A Liverpool Legacy (30 page)

By then Valerie was talking to James, so Millie said, ‘There’s no need for you to wait outside in the cold, stay here and join in.’

‘Thank you, madam,’ he said. ‘I don’t think Mr Maynard will want to stay very long.’

Later, when Millie gave James a glass of whisky, he said, ‘I came to congratulate you on producing growing profits from the business. You’ve done very well.’

‘Thank you.’ She was pleased that he, too, wanted to put their earlier conflicts behind them. ‘How is Nigel?’

‘He says all is well, but I don’t know whether he’s settling in his new job.’

Uncle James stayed only for half an hour and it saddened Millie that the other side of the family was not as happy as hers.

Chapter Thirty-Two

At Christmas, Dan Quentin’s designs for the seasonal trade proved to be outstanding and gave them their most profitable Christmas ever. Millie enjoyed another family-orientated Christmas and a very jolly New Year’s Eve.

They were all back at work again and she was decanting perfumes in the lab when Valerie rang her. She was surprised, as the family didn’t usually contact her during working hours.

‘Millie,’ she said, ‘I’ve just had a phone call from Nigel. He says his father had a stroke the night before last and died in hospital. He said—’

‘Good gracious! What a shock, but he did look ill the last time we saw him. Did Nigel phone you? Is he back home?’

‘No, he phoned long distance, radio telephone. He’s still in Calcutta. He’s coming home for the funeral so that won’t be until January the twelfth. Nigel hopes to get here by the eleventh and wants me to liaise with the vicar about the arrangements for the funeral service.’

‘Are you all right with that?’

‘Yes, yes of course, just surprised he didn’t ask you to do it.’

Millie was too. James might have forgiven her but clearly Nigel hadn’t. ‘He hasn’t recovered from working with me, we didn’t always see eye to eye,’ she said.

‘The funeral refreshments are to be held in his house, Dando will take care of all that.’

‘What else did he say?’

‘Well, it seems he and Clarissa aren’t planning to return to Calcutta after the funeral. He’ll be in touch when he gets home.’

‘Thanks, Val, for letting me know.’

Millie sat back to muse on this latest twist of fate. She’d always thought James had played up his ill health to avoid doing his share of the work, but perhaps she’d misjudged him. Perhaps she hadn’t appreciated how ill he was. He’d certainly died young. It dismayed her that Nigel hadn’t managed to settle in his new job in Calcutta. Clarissa had been looking forward to returning to India.

Millie asked all her family to accompany her to the funeral, as she expected nobody else apart from Nigel and Clarissa to be there. But on the day, she was surprised to see a large number of elderly gentlemen in the church.

‘They’re Pa’s friends,’ Nigel told her. ‘He had a wide circle of friends and acquaintances, knew almost everybody in Mossley Hill. He went to a club every evening. Millie, I’d like to talk to you about the business.’

‘Of course, but you won’t want to do that today surely?’

‘Tomorrow then. There’s something I’d like to settle.’ His manner was brisk. ‘I’ll come to the office, shall I? After lunch, about two o’clock. Is that all right for you?’

Later that afternoon, when they were back in the office, Andrew said, ‘Nigel isn’t wasting much time. He expects to inherit the other half of this company from his father and I bet he wants you to buy it from him.’

‘That’s the first thing I thought of,’ Millie said. ‘Quite a turnaround for him if we’re right. Would it be a good thing for me to buy it?’

‘Yes, a very good thing, because then you’ll own it all. It’ll give you a free hand and be up to you how it is managed. Well,’ he paused to think, ‘it’ll be a good thing as long as you don’t pay over the odds.’

‘Perhaps you should start figuring out what would be a reasonable price to pay.’

‘Nigel will probably employ a firm of accountants to do the same thing. You’d better be prepared to negotiate hard.’

‘Yes, I’ll need your help with that. But it isn’t his yet.’

‘No, you’re right, first he’ll have to have it valued for probate and that usually means a conservative figure.’ Andrew’s green eyes smiled into hers. ‘This isn’t the best time for him to sell. He should hang on to it for a year or so.’

‘Perhaps he wants the money, though he’ll have Uncle James’s house to sell too.’ Millie frowned. ‘D’you know, I had no idea Uncle James had a social life and all those friends. Really, I hardly knew him.’

By lunchtime Andrew had given her two figures. ‘If you can get it for the lower one, you’ll be doing reasonably well.’

