going to her throat. ‘Poor woman, but that was ages ago and what’s it got to do with Henry?’

‘It’s taken us a while to formally identify her,’ said Bear. ‘We don’t think Henry was directly involved in her death, but it appears that he spent quite a bit of time with her.’

‘I don’t understand,’ said Sarah.

‘I can’t say anything for definite,’ Bear went on, ‘but certain allegations have been made and we are duty-bound to investigate.’ He could see that she was upset by the revelation so he added, ‘Please don’t concern yourself unduly, Mrs Royal. There is absolutely no suspicion on your good self.’

‘I’m pleased to hear it,’ said Sarah stiffly.

He stood to go but then paused. ‘I wonder,’ he began again cautiously. ‘I shouldn’t really say this when I’m on duty, but there’s a good film on at the Rivoli …’

‘Oh, I’m already spoken for,’ said Sarah quickly.

‘I see,’ Bear smiled. ‘Then I wish you a very happy Christmas and all the very best for 1949.’

‘Thank you,’ said Sarah, and then he was gone.

The children didn’t reappear until three quarters of an hour later when Annie took them into the sitting room.

‘What have you been up to?’ Sarah asked as Kaye and Annie brought them back into the kitchen for their mid-morning break.

‘Nothing,’ said Jenny, giving her sister a hefty nudge. ‘It’s a secret.’

‘See-ret,’ Lu-Lu agreed.

For the first time since they all came to Copper Beeches, the three wives of Henry Royale, Lottie, Jenny and Lu-Lu shared coffee and milk and ate one of Sarah’s newly baked mince pies at the kitchen table. Conversation was a little awkward, but they all agreed to start Christmas Day by taking the children to the midnight service at St George’s, just down the road.

By 4.30 p.m. everything was ready. Sarah and Lottie had prepared the vegetables and Annie had laid the table. Kaye spent the afternoon with friends, arriving back home at 5 p.m. laden down with more brightly coloured packages, which she put around the base of the tree. At the same time, Sarah was filling the log basket in the sitting room. As she rose to her feet, she couldn’t help noticing two envelopes on the tree with ‘Mummy’ written on the outside. For a second or two, her eyes smarted. So that’s what Annie was doing with the girls. She glanced at the clock. 5.15 p.m. The shops closed at 5.30 p.m. It was too late to get something for Annie and Edward. Her heart sank. Not to buy them anything had been quite deliberate, but now she felt terrible. She was being petty and unkind. The girl had put out an olive branch, but she had done nothing in return. Then she remembered a half-finished romper suit for Mr Lovett. Sarah hadn’t been back to see Mrs Angel for a couple of weeks. She had meant to pop round, but somehow she’d always been too busy. There was still a lot to do to it, and maybe it didn’t smell so good. After all, her things had got very damp when she was homeless, but, with a bit of luck, she might get it finished before tomorrow afternoon, which was the time they had all agreed to open the presents under the tree.

‘I have a suggestion to make,’ Sarah said as Kaye poured them all a sherry later that evening. The children were in bed and all surprisingly asleep, Edward included. ‘Why don’t I babysit while you three enjoy the Christmas Eve service together? There may be a few late-night stragglers from the Half Brick in there and I’d rather not expose my girls to drunkenness.’

It sounded reasonable and everyone thought it a great idea, which left Sarah an uninterrupted hour and a half to finish the romper suit. It wasn’t enough. It was 3.20 in the morning before Sarah finally switched out the light.

*

It seemed an awful lot of work for one day, but when the holidays were over, all three wives thought it had been worth it. Christmas 1948 would go down in everybody’s diary, in Lottie’s words, as the best Christmas ever! There had been tears along the way; Annie’s when she unwrapped the romper suit from Sarah, and Sarah’s when she opened the cards from her children. Lu-Lu’s was a scribble of course, but Jenny had made her a paper bookmark and in her best writing, had written ‘To Mummy from Jenny’ on the back. Sarah imagined her sitting at the table, her tongue protruding as she concentrated, and she knew how much effort the little girl had put into getting her letters right. Kaye wiped her moist eyes when Lottie gave her a box of home-made sweets. Sarah had helped her to make them one afternoon in the week leading up to Christmas. It had been a learning curve for Lottie, but she had risen to the occasion with childlike enthusiasm. The girls were overjoyed to get their presents from Kaye and it seemed that Lu-Lu never wanted to be parted from the rabbit. There was one small hiccup when Jenny took the shoes off her new dolly and replaced them with the booties she kept on her old doll. Sarah thought she saw a glimpse of irritation on Kaye’s face, but it soon passed. Lottie loved her watch, while Annie and Sarah had some scented bath salts. Kaye had the most gifts. A box of 200 cigarettes, boxed handkerchiefs, perfume, things for the bath and several hand-knitted items, and although Sarah’s embroidered tray cloth and Annie’s caddy of tea (a gift her mother had brought for Kaye) seemed to get lost in the pile, she was most appreciative. They had all eaten until they were stuffed and in the evening, as soon as the children were in bed, Kaye and Lottie went out, while Sarah and Annie managed to listen to the radio together before having an early night.

On Boxing Day everyone went out for a walk. They walked as far as the pier, with Annie pushing Edward in the pram and Lu-Lu, still holding onto the rabbit, managing to walk most of the way. They passed Beach House which was in a bit of a state, although the council had made a start on the repairs or at least got as far as putting a fence all around it. Further along the seafront, they bumped into Bear strolling along the beach with some friends. Sarah felt her face flush as he wished them all a happy Christmas and an even better New Year. As they returned his greeting, she wished she hadn’t been quite so hasty. Bear was really nice. On the way back Lu-Lu had to sit at the end of the pram with her legs dangling over because she was tired. Monday was an extra day’s holiday because Boxing Day fell on the Sunday and then it was all over until next year.