Every Mother's Son (41 page)

But as he drove away, he thought she seemed rather preoccupied. Knowing her so well, he wondered what exactly she had on her mind – and why, he wondered, was she coming from the back of the house?

On the day the visitors were due, snow began to fall and Daniel whispered to Dolly to build up all the fires; she had arrived unexpectedly, cheerfully claiming that she had felt unwell and Mrs Topham had said she must come home immediately.

At midday they ate a meal of thick soup and fresh bread and then Maria insisted on cooking a ham and chicken pie and told her mother that she might as well make two seeing as there were two chickens in the larder and the oven was hot; and as the apples in the store room needed using up she would make an apple crumble as well. ‘We can eat one pie tonight and save ’other one for tomorrow,’ she said.

‘There’s enough here for an army,’ Harriet objected, and Fletcher, who was also in on the secret, said that he thought there were enough of them to make their own army anyway and that he for one was ravenous.

Tom popped his head round the door. ‘Shall I go and fetch Rosie?’ he said. ‘Snow’s coming down fast. Better today than tomorrow.’

‘Yes, all right,’ Harriet agreed. ‘Seeing as we’re going to have plenty of food. Maria’s preparing for a siege by ’look of it.’

‘Aye.’ Tom winked at Maria. ‘Best to be prepared. Winter’s setting in.’

Just after three o’clock, before the sky darkened, Daniel came in and slipped upstairs to his room. When he came down he’d brushed his hair and changed into a warm coat, not his working one. ‘Just popping out, Ma,’ he said. ‘Won’t be long.’

Harriet stood with her arms akimbo. ‘What’s going on?’ she said suspiciously, for as Daniel disappeared in one direction, Lenny dashed in, in the other and ran upstairs, he too reappearing in another coat and cap before going out in Daniel’s wake.

‘Don’t know,’ Maria said vaguely. ‘Why don’t you put your feet up, Ma, and I’ll mek you a cup of tea.’ She glanced at her mother. ‘You look nice,’ she said. ‘But your hair needs brushing.’

‘Let me do it.’ Dolly hurried to the drawer where her mother kept her hairbrush.

‘Now I know something’s going on,’ Harriet said, as she allowed herself to be gently pushed into a chair, while her hair was unpinned and brushed and then neatly coiled again. Her apron was taken off and a cup of tea put into her hand. She drank it steadily, and as she handed it back looked questioningly at her daughters.

‘It’s a surprise,’ Maria said, smiling. ‘You’ll like it,’ Dolly added.

Shortly afterwards, Tom arrived back with Rosie, who said she hadn’t expected to come today, and then Joseph and Elizabeth came home from school.

Joseph gave an appreciative sniff. ‘Summat smells good, Ma. Is it ready?’

‘I don’t know, Joseph, it’s not my kitchen any more,’ his mother said. ‘It’s been tekken over. Where’s your da?’ she asked anyone who might have been listening. ‘Has he gone off somewhere as well?’

‘He’s outside in ’yard,’ Elizabeth told her. ‘He’s talking to Daniel and those people in our trap.’

‘What people?’ Harriet half rose from her chair and gazed at Maria and Dolly, who were both beaming, and then suddenly the room was full as Fletcher ushered in a man with dark greying hair and dressed in a warm overcoat, who seemed to be struck by a strong emotion as he looked at Harriet; a beautiful dark-eyed young woman dressed in furs, escorted by Lenny who had a great grin on his face, and, holding firmly on to Daniel’s arm, a white-haired elderly gentleman, who by his liquid dark brown eyes and long lashes could only be Marco, Daniel’s grandfather.

CHAPTER FORTY-SIX

Harriet and her brother talked and talked. He told her about his visit home when he had not been able to find her, although he had been told that their mother had died. ‘I always intended to come back,’ Leo shrugged, ‘but you get caught up with life, and when my wife died I had my baby daughter to consider. It was a very difficult time.’

Harriet told him some, but not all, of her life since moving away from Hull. Much of it could be dripped into conversation for some time to come.

Marco and Rosie were reintroduced and she was shy, as he recalled she always had been, and he told her that he had decided he must make an effort to come to England with Leo. ‘For who knows what is in front of us, Rosie, or how much time we have left?’ He added softly, ‘I am so sorry about our child.’

She wiped her tears and gently squeezed his hand.

Calypso was kidnapped by Maria and Dolly and taken upstairs to the room Maria had vacated for her, so that they could question her and admire her beauty and listen to her lilting accent, and Elizabeth and Joseph pressed their ears to the door so that they could listen.

‘It must be
lovely
to live in Italy,’ Dolly said in envy.