‘Will it be fair to him?’

‘It’ll be fair to both of you. But before you settle on a figure, you need to know what it was valued at for probate. Be sure to ask him for that. And whatever figure you eventually settle on, get him to agree that you pay him half now and the other half in a year’s time. On no account agree to pay more than the higher figure.’

‘Can I buy this out of company funds?’

‘Half the company funds belonged to James, and you’ll have to pay them over to Nigel if you buy. The other half belongs to you and you can use the money in any way you want.’

‘Aren’t I lucky to have someone as canny with accounting as you are?’

She was waiting for Nigel at two o’clock and had arranged that Geraldine would make them some tea. He didn’t look well and less than confident when he arrived. There was no sign of his previous bombastic manner.

She was sympathetic. One way and another, Nigel had had a hard time of it. ‘Terrible thing to have to rush home to bury your father,’ she said. ‘I gather you didn’t manage to settle in Calcutta.’

‘No, the political situation in India has changed completely.’

‘I’m sorry, that must be unsettling.’

‘Very. Now they have self-government, the top jobs are not being reserved for Europeans and they’re all leaving. Even Clarissa’s father is retiring early so I gave in my notice too.’

‘How is Clarissa?’ Millie asked.

‘Well, upset at the way things have turned out. We’d like to get settled somewhere more peaceful before we start our family.’

‘Do you have somewhere in mind?’

‘Yes, that’s why I’ve come to talk to you. I wanted to ask if you’ll buy Father’s half share of this business once it’s mine.’

Millie sucked her lip. ‘In theory,’ she said, ‘I’ll be happy to buy it, but we can’t make any concrete arrangements now. It’ll have to be valued for probate and I’ll need to know that figure before we can agree on a price.’

‘Yes,’ Nigel sighed, ‘it will all take time, but I need to know where I’m heading. You see, Clarissa’s brother owns a business making shoes in Northampton but it’s in need of more capital. He’s happy to take me in as a partner but I’ll have to invest money in the company.’

‘I see.’

‘Clarissa’s family think that my experience working here will be a great help to them.’

Millie doubted that; as she saw it, Nigel was unlikely to find a job that really suited him and settle down. But she took the opportunity to outline Andrew’s other conditions and confirmed that she would buy if the price was right.

‘There’s another thing, Millie. I discovered from Pa’s will that he owned half of Hafod and that will be mine too. Would you be prepared to buy that from me as well?’

‘I was half expecting that,’ Millie said. ‘Won’t you be interested in keeping it? It’s a good place for weekends and holidays, especially for children.’

‘No, I don’t think Clarissa and I are interested in holidays like that.’

‘It needs to stay in the family, of course,’ Millie said. ‘When it’s been valued, let me know. If it costs too much for me I think Helen and Eric might be interested.’

The even tenor of Millie’s life was resumed. In the months that followed, they spent many weekends and holidays at Hafod. Val and Roger had the boat checked over and repainted, and she and Sylvie had been out in it again, but neither really enjoyed it in the way they once had.

Helen’s baby was thriving. Sylvie had always been particularly close to Helen and she was often round at her house helping with the children. Millie, too, made a point of seeing Jenny and baby Peter every weekend. His first birthday came and Helen and Eric had a little celebration with the older members of the family.

It was also the second anniversary of Pete’s accident. Valerie spoke of him, remembering some of the good times she’d spent with him, and Helen, Sylvie and the boys joined in. Millie remembered him with love and gratitude and felt that the passage of time had eased the pain and anguish for all of them.

Several more months passed before James’s will was settled and Nigel was able to sell to Millie. He and Clarissa had gone down to Northampton so that he could start work at the shoe factory and learn the ropes. He wrote to tell her that the half share of William C. Maynard and Sons had been valued at a little less than Andrew’s lower figure, and he offered it to Millie at the probate value.

‘Jump at it,’ Andrew said. ‘It’s something you’ll never regret buying.’

‘Would it be doing him down?’ She was frowning. ‘You said it was worth more.’

‘Millie! Don’t tell me you feel sorry for him after what he did to you?’

‘A bit. I can’t see him being a roaring success in the shoe industry. I’d be willing to pay him your lower figure,’ she said, ‘if you’re sure I’d not be paying too much.’

Andrew smiled. ‘That price is fair to you both.’

