Foxden Hotel (The Dudley Sisters Saga Book 5)

by Madalyn Morgan

  Bess trusted Maeve and would tell her on Monday when she returned to work. To Frank she said, ‘Ena has brought her friend from New Year’s Eve to see us.’

  ‘Good. The removal must have gone to plan.’ Frank took hold of Nancy’s hand. ‘Let’s get some tea and biscuits, shall we?’

  Jack, professional and discreet, was busy writing something in the reservations diary. ‘Can you manage on your own if I take a break, Jack?’

  ‘Yes, Mrs Donnelly.’

  With the hotel having been full during the half-term break, Jack had been busy most of the morning with guests paying and departing. Because the children were back at school on Monday, the majority of the guests had left soon after breakfast. Bess looked at the clock on the wall above reception. It was ten-forty-five. ‘I’ll be back at eleven.’

  Bess turned to remind Jack to take messages, but he beat her to it saying, with a twinkle in his eye, ‘Messages?’ Bess laughed. She was still laughing when she entered the dining room.

  ‘Chef has made me a cake,’ Nancy said, smiling broadly, ‘Do you want some?’

  ‘Yes, please,’ Bess said, and held her breath while Nancy cut through a sponge cake, with a cake knife. Trying to work out which way the cake would wobble off the knife if it fell, Bess lifted her plate. She needn’t have worried. Meeting the plate half-way, Nancy turned the wide blade of the knife upside down and the cake tumbled onto Bess’s plate.

  Waving his hands in the air, the chef came into the dining room. ‘Did you like the cake Chef made for you, little one?’

  ‘Yes, thank you. Will you look after the rest, so I can give Aunt Maeve some when she comes for me?’

  ‘But of course.’ With a flamboyant swoop, he picked up the cake-stand and flounced out of the dining room.

  Frank laughed and Bess shook her head. ‘I need to go on reception now, Nancy, so Jack can have a break. When he comes back is there anything you’d like to do before lunch?’

  Pulling a thoughtful face, Nancy put her finger to her chin and looked up at the ceiling. ‘Say goodbye to Grandma Dudley.’

  Bess felt a lump in her throat that she knew wouldn’t clear by coughing. ‘All right. We’ll walk down. I shall need the exercise, if I eat all this cake,’ she said, picking up her plate. She knew she wouldn’t be able to eat it, but said, ‘Thank you, Nancy, I’ll take it with me. See you two later,’ she called over her shoulder as she left.

  At reception, Bess said goodbye to a middle-aged couple who had paid their bill, but were in no hurry to leave. Thanking them, she said, ‘I hope you’ve enjoyed your stay?’

  ‘Everything was perfect; the room, the food - and the staff,’ the man said, ‘couldn’t do enough for us, could they, dear?’

  ‘No,’ his wife agreed. ‘And the view of the lake from the window in our room,’ she swooned, ‘with the ducks and drakes... That’s what I loved best. It was spectacular.’

  ‘We’re city folk you see. Staying in a real country house like this, with its history and charm was a real treat. We shall recommend the hotel to our friends.’

  ‘See you next year,’ his wife called, as they were leaving.

  While Jack was on his break, Ena came down. ‘Katherine’s asleep, so I thought I’d chance it and get a cup of tea.’

  ‘You look as if you could do with a sleep,’ Bess said, noticing the dark shadows under her sister’s eyes.

  ‘We had to pull an all-nighter last night. The operation was co-ordinated to take place at two in the morning. But it took hours to search every room in every fascist’s home, as well as their places of work and the safe houses. Hopefully every building that is owned or rented by the British fascist movement has been searched by now. A lot of youngsters like Katherine will have had their worlds turned upside down and will be left wondering what has happened to their fathers - their mothers too, in some cases.’

  ‘At least this Katherine is safe.’

  ‘For the time being,’ Ena said, her expression one of worry.

  ‘The poor girl looked scared to death earlier. What if she wakes and you’re not there? Won’t she be frightened?’

  ‘She won’t wake up for a while.’

  ‘How can you be sure?’

  ‘She said she hadn’t slept properly for weeks, so I gave her a light sedative.’ Bess’s mouth fell open. ‘Don’t look so shocked, it was only a mild one. It’ll calm her down and help her to relax, so she can get some sleep.’

  Bess put up her hand. ‘I don’t want to know any more.’

  ‘It’s for her own good. She’ll be fine.’

  ‘She’ll be fine once she’s reunited with her mother.’

  ‘Hopefully.’

