A Stranger in Honeyfield

by Anna Jacobs

  He gave his wife a quick hug. ‘Well, we can be sure it’ll be well done. Sal is the most ferocious dirt hunter I’ve ever met, seems to love washing and polishing a floor.’

  ‘She’s a good-hearted woman. It’s not only the extra money but she’ll be happy to help a stranger in a predicament, as people helped her when she was destitute. I’ll explain a little about Miss Jones’s background and afterwards Sal will tell her friends in the village how nice the stranger is – you did say you liked Miss Jones, so I’m sure Sal will take to her too.’

  She paused and added slowly, ‘I wonder … are there clothes to dispose of from the previous owner? Sal is very short of clothes. She’s saving every penny she can so that she can help her little daughter to get a better life than her, so she’ll only spend on herself when her clothes get totally worn out.’

  ‘I suppose there will be. And I doubt they’d fit Miss Jones, who has a very trim figure.’

  They exchanged smiles. Miss Thorburn had been a distinctly stout old lady and so was Sal.

  ‘Have you heard what married name Bella will be using, Nathan?’

  ‘No. I’ll no doubt find out next time I speak to Mr Marley.’ He put his arm round his wife’s shoulders. ‘Now, enough about other people, much more important to me is how you’re feeling today.’

  Her whole expression softened and her face seemed luminous with love. ‘Stop worrying. I feel wonderful. I always do when I’m carrying a child, especially yours, my darling.’

  He held her close, deeply moved as always by her love. He had never thought to be so lucky as to find and win a wonderful woman like his Kathleen. He even got on with her father these days because Fergus had mellowed greatly since his second marriage, though his other children seemed to resent their sister marrying a man so much better off than any of them.

  Money was all relative. Nathan was still careful with his because he’d had to pull the family business back from the edge of bankruptcy after his father died leaving their business in a mess. Nathan’s house-selling venture was doing particularly well, thank goodness, and the little investigative jobs he undertook on the side.

  He hadn’t yet achieved his ambition of becoming a full-time detective like Mr Sherlock Holmes and only Kathleen knew about that dream. But people had started coming to Nathan for help in finding lost family members or to discuss solutions to their problems. He called his talent ‘finding things’.

  He was lucky in so many ways these days, so he tried to help others as a way of paying fate back.

  Mr Marley was very busy the following day. He telephoned Mr Tesworth first to broach the delicate subject of him pretending to be Bella’s husband. He didn’t intend to mention the baby. Matron had suggested leaving that job to Bella.

  There was dead silence at the other end of the line after he’d explained the situation.

  ‘Not if you don’t want to,’ Mr Marley added hastily.

  ‘No, no. It’s not that. I’m happy to do it. You surprised me, that’s all. Philip was my best friend and I’m sure he’d want me to help Bella. He was head over heels in love with her, you know.’ He sighed. ‘How I envied him.’

  ‘You’re young yet. There’s plenty of time to find a wife.’

  ‘I don’t feel young.’

  A lot of men who’d been in the thick of the fighting said that, Mr Marley thought sadly. War was a terrible thing. ‘How is your hand?’

  ‘Less painful, thank goodness, but I’m having trouble using my right hand in its place. I was always very strongly left-handed. My handwriting is like that of a five-year-old child nowadays.’

  ‘Practice will make it better.’

  ‘So they tell me. And I’ll be able to use my left hand once it’s healed. Thank goodness it was only the last two fingers I lost. They tell me there are gadgets to help me hold a pen more comfortably in it later. But that’s beside the point. It’s Bella’s safety that matters at the moment. If you’re quite sure she feels all right about such a pretence and that it really will protect her, I’ll happily pose as her husband. When is she intending to move to Honeyfield?’

  ‘Tomorrow.’

  ‘Then I’ll get someone to drive me into Berkshire tomorrow and Bella can drive me to Honeyfield in her car.’

  ‘She’s no longer working at the hospital. Matron had the same idea and said if you could manage it, you were to pick Bella up from her lodgings.’ He gave the address.

