The Best of Daughters

by Dilly Court

‘But it’s unfair to blame the children for the sins of their fathers; surely that’s what the vicar would say?’

  ‘Perhaps, but that doesn’t mean that I have to put a roof over the head of the girl who slept with our handyman and bore his illegitimate offspring. Send them packing, Daisy.’

  ‘No, I won’t. You need her as much as she needs you. I’ve only got a few days’ leave left and then I’ll be gone. Bea is going to marry Jimmy whether you like it or not, and there simply aren’t the girls wanting to go into service nowadays. The world is changing, Mother.’

  ‘Not for the better in my opinion.’

  Daisy was quick to note a change in her mother’s tone. ‘At least give her a chance to make up for her mistake. A month’s trial would be reasonable and if it doesn’t work out she’ll understand that she has to find another place.’ Daisy went to the wine table and poured a stiff sherry. She placed it in her mother’s outstretched hand. ‘I’m sure that Lady Pendleton would be only too pleased to take her on.’ She had played her master card, and she waited for her mother’s reaction.

  Gwendoline sipped her drink, nodding slowly. ‘You always had a way with words. You take after your father in that respect.’ She downed the rest of the sherry in one gulp. ‘All right. She can have a month’s trial, but she must keep the child out of my way.’

  ‘Thank you, Mother. You won’t regret it, I’m sure.’

  ‘She can have her old room back, and I think Beatrice’s cot is stowed away in one of the attic rooms. I didn’t have the heart to throw it out.’

  Daisy wrapped her arms around her mother and kissed her lined cheek. ‘You are an angel.’

  ‘And no doubt I’ll get my reward in heaven,’ Gwendoline said with a touch of wry humour. ‘Don’t soft soap me, Daisy Lennox. Go and give the girl orders for dinner. She can start by cooking the ghastly pair of rabbits that Mrs Gurney sent over.’

  ‘I’ll see to it,’ Daisy said, refilling her mother’s glass. ‘Don’t worry about a thing.’ She left the room and hurried to the kitchen to pass on the good news.

  Beatrice hugged Ruby. ‘I’m so glad you’re going to stay. Welcome home.’ She sat down with Martin on her knee. ‘He’s adorable. You must be so proud of him, Ruby.’

  Ruby puffed out her chest. ‘He’s a good little chap. Mrs Lennox won’t know he’s in the house. Thank you, Daisy. You must have worked hard to bring your mother round.’

  ‘Not really. She has a soft heart beneath her rather frosty manner.’

  ‘I’ll take your word for it.’ Ruby took off her hat and jacket and hung them on the peg in the scullery. She emerged wrapping a large apron around her waist. ‘Where shall I start?’

  ‘Mother said something about rabbits,’ Daisy said tentatively.

  Beatrice pulled a face. ‘Mother Gurney sent them over and I haven’t had the stomach for it. That’s one thing that Jimmy will have to do if he wants me to cook game for him.’

  Ruby took a knife from the rack. ‘Leave it to me. I’m not squeamish. I grew up south of the river. Remember?’ She disappeared into the scullery, calling over her shoulder. ‘Keep an eye on Martin, please, Miss Bea. I’ll put him in my bed for a nap when I’ve seen to the bunnies.’

  Beatrice pulled a face. ‘I suppose it’s good practice for when Jimmy and I start a family.’ She chuckled. ‘Don’t look so worried, Daisy. I’m not that way and don’t intend to be for some time. I want to enjoy married life before we hear the patter of tiny feet.’

  ‘I hardly recognise you these days,’ Daisy said, suppressing a sigh. ‘When I left home you were just a kid, and now look at you.’

  Beatrice rubbed her cheek on Martin’s soft curls. ‘It happens,’ she said, grinning. ‘You’ve been gone for almost a year.’

  ‘And I’ve only got three days’ leave left,’ Daisy said gently. ‘You will look after Ruby, won’t you? I feel so responsible for her now, and I’m afraid that Mother might be influenced by some of the self-righteous old biddies in the village and take it into her head to turn Ruby and Martin out onto the street.’

  ‘Don’t worry. If the worst came to the worst I’m sure that the Gurneys would help out. They’re a smashing couple, Daisy. I love them dearly, and I can’t wait to marry Jimmy.’ Martin had begun to wriggle and she set him down on the floor. ‘I wonder if they’ve got any old toys in their attic. I’m sure they’d let me bring some over for this little chap.’ She shot a sideways glance at Daisy. ‘What about you and Rupert? Are you going to wait until this wretched war is over before you get married?’

