Beneath the Dover Sky

by Murray Pura

  “Yes, I do.”

  “Do you have any idea what he intends to do?” asked Holly.

  “I don’t. For all I know, he means to get back at me as well.”

  Holly smiled and put her arm around Caroline. “Fear not. We’re in this together. We shall fend off his assaults.”

  “Truthfully, I’d scarcely think of him from one day to the next except for Charles. When I look at my son I can see he’s already a brighter soul than his father ever was.” She bit her lip. “It’s Kipp I worry about. If anything happens to him in that dreadful desert, I shall go to pieces. I know I shall.”

  “Ah…” Holly took one of Caroline’s hands and gripped it. “I may be a lapsed Anglican, but I still know a bit about talking to the Almighty. May I? On your behalf?”

  Caroline’s smile was timid. “I should like that.”

  “Hullo?”

  Libby looked up from the rosebush she was fertilizing. She saw a tall man in a dark-blue naval uniform. “Yes?”

  “I came by to see if Lady Catherine was back from the Continent. She expected me to call. I’m Leftenant Commander Terrence Fordyce.” He smiled and jerked a thumb over his shoulder. “I asked your butler, but he wasn’t a wealth of information. He sent me ’round back here and told me to speak to Lady Elizabeth Woodhaven.”

  Libby stared at him for a full second before moving. “Ah, yes.” She got to her feet and brushed dirt off her dress. Removing a gardening glove, she extended her hand. “I’m Catherine’s sister Elizabeth, but please call me Libby, Leftenant Commander. How do you do?”

  He took her hand. “A pleasure. A beautiful day for working on roses.”

  “It is. I must get this done while I can. My daughter is having a birthday party in a week, and my schedule will be an absolute shambles once I start to organize that in earnest.”

  “How old will she be?”

  “Ten—and she’s making sure everyone knows it. It makes her the eldest child among the Danforth brood.”

  He laughed. “She’ll rule, will she? Queen Victoria or Queen Elizabeth?”

  “Either one, so long as it’s not Bloody Mary.” Libby removed her wide-brimmed straw hat. “My husband and I were in America for several years. That’s why you and I have never met, but Catherine wrote me about you.”

  “Did she? Good things, I hope.”

  “Very good. Have you not heard from her lately?”

  “No, nothing at all. I realize she was on a journey along the Rhine and may not have been free to post a note or send a cable.”

  “Yes.” Libby glanced about her. “Will you take a short stroll with me, Leftenant Commander?”

  She led him west towards the Knight property and the oak trees. He fell in step beside her.

  “Unquestionably, Catherine would have tried to send you a message,” Libby began. “But you’re quite right. She has been in locations that are out of the way, which would make sending telegrams and letters awkward. As soon as she is able, I know she’ll write you. Unfortunately, that could be weeks.”

  “Is everything all right?”

  “Well, it is and it isn’t.” Libby took in a deep breath. “Really, she should be telling you this, but it can’t be helped. And it wouldn’t be fair to keep you in the dark. My sister Catherine has married. I believe you know of Albrecht Hartmann, a German theologian? He is now her husband.”

  Fordyce stopped walking as if he’d been caught and held. “Married! For how long?”

  “Just this month.”

  “I see.” He remained motionless. “I admit this is a lot to take in.”

  “I’m sure it is. I’m so sorry. I know you and Catherine had a marvelous relationship.”

  Fordyce looked at the oaks in the distance and then the stone fence beyond them. “Married to Hartmann. Well, bless him, the lucky dog.” He forced a smile. “Will Lady Catherine be returning to Dover Sky, Lady Elizabeth?”

  “Libby,” she reminded him. Then she shook her head. “Not to live. They’ll be living in Tubingen, where Albrecht lectures at the university. Summers will probably be spent in Switzerland or at Hartmann Castle on the Rhine.”

  “Switzerland and the Rhine, eh? I can’t compete with that on Royal Navy pay.” He straightened his hat. “I won’t take up anymore of your time. Thank you so much, Libby. I’ll be heading back to Devonport.”

  “Please don’t run off. I’d like you to meet my husband and daughter. They’re down feeding the swans.”

