Janet Woods

by I'll Get By

  Aunt Esmé took her hand and tucked it in her arm, as though she knew what she was thinking about. Kissing her cheek, Es whispered, ‘Try not to allow the past get the better of you, sweetheart,’ and Meggie felt like crying.

  A car came up the road. Luke gazed at them from the driving seat. ‘Does anyone want a lift?’

  Meggie took the passenger seat next to him. ‘You’re not old enough to drive. Does Mummy know you’ve taken her car?’

  ‘Of course she does. She was in the middle of making some egg and bacon tarts when she suddenly remembered you were catching the early train and panicked, so I said I’d pick you up. She’s been teaching me to drive, you see. She said I’ve got a natural aptitude. How are you, Sis?’

  ‘Terrific. I’ve got a job at a hospital.’

  He clutched at his throat and groaned. ‘Not as a nurse, I hope, or worse still . . . a doctor. They must have all run like billy-o when they saw you coming.’

  ‘Don’t be such a mongrel, Luke, else I’ll beat you up and it will be you needing a doctor.’

  Luke’s laughter had a quality of awe to it. ‘Doctors are ten a penny in our household. I’ve heard that you plan to become a lawyer.’

  ‘That’s right.’

  ‘Mother nearly tore her hair out after you rang her. Grandmother Elliot overheard, and had her thruppence worth of say about it . . . though it went on a bit and was more like ten shillings’ worth. In the end Mother politely told Grandmother Elliot that it wasn’t really her business, and would she kindly not listen in to her private phone calls. So Gran went off in a frightful sulk.’

  Meggie was impressed that her mother had taken on Grandmother Elliot, and had won.

  Luke turned to Leo and Esmé, who had slid into the back seat with the bags. ‘It’s nice to see you again, sir, and you, Aunt Es. Mother’s in a panic I’m afraid. You know what she’s like when she has to cater. Dad and Adam have disappeared up into the attic to play with the train set. We’ve got an electric one now . . . with two engines, passenger and goods trains. We’ve got quite a clubhouse up there too. You must come up to see it, Leo.’

  Meggie sighed. ‘Let’s get going then, so we can help sort Mummy out. Put your foot down, Luke.’

  He did put it down. The car lunged forward a couple of times, and then stalled. ‘Donner und Blitzen,’ Luke said under his breath.

  ‘What’s that supposed to mean?’

  ‘It’s German. It means thunder and lightning.’

  ‘Well, why don’t you just say it in English, then everyone can understand it?’

  ‘Because it’s a rude expression in German.’

  ‘It doesn’t sound very rude to me. Besides, if somebody hears you spouting German they’ll probably shoot you. A natural aptitude, did you say? If we stay here much longer it will be quicker to walk home.’

  In the back seat, Es got a fit of the giggles and Leo began to laugh unrestrainedly.

  Luke turned red. ‘A chap can make a mistake, can’t he? You’re putting me off my driving, Meggie.’

  ‘How can you be driving when the engine isn’t running?’ She kissed her brother on the cheek. ‘Stop complaining you dolt, I was only teasing. You’ll never know how much I missed you.’

  ‘Welcome to the Elliot household,’ Es said under her breath.

  They made it to Eavesham House without incident. Livia Elliot was in a right royal flap when they got there. Relief filled her eyes when she saw them. ‘Thank goodness you’re here. The service is at one o’clock, and I’m never going to have everything ready in time.’ She gave their outfits a quick perusal. ‘You look good, Es. Isn’t that suit and hat a bit grown up for you, Meggie?’

  ‘Goodness, Mother . . . how many times do I have to tell you. I am grown up. I even have a responsible job, though it’s totally boring.’

  They shed their coats and hats, and went back to the kitchen, Meggie feeling as though she’d shrunk to half her age and had never been away. Her mother took her duties seriously, to the point of smothering.

  ‘That’s good . . . you must tell me about it sometime, but not now . . . pass that mustard would you,’ she said and surveyed the messy table vaguely. ‘Oh dear . . . I should have got the caterers in. Now . . . where did I put my list?’

  ‘I’ve got it.’ Meggie exchanged a grin with her aunt. Taking a clean white apron down from a peg she tied it around her waist and said to her mother,’ Go and have a soak in the bath, it will help you to relax. Your hair looks pretty in that style.’

