‘Hello, Tessie. Do come and sit down.’
‘Thank you, ma’am. I’m sorry to bring you into all this, especially seeing how kind you have all been to me and the girls. Have you spoken to Teddy? What did he say?’
Flora readied herself to lie. ‘Yes, I have, and sadly, he denies all knowledge of such a relationship. Or such an event.’
‘How can he? Everyone knows we was seeing each other for months in the autumn and all over Christmas. You ask the other girls, they’ll tell you. I . . .’ Tessie burst into noisy tears.
Flora stood up and went to her, pulling a lace handkerchief out of her sleeve and handing it to her. Her heart went out to this poor girl, but she had to put her family first.
‘There, there,’ she said gently. ‘Nothing is ever as bad as it seems.’
‘Yes, it is! How could it be worse, if you’ll pardon me for saying, ma’am? A baby on the way, put there by a man who denies the deed, and a fiancé who sure as eggs are eggs will walk back the other way when he sees the bun I’ve got in me oven. And me mum and dad . . . they’ll have me turned out of the house the minute they know. I’ll be destitute, on the streets. I might as well go and throw meself into the river now and be done with it!’
‘Tessie, please, I understand you’re upset, but there’s always a way, I promise you.’
‘And what way is that, ma’am, excuse me for asking?’
‘Well now, the most important thing is that you and the baby have a roof over your heads, isn’t it? I mean, your own roof.’
‘Course. But on my wages, there’s no way I could afford me own place.’
‘No. And that is why I am prepared to give you a sum of money with which you could buy a little house of your own. It will also provide you with a small yearly income until the child is at school and you can find work for yourself.’
‘Excuse me, ma’am, but why?’ Tessie looked at her suspiciously. ‘I mean, if that son of yours has told you it ain’t his baby, and he never even had . . . knowledge of me, why aren’t you casting me out without a second glance?’
‘My son has told me that the baby cannot be his, but that does not preclude me helping a young lady in distress, does it? I was once young too, Tessie, and desperate. And I received kindness and assistance in my hour of need. I am only repaying one kind turn with another,’ Flora replied calmly.
‘But houses cost a lot of money.’ Tessie blew her nose loudly into the handkerchief.
‘You could buy something suitable near your parents, if you wish. Where do they live?’
‘Hackney.’
‘I’m sure they will come round once the baby is born. Perhaps even your fiancé too. If he loves you, that is.’
‘Oh, yes, he loves me. He calls me the sunshine in his day. And look what I’ve done to him. No.’ Tessie shook her head. ‘He won’t never forgive me for this, never. So, what would you expect in return?’
‘Nothing. Other than perhaps the occasional photograph of the baby. And your promise that you will not drag my son’s reputation through the mud by spreading lies about him.’
‘I swear blind, ma’am, Teddy is the father of the baby. And I reckon you know it too, which is why you’re doing this for us. I’ve got your grandchild in here.’ She placed a hand on her stomach. ‘If it’s a boy, he could be the heir to all this.’
‘As you know very well, there is no way of proving it either way. So, there is my offer. Do you wish to take it?’
‘You’re covering for him, protecting him, ain’t you? Your darling son . . . Everyone knows he’s the apple of your eye and you won’t have a word said against him. Where is he?’ Tessie stood up, shaking with anger now. ‘I’d reckon there’s a chance you haven’t spoken to him at all. I want to speak to him meself. Now!’
‘Feel free.’ Flora shrugged as nonchalantly as she could, before turning her back and walking to her desk. ‘But the moment you leave this room, I shall withdraw my offer. And I can guarantee that you will hear nothing different from Teddy’s lips. Ask Louise. He’s denied it to her too,’ she added for good measure. She sat down at her desk and drew out her book of cheques. ‘What is it to be? You can leave with a cheque made out in your name to the sum of a thousand pounds, then go back to the cottage and pack your things. I will send Mr Tanit to drive you to Ashford station in an hour’s time. Or alternatively, you can leave empty-handed and throw yourself on my son’s mercy. Which, as you and I both know to our cost, is not a quality he possesses.’