  “I don’t want to interfere with your Saturday.”

  “Not at all. Michael has good friends in the United States Navy. He’s been aboard several of their battleships, including the USS Arizona and the USS Oklahoma. He’d love to meet you, and you’d have oodles to talk about. Do stay on for a bit.”

  “The Arizona and Oklahoma, you say?” Fordyce grinned and shrugged. “Why not? A chat would soften this morning’s news. I can drive away with my head full of information about keels and engines and funnels and guns—at least for a while.”

  She smiled back at him as she brushed damp strands of ginger hair out of her blue eyes. “That’s the spirit! Let’s head to the pond. We have two dozen swans with us this week. It’s quite something to watch.”

  “Two dozen!”

  “Indeed. Twenty-four down to the youngest cygnet. All under the protection of King George himself.”

  My dear Terry,

  I fear this will get to you too late and you will have heard about my state of affairs from other sources. You may think that out of sight is out of mind regarding you, but that is not so. I asked but there wasn’t a telegraph station within a hundred miles of Hartmann Castle. Now that I am in Vienna, there are plenty of them but I simply couldn’t send you the news that way. It was too cold. So this letter will have to do even though it will take much longer to reach you in Devonport.

  Albrecht and I were married early in June. It was not an easy decision to make, but it was a decision I had to make. I dragged my heels on this matter far too long. I care for you dearly, Terry. You have a great heart and a great soul. I doubt that will make you feel better about things right now. I’m certain news of my marriage will come as a slap to the face. I was not rejecting you; I was just saying yes to Albrecht—if that makes sense.

  I will continue to pray for you and your safety on the high seas. I have no idea when we shall see one another again, and perhaps that’s just as well. You will be in England and the Mediterranean, and I will be in Germany and Switzerland.

  God bless you and all the best to you, my dear Terry.

  Catherine

  “Is the sailor man in the uniform coming?”

  Libby brushed her daughter’s gleaming black hair and tied a purple ribbon at the top. “You mean Leftenant Commander Fordyce? I don’t think so, honey.”

  “But we invited him, and he said he might.”

  “He’s quite a few miles from here on his big ship. It’s not so easy for him to just pop over.”

  “Grandfather William is coming down from London, isn’t he?”

  “Yes.”

  “And Uncle Jeremy and Aunt Emma? And aren’t Uncle Edward and Aunt Char coming too? And all my cousins?”

  “Of course! It’ll be an absolute mob. And there will be gifts from your relatives in America too. Did you see that huge parcel from Grandpa and Grandma Woodhaven that’s on the table on the porch?”

  “I did! I’m so excited!”

  “Hold still a moment.” Libby tied an orange ribbon next to the purple one. “There!”

  Jane looked at herself in the oval mirror on the vanity. “Purple dress. Purple stockings. Purple and orange ribbons.” She grinned. “I love these colors. What about Grandmother Elizabeth? Is she coming?”

  “She’s still in Germany with Aunt Vickie and your cousins Ramsay and young Timothy. It’s too bad. Grandfather William will have your present, and Uncle Ben is bringing the ones from Aunt Vickie and Ramsay. Here are your purple gloves.”

  Jane tugged them on,
and they went up to her elbows. “Will he really fly in?”

  “Yes, he really will. Then he’ll be off again after a hug and a kiss and a piece of cake.”

  “Ooh! I think I could fly without a plane! I’m so happy!”

  “Here…” Libby gently arranged an orange silk scarf about her daughter’s neck. “Go show yourself to your father. He’s hanging balloons on the porch with Skitt and Montgomery.”

  Jane’s smile grew sly. “Monty likes Skitt.”

  “Why, who told you that?”

  “No one.” Jane made circles like glasses around her eyes with her fingers. “I can see for myself.”

  Libby laughed. “Is that right? And how is Skitt dealing with this bit of Dover Sky romance, Lady Jane?”

  “Ha! I don’t think he knows what to do…except get tongue-tied.”

  “You look smashing in purple and orange. They’re the colors of our coat of arms.”

  “Indeed.” Jane curtsied. “Thank you, m’lady.”