  ‘We’ll see,’ Daisy said cautiously. ‘It’s almost impossible to plan anything these days.’

  ‘But you were together in London,’ Beatrice said, angling her head. ‘You must have talked things over.’

  ‘He’s changed, Bea. War does terrible things to people. He broke off our engagement.’

  ‘Oh, Daisy, that’s rotten. I’m so sorry.’

  ‘Don’t be. I expect it will work out in time, but I don’t want anyone else to know. Not yet, anyway.’

  ‘I won’t say a word.’

  Daisy could see that Beatrice would not be satisfied until she knew the full story but she was not ready to confide in anyone just yet. ‘That’s enough about me. Tell me everything that’s been going on here since I went away.’

  Beatrice frowned. ‘Father’s business is going downhill again, but I told you that.’

  ‘Yes, you said you didn’t trust Mr Meadows.’

  ‘I don’t.’

  ‘What has he done to make you feel that way?’

  ‘He’s too nice, for once thing. Too eager to please and so respectful that it makes my flesh creep. You must pay a visit to Father’s office and judge for yourself. I’m afraid that history is going to repeat itself and Father will lose this business as well, if he isn’t careful.’

  ‘Perhaps we ought to go into town tomorrow morning. I’ll see if I can borrow the Prince Henry.’

  Arley Meadows was in the outer office, his balding head bent over a ledger. They could see him through the window and Beatrice nudged her sister. ‘He looks like Bob Cratchit, only Father isn’t Scrooge.’

  ‘First he was Uriah Heep and now he’s Bob Cratchit. I thought you hated Dickens?’

  ‘Not really, I just didn’t like our English teacher. Anyway, let’s go inside and I’ll look around while you keep him talking.’

  ‘You’ve been reading too many Sherlock Holmes books.’

  Beatrice gave her a shove towards the door. ‘Shut up and do it. At least you can judge for yourself, but I think he’s up to no good.’

  Meadows looked up and saw them. Daisy had no alternative but to open the door and step inside.

  Chapter Nineteen

  ‘MISS LENNOX.’ MEADOWS rose from his seat behind the desk. ‘And Miss Beatrice Lennox. This is a pleasure, ladies.’

  Daisy held out her hand. ‘We met briefly some time ago when I came to the office to ask Father for a lift home.’

  His grin almost split his pale face in two as he took her hand in a limp grasp, releasing it almost immediately. ‘I remember the day well, Miss Lennox. What may I do for you?’

  ‘Is my father in?’

  ‘I’m sorry, no. He had an appointment to see a client, but he should be back quite soon.’

  Beatrice pushed past Daisy. ‘We’ll wait in Father’s office.’

  Meadows moved swiftly to bar her way. ‘Perhaps you have some shopping to do? You might have quite a long wait.’

  ‘No,’ Beatrice said firmly. ‘We’d rather stay here.’ She turned to Daisy with a meaningful nod and a wink. ‘My sister is very interested in butterflies, Mr Meadows. I believe that’s your hobby?’ She turned away and her shoulders shook with suppressed laughter.

  Daisy could see that her sister was about to give way to a fit of the giggles and she stepped forward. It did seem ridiculous that a man with the name of Meadows was obsessed with butterflies, but it was one of the small details that Beatrice had told her abou
t Arley and his widowed mother. It was not much but it was a start. ‘I’m surprised that you have time for hobbies, Mr Meadows,’ Daisy said hastily. ‘You obviously have a lot of work to get through.’

  ‘I do my best, Miss Lennox.’

  ‘You two can have a nice little chat,’ Beatrice said, smiling innocently as she opened the inner office door. ‘I’ll wait in here.’ She closed it behind her.

  Daisy pulled up a chair and sat down. ‘I apologise for my sister, Mr Meadows. I’m afraid she’s rather used to having her own way, but please don’t let me interrupt your work. I can see that you’re busy.’

  He chewed his lip, a habit which Daisy was already finding slightly irritating, and he glanced at the closed door as if uncertain of his next move. With an exaggerated twitch of his shoulders he went to sit in his chair and picked up a pen. ‘I do have rather a lot to do, Miss Lennox.’

