Authors: Lily Baxter
‘Two cheese sandwiches.’ The waitress slapped
them
down on the table. She glanced at Isabel, raised her eyebrows and walked away.
Miranda stirred her tea thoughtfully. ‘You must tell him, Izzie. He’ll do the right thing by you.’
‘But what is the right thing?’
‘I don’t think you can decide that on your own. You simply have to talk it over with Jack, and we need to get the truth out of someone.’
‘Not my father.’
‘Then that leaves my grandmother.’
Isabel took a large bite from her sandwich, chewed and swallowed. ‘Will you, Miranda?’
‘I think it ought to be Jack who tackles her on the subject, not me.’
‘But he isn’t here. This is a matter of life and death.’
Miranda stared at her aghast. ‘You wouldn’t? I mean you really wouldn’t, would you?’
‘What choice would I have? If I tell Mummy everything she might be able to arrange for me to go into a private clinic in London.’
‘Is that what you want, Izzie?’
Isabel’s eyes welled with tears. ‘No, of course not. If Jack and I had got married as we planned this would have been a happy time.’ She took another bite of her sandwich. ‘I’m so hungry these days. I’ll be fat as a barrel soon and then no one will want me ever again.’
‘Stop it.’ Miranda leaned towards her, frowning. ‘Stop talking like a ninny. You must telephone the
aerodrome
and see if you can get a message to Jack. Tell him you simply must see him.’
‘But it could be days before he gets a pass. I can’t leave it much longer, Miranda.’
‘Then I’ll have a word with Granny. She won’t like it, but I’m going to ask her outright.’
Miranda had to wait until after supper when she knew that they would not be disturbed. She found her grandmother in the small sitting room, peering at a knitting pattern. ‘May I come in, Granny?’
‘Of course.’ Maggie tossed the pattern aside. ‘Come and sit down. You poor girl, you must be bored stiff being stuck here with nothing to do.’
‘Not at all. It’s lovely to be here, but I’m afraid my leave will be up soon.’
‘Jack will be disappointed to have missed you.’
Miranda pulled up a stool and sat down. ‘Granny, there’s something I have to ask you and I don’t quite know where to start.’
‘At the beginning is usually a good place.’ Maggie peered at her over the top of her reading glasses. ‘What’s this all about, Miranda? I sensed that there was something on your mind at supper.’
‘It’s something that Aunt Ivy said when she’d drunk too much at the party. I need to know if it’s true.’
‘Ivy’s tongue runs away with her when she’s had a few gins. What did she say?’
‘There’s no easy way to put this.’ Miranda took
a
deep breath. ‘She said that you’d had an affair with Max Carstairs and that Jack might be his son.’
Maggie stood up, sending knitting needles and wool flying. ‘Tittle-tattle. Idle gossip. You should know better than to listen to Ivy. Dreadful woman. I don’t know why I’ve put up with her all these years.’ She rounded on Miranda, fixing her with a hard stare. ‘Is this about the Carstairs girl and Jack? Did she put you up to this?’
‘She’s pregnant, Granny. She’s expecting a baby and it’s Jack’s. They were engaged to be married and then Ivy dropped her bombshell. You’ve got to tell them the truth. If it’s lies then they need to know.’
Maggie collapsed onto her chair. ‘I can’t,’ she whispered. ‘How could they do this to me?’
‘All you’ve got to do is to deny it. Surely that’s not so hard?’
‘I suppose it had to come out,’ Maggie said slowly. ‘I’ve been dreading this moment for twenty-five years.’
‘But you did have an affair with Max Carstairs.’
Maggie leaned back against the cushions, closing her eyes, and a faint smile curved her lips. ‘He was the most exciting man I’d ever met, and I was desperately in love with him.’
‘Tell me about it, Granny.’
‘It’s not easy to talk about something so personal.’
‘But this affects others now, especially Jack and Izzie.’
Maggie was silent for a moment and then she
nodded
her head slowly. ‘I suppose it’s time to admit the truth, but it happened such a long time ago.’
‘I’m listening, and I won’t tell anyone unless you tell me I may do so.’
‘Well, if I were to start at the very beginning I’d have to say that I met Max briefly when he and your grandfather studied medicine at the Middlesex, but I didn’t see him again until years later when we had a posting in Kenya. Max Carstairs walked into the bar of the Nairobi Club one evening and it changed my life forever.’