Silence reigned and Flora hoped she had done enough to convince her. But she was proud, and bright, and Flora admired her spirit.
‘It’s blackmail, this . . .’
Flora said nothing, but picked up her fountain pen and slowly unscrewed the lid. A long, defeated sigh emanated through the room.
‘As you well know, I have no choice. I’ll take your money and go.’
‘So be it,’ said Flora as she wrote out the cheque, relief flooding through her. ‘You have made the right decision, Tessie.’
‘There was no decision to make, was there, ma’am? I loved him, you know,’ she said sadly. ‘I was always a good girl before, but he told me all sorts, like that he would marry me.’
‘Here is the cheque, and the name of my solicitor, who will handle any future correspondence. He will also help with any purchase of a house if necessary.’
‘Thank you, ma’am,’ Tessie managed. ‘You’re a kind woman, and that’s for sure. Teddy don’t know how lucky he is to have a mum like you who does his dirty work for him. He’s a bad ’un, he is, I’m telling you.’
‘Goodbye, Tessie. Take care of both of you.’
‘I’ll do me best, ma’am, swear.’
Tessie left the room. Flora sank into her chair, relief and disgust flooding through her in equal measure.
There is nothing dishonest about love . . .
She remembered Archie’s words to her all those years ago. Yet her love for Teddy and her need to protect him had turned her into a person she did not recognise. And Flora hated herself for it.
‘What is it, Mother? I’m due out at five for a meeting,’ Teddy said sulkily as he appeared in Flora’s study.
‘And you are ten minutes late already, so we’d better get straight down to business.’
‘What is it that I’ve done now? What gossip have you heard?’
‘I think you know very well what it is.’
‘Oh.’ Teddy chuckled. ‘I presume you have heard about my so-called liaison with the Smith girl.’
‘Yes, I have, from the other Land Girls and from your sister, who claims to have seen you both walking from Home Farm the night before Christmas Eve. And from Tessie herself earlier today.’
‘She has been to see you?’
‘I asked her to come.’
‘Good God, Mother. You seem to forget I am twenty-four years of age and capable of clearing up my own messes.’
‘Then you admit that this is your “mess”?’
‘No, I . . .’ Teddy faltered. ‘I don’t need my mother to interfere in my life. You do realise that the whole thing is a pack of lies?’
‘Having spoken to Tessie today, I sincerely doubt it is. I will get straight to the point. You know that Tessie is pregnant, and the chances are that it is your child she bears. You have refused to take any form of responsibility for your actions, as you take no responsibility for anything. You lie blatantly and routinely to save your own skin.’
‘Mother . . . I—’
‘Please, do not interrupt me. You are a lazy, insolent drunk and, frankly, an embarrassment to this family. Only last week, your father spoke about remaking his will.’
‘And disinheriting me?’
‘Yes.’ Flora knew she had struck gold by the look on Teddy’s face. ‘And I can certainly see why. To be frank, if your father heard even a whisper of the rumour that is circulating about Tessie, it would be the final straw.’
‘I see.’ Teddy sank down into the armchair.
�
�I suggest that, from now on, there are no further lies between us if we are to salvage the situation.’
Teddy looked beyond his mother out of the window. ‘All right.’
‘I have sent Tessie away, with enough money to make sure she and the baby will be safe.’
‘Mother, you didn’t need to do that, really, I—’
‘I think I did. This is almost certainly your child, and mine and your father’s grandchild. Admit it, for God’s sake, Teddy.’
‘Yes,’ he finally agreed. ‘There is a chance but—’
‘I’m not interested in the “buts”. You simply cannot continue in the same vein. I understand that you’re bored and struggling with your life, but your reputation as a womaniser and a drunk is growing apace.’
‘I am indeed bored. And it’s hardly surprising I feel the way I do. If it wasn’t for my stupid flat feet, I’d have been off years ago doing my duty and serving my country.’
