Lakeland Lily (56 page)

‘Aye, suits me grand. I know I was a bit cussed about it at first, but I’m right grateful to you, and to Ferryman Bob.’

As he handed her out at the folly, he said, ‘I’m proud of you too, my fine daughter. Right proud.’ The two smiled into each other’s eyes and on impulse Lily kissed him, the old animosity at last dead between them.

‘And I of you.’

As she approached Barwick House, Lily saw Bertie striding towards her down the path. Thomas was skipping beside him, chattering and asking questions as he so loved to do. Too big now to lift, and knowing how he hated to be kissed, she contented herself with ruffling her son’s hair and asking if he’d had a lovely day.

‘Dad’s finished his boat,’ he told her excitedly. ‘Can I go out in it?’

Bertie had worked like a man possessed for weeks. Lily could hardly believe it. He’d even taken all his meals in Edward’s old boathouse, and was rarely home before midnight. In no time the jig-saw pieces had been assembled into a sleek craft. She didn’t dare utter a word of protest when he’d spent a small fortune on a splendid engine and all the other necessary bits and pieces he needed. She was too delighted to see a finished boat at last.

‘When are you going to try her out?’ she asked him now.

‘Soon. Then you’ll see how fast she goes. I intend to race her, don’t you know? Make her as famous as your boats, Lily.’

She sighed, pleased he had done so well but not wishing to compete with her own husband. ‘Isn’t Daddy clever?’ she said, hugging Thomas.

‘Let me come too, Daddy. I want a go in her.’

Lily laughed. ‘Later, darling, when you’re older.’

‘I’m older now.’

‘Course he is. Proper little man.’

Lily glanced at the sky, which looked ominous. ‘Not this evening, in any case. There isn’t a breath of wind.’

‘For God’s sake, Lily, how many times must I tell you that you don’t need wind for a power boat?’

‘I meant only that the weather seems uncertain. The wind has dropped and it might rain.’

‘Mummy,
please
!’

The last thing she needed after a tiring day was an argument so she simply smiled and put a finger to her lips. ‘We’ll see, shall we? Now it is suppertime. Don’t stay out too late, Bertie dear.’

But he wasn’t listening, already striding away. Lily watched him go with sadness in her heart, the rain starting in earnest before he had even reached the folly. He was a jealous fool, but what harm could he come to? He could handle boats.

The next day brought a clear, rain-washed sky with that clarity of light which could only be called translucent. Perfect weather, Bertie decided, for his first trial run.

He called Selene, telling her to be there prompt at two, and to bring Marcus if she wished. He urged Margot to rise and watch him. She agreed to watch from the window of her bedroom.

There was another minor tussle over whether or not Thomas should be allowed to be on board for the trial. In the end it was agreed that the first run at least, should be Bertie’s alone.

‘She’s a fine boat. You’ll see, Lily.’

‘I’m sure she is. You must be so proud of her.’

Word must have quickly spread because by two o’clock several small craft had gathered on the lake to watch the trials. Lily and Thomas, with George and Betty, stood on board the
Faith,
which made a good vantage point. Some distance away, across the lake Lily could see Selene with Marcus on his own power boat, and Arnie aboard his steam ferry with a sizeable group of interested passengers.

‘What will you name her?’ Lily called to Bertie, but he only shook his head.

‘Tell you later.’

She was eighteen feet long with narrow decks and clean vee-shaped lines. Very elegant and, he claimed, fast. Bertie took her out gently, heading for the centre of the lake. There he drove back and forth, gathering speed at a most impressive rate, creating a fine spray in her wake.

‘Isn’t she tremendous,’ Thomas cried.

Lily could only agree. The boat seemed steady enough, handling well. So thrilled was Lily for Bertie’s triumph that she blew the steam whistle for him by way of a salute, which set off other whistles and klaxons, a whole cacophony of noise from the myriad small boats which made up the group of curious onlookers.

When Bertie came alongside he shouted across to her. ‘How about that? Didn’t I tell you I’d make you proud of me?’

