Harmony House

by Ruth Hay

  “Well, you and your husband will be our first guests. It’s a remarkable large house, Louise, with ample space for all of us. I hope we will be friends. It’s always good to know someone who can tell us about the neighbourhood facilities. Sorry, to leave you, but I can see the construction supervisor signalling to me. I have to round everyone up. I am glad we met.”

  “Not nearly as glad as I am. I will be telling Dennis what you said as soon as he gets home this evening.

  My goodness, it’s still a chilly wind, isn’t it! I must run. Bye for now.”

  Mavis watched as Louise disappeared through a gap in the hedge separating the two properties. She could not see more than the tip of a chimney of the Ridley home as the line of tall spruce trees shielded it from view.

  Her assessment of the conversation was that Louise and Dennis were concerned owners who feared their property would be de-valued by anything untoward next door. It would be her job to reassure them and she was confident the first steps had been taken.

  * * *

  The partial house inspection revealed several changes. Furniture had been removed from the main floor and the spaces could now be seen clearly. The first discussion was about who would occupy the lower tower room and Vilma suggested that both tower bedrooms should be the domain of Hilary and Mavis.

  “After all, you two are responsible for this entire project. You should have the prime spots. Does everyone agree?”

  To the dismay of Mavis and Hilary, this was a unanimous decision. Neither woman would have claimed these special rooms for themselves but it would be churlish to refuse the generosity of the others.

  Hilary immediately reminded them Harmony House was to be owned jointly and all decisions would be voted on. “I want you to know that our first room designations may be temporary until we see what is needed most.”

  “I want to underline that,” spoke up Honor. “It’s the same agreement as I accepted when Hilary suggested the lower level for me. We can’t know yet how we will settle in here. Let’s not be too possessive at first. Everything could change in a few months.”

  “Exactly! I am going to schedule a meeting for two months from our moving in and we will reassess things then. All in agreement?”

  “Yes!” was the resounding response.

  Another good sign, thought Mavis.

  What wonderful women, thought Eve.

  I want to see the two other major rooms, thought Jannice. She followed Vilma who headed straight for the dining room. She had an idea.

  “What do you think of making this room our general living room? We could leave the dark panelling. It would be mainly a winter gathering place as we would be outdoors in the warmer weather. There’s a handsome fireplace here and we could put comfy chairs around. A piano would be a nice touch and we could have one of those televisions installed above the fireplace behind a screen made from a painting.

  I am glad those other awful paintings have been removed.”

  “Won’t we need a dining room, once in a while?” Hilary had heard Vilma’s voice and had listened to her plan. Eve spoke up next.

  “I’ve been thinking about that very thing, Hilary. I believe the lovely airy space in the kitchen is perfect for a casual dining table big enough for all of us. The French doors lead out to the small deck from there and it’s much handier to the kitchen.”

  “Eve, you have already appointed yourself as Kitchen Supervisor and I think that’s a sensible idea. Vilma is right. This is a grand winter common room where we can enjoy the view across the front yard. The panelling won’t bother us. It will be a cozy effect in the evenings with the fire burning.

  Now what about the room on the other side of the hall with that white carpet?”

  The group turned around and walked back to the left of the entrance, passing the vivid violet stair carpet on the way, with a shudder.

  Honor hoped the workmen would spill something on it and ruin the whole thing. It was going to be expensive to replace.

  Hilary stood back and allowed the others to enter and walk around. She liked the way in which the group recognized the strengths of each person and gave everyone’s opinion equal weight. She knew another good idea would emerge before long.

  “I think we could save money on replacing this carpet if we designated this room for occasional use only.”

  “Do you mean something like a quiet room?”

  “Right! It’s a corner room so it could be our Corner Contemplation spot. No drinks or television and no phones, just books or magazines or letter writing.”

  “In a Jane Austen style with a writing desk?”

  “Absolutely, Hilary!”

  “Well, to be practical,” said Jannice. “We will still need rugs to cover some of the carpet and I don’t see why this could not be our guest room also. A pull-out bed couch could be here for occasional guests and the powder room is right next door in the entrance hall. We could easily enlarge the washroom by taking a section from that huge coat closet for a shower.”

  Vilma clapped her hands together and everyone laughed and congratulated Jannice.

  “I think Vilma’s good design ideas are washing off on me!” she declared.

  After this joint planning meeting, the decision about which bedroom belonged to which person was settled very quickly. The four rooms off the upper balcony were the exact same size and each had an ensuite washroom and a stunning view over the back garden. Two of the washrooms had a bath instead of a shower and that made the decision easier.

  Eve chose the one nearest the elevator so she could quickly go down to the kitchen. Jannice and Vilma picked the next two in line leaving the one beside the tower room free for Honor if she should feel she wanted to be closer to the others when her hip was better.

  There was no more time to check things out, as the crew arrived back with their supervisor.

  “How did it go, ladies?” Frank Watson was pleased to see no one had passed through his safety barrier.

  “We did everything we needed to. All we need now is for the elevator to be completed so we can finally move into our new home.”

