The Thief of St Martins

by Caron Allan

  When the dance ended, Sir Stanley signalled to his butler once more and the gong was sounded.

  ‘My dear ladies and gentlemen, friends, family and cohorts! I have something to announce, a very exciting piece of news to share with you all. As some of you will no doubt be aware, I shall be sixty-one in a months’ time...’

  There were cheers and shouts of, ‘He don’t look a day over eighty’ and ‘Don’t you mean seventy-one, you old fool?’ from a man who looked ninety if he was a day.

  This then was the big announcement June had been expecting. Dottie looked around and found her and Leo, coming towards the front of the crowd. June’s eyes were avidly fixed on her father, and she gripped Leo’s arm in what had to be a painful pinching hold.

  ‘Now, now!’ admonished Sir Stanley with beaming good humour. ‘As I was saying, I shall soon be sixty-one. You might think a fellow was beyond being surprised when he got to such a great age. But I have been surprised, charmed and delighted to discover something I had previously only hoped for. It appears that at the ripe old age of sixty-one, I have become a father.’

  Dottie thought June looked puzzled now. Dottie herself wondered what Sir Stanley was getting at. It certainly didn’t sound like a retirement speech. But then...

  ‘I would like to introduce you all to my daughter, long lost to me but now restored...’

  Dottie saw it all as if in slow-motion. And then, just as he was about to speak, she knew what he was going to say. The room seemed to be swirling. As he continued to address the room, everyone turned to look at her. He held out his hand to her.

  ‘Dottie, my dear, do join me up here. Ladies and gentlemen, Miss Dorothy ‘Dottie’ Manderson. My daughter.’

  The deafening applause died eventually, and the band struck up a waltz. Sir Stanley escorted Dottie, still dazed, to the centre of the floor and after a few moments other couples began to dance. Dottie could hardly focus on moving her feet in time to the music, and yet she was aware of Lewis and Cecilia going by, and on the other side of the dancefloor they encountered Leo and June, deep in conversation but June sent her a dazzling smile as the couples passed one another.

  It felt completely unreal. Dottie looked at Sir Stanley.

  She hadn’t expected to see tears in his eyes. She had thought only of her own feelings. The sense of shock was not all hers, she saw now. He smiled at her, but for once seemed at a total loss for words. She didn’t know what to say either. She tried to smile back and was only partially successful. A moment later he guided them off the dancefloor, and making a path through the throng, he opened a door and invited her into a small room lined with books.

  ‘Let’s sit down and have a chat, shall we?’

  There was a roaring fire, though Dottie had never felt so hot in her life. But the sofa looked comfortable, and she was relieved to be away from the noise of the ball.

  Sir Stanley looked at her. ‘Well.’

  She nodded. ‘I have no idea what to say.’

  ‘I must apologise for making that announcement. As soon as I saw your face, I realised you didn’t know. I’m so sorry, dear, I thought Cecilia... But there, she always did go her own way, regardless of the feelings of others. When we spoke earlier, I thought you knew then. But now I see...’

  ‘I’m afraid I had no idea. But I can see why Cecilia told you. I’ve rather badgered her about it since I arrived. I just wish I had been prepared. I must have looked like a rabbit in the headlights.’ She was still fighting for composure. But he seemed to sense it, and simple smiled at her, and took a seat opposite her.

  ‘It was very wrong of her not to tell you.’

  ‘Or you,’ Dottie said. ‘All these years... Did you have no idea?’

  ‘Oh I knew there had been a child. Later. She told me she gave the child up for adoption. She—she didn’t want to think about things or talk about things. But at the time, I knew nothing. I had ended things, you see, a few months before you were born. She felt abandoned and angry, no doubt. I pointed out we were both married, we had made our decisions and had to, so to speak, lump it. I felt it was wrong to continue to see one another—in that—er—in that way. If she had told me, things would have been very different. But there we are, as I said, Cecilia... she can be very stubborn, very proud. I’m afraid we never did truly stick to our vows to return to our spouses.’

  ‘But you love her? Still?’ Dottie realised it was a bold thing to say. Would he be offended? She did so hope not. She needed to be able to discuss the situation fully and frankly.