Lily laughed. And didn’t I always say you could do it, if you put your mind to it?’

‘Will you let Thomas come now? Just for a little spin.’

Did she trust her child to this new boat? Thomas was jumping up and down with excitement. ‘Another time perhaps,’ she said. ‘Come and have tea first. You must be worn out.’

Tea was a jolly affair, washed down with champagne as Selene and Marcus Kirkby came to join them for the celebrations. ‘Fine performance, Bertie. You can be rightly pleased with yourself. Is she for sale?’

Bertie’s face was bright with joy, eyes dancing, sandy curls springing wildly about his head. Almost his old self again, Lily thought with pleasure.

He said, ‘No, dammit, she isn’t. Did you see the speed she revved up? Engine got a bit overheated at the end, and the propellers took a bit of strain. Maybe they should be bigger. I’ll look into that, but she held her course well, eh?’

‘I thought everything was for sale, at a price,’ Marcus said, turning to Lily. ‘How about your business, for instance?’

Taken aback, she laughed. ‘What are you suggesting?’

‘That I’d give you a fair price and clear this lake free of other - shall we call them? - encumbrances.’

Lily stared, puzzled for a moment before understanding dawned. ‘I think I can deal with the competition myself, thank you.’

‘I believe nothing has quite gone right for you lately, Lily. I would’ve thought you’d be more than ready to give up.’ He regarded her with a smile that somehow made her uneasy.

‘Then you heard wrong. I love my boats, and can manage them very well, despite recent difficulties.’

Selene said, ‘Oh, Lily, do stop being so selfish and stubborn. You know that Nathan will win in the end. Why don’t you sell to Marcus instead? He’ll deal with him so much better.’

Bertie, still deep in his own thoughts, said, ‘I might consider an offer. Depends what it is. I could always sell you this little beauty, Marcus, and build myself another, better model, eh? What d’you say, old sport. Like to try her out?’

‘I wouldn’t mind.’

When Selene protested, she too was generously offered a ride.

‘No, thank you,’ she said, rather sniffily. ‘It would quite ruin my hair. I shall stay here with Lily while you boys play. I’ll persuade her to change her mind and sell up.’

Lily laughed, hazel eyes sparkling. ‘You won’t succeed.’

‘These were my father’s boats in the first place, remember. I think I deserve to have them back, don’t you?’

Lily was astounded. ‘That’s not true. Only the
Faith
was worth anything in the beginning. The
Lakeland Lily
was
originally the Kaspar, and cost more to recover and restore than her actual scuttled value. It took nearly two years before she was properly paying her way. I’m only now making any real money, through my own efforts.’

But Selene would have none of it. ‘You took advantage of Mama, forcing her to sell pictures,
my
inheritance.’

‘I beg your pardon but I’ve kept Margot in comfort,
and
paid off her debts. Repaid her loans ten-fold.’ Which is more than you have done, Lily could have added.

‘By rights, everything should be mine. I know my father felt sorry for you, but he wouldn’t have wanted
you
to inherit, Lily, a nobody from The Cobbles.’

Selene still knew how to inflict a wound, and leave Lily too stunned to answer.

‘Of course, we all know how you do so love to steal my possessions, you naughty girl.’ The point of this remark did not escape Lily either.

She would have liked to protest further, to say that it was
she
who had built the boat business up, not Edward; that
she
hadn’t run away when the going got tough. But Bertie was falling into sulk again and she had no wish to spoil his day. ‘We can discuss this another time. Enough business talk for today. Let Bertie enjoy his trials.’

As he set off again, this time with Marcus Kirkby as crew member, Lily helped put away the tea things. Her irritation over the conversation that had just occurred made her clumsy and a cup slid from her fingers to smash upon the deck. Cursing beneath her breath, she went for a brush and dustpan but Betty took them from her, saying she’d do it herself while they still had some crockery left.