  ‘She will be reunited with her mother, won’t she?’

  ‘Yes, eventually, but there’s a lot to do before we bring her mother down.’ Bess tutted. ‘It’s important that we find out how much, if anything, Katherine knows about her father’s business - and I don’t mean where he worked, I mean how he got his money.’

  ‘And that’s your job, is it?’ Bess asked, a mixture of annoyance and apprehension in her voice.

  ‘Part of my job, yes. But my main job is to keep Katherine Hawksley safe. Not for MI5 or Special Branch, but from her father’s fascist associates. We’re hoping they were all caught last night, but if any of them have slipped through the net they might think Katherine, being the head of the organisation’s daughter, knows their names and roles in the fascist movement. They’d be wrong. Apart from the names of a few men who passed through Kirby Marlow last year bound for South America - and David Sutherland - she doesn’t know the names of anyone involved in the organisation. The problem is, they don’t know that. It’s Hawksley’s people who are a threat to Katherine, not us.’

  ‘I see,’ Bess said lamely, although she wasn’t sure she did see.

  ‘Anyway,’ Ena said, ‘how are you feeling? It’s today that Maeve comes back, isn’t it?’

  ‘Yes, she’ll be here around four. Then Nancy will go back to the Vicarage in Kirby Marlow.’ Bess gave a sad smile. ‘I’ve just asked her what she’d like to do before lunch and she said, say goodbye to Grandma Dudley. She’s quite taken with our Mam.’

  ‘And Mam’s taken with her. We all are. And, here she is,’ Ena sang, as Nancy and Frank appeared from the direction of the dining room. ‘If you’re going down to Mam’s, I’ll take the newspaper and a pot of tea up to the room. I’m so tired, I might even try to have a sleep. Bye-bye, Nancy,’ Ena said, and made her way to the kitchen.

  Bess got their coats from the office, helped Nancy into hers and put her own on. ‘Jack shouldn’t be long,’ she said to Frank, who was already in position behind the reception desk. ‘We’ll see you later.’

  ‘Say hello to Grandma Dudley for me,’ Frank called, as Bess and Nancy got to the door. Nancy turned and waved, and then slipped her hand into Bess’s.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

  Nancy jumped down each of the circular steps and, on the last, let go of Bess’s hand and skipped down the drive until she came to the small wood that was once part of Foxden’s parkland. ‘Stay on the path, Nancy,’ Bess called.

  Catching up with her, Bess saw concern in Nancy’s eyes. Standing very still she was staring into the wood at the gnarled roots of a giant oak tree. Bess knelt down beside her. ‘There’s nothing to be frightened of, sweetheart. The wood is quite safe. My sisters and I used to play in there when we were your age. We often saw rabbits and squirrels, or fox cubs. When I grew up I used to come here when I wanted to be on my own.’ Bess laughed. ‘When I wanted to get away from my chattering younger sisters. It was so quiet and peaceful,’ Bess sighed. ‘And in the summer when it was really hot, I used to walk my horse through the wood. Because of the trees it was shaded and cool. Then I’d ride her at a trot across the fields to the river.’

  ‘What was your horse’s name?’

  ‘Sable.’ Nancy wrinkled her nose, making Bess laugh. ‘She was called Sable because her lovely warm, dark brown, coat w
as the colour of sable.’

  ‘Where is she now?’

  Bess hadn’t reckoned on that question and didn’t want to tell Nancy that Sable had died, in case it reminded her that her mother was dead. ‘I’ll tell you more about Sable another day,’ Bess said, walking on to her mother’s cottage.

  Opening the gate, Nancy ran up the path to the front door ahead of Bess and knocked, unanswered questions about Sable forgotten for the time being.

  ‘Well if it isn’t our Bess. Come in, love.’ Lily Dudley, pretending she hadn’t seen Nancy until she entered the front hall, put her hands up to her cheeks. ‘And our Nancy!’ she exclaimed. ‘Well this is a nice surprise.’ Nancy, giggling, skipped down the passage at Lily Dudley’s side.

  ‘Who’s for milk and cake?’

  ‘Me!’ Nancy shouted, running into the kitchen.

  Bess was about to remind Nancy that she had just been eating cake, but seeing the fun Nancy was having with her mother, said, ‘Please?’

  ‘Please,’ Nancy repeated, standing next to the cupboard where she knew Bess’s mother kept the cake tin.

  ‘That’s better. We don’t want your aunt to think you’ve forgotten your manners while you’ve been staying with Uncle Frank and me, do we?’

