Dicky’s hands were twisting together round and round, this way and that. He swallowed hard two or three times. ‘Sorry, I can’t forget how she looked when we got her to hospital. I kept saying “why didn’t you tell me, why ever not?”’
‘Long and the short of it was she came home to our flat, changed her name to Tutt again and that was that. Then she started putting on weight, couldn’t stop eating you see, comfort or something I expect. I hadn’t the heart to say anything. He started calling again and pestering her, wanting her back, apologising for this and that you know, usual rubbish. He wouldn’t lift a finger to her ever again and all that nonsense. She thought perhaps she should go back, I said no she shouldn’t, a leopard doesn’t change its spots and I think it was the first time in our lives that we’d disagreed. It broke our hearts when we realised what had happened to us. We both hung on to each other crying our eyes out. We decided there and then we wouldn’t allow anyone else to come between us, it wasn’t worth it. Upshot of it was I persuaded her to go for a divorce and we decided to move. Buy a home of our own. Something of ours. We saw the advert for Muriel’s, you know Lady Templeton’s house being up for sale and by adjusting this and that and bargaining the price down a bit we realised that between us we could just about manage to buy it. Couldn’t afford anything bigger you see, and it was isolated and we’d feel secure. We loved the village as soon as we saw it. We’re mortgaged up to our eyebrows, believe me, it’s been a struggle. Anyway the lady Bel was housekeeper to was taken very ill and Bel couldn’t leave her. So I came here and she stayed at the lady’s house till she died. We’d had no promises made at all but we both rather hoped that the lady would leave Bel something in her will, but, as I’ve no doubt you know blood is thicker than water when it comes to wills, and all she got was the lady’s gold watch and bracelet, so that was that.’
Peter nodded his head. ‘I know, it happens so often, the ones who do all the work get nothing and those who’ve swanned in once or twice a year get the lot.’
‘Exactly. You know Bel, she worked all hours those last months, kindness itself she was, but there we are. So Bel came here. This is the difficult bit now. You know how small the house is, Rector. But it’s ours or it will be when the mortgage is paid off, our very own home, every stick and stone, we’re impregnable. So now we come to this question of people thinking we share a bedroom. As God is my witness and I don’t say that lightly, as you well know, Bel and me we do not share a bed like everyone thinks. We share the wardrobe simply because there’s nowhere else to hang clothes, but at night I sleep on the sofabed downstairs and Bel has the bedroom.’
Peter thanked him for being so frank.
Dicky took a deep breath. ‘We don’t and I repeat that, don’t … that is … we’re not … like man and wife. We observe all the niceties. We share the wardrobe like I’ve said, so I do go in Bel’s bedroom to get my clothes but I don’t sleep in there. However, mud sticks, so if you want me to resign from anything at all I will, but I won’t have Bel’s life ruined over this. I simply will not. I’ll sell up and go elsewhere rather than that.’
‘I see.’
‘That bloody Trevor, I could murder him. Turning up like that, just when we thought we were safe and secure like. It’s not fair, it just isn’t fair.’
‘But letting everyone think you were married.’
‘What else could we do? But we never told lies, we simply let everyone assume we were married. We never lied. Just never mentioned it. They’d have hounded us out in two ticks if we’d let on. We both talked about it the other night and we agreed we should have been more honest and open about it all, but we weren’t because we were scared of what they would all think. It’s our dishonesty that’s brought all this about. Now there’s Georgie. My darlin’ Georgie. And here’s Bel being so kind and thoughtful and considerate. I don’t deserve her. I don’t.’
Peter saw the distress in his eyes. Dicky drew out his handkerchief and blew his nose.
‘There’s nothing more to tell. Except I love Bel and don’t want her hurt and I love Georgie and want her for a wife if it doesn’t hurt Bel too much, which it will, but she won’t let on. I love this place, know that? Not been here long but I love it, for all its tittle-tattle and feuding I love it, ’cos it’s part of old England you see and I can respond to that. But’ – Dicky sighed and shook his head – ‘I’d better put the house on the market and say goodbye to dreams and happiness and my Scouts, and absolutely damn all that I love.’
Peter shook his head. ‘I don’t want that. No, that’s no solution.’
‘There isn’t another one. We’ll have to uproot and start all over again.’ Dicky took out his handkerchief and blew his nose again.
In a voice more upbeat than he felt, Peter said, ‘One person I do feel sorry for is Bryn. In a way none of this has been brought about by him, but he’s suffering too.’
Dicky looked up at him. ‘I know I have to confess I’ve been feeling bad all the time about Bryn, really bad. All he’s guilty of is neglecting Georgie, and there’s plenty of husbands guilty of that. At first getting him riled made me laugh, but after a while I began to feel ashamed but by then I loved Georgie too much to give her up. If he’d listen to me I’d apologise to him, but there’s small chance of that. He can’t stand the sight of me.’
