Twisted Strands (46 page)

He stared at her. ‘Why,’ he asked slowly, ‘are you so very sensible?’

She laughed ruefully. ‘I’m anything but sensible if I spend the whole of my life hankering after someone who doesn’t love me.’

Richard made a sound deep in his throat – a sound that was suspiciously like a chuckle. ‘If I’m not mistaken, Andrew is finding out that he does indeed love you – in that
way, as you put it. Why else would he come looking to kill me? There was murder in his eyes yesterday, Bridie. And don’t think I haven’t seen that look far too often in the last few
years not to be able to recognize it.’

‘Then maybe I have something to thank my father for, after all. Only don’t let his lies come between you and Auntie Evie. She’s desperately unhappy. Every bit,’ she
added, ‘as miserable as you look.’

‘Where is she?’

‘Down by the beck.’

He rose from the seat. ‘I’ll go to her.’ He looked down at her, then suddenly he bent and kissed her cheek. ‘You’re a great girl, Bridie. I just hope Andrew comes
to his senses and realizes what a lucky chap, he is.’

Bridie giggled and blushed. ‘So do I, Uncle Richard. So do I.’

‘Are you coming with me?’

‘No, no, you must talk to her on your own now. Besides . . .’ She too rose. ‘There’s something else I have to do. I’m going to Pear Tree Farm, but I’ll go
round by the road.’

She stood on tiptoe and returned his kiss.

Eveleen waited by the beck, scarcely able to sit still on the rock by the flowing stream. Every few seconds she glanced back towards the yard of Fairfield House, praying that
Richard would appear. But the minutes ticked by so slowly and she had begun to give up hope, tears welling in her eyes so that the sun glinting on the water blurred her vision. Impatiently she
brushed her tears away and glanced up the field once more. This time she saw him coming towards her.

She was motionless, just staring at him, holding her breath. Then, halfway down the field, he held out his arms wide to her. Her heart began to thud and, with a little sob, she rose and began to
run up the slope towards him.

The yard at Pear Tree Farm seemed deserted. Only hens scratched about the place and the noise of pigs scuffling in the sty.

As Bridie pushed open the gate and stepped through it, the back door of the farmhouse opened and Mary came into the yard.

She flung her arms wide and gave a heartrending wail. ‘Oh, Bridie, he’s gone. My Jimmy. My Jimmy’s gone away and left me again.’

Here we go again, Bridie thought, as she steered the weeping woman back into the house, pushed her gently into a chair and scurried between scullery and hearth, making her grandmother a strong,
sweet cup of tea.

‘There,’ she said, placing it on the table at her side. ‘Drink this and tell me what happened.’

She poured herself a cup and sat down to listen.

Mary took the cup in both hands and drank thirstily. She placed the cup down with shaking hands and leant back in her chair, closing her eyes and sighing deeply. ‘When we got back from
Flawford that day, he just disappeared upstairs. I was busy down here, getting his tea, but then he appeared with his kitbag and dressed in his naval uniform and announced that he was off. Back to
sea. He said he was fully fit now and that if he didn’t report back, the authorities were bound to come looking for him sooner or later, specially now that Fairfield House had closed as a
home. I tried to argue with him . . .’ Her tears welled again, but she continued, ‘I told him there was no need to go that very minute. I begged him to stay a little longer, but he was
adamant. He said he had to go. “They’ll come looking for me,” he said. “I have to go.” ’

‘Gran,’ Bridie said gently, taking hold of her hands. ‘I don’t think it was the authorities he was worried about. Not really.’

Mary stared at her. ‘Why? What do you mean?’

Bridie sighed. ‘Whilst you were at Flawford talking to Great-Gran, he went looking for Andrew. He went looking to cause trouble. Again!’

‘What sort of trouble?’

‘He told Andrew that he thought Uncle Richard and me were having a love affair.’

Mary blinked and stared at her. ‘How – why did he think that?’

‘When Uncle Richard came home from the war, I seemed to be the only one who could help him. But there was nothing more than that between us. I promise you.’

To the girl’s surprise, her grandmother snorted and said, ‘Well, I know that, girl. I could have told him that. Richard’s only ever loved Eveleen. Everyone knows that.’
She thought a moment before saying slowly, ‘So you think he believed Andrew would come looking for him?’

‘Not only Andrew,’ Bridie said wryly. ‘Andrew went straight to Eveleen and, sadly, she believed him.’

‘Eveleen did? The silly girl.’