  But he nodded, and gave a rueful smile. ‘I have always loved her. That might surprise you. She hasn’t always been so cold. When we were young...’ His expression grew wistful. ‘She loved to dance. And she used to sing and play the piano. Years ago it was the thing we did in the evenings, at one another’s houses, after dinner parties, that sort of thing. Oh she was lovely. She bewitched me when I was eighteen, and I never truly had eyes for anyone else. Her parents separated us. I was not ‘one of us’, as the landed gentry say. Not good enough for her. Well, it broke my heart but we carried on secretly, until she married that idiot Cowdrey.’

  ‘And you married too...’

  He nodded. ‘Yes my dear Evelyn. I—I’m afraid I treated her very shabbily. I loved her too, though not enough to say no to Cecilia. It was a different kind of love I had for Evelyn. She was so patient, so kind. She knew all along, of course. She forgave me a hundred times. The number of times I told her it was over and that I would be a faithful husband.’ He shook his head at the memory, then sighed. ‘What must you think of me, Dottie my dear? To find out that some old philandering rogue is your father. Carrying on with another woman all these years... And to have it announced to the world before anyone so much as thought of telling you. I’m so sorry, dear.’

  ‘It’s quite all right.’ Dottie meant it too. Just to know... that was enough. And if he had been weak, all too fallibly human, well, she could understand that.

  He held out a hand to her, gripping her tightly, his other hand closing over the top.

  ‘My dear young lady, my dear...’ His eyes were full of tears again. He couldn’t go on. Dottie’s lip trembled. It astonished her that she felt so emotional when she hardly knew the man. She felt a connection that she couldn’t describe.

  He got to his feet. ‘Excuse me, my dear.’

  She thought he was indicating they should return to the ball. But no, as she stood up, he enveloped her in a hug, and murmured, ‘My dearest child, I still can’t believe it. After all these years. I really am such a lucky man.’

  He stepped back to look at her. There were no words. He drew a gigantic handkerchief from his trouser pocket and blew his nose vigorously. More composed, he pulled her hand through his arm, and said, ‘Cecilia has been telling me all about you. About your fashion warehouse. It seems you have something of an entrepreneurial spirit. Perhaps you have inherited that from me. Well, well, I’d like to think so. Thank the Lord you didn’t get my nose.’ He turned to show her his profile. She saw now he did indeed have a prominent nose. He gave her a grin. She laughed.

  ‘It’s a very distinguished nose.’

  ‘Ha ha, very kind, my dear. I realise this has been a shock for you, but for myself, I’m delighted, utterly delighted.’ He beamed down at her again, his eyes still misty with emotion. ‘Dottie dear, I don’t want to take over your life. I know you have people who love you, whom you consider your parents, and that’s only to be expected. I’m so very glad you have them. I couldn’t bear to think you had been alone or unhappy. I shan’t try to come between you and your parents. But may I ask for the chance to get to know you? I come up to London from time to time on business—if you would honour me by dining with me. As the father of a beloved adopted daughter, I know how deep these relationships go. June is as dear to me as if she were my own, and I’m certain the Mandersons feel the same about you. But may I have the chance of knowing you better?’

  ‘Of course,’ Dottie said. It seemed the
only thing she could say, yet she meant it. She wanted to get to know him. If this man had been despised by Cecilia Cowdrey’s family for his low origins, she found him sincere and compassionate. He seemed like a nice man. She wanted to know him better.

  ‘Now then, perhaps we should go back to the ball, eh? Time for a few more dances before we all pack off to our beds. June promised me a waltz. And I’m afraid this revelation has been something of a shock to her, too.’

  ‘She knew something was happening,’ Dottie said. ‘She said that you seemed to have something on your mind.’

  ‘She’s a good girl, my little Junie,’ Sir Stanley said. ‘She will be thrilled with the news.’

  Dottie couldn’t help but wonder. Especially in view of what June had expected Sir Stanley to say, Dottie had a feeling that June would not receive the news with unalloyed pleasure.

  She was pleasantly surprised. June took the news far better than Dottie had expected. Leo seemed more astonished than June, though Dottie couldn’t help but feel he must have had an inkling. After all, he’d known for years that Dottie was his half-sister. Surely he must have considered who her father might be once or twice in all that time? But he invited Dottie to dance, and left Sir Stanley and June to have their waltz and to talk.