  Livia patted her hair. ‘Do you think so? Denton liked it too. Can you manage in the kitchen by yourself, Meggie? Of course you can. You were always so capable in the kitchen. You’ll make a good wife for some lucky man before too long.’

  Meggie grimaced and counted loudly to ten.

  Tossing her a grin, Leo gave her mother a hug and gently redirected her train of thought. ‘Where’s the bridegroom?’

  ‘Chad’s at Nutting Cottage. You’re his best man, aren’t you, Leo? I’m surprised Luke didn’t drop you off there.’

  ‘He probably forgot. He was concentrating on his driving.’

  ‘Yes . . . well, Luke’s sensible about such things. I taught him to drive myself . . . Meggie as well, so they’re both safe drivers. Why don’t you take the car, Leo.’

  ‘We have to economize. Besides, I need the walk and it’s not far. We’ll get to the church in Chad’s car.’

  ‘Be a love and flush Denton out of his hidey-hole first. Ask him to see to the drinks. There’s bottled beer and wine, and champagne for the toasts. Tell him to remember the bottle openers. We don’t want to have to look for everything when we get back from the church.’

  ‘Tell him I’ve brought his favourite humbugs with me and he can’t have them until he’s finished all his tasks. That will dig him out of his hole,’ Esmé added.

  Leo winked at Esmé. ‘What are you going to do, my love?’

  ‘I’m going to make a cup of tea, and then act as ladies’ maid to Livia and kitchen assistant to Meggie. I’ll make sure the reception room is ready, too. I imagine it’s going to be a buffet lunch.’

  Gradually everything was sorted out, and before long they were in the church. Chad offered them all a smile as he waited calmly with Leo at his side, for his bride to arrive. He was dressed in a grey suit with striped waistcoat. The congregation was sprinkled with men in uniform, standing tall and proud in a field of fluttering flowers, as though the responsibility of war had revealed the adventure of it to the congregation, but not its deadliness.

  They wouldn’t have to look far for reminders of it, a list of names of men from the village that had lost their lives in the Great War was on the War Memorial. For the most part they were heartbreakingly young.

  Meggie had read her father’s diaries of the last war, and now her heart quaked for those who were going into the unknown. She looked at her two brothers, who were not old enough, thank goodness. She must try and be nicer to them, she thought, overwhelmed by love for them.

  Her stepfather cruised up and down the aisle, stopping to exchange pleasantries with the guests and keeping an eye out for the bride and her father through the open church door.

  Her mother fretted over whether everyone would fit in the house every time he came their way.

  Denton dismissed her worries with a grin. ‘Shall I dash home and build an extension?’

  Her mother’s giggle bordered on hysteria. ‘Don’t you dare make me laugh, Denton Elliot.’

  Meggie smiled at her. ‘We’ve opened the folding glass doors to the dining room, so stop worrying about it, Mummy, and we’ve turned the radiators on to warm the place up a bit.’

  Even that innocuous remark produced a fret. ‘I do hope the icing on the wedding cake doesn’t melt. Sylvia’s family provided the cake, so I don’t know exactly what’s in it.’

  ‘Plaster of Paris, I expect. We won’t be able to get our teeth through it.’

  ‘Behave yourself, Denton. You do look pretty, Meggie. N
o wonder that man over there is trying to catch your attention? Is he one of ours or one of theirs?’

  ‘Which man is that?’ She turned to gaze to where her mother had indicated and received the spontaneous smile he curved her way. Her heart did a bit of a dance around her chest, and blood rushed to her face. She hadn’t seen Rennie for quite a while. ‘It’s Rainard Stone. He’s my solicitor, and manages the Sinclair estate. Did you invite him, Daddy? If we’d known he was coming he could have travelled down with us.’

  Livia said in dismay, ‘Gracious, I shall have to find him somewhere to sleep. You must tell me all about him, Meggie.’

  ‘I will not. If you want to know anything about him, you must ask him yourself.’ A man at the other end of the aisle signalled to Denton, who in turn gave a wave to the organist, who began to softly play Mendelssohn’s wedding march. Meggie grinned. She did like family get-togethers. There were so many oddments in the family, and they all fitted together and expanded like pieces of the same jigsaw puzzle. Sylvia’s family would just add more pieces.

