Jean Grainger Box Set: So Much Owed, Shadow of a Century, Under Heaven's Shining Stars

by Jean Grainger

  AS EDDIE PULLED up the car in front of the house, James gasped in awe at the beauty of the gardens. The beds and pots on the terrace exploded in a riot of late summer colours. The lawns looked like an emerald carpet and even the gravel seemed polished.

  ‘Oh Eddie, it looks incredible! You have really surpassed yourself this time.’

  ‘I wanted it nice for her, for her big day,’ Eddie replied shyly.

  James felt a rush of affection for this quiet man, who was so much a part of Dunderrig. Eddie Canty could never tell Juliet how much she meant to him, so this was his way of doing it – putting all his effort into making the garden beautiful for her wedding. James just hoped Juliet wasn’t too excited at the prospect of being married to notice.

  As usual, his father was in the surgery writing up patient notes. Taking a deep breath, James decided there was no point in delaying any further. Solange would notice something was wrong anyway, and she’d worm it out of him like she always did. Best get it over with. He knocked on the large oak door.

  ‘James! It’s you. Come on in, it’s like a madhouse out there with all the wedding preparations. Best stay out of it. I heard you complimenting Eddie on the garden, good man. He’s been at it day and night for the last three months. Mrs Canty says he’s talking Latin in his sleep!’

  Richard noticed his son wasn’t smiling and joking along with him.

  ‘What’s wrong, James?’

  ‘Dad…’ James dreaded saying the next sentence but he had to. ‘I’ve failed.’

  Richard rushed to reassure him. ‘But sure you passed your first year, and you’re only just into the New Year. How can you have failed? Did you just go down in a class test or something? Don’t worry about it, you’ll be fine…’

  ‘No, Dad, I won’t be fine. I haven’t a clue and Professor Sheehan hates me. We had a bit of a run-in earlier this week and whatever hope I had before of scraping through, well it’s gone now. I know you said when I just barely passed through first year that it would be better this year, but honestly, it’s not. I did try, I studied hard, I swear I did, but I’m just useless at it…’ James’s voice died away. He wished a hole would open in the floor and swallow him up.

  Richard sat back in his chair and looked at his son. Long seconds passed.

  ‘First off, don’t mind that clown Sheehan, he’s an auld windbag, always was. We trained together; he always loved the sound of his own voice. Now, tell me the truth. Did you really do your best?’ He kept his voice even.

  ‘I did,’ James answered, trying to keep his voice firm. ‘Professor Sheehan is only one part of it. If I loved medicine, I’d put up with him. I just don’t have the interest in it, I suppose. My mind was always somewhere else. I’d go into each class, determined to pay attention and then I’d just drift off thinking about nature or the shape of the building or whatever. I suppose I’m just not as clever as you. Even if I did manage to qualify, I’d be no good, and especially trying to follow in your footsteps. People just wouldn’t trust me as they do you, and they’d probably be right. I know I must be a terrible disappointment to you.’

  ‘Stop that talk right there.’ Richard put down his pen. ‘You did your best, and you gave it a try. That’s all I could have asked for. Maybe I shouldn’t have forced you, but I thought you’d like it, I really did. Stop looking so miserable. No one died. We’ll just have to think of something else for you to do.’

  As James stared at him in disbelief, Richard got up and put his arm around his son’s shoulders. ‘Now, that madcap sister of yours is going off on Saturday to make Danny Dalton’s life hell for the rest of his days – so no more long faces, all right? We have to put out a good show from the Buckley side of things. Mrs Canty will never forgive us if we give the Daltons anything to say. Listen here to me, I have never been anything except bursting with pride over the two of ye and that’s never going to change. You tried medicine and it wasn’t right for you. Sure if you want to do art, and see how you get on, I won’t stand in your way. Having said all that, I can’t pretend I’m not worried about it. It’s a world I know nothing about. But we all have our own paths in life to follow and I did what I wanted with mine, and you should be able to do what you want with yours, too. By the way, did I ever tell you the story of how Jerry Sheehan nearly amputated the wrong leg on a patient when we were surgical interns? Only that I stopped him and made him read the notes again, so he’s not perfect either, no matter what he’d like you to think. We never really hit it off, so knowing you were my son wouldn’t have endeared you to him.’ Richard winked at his son, and James felt lighter than he had in months. ‘Now, Mrs Canty is only dying to see you, and so is Solange. We won’t say a bit for now, we’ll tell everyone after the wedding that you decided against medicine, and we’ll leave it at that. Now then, come on to the kitchen, I think I smell apple tart.’