  Nancy shook her head. ‘Thank you,’ she said, to the glass of milk Bess’s mother poured for her. Then, clapping her hands, she beamed a broad smile as Lily Dudley put a plate with an iced fairy cake in front of her.

  ‘Tuck in, love.’ Then, turning her attention to the stove, she switched off the gas beneath the boiling kettle and made a pot of tea.

  When she had finished her milk and cake, Nancy slid off her chair, stood in front of Bess and lifted her chin. ‘All clean,’ Bess said, after wiping the milk-moustache from Nancy’s top lip with a clean handkerchief.

  ‘Can I play with Grandpa’s pipes?’ Nancy asked.

  Bess was about to say no, in case you break them, when her mother said, ‘Of course you can, sweetheart, you know where they are. But before you go.’ Lily took a glass jar from the cupboard, took off the lid and offered it to Nancy. With a cheeky grin, Nancy chose a toffee, thanked Bess’s mum, and skipped out of the room.

  Bess raised her eyebrows.

  ‘What?’

  ‘You,’ Bess said, ‘you spoil her.’

  ‘And why not? I can’t spoil Aimee, she lives too far away, and it’ll be years till Margot’s baby is old enough to spoil. Anyway, why shouldn’t the poor child have a treat now and again?’

  ‘She isn’t poor, Mother. And her aunt Maeve, and Mrs Sykes who they lodge with, give her plenty of treats.’

  ‘That’s as may be, but a child without a mother…’ Lily tutted and shook her head.

  For the next hour, Bess and her mother chatted about the hotel; how nice it was that Ena was at Foxden, but how worrying that Claire was in Canada. They talked about Margot and Natalie - the beautiful new edition to the Dudley family - and they talked about Nancy.

  Lily got up and cleared the table putting the tea things in the sink with a clatter. Turning back to Bess, she said, ‘You’ll miss her when she goes back to Kirby.’

  ‘I know. Frank will too. He was worried that I’d get too attached to her, and wouldn’t want to give her back when Maeve returned, but I think he’s become more attached to her than I have. I suppose it’s because she follows him about all the time.’ Bess shook her head. ‘Those bloomin’ animals,’ she said, laughing, ‘I don’t know who’s the daftest with them, Nancy or Frank.’

  Bess looked at her wristwatch. ‘We’d better get back.’ Standing up, she opened the kitchen door. ‘Nancy? Time to go.’

  ‘Have you put Grandpa’s pipes back in the right order?’ Lily asked when Nancy appeared in the kitchen.

  ‘Yes,’ she said, pushing her arms down the sleeves of her coat, which Bess was holding for her. As Bess knelt in front of her to button up the coat, Nancy said, ‘The smallest first and the biggest last.’

  ‘That’s almost right.’ Lily laughed. ‘I shall leave them in that order until the next time you come to see me.’

  Bess put on her own coat. ‘Ready?’

  Nancy nodded. ‘Goodbye, Grandma,’ she said, looking up at Bess’s mother with big eyes.

  ‘Goodbye, love. Promise you’ll come and see me the next time you visit Auntie Bess at the hotel?’

  ‘I promise,’ Nancy said.

  At the gate, Nancy stopped and looked back at the cottage. Bess’s mother was at the front room window waving. When Nancy waved back, Bess saw the same unhappy look in Nancy’s eyes that she had seen on the night the little girl looked at the photograph of her mother, Goldie. ‘Goodbye, Grandma.’ she called, her small chin jutting out and her mouth downturned.

  Nancy walked back to the hotel in a sombre mood, but the minute she stepped inside that changed. ‘Aunt Maeve!’ she shouted, dropping Bess’s hand and racing across the hall to where her aunt was talking to Jack at reception.

  Maeve fell to her knees and hugged her niece. She was early. Bess swallowed her disappointment and walked over to the desk smiling. ‘Welcome back,’ she said. ‘Did you have a good journey?’

  ‘I shouldn’t complain, but the Irish Sea was choppy and the boat was crowded with noisy children going home after their holiday. I’m glad to be back on terra-firma - and,’ she said, holding Nancy at arm’s length, ‘I’m really glad to see you.’

  Bess was about to ask Maeve how her mother was, but decided to wait until Monday, when she came back to work. ‘Would you like some lunch? We haven’t had ours yet. I thought we had more time, but you’re early,’ Bess said, almost accusingly. ‘I mean not that it matters.’ It did matter, but only to Bess. She turned to Nancy, ‘I know you’ve had cake and a toffee, so you’re probably not very hungry, but I think you should have some proper food inside you before you go.’ The little girl looked up at her aunt, waiting to see what she said.