‘You must come, both of you,’ Calypso said. ‘I will introduce you to my friends. They will be so envious of your beautiful blonde hair and English skin – what you say, complexion – and the Italian boys,’ she made kissing noises, ‘they will want to be your friends.’ She leaned forward and spoke softly. ‘You know this young gentleman, Charles, he is Daniel’s friend?’

They both nodded, their eyes glued to her. ‘He is ’andsome, yes? He wants to marry me. He ’as asked my papa if he can write to me. He is good family, is he not?’

‘He is,’ Maria said fervently.

‘He’s our father’s half-brother,’ Dolly told her, ‘but I think you’d be all right to marry him.’ She frowned. ‘I can’t really work it out!’

They all talked through the meal that Maria and Dolly dished up, and Harriet smiled at her daughters, knowing now why so much food had been prepared, and they talked past midnight until Fletcher, seeing Marco tiring, suggested that they go to bed now and continue their conversation the following day.

‘Yes, we’ve much more to discuss,’ Leo said, ‘and Marco wants to chat to Daniel, don’t you, Babbo?’

‘I do,’ Marco agreed. ‘But tomorrow. We have had a very long journey but already it has been so agreeable.’

There was a shuffling round of beds; Marco took Fletcher and Harriet’s room, Harriet slept with Maria, Dolly and Elizabeth, head to tail which she said she used to do when she was a child as they only ever had one bed; Fletcher slept in the boys’ room with Daniel, Lenny and Joseph. Rosie had her own little room, and Tom, who had come in to be introduced, said he would drop Adam off at his mother’s house and then go home, and Fletcher gave him a quizzical glance that made him blush.

‘It’s a good thing it’s Sunday,’ Fletcher yawned the next morning when he came downstairs to find Harriet proving dough for bread making. He poured himself a cup of tea and headed outside, then came back in. ‘I like your brother,’ he said.

Harriet smiled and nodded. ‘Yes,’ she said. ‘So do I. And I like Marco too, even though it seems very strange to me that he’s Daniel’s grandfather.’

The visitors all came down to breakfast at different times except that Harriet took a tray of tea and toast to Marco for him to have in bed, but they were all downstairs at eleven when the skittering and clattering of hooves was heard in the yard.

‘It’s Beatrice and Charles – and Stephen.’ Maria’s voice faltered when she saw Stephen coming towards the door with the twins.

There was a great commotion of kisses and hand shakes and more tea making, and then Calypso’s lilting voice was heard above the others when she said, ‘Maria – Dolly, how very strange, but you look so much like Charles and Beatrice. What was it you say?’

There was a second’s silence and then a murmur of laughter from the Tukes and the Hart family, which grew louder until Fletcher said wryly, ‘That’s a subject for another day.’

‘We’ve come to invite you all to tea,’ Beatrice announced after a while. ‘Three o’clock, before dark. Do say you’ll come. Our parents are eager to meet you. We’ll send the carriage.’

‘How did you know they’d arrived?’ Daniel asked her. ‘I didn’t say which day.’

‘Didn’t you?’ she said vaguely and put a finger to her cheek. ‘Oh.’

‘Beatrice?’ Daniel laughed, his mood lightening as it always did when he was in her company. ‘You’re up to something.’

‘Something, perhaps, or nothing,’ she said impertinently. ‘But I can’t tell. It’s a surprise. Look,’ she said, to divert his attention. ‘See how besotted Charles is with Calypso. He has told Mama and Papa that he doesn’t think he’s good enough for her.’ She gave a deep sigh. ‘I wish that someone special loved me in the way he loves her.’

Daniel took a breath. She was standing so close, and although the room was crowded it was as if there was no one else there. ‘Beatrice,’ he murmured, taking her hand, ‘someone does love you, but he’s not special, not in any way.’

She removed her hand from his. ‘Then he should tell me so,’ she whispered. ‘For how else will I know?’ She gazed directly at him, her blue eyes into his dark ones. ‘And I will be the judge of whether he’s special or not.’

Charles then lost Calypso to Lenny, who was captivated by his cousin and dewy-eyed over her, much to Dolly’s amusement. Charles looked towards Beatrice, and then at Stephen who was talking to Fletcher, and then at the clock on the wall. Beatrice followed his gaze.

‘Mrs Tuke,’ she said to Harriet, ‘forgive us for dropping in uninvited, and I do hope you will all come this afternoon, but now we must leave. Charles – Stephen – don’t forget we have to be at home for midday.’

‘She is lovely, is she not?’ Marco said after the Harts had left, sitting down comfortably and at ease and accepting another cup of coffee from Rosie. ‘Impulsive, yes, and – well, I expect there will be a lucky young man to capture her one day, unless of course someone has already done so?’

