Hope at Holly Cottage

by Tania Crosse

  ‘I’m sure Ian’s right,’ he said gravely. ‘No matter what this Gilbert can or can’t prove, no judge is going to take Charlie away from you. Not from such a loving and stable home as you’ve made for him.’

  ‘But that’s just it. We don’t even have a home of our own!’

  ‘Maybe not yet. But the situation you have is a darned sight better than most. Now!’ He stopped and turned her towards him, looking down at her with infinite compassion in his eyes. ‘I want you to stop worrying. Everything will be all right. And … and I’ll always be here for you.’

  His voice had become husky, his expression intense as he bent his head down towards hers. Their faces were so close, and Anna stared back up at him, trusting and ready to melt into the comfort he was offering her. And somehow her worry over Charlie dropped away and she wasn’t at all surprised or flustered when she felt Jack’s lips brush hers so softly that she wasn’t quite sure it had actually happened. But it was as if that fleeting, delicate kiss had pumped strength into her, and her heart was beating, vital and alive, once more.

  Jack jerked back from her, his face creased with remorse. ‘God, I’m sorry. This is hardly the time. But … but I’ve wanted to do that for a long time.’

  His steady, questioning eyes hadn’t left her face and she felt the tight knot in her chest relax. Ethel, Carrie, they had both been right. And she …? She suddenly felt sheltered, warmed, and hope blossomed inside her.

  A smile crept onto her lips, like dawn breaking through the shadows of night. She reached up on tiptoe and her lips tingled as she kissed Jack again. Swiftly, but on the mouth. And then she stood back, waiting to see what would happen next. The ground felt solid beneath her feet. Not like when Gilbert … Then she had floated away on some ridiculous fantasy, but now … This was for real.

  Jack’s face moved into that slow, hesitant smile and he stepped forward, enclosing her in his arms and tucking her head under his chin. ‘We’ll fight this together,’ he muttered into her beret. ‘Whatever happens, I’ll always be here.’

  Yes. Just like he had been for his sister. Dependable, like a rock. Oh, Jack. Her cheek rubbed against the old, rough jacket he wore for his work, and she was disappointed when he released his hold and took her hands instead.

  ‘Perhaps we should go back before we freeze,’ he suggested with a lift of his eyebrows.

  She nodded, aware of the exquisite glow when Jack slipped his arm around her shoulders and she leant against him as they turned for home.

  ‘What!’ Gilbert barked down the phone. He had been waiting for weeks for a reply from his lawyers, and now it had come, it wasn’t at all what he had wanted. ‘What d’you mean, she’s got a solicitor? She can’t possibly afford one.’

  ‘Well, she’s got one somehow, Sir Gilbert,’ the reserved voice came down the line. ‘I did warn you that it’s a lost cause. The girl’s denying that you’re the father. And you’re not named on the birth certificate.’

  ‘But of course I’m its father!’ Gilbert stormed into the receiver. ‘What other chance did the bitch have to see anyone else?’

  ‘On her day off perhaps? And I should learn to moderate your language if it ever goes to court, which I very much doubt. Unless you can find some way to prove the child is yours—’

  ‘Isn’t there a blood test or something?’ Gilbert interrupted.

  ‘Blood tests are inconclusive. They can sometimes prove that you’re not the father, but never that you actually are. There’s a new thing called DNA testing, but it’s only in its infancy and it’ll be donkey’s years before it comes into the public domain.’

  ‘Damn and blast—’

  ‘As I say, I’d give it up if I were you. And anyway, even if he was persuaded the child is yours, I don’t think any judge would look kindly on someone who seduced an innocent young girl when he was about to be married.’

  ‘Innocent? Wouldn’t surprise me if she wanted to get pregnant so that she could get money out of me!’

  ‘Now, now, sir, you can’t go about making accusations like that!’

  ‘Oh, yes, I bloody well can, and I’ll find myself another solicitor if you won’t back me up!’

  ‘I rather wish you would, Sir Gilbert. My bill for the work I have already done will be in the post. Good day to you, sir.’

  The telephone clicked and the line went dead. Gilbert fumed and slammed the receiver back into its cradle. Dear God, he wanted that child! It wasn’t far short of three years since he and Frankie had been married and there was no sign of anything happening despite what that old quack had said. When she’d had the stroke, his mother had declared with tears in her eyes that, before she died, she wanted to see a grandson to inherit the family fortune. She had recovered, of course, but she had mentioned it several times since.

