At the same moment the tempo of the music quickened.
‘I haven’t seen you for a while,’ she said, over the jaunty sound of the brass.
Kit looked shame-faced. ‘No,’ he said. ‘I was angry. I had to calm down for a while.’
‘You were angry?’ Effie stared at him in disbelief. ‘What about me? You were the one who jilted me, remember?’
‘I know, and I’m sorry.’
She had never heard him apologise with any sincerity before. It came as a big shock.
As if he could read her thoughts, Kit said, ‘That’s why I came tonight – to say I’m sorry. As I said to you once before, I never know how much time I’ve got left. And I didn’t want to – you know – without making things right with you, telling you how I feel.’
His expression was so contrite, Effie couldn’t stay angry with him. ‘Go on,’ she said.
He paused for a moment, then said, ‘I should never have tried to force you. It was very wrong of me, and I bitterly regret it. But I couldn’t help it,’ he insisted, his expression pleading. ‘I just adore you so much. And when you turned me down, it was as if you were saying – you didn’t care.’
‘But I do care,’ Effie blurted out before she could stop herself.
‘Do you, darling? Do you really?’ His face brightened.
‘Yes,’ she said. She knew she probably should have played harder to get, made him work for her forgiveness. But it was so difficult when he was being so lovely and charming to her. Effie had never managed to master the art of being aloof.
‘So will you give me another chance?’
Effie’s smile was on her lips before her brain had had a chance to catch up with what Kit was saying. He was giving her another chance to prove how much she loved him. And this time she mustn’t let him down.
‘Oh, yes!’
Kit laughed. It was a loud, almost triumphant sound. He picked her up and swung her round, until she couldn’t catch her breath. Effie tried to laugh but his movements were quick, nimble and daring; they thrilled her, and made her cling tighter to him.
‘I’m so happy we’re back together,’ he breathed in her ear as he pulled her close. ‘I was afraid that I’d ruined everything. These past couple of weeks have just been utter misery for me. I’ve missed you.’
‘I’ve missed you, too,’ Effie said.
‘I never want us to be apart again, even for a second,’ Kit said. ‘However long I have on this earth, I want to spend every last second of it with you.’
A little spark of realisation flared in Effie’s mind, and she started to tingle from head to toe with anticipation. ‘What – do you mean?’ She hardly dared whisper the question.
Kit smiled down at her. ‘I mean I want to marry you, darling – if you’ll have me, that is?’
Jess sipped her glass of fruit punch and looked around the hall. It was warm, and the room was bathed in golden light, and all the girls looked so lovely in their pretty dresses, filling the floor with a whirling rainbow of colours.
In the middle of the dance floor, Effie was wrapped around Kit, looking so blissfully happy it was hard to imagine she was the same girl who had trailed in miserably a couple of hours before.
But now it was Daisy’s turn to sulk. According to her, Max had barely spoken a word to her all evening, let alone asked her to dance, and she was bored and fed up.
‘I’ve even danced with other officers all night, just to make him jealous, but he’s hardly noticed,’ she complained to Jess. ‘If he hasn’t bucked up his ideas in the next half an hour, I’m going to go home and see if he follows me.’
‘I’ll come with you,’ Jess said. She had danced all the dances she wanted to, and now her feet were aching and she was tired and ready for her bed.
She was waiting by the door, already in her coat, when Mrs Huntley-Osborne sailed by.
‘Oh, are you leaving already? Such a shame.’ Her thin lips curved in a smirk. She clearly hadn’t forgiven Jess for humiliating her that day on the ward.
But Jess had good reason to resent her, too. As Mrs Huntley-Osborne passed, she called after her, ‘I met a friend of yours the other day.’
‘Oh, yes? Who’s that?’
‘Sarah Newland.’
Mrs Huntley-Osborne’s expression didn’t change, but some of the colour drained from her face.
‘Miss Newland was a former servant, hardly someone I would call a friend,’ she replied contemptuously.
I’m sure you wouldn’t, Jess thought. ‘I’ve been round to visit her a few times, actually. Her baby’s due next month.’
‘Is it? I had no idea.’