‘Just like that?’
‘In a split second, darling. It was like being struck by lightning. George and I were attending some function or other; I can’t recall the exact details. All I can remember is being introduced to this intriguing man with a smile that made my toes curl. He wasn’t handsome but he was wildly attractive. The first moment our eyes met I was lost.’
‘It was love at first sight?’
Maggie’s eyes misted with tears. ‘Oh, yes. It was the same for both of us. But, of course, there was nothing we could do about it. I was married with two young children. Your father was eight, and Eileen just a baby.’
‘So what happened then?’
‘We met at social occasions and Max dined at our bungalow several times, but there were always other guests present. It was all terribly proper in those days and he never said he loved me, nor I him, but
we
both knew. I lived for the moments when we were together, even though we were never completely alone.’
‘What about Grandpa? Did he know what was going on?’
Maggie shook her head. ‘Your grandfather is a wonderful man, but he is not the most sensitive person in the world. He was ambitious and hard working. He spent long hours at the military hospital and when he came home he was exhausted. But Max and I did nothing wrong. We simply fell in love, and I knew he was attractive to other women. Most of the other army wives would have given their eye teeth to have an affair with the dashing surgeon.’
‘What was he doing in Nairobi, Granny? Did he join the army?’
‘No, darling. Max spent a few months at the hospital gaining experience in head injuries, which were quite common in those days. The army wasn’t mechanised as it is today, and men were regularly thrown from their horses or trampled underfoot. We’re going back thirty years or more, and it must be hard for you to imagine.’
‘So Max left Kenya after only a short visit.’
‘He did and I was absolutely heartbroken. The worst part of it was that I couldn’t tell anyone, not even my closest friends. I had to keep up the pretence of being a devoted wife and mother, although of course I was that too. I did love your grandfather
and
I adored my children, but Max had a special place in my heart. He captured my body and soul, but it simply wasn’t meant to be. He went back to London and I remained in Kenya until the outbreak of the Great War when we returned home. Your great-grandfather had died some years previously but your great-grandmother was still alive, although virtually bedridden, and Annie was looking after her. There was no question of our living anywhere else and we moved in here.’
‘But you did see Max again.’
Maggie’s eyes darkened. ‘I didn’t expect to. Your grandfather was fighting the war in France and I was left at home with two children and an ailing mother-in-law, but Annie and I coped. I hadn’t forgotten Max, and I used to dream about him sometimes, but what I didn’t know was that he had bought Thornleigh Court. It wasn’t until the accident with poor little Houdini that we met again. I thought at the time it was by chance, but he told me later that he’d found out that I was here on my own. He said he couldn’t keep away a moment longer.’
‘And he ran over your dog.’
‘That was an accident. Max adored animals and we rushed the poor poppet to the vet. Houdini died of old age a few years later.’
‘And you fell for Max all over again.’
‘We simply couldn’t help ourselves, Miranda. Any more than you could help falling for his son.’
‘Granny, that’s absurd.’
‘Is it? I recognised the signs from the start. The Carstairs men have a fatal fascination and it brings nothing but unhappiness.’
‘How can you say that when you had such deep feelings for Max?’
‘Because Max Carstairs made me love him and then he walked away. I never saw him again.’
‘I don’t understand.’
Maggie rose to her feet, becoming agitated. She went to the window, staring out into the gathering darkness. ‘I’ll have to pull the curtains. It’s getting dark. I hadn’t noticed.’
‘Please, Granny. Finish the story. What went so horribly wrong between you and Max? And is Jack his son?’
Chapter Fifteen
MAGGIE DREW THE
blackout curtains and switched on a table lamp. ‘No. Jack isn’t his son. One day, completely out of the blue, Max told me that he was about to marry Veronica. He just announced it as if it were the most normal thing in the world. He simply couldn’t understand why I was devastated and we had a frightful row. I accused him of all sort of things, but I was beside myself with humiliation and grief. I couldn’t believe that he could be so heartless as to make love to me when all the time he was romancing some young actress, almost half my age.’ She returned to her chair and sat down. ‘It was all such a long time ago, Miranda.’
‘How old were you, Granny? If you don’t mind my asking.’
‘I was thirty-nine, and I thought my child-bearing years were a thing of the past. But then your grandfather came home on leave and that was when I conceived Jack.’
