The Carlswick Affair

by SL Beaumont

  * * *

  Three o’clock rolled around before she knew it, and the crunch of tyres on the gravel announced James’s arrival. He was stepping out of yet another vehicle from the Knox garage, when she opened the door.

  “Hey, come on in.” She held the door open for him.

  “Hi, Steph.” He leaned over and kissed her lightly on the lips.

  She felt a little shimmer of excitement run through her and tried to suppress Matt’s voice in her head.

  James looked around, taking in the wide curve of the staircase, the oak panels on the walls and the mosaic tiles of the foyer. The scent of roses hung heavily in the air from two enormous arrangements on side tables on either side of the entrance hall, which were reflected back at each other by huge gilt-framed mirrors.

  Stephanie motioned for James to follow her through a door into the sitting room. Ellie Cooper was sitting with a very straight back in an armchair by the window, a book open on her lap.

  “There you are, darling.” Ellie’s smile disappeared as she looked past Stephanie at James. Taking in his mop of hair, tight t-shirt and skinny black jeans, she asked, “Who’s this?”

  “Grandma, let me introduce you to James Knox. He is in a band with Andy from the café,” she said.

  “Well, well,” Ellie replied, a hint of amusement in her voice.

  “Pleased to meet you, Mrs Cooper,” James said extending his hand politely.

  Ellie took his hand and looking him directly in the eye, said, “You are the first Knox to enter my house in more than sixty years.”

  “Really?” Stephanie and James said in unison.

  “If it wasn’t for your family, young man, my beloved sister would still be alive,” she said sadly.

  Stephanie and James exchanged looks. Maybe we will get some answers about the origins of the feud, Stephanie thought excitedly.

  “Grandma,” Stephanie said gently, “that’s what we were hoping to talk to you about.”

  Ellie’s eyes glistened with tears.

  “But, if it’s too hard…” Stephanie began, belatedly realising that her grandmother may not want to talk about her dead sister.

  “No, dear, sit down. You too,” she said, nodding to James. “I believe it’s time you heard the truth about that family of yours.”

  James tensed, ready to defend his family’s honour.

  “James…” Stephanie started to say.

  “Sit down, young man,” Ellie said sharply. “Once I’ve told you the story of my sister and your uncle – then maybe you’ll understand why we distrust your family.”

  James sat, but gave Stephanie a look which said, I am only doing this for you. She reached across and squeezed his hand.

  Ellie began.

  “The feud actually started with my father and your great-grandfather – no one remembers why, although we all thought as children it was over my mother who was something of a local beauty. Their wives, my dear mother and your great-grandmother, James, were friends before they married – and they continued to see one another socially – without their menfolk and not to their knowledge, I believe. However, my brother, sister and I grew up having very little to do with the Knox brothers.

  “My sister Sophie turned eighteen at the beginning of 1939. She was very beautiful, kind and funny. With the country preparing for war – her debut into society was somewhat subdued. But she didn’t care as she, like most other young women of the day, was desperate to help the war effort. However, Father forbade her to get a job, saying that war was men’s business. He was very conservative, you understand. Sophie, however, had other ideas and she secretly planned to become a nurse. She was desperate to escape the confines of life in the country and craved excitement.

  “Your great-uncle Edward, young man, was training with the RAF at Biggin Hill, near London. It was there that he met my brother David. They were two peas in a pod those two – both daring and brave and full of fun. Needless to say, they hit it off immediately. So when they came home in the spring of 1939 on leave, they weren’t about to let their feuding fathers interrupt the social whirl that seemed to follow them wherever they went.

  “Sophie and Edward didn’t get off to a great start – in fact she hated him at first – years of hearing our father blustering about those awful Knoxes probably influenced her. They met at a dance over at the Lewises’. He thought she was beautiful and fiery, she thought he was arrogant and conceited.

  “Throughout their two weeks of leave there were parties and dinners every night to which David would escort Sophie. Somewhere along the way she thawed and fell for Edward. By the time the boys were due back at base, Sophie and Edward were very much in love.

  “In September of that year Hitler invaded Poland and war was declared. There was an awful row at home when Sophie announced at dinner one night that she was to begin training as a nurse at Great Ormond Street hospital in London. Father blustered and shouted, but with Mother’s blessing, she left the following Monday. Father had to back down after Mother quite rightly pointed out that Princess Elizabeth was training to be a mechanic to help the war effort. I cried and cried, but Sophie wrote to me every week – you can read the letters if you would like, Stephanie – they were full of life on the hospital wards, the strict sisters and the dashing military men and of course, Edward whom she was seeing at every opportunity.

  “They all came home again over Christmas. Sophie was having dinner at the Knoxes’ most evenings – much to the disgust of both fathers who each threatened to disinherit their offspring if they continued courting. But Sophie and Edward were so in love that there was no stopping them.

  “You must realise that there was a war on and people were very aware that life was to be treasured.

  “However, their happiness wasn’t to last. Sophie came home one evening very upset. She had overheard a conversation between Edward’s brother Charles and his father discussing where to safely store a number of valuable German paintings. Charles had caught her eavesdropping and shouted at her.

  “There had been rumours in the village that the Knox family were spying for the Germans, but no one really believed it. Now David and Sophie started making a list of all the foreigners they had met at the Knox parties. They started asking lots of questions which didn’t go unnoticed by Charles and his father who banned them from any further functions. David was furious and confronted Edward in the village pub about just what the Knoxes were up to. There was a huge row, with things said that shouldn’t have been.

  “Edward, being a Knox, defended his family’s honour and he and David fell out.”

