And now Melly was ready for church, dressed in the gown that Adina had once made for herself, and Adina was sure that she was the most beautiful bride she had ever seen.
‘You look truly stunning,’ she told her emotionally. ‘But I have one more thing for you that I think will finish your outfit off.’ She lifted a box and took out a sparkling tiara made of crystals. They caught the light flooding through the window and sent rainbows of colours spiralling about the room.
‘Oh, Dina!’ Melly’s hand shot to her mouth. ‘You really shouldn’t have. You’ve done so much for me already.’
Adina fastened the tiara onto the filmy veil she had spent so many hours sewing.
‘I wanted to,’ she told her. ‘And all I ask of you is that you will keep it in your family and one day, if you are blessed with a daughter, you will let her wear it too and tell her about me.’
Melly flung her arms about her and kissed her soundly, setting Adina’s heart racing. ‘I won’t have to tell her about you!’ she cried. ‘She will know you and you will be there at her wedding. You’re still a young woman, you know. Anyone would think you were going to die tomorrow.’
‘Well, you never know. But let’s not talk of sad things today. Now where are your flowers? I think I ought to be off to the church and leave you in Karl’s care. Goodbye, my dear.’
‘Dina . . .
Adina paused at the door to look back at her.
‘Thank you . . . for everything,’ Melly said softly. ‘You’ve been as good to me as my own mother. I do love you, Dina.’
‘And I love you too.’ Adina dabbed at her eyes with a handkerchief before hurrying downstairs to Karl, who was pacing up and down in the hallway.
‘The bride will be down in a minute,’ she told him, as she picked up her bag and made for the door. ‘The car should be here for you in five minutes so I’ll see you in the church. Goodbye for now.’
Karl grinned as she hurried away down the steps. She looked little older than the girl he had once fallen in love with, in her new lilac outfit and dainty hat, and it was all he could do to stop himself from chasing after her and telling her so, but for now he had another duty to perform and so he turned and waited patiently for the blushing bride to join him.
The wedding was a joyous occasion and everything went perfectly, much to Adina’s relief. Karl looked so proud as he walked Melly down the aisle, but from the second Melly reached her husband-to-be, standing in front of the altar, she had eyes for no one else, which Adina knew was just as it should have been. The whole affair was bittersweet for her. It seemed fitting that Melly’s true father was walking her down the aisle in the dress that Adina had once made so long ago to marry him in.
It was much later in the day, when the party was in full swing at the house that Karl managed to catch Adina alone in the kitchen. She had just come down to fetch another bottle of wine for the guests, and when she turned around he was right behind her.
‘I have to say it’s been a wonderful day,’ he said softly. ‘And now that I’ve managed to get you alone, there is something that I have been meaning to ask you.’ He gently removed the bottle from her and placed it on the table, then took her two hands in his and gazed deep into her eyes.
‘I know that you have a lot to forgive me for.’ When she opened her mouth to protest he rushed on, ‘But I hope that now you know why I did not come back for you, you will find it in your heart to understand.’
‘Of course I forgive you, but please don’t go any—’
‘Adina,’ he interrupted, ‘I am going to ask you something that I should have asked long ago. You are the only woman I have ever truly loved, so will you do me the very great honour of becoming my wife?’
Her eyes mirrored her heartache as she slowly shook her head.
‘No, Karl. Thank you for asking me, but the answer is no.’
‘But why not? We are still young enough to have a life together. Don’t you love me?’
Taking a deep breath, she forced herself to say, ‘No, Karl, I’m afraid I don’t – not any more. I view you as a friend now. A very dear friend, but I don’t wish to marry you. I’m so sorry.’
‘I don’t understand.’ He looked so bewildered that her heart went out to him as she disentangled her fingers from his.
‘You must understand I’ve made a new life for myself now,’ she told him gently. ‘And truthfully, I am happy with it as it is and I have no wish to change it.’