  ‘I understand. I won’t interrupt you.’ Daisy sat quietly, gazing round the office. The desk took up most of the space, and placed directly behind it a breakfront bookcase was crammed with files and ledgers. Unimaginative brown linoleum covered the floor and the walls below the dado were painted a similar colour, and above it a murky cream reminiscent of curdled milk.

  Silence stretched between them like a piece of taut elastic. Daisy could see that he suspected something and she smiled, attempting to put him at his ease. ‘Please tell me about your butterfly collection, Mr Meadows.’ She had to dig her fingernails into her palms to prevent herself from laughing. ‘Do you go out into the countryside to collect them? Or do you sketch them in situ?’

  A flicker of interest lit his eyes for a brief moment and then he averted his gaze, staring out of the window as if hoping that his employer would return and rescue him. ‘I catch them wherever I can by using a special net, Miss Lennox. Sometimes it’s in our garden, although it is rather small, but more often I go for long country walks and that’s where I get my best specimens. I have two cabinets filled with them in our box room.’

  ‘Utterly fascinating,’ Daisy said politely. ‘But I don’t suppose you have much free time. I know my father works long hours, and I assume that you do too.’

  ‘Quite so, Miss Lennox. And I have to look after my aged mother. She’s a martyr to her rheumatics.’ He rose to his feet. ‘Would you like a cup of tea? We have a small kitchen at the back of the premises.’

  ‘No, thank you. My sister and I stopped at a tea shop on our way here.’ She rose to her feet. ‘Perhaps I ought to leave you to get on with your work in peace. I’ll join my sister and wait for Father in his office. I’m sure that he’ll be here soon.’ She moved swiftly, entering the inner office and closing the door before he had a chance to stop her. She leaned against it, staring in dismay at the chaotic jumble of files and ledgers scattered all over their father’s desk. ‘Bea, what on earth are you doing?’

  Beatrice clutched her chest, breathing heavily. ‘You gave me a fright. I though it was Awful Arley coming in to catch me going through Father’s papers.’

  ‘What do you hope to find? This is crazy.’

  Beatrice shook her head, her lips curving in a triumphant smile. ‘Not at all. Look.’ She thrust an open ledger under Daisy’s nose. ‘I’m no mathematician but even I can see that these accounts have been doctored. It’s been done very carefully but someone has written the original figures in pencil and then gone over them in pen. I think Father’s eyesight must be failing if he can’t see something so obvious.’

  ‘Surely not? How could Meadows hope to get away with something like this? Father must have an accountant to go over the books.’

  ‘I don’t know, but it would explain why he’s losing money hand over fist. I only wish I’d had the courage to come here on my own.’ She jumped visibly as the door opened and Meadows entered the room. His proptotic eyes opened even wider. ‘May I ask what you are doing, Miss Beatrice?’

  She stabbed her finger on the columns of figures. ‘Do you deny that these have been altered?’

  He shook his head. ‘I don’t know what you’re talking about. This really is outrageous behaviour and I will have to report your conduct to Mr Lennox.’

  ‘This was written first in pencil and then overwritten in ink,’ Beatrice said angrily. ‘It’s quite clear.’

  ‘That is what I do, so that Mr Lennox can check the figures. Then I go over the whole thing in ink.’

  ‘Oh.’ Beatrice turned an agonised face to her sister. ‘What do you think, Daisy? Is he telling the truth?’

  ‘Miss Beatrice, I am not in the habit of telling lies,’ Arley said angrily. ‘I demand an apology.’

  Daisy stepped forward, taking the ledger from Beatrice, and closing it with a snap she replaced it on her father’s desk. ‘Mr Meadows, it seems that my father’s business is losing money. I’m sure you know about the shocking events that almost bankrupted him in London, and now the same thing seems to be happening once again.’

  ‘It’s not fair to blame me, Miss Lennox.’ His expression of aggrieved innocence was almost believable, and Daisy found herself at a disadvantage. She was beginning to wonder if Beatrice had imagined the whole thing, but she noticed that his fingers twitched nervously at his sides and beads of sweat stood out on his forehead. Her sympathy evaporated and she faced him with a new determination to set matters straight. ‘We can’t prove anything, Mr Meadows. It’s your word against ours and if Father’s accountant hasn’t spotted any discrepancies in the books then I must assume that either you are quite innocent or that you are much cleverer than you look.’