‘Whatever your excuses, you must now make a choice. You can either stay and become a son that your father and I can be proud of. Or I shall suggest to your father that we send you to Ceylon to stay with your Aunt Elizabeth and Uncle Sidney, where you can help them on their tea plantation. Either way, you have to prove to your father that you are worthy of being his heir.’
Like Tessie earlier, there was silence from the armchair.
‘You would send me away? There is a war on, Mother.’ Teddy’s voice cracked slightly. ‘Ships are bombed and sunk constantly.’
Flora took a deep breath before she continued. ‘I would, simply because I am no longer prepared to cover for you or excuse your actions. It is down to my constant interventions on your behalf that things have not reached crisis point with your father before now. However, as much as I love you, the look on that young woman’s face today, sitting where you are now when I told her that you had denied having any form of relationship with her, made me realise that I can no longer condone your recent behaviour. Do you understand me, Teddy?’
He hung his head miserably. ‘Yes, Mother, I do.’
‘I still believe there is a good man inside you. You are young and there is a chance for you to make amends and prove to your father that you can one day inherit this estate.’
‘Yes. I will stay, Mother,’ he said eventually. ‘And I promise I will not disappoint you and Papa any longer.’ And without another word or glance at her, Teddy left the room.
39
Over the next couple of weeks, Teddy did indeed seem to have turned over a new leaf. He was as helpful as he could be around both the house and the garden. And there was a great deal to do as, the day after Flora’s talk with Teddy, Mr Tanit announced that he and his wife were leaving High Weald immediately. He wouldn’t be drawn on the reasons, and when Flora asked if there was anything she could do to persuade them to stay, Tanit remained tight-lipped.
‘It’s best, ma’am. Mrs Tanit no longer feels comfortable at High Weald.’
They left that night, and Flora was awake until the early hours, wondering what she’d done to offend the sweet-natured housekeeper.
Louise shrugged despondently at the news in the kitchen the next morning.
‘Surely you must have seen why?’ she whispered. ‘Teddy has been all over her in the last few months. I mean, I can’t be sure, but if I’d been that poor girl, I doubt I could have stood it either.’
Flora closed her eyes, remembering her son putting a hand on Mrs Tanit’s back while they had been standing at the range in the kitchen.
The following evening, Flora ate alone, as Archie had telephoned to say he was delayed at the airbase, a common occurrence these days. In bed that night, she heard the drone of German bombers close by, but hardly gave it a second thought. Such sounds had become as familiar as that of the chirruping of the birds at dawn. However, tonight it sounded near, and Flora sighed with irritation that they might have to move down and sleep in the cellar for the night if the bombers came any closer.
Sure enough, just before midnight, the air raid sirens went off, and Flora, Teddy and Louise trooped down the stairs. Two hours later, the all-clear sounded and they returned to bed, Flora knowing that Archie would almost certainly stay in a bunk at the airbase for the rest of the night.
‘Mother! Mother, wake up!’ Louise’s cry roused her the next morning. ‘There’s a telephone call for you. Someone called Squadron Leader King. He wants to speak to you urgently.’
Heart in her mouth, Flora flew downstairs, almost tripping in her hurry to reach the telephone. Yet she already knew the reason for the call.
The squadron leader imparted the news that Archie and fourteen others at RAF Ashford had been killed outright when a bomb had directly hit the tented area that accommodated the reserve fighter pilots and other members of staff.
Despite Flora’s previous strength in adversity, she fell apart. The sheer irony of it all overwhelmed her . . . Archie surviving this far, and their happiness at his posting to Ashford rather than working in London – the main target of the German bombers – only for him to lose his life a few miles from home . . . it was a situation her addled mind could not comprehend.
Louise called in the doctor, who prescribed sedatives, and for several days Flora lay in bed, with no will or energy to rise from it. Without her beloved Archie, she’d rather be dead too. Even the sight of his daughter’s haunted face was not enough for her to leave her bedroom. She lay there, reliving every single moment that she and Archie had spent together, and railing at the God she could no longer believe in for taking him away from her forever.