‘I see.’ He looked stricken. ‘And is there nothing that I can say that will make you change your mind?’
‘Absolutely nothing. I’m pleased that you came to find me. You have laid a lot of ghosts to rest. But now I think it is time you returned to your own country. You have children there who need you.’
He rose to his full height, looking so handsome that she had to clench her fists to stop herself from crying out.
‘In that case I shall go and say my goodbyes and then leave. But if ever you need me or you change your mind, will you get in touch? You have my address.’
And suddenly they were strangers again as he turned slowly and walked towards the kitchen door, where he paused to say, ‘Goodbye, my love.’ And then he was gone.
Beryl walked in some minutes later with a frown on her face. ‘Karl has left,’ she said bluntly. ‘He went a bit suddenly, didn’t he? Have you two had words? He had a face as long as a fiddle on him.’
‘He asked me to marry him and I turned him down,’ Adina muttered.
‘You did what?’ Beryl was outraged. ‘Have you lost your mind, gel?’ She closed the kitchen door behind her before saying, ‘Why in the name of God did you do that? You’ve loved him all these years and now you turn him down! It just don’t make any sense.’
‘It makes perfect sense. I love him too much to marry him, you see?’ Adina took her friend’s hand and said quietly, ‘You have been the best friend I have ever had, and so I think it’s time that I told you the truth – but you must promise first that what I am about to tell you remains just between you and me?’
Beryl nodded reluctantly. She had an awful feeling that she wasn’t going to like what she was about to hear.
The friends sat down together side by side just as they had so many times before over the years, and once Adina had composed herself she said, ‘I can’t marry Karl. You see, I found out just after Christmas that I have cancer and it is inoperable. The doctors gave me six to twelve months so I am already living on borrowed time.’
‘Oh no!’ Beryl’s eyes filled with tears.
‘So you see, that is why I didn’t want Melly to know who I really was or for her to come and stay here after she was married. I want her to remember me as I am now. And Karl, well, he has already nursed one wife until she died. I don’t want to put him through that again. It’s far better that he thinks I don’t love him any more. Can you understand now?’
‘Yes, I think I can, but it’s so unfair,’ Beryl cried as a tear slid down her cheek.
‘No, it isn’t,’ Adina smiled. ‘Don’t you see? Everything came out right in the end. The man I love didn’t leave me because he didn’t want me. And I got my daughter back, even if it was only for a precious short time, against all the odds. I might have lost her when she was little but over the years, and thanks to your brilliant idea, I’ve been a mum to countless children. I have already seen a solicitor, and when I die this house will be Melly’s. I hope she will come back here to live with Richard then, and some day my grandchildren may be brought up here. I really couldn’t ask for more. And now I have told you, shall we go back and join the party? I want to make the most of every minute of today.’
Beryl squeezed her hand as she rose from her seat, and not for the first time thought what a truly remarkable, selfless woman Adina was.
Now, sliding the band of steel from the third finger of her left hand, Adina pressed it into her friend’s palm, ‘I want you to give this to Melly when I am gone,’ she told her. ‘Over the years it has been my most p
recious possession. Will you do that for me?’
‘Of course I will,’ Beryl told her chokily. And then arm-in-arm they went to rejoin the party.
It was late that evening, when Beryl sat in the tiny vicarage enjoying a cup of cocoa with her husband, that Mick asked, ‘Are you all right, love? You’ve been very quiet since we got home.’
Beryl wrestled with her conscience. She had promised Adina that she would keep the secret she had entrusted her with, but she felt as if she would burst if she didn’t share it with Mick.
‘Adina told me something awful today,’ she admitted tentatively. ‘And she made me promise that I wouldn’t tell anyone. But the thing is . . . Well, I feel that she’s about to make a grave mistake an’ I really need your advice.’
‘I see,’ he said. It was obviously something very serious. ‘If you’re breaking your promise because you feel that it would be in her best interests, I’m sure that she’d forgive you.’