Daniel glanced round and wondered why everyone was, but pretending not to be, looking at him.

The snow began as they all headed off towards the manor. The Harts’ carriage had picked up Harriet, Rosie, Marco and Calypso and squeezed Elizabeth and Joseph in between them. The rest, Fletcher driving, Leo beside him, Daniel, Lenny, Maria and Dolly, all squashed up in the trap, all laughing and jolly and already with snowflakes settling on their heads and shoulders.

‘Just as well it’s not far,’ Fletcher joked. ‘You’ll like ’house, Leo, and so will Calypso.’ He smiled as he said it. Any young woman would, he thought, and it will give her and Leo an insight into what kind of family the Harts are.

As they drove up the long drive with the house at the end of it, Leo murmured, ‘Never in a million years would I have imagined I’d see my sister Harriet so close to people living in a house like this.’ He immediately told Fletcher, ‘I don’t mean that your house isn’t substantial and cosy, it’s the kind of house I would like for myself, but this – this is impressive!’

‘Yeh!’ Fletcher said softly. ‘This is – old money, this is grandeur. Is it, do you think, ’reason we’ve been invited to tea, for Charles to show it off to Calypso?’

Leo smiled. ‘No, I don’t think so. From what I’ve seen of Charles and Beatrice in ’short time I’ve known them, I don’t think that would have occurred to either of them. I think they’re quite oblivious of ’differences between us. I mean,’ he said, turning to look at Fletcher, ‘the sort of lifestyle we – you and I – were born into.’

Fletcher laughed. ‘Remind me to tell you a story when we have an hour or two to spare, Leo. I reckon you’ll find it interesting. But if you don’t think it’s to impress Calypso, then there’s summat else going on.’

‘You are right, my friend,’ Leo agreed. ‘But I’m not at liberty to say. It’s not really my secret.’

The skies were darkening and more snow was threatening, and Beatrice seemed a little agitated when they were all gathered in the withdrawing room. She went to whisper something to her mother, who nodded, murmuring, ‘Very well.’

‘Erm, before we take tea,’ Beatrice said, glancing round at everyone, ‘does anyone object if I steal Daniel away for ten minutes or so? It’s getting dark, you see, and I’m afraid we might have a snowstorm.’

‘Started already,’ her father said, looking out of the window, where there was a veritable blizzard blowing.

‘I don’t think we should be too late getting back,’ Fletcher said and glanced at Daniel, who shrugged his shoulders and lifted his hands, indicating he didn’t know what was happening.

‘We’ll start tea without you,’ Melissa said. ‘That’s all right, isn’t it?’

‘Yes, of course,’ Daniel told her, adding, ‘Is this one of Beatrice’s schemes?’

‘I rather think so,’ her mother smiled.

‘You should go, Daniel,’ Marco insisted. ‘We will save you a piece of cake.’

Daniel followed Beatrice into the hallway. ‘What are you up to, Beatrice? I thought this was supposed to be a tea party.’

‘It is,’ she said, putting on her coat, which one of the maids was holding for her. ‘But I hadn’t planned for snow, so we must go whilst there’s still light to see.’

‘To see what?’ They ran down the steps and he followed her as she led him to the back of the house.

‘You’ve forgotten that it’s your birthday in two days’ time, haven’t you?’ she said, taking his arm.

‘No, but my coming of age is of no real significance,’ he said. ‘I can do most of what I want anyway. Where are we going?’

‘To the stables,’ she said. ‘I know that your parents will want you with them on your birthday, so I’ve got you an early birthday present and I had to put it in the stables so that no one would find it, except for Aaron, the stable lad, and he’s to be trusted.’

Daniel gave a great sigh. ‘I give in,’ he said. Then, ‘But wait, Beatrice. I have to tell you something.’ He stopped and pulled her to a halt too. ‘You said earlier that you wished someone loved you in the way that Charles loves Calypso.’

‘I do,’ she said, ‘but it has to be …’ She paused, as if not knowing what to say, and besides he was standing very close.

He looked down at her and saw snowflakes on her lashes, and tenderly he brushed them away. ‘I know we’ve been good friends all our lives, Beatrice, and you’ve probably accepted that that is what we’ve always been, just that. Friends.’ He swallowed. ‘But it’s not true; for me it’s always been more and I can’t even remember when it was that I knew I loved you; and it’s nothing like how Charles loves Calypso because his is a new love, whereas mine,’ he hesitated, ‘mine is an old strong love and one that will last for ever, even though … even though—’