Nigel came up to Merseyside to tie everything up, and called in the office. ‘How are you finding Northampton?’ Millie asked.

‘It’s not all that easy,’ he admitted. ‘I have so much to learn and we’re still living in cramped conditions. But I have a buyer for Pa’s house, so we’ll be able to get something better now. And once I’m a partner, we’ll have a little more income. Things will improve.’

‘I hope they do,’ she said. ‘Andrew has worked out that this is a fair price to pay for your half share.’ She pushed some papers across her desk to him.

Nigel smiled. ‘That’s very kind of you. Pa said you were doing well here.’

‘Yes,’ she said, ‘we all work very hard. Helen tells me you and Eric have agreed a price for your half share of Hafod.’

‘Yes, he drives a harder bargain than you.’

Millie had been getting more help from Andrew since Nigel had ceased to be employed, and though they were coping, the business was growing and she knew before long she would have to have more help. At home in bed, Millie had considered advertising for an executive manager to run the company, but after her experience with Nigel she knew finding the right man would not be easy.

Recently, she’d been feeling closer to Andrew and thinking more and more about him. He had attractive dark green eyes that frequently showed his concern for her, and a quirky smile that lit up his face. She’d always valued his companionship and when he’d been away on holiday during her dark hours of need, she’d really missed him. It made her realise just how much she relied on him for advice and support, but it took almost another year of quiet routine to see that he had also woken her from the trance she’d been in since Pete’s accident. She knew now that it was love she felt for Andrew, and she wanted much more of his company.

It took Millie a long time to make up her mind about how best to run the business, but she’d finally decided the way that would bring her most satisfaction would be to find another accountant to take over some of Andrew’s work so that he could do more on the management side. She didn’t doubt he would be capable. She knew he’d fit in well with the other managers, they’d all taken to him, but she didn’t know whether he’d want to spend less time on accounting and take on wider responsibilities.

Somehow their relationship had always had an awkward edge to it. For a long time, Andrew had seemed to be reaching out to her, wanting more than friendship, and she was beginning to think she’d been a fool to push him away when he’d tried to kiss her.

Pete would be the first to say, ‘It’s no good hankering after me, I’m history now. It’s time you got on with life. I want you to enjoy it. If you feel you’ll be happy with Andrew, tell him so and go for it.’

Perhaps she was dreaming of a rosy future for them, happily married and working together to make the business a real success. Perhaps she’d left it too late for them to get together, perhaps she’d pushed him away once too often and he no longer wanted that. Perhaps he wouldn’t want to take on management duties. His ideas about the future could be very different from hers, but she knew there was only one way to find out. If she wanted things settled, she would have to ask him. She would have to lay all her cards on the table and openly discuss all her ideas with him.

The next morning, as soon as she’d made sure that all was under control in the lab, she went along to Andrew’s office. It was easy enough to talk about the business side and ask if he wanted to help her run the company. Business was what they usually talked about in his office. She started to outline her plans.

His dark eyes beamed at her. ‘You’re offering me a wonderful opportunity,’ he said, ‘and I’m thrilled you want me to help you. You and I work well together. It’s a splendid idea.’

They spent all that day and most of the next getting an advertisement into several newspapers for a young qualified accountant to take on some of Andrew’s work, and deciding how the duties and responsibilities of the business should be divided up between them. Millie shared his enthusiasm, excitement sparked between them and when his hand happened to brush against hers, she thought they both felt the thrill. She hoped he’d speak of it. She was certain now that it was love she felt for him, she wanted more, but hesitated before taking the last step.

It was only when they’d drafted everything out on paper and given it to Sylvie to type that their excitement calmed down. Millie regretted that she’d given no indication of what she felt for him, said nothing about love or marriage, so that part of her plan was still up in the air.

What she’d intended to do was propose marriage to a man who had said nothing about his feelings for her. It was a subject they’d never discussed and she was finding it difficult now. The very thought made her nervous because she was afraid she might have read signs she thought she’d seen all wrong. She went home and worried about it all night, but she knew if that was what she wanted, she’d have to propose to him.

Sylvie and Geraldine were in high spirits, looking for-ward to seeing Denis again. Millie decided his visit would provide an opportunity to have a private talk with Andrew. She would invite him to have supper with her at home. Sylvie would be tied up with Denis and though the boys would be there, when she sent them off to do their homework she could rely on them doing exactly that.