Beryl nodded as she thought on what he’d said for a moment and then suddenly it all spurted out. By the time she had finished the sorry tale she was crying softly and Mick slid his arm across her shoulders.
‘That’s just awful,’ he muttered. He had become very fond of Adina over the years.
‘Yes, it is,’ Beryl sobbed. ‘But what’s even more awful is that once again she’s putting everyone else’s feelings before her own. Karl loves her, that’s plain to see, so why can’t she just tell him the truth and let him make his own mind up about whether or not he wants to spend what time she has left with her? What should I do, Mick?’
‘It’s difficult.’ He stared off into space for a while as he gave it some thought before asking, ‘Do you know where Karl is staying?’
She nodded vigorously.
‘Then I think in this case you could be forgiven for paying him a little visit and having a quiet word in his ear.’
Beryl blinked through her tears. ‘But what if he’s already left?’
Mick patted her hand comfortingly. ‘I think there’s very little chance of that. He’ll have to book a flight home so I think if you paid him a visit first thing in the morning, you’d be in plenty of time to catch him.’
‘And do you really think I’d be doing the right thing?’ Beryl set a lot of store on Mick’s advice. He was a man of the cloth, after all.
He nodded. ‘In this case, yes I do. She deserves better than to die alone. Adina is a good woman.’ Comforted, Beryl settled back against his shoulder and suddenly the morning couldn’t come quickly enough.
Bright and early the next day, Beryl waltzed into the hotel in Bloomsbury where Karl had moved to in order to be closer to where Adina lived.
‘I’d like to speak to Mr Karl Stolzenbach, please,’ she told the man at Reception.
‘I’ll just ring his room and check that he’s available for you, madam,’ the man replied. He tapped a number into his phone, told Karl that he had a visitor, a Mrs Beryl Norris. He listened and then told her, ‘Mr Stolzenbach says to go straight up, madam. He is on Room 86 on the second floor.’
‘Thank you.’ Beryl took a deep breath before clutching her handbag tightly to her and heading for the lift. Minutes later she stood hesitantly outside Karl’s room, then drawing herself up to her full height, she tapped on the door.
It opened almost instantly. ‘Ah, Beryl,’ Karl said courteously. Do come in.’
Beryl unbuttoned her coat and placed her bag on the floor before settling into a chair and staring at him solemnly.
‘I know what happened yesterday,’ she said straight out. ‘And I also know why Adina sent you away.’
‘She sent me away because she does not love me any more,’ he said bitterly. ‘Not that I can blame her. She must hate me for the way I treated her all those years ago, but I swear to you, Beryl, I went home to circumstances I could not easily turn my back on – but I never stopped loving her.’
‘And she never stopped loving you,’ Beryl said bluntly. ‘Why else would she have worn your ring all these years?’ She swiped her hand across her forehead and went on, ‘I’ve come here to tell you something. Now listen to me . . .’
Long before she had finished, tears were rolling unchecked down Karl’s cheeks. But she had only told him what she felt he needed to know; she had not breathed a word about Melly being his daughter. That could only come from Adina, if and when she wished to tell him. And if he decided to stay, that was.
‘I can hardly believe it,’ he muttered brokenly. ‘She would have sent me away and faced the end alone.’
‘Only because she felt that you’d been through enough, having to nurse your wife until she died,’ Beryl pointed out. Then rising, she buttoned her coat again and lifted her bag before heading for the door. ‘I’ve done what I came to do,’ she told him quietly. ‘It’s up to you now, but I thought you deserved to know.’
He took her hand and squeezed it. ‘Thank you, Beryl. You are indeed a true friend.’
She snorted nervously. ‘Yes, well . . . Let’s just hope that Adina thinks so too. The ball is in your court now, Karl. Goodbye.’
She hurried away as he stood there with his mind racing. A long time ago he had let Adina down badly, but now at last he had a chance to make it up to her – if she would allow him to.
Epilogue
‘Karl . . .’
