‘You have good taste,’ said Aunt Drusilla, relaxing a trifle. ‘I’d offer you a cup of tea, but unfortunately I can’t get as far as the kitchen today.’
Rose glowed. ‘May I make you a cup? Ellie and I had a truly nasty lunch today, though I really shouldn’t say it as it was dear Ellie who paid for it, but nasty it was and I could just do with a good cuppa. How do you like it?’
‘Earl Grey, weak with extra hot water. The silver teapot and jug. No milk, no sugar. And a slice of lemon. The kitchen’s across the hall and through the door in the middle.’
‘I’m off, tra-la!’ cried Rose and out she went, shutting the door carefully behind her.
Aunt Drusilla tightened her hold on Ellie’s hand. ‘Roy stayed here last night but he sleeps so heavily that even when I called to him, he didn’t wake up. He said he’d stay till I felt better and that’s very good of him, of course, but he’s absolutely hopeless around the house. Diana’s brought in a woman built like a battleship and with a prison warder’s mentality. I tried to say I didn’t need a live-in carer and neither of them listened to a word I said. They treated me as if I were a child. Diana said that if I wasn’t prepared to have this woman living in and looking after me, I’d have to go into a home. They’re upstairs now, assessing the prison warder’s new quarters. She’s already said I’ve got to sleep in a small room downstairs, that the kitchen will have to be torn out, and she must have her own quarters, television and video, and of course telephone. Oh yes, and a new car, as she seems to have had an accident with hers.’ Ellie said, ‘Who does she think is going to pay her wages?’
‘That’s simple. Diana says she’s going to get a power of attorney so that she can pay all the bills in future.’
‘That’s ridiculous. You must stand up to her.’
‘Easier said than done. If I could tell her you were moving in …’
‘Yes, dear. I know you want that and I’ve thought and thought about it. If you’d asked me just after dear Frank died, I’d probably have done it. But I’ve been all these months now by myself, learning how to take my own decisions and really rather relishing being on my own. I couldn’t move in with you now. But if it helps you to get rid of Diana, then by all means say that I’m considering it.’
The harsh overhead light made Aunt Drusilla look even more sallow and shrunken than usual. Ellie turned on the side lamps and turned off the main light. At once the room looked more welcoming.
‘That friend of yours,’ said Aunt Drusilla. ‘A nice little woman. All alone in the world, is she?’
Ellie laughed. ‘She has a daughter rather like Diana. Joyce would like everyone to think they were descended from the nobility. I believe Rose’s husband was a butcher and she worked in the primary school here as a cook for years. She’s a widow, her daughter has left home and she lives in a council flat.’
‘She doesn’t work, then?’
‘She’s been working at the charity shop for a couple of days a week, but she’s got to give even that up now. I know what you’re thinking, but it won’t do, not even for a few days. Rose twitters!’
Aunt Drusilla nodded. ‘I think I can cope with that. Let’s see what she does with the tea tray.’
The door opened and Rose carried in an old rosewood tea tray, covered with a neat white cloth. On it in splendour were the silver teapot and jug and Aunt Drusilla’s Crown Derby tea set, resplendent in red and black and gold. Also three cups and saucers, matching plates, a milk jug, biscuits arranged on a dessert plate and three wafer thin slices of lemon on a saucer.
‘Sorry I was so long. Your gas stove is a bit temperamental though I’ve dealt with worse in my time. I know Ellie doesn’t take sugar and I don’t, either. I’m afraid I couldn’t find the silvercloth, because the teapot could do with a polish, but there … a strange kitchen is like a desert island, you never know what you’ll come across when you start opening drawers …’
Talking the while, she poured out and handed round cups of tea exactly how Aunt Drusilla and Ellie liked them.
The door banged open and a bulky woman thrust her way into the room, followed by Diana.
‘What’s this, eh?’ A falsely genial voice, hands like hams, a footstep to shake the floorboards and a pair of nasty twinkling eyes without any humour in them. ‘We can’t have our patient upset with all these visitors, can we? Beddy-byes for sleepy heads.’