  Not for the first time, his father had surprised him. With a lighter heart than he’d had since he started university, James took his old seat at the big kitchen table while Mrs Canty and Solange fussed over him.

  Chapter 17

  Juliet had hardly slept at all, but she told herself that all brides were this jittery on their wedding day. Apparently, Solange had thrown up four times before meeting Jeremy at the church. Deciding there was no point lying in bed any longer, she pulled on an old jumper of James and a skirt, and went for a walk. The gardens of Dunderrig were beautiful in the bright morning light. She remembered Eddie’s face turning pink with embarrassment and pleasure when she’d shown the Daltons around when they came for tea last week. They were astounded at the variety of plants and flowers and said it was like something from a magazine. Juliet had caught Eddie’s eye, and giving him an almost imperceptible wink, had proceeded to name all of the shrubs and trees by their Latin names, while giving Eddie full credit for the dazzling display. Eddie had been thrilled; everyone knew Mrs Dalton could be a bit uppity.

  Now she let herself out of the garden by the little wooden gate Eddie had put up years ago when she and James were toddlers, and made for the field with the big tree overlooking the sea. Marrying Danny was not what she’d dreamed of but it would be fine. At least he was always going to be there, and she would be able to stay close to Daddy and Solange. She knew Solange wasn’t wholeheartedly behind the match, but what did she expect? What else was there? She could go off and do some kind of a course maybe, or get a job teaching, but she didn’t really want to. Sure, she would have loved to travel, but that was just a pipe dream. Danny had finally agreed that they should go to Dublin for their honeymoon – she had tried for Rome, but he was worried that war could break out at any moment. She knew that was only an excuse, though – war or no war, Danny wouldn’t have left his farm for more than a week. Still, Dublin was better than nothing, she supposed. They would be staying at the Gresham on O’Connell Street – Sackville Street, as it used to be called before independence. Danny had suggested the Shelbourne, but she never wanted to go back there again, after that last time with Edith.

  The sun was rising high in the sky though it was only seven thirty, and the tree was bathed in its bright summer glow. It wasn’t until she got closer that she realised there was someone already sitting there, on the high, solid branch.

  James.

  ‘Good morning, Mrs Dalton!’ he called as she scrambled up to meet him, just as she had done a thousand times before.

  ‘Not yet,’ she smiled. ‘What has you up here so early?’ Though they were better friends now, she was still cautious around him.

  ‘Couldn’t sleep. You?’

  ‘Same problem – wedding nerves, I suppose.’

  ‘’Tis he the one who should be nervous!’ James joked, giving her a playful shove.

  ‘I don’t know what makes you think that! I’m going to be a model wife, doing exactly as my husband tells me.’ Juliet chuckled.

  James shielded his eyes from the sun and looked directly at her.

  ‘It’s what you want thou
gh, isn’t it? Really?’

  She tried to smile. ‘Oh for God’s sake, don’t you start too. I already get enough of the looks from Solange, and even Mrs Canty keeps telling me stories about how all belonging to him are half-cracked. You’re not a big high-and-mighty doctor yet, you know, thinking you know what’s best for everyone.’

  ‘I’m not going to be a doctor at all, neither high nor mighty, I’m afraid. I’ve made a right dog’s dinner of it, fairly spectacularly too as it happens,’ James admitted quietly.

  ‘But you are only just back. You passed the first year, didn’t you?’ Juliet was immediately problem-solving.

  James sighed. ‘Sorry, even you can’t fix this. I’m going to leave before they throw me out. It’s just as well really; I was useless at it. I just couldn’t tell Dad, you know? I feel bad enough about the other thing…’

  ‘Edith? Look, James, can I just say something? I hate the way things have been with us since she turned up. I know it’s your business who you see and everything, but I just can’t stand her, really. My blood boils when I think about her and…’ Juliet stopped, fearing she was making it worse.