‘There must be a solution somewhere to all this. Don’t do anything for the moment. Nothing at all. But now the cat is out of the bag so to speak, and everyone knows, we are going to have to do something but I don’t know what. Thank you for being so frank. The village will react quite violently to this situation and quite understandably, after all to those who don’t know the facts, it appears to be incest you’re guilty of, and neither they nor I could condone that. But it isn’t, and somehow we’ve to demonstrate that everything is above board. I don’t want to be guilty of ruining yours and Bel’s lives. Are you absolutely certain in view of your close relationship with Bel that you’ve got room in your life for Georgie?’
Dicky studied this question for a long while, so long in fact Peter thought he wasn’t going to get an answer, and then Dicky said, ‘I’m sure there is. All round, in the long term, it would be better for Bel and for me. Perhaps then we could each get on with our own lives instead of being so …’ He gestured helplessly with his hand and could find no words to describe the closeness of his and Bel’s relationship.
Peter nodded. ‘Well, then, Dicky, go home and give Bel some support. After all she has everyone to face, you can escape to the office, she can’t.’
‘And the Scouts? Shall I cry off tomorrow night? The others can cope for one night I’m sure.’
‘Cry off. Keep a low profile. That’s the best.’
Dicky stood up. ‘I’ve taken up enough of your time, Rector, I’ll be off. Thanks for listening and being so understanding.’ A vestige of the Dicky Peter knew crept into his face, and Dicky smiled. ‘If much more happens I shan’t be able to leave the house. I’ve been banned from the pub, I’m never climbing a church tower ever again, I can’t go to Scouts, there’s not much left is there?’
‘Not at the moment, but we’ll sort something out. You’ll see. There’s always the Jug and Bottle in Penny Fawcett!’
Dicky grinned. ‘Of course. There is.’ Then his face became stark and full of pain again and he said, ‘I’ve no solution, I hope you have.’
‘I’ll have a good try. Good night Dicky.’
‘Good night, Peter, and thanks.’
‘Come any time, you and Bel, the door’s always open to you.’
Dicky, standing out in the road with the outside light shining directly on his face, looked up at Peter and said, ‘God bless the day you came here, I don’t think my story would have been so understandingly received by anyone else. You’re one in a million. Good night, and thank you, from the bottom of my heart.’
Peter nodded his thanks and then shut the door. He found Caroline watching TV. She switched it off with the remote control as soon as
he entered the room. Peter didn’t speak or even glance at her, he flung himself down in a chair and rubbed his forehead with his hand, as though it would help to clear his head.
She stood up and said, ‘Tea?’
Without looking at her he said, ‘I have faced a lot of very difficult problems in my life as a priest but I think this one is above and beyond anything I’ve tackled to date.’
‘Tea it is, then.’
Chapter 18
The next morning, it being Friday, the children from the school were scheduled for morning prayers in the church. Normally, by the time they’d done the register and got everyone assembled for the walk across to the church all the mothers had dispersed, but this Friday morning there was a large group still talking by the gate.
Kate Pascoe, heading the crocodile of children, called out, ‘Excuse me ladies, could we squeeze by?’ The mothers pushed their prams out of the way and made room for them all to pass through the gate.
One of the mothers asked quietly as Kate passed her, ‘Could I have a word at lunchtime?’
Kate nodded. ‘One o’clock in my room?’
‘Thanks.’
Kate knew exactly what the appointment was for and she didn’t know what to do. After morning prayers were over, she asked Hetty Hardaker and Margaret Booth to take the children back and she wouldn’t be a moment, just needed a word with Peter.
‘My advice is to say that you have absolutely no reason for asking Bel to leave. Which I take it you haven’t?’
Kate shook her head. ‘None at all, she does the job equally as well as Pat did, if not better, I can find no possible reason for sacking her. She’s done nothing wrong at all, she’s patient with the children, she keeps everything spotless, she’s pleasant with the staff. She couldn’t be bettered.’
‘I thought not. Tell them you won’t, and that she’s coming to the school until you are told differently. Be quiet, but firm and don’t let them sidetrack you into it being a question of her morals. As far as I am concerned she and Dicky are doing nothing wrong at all, I have that knowledge directly from Dicky and I believe him.’
‘Thank you for that assurance.’
‘I can’t give details, obviously it’s entirely confidential, but I can assure you it’s all right.’
‘Thanks. Lovely service. Much appreciated. Bye!’
With half an eye on the clock so she wouldn’t be late for the conference with the mothers’ representative, Kate went into the Store at lunchtime to buy a frozen vegetable lasagne. She needed something quick for her evening meal because she was off into Culworth after school and hadn’t time for cooking for herself.
‘Hello, Jimbo! How’s things?’
‘None too sprightly.’ He looked down in the mouth and at odds with himself.
‘I think you have the same problem as I have?’
Jimbo asked if Bel was her problem.
‘Yes. I think my mothers are up in arms. I refuse to be intimidated by them, though. Peter’s given me his assurance that everything is OK about Bel and Dicky. They’re a scandal-mongering lot, my mothers, when it comes down to it. Anything for a bit of excitement.’
‘I have every sympathy for Bel, but I will not allow my business to suffer. Village Stores are difficult enough to make viable at the best of times, so my business acumen may have to take precedence over my sympathy for her.’
‘What are you going to do then?’
