by Nancy Carson
‘All in good time …’ He hugged her tight and kissed her longingly on the lips. ‘God, I’ve missed you.’
‘No more than I’ve missed you.’ She stepped back to look at him, to feast her eyes on this man she loved so much and had not seen for so long.
‘Are you going to invite me in?’
She chuckled at her forgivable oversight. ‘Yes, come in … Can you manage your case?’
‘Yes, I can manage the case. Can you manage the baby?’
‘The baby …’ She laughed again, stepping aside so he could get past her. ‘You didn’t think it was ours, did you?’
‘I was trying to do a quick mental calculation.’
‘It’s Caitlin’s.’
‘Caitlin’s?’
‘Oh, it’s a long story. But let me introduce you …’
The two girls had already ceased their tasks so they could witness this long overdue reunion. They nudged each other and smiled, and said how pleased they were to meet John after hearing so much about him.
‘Welcome to this house of three women and a baby,’ Daisy said.
John put down his case, took off his hat and looked around, unsure of what he had turned up to.
‘Let me take your hat and coat …’
He gave her his hat and unbuttoned his coat. When he’d slipped it off, Daisy took it. ‘I’ll put them in the front room … Come with me, Gianni … Caitlin, can you hold up tea for a while? I must talk to him first. Have we got enough food?’
‘There’s plenty for all.’
Daisy turned to him, her affection, her relief at seeing him and being with him again, brimming over in her eyes. ‘There’s so much to tell you. So much has happened. Oh, John, I’ve missed you so much …’
He stood close, facing her in the chilly front room, and took her hands. ‘That’s all I wanted to hear,’ he whispered tenderly. ‘My God, it’s been hell without you. I’ve been demented with worry.’
‘I was afeared you would be. Didn’t you enjoy Bologna?’
‘Bologna? Oh, the Vinaccias were hospitable enough – very kind in fact – and Bologna’s a beautiful place. But I missed you. I learnt one thing, Daisy – I can’t live without you. When I received no replies to my letters I was beside myself …’
‘My stupid fault for forgetting to give Concetta my address. Although I think it was for the best, as it’s turned out.’
‘How can that possibly be?’
‘Don’t worry. I’ll explain later.’
‘How is your father, by the way?’
‘He passed away as well, John. Pneumonia and a broken heart. Just over a week ago. It’s all been so sad.’
‘I’m so sorry, my love,’ he said with earnest sympathy. ‘When you needed me most I wasn’t here.’
‘And how I’ve needed you …’ Daisy leaned her forehead against his chest and he sniffed her hair as he stroked it.
‘What’s that I can smell in your hair?’
She looked up at him curiously. ‘Smell?… Oh no! It must be tallow you can smell. I started work today in a factory. I bet it’s seeped into my clothes and everything.’
‘Why are you working?
‘We need money. What money I had has all gone. Why else?’
‘You poor, impoverished girl …’ He smiled contentedly, as if her lack of funds was of no consequence. ‘So tell me all that’s happened.’
‘It’ll take a fortnight … Why don’t we eat first and then I’ll tell you everything? I bet you’re hungry from your travels.’
‘I’m starving. I’ve not eaten since this morning in London.’
‘We can unpack your case afterwards.’
‘Actually … I’ll open my case now. I bought a couple of bottles of Pasquale’s wine. He insisted – you know Pasquale. Do you think the girls would like a glass of wine with their dinners?’
‘I don’t think one glass would hurt them.’
As they ate, Daisy told John everything; not in great detail, for that would unfold over time and as it became relevant.
‘When I saw Concetta and she told me you’d rushed back here to be at your mother’s side you can’t imagine how helpless I felt, not being here to support and console you. Mind you, I was relieved to know why you hadn’t answered any of my letters.’
‘Fancy me forgetting to give Concetta my address in the first place. I can’t get over it. But I take it you’d finished working in Bologna, if you actually saw Concetta.’
‘I confess I hurried the last two paintings. I was anxious to get back to Sorrento to find out what was wrong, to find out why you hadn’t written. I left Sorrento as soon as Concetta told me. Apparently, she’d only just heard from you a day or two before.’