  Ah, his mother. He must do what she wanted.

  And then a sly smirk curled his lip. So he needed proof that Anna Millington’s child was his, did he? Well, then …

  He flicked through his diary. It was chock-a-block with meetings for the next few weeks, but after that …

  He lifted the receiver and dialled through to his secretary. ‘Get me Ashcroft Hall, would you?’ he purred in his usual, charming voice.

  Chapter Thirty-One

  ‘Oh, good, Mother. I’ve been waiting for the opportunity to speak with you.’

  ‘Pardon, dear?’ Lady Ashcroft turned from the drawing room window, using the stick she had taken to since her mild stroke, but more for effect, Gilbert suspected, than because she needed one. ‘The daffodils are well in bud. Won’t be long before they’re out. The drive always looks so lovely in the spring. Frankie’s gone into Tavistock. I was just thinking how she’s blossomed from a timid little thing into a confident young woman. Just a pity she hasn’t had any children yet. You know it’s my dearest wish—’

  ‘That’s just what I want to talk to you about,’ Gilbert interrupted, his voice quavering ever so slightly. ‘Do come and sit down.’

  ‘Oh, Frankie’s not preg—?’

  ‘Afraid not, Mother.’

  ‘Oh.’ Lady Ashcroft sighed, straightening her tweed skirt as she lowered herself into the leather-upholstered chair she favoured. ‘She hasn’t had more tests? There’s nothing wrong, is there?’

  ‘No, Mother, nothing like that. It’s just that …’ He hesitated, for once in his life feeling hot under the collar. He swallowed hard. Knew he was sweating. ‘Well, you know it’s been nearly three years. And quite honestly, I’m beginning to wonder if it will ever happen.’

  ‘Oh, Gilbert, you mustn’t give up. It’s bound to happen. You must have an heir. Otherwise all your hard work – and your father’s and grandfather’s and his father’s – will go to your distant cousins, and what have they ever done to deserve it?’

  The disdain on her face was hardly encouraging. Gilbert wasn’t sure how she might take what he was about to say, but it was a solution of sorts, though she might take some persuasion. His pulse accelerated nervously and he took a deep breath.

  ‘You know that I have an heir.’

  Prudence Ashcroft’s face turned to granite, creasing into deep crevices. ‘What do you mean?’ she grated.

  Gilbert felt his palms sweating as if he was a little boy being told off by his teacher. ‘You … you must remember Anna Millington,’ he faltered.

  His mother’s features hardened further. ‘There’s no need to bring that up again,’ she barely articulated through clenched teeth.

  Gilbert cleared his throat. ‘Actually, I think there is. Under the circumstances. I discovered recently that she’s living in Tavistock. And she has a son. My son. And I’m claiming custody.’

  Lady Ashcroft’s gasp echoed round the spacious room like a roll of thunder, sending Gilbert rocketing to his feet. ‘It makes sense, don’t you see? Frankie and I can adopt him. No one need ever know he’s my … my—’

  ‘Your illegitimate son,’ she finished for him. ‘Well, I’ll not have any little bastard in our fam
ily! How dare you even suggest—’

  ‘It’ll all be done perfectly legally. Only, Anna’s objecting—’

  ‘I bet she is! At least she’s having the guts to stand up to you! She was a good girl, Anna. I had plans for her, you know. Until you got your lecherous hands on her. Poor girl was in love with you, God help her. Never mentioned the fact that you were about to marry Frankie, did you? Conducted herself superbly when I told her. Only, I hadn’t realised things had gone so far.’

  Gilbert had been staring at her, slack-jawed, but now he came back like a shot. ‘So you acknowledge that the child was mine?’

  ‘I never doubted it,’ she spat back.

  ‘Then swear it for me in court. She’s denying the kid’s mine. But if you say how she came to me, begging for an allowance—’

  ‘I will do no such thing!’ Each word was pronounced separately, heavy with loathing, and Gilbert jerked back at the hatred in his mother’s expression. ‘And I will not see our name dragged through the courts just to admit to your shameful behaviour. Your father would turn in his grave. And taking the child away from its mother, no, I will not be a part of it! It would break the poor girl. How could you even think of it? No, Gilbert. You are nothing, nothing compared to your father. You’re weak and spineless, and I regret pushing you into marriage with poor Frankie. But I will not have you ruining her reputation and our family name. Now get out of my sight!’