‘Yes, mein Liebling?’ Karl kissed Adina’s feverishly hot fingers and leaned closer over the bed where she lay with her dark hair fanned out across the pillow like a halo.
‘I . . . I have something I must tell you.’
He smiled at her adoringly. They had been married by special licence four and half months before at Camden Town Hall. Ariel and Brian and their family had travelled down from the Midlands to be there and Karl’s children had flown in from Germany. Delighted to see their father so happy, the pair had been more than willing to give the couple their blessing. Beattie had attended too, sniffing all through the service into an enormous white handkerchief, along with Rebekah and Esther, and of course Melly and Richard, who had now both finished their training and were happily settled in Devon.
Adina had looked absolutely stunning in the wedding gown she had made so many years ago, although it was vastly different now. She had shortened it to calf length and wore it with a natty little hat, insisting that she was far too old for a long dress and veil now. Karl looked dapper in a new dark suit that he had bought especially for the occasion.
For the first three months of their marriage they had been deliriously happy, both only too well aware that they must make every second count. During that time they had packed in more laughter and love than many married couples shared in a whole lifetime. But for the last six weeks Adina had slowly deteriorated and Karl knew now that the end was near, and he wondered how he would bear it.
Now he looked towards one of the two nurses he had employed to care for Adina round the clock and asked, ‘Would you mind giving us a moment alone?’
‘Of course not. I’ll be down in the kitchen if you need me,’ she replied pleasantly.
Once the door had closed behind her he turned back to Adina and said softly, ‘What is it you wish to tell me then, that is so important?’
She stared up at him for a moment with her eyes full of the love she felt for him, before turning away and saying in a small voice, ‘I have kept a secret from you, Karl. I never intended to tell you, but now I feel that you have a right to know. I’ve had a lot of time to think, lying here, and I believe I now know why I never received the letter you sent to me when you returned home after the war. I know it was forwarded on from Mrs Downes at the school in Nuneaton because she told me so. But I believe that old Mrs Montgomery intercepted it when it arrived here.’
‘But why would she do such a thing?’
Adina sighed. ‘She had a good reason not to want you to return for me, but all will be revealed in the letter I have written for you. It’s in the bedside drawer here, but I want you to promise that you won’t read it until I h
ave gone.’
He began to speak, but she raised a gentle finger to his lips and silenced him. ‘Shush now. You will understand when you read the letter, and if you will only make this one last promise to me, I shall die content. What you choose to do once you have read it is up to you, but I pray that you will forgive me for not telling you my secret sooner.’
‘Of course I will promise. But there is nothing I could not forgive you for, my darling,’ he muttered brokenly, and then he gathered her into his arms until eventually Melly entered the room bearing a laden tea tray. She had travelled from Devon to be with them three days ago when Karl had phoned to tell her that Adina had taken a turn for the worse, and she had been like a ray of sunshine in the house ever since. Nothing was too much trouble for her. Adina had fretted about the fact that Melly had had to leave Richard in Devon, but the girl had laughed away her concerns.
‘Oh, Richard will be fine,’ she’d assured her. ‘It will make him appreciate me all the more when I get home, if he has to fend for himself for a while.’ And so Adina lay back, content to know that even if it was only for a short time, she had her husband and daughter under the same roof.
She would watch them and feel a warm glow of satisfaction as she noted how alike they were in temperament as well as in nature. She had recently contacted her solicitor, who had then visited her, and she had made some slight changes to her Will. The house would still go to Melly, but on the understanding that Karl would be allowed to stay there whenever he wished. She supposed that once she was gone he would divide his time between London and Germany, and she needed to know that she had provided accommodation for him should this be the case. She had also left instructions on how she wished her funeral to be conducted, even down to the choice of music, hoping that it would take some of the stress of having to arrange it all from Karl. And now all she needed to do was have a final chat with Beryl – and the chance for that came later that afternoon when her friend called in for what had become, over the last weeks, her daily visit.
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