‘So how did you get on with the family in Bologna?’ Daisy turned to Caitlin and Sarah. ‘He was commissioned to go to Bologna to do paintings of the six pretty daughters of some wealthy merchant we met in Sorrento, you see. I’m interested to know if I had competition.’
John’s eyes crinkled into a smile. ‘I got on very well, my love. They are a fine family. The girls are all very handsome too, as their father had said. They were good sitters, but inclined to ceaseless chatter – to me, not to each other. Each sat alone with me. Supposedly to inhibit their chattering. But to no avail.’
‘I bet you got to know them well.’
‘Their dreams, their fears, their laments. I think I became a confidente to each.’
‘But there was only one married, wasn’t there?’
‘And two more spoken for. The others all had their eyes on somebody or other.’
‘As long as they didn’t have their eyes on you.’
‘No, but I think their mother did,’ he said, tongue in cheek, and they all laughed. ‘They said they would like to meet you, I told them so much about you.’
He poured more wine, then Caitlin and Sarah told their stories.
‘It doesn’t surprise me about Lawson,’ John commented when they had finished.
‘It doesn’t?’ Daisy said.
‘I knew all along he was involved in prostitution.’
‘You did? You knew and yet you never told me?’
‘It was none of my business, Daisy. Besides, it was evident you had no idea at all. If I’d told you when I first got to know you, doubtless you wouldn’t have believed me and might have thought it malicious of me to suggest such a thing. I didn’t want to alienate myself.’
‘But how did you know?’ Daisy asked. ‘You were in London, miles from his sordid world.’
‘Because I knew my father was involved as well.’
‘Your father?’ Daisy’s expression was one of realisation. ‘Of course … I know you said he had a hankering for young girls … and there always seemed to be some mysterious tie-up with Lawson.’
‘I despise my father,’ John exclaimed for the benefit of Sarah and Caitlin. ‘He was definitely in partnership with Lawson. Covertly of course. It wouldn’t do for it to be known that one of the town’s most eminent personages was involved in prostituting young girls.’
‘So how is he involved?’ Daisy questioned.
‘He owns or owned a couple of the houses that Lawson runs as brothels.’
‘I thought Lawson owned them all.’
‘Some, yes. Not all. And the reason I know is that I happened upon the deeds once when searching for something in his study. I was curious and made it my business to find these places. When I saw the number of men rapping on the front doors with their canes and looking furtively about them, it was very quickly very obvious what was going on. Of course, he could have sold the houses to Lawson since. That I wouldn’t know.’
Daisy shook her head in disbelief at the mounting evidence against Lawson, the man she had so foolishly and impulsively married, the man she had failed to bring to book. ‘But your poor mother,’ she said. ‘Are you going to try and become reconciled with her while you’re here?’
‘I think I should try, but I don’t hold out much hope.’
>
‘I think you should. And talking about reconciliation …’ She looked earnestly at Caitlin. ‘I think it would be a good idea for you to seek reconciliation with your family.’
Caitlin shook her head. ‘My mother won’t have anything to do with me. And my father won’t, in case he upsets my mother. I know them. They’re funny old sods.’
‘How old are you, Caitlin?’ John asked
‘I’m just twenty-one.’
‘Why?’ Daisy asked. ‘What’s her age got to do with anything?’
John leaned back in his chair. ‘Well, Daisy, it’s my intention that you and I go back to Italy just as soon as it’s feasible. However, I understand that you wouldn’t care to leave Sarah here and not be able to oversee her complete and absolute recovery. But it seems obvious to me that Caitlin and her baby have become an integral part of your family as well. So what I propose is this … We all go to live in Italy.’
The three women cast glances at each other, each to witness the reaction of the others. All were smiling their approval.
‘Go on, John,’ Daisy urged.
‘Well, we have room enough at Paradiso – we could even build extra rooms if we needed to. The climate and the way of life will suit Sarah and Caitlin. You could do with a bit more help there, Daisy, and I’m sure they’d be willing to give it. And lastly, we can afford it. I happen to have won several more important commissions – friends of Salvatore Vinaccia – and my dealer in London is clamouring for more paintings.’