‘Poor girl, it isn’t right that everyone’s turned their back on her. But I don’t suppose they’d dare do anything else, would they?’
‘I’m sure I don’t know what you mean.’
‘Don’t you? I suppose this isn’t all your doing! You’ve turned everyone against her. No one would dare take her side against you.’
Mrs Huntley-Osborne’s head reared back, nostrils flaring. ‘Girls like Sarah have no place in a community like this,’ she said shortly. ‘There are good people living in this village, and we don’t need the likes of Sarah Newland causing trouble among us. But I can see why she’s made a friend of you,’ she added, looking Jess up and down. ‘It seems to me you’re cut from the same cloth.’
‘Good people?’ Jess echoed disbelievingly, ignoring her insult. ‘What kind of good person tries to drive a young girl out, just because she made the mistake of getting pregnant?’
A curious glint came into Mrs Huntley-Osborne’s eye. ‘Is that what she told you?’
Something about the way she said it made Jess wary. ‘Yes. Why?’
Mrs Huntley-Osborne’s mouth curved in a cold smile. ‘That just goes to prove my point, doesn’t it? The girl is a born liar. ‘Then why do you hate her so much?’
‘Because she stole from me. Something very precious. Something that cannot be replaced. She denies it, of course, but we both know the truth.’ She looked at Jess. ‘I don’t suppose she told you that, did she?’
‘No,’ Jess said slowly. ‘No, she didn’t.’
A thought came into her mind, an image of something that wasn’t quite right. Something that had struck her as odd when she’d first noticed it, but which she had since forgotten.
‘So, you see, perhaps you should check your facts before you jump to conclusions?’ Mrs Huntley-Osborne said, a hint of triumph in her voice. ‘Look at Sarah Newland, Miss Jago, and then look at me. Who do you think is telling the truth?’
Chapter Thirty-Five
‘NOW THAT’S SOMETHING I haven’t seen in a very long time,’ William said.
Millie looked up at him as they circled the room with the other dancers. The band was playing one of her favourite songs, ‘The Way You Look Tonight’.
‘What’s that?’ she asked
‘Your smile.’
She pulled a face. ‘Oh, dear, am I usually so stern?’
‘Not exactly. You smile quite a lot, actually. But it’s never been a real smile. In fact, I’ve hardly seen you genuinely happy since we got here.’
‘Yes, well, perhaps I haven’t had much to be happy about.’
‘And do you now?’ he asked.
Millie looked around the dance floor, at the other couples swirling around them to the music. It might have been nothing more than the old village hall strung with a few fairy lights and chains of paper hearts, but it felt magical to her.
It was the kind of night that she could never have imagined herself having a few months ago.
‘Yes,’ she said. ‘Yes, I do.’
Her heart felt as light as her feet as they skipped around the dance floor. Over the past few weeks, Millie felt as if she had stepped out of the shadows and started to walk towards the light of a new life.
‘I’m glad to hear it.’ William was dancing so close to her, she could almost feel the beat of his heart against hers. ‘I feel as if you’re bac
k to being the old Millie again.’
‘Goodness, I hope not!’ She pulled back to look at him. ‘I’d like to think I’m not that naive and silly any more.’
‘All right, you’re allowed to mature a bit,’ he said. ‘As long as you keep the old charm.’
‘Mature?’ Millie laughed. ‘Now you’re making me sound like a cheese!’
William smiled. ‘I’m afraid I’m rather out of practice with flirting.’
‘That’s not what I’ve heard!’ she said. ‘I’ve seen you with those WAAFs, don’t forget.’ Then she realised what he’d said and added, ‘Is that what you’re doing? Flirting with me?’
‘Would that be such a bad thing?’ he said softly.
She considered the question. A few months ago she would have rejected the idea out of hand, but now she was surprised to find she rather welcomed it. ‘No,’ she said finally. ‘It wouldn’t be such a bad thing, I suppose.’
‘And if I were to take it further – perhaps suggest a night out together?’
‘We’re out together now, aren’t we?’
‘That isn’t quite what I had in mind,’ William said ruefully. ‘I was thinking more of dinner or the theatre. Just the two of us?’