Rose looked at her in amazement. ‘I’m so sorry, I didn’t know there were other visitors. I’m afraid I didn’t put out a cup and saucer for you, but I can easily fetch—’
‘Tea’s very bad for my patient,’ pronounced the wardress from hell. ‘As is coffee, chocolate and cream. Also cheese. We can’t have our little tummies being upset like this, can we?’
Aunt Drusilla said, ‘Would you kindly leave …?’
‘Now, now,’ said the wardress, in ferociously playful tones. ‘Who’s in charge here, may I ask?’
‘Actually,’ said Ellie. ‘I was going to ask that myself. My aunt—’
Diana interrupted. ‘Mother, please. If Miss Wickham is so good as to take on the care of Great-Aunt, then it’s up to us to back her up.’
Miss Wickham stretched her mouth in a smile to terrify. ‘Dependent on my terms being met, of course.’
‘Of course,’ said Diana. ‘Great-Aunt to move her bed downstairs, a new kitchen, new television, video and car for you.’
‘Something will have to be done about the bathrooms, too. We shall have to have a little shower room put in downstairs for my patient, of course, and—’
Ellie said, ‘Was that the doorbell?’ She hurried out into the hall. Roy was just letting himself in.
‘Sorry I’m late. Couldn’t get away from the golf club. What’s up?’
Ellie hurriedly explained.
‘We’ll see about that,’ said Roy, putting on his Master of the House face.
He strode into the sitting room, kissed his mother on her cheek, acknowledged Rose with a smile and a duck of the head, and Diana with a nod. Taking up his position with his back to the fireplace as usual, he said, ‘So what seems to be the problem here?’
Aunt Drusilla, Rose and Ellie picked up their cups and sipped tea with downcast eyes, allowing the dominant male to deal with the situation.
‘And who might this be?’ demanded the wardress, in slightly less powerful tones.
Roy raised his eyebrows. ‘I’m Miss Quicke’s son. And you are?’
‘I have been employed to care for your—’
‘Who has employed you?’ Roy’s eyebrows did their ironical jerk up and down.
‘I have,’ said Diana, with some defiance still in her voice.
‘And who asked you to interfere?’
Diana went red. ‘She can’t possibly stay on here on her own, as you very well know. It is essential that someone qualified moves in with her and Miss Wickham comes highly recommended.’
Aunt Drusilla said, ‘My dear Diana, if you had only asked I could have told you that I am already in the process of asking a delightful woman to come to stay. Her own quarters, of course.The kitchen will be restructured according to her wishes and there will be a generous monthly salary. That’s right, isn’t it, Rose?’
Rose sighed with rapture. ‘The perfect position for someone who appreciates a lovely house like this. I was just thinking; we’ve been let down over the venue for my daughter’s wedding at the end of next month. Don’t you think this room and the hall would be a magnificent venue for the reception?’
Ellie considered Rose’s innocent expression and wondered how quickly her old friend had worked out the possible benefit to herself in this situation.
Roy laughed. ‘Do you have someone to give her away, Rose? Or shall I do it?’
‘Oh, that’s perfectly all right, Mr Bartrick. Dear John from the charity shop will be giving her away and our old vicar is coming back to take the service, but all we could get for the reception is the pub in the Avenue, which is not at all satisfactory.’
/> Diana and the wardress both had their mouths open, conscious that they’d lost the initiative.
Ellie explained to Aunt Drusilla. ‘They’d planned to have the reception at the golf club but it was double-booked.’
‘We must have banks of flowers,’ said Aunt Drusilla, enjoying herself. ‘White flowers, I assume? Ellie dear, is that clever Mrs Dawes doing the flowers for the wedding? I don’t attend your church of course, but I’ve heard she does that sort of thing rather well. Outside caterers, naturally.’ Aunt Drusilla set her cup down and inched forward on her chair. ‘Do you know, I think I have a drawerful of damask tablecloths somewhere. Rose, you can help me look them out afterwards.’
‘I do love beautiful things,’ said Rose, and everyone heard the longing in her voice. Ellie heard it, and was ashamed that she hadn’t recognized this in her old friend before. Diana heard it, and knew the game was over. The wardress heard it and flushed an unbecoming red.
‘Well, I’ve never in all my born days …!’
Roy said, ‘I’ll see you out, shall I?’ Somehow he wafted her from the room.