‘That would solve all our problems,’ Daisy responded enthusiastically. ‘Oh, thank you, Gianni. It’s more than I could have hoped for. How do you feel about that, Caitlin? How do you feel about living in Italy?’
‘From what you’ve told me I think I’d love it. And as for the lack of men … Thank God for it!’
‘One step at a time,’ John counselled. ‘Even though Caitlin is twenty-one, it’s only common courtesy to seek the blessing of her parents before we take her abroad.’
‘Since I am twenty-one, I’m already of an age when I can make my own decisions,’ Caitlin said eagerly.
‘Nevertheless, I’ll go and visit your mother,’ Daisy asserted. ‘I’ll explain everything. If she is so keen to alienate you, then I don’t foresee any problem. If, on the other hand—’
‘I don’t care what she says. I’m going to Italy with you. She didn’t stand by me when I needed her. None of them did. Oh, sure I have a brother who still speaks to me once in a while, but nobody else. You’re the only person that’s ever helped me anytime, Daisy.’
The following evening, Daisy and John together walked to King Edmund Street where Mrs O’Flanagan lived with her husband, Padraig.
‘Maybe it’s not a good idea for them to see you with me,’ Daisy suggested. ‘If they’re as strait-laced as Caitlin makes out, they’ll frown on both of us …’
‘I see what you mean.’
‘So let me go in alone. If I want you to come in, I’ll call you. Don’t wander off too far.’
He nodded and disappeared from view as Daisy knocked the door.
After just a few seconds the door opened and an astonished Mrs O’Flanagan asked her to enter. She exhorted the several inquisitive sons and daughters that loitered, to vacate the little scullery while she had a chat with her important guest, whom she had not seen in an age.
‘I heard you were abroad, so I did. Will you not sit down and tell me all about it?’
Daisy sat down and painted a verbal picture of Italy that she hoped would stand her in good stead, considering her purpose there. Mrs O’Flanagan listened with wide-eyed awe.
‘I’ve actually called about Caitlin,’ she said when she reckoned she’d given enough information, short of divulging all about John.
‘About Caitlin?’ Mrs O’Flanagan’s expression changed. ‘I know nothin’ about Caitlin, Mrs Maddox. I don’t even know where she is. She turned her back on her family and the Lord above, and turned to wickedness.’
‘She’s living with me in Dudley at the moment, Mrs O’Flanagan. She’s well looked after, her and her baby.’
‘Her and her bastard, you mean, Mrs Maddox, God forgive me for my language.’
‘Caitlin was the victim of a very ruthless man, Mrs O’Flanagan. Whatever she’s turned out to be in your eyes, she’s a good and loving mother and a born survivor. You should be proud of her.’
‘How can I be proud of anybody – my own daughter included – who steals from her employer and gets herself dismissed, who foolishly gets herself into trouble with a man who wouldn’t or couldn’t marry her?’
‘She never stole anything from me, Mrs O’Flanagan, if that’s what you mean.’ Stealing her husband did not qualify; Caitlin had done her an enormous favour by doing so. ‘On the contrary, I know her to be scrupulously honest. I’d stake my life on it.’
Mrs O’Flanagan looked at Daisy questioningly. ‘If she never stole anything, why was she dismissed from your house?’
‘It was my husband’s doing. He wanted her out of the house. I employed her without his consent or prior knowledge. It was my fault in the first place.’
Daisy was determined to protect Caitlin’s integrity. Evidently, Mrs O’Flanagan was not aware that Lawson had been having an affair with her.
‘But that makes no sense at all, Mrs Maddox. Because he employed her afterwards at that guest house he runs in Downing Street.’
Guest house! Is that what Caitlin had called it?