  ‘All right. Philip always said she was an excellent driver, as good as any man, so I shall look forward to our journey.’

  ‘I’ve never wanted to learn to drive a motor car myself but you young people seem to enjoy it, and we rely greatly on the young women who’ve taken men’s places during the war, as Miss Jones has done. You won’t stop these women driving around after the war ends, though, not now they’ve tasted such freedom. The days of a quiet home life are, I fear, sadly numbered.’

  ‘A lot of things will be changed for ever by the war, I’m sure.’ Tez glanced at his hand and grimaced. He still hadn’t heard whether there had been serious nerve damage, but at least the swelling was going down.

  ‘I’m glad you’re going to Honeyfield with her the first time, Mr Tesworth. Your being there should set the scene properly for the neighbours.’

  ‘Good. I hope Bella won’t be too tired by her drive to take me to the nearest station afterwards.’

  ‘Well, um … about that. There are several bedrooms, so Matron and I felt it might be better if you spent the night there occasionally, and especially the first time. It would look strange for a husband to leave before his wife is settled in.’ The older man held his breath, hoping this suggestion wouldn’t frighten Mr Tesworth away.

  Another of those heavy silences, then, ‘You’re sure Bella won’t mind me doing that?’

  ‘No, of course not. Though she’s still grieving and you may find her a trifle absent-minded as a hostess.’

  ‘I’m not very talkative myself at the moment.’

  When he put the phone down, Mr Marley nodded in satisfaction. It was a bit early, and rather sneaky of him and Matron, but they both thought Mr Tesworth and Bella had a lot in common and might take to one another if they were thrown together.

  He phoned Mrs Cotterell next but that conversation wasn’t very promising. The woman was still refusing to pay a proper price for the Malmesbury house, still trying to cheat Bella. If the family continued to be so obstinate, he would tell them there was another gentleman who wanted to buy it. That ought to bring them to heel. And if it didn’t, Nathan said he could easily find a buyer for a house in such a good location in a pretty little market town.

  While he was waiting for the Cotterells to come to their senses, Gilbert decided to have the Malmesbury house cleared of all remaining papers and letters, and go through them carefully. Perhaps they’d give him a clue as to why the house had been ransacked.

  And he’d be hanged if he’d include the old lady’s silver and jewellery in the sale, even though Mrs Cotterell had told him she’d expect the contents of the house to be untouched. Bella didn’t seem interested in the jewellery, so he would offer to sell it for her and she could add the money to her nest egg.

  He picked up the phone to tell Matron what he had arranged and reminded her to ask Bella to call herself Mrs Tesworth from now on.

  ‘She can’t do that till she’s left the area, Mr Marley. We don’t want anyone here making connections to her new life.’

  ‘Well, she can arrive in Honeyfield as Mrs Tesworth. And if we are to keep visiting them, we’d better keep up our own little pretence and you can call me Cousin Gilbert.’

  ‘Yes, you’re right. And I’m Cousin Evelyn.’

  They were both smiling as they broke contact.

  Bella kept an eye on the street below her bedroom as she finished packing, watching out for a car. She felt nervous about taking Tez with her to Honeyfield and having him spend the night there occasionally, but Matron had given her a good talking-to about not putt
ing her life and that of her baby at risk.

  What would Philip have thought of all this? Matron had demanded. Wouldn’t he have trusted his friend to behave in a gentlemanly manner towards her?

  Bella knew the answer to that as clearly as if he’d spoken it. Philip would have wanted her to do whatever was necessary to keep her and his child safe, and he’d have trusted his best friend who’d been more of a brother to him than Spencer ever had. She blinked hard as tears welled in her eyes. She’d never been so emotional in her whole life.

  To her relief a car stopped outside just then and the inclination to cry vanished as she watched Tez get out of it. He was wearing civilian clothing today, with his arm in a neat black sling. His driver was in khaki. She’d never seen Tez out of uniform before, but the neat felt Homburg hat suited him, as did the grey lounge suit which had a faint stripe that was very fashionable. In fact, his whole appearance was neat and trim, unlike Philip, who had always looked as if he’d thrown his clothes on anyhow.