  “I’m not surprised,” James muttered.

  Ellie ignored him and continued with her story. “Soon the boys were flying again and Sophie was back working at the hospital, but the rumour mill continued. The Knoxes were shunned as whispers of ‘collaborators’ circulated. Officials from the Ministry of Defence arrived at Knox Manor to investigate. And although an inquiry exonerated them of any wrongdoing, it was a long time before the Knox family were welcome in polite society. Charles and his father placed the blame for their family’s misfortune squarely with our family.

  “Despite this Sophie and Edward were still very much in love and continued to see one another when their schedules allowed. The hatred between the families had deepened so much that they decided the next time they both had leave that they would elope.

  “Sophie came home one weekend before the planned elopement and drove to Knox Manor to seek the blessing of Edward’s mother. No one knows whether she got it or not, but the housekeeper recalled seeing her flee from the house with Charles in pursuit.”

  Ellie paused to dab a stray tear from her cheek with a lace handkerchief.

  “She was found dead the following morning – thrown from her car. The official reports were that she failed to take a bend and slid on the wet road, but neighbours told David that they heard two cars speeding on the road, but the second driver never came forward,” Ellie continued. “Charles, of course,
insisted that he had not left the house the entire evening. No one had any reason to doubt him, except David, who always believed Charles to be responsible. He insisted that Sophie had seen something at the manor that night that she shouldn’t have and that she had been killed because of it. My father, however, put a stop to any further investigation – nothing would bring Sophie back and as that family had already cost him one child, he wanted nothing further to do with the Knoxes.

  “Edward was inconsolable, I’m told. He was killed during a mission to France several months later.”

  “Oh my God,” Stephanie gasped when her grandmother had finished speaking. Tears threatened to spill from her eyes. She looked at James, whose hard expression softened slightly when he saw her emotion. “What a tragic story.”

  “What is even more tragic is that the accident was never investigated properly. The police answered to the landowners in those days – which didn’t necessarily mean that the law was always upheld,” Ellie said.

  “I really don’t like what you are insinuating,” James said quietly, his anger tightly controlled. “Collaborators – I have never heard anything so ridiculous.”

  “Well, it is quite well documented. There was an investigation. You have to remember this was immediately after the war began and fear of the Germans was running high in England at the time,” Ellie said.

  “Yes – but it was just wild hysteria, and you said yourself, we were exonerated,” James demanded, his expression dark.

  “Yes the claims were never proven – although my sister had certainly come across something. Otherwise, why would they have killed her?” Ellie asked.

  “Do you really believe that Sophie was murdered?” Stephanie was shocked. Her grandmother merely nodded.

  James’s voice was cold and a storm was brewing in his eyes. “Now you’re accusing my family of murder – my grandfather of murder.” He jumped up. “I’ve heard enough. I think I should go.” He nodded at Ellie and strode to the door, fists clenched at his side.

  “Your family loyalty is to be admired, young man, but you should ask your grandfather what really happened,” Ellie called after him.

  “I’ll see you out,” Stephanie whispered, through gritted teeth, following him into the entrance hall and closing the sitting room door behind them. “You shouldn’t speak to my grandmother like that,” she hissed, glaring at him.

  “You expect me to sit there and listen to the bitter and twisted ramblings of an old woman, accusing my family of wartime collaboration and murder?” he asked incredulously, anger radiating from him.

  “No smoke without fire, eh?” Stephanie retorted, then immediately regretted the words. She wished that she would stop and think before opening her mouth sometimes.

  James went very still.

  “Not you as well,” he said, shaking his head at her, disgusted. Anger and something else that she couldn’t quite place flashed in his eyes. She reached out to touch his arm, but pulled back, her pride getting the better of her. Instead she defiantly lifted her chin and matched his cold expression. Their passion of the previous night suddenly seemed a distant memory. They glared at each other for several moments, neither willing to back down.

  “Don’t let the door hit you on the way out,” Stephanie said as she turned on her heels and strode back towards her grandmother. She jumped when the front door slammed shut behind her. She heard James’s car door close with a loud thud and after a few seconds his car was speeding down the drive, stones flying in its wake.

  Stephanie leaned back against the wall and closed her eyes, shaking.

  “Stephanie?” Ellie was standing in the doorway.

  “Arrogant bastard,” Stephanie muttered. “Oops. I’m sorry, Grandma.”

  “Ah, don’t be. It is not a story that I would have wanted to hear if I was him, either.” She sniffed. “He certainly has the charm and good looks of the Knoxes, but they have a cruel streak to them, especially if things don’t go their way.”

  “Oh, Grandma.” Stephanie moved to Ellie’s side, giving her a gentle hug.

  “Actually, darling, you look a lot like Sophie did at your age,” Ellie noted.

  “Do I? James said something similar when we were looking at some old photos at his place. His grandfather nearly had a heart attack when he saw me,” Stephanie said.

  Ellie went pale and put a hand to her throat. “You’ve been to Knox Manor?”

  “Yes, last night.”

  Ellie chuckled. “I’ll bet old Charles thought he had seen a ghost.”

  “Yeah, he certainly wasn’t very happy to meet me,” Stephanie agreed.

  “Don’t worry about James,” Ellie said, patting Stephanie’s arm. “If he’s anything like his great-uncle there will be a fine line between anger and passion.”

  Stephanie blushed and Ellie looked at her knowingly. “I have Sophie’s diaries here somewhere. They may help you to better understand the difficulties of those times. But please be careful, dear – I’m afraid the Knoxes are not a family that I can trust.”