  For a moment, Gilbert stood transfixed, unable to move a muscle. He had always done whatever his mother wanted, had played the dutiful son. And now she had turned on him.

  It was all Anna Millington’s fault. Well, he’d bloody well find a way to get even with her. He would have the child if it was the last thing he did. And spinning on his heel, he stormed out of the room.

  ‘Mmm, that was nice.’ Jack smiled down at Anna, his eyes creasing at the corners as their lips pulled apart. ‘I only came to ask if you’d like to go to the pictures tonight. I wasn’t expecting such a lovely kiss in the middle of the day.’

  Anna grinned back. ‘Well, it was a lovely surprise to see you. What’s on?’

  ‘A Tale of Two Cities with Dirk Bogarde. I’ve never been able to read the book, of course, so I’d love to see it.’

  ‘Yes, so would I! Carrie?’ she called as Jack followed her into the kitchen where they had been having lunch.

  ‘Uncle Jack!’ Charlie shouted, jumping down from the table to run into Jack’s arms.

  ‘Would you and Jeffery mind babysitting tonight while Jack and I go to the flicks?’

  ‘Course not. Jeffery still gets so tired when he’s been at work, even if it is only part-time. All he wants to do is go to bed early, anyway.’

  ‘Ta ever so! Now, cup of tea, Jack?’

  She reached into the cupboard for an extra cup as Jack sat down at the table next to Polly, and Charlie at once clambered onto his lap. Anna smiled over her shoulder. She and Jack had been walking out ever since that dreadful day when she had received the letter from the London solicitors. Jack had always been the perfect gentleman as they walked in the park or up on the moor, or went for a drink or to the cinema. Even on the few occasions they had babysat the two children so that Jeffery and Carrie could go out of an evening, Jack had never tried to push her to go further. He was quite happy to sit on the sofa watching television with his arm round her, taking things slowly. The nearest they came to physical intimacy was if they played music on Carrie’s record player and danced slowly round the room to the Everly Brothers’ All I have to do is Dream, Jack holding her close against him. Anna couldn’t have been more content, especially since they had heard nothing more from Gilbert or his lawyers.

  ‘Oh, someone at the door,’ Carrie said in surprise when the doorbell suddenly rang. ‘I’ll go. Jeffery’s probably forgotten his key.’

  ‘Here you are, Jack,’ Anna went on as Carrie went out into the hall. ‘Biscuit?’

  ‘No, thanks. I’ll pick you up at half seven, then.’

  ‘Yes, great. Should be good. I wanted to see it. I love Dickens. You know I was doing English lit for A level. Oh, Carrie, what’s the matter?’

  Her friend was standing in the doorway, her face pale. ‘There’s … someone to see you, Anna,’ she stuttered. ‘I’ve asked her to wait in the sitting room.’

  Anna frowned, feeling the blood pumping in her veins. ‘Whoever is it?’

  ‘It’s … it’s Frankie. Smiling all over her face as if nothing had happened.’

  Anna felt herself go cold. She saw Jack’s forehead crease into folds and he put his hand on her shoulder. Anna took a deep breath and strode into the other room with Jack behind her.

  Frankie jumped up from the chair, as immaculately turned out as ever, but with a perplexed light in her cornflower-blue eyes. ‘What’s all this about?’ she asked, shaking her head in confusion.

  ‘You’ve got a nerve, coming here—’

  ‘Jack, no.’ Anna stepped forward, taking Frankie’s outstretched hands and gazing at the puzzlement on her face. ‘You … you don’t know, do you, Frankie?’

  Frankie’s nonplussed expression deepened. ‘No, I don’t. I haven’t got a clue what this is all about. Just because I haven’t been down to see you for months because—’

  ‘No, it’s not that. It’s … it’s Gilbert.’

  ‘Gilbert?’

  ‘He found us,’ Anna told her flatly. ‘Charlie and me. And now he wants custody.’