  With raised eyebrows Maeve nodded and Nancy nodded too. ‘Good. Go through to the dining room and I’ll get Frank.’

  Bess took a deep breath and put on a smile. ‘Coming for lunch?’ she asked, entering the office.

  ‘Yes, I’m starving.’ Frank put down the papers he’d been working on and, crossing the room, met Bess in the middle. ‘You’ve got to be strong,’ he said, looking into her eyes. ‘You knew this day would come and she would go back to Maeve.’

  ‘I know. And it isn’t as if we won’t see her again. I mean she’s only a few miles down the road. There’ll be no stopping her coming over when Aimee gets back.’

  ‘That’s right.’ Frank opened the door and stood to the side to allow Bess to leave first. ‘We’ll be in the dining room if anyone wants us,’ Frank said, as they passed Jack. Bess’s usual reminder to take messages and telephone numbers went unsaid. Today she had other things on her mind.

  Bess had no appetite, but made the effort with a bowl of soup and a bread roll. When she had finished eating she remembered that, because Maeve was early, Jack hadn’t had his lunch. ‘I’ll be on reception,’ she said, leaving the table. ‘With one thing and another, Jack hasn’t had a break since this morning.’ Frank stood up at the same time. ‘You stay and finish your lunch, darling. Keep Maeve and Nancy company. See you before you go, sweetheart,’ she said to Nancy. And, putting on a smile, Bess hurried out of the dining room before the sadness she felt in her heart manifested in tears.

  Soon after taking over from Jack, Bess saw Frank, Maeve and Nancy coming out of the dining room. ‘I’ll go up and get little one’s case,’ Frank said, leaving them at reception and heading towards the staff stairs.

  Bess watched as Maeve held Nancy’s coat for her to put on. She then bent down and buttoned the coat up, straightened the left side of the collar so it was level with the right side. ‘There,’ she said, standing.

  Frank was soon back with Nancy’s case. He gave it to Maeve. ‘Would you like me to drive you to Kirby Marlow?’

  ‘No, thank you. I borrowed Reverend Sykes’ car.
’ Maeve turned and looked at Bess, Bess looked at her, and they both looked at Nancy. ‘Well, I suppose we’d better go and let Aunt Bess and Uncle Frank get back to work,’ Maeve said. ‘So, what do you say, Nancy?’

  The little girl looked up at Bess. ‘Thank you for having me.’

  ‘It’s been a pleasure.’ Bess bent down and kissed Nancy’s cheek. ‘We’ve loved having you. Haven’t we Frank?’

  ‘We certainly have. Thank you for all the help you gave me, feeding the animals and collecting the eggs. I don’t know what I’d have done without you.’

  A bit of an exaggeration, but a lovely thing to say, Bess thought.

  Nancy ran to Frank and stood on tiptoe with her arms outstretched. Frank crouched down until his face was level with hers and she threw her arms around his neck. ‘Bye-bye, sweetheart.’ Nancy leaned in closer to Frank and hung on to him. ‘Come and see us anytime you like,’ Frank whispered. ‘We’ll always be here.’ He looked over the little girl’s head and Bess saw tears in his eyes.

  Still clinging to him, her head buried in his chest, Nancy mumbled, ‘Look after the chickens, Uncle Frank.’

  Frank laughed and cuffed away a tear, ‘I will.’

  As the small party walked to the door, the telephone on the reception desk began to ring. Bess turned immediately. ‘I’ll get it,’ she said, relieved that she didn’t have to watch Nancy leave. ‘See you soon, Nancy,’ she called after the little girl, blowing her a kiss.

  Bess clenched her fists, took a deep breath to stem her tears, and picked up the telephone. ‘Foxden Hotel. May I help you?’ It was a booking for two, arriving on Monday and staying for five days. When she replaced the receiver on its cradle, Bess gripped the edge of the desk and took another breath. She felt no calmer.

  ‘Well!’ Frank said, striding across the hall to her. ‘Saying goodbye to little Nancy was harder than I thought it would be.’

  ‘I was pleased when the telephone rang, to be honest.’

  ‘That’s why I didn’t offer to answer it. Hey?’ Frank said, putting his arms round Bess. ‘Why don’t you go into the office and make yourself a drink? Better still, make two, and add a drop of brandy to each of them.’