‘Then Richard came home and Andrew tackled him about it. He was dreadfully angry – and hurt. When Andrew came home yesterday and told me what had happened, I went to Nottingham this
morning. Richard didn’t go home last night and poor Auntie Evie was frantic. But I guessed he’d have come back to Fairfield House and he had. I’ve had a talk with him and
they’re together now.’ She squeezed Mary’s hands. ‘Let’s hope everything’s getting sorted out between them right this minute.’

Mary nodded. ‘Why on earth did Eveleen believe it? She must know how much Richard cares for her.’

‘She was hurt years ago, wasn’t she? I expect there’s still a tiny part of her that is unsure. Always will be, probably. You’ve been very lucky, Gran. You’ve been
loved by two wonderful men. You’ve never know what it is to be rejected by the man you love, have you?’

There was a silence in the room that seemed to go on and on until Mary said softly, ‘Yes, I have, love. Oh yes, I have. At least, I thought so at the time. Now – well – now,
I’m not so sure.’

Bridie had the sense to remain silent. She waited, willing her grandmother to tell her more, yet not wanting to press her. Doing so might have the opposite effect.

As dusk crept into the room and their faces were illuminated by the firelight, Mary began to talk.

‘I fell in love with a young man when I was about your age. Desperately in love and, I thought, for ever. But his parents – and mine too, for that matter – did not approve.
Then he went away and I found I was pregnant and that, to my family – my father and my brother, Harry – was the worst sin a woman could possibly commit. I thought that my young man had
gone away deliberately, that he had deserted me when I needed him most. My family made my life hell and so I ran away. I worked wherever I could and I ended up here, working on the Dunsmore
estate.’ Her voice was flat and unemotional in the telling of her sorry tale, yet Bridie could feel the tragedy behind her words. ‘I gave birth to my child in a ditch at the side of a
field with only a gypsy woman to hold my hand. There in the dark and the cold, my baby died. I would have done too, if it hadn’t been for your grandfather, Walter Hardcastle, who took me in
and cared for me and eventually married me. Walter was a good man, a kind man. If it hadn’t been for him, I don’t know what would have become of me.’

She fell silent and now Bridie could not help asking, ‘And your young man, your first love? Did you ever meet him again?’

Mary nodded and smiled, though the smile was tinged with sadness for her lost love. ‘Oh yes, and according to him, he was deceived by his parents. He vows he never knew of my plight. They
knew, of course, but he was only nineteen and when they sent him away to complete his education he obeyed, thinking that when he came back he would be of age and no-one could stop us marrying. But
when he did return home, I had disappeared and he couldn’t find me.’

‘Do you believe him?’

Slowly Mary nodded. ‘Yes, I do believe him. He’s a good man, too. A fine man. Don’t you think so?’

‘Me?’ Bridie was startled. ‘How should I know?’ She thought for a moment and then realization began to dawn. ‘You mean – you mean, I
know
him?’

Mary nodded.

Then Bridie’s face cleared. ‘Oh, it’s Josh. You found each other after all and . . .’

But her grandmother was shaking her head. ‘No, no, it wasn’t Josh. Though he’s a wonderful man and I’m a very lucky woman. No, my first love was the man who is now
Eveleen’s father-in-law. It was Brinsley Stokes.’

Bridie walked back to Fairfield House, her mind in a whirl at her grandmother’s revelations. She had guessed something of the sort, though only part of it. She
couldn’t, of course, have guessed about the baby. Her mind reeled at the thought that Mary, of all people, should have had a child out of wedlock. And that Brinsley Stokes should have been
the father. She tried to imagine them as young people, innocent and so in love. And the strands of their lives were still entwined all these years later, yet a lifetime of happiness together had
been denied them.

She found Eveleen and Richard sitting on the sofa in what had been the patients’ recreation room, their arms around each other. They looked up and smiled at her as she entered the room,
but they did not move apart.

‘Gran’s in an awful state, Auntie Evie. My father’s upped and gone again.’

‘Oh no!’ Evie buried her face against Richard’s shoulder and then she looked up and sighed heavily. ‘I’d better go to her.’

Bridie shook her head. ‘I think the best thing you could do, Auntie Evie, is to get back to Nottingham as quickly as possible and tell Josh.’

Eveleen nodded. ‘You’re right.’ She smiled and added pointedly, ‘As always.’

As they rose from the sofa, Richard reminded them, ‘We’ve two cars to drive back, you know. And we’ve to take Bridie back to Flawford.’