  Tez was carrying a small suitcase and the way he stopped to take a deep breath before knocking on the door made her wonder if he was feeling as nervous as she was. Well, no wonder! They were strangers who hardly knew one another, with only Philip to bring them together. So it was particularly kind of Tez to help her.

  Mrs Sibley let him in, so Bella checked her appearance in the mirror, tried once again to subdue her unruly curls and went down to greet her visitor. ‘Thank you for coming with me today, Captain Tesworth,’ she said formally for her landlady’s benefit.

  ‘It’s not “captain” any longer, Miss Jones. I’m officially out of the army, thanks to this.’ He glanced down at his hand.

  ‘You’ve served your country for two years, so you’ve more than done your bit.’ She hoped she was saying the right thing. When he shrugged and continued to look sad, she changed the subject. ‘I’ll just bring my last case down and put it in the car, then we can be off.’

  ‘I’ll help you with that. There’s nothing wrong with my right hand.’

  His help wasn’t necessary because the final bag wasn’t heavy and she’d already managed to bring down the heavier one and the box of oddments, like her books and writing materials. But it was obviously important to Tez to do this for her, so she took him up to her bedroom to get the case.

  He stopped in the doorway to ask in a low voice, ‘Are you sure you’re all right with this … this charade, Bella?’

  She didn’t pretend to misunderstand him. ‘Yes, of course. And Philip would have approved, I’m sure.’

  His expression softened. ‘Yes, I’m sure of that too. If I thought he’d object in any way, I’d not be doing it.’

  ‘I’m still not sure all this cloak-and-dagger stuff is necessary, mind you. At least, not to the extent of troubling you.’

  ‘Someone has tried to hurt you already by driving you off the road. Of course it’s necessary.’

  She shuddered at the memory of how frightening it had been. ‘Yes. That’s why I agreed to do it. It’s left scratches and a dent on the back of the car.’

  ‘We’ll find someone to sort that out later. Look, I don’t know how much Philip told you about his family, but to be frank, he always said they were a spiteful bunch, except for his sister and to a lesser extent his father, who has always lived apart from his wife and children, and has his own home in London.’

  ‘How sad that must have been for them as children, not to see their father!’

  ‘Yes. And there was bad blood between Philip and Georgie and their brother from an early age – he would never say why. I’m not sure he even knew. He told me more than once that I was never to trust Spencer, whatever he said or did. To make matters worse, their mother always took Spencer’s side, whatever the rights and wrongs.’

  ‘I thought her very arrogant when I met her.’

  ‘Yes. She seems to believe herself superior to most other people, though she’s actually a rather stupid woman.’

  ‘Do you really think they were the ones behind the attack on my car?’

  ‘Yes, I do. Now, tell me about your family. I should know something about them, shouldn’t I?’

  ‘That’s easy. I don’t have any close relatives except my mother because my father died a few years ago. I’m not at all close to her. Oh, she wouldn’t hurt me, I’m certain of that, but she’s never cared what I want, has only tried to make me do what she wanted. That doesn’t stop her expecting me to play the devoted daughter and care for her in her old age once the war is over.’

  ‘Were you intending to do that?’

  ‘Definitely not. If I had to emigrate to Canada to avoid it, I would. I could never live with her again. Oh, and I’d better warn you that she can’t keep a secret to save her life, so if she ever meets you, please don’t let her know we’re not really married.’

  ‘I won’t tell anyone that.’

  As they loaded the suitcase and his small overnight bag into the car, he murmured as if speaking to himself, ‘At least doing this makes me feel I’m still useful for something.’

  Her heart went out to him but she knew he’d hate any expression of pity, so she said briskly, ‘I’m truly glad to have you with me today, Tez, and not to be moving to Honeyfield on my own. Thank you for your help. Now, please get in while I say a final goodbye to Mrs Sibley, then we’ll be off.’