‘I don’t know the whys and wherefores, Mrs O’Flanagan. By that time, Mr Maddox and I had separated. But that’s another story and I’m not here to discuss it. I’m here to discuss Caitlin. After what she’s been through you should be proud of her.’ Daisy was aware she was sounding like the lady of the house again and realised she should moderate her tone. ‘I’m sure you’d want to help her in some way. I’m certain that if you were prepared to forgive her she would love to be reconciled. She misses you, Mrs O’Flanagan. She misses her father and her brothers and sisters. She’s a fine girl … You have a beautiful granddaughter besides …’
‘I can find it in my heart neither to forgive nor forget, Mrs Maddox. She was never brought up to have loose morals. She allowed herself to be defiled.’
‘She’s not the first, nor will she be the last.’
‘Be that as it may, I can’t condone such feeblemindedness and lack of decency in me own daughter. She’s defied all our ideals. She’s reaped her just desserts and it serves her right.’
‘But she was young, Mrs O’Flanagan … Maybe a little bit impetuous … And she was in love.’
‘She should have kept herself to herself. Pure till the time of her marriage. That’s how she was brought up.’
‘Mrs O’Flanagan, I have befriended Caitlin once again and my life is all the richer for it. I would very much like to employ her again in some capacity or other. I haven’t quite decided how yet. But I have to tell you that it’s my intention to return to Italy very soon and I would love to take her with me, baby and all. It would please me no end if she could go with your blessing. She’s a single girl trying to do her best for a child she loves. If I don’t take her she has nobody she can fall back on for help … What I’m trying to say is …’ She looked at Mrs O’Flanagan earnestly. ‘I went to Italy without my mother’s blessing. She took ill while I was away, and maybe the worry of my going without being reconciled had something to do with it. But by the time I got back here to make my peace she was dead. We both wanted to heal the rift, Mrs O’Flanagan, but it was too late. We never had the chance and it was heartbreaking. Now, I feel robbed of her pardon for what I did because, like Caitlin, I was never a perfect daughter either, in her eyes. Maybe her soul is still restless for want of reconcilement. I would hate any of that to happen to you.’
Mrs O’Flanagan sighed. ‘Were you, too, a wicked woman, Mrs Maddox?’
‘I didn’t think so, nor do I still. But in her judgement I was.’
‘I heard you left Mr Maddox for anot
her man …’
‘Yes, I did … Always, there are two sides to a story, Mrs O’Flanagan,’ Daisy petitioned solemnly. ‘For this reason, I urge you to be sympathetic to Caitlin’s plight. I urge you to hear her side of the story.’
‘Very well. Send Caitlin to me. We’ll try and make our peace as best we can.’
‘Thank you, Mrs O’Flanagan.’
Chapter 33
Baby Daisy was at the centre of a tearful reunion between Caitlin and her family. Mrs O’Flanagan found it hard to let go of her new granddaughter once she had seen her. She held her in her arms and secretly wondered how she could have been so bigoted about an innocent baby, especially one so pleasant and so pretty.
‘Be sure to look after this child, Caitlin,’ she urged.
‘That I will, Mother. You can be sure of it.’
‘She’s a beautiful child, the image of your Aunt Berneen when she was the same age. Is she not, Padraig?’
‘That she is, Maura,’ Padraig answered.
‘And keep yourself well. Look at you. You’re a scarecrow. You must eat well to keep well, not skimp your meals. It’s a sure certain sign you’ve not had me behind you.’
‘I’m eating plenty, Mother. Daisy’s been telling me about the glorious food in Italy. Plenty of fresh fruit and vegetables.’
‘You mean Mrs Maddox.’
‘That I do, but she’s asked me to call her by her Christian name. We’re friends now.’
‘And she’s a good friend. She thinks the world of you. Don’t ever let her down.’
‘Don’t worry, Mother. I won’t.’
‘And who knows? In Italy you might meet a fine young man and settle down. It’s a Roman Catholic country, so ’tis.’
Caitlin chuckled at the absurd notion that a decent Italian man would tell his mother he wanted to marry a girl who’d had another man’s child out of wedlock. ‘Oh, I want no fine young man, Mother. I’m done with men. Besides, what decent young man is going to want me? My baby and me will fare just fine with Sarah and Daisy and her John.’