  By the time they all said goodnight—a little after three o’clock—and drove back to St Martins, Imogen still chattering nineteen to the dozen about everything, Dottie’s spirits had lifted.

  It was a New Year. No more sorrow, she thought, no more sadness. She had the answers she had come to Sussex to find. She could go back to London knowing who she was and where she had come from. Time for a new start. Time to be happy.

  But it was not Gervase’s face that came to mind with those words.

  Chapter Twelve

  Dottie was stirring in her bed when a panting young woman tapped on the door and came in with the breakfast tray.

  ‘I hope you don’t mind miss, but if you could wait a little bit for your bath? ’Cos I’ve been told to tell you there’s no ’ot water. Cook’s had the devil’s own job to get the stove going this morning. We’ve been boiling kettles for over an hour. If you can hold on another half an hour, I don’t doubt it’ll be fixed by then, or so Cook says. Oh, and the missus sent word for everyone to have breakfast in bed as it’s still jolly chilly in the morning room and the dining room, and besides which, I doubt no one will want to get up too early after having a late night last night.’

  Belatedly the maid remembered a quick bob.

  Dottie sat up in bed. ‘Happy New Year,’ she said to the maid. ‘I’d love a cup of tea. I don’t think I want anything to eat just yet. And I definitely don’t want a bath, it’s freezing this morning!’

  ‘Happy New Year to you too miss. Yes, miss, there’s the heaviest frost you ever saw. Just like snow it is. And that don’t bode well for the New Year, do it? Shall I make up your fire? It’ll only take me a jiffy.’ As she did this, she set the tray down on the bedside table and went across to open the curtains. A grey sky appeared through a window rimed with frost.

  ‘Thank you, er—I don’t know your name?’

  ‘I’m Norma, miss. Norma Maxted.’ Norma moved across to the fireplace and began to get things started.

  ‘Norma. Thank you. What happened to Win who was here yesterday and the day before?’

  ‘Oh miss, she’s been let go.’ Norma turned big eyes on Dottie. Dottie was surprised.

  ‘Let go? You mean she’s been sacked?

  Norma nodded. ‘Right after breakfast yesterday. And begging your pardon miss, I shall too if I don’t crack on.’

  ‘Oh of course Norma, don’t let me keep you. Look, while you’re here, I suppose you haven’t seen some items I’m missing. I know it’s not very likely.’ Dottie described the missing design sheets. Norma’s eyes were round with interest until it seemed to dawn on her that Dottie might suspect her of theft.

  ‘I never saw them,’ she said stoutly, ‘Nor have I been in this room before, apart from when I helped Win get it ready for you, before you got here. I never touched them, miss, I swear on my grandma’s life.’

  ‘I’m sure you didn’t, Norma. I just wondered if anyone had said anything about finding them and not knowing what they were.’ Dottie was anxious that Norma didn’t feel accused. ‘I know this sounds a bit silly, but you haven’t seen anyone waiting in my room, have you. They might have looked as though they were waiting to talk to me.’

  Norma shook her head. Dottie thought it was curious that the other maid had been ‘let go’. She wondered if there had been a reason for that. She’d seemed a pleasant, competent young woman from the little Dottie had seen of her.

  It was just one more item to add to the list of things that didn’t seem to quite make sense.

  Dottie drank her tea, then washed in cold water, dressed and went downstairs. She decided she would be calm and philosophical about the designs. It was quite likely that when she got back to London and discussed things with the seamstresses, they would be able to replace most of the designs quite quickly. If some special detail or other was missing, well, she would just have to put it down to experience and remember in future to always have the designs copied. Or perhaps, she thought with a laugh, she could hire someone from Scotland Yard to guard them for her. A mental image of William Hardy in his shirt sleeves came to mind.

  She had an odd sense of deja-vu when she entered the drawing room, warmer than the morning room that morning. Everyone was there and sitting in the same places as the previous day. Did they always sit in the same places? They all looked up as she came into the room, and there was a definite tension. Was it to do with Sir Stanley’s announcement, she wondered?