  ‘Look, I hate it, too. Going through all this, I had no one to talk to. Dad and Solange would only have worried, and Edith would say I should never have done medicine in the first place, and Ingrid…’

  ‘Who’s Ingrid?’ Juliet interrupted.

  ‘Ah, she’s a girl I know in Dublin. Otto’s niece, actually. I’ve got to know a lot of their friends, Germans living in Dublin, and some really famous people that Edith knows too…’

  ‘Just a girl you know or a girl you…know?’ Juliet didn’t want to hear about James’s life with their mother, but a girlfriend was interesting.

  ‘A girl I wish I…knew,’ he said, grinning. ‘It’s complicated. She’s incredible, beautiful and funny and everything but…I don’t know. Maybe. We’ll see. Anyway, what about you and the great passion of Dunderrig, Danny Dalton?’

  ‘Hardly a great passion. He’s nice, I like him. It’s easy.’ Juliet shrugged resignedly.

  ‘Well, that’s definitely a reason to marry someone because it’s easy or because he’s nice. Loads of people are nice; it doesn’t mean you should marry them. Since when did you become such a pushover?’

  Though his tone was jokey, his words were deadly serious. He was shocked at the idea his sister might be making a huge mistake. He immediately longed to talk her out of it – but he was hardly making wonderful decisions himself these days.

  ‘You know if you want to back out, I’ll support you, don’t you?’ he said seriously. ‘And Dad and Solange. Mrs Canty and Eddie. We all love you.’

  Her eyes suspiciously bright, she just nodded.

  They walked companionably back to the house for breakfast, suddenly as close as they had ever been – complete in each other. Solange spotted them out of her bedroom window: Juliet subdued and James with a comforting arm around her. Suddenly, Solange found herself praying that James had talked his sister out of her wedding.

  Chapter 18

  Richard stood silenced at the bottom of the stairs as Juliet walked out onto the landing in her ivory antique-lace dress. She looked so amazing it took his breath away. He couldn’t believe that his little ragamuffin girl, always up to mischief, was this ethereal beauty before him. He’d given her his mother’s pearls, and they sat iridescent on her delicate collarbones. Her blond hair was swept up under a veil; diamond earrings, a gift from Solange, glittered in her ears. The house was quiet as everyone else had gone ahead to the church. Eddie sat outside in the car, waiting to deliver the bride and her father.

  ‘Well, Daddy? Will I do?’ she smiled.

  ‘You’ll do,’ he replied, and found himself too choked up to say more.

  The years seemed to melt away as he watched her descending the stairs. He saw her as a little baby again, when he could hold her in one hand. Like a series of photographs in his mind, he saw the giggling toddler; the razor-sharp five-year-old, the brightest in her class. He saw her playing piano and singing like a lark when she thought no one was listening; her teenage years, fighting with the nuns or fiercely defending her brother; and now, this beautiful young woman before him. And in every snapshot in his mind there was James, right beside her – and Solange one pace behind.

  God knows how he’d have managed without Solange. She always had the best intuition, she was a wonderful mother to them, and she loved them as much as he did. And Solange wasn’t happy about this marriage. She’d never said it out loud, but he could tell. He had thought it was a good safe match, and Juliet seemed happy enough. But Solange had been right about James, too; she had never openly interfered, but deep down he’d known all along that in her opinion, his artistic son wasn’t cut out for medicine.

  Solange was always right. He had been wrong. And Richard knew at that moment he had to save his little girl from making a huge mistake. He knew only too well the hell of being married to the wrong person, and he wasn’t about to allow his daughter to find the same thing out for herself.

  He led her to the kitchen, where he sat her down. Taking her hands in his, he crouched down until his eyes were level with hers, their faces only inches apart.

  ‘Juliet, my lovely girl, I’m going to ask you a question, and I want you to answer me honestly.’ He paused. ‘Do you love Danny with all your heart?’

  Juliet’s eyes filled with tears. The clock ticked loudly on the mantelpiece, and the sun shone through the big windows on the old terracotta tiles. The familiar smells of Dunderrig – there since his own childhood – of baking and fresh flowers, filled the kitchen.

  ‘Do you, Juliet?’

  ‘No,’ she whispered.