  ‘Sylvia must be on her way, I’m dying to see her dress.’

  Livia sighed. ‘I’m not. It took me hours to stitch round the hem. Girls these days should be taught more domestic skills. They all want careers. You forgot to tell me you’d invited a man called Rainard Stone, Denton. What an odd name.’

  Meggie told her, ‘He told me he was born in a deluge, so his mother called him Rainard. Not that I believe him, since his mother doesn’t look like the type who would possess that ironic sort of wit. She’s sort of vague, with a sinister undertone.’

  Livia shrugged. ‘None of that helps me to find him somewhere to sleep. There isn’t an inch of spare room left in the house.’

  Denton chuckled. ‘What about the hen house.’

  ‘Denton Elliot, it’s you who’ll be sleeping in the hen house if you’re not careful.’

  ‘Don’t worry, my love. He’s going home on the evening train. I intend to show him round Foxglove House later. Meggie, you can come with us if you like, so you’ll know what’s happening with your legacy. He hasn’t seen what he’s been lumbered with yet. Here comes Sylvia, doesn’t she look lovely?’

  Preceded by two young nieces dressed in pink velvet with white fur trim, Sylvia looked sweet in a simple white damask gown with a pleated yoke and sweetheart neckline with pearl buttons. A shoulder length veil with pink embroidered rosebuds scattered on it was attached to a flower-filled wreath and matched a spray of pink carnations.

  Meggie’s Uncle Chad had a tender smile on his face as he watched his bride approach, and there was a collective smile and exclamations from the congregation when he took her white, gloved hand in his and kissed it in rather a romantic fashion.

  But then, she wouldn’t have thought her rather ordinary Uncle Chad would fall in love. And although he was Aunt Esmé’s twin, and although his sister had inherited all the elegance and beauty of the pairing, there was an air of quiet dependability to him that brought tears to Meggie’s eyes.

  Beside her, Aunt Es gave a barely repressed sort of sniff that was stirred into a giggle when Chad turned to catch her eye and winked at her. Es blew her brother a kiss and Meggie took her hand.

  ‘We are gathered together in the sight of God to join this man and this woman in holy matrimony . . .’

  When the jollity was over and the couple had left for a week’s honeymoon in Cornwall, which was all the time Chad could afford to take off from his practice, Meggie accompanied her stepfather to Foxglove House and they wandered from room to room.

  ‘There’s just enough light to show you around, Rennie,’ he said. ‘My wife has been busy organizing the clearing out of the cupboards, and everything will be placed in storage until after the war.’

  Meggie had her say. ‘I told Mummy she should make a bonfire of it, except for the grand piano. I’d like to have kept that, but it’s too big to put in a suitcase and carry from place to place.’

  ‘Not everything is rubbish. Some of it is family history and might be worth keeping for when you have children, Meggie, especially if you decide to write a book, as you once mentioned you might. There is quite a lot of your grandmother’s stuff here too. Richard loved this place, and I don’t think he’d like you to treat it with less than the respect it deserves.’

  ‘I do understand that, Daddy, but I’m not Richard Sangster. I feel like an alien, rather than part of his family, and an alien in my own family because of the connection.’

  ‘You’ll never be that to me, Poppet.’

  ‘But don’t you see, Daddy. This house anchors me to a life I don’t want to live, and keeps me there. I don’t want to be responsible for it, and I’m truly sorry that you and Rennie have wasted your time trying to keep it viable, when I intend to give it to charity as soon as I’m able.’

  ‘Don’t be too hasty,’ Rennie said. ‘There were new laws passed regarding entailed estates, like yours. I’m making enquiries.’

  ‘Who did that Sinclair ancestor think he was, insisting the legacy be passed down from Sinclair to Sinclair, as though we had no free will of our own? How dare a man who died a couple of hundred years ago try and inflict his will over his descendants?’

  Denton shrugged. ‘God help anyone who tries to inflict their will over yours, Meggie.’

  Rennie chuckled. ‘You needn’t feel sorry for me, Margaret. My firm gets paid a fee from the estate.’

  ‘Which is more than I get,’ Denton said with a grin.