She looked up into his warm, brown eyes, like delicious pools of melted chocolate, and felt the same jolt of attraction she’d experienced the first time she saw him striding down the ward. She might not be a naive little girl any more, but he still had the power to make her heart skip.
‘I think that sounds delightful,’ she said.
As the music finished, William lifted his gaze to glance over her shoulder. ‘I think someone’s looking for you,’ he said.
Millie turned around. There was Teddy, weaving his way through the crowd, his gaze searching the room. She waved, and he made his way towards them.
‘Hello, darling.’ He leaned in and kissed her on the cheek. ‘Sorry I’m late. Trains down from London were beastly, as per.’
‘At least you’re here now.’ Millie turned to William. ‘William, this is Teddy Teasdale, one of my oldest and dearest friends. You might have seen him visiting the Lodge? He often comes down to see us.’
‘Can’t keep me away!’ Teddy grinned.
‘Teddy, this is William Tremayne. He’s with the RAF squadron living up at the house.’
Teddy offered his hand to William. ‘How do you do, old boy?’
William shook his hand briskly, then said, ‘If you’ll excuse me, I think the Wing Commander is leaving and I really should say goodbye to him.’ He nodded briefly to Teddy. ‘It was good to meet you.’
‘Now why do I get the impression he didn’t mean that?’ Teddy said as they watched William threading his way past the couples on the dance floor.
Millie frowned. ‘What do you mean? He seemed perfectly civil to me.’
‘To you, perhaps. But I detected a definite froideur. I may be wrong, but I suspect your friend William sees me as a rival for your affections.’
‘Don’t be absurd!’ Millie dismissed. ‘Why on earth would he think that?’
Teddy sent her a withering look. ‘Now you really are making me feel like a maiden aunt. Can’t you just for once see me as the handsome rake I am?’
Laughter bubbled out of her. ‘Oh, Teddy! You are funny.’
He sighed. ‘For heaven’s sake, let’s dance before you destroy every shred of my masculine pride.’ He held out his arms to her. ‘Would you care for a turn around the dance floor, Lady Amelia?’
‘Why, thank you, Lord Edward, I would love to.’
Millie danced more sedately with Teddy than she had with William. There was no pulsing attraction between them, no unspoken promises made with long looks. Instead Teddy carted her round the dance floor and told her about the recent grim talk he’d had with his parents.
‘Sadly, news has reached them we won’t be welcoming Georgina Farsley or her considerable fortune into the family. Needless to say, they’re not best pleased,’ he sighed.
‘Poor Teddy!’ Millie sympathised.
‘I’m rather afraid I will be if they decide to cut me off as they’re threatening to do. I can’t even dangle the promise of a betrothal to you under their noses any more, since your affections clearly lie elsewhere these days.’
‘What makes you say that?’
‘My dear girl, you haven’t taken your eyes off your friend William since he took to the dance floor with that rather cross-looking blonde.’
Millie dragged her eyes away from William and Agnes Moss and back to Teddy. ‘I’m sorry,’ she said.
‘It’s quite all right, my dear. Anyone can see you’re utterly besotted. And if it matters to you, I would say the feeling is mutual.’
‘Do you think so?’ Millie felt a blush rising in her face.
‘Most definitely. Makes me rather jealous, actually, seeing you make eyes at each other.’
‘Then I’ll have to find a nice girl for you, won’t I?’ Millie smiled. ‘Is there anyone here that you like the look of?’
‘Only one,’ he said. ‘And she’s standing right in front of me.’
Millie laughed. ‘Oh, do be serious!’
‘I am serious.’
She waited for him to follow it up with one of his witty quips, but he didn’t. He was staring down at her, and for once he wasn’t smiling. ‘Teddy?’ she ventured uncertainly.
‘I’m sorry, Mil,’ he sighed. ‘I know this is rather awkward, but I seem to have fallen in love with you.’
‘Oh, Teddy!’