  Richard straightened up. ‘Then in that case, my darling, you won’t be marrying him. You will be married one day, I’m sure of it, to a man who adores you as much, if not more, than Danny. And he will be a man you can’t live without. But it won’t be today, pet, and it won’t be to Danny Dalton.’

  ‘But what about everything, the wedding breakfast and the priest and…this dress cost a fortune…’ Juliet was distraught; her carefully applied makeup running down her cheeks.

  ‘Don’t you worry your head about it. I’ll take care of it all. Now go upstairs and take off all your finery. I’ll go down and tell them below, and sure, we’ll give them a dinner if they want it. You do have to talk to Danny, though. I’ll get Eddie to bring him up if he wants to see you. I know you don’t want to face him, but it’s only fair. That poor lad is innocent in all of this.’

  Richard drew his daughter to her feet and held her closely until her sobs subsided. Wiping her eyes of tears with his thumbs, as he’d done since she was small, he smiled at her.

  ‘You’ll be the talk of the parish for a bit, but sure, it will give them something other than myself and Solange to speculate about.’

  She smiled weakly. ‘Is there a you and Solange?’

  Richard looked at her. ‘Unfortunately not. Because I didn’t have anyone to talk me out of marrying the wrong person.’

  Juliet took a deep breath and tried to pull herself together. Nodding slowly, she made to leave the kitchen. As she got to the door, she turned. ‘Can you get James for me too, please?’

  ‘I’ll have Eddie bring him to you straight away.’

  ‘And Daddy…’ She paused. ‘Thanks.’

  ‘I’m just doing my job.’

  Chapter 19

  Solange poured Richard a large glass of claret as they sat on either side of the blazing fire in the drawing room. The day had turned nasty and there was a late-summer storm blowing outside. They rarely used the room – too many memories of those awkward teas with Edith all those years ago – but it had been aired and dusted and made ready for the wedding festivities. Juliet and Danny were in the kitchen, talking. James had remained in the hall. Danny had every right to be angry and to feel let down, but James was ready to intervene if he heard raised voices and felt his sis
ter needed his support.

  ‘You did well today,’ she said.

  ‘If I’d paid attention to you, then it would never have got this far,’ he replied. ‘I don’t know, Solange. I should never have forced James to do medicine. I shouldn’t have encouraged her relationship with Danny. I’m hopeless.’

  Solange chuckled. ‘No, not hopeless, just a parent trying to do the best he can for his children. I don’t think there are any parents in the world who always do the right thing. It takes a good person to admit to making mistakes, and an even better one to fix them. Nothing terrible happened. Juliet didn’t marry Danny, and that has saved both of them a lot of heartbreak. James won’t be a doctor, but that’s not a disaster. I think it will all be fine.’

  Richard kicked off his shoes and accepted the drink.

  ‘So now what? What does she do now? She’ll be the talk of the county after this.’

  Solange knew she would have to deal very tentatively with him but if she could just get him to see how much Juliet wanted to go somewhere, to be someone. Perhaps she could convince him to allow his daughter to get away for a while, to spare her the whispering of the village and to give her a broader perspective on life. It was because she thought that Dunderrig was all there was that she had agreed to marry Danny. It was time for her to spread her wings.

  She knew Richard had an elderly aunt, his father’s sister, Kitty, living in Belfast. She’d married a ship’s engineer and so travelled with him wherever the work was. He was offered a position in the Harland and Wolff shipyard in Belfast early in their marriage and had been involved in the construction of the Titanic. Solange remembered him as a sweet funny man and an incorrigible flirt. They were regular visitors to Dunderrig on their annual holiday to West Cork. She remembered questioning Pat on the subject of the Titanic and him saying to her that the ship had been perfect leaving Belfast, but you couldn’t trust the British to do anything right. He had died some years ago, but his widow was by then fully integrated into her life in Belfast and, despite Richard’s persistent offers of a place for her at Dunderrig, she had chosen to stay where she was. Solange thought she might be able to convince Richard to let Juliet spend a month or two with Auntie Kitty. As children, Juliet and James had loved it when Kitty and Pat visited, laden down with sweets and treats of all kinds, so she was sure Juliet would agree –especially since it meant getting away from Dunderrig for a while. She outlined her plan to him as they sat by the fire.