  ‘And probably more than the allowance I get as well. But you got me to raise instead, Dr Denton, so you got the best of the bargain.’ She gave him a fierce hug. ‘And so did I. I’d rather have you for a father than Richard Sangster, or a dusty old heap of bricks full of someone else’s memories. You know, I think the heart left Foxglove House with my father.’

  ‘You could be right.’

  Rennie laughed. ‘I’m glad you sorted that out. Thanks for showing the place to me . . . it does give me a better idea of what I’m dealing with. Now I must go because the light’s beginning to fail.’

  Meggie glanced at her watch. ‘I’ll walk with you to the train station, just in case you miss the train. Though we can fit you in somewhere, I’m sure, even if it’s in a sleeping bag in the attic.’

  Rennie nodded. ‘Good . . . because I’ve got a favour to ask you, Mags.’

  They’d been striding – for that’s how Rennie walked – for only a few seconds when he took her hand is his and said. ‘I’ve enlisted in the army.’

  ‘Slow down Rennie,’ she said, almost breathless from the exercise. ‘I can’t keep up with you in these shoes.’

  ‘Sorry.’ Bringing her to a stop he gazed at her and smiled. ‘I’d forgotten how lovely you were until I saw you at the church.’

  Her heart seemed to cease its beating, and there was an extraordinary quietness inside her, as though she no longer existed, except as a beautiful spirit twisting and turning in the currents of air. She wanted to cry, but knew she mustn’t, at least, not in front of him, so she pulled on a smile.

  ‘You’re prone to exaggeration, and rather abrupt, Rennie. But thank you for the compliment. I’ll treasure it. And I’ll miss you.’

  He gave a faint smile. ‘You didn’t strike me as a sentimental sort of girl who would have a treasure box. The compliment will probably have to last you until the war is over.’

  ‘Not if you put it in writing. And I shall start a treasure box just to keep it in. What will happen to your legal firm while you’re away?’

  ‘There is a cousin on my mother’s side available. He’s too young for retirement and too old to go to war. He’s a barrister. Mother will take up practice again.’

  ‘It was your mother working in reception that day I called on you, wasn’t it?’

  ‘Yes . . . but she’s qualified to practice law. Didn’t I tell you? The thing is, Margaret, I thought you might like to work for the firm in reception, and doing secretarial tasks.’

  ‘But I�
��ll be going in the WRNS before too long. I want to do my bit, as well.’

  ‘Not before you’re eighteen. Even a month or two in a law office will give you some valuable experience of how things work in the legal world. You’ll be able to gain experience, and our law books will be a valuable reference for your legal studies as well as your grading, should you join the WRNS. What do you think?’

  She smiled. ‘I think I’m going to give you the biggest hug you’ve ever had, and don’t resist.’

  He didn’t, just hugged her back, her head folded into his shoulder and his breath warm against her back. Then he gently made a space between them and their eyes met, his were a foxy amber in the gloaming light.

  ‘Kiss me goodbye,’ she said.

  He smiled. ‘Are you intent on turning this into a romantic ending to put in your treasure box?’

  ‘Yes . . . but not an ending . . . a treasured memory that will always be remembered. Please kiss me. I’m going to feel a fool if you walk away leaving me standing here with my lips pursed, a rejected old maid, and at my young age.’

  ‘That would be cruel,’ he said, his voice quite serious. So he did kiss her, and his lips were warm and teasing, but disappointingly, pressed against her forehead in a very circumspect manner.

  Somewhere in the distance the train whistled.

  ‘I’ll wait for you,’ she said.

  ‘No, don’t wait, Mags. I don’t want you to make a decision you’d come to regret, and I don’t want the responsibility of knowing you have. Be young and carefree while you can, and know that I’ll always be your friend.’ He placed a small flat box in her hand. ‘An early birthday present. Give my mother a ring in a day or two and discuss the position with her, but don’t leave it too long.’

  Then he was gone, striding through the gloom towards the station, which was in darkness. The windows of the houses of England were all dressed in depressing black, not even a chink of candlelight shone through the blackout curtains hanging in the cottage windows. In the sky, the stars seemed to weep tears. She wished one would drop into her hand. She could do with some reassurance that eventually the world would be right again.