  “That’s what we’re here for, Mrs. Dempster. And if you wouldn’t mind, we want to get on with it.”

  Chapter 23

  Hilary Dempster could not wait to move out of Camden Corners. Every night spent with Eve on the sofa was a reminder of the risk they had taken and what almost happened because they had once left Eve on her own in this house.

  She had employed a company to come to the house and strip out the carpet in the second bedroom. They then sanded the floor boards and painted on a triple coating of varnish which brought up the wood grain nicely. To the new floor she added two rugs from other parts of the house. After the beds were replaced, and the remaining picture on the wall removed, she locked the door again. She had no intention of allowing anyone to enter there.

  In the meantime, she went around the house placing green stickers on the furniture that was needed for Harmony House. With Eve’s help she did the same in the kitchen. Last of all, she invited the new owners to return and select anything remaining that they would like to keep in the house and she gave them a very good price, thereby ensuring there was almost nothing left to dispose of when the three women finally departed from number 46.

  She observed that Mavis and Eve were no less anxious than she to move on. They often sat together in the daytime or when watching television in the evening. Mavis made a point of closing the heavy drapes after quickly scanning the back yard. The home invasion and its consequences were weighing on her mind. Eve was seemingly the least affected. She took courage from the assurances of the police that her husband was not to be released before his trial. Hilary had to believe this situation was in fact preferable to the daily fear of Howard’s uncertain temperament. It made her wonder what kind of hell Eve Barton had lived in for years.

  * * *

  One Sunday night when Mavis and Eve were watching 60 Minutes, Hilary went up to her office to check over some
figures. It was a tricky business to coordinate the dates for vacating her house and arranging for a removal van to have access to Harmony as well as releasing Mavis’s furniture from storage. She was hoping to employ one removal van to do both jobs on the same day. Vilma was working on some publicity scheme for Jannice’s place but she had not yet revealed what that was about. If all went well, Vilma would supervise the sale of the O’Connor home.

  Thank God for Vilma! She’s a free agent and has donated her time to help others. What would we have done without her?

  Hilary was just circling dates on her calendar when the phone rang on her desk.

  Who would be calling on a Sunday night?

  “Mother! Is that you?”

  “Desmond! What’s wrong?”

  “Why should something be wrong, mother?”

  “I’m sorry. It’s just that you don’t call very often and I was surprised.”

  “Well, as it happens, I was surprised recently and that’s why I’m calling you. A school pal from Camden Corners came to see me in Toronto and in the course of conversation about this and that, he mentioned the old place was up for sale.”

  “Yes, that’s right, Desmond. A couple from Mississauga has bought the house. They will be moving in quite soon.”

  “When were you going to tell me this?”

  His belligerent tone was beginning to annoy Hilary. She sat up straighter ready to do battle if necessary. She had no illusions about her son. He was, unfortunately, a mercenary character. Since moving to the big city for work, he was chronically short of money. She subsidized his lifestyle ever since his father’s death but if he was expecting an early inheritance he was going to be out of luck.

  “This all happened quite fast, Desmond. I saw an opportunity to establish a place for my old age together with friends who would look after me, and I them. You know I have never had any great liking for Toronto, even if you ever offered to take me in. Similarly, it seems unlikely you would want to move back here to London and care for me in my old age.”

  “Good God, mother! You are not that old. All those concerns are far in the future, I would think. Why are you making such decisions right now? Has something happened? A fall? A medical emergency? What?”

  “I am quite well at the moment, thank you for asking, son. The truth is, I am a woman alone and that can be frightening. I felt I needed to plan for my future while I still had an asset.”

  There was a momentary silence. She knew he was calculating something.

  “So, what did the place sell for?”

  She named a figure that was several thousand dollars below the actual selling price, and waited for his reaction.

  “Not bad for London. Not bad at all. You should be able to pass on a third of that without any trouble.”

  She knew at once what he meant and her heart fell. Each time they spoke she hoped a change of mindset would come with maturity. But not yet, it seems.

  “That will not happen, Desmond. You must understand this house is mine. Your father’s will makes that very clear. Any benefit to you, will come from my will, which, as you say, is some time in the future, God Willing. I need all of this money to guarantee my place in a larger home on the outskirts of the city.”

  “But that’s ridiculous, Mom.”

  Here it comes.

  “You know how tight things are for me. I didn’t get that promotion I was counting on. How will I afford to come and see you without the old house to stay in? Is that what you want? Complete isolation from your only flesh and blood?”

  She tried to calm her shaking limbs. There was no point in prolonging this agony. It would end in acrimony as always.

  “Don’t worry about that, Desmond. There will be a guest suite for the convenience of friends and family. Let me know when you wish to see me and I will reserve it for you.

  Now I need to go. Take care, my dear.

  Goodbye.”

  She placed the handset down slowly and carefully but not before she heard the shattering sound of his anger at his end of the line.

  It’s over. He knows now. I can move ahead with my plans without dreading this conversation. I doubt I will see him in London again.