‘Why did Aunt Ivy think the worst, then?’
‘Ivy and I were school friends. We’d known each other for years and she had found out about my affair with Max. Annie had guessed what was going
on
but I knew I could trust her to keep quiet about it. I thought I could rely on Ivy too, but I don’t think she believed me when I told her that Max wasn’t the father. Jack was born eight months after your grandfather returned to the battlefields and I suppose Ivy added two and two and made nine. She always had a spiteful streak and it must have reared its ugly head on the night of the party when she’d had too much to drink. If I’d known what she had said I would have put things straight there and then.’
Miranda mulled this over in her mind but she was still puzzled. ‘I can understand why you hate Max, but why does he bear a grudge against this family? Surely he was the one in the wrong.’
‘I don’t hate him, darling. Oh, I was furious with him at first. I could have killed him with my bare hands, but I’ve never hated him. I’m afraid it didn’t quite end with our parting. Your grandfather found a letter from Max that I’d foolishly kept. I told him that it was over but he was absolutely livid, blaming Max entirely. He insisted on going to London to have it out with him. I learned later that he’d told Veronica about our affair and reported Max’s conduct to the hospital governors, which ruined his chances of promotion. Max never forgave him and neither did Veronica.’
‘But she went ahead and married him.’
‘They were already married, but it must have affected their relationship. I’ve heard that they live virtually separate lives.’
Miranda could not help noticing the smug tone in her grandmother’s voice. ‘Are you still in love with him?’
‘I’m devoted to your grandfather, darling. I suppose Max still has a teeny-weeny bit of my heart, but perhaps that’s just a romantic memory. I couldn’t have put up with his affairs, although maybe if we had been together he wouldn’t have strayed.’ Maggie pulled a face. ‘Or maybe that’s what I would like to believe.’
Miranda stood up, gazing at her grandmother with a mixture of sympathy and impatience. ‘You have to tell Jack that Ivy was mistaken. You and Max have to put things right because what you did years ago is affecting the here and now.’
‘I really don’t want to rake up the past.’ Maggie picked up her knitting. ‘I’ll tell him in my own good time.’
Miranda snatched the wool from her grandmother’s lap and held it out of reach. ‘Jack is risking his life every time he takes off in that Spitfire. What if he gets killed without ever knowing the truth? How would you feel if Izzie has an illegal abortion? She’s desperate and she might just do something stupid.’
‘You’re right, of course,’ Maggie said slowly. ‘I’ll speak to Jack when I get a chance. Now please give me the wool.’
Miranda held it out of reach. ‘No, Granny. That’s not good enough. We’ll visit the aerodrome
tomorrow
, even if we have to walk all the way to Warmwell. You’ll tell Jack everything, and if you don’t, then I will.’
Next morning, with Annie’s help, they persuaded Elzevir to transport them to Warmwell. It was not a comfortable journey perched on the driver’s seat of the ancient cart with a load of logs rattling around in the main body of the wagon. They arrived stiff and sore but thankfully in one piece, although Miranda had had her doubts that they would reach their destination when the old horse struggled up the hills and slithered on the downward slopes. Maggie was unusually silent, but Miranda put this down to nerves. She breathed a sigh of relief when they reached the perimeter of the airfield.
Elzevir set them down and drove off to deliver his load with a grudging promise to return later ‘That man is a pain in the neck,’ Maggie said, frowning. ‘He’s done nothing but grumble about the trade he’s lost by doing us a favour. If I’d had to listen to him for a moment longer, I’d have been tempted to slap him.’
With a growing feeling of misgiving, Miranda eyed the stone-faced airman on guard duty at the gate. ‘Never mind old Evil-Eye,’ she said in a low voice. ‘We’ve still got to get into the aerodrome and it’s not going to be that easy.’
‘You’re in uniform, my dear, and I’m Jack’s mother. I defy anyone to stop me.’
‘Oh, well. Here goes nothing.’ Miranda approached the young airman with a smile on her lips. ‘Good morning. We’ve come to see Flight Lieutenant Beddoes.’
It took several minutes to persuade him to send a message to Jack, but eventually he disappeared into a hut and they could hear him speaking to someone on the telephone. They waited for a good ten minutes before he reappeared. ‘Sorry, ladies,’ he said apologetically. ‘Flight Lieutenant Beddoes is off duty today. He’s billeted in the village. I can give you his address.’