  ‘What?’ Frankie’s face was a picture of horrified disbelief. ‘You mean—’

  ‘He’s tried to force Anna to give Charlie up for adoption. Fortunately it doesn’t look as if he has a legal leg to stand on, and he seems to have given up. But he could only have found Anna’s whereabouts if you had told him.’

  Jack’s mouth was tight as he spoke, his eyes bright and accusing. But Frankie staggered backwards and sat down hard in the chair again, her lips white and trembling.

  ‘Gilbert?’ she mumbled, then raised her head sharply. ‘No, I never told him. I swear it. I can … I can only think he must have followed me. And he’s trying to take Charlie away from you? Oh, my God, I’m so sorry, Anna. I had no idea. But … it must be all my fault!’

  She burst into tears, burying her head in her hands and weeping inconsolably. Anna sat down and put her arms around her trembling shoulders.

  ‘It’s all right, Frankie. I don’t blame you. And as Jack said, he seems to have given up, anyway.’

  ‘But it isn’t all right!’ Frankie protested, lifting her tearstained face. ‘I always thought I’d been so careful. So, he must have known for some time and never said a word, the conniving …’ She paused to sniff, glancing up at Jack. ‘I shouldn’t say it, but our marriage isn’t what it should be. I’d loved him all my life, even after, well, you know. Even now, I think if I could give him the child he wants, things would be OK. But he’s obsessed. And it’s mainly his mother’s fault. She tries to be nice about it and I think she is quite understanding, really, but she’s so strong—’

  ‘She’s had to be,’ Anna put in. ‘You know she wasn’t allowed to marry the man she loved? She was forced to marry Sir Hugh instead because it suited her parents better. That must make you very hard.’

  Frankie blinked at her, eyebrows arched. ‘I never knew that.’

  ‘She told me once. As a sort of confidence, when she broke it to me that Gilbert was about to marry you. She never said anything about Gilbert and me, but I’m sure she must have known.’

  ‘That’s typical.’ Frankie gave a bitter laugh. ‘Things unspoken. And I never saw through it all. Like I always thought Gilbert was so charming. Perfect, really. But deep down, he’s just – I hate to say it – but a mummy’s boy. And now this.’ She pursed her lips and looked earnestly into Anna’s face. ‘I truly am sorry.’

  ‘Well, it looks as if no harm’s been done. But I’m afraid I must get to my afternoon client.’

  ‘Yes, of course, Jack. I’ll see you out. Won’t be a moment, Frankie.’
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  Anna followed Jack out into the hall and he turned to give her a quick kiss. ‘See you tonight, then. And Frankie’d better mind herself. Best if she doesn’t let on to her husband that she knows what he’s been up to.’

  ‘Yes, I think so, too,’ Anna agreed with a worried sigh. ‘But we mustn’t let it spoil our evening. See you at half seven.’

  ‘Yes. And … I love you, Anna.’

  She smiled back, thinking how lucky she was to have such a good man as Jack in her life now. She blew him a kiss as he walked down the path and then turned back into the sitting room.

  Frankie kicked off her shoes and then threw her coat and hat onto the bedroom chair. She would have liked to stay for ever and ever with Anna in the comforting atmosphere of Carrie’s happy home. But life wasn’t like that. She had dreaded coming back to Ashcroft Hall but what choice did she have? There was no way out, at least none that she could think of in her present state of shock. Thank the Lord Anna was so understanding. But then she had experienced life in the Ashcroft circle. Frankie had friends in London, of course she did. But they were all part of the same scene, and she would have been shunned if they’d known how she felt about Gilbert now.

  She heard footsteps outside and cringed when the door opened and Gilbert stepped into the room, giving that devil-may-care smile that had once seemed so attractive. Frankie forced a smile in return and sat down at the dressing table to brush her cap of blond waves so that she didn’t have to face him.

  ‘Have a nice afternoon in Tavistock?’

  Her heart missed a beat. ‘Yes, thank you. I went for a walk in the park.’ Well, that was true. She had. With Anna.

  ‘You didn’t buy anything, then?’

  ‘No, not today.’ God, he knew, didn’t he? And she could feel the sweat on her palms as she put down the brush.

  ‘Frankie, turn round. There’s something I want to talk about.’

  She swivelled round on the stool, slowly, her pulse wild and erratic. But Gilbert looked perfectly calm as he sat down on the edge of the bed, his hands spread.