‘We’ve agreed she’s shelf-filling in the evenings when we’re shut, not mornings. Even so I can’t give her the hours she normally does without customer contact of some sort, so she’ll have to be on the till if I get desperate.’
Kate paid for her lasagne and went back to school, the light of battle in her eyes.
Peter endeavoured to keep the light of battle from his eyes when Grandmama appeared at his request in his study. He’d been ready to call upon her in her cottage but thought that he would take the initiative by summoning her to see him. Might just blunt her sharp edges if she wasn’t on her own home territory he’d said to Caroline.
‘I agree. The difficulty about this situation is that she’s so right on the surface. One can’t condone incest at all, it is just so downright immoral, to say nothing of unlawful. But it isn’t incest, but it looks like it.’
Peter groaned. ‘You obviously haven’t come up With one of your admirable commonsense solutions. I feel a large dose of it would be very useful.’
‘I’m afraid not. Sorry. You’ll have to play it by ear.’
Grandmama sat rigidly upright in the easy chair. Peter sat sideways at his desk, facing her. Whatever age she was she kept herself remarkably smart and youthful looking. She had such a strong life force he was in danger of being overcome by it. However, he wasn’t going to be intimidated by this almighty formidable lady, and he was determined to keep the upper hand.
‘Mrs Charter-Plackett, thank you for finding the time to come to see me. I promised I would get back to you and here I am doing that very thing.’
She nodded. ‘Not at all, Peter, I just want the whole matter cleared up. This village won’t tolerate the situation for much longer. They all know, not through me but because people were in the Store when that bakery man made his revelation. They all think it’s disgusting, absolutely disgusting and they want them out. Scouts, the school, they’re both being tainted by it.’
Peter leant back in his chair. ‘How about coffee?’
‘That would be welcome. Thank you.’
They chatted about the weather, about the plans for Christmas about everything but the matter in hand. Sylvia brought the coffee in and Peter couldn’t help but notice that Grandmama’s cup was slapped down a little too sharply for his liking. He caught her eye as she gave him his and she couldn’t miss the reproof in his face. Sylvia tossed her head and marched out. When Peter tasted his coffee he found it was only instant and not percolated. A sure sign that Sylvia disapproved.
He let Grandmama have a few lifesaving sips of her coffee and then he began. ‘I have a story to tell.’ By the time he had finished telling her the reasons for the situation Bel and Dicky found themselves in, Grandmama was on the verge of tears. She fumbled in her bag for a handkerchief and surreptitiously dabbed her eyes.
‘So you see, Mrs Charter-Plackett, I have Dicky’s absolute affirmation that there is nothing untoward at all; he has given me his word and I believe him completely. However, the world at large doesn’t know that and neither does anyone else except Caroline and you and me. I have shared this information with you because you are involved and I know, yes I know that, having given you my confidence you will not betray it.’ Peter paused, took a final drink of his coffee put down his cup and looked Grandmama straight in the eye. They looked at each other for a moment and then Peter broke the silence by saying the very last thing he’d ever intended to say. ‘What I want is for you to help me to arrive at a solution.’
‘Me?’
‘Yes, you. There’s the situation between Georgie and Bryn and Dicky to solve which is bound up with the situation between Dicky and Bel. Now, do you have any ideas?’
‘Well, no I don’t. Not at the moment. But I shall give it my earnest consideration.’
‘I admit, I’m completely at a loss.’
‘So am I.’
‘Has Georgie enlightened you at all about what she wants?’
‘Not at all. She doesn’t know herself.’
Peter allowed a silence to develop. Grandmama checked her cup and found to her disappointment she’d drunk it all. She looked at Peter and said, ‘We can’t do anything till they all declare what they want to do. Does Georgie want to go back to Bryn? Does Bryn want her back? Does Dicky want to marry Georgie? Does Georgie want to marry Dicky? If they marry then what does Bel want to do? It sounds like something from a musical comedy.’
‘It’s far from being that.’
‘Exactly. When you know the story you can’t help feeling sorry for Dicky and Bel. It must be quite dreadful to grow up
knowing your mother, whoever she was and for whatever reason, abandoned you. No wonder they’ve clung together all these years. The poor things. We all need someone don’t we? You can’t believe a mother could be so cruel, can you?’
‘You can’t. Look, I won’t take up any more of your time. Think about it and if you come up with any ideas, let me know, but directly not through a third party.’
‘Of course. Absolute secrecy.’
‘Meanwhile I’ll be thinking too.’ Peter stood up and smiled down at Grandmama.
Her heart flipped. If she could solve this for him she would. Given time there was no problem unsolvable. ‘Of course. It’s partly my fault all this trouble, I’m sorry I’ve been so …’
Peter smiled at her again. ‘To err is human.’
Thankfully Grandmama smiled and said, ‘Between the two of us we should be able to sort it out, after all we’re not fools are we, either of us?’
‘Certainly not.’ He showed her out and then went to find Caroline. She was pottering in the garden.
‘Caroline, you won’t dig or anything will you?’
‘Of course not, don’t worry.’ She turned to look at him. ‘Do you think I should move those peonies to this side? I think they’d look more effective here, don’t you?’
Scandal in the Village Page 19