‘It’s my own silly fault,’ he went on. ‘I knew where we both stood when I started coming to visit you. But as time went by I started to enjoy seeing you and little Henry. And somewhere along the line I seem to have forgotten that we were just friends having some fun together, and well –’ he shrugged expressively ‘– I realised I had these rather annoying feelings for you. It’s all right,’ he went on hastily, ‘I know you don’t feel the same. You don’t, do you?’ He stared into her face.
‘I’m afraid not,’ Millie said.
‘I would have been surprised if you’d said yes. Delighted too, obviously, but very surprised. I promise I won’t make any difficulties for you,’ he said. ‘I shan’t be writing poetry to you, or standing under your window at midnight serenading you with love ballads I’ve composed.’
‘I’m glad to hear it.’ Millie smiled in spite of herself. ‘You’re tone deaf, as I recall.’
‘Completely,’ he sighed. ‘Seriously, I don’t mean to make you feel uncomfortable. Lord knows, I’ll probably be in love with someone else by next week. You know how fickle I am. Unless, of course, you do decide you prefer me to your friend William, in which case I will be waiting for you with all the devotion of a pet Labrador.’ He reached for her hand. ‘Don’t look so stricken, darling. I promise you, this changes nothing.’
He planted a kiss in her palm and Millie pulled her hand away gently. An hour ago and she would have thought nothing of such a gesture, but now it felt loaded with meaning.
Teddy was wrong, she thought. Whether she liked it or not, his confession changed everything.
Sarah frowned when she saw Jess on her doorstep.
‘It’s a bit late for a visit, ain’t it?’ she said, pulling her cardigan around her expanded waistline. Her red hair was like a fiery cloud around her head. ‘What is it? What’s wrong?’
‘Why didn’t you tell me?’ Jess said.
Sarah’s expression grew wary. ‘Tell you what? I don’t know what you’re talking about.’
‘You could start with this.’ Before Sarah could react, Jess grabbed the string around the other girl’s neck. ‘How about explaining why you stole this ring?’
Sarah snatched it back from her. ‘I didn’t steal it.’
‘I think you did.’ It had bothered Jess the first time she’d seen it. What was a girl living in a squalid little cottage doing with such an expensive piece of jewellery? But she’d pushed the doubts to the back of her mind, telling herse
lf it was none of her concern. Until Mrs Huntley-Osborne’s words had brought them bobbing back to the surface.
Sarah said nothing. She kept her gaze fixed on the ground.
‘That explains why you never wear it, doesn’t it? I should have known,’ Jess said. ‘I should have realised there was more to it than you were telling me. And to think I went in all guns blazing to have it out with Mrs Huntley-Osborne because I thought she was treating you unfairly!’
‘I didn’t ask you to.’ Sarah found her voice.
‘I did it because I thought we were friends,’ Jess said.
It was hard for her, because she didn’t let people in very easily. But she had seen something in Sarah that convinced her to let down her guard. It was difficult for her to believe that she had been so wrong.
‘I don’t have any friends.’
‘I’m not surprised, if you go round lying and stealing.’
Sarah flashed her a furious look. ‘I’m not a liar and I’m not a thief!’
‘That’s what it looks like to me.’
‘Oh, well, that’s it then, isn’t it? You’ve obviously made your mind up about me, just like all the others.’
Jess stared at Sarah, unmoved. The self-pitying tactic wouldn’t work on her now. ‘So tell me the truth,’ she said.
‘Why should I?’
‘Because I’m on your side.’
Sarah faltered, the fire fading from her eyes. ‘It is her ring,’ she admitted quietly. ‘But I swear I didn’t steal it.’
‘So what happened?’ The other girl’s mouth firmed into an obstinate line, and Jess sighed. ‘Look, I’m not having a go at you. But if you don’t tell me the truth, I can’t help you.’
Suddenly Sarah was defensive again, her shoulders taut, hackles rising. ‘I’m not asking you for help. Just like I didn’t ask you to come round here, bringing your clothes and your food parcels and everything else. I can manage by myself, thanks very much.’
‘Fine. I’ll leave you to it, then.’ Jess was about to turn away when she saw the proud, defiant tilt to Sarah’s chin. She recognised that look. She’d held herself like that many times, putting up a front so no one would know how scared she really was …
Nightingales Under the Mistletoe Page 24