  Libby straightened and gently pulled the sides of her blue summer dress as she curtsied back. “You’re welcome, m’lady.” She opened the bedroom door. “Come, let’s go downstairs to your father. He’ll be bowled over by the beauty of his princess.”

  “His enchanted princess.”

  “Quite right. His enchanted princess.”

  They heard car doors slam, and Jane ran to the open window.

  “Leftenant Commander!” Libby heard her husband call out. “Hey! It’s great to see you here!”

  “Wouldn’t miss it, Michael. Haven’t been to a proper birthday party in years.”

  Jane swung her head around and laughed. “You see, Mama? He did come! He does like me.”

  Libby went to the window and put a hand on her daughter’s shoulder. “Well, that’s not really a surprise, is it? Everyone adores you, Lady Jane.”

  “He’s my knight.”

  “Your knight? I thought your father was your knight.”

  “Dad is my father knight. Leftenant Commander Fordyce is my knight knight.” She stared, suddenly puzzled. “There is something different about him. I thought I had his uniform utterly memorized.” She bolted from the room and down the staircase.

  “Jane!” Libby called after her. “Slow down!”

  She watched from the window as Jane raced out the front door and practically came to attention in front of Terrence Fordyce.

  “There’s the birthday girl!” Fordyce handed her a present wrapped in purple paper with orange bows. “For the rest of your life you’ll always have two numbers in your age. Unless you live to be one hundred, then you’ll have three.”

  Jane took the gift. “Thank you, Leftenant Commander. You remembered about my favorite colors.”

  “So I did.”

  “Do you realize your uniform is not the same?”

  “It’s not? What’s different about it?”

  “I’m not sure.”

  Michael walked up and put his arm around Jane. “Honey, I think it’s the same uniform Lieutenant Commander Fordyce wore last Saturday.”

  “It isn’t, Dad.”

  “Everything’s exactly the same.”

  “No.”

  Fordyce put his hands in his pockets. “Are you sure you’re not mistaken, Jane?”

  Jane eyed him up and down. Then she pointed at his hands. “Take them out of your pockets.”

  “Jane,” Michael soothed, “calm down. I know it’s your big day but—”

  Fordyce grinned and removed his hands from his pockets. He turned them toward her, palms outward. “No rabbits, my dear.”

  Libby smiled as Jane played with his sleeves and then put her knuckles to her mouth. “Oh Jane,” she said before chuckling.

  “The cuffs are different!” Jane shouted.

  “Jane, no yelling!” her father said.

  She challenged Fordyce with the intensity of her dark-eyed stare. “They are, aren’t they?”

  “Jane!” Michael corrected again.

  “It’s all right.” Fordyce held up his hands as if she’d pulled a gun. “Jane’s spot on. I have three thick gold stripes on the cuffs instead of the two thick ones with a skinny one in between.”

  Jane’s dark eyes glittered. “What are you now? An admiral?”

  “Not quite. A commander. After that comes captain, then commodore, and then admiral.”

  “Do you get your own battleship?”

  “I can have a ship, Jane, but not a battleship.”

  “Are you getting a ship?”

  “Not yet. I am our captain’s right-hand man on the HMS Hood now. One of them, anyway.”

  She turned his present over in her slender brown hands. “Does this have to do with the Royal Navy?”

  “It does.”

  “May I open it?”

  Michael laughed and shook his head. “Remember the deal, Jane? First everyone arrives. Then we’ll play games. Then comes the cake and ice cream. And then—ta da!—you can open the presents.”

  “But no one’s here but old people.”

  “The kids are coming. And Charlie and Matt are around here somewhere.”

  “They’re off doing something secret with Aunt Holly and Aunt Caroline. It’s so boring right now.”

  “Jane!”

  “Can’t I open this one while we’re waiting? It is my birthday after all. Please, Dad?”

  Michael rolled his eyes up. “Just one, but only if Commander Fordyce says, ‘Aye, aye, skipper.’ ”

  Fordyce nodded and said, “Go ahead, Jane.”

  She tore the paper off and then opened the box underneath. She pulled out a naval officer’s hat. “It’s the same as yours!”

