Nameless (47 page)

Had he lied to Ruby, lied to Vanessa, lived with those lies for years by not telling her the truth about her birth? He was a politician. Ruthlessness ran through his veins. But not with his family, surely? But then . . . look at how briskly he had arranged for Simon to come back into her life. She knew he had paid Simon to take her on. She
knew
that. Knew everyone thought she was a screwball and so a sweetener would be in order.

‘What is it?’ asked Cornelius again, feeling slightly unnerved by Daisy’s unblinking stare.

‘I had lunch with Ruby Darke today,’ said Daisy at last.

‘Who?’

‘Ruby Darke, the owner of the department stores?’

‘Oh? Yes, I’ve heard of her.’

‘She’s . . .’ Daisy took another swallow of water to moisten her parched mouth . . . ‘Pa, she said you had an affair with her.’

‘She said
what
?’ Cornelius let out a bark of laughter.

‘An affair. That’s what she said.’

‘And when was this supposed to have happened?’

‘During the war.’

‘The woman’s a fantasist,’ said Cornelius.

‘She said she had two children by you. Twins. There was a boy that her brother got rid of. He was dark-skinned, she said. You didn’t want him. And there was me.’ Daisy’s eyes were frantic. ‘She said that mother couldn’t have children of her own, that you all agreed that you would take me and raise me. And that’s what you did.’

‘Daisy . . .’

‘
Is it true?
’ Daisy asked, tears springing into her eyes.

‘Of course it isn’t true,’ said Cornelius earnestly. ‘This Darke woman, from what I’ve seen of her, she’s half-caste . . .’