  They didn’t talk much during the drive. To her surprise Bella found it comfortable that Tez didn’t try to fill the silence with meaningless conversation. The country roads were quiet, which made driving a pleasure, and the sun was shining. She checked the rear-view mirror regularly, however, and kept her eyes open but she saw no signs of pursuit. Well, there were hardly any other cars on the roads once you got out of the towns.

  As they drove, she stole the occasional glance at Tez and was pleased to see him looking more relaxed than when he’d arrived at her lodgings. It was a beautiful June day, with flowers nodding at them from the hedgerows and meadows. Several times they passed groups of people haymaking and, for once, the war seemed very far away.

  ‘You seem to know the way. Have you been there often?’ Tez asked after a while.

  ‘Just the once. I’m good at remembering the way once I’ve been somewhere.’

  ‘I’m the same.’

  As they turned into Honeyfield, he exclaimed, ‘What a pretty village!’

  It was even prettier than she’d remembered. Two small children and a puppy were romping on the green and some women were standing nearby chatting. ‘Wait till you see the street where my house is. Pear Tree Lane is like an illustration from a picture book of beautiful villages.’

  When she stopped, they got out and stood for a moment or two, looking back from their end at the half a dozen houses on each side of the street. All the gardens were well tended and bursting with flowers except for that of her house and the deserted cottage next to it.

  She went to open the gate, her gate now. ‘Welcome to Pear Tree Cottage, Tez. I’ll open up a few windows and show you round before we unload, shall I?’

  ‘All right, darling,’ he said loudly, winking at her.

  It hadn’t occurred to her to use a term of endearment and she could feel her cheeks growing warm.

  He chuckled and said more quietly. ‘Tell me if you object to my calling you dear or darling, but it adds to the illusion nicely, don’t you think?’

  ‘Um, yes. I suppose so – Tez, dear.’ She felt such a fool because for a moment, just one very brief moment, she’d wished his endearment was genuine, that she did have someone to love her.

  As Bella drove past the hospital grounds, a car pulled slowly out into the road and began to follow her, keeping well back and only moving forward now and then to check that she was still there ahead.

  Then, as it rounded a corner, the driver of the second vehicle cursed and had to brake hard because a hay wagon had come to grief due to a broken wheel. It had shed its load of heavy bales all over the narrow lane and one man was lying by the side of th
e road clutching his arm, with another bending over him.

  The wagon driver looked round and yelled, ‘I’ll be an hour or two clearing this lot up, sir, I’m afraid. The wheel hit a stone and broke, throwing my mate off the wagon. I think he’s broken his arm. I have to get him some help before I can deal with this, unless you can take him to the doctor at the cottage hospital for me?’

  ‘Sorry, but I’m in a bit of a hurry.’

  The man looked surprised at this answer. ‘I see. You’d be best to turn round and go on your way then, sir. Sorry to have troubled you. If you reverse about fifty yards, you’ll be able to turn round in the gateway.’

  The driver cursed under his breath as he did that, but though it didn’t take him long to find another way to the main road, he failed to catch up with Bella’s car again. It could have gone in any of several directions at the various crossroads and there was no telling which.

  He stopped to ask a couple of old men working on a ditch if they’d seen a car with a lady driver, but they shook their heads.

  ‘Don’t bother with them smelly things,’ one of them said.

  ‘Nor they shouldn’t let women drive them, neither,’ the other added.

  So the man got back into his car, slamming the door shut. He drove far too fast for safety on the way home, furious at the way things had turned out.

  Inside the cottage everything was gleaming and smelt of furniture polish. There were even white roses sitting in a vase in the hall, giving off a faint, sweet perfume.

  Bella showed Tez the downstairs rooms and they ended up in the kitchen. She went across to investigate the cooking and scullery facilities. ‘Thank goodness I remembered correctly and it is a gas cooker. Let’s put the kettle on before we look at the rest of the house. I’m not the world’s best cook, I’m afraid, but I make a good cup of tea. I’m thirsty, even if you aren’t.’

  ‘I’d love a cup of tea – two cups, even.’

  She turned to light the gas with a match from the box some kind person had left handy to the cooker and he went to stare out of the window at the back garden, then wandered into the studio and examined the paintings.