  His neck appeared to lengthen above his stiff white collar, like a tortoise sticking its head out of its shell. ‘I am deeply insulted, Miss Lennox.’

  ‘If you are truly innocent, I apologise,’ Daisy said calmly. ‘But if my father’s business continues to run at a loss, when to all intents and purposes it should be making a profit, I promise you there will be a full inquiry and an official audit of the books. Do I make myself clear?’

  Meadows stiffened, his face flushing a deep red. ‘Perfectly clear, but I can assure you . . .’

  Daisy held up her hand. ‘I don’t want to hear any more. My sister and I are leaving and I suggest that you tidy up this mess.’

  ‘I hope this is the last time we have this sort of conversation, Mr Meadows,’ Beatrice said as she opened the door. ‘It will be the police who call on you should there be cause for concern in the future.’ She stepped into the outer office. ‘Let’s go, Daisy.’

  ‘I’m coming.’ Daisy hesitated in the doorway, glaring at Meadows. ‘My father is a good man. He deserves loyalty from his staff.’

  ‘I’m deeply distressed that you should think so little of me, Miss Lennox,’ he said, wringing his hands. ‘I am the most trustworthy of employees.’

  She smiled. ‘Then you have nothing to worry about, have you?’ She followed Beatrice out into the dusty street. ‘That was very unpleasant. I’d almost rather be back at the Front than have to do anything like that again.’

  ‘Do you think he was telling the truth?’ Beatrice asked anxiously. ‘I don’t know much about it but those figures did look as though they’d been altered to show a loss.’

  ‘We’ll probably never know, but he’s had fair warning. If things don’t improve you must tell Father and allow him to handle the matter.’

  ‘Meadows might continue to swindle Father but do it more carefully in the future.’

  Daisy tucked her hand in the crook of Beatrice’s arm. ‘I think that Meadows has had a bad fright, and he’s not stupid enough to make the same mistake again. If he loses his job he’ll have difficulty finding another one, and if Lord Kitchener brings in conscription Arley Meadows might find himself looking in vain for butterflies on Flanders fields. Let’s go home, Bea. I want to enjoy my last couple of days of freedom.’

  Two days later, on Daisy’s last evening before returning to France, Victor arrived home with a huge bunch of roses for his wife. Gwendoline gazed at him open-mouthed as he p
resented her with the bouquet. ‘What’s this for, Victor? It’s not my birthday or our wedding anniversary.’

  He leaned over to kiss her on the cheek. ‘It’s a small token of my appreciation, Gwendoline. You’ve had to put up with so much over the past year or two. I don’t know of many women who would have borne things with so little complaint.’

  Gwendoline had the grace to blush and Daisy exchanged wry glances with Beatrice. Considering the fact that Mother had done nothing but complain since they moved to Rainbow’s End, Daisy thought it very generous of him to give her such an accolade.

  Beatrice flung her arms around her father’s neck. ‘You’re looking very chipper, Father. Has something good happened?’

  Daisy sent her a warning look. ‘Weren’t you going to give Ruby a hand in the kitchen?’

  Ignoring her, Beatrice gave him a hug and kissed him on the cheek. ‘Do tell, Daddy darling. Why the big smile?’

  ‘You’re strangling me,’ Victor protested, but he was obviously delighted by this outward demonstration of affection. ‘Actually I have some good news at last. Meadows has been through the books and found several errors in accounting. By his reckoning we are actually in the black.’

  Gwendoline frowned. ‘What does that mean, Victor? Tell us in layman’s terms.’

  ‘My dear, we’re solvent for the first time since we moved to rural Essex. I must confess that I’ve been lax, especially since we lost Teddy. I’m afraid I let matters slide.’ He gulped and swallowed, visibly upset as he uttered his dead son’s name, but he rallied quickly, taking a deep breath. ‘For a while I simply didn’t care and I thought I might have to give up the business, but now I can see a way forward. If Meadows had not been so conscientious an employee we might have been struggling for years, or at worst been faced yet again with bankruptcy.’

  ‘I think this calls for a toast.’ Daisy could see that Beatrice was beaming with satisfaction and might at any moment give the game away, and she gave her a warning frown. Moving swiftly to the wine table she poured sherry into three glasses and was about to fill the fourth when her father held up his hand.