Perhaps, Lily thought, she did owe Selene something. Perhaps it wasn’t enough to have paid off their debts and saved Margot from bankruptcy. Should she have paid Selene something for the boats? Oh, dear, why was everything so complicated where the Clermont-Read family was concerned?

The boat had completed one lap by this time and it was only as Bertie swung it round for a second full run down the lake that Lily realised there were three figures on board. Bertie and Marcus Kirkby in the front, and a third small figure behind.

‘Who ... ?’ Horror-struck she guessed what had happened. While she and Selene had been arguing about the justice or otherwise of her claim, Thomas had sneaked aboard his father’s boat.

‘Dear God,’ Lily prayed. ‘Let him be safe.’

The boat started well, skimming over the waters while Lily watched, heart in mouth. In another moment or two Bertie would realise Thomas was with them, slow down and bring him safely back. But he didn’t slow down, he went even faster. Lily prayed fervently that his confidence in the new power boat was justified.

The boat gathered momentum, the sound of its engines filling the lake valley, reverberating off the mountains and sending birds flying up in alarm from the trees.

They all heard the thud, as if someone had punched a solid wall, and then the boat started to snake. Lily watched in terrified horror as the front lifted and the craft somersaulted into the air.

The engine had once again overheated and the strain on the propellers had apparently been too great. These had come off, the boat spun out of control and finally broke into pieces. All three passengers had been thrown clear. Marcus died instantly on impact. Bertie lay half conscious for a week and then slowly and painfully came back to life. Thomas, perhaps because he was young and small, miraculously survived with hardly a bruise. Thank God!

He proudly told his mother how his swimming lessons had paid off.

‘I could’ve swum right back to shore if Grandpa hadn’t picked me up in his ferry boat.’

Lily went down on her knees and thanked her maker for this gift of her son’s life.

Selene was inconsolable. Not so much, as it turned out, because she grieved for Marcus Kirkby, but because her own future was now thrown into turmoil. Tied to two women now, she could either continue looking after Catherine Kirkby, without the delightful compensations her husband had offered, or remain at home and take care of her invalid mother. The spinster daughter’s usual lot in life.

Lily felt certain that she, for one, would never wish to go out in a boat again. When she told Bertie this, he only laughed. ‘It’s the shock, old thing. It’ll pass.’

‘What are we to do, Bertie?’ she asked him one day when he was well enough to sit by the window of his room. ‘I could sell to Nathan. It’s presumably what he wants.’

‘Is it what you want?’

‘I don’t know.’

‘Then if in doubt, don’t sell.’

She was silent for a moment, but the question had to be asked. ‘What about us, Bertie? You and me.’

He didn’t even glance at her, keeping his eyes fixed on the distant mountains. ‘I’m thinking on that, Lily.’ And since he would say no more, she crept quietly away again.

Then one morning George came to her with a small fragment of the power boat in his hand.

‘I think you should see this, Miss Lily.’

It was the boat’s name plate. It read,
Sweet Rose.

Bertie was packing when she went to his room later that afternoon, which somehow did not surprise her.

‘Leaving?’

He folded a silk cravat and laid it on top of the shirts in his portmanteau. ‘Don’t be cross, old thing. Rose is my sort of girl. As you’ll have realised by now.’

‘I see.’

‘I always felt a bit inadequate beside you. Not your fault, don’t you know, that you’ve so much energy. Mine really, for being such a useless ass.’

‘You’re being unfair to yourself, Bertie.’

He smiled. ‘And you’ve a heart of gold, Lily, but you’re better off without me, old thing. Rose and I mean to go to London and start a little boat business on the Thames.’

‘How will you manage?’ She meant for money.

‘Mama will see me right.’

Same old Bertie, not even realising his mother no longer had any money. It wouldn’t last, of course. He’d soon tire of the effort involved, and it would be herself who would finance his indolence. Lily knew she’d never be free from that responsibility. Nor would she wish to be. She watched him for a moment, then gently laid a hand on his arm. ‘I’m sorry. I’d no right to involve you in my revenge for Dick. It was wrong of me.’