  “It is, but smaller. I hope it fits you.”

  She quickly put the hat on her head. “It’s perfect…only a little tight. Thank you so much.”

  He saluted her. “Happy birthday, Commander.”

  Jane ruled the day. Not only was she older than her nearest competitors—Jeremy and Emma’s ginger-haired and green-eyed Peter and brown-haired, brown-eyed James, neither of whom would turn ten until December—she was also taller than the other children and much faster on her long legs. After the games that included the pinning of the tail on the donkey and a hotly contested croquet match, they consumed cake, lemonade, ice cream, and dozens of pork sausages called bangers that were roasted over a fire.

  Jane soon sat surrounded by mounds of wrapping paper and gifts, her commander hat squarely on her head. Uncle Ben had dropped a basket of dolls by parachute, done a victory roll, and then zipped away. Grandfather William had arrived late with German and Swiss dresses shipped from Grandma Elizabeth on the Continent. He also had bags of Swiss chocolate for all and steel swords with blunt edges for the boys. The gifts from America included a large dollhouse that could be plugged in so the rooms lit up and the fireplaces glowed. At bedtime a raid was launched by the boys against Jane’s room. It was led by the twins and their seven-year-old brother, Billy. Charles, Matthew, and Owen were eager recruits. All brandished their steel swords from Grandfather William. But Jane had a sword of her own and no fear. A few lightbulbs were lost before order was restored and everyone marched back to their bedrooms. Skitt continued to keep an eye out as he prowled the halls long after the doors were shut.

  Michael left Jane’s room and entered his through an adjoining door. He closed it and then leaned against it. He let out his breath as he looked at Libby before starting to laugh.

  “I think Mary, Queen of Scots, has finally settled.”

  “I’m glad to hear it. She can be a monster if she doesn’t get her sleep.”

  “I’m pretty sure there’s a sword somewhere under her blankets.”

  “Is there? That’s surprising.”

  Michael stared as her sharp tone registered. “Hey, what’s the matter?”

  Libby was sitting in her nightgown on the edge of the bed and filing her nails. “I’m just shocked she has a sword of her own. My dad certainly didn’t give it to her.”
<
br />   “What do you mean?”

  “He had swords for everyone but her. When she asked for one, he said the extras were for Sean and Ramsay and Tim when they come back from Germany.”

  “So he just brought them for the boys—”

  “Only one of the dresses they gave her fit, do you know that? I helped her try them on while the boys were roasting bangers with Harrison.”

  “I’m sure your mom did the best she could. She wouldn’t know Jane’s size.”

  “She knows it all right. Vic cabled me and I cabled her the measurements back weeks ago.”

  Michael sat next to her on the bed. “Look, she had a terrific day. I’m sure she’s forgotten all about the dresses that didn’t fit.”

  Libby examined her nails. “Until next week. Then the tears will come.”

  “She has that incredible dress from Kipp and Caroline—the one from Morocco. She looks like a sultan’s queen in that.”

  “She does. With her skin color, high cheekbones, and dark eyes and hair she’s stunning.”

  “She’ll be all right.”

  “She won’t be all right. She knows my mother and father don’t approve of her being our daughter.”

  “They need time, Lib.”

  Libby flared. “Time? It will be a year in October. It’s precisely the sort of thing that happened when they didn’t approve of Victoria and Ben or Edward and Char.”

  “So they’ll come around eventually.”

  “You don’t know that. Mum and Dad went through years of being snubbed by their friends because of Vic and Edward’s ‘low’ marriages. I’m sure neither of them is interested in a repeat of that experience, and certainly not over a little, lost Chinese girl from America.”

  He rubbed a hand over his face. “I’ll talk with them.”

  She smiled even as she shook her head. “Dear Michael, my American hero.” She kissed him on the cheek. “They’ll listen politely to their precious son-in-law from the United States. They’ll nod. They’ll offer you tea or coffee. And a week later…maybe two weeks…nothing will have changed.”

  “Jane’s status doesn’t seem to bother anyone else in the family—”

  “With the exception of Edward. But then he doesn’t approve of Catherine marrying a German, so why should he approve of you and I adopting an Oriental?”