Diana was so angry she almost spat. ‘You’ll be sorry for this! I mean,’ remembering perhaps that Aunt Drusilla paid her salary, ‘I don’t think you quite realize how much you need someone to look after you. Miss Wickham was a highly qualified—’
‘Bully,’ said Ellie. ‘Give it a rest, Diana. By the way, what have you done with young Frank while all this has been going on?’
‘The childminder agreed to have him till half six.’ She looked at the clock, bit her lip and said, ‘Well, I suppose I must be going. I only hope, Great-Aunt, that you don’t live to regret this.’
‘I shan’t, dear. Drive carefully.’
Diana made a cross ‘Tchah!’ sound and swept out.
‘Now,’ said Ellie. ‘Aunt Drusilla, Rose. That was a spot of quick thinking on your part, both of you. But I can’t think you were really serious …’
She crossed her fingers behind her back, because she really did hope that they meant it, both of them.
Aunt Drusilla smiled at Rose. ‘I think we’d suit rather well, don’t you, Rose? Come for a week, see how you get on. I’ll pay you, of course. And yes, it is about time I had the kitchen and the bathrooms brought up to date. Perhaps you’d be so kind as to help me organize that. As for the wedding reception, well, why not have it here? So long as I don’t have to lift a finger …’
Rose grinned. ‘I’ll take you up on that. But you know I’m not at all clever at dealing with builders and money and so on. I wouldn’t know what was the latest thing in shower curtains or bidets and I’ve never even known what you use one of them for, anyway.’
‘But you’ll come and stay with me for a few days, won’t you?’
Rose looked at Ellie. ‘Is it all right, Ellie? I don’t want to upset any of your arrangements …’
Roy came back into the room, rubbing his hands. ‘Mrs Rose, you are a blessing sent from heaven.’ He kissed her hand, which made Rose blush and Aunt Drusilla laugh. Ellie gathered the tea things together.
‘Well, if you’ve finished with your mutual congratulations, I’ll carry these out to the kitchen for the cleaner to wash up.’
‘No, you don’t.’ Rose was shocked. ‘You’ll never trust that fine china to a cleaner. Let me.’ She hit her forehead. ‘Bless me, I’ll forget my own head next. Miss Quicke, what are you having for supper, then?’
‘Ellie will get me something out of the freezer and put it in the microwave for me. In the morning we can discuss what food you’d like to get in for the two of us. I’ll expect you about ten, shall I?’
Rose punched the air. Laughing, Ellie said, ‘I’d better show you your rooms, Rose. There’s a sitting room on the ground floor – the door to the right of the kitchen. And stairs up from there to a flat, two bedrooms and a bathroom of your own. They need redecorating but I’m sure that can be arranged.’
‘Anything you want, Rose. Just ask,’ said Aunt Drusilla. ‘I’m so glad Ellie found you and brought you to see me.’
Rose said, ‘I don’t know whether I’m on my head or my heels, I really don’t.’ And burst into tears.
Ellie shepherded her out into the hall. Aunt Drusilla didn’t approve of such weaknesses as tears.
‘She doesn’t really want me to stay, does she?’ asked Rose.
‘Yes, she does. I warn you, she’s a difficult woman …’
‘She’s old, that’s all. And hates having to ask for help.’ Rose looked around her. ‘I’ll stay till after the wedding reception if she can put up with me till then, but that’s six weeks … do you think that would be all right, Ellie?’
‘You’d want to stay on in this house even without a wage, is that right?’
Rose blushed. ‘Oh, I don’t want money for looking after her, I mean, it wouldn’t be right, would it? Did Diana have her wedding reception here?’
‘No, she never thought of it and I would never have dreamed of asking Aunt Drusilla in those days.’
‘It’ll make Diana mad, won’t it? Joyce having it here?’
‘It will amuse Aunt Drusilla no end. It’ll be as good as a tonic to her. Dear Rose, you understand my aunt even better than I do.You’ll be doing us all a great favour if you stay.’
The two women washed up, deplored the unimaginative contents of the freezer cabinet and explored the quarters which were to be Rose’s home. Ellie was dismayed. The rooms didn’t look as if they’d been cleaned in a decade. The furniture was solid enough, mostly pine. The bathroom fitments – like those in the kitchen – had originally been good, but you couldn’t see what colour they’d originally been for years of undisturbed grime. And spiders.