Flawford lay to the south of Nottingham and was a little out of the way of their direct route back to the city.

Eveleen thought for a moment and then said, ‘You take Bridie and I’ll go straight home to Josh.’

She noticed that Richard and Bridie glanced at each other and then they both stared at her.

‘What? What’s the matter?’

‘Are you sure about that?’ Richard asked, hardly able to keep the smile from twitching at the corner of his mouth, whilst Bridie grinned openly.

‘Oh, you!’ Eveleen said and held her arms wide to embrace both of them. The three of them stood together, their arms about each other, laughing and crying together. But now their
tears were tears of joy.

It was late when Eveleen reached home, but Josh was still waiting up for her.

‘I’ve been worried all evening. Smithers said you went off this morning very upset. Oh, Evie, it’s not Mary, is it? Is she all right?’

‘Sit down, Josh, and I’ll tell you, but first let me ring for a cup of tea. I’m parched.’

She told him briefly that she and Richard had had a misunderstanding but that everything was fine now. Then gently she took his hands into hers. ‘Josh, Jimmy’s left and Mam’s
in a dreadful state.’

He pulled his hands from hers and levered himself up. ‘Then I must go to her at once. Poor Mary. My poor, poor Mary. What a thoughtless lad that son of hers is.’ He glanced down
apologetically. ‘Sorry, mi duck. I know he’s your brother, but . . .’

‘Don’t apologize to me, Josh,’ Eveleen said, with feeling and hearing the tone of her voice, Josh looked puzzled.

Eveleen sighed. ‘It was Jimmy who caused the trouble between me and Richard. He – he told Andrew that Richard was having an affair with Bridie. And, of course, Andrew came straight
here.’

‘He – said – what?’ For a moment, Josh’s face was like thunder. ‘It’s a good job he has gone, then ’cos at this moment I could break his bloody
neck. How could he say a thing like that about our Bridie – or Richard, for that matter?’

‘He’s always liked causing trouble,’ Eveleen said bitterly. ‘Even as a young boy. It was like throwing a stone into a pond and watching the ripples, only Jimmy liked to
do it with people’s lives.’

‘But his own daughter? How could he treat his own daughter like that?’

‘I know, Josh. I know,’ Eveleen said sadly. ‘But he won’t acknowledge that she is his.’

‘Poor child,’ Josh murmured but then added tartly. ‘Mind you, I reckon she’s better off without him, but mebbe she doesn’t see it that way.’

‘I’m not so sure now,’ Eveleen said thoughtfully. ‘If anything good has come out of all his lies and trouble-making, it’s made Andrew see sense where Bridie’s
concerned. I don’t think we need to worry about her any more. She’s going to get what she’s always wanted.’ Her smiled broadened. ‘Andrew.’

Josh smiled. ‘That’s all right, then.’ Then his face sobered. ‘But now I must get home to my Mary.’

‘Tonight? But it’s late, Josh. Won’t you . . .’ She did not finish the sentence for Josh was shaking his head emphatically. ‘No, I must go to her now. Can you get
Fred Martin to drive me back? I know it’s late, but I’m not much of a driver at the best of times, Evie. I’ll pay him, but I must get back to her. She’ll need me now.’
He needed to say no more. He was in such a state of anxiety himself that he was not safe to attempt to drive.

Eveleen stood up too. ‘I’m sure he will. I’ll send Smithers to Fred’s straight away.’ She stepped closer and put her arms as far round the big man’s girth as
she could. ‘Do you know something, Josh Carpenter? I think you’re one of the kindest men I know. It was my lucky day when I met you.’

Josh patted her shoulder and his voice shook a little as he said, ‘And mine too, mi duck, and mine too.’

As Richard drew the motor car to a halt in the narrow street outside Singleton’s Yard, he said, ‘I won’t come in, Bridie. It’s late and I want to get
home. But whilst we’re alone I want to thank you for all you’ve done for me and I’m only sorry that my – my dependence on you has caused trouble for you.’

In the dusk, she smiled up at him. ‘As long as you’re well again and everything is all right between you and Auntie Evie, that’s all that matters.’

‘Not all, my dear. We want your happiness too, you know. You’re very dear to both of us.’

‘Well, I’m hoping I might have some good news for you soon. Wedding bells, you know.’

He clasped her hand and leant across the space between them to kiss her cheek. ‘Good luck then, my dear little Bridie.’