  She dabbed at her eyes and breathed out and in without allowing any other thoughts to enter her mind.

  Downstairs she heard the door open and Mavis’s voice call for her. It was time for their nightcap; tea and talk about the day ahead.

  “I’ll be right there, Mavis. Wait for me.”

  Although most of the coordination was now occurring by telephone for the sake of speed, Vilma and Jannice had a reason to call for another meeting of the co-housing group. They felt it was time to share their good news and they wanted to do it in style.

  Vilma contacted Hilary with the invitation to her North London house and Jannice called Honor, assuring her they would share a cab ride to Vilma’s. The purpose of this meeting was kept under wraps. The excuse was the final chance to gather at Vilma’s since the house was soon to be transferred to her step-children’s lawyer.

  There was a bit of grumbling at Hilary’s.

  “We have so much to do, Mavis. I can’t imagine why Vilma wants to be bothered with this meeting.”

  “I’m sure she has her reasons and we can’t refuse after all she did for us not long ago.”

  Hilary noticed how reluctant her friend was to mention the awful business of Dobrinski’s attack. She suspected Mavis was not sleeping well. At first she blamed the Lazy-Boy chair in which she had chosen to sleep, but as Mavis looked more and more drawn around the face, she concluded that it was her mind’s discomfort causing the symptoms, rather than her body’s. Once more Hilary longed for the move to Harmony to be closer to completion.

  In the end, they were all glad to get out of Camden Corners for an evening of what Vilma had eventually announced as ‘a celebration’. Eve had a secret hope of getting another chance to raid the closets. The more she admired the dress and jacket outfit she had acquired there, the more she realized how dowdy her old clothes were. She decided to wear the new dress in the hopes it might prompt Vilma to offer more. She would never dare to ask.

  Mavis just wanted to get away from her memories for a few hours. She had never before been subjected to bodily violence and it weighed on her mind how helpless she felt in the face of Howard Dobrinski’s malice and physical strength. The fact of her own need to resort to violence against him was hidden away at the back of her mind. She knew she was not yet strong enough to deal with that troubling aspect. She hid all of this from her house partners in fear that Eve would feel obliged to revisit the episode. Of all of them, Eve appeared to be recovering the best but then, Mavis decided, she was finally relieved of the daily worry she must have endured while living with that beast of a man.

  * * *

  The trio arrived at Vilma’s house in good spirits. They found Jannice and Honor already started on cocktails and a veritable feast of appetizers displayed in the kitchen and attended by a uniformed young man and woman from a catering company. The house was redolent with delicious aromas and both Vilma and Jannice were positively bouncing with excitement.

  “Welcome! Welcome! Dinner will be served later. Please fill your plates and glasses and follow me to the dining room where all will be revealed.”

  Vilma was not joking. Displayed on large posters all around the walls were the photographs of Jannice in the beautiful antique clothing from the attic wardrobe. Glasses and plates were placed on the table and promptly forgotten as the visitors moved from one to another of the posters and exclaimed at the remarkable effect of petite Jannice’s form encased in those amazing dresses, captured in poses reminiscent of a bygone era.

  How? What? Where? Why? resounded in a growing crescendo of surprise until Vilma clapped her hands and requested everyone to sit and hear the tale from Jannice’s lips. This was accomplished with the aid of the photographs and a copy of the letter passed around from hand to hand.

  “This is extraordinary! How did y
ou two conspirators manage to keep this concealed for so long?”

  “Well, Hilary, we have been busy setting things up for our next reveal.”

  “What next?” Eve was quivering with excitement.

  Vilma took over and explained about the article soon to appear in the next edition of The Londoner, timed to bring attention to the Museum’s Antiques event which had already garnered considerable interest among Londoners.

  “We were interviewed for the article, which was quite exciting in itself. There will be photographs, of course, and mention will be made of the fact Jannice’s house is for sale.”

  “Don’t forget, Vilma, there will also be a photo of the actual wardrobe in the article!”

  Jannice was bubbling over with the chance to finally talk about all this. She had previously been sworn to secrecy by the editor who said nothing should diminish the impact of the article if they wanted to get results.

  “You really had no idea this treasure trove was waiting in your attic all these years?”

  “Nope. No clue. Thank heaven Vilma made me go up there and look around. If I had sold the house as it was before we started to clear it out, someone else would have discovered all this and a piece of O’Connor family history could have passed me by.”

  Between bites of appetizers and sips of drinks, many more questions were asked and answered until Vilma had to collect plates and ask her guests to move to the living room until the caterers could set the table and serve the first course of the meal.

  Jannice, the star of the show, held court while this was accomplished and talked to the women about the feel of the hand-made trousseau and how Amelia could have possibly coped with the loss of her fiancé in such a dramatic fashion.

  “Well, first on my list of outings will be a walk in Springbank Park to find that historical plaque!” declared Hilary. I must surely have walked past it without noticing. You have brought the disaster to life with your story, Jannice. What an adventure!”