‘You can’t stay here,’ said Ellie, sneezing as she disturbed the dust on the lumpy mattress in the main bedroom. She switched on the bedside light and it fused. There were only two-pin sockets for electricity, and there was a nasty smell of damp in the lavatory.
Ellie was ashamed of herself. Although the house had belonged to her since her husband’s death, she’d never really pushed Aunt Drusilla to maintain it properly.There had been a verbal agreement that Aunt Drusilla would have it on a repairing lease, but it was clear that nothing whatever had been done for years … and doubtless nothing would be done in the future unless Ellie did something about it. Until recently Ellie had been too frightened of her aunt to cross her. Now, grimly, Ellie had to face the fact that thousands needed to be spent on the house. Of course, Aunt Drusilla was loaded, but she was also a bit of a miser. Ellie foresaw a struggle to get the house put into proper order.
Just think what the gutters must be like! If they were dicey – as Ellie suspected they must be, then soon that damp patch in the old lavatory would be spreading all over the house. And the electrics were definitely unsafe.
The main reception and bedrooms were better, though only Aunt Drusilla’s bedroom and bathroom upstairs were as clean as they should be. There was a guest bedroom, with a bed already in use. Roy must have been sleeping in this room, for a man’s toiletries were laid out there. That room was shabby but not unclean.
‘Roy must move out and you move in here,’ declared Ellie.
‘Agreed,’ said Roy, coming up behind them. ‘If you like, Mrs Rose, I can run you back to fetch a few things for tonight. It won’t take a couple of minutes for me to clear my stuff out.’
Ellie opened her mouth to say that they’d planned for Rose to have supper with her and closed it again, for Rose was looking more than interested.
‘If you don’t mind, dear Ellie, I think we’ll do as Mr Bartrick …’
Roy treated her to one of his ladykilling smiles. ‘Roy, please.’
‘Well, then … Roy … I think that would be a good idea. If we make the changeover now, then I can cook Miss Quicke something nice but light for her supper – I’ve a couple of things in my fridge which would be a lot better for her than all that frozen muck in the freezer. Then I’d be here in the night if Miss Quicke nee
ds me, and I’m sure Mr Roy has something planned for this evening.’
Ellie thought, And who is going to share my supper? Not Roy. Oh, no. Not even if he asks. I’m pretty sure he wants to get back to the golf club, which, come to think of it, is exactly the right setting for him – moneyed men and women, drinks in the bar, good hearty food at the table and lots of business contacts to be explored.
I’ll eat by myself, thought Ellie, and what’s over I’ll put in the fridge to be heated up again for tomorrow night’s supper. A widow’s bite.
It was quite dark by now and she didn’t want to walk home by herself so she rang for a minicab. On the way home she realized she didn’t want to face going into her quiet house and eating supper all by herself.
Perhaps there’d be something good on television? She sighed. She’d had enough excitement for one day, and a murder on television really did not appeal. Besides she had a nagging feeling that Tod was in danger. That book of stamps had been a message, definitely. A threatening one? The more she thought about it, the more worried she became. Should she try to speak to Mrs Coppola again? And be humiliated again?
No, it would be better to go doggedly on, checking through her list of people who might be able to help her about stamp collecting. She fished out the scrap of paper Armand had given her and asked the cab driver if he would drop her at the end of the shops … just past her solicitor’s office. He wasn’t too happy about leaving her there, pointing out that there was a group of young lads hanging around the chippy a little way along, and was she sure she’d be all right?
‘Perfectly,’ she said, and watched him drive away. She turned into a side road and counted off the numbers. A Mr Fenwick lived just along here. She halted, somewhat bemused. A respectable stamp dealer wouldn’t live in a house like this, would he?
Sixteen
This was a street of upmarket Edwardian terraced houses. Most had loft conversions, new paint and new windows. Nearly all had made an effort in their front gardens, planting up with winter pansies, cyclamens and variegated ivies, or evergreen shrubs. It was a keeping-up-with-theJoneses sort of street.
Murder of Innocence Page 22