  Her aunt spoke straight away. ‘Dorothy, I’ve spoken to the servants about your pictures. It took a while to get them to understand to what I was referring, but then they all—practically as one—told me they’d seen Win with them. I’m sorry, but it seems that Win mistook your pictures for scrap paper and—well, dear, I’m afraid she put them in the furnace. It’s a nuisance, I know, but hopefully you’ll be able to get them all done again. In the meantime, even though it was a pure mishap, I’ve given Win her week’s pay and sent her packing. I can’t have servants in my house making mistakes of that kind. So there it is, Dorothy, unfortunate, but at last the case is closed, so to speak. I thought you’d like to know.’

  Dottie didn’t believe her aunt for a moment, and not just because her aunt had called her ‘dear’. But she simply nodded gravely and said, ‘What a nuisance. Thank you for letting me know.’

  Cecilia seemed satisfied by that, and she was clearly relieved that Dottie had taken it so well. The conversation became general and light, no one mentioned the ball at all, and Dottie only listened with half an ear until Imogen came to sit beside her and ask her about the hair rinse she had been thinking of using. Did Dottie think June was right and that men would think she was ‘fast’ if she used one?

  Leo and June came to lunch as usual. Dottie wondered if the families ever socialised with anyone else. They seemed to live so much in each other’s pockets. After lunch, the younger generation all went for the usual walk in the grounds. The days seemed to blur into one another, she thought, each day’s activity the mirror of the one before.

  Dottie wondered if she should try and speak to June in private, or even with Leo, or anyone else there too. There had been so far no mention of the ball, Sir Stanley’s announcement or the new shift in their relationship. She felt uncomfortable about it and wondered that June could act completely as normal.

  They set off down the sloping lawn to look at the lake. Here and there geese dotted the grass, their heads tucked under their wings. Imogen was careful to give the geese a very wide berth.

  ‘They won’t hurt you, Imogen, don’t be such a baby,’ June said, pulling her scarf closer about her neck. ‘How cold it’s suddenly turned today! It’s been so mild until now. I’d hoped the mild weather would continue a little longer. I do so hat
e the winter, don’t you, Dottie?’

  ‘Actually, I quite like it,’ Dottie said. ‘I love to put on my warm jumpers and coats, and wrap up to go outside. I do hope we get a really good fall of snow this winter. Last year it went into mush almost straight away.’

  ‘What a child you are, Dottie. Snow!’ June said with a giggle, taking the spite out of her words.

  ‘Snow is the very worst kind of weather,’ Leo pronounced.

  Dottie privately thought he acted as though he was at least twenty years older than he really was. Only an old fuddy-duddy would complain about snow in winter.

  ‘Oh, but it’s so pretty when it covers all the trees and fields!’ June protested. ‘Not that I like to go out in it. I like to look at the snowy scene from indoors.’

  ‘Leo and I used to have fun on our toboggan. Then we had snowball fights too, before he got so old and pompous,’ Guy said, grinning at her. Dottie thought it was nice to see him sober.

  ‘Oh, that’s so dangerous,’ June scolded. Guy was not swayed.

  ‘Nonsense. Healthy outdoor fun. A bit of rough and tumbling never hurt anyone.’

  ‘Leo fell and broke his arm two years ago, so it can be quite dangerous really, Guy.’

  Guy, his collar turned up against the weather, turned to grin at Dottie. He rolled his eyes. ‘Should make him take more water with it.’ His breath frosted the air in front of his face.

  It was all said good-naturedly. For once the spiteful sniping seemed to have stopped.

  ‘That’s why these trees have so many red berries this year. It’s nature’s way, to provide food for the animal kingdom when the weather worsens. So it’s a portent, warning of harsh weather to come.’

  ‘Now that’s just rubbish, Leo,’ Imogen said with some scorn. ‘The proliferation of berries is due to the mild spring weather and a good pollination of the flowers. That’s what causes a good crop of berries. It’s not some dire omen by mother nature predicting the approach of disaster!’

  Pleased that Imogen had stood up to him for once, Dottie noted that Leo seemed irritated by his sister’s contradiction, and not for the first time she realised that he really liked to be seen to be the wiser, older brother, the authoritative one. But he said nothing, though his lips set in a firm straight line, rather like his mother’s did when she was offended, and he turned back to look down at the path.