And worst of all, they had not even had a chance to say goodbye.
On the sixth morning after the fateful telephone call, Flora was awoken from a drugged sleep by a tap-tapping on the window. She raised her head and saw a baby thrush that must have fallen out of its nest in the old chestnut tree by the window. The ledge had saved its fall, but in its hysteria, it was in danger of toppling off as it hopped about and squawked for its mother.
‘Coming, little one,’ she whispered, as she carefully opened the window and managed to take the tiny thing into her hands. ‘There, there,’ Flora crooned to it. ‘You’re safe now. We’ll get a ladder and have you back with your mother in no time.’ With the bird cupped in her hands, she walked downstairs to the kitchen, where Teddy and Louise were sitting together at the table.
‘Mother, you’re up! I was just about to bring you some tea,’ Louise said.
‘Never mind that. This poor little thing has fallen from the nest in the chestnut tree. Teddy, can you get a ladder so I can climb up and put it back before it dies of shock?’
‘Of course, Mother.’
Louise looked at Teddy, who winked at his sister as he stood up. ‘She’ll be all right now,’ he mouthed as he left the kitchen to follow his mother outside.
The funeral took place in the church on the estate and was well attended by villagers, friends and family. Archie had been a popular and well-respected figure locally, and Flora sat between her two children, smiling through her tears at the eulogies delivered by his RAF colleagues from both wars. During the service, Flora dug deep for every ounce of strength and courage she possessed. Her week of solitary mourning had at least allowed the torrent of grief to pour out of her and, in turn, she was now able to support her children in their own pain. Her life – or at least, her main source of happiness – may have been curtailed forever. But her children still had theirs to live. And she would not let them down.
The day after the funeral, Mr Saunders, the family solicitor, paid her a call. After the normal round of condolences, they got down to business.
‘You may be aware that Lord Vaughan has not rewritten his will since 1921,’ began Mr Saunders, taking a neat pile of papers out of his ancient leather briefcase. ‘I am presuming that he still wished the estate to go to his son, Teddy?’
‘I . . . can only presume so,’ said Flora, feeling a guilt-induced band close tightly across her chest.
‘Then
I will set the wheels in motion to transfer such as discussed into Teddy’s name. Sadly, as there is no legal document to grant you a home on the High Weald estate, I must also advise you that it is within your son’s legal rights to, er, turn you out. Not that he would do that, I’m sure, but I have known such situations to occur before.’
‘I will speak to Teddy about his wishes,’ said Flora tightly. ‘I am sure that we can resolve it between us. I have only one question for you, Mr Saunders: if my sister Aurelia had only given birth to Louise – in other words, a female – or if Teddy had died in the war,’ she added quietly, ‘what would have happened then?’
‘Well now, things would get complicated. We would firstly search for a male heir to the estate. And, on finding none, Louise would almost certainly have been granted a tenure of High Weald until such time as she produced a son. When he came of age, he would inherit both the lands and the hereditary peerage. If she had given birth to a daughter, that daughter would be granted the same tenure until a male heir was produced. Unless, of course, one of Lord Vaughan’s sister’s daughters produced a male before her. Et cetera, et cetera.’
‘I see.’
‘As you might have gathered, we can only thank the heavens that there is a direct male heir.’ He gave a dry chuckle. ‘I know numerous families who are bereft of one, due to the two wars devastating generations of fathers and sons. You are lucky, Lady Vaughan. The true bloodline can still continue at High Weald, when many families in a similar situation have not been granted the same easy transition.’
‘I wonder, Mr Saunders, whether it would be possible to at least give Louise a portion of the estate? She is soon to be married, and her husband is not a rich man. As a woman myself,’ Flora said carefully, ‘I do not feel that the fact she is female should preclude some form of claim on her family estate. Especially as she is Teddy’s twin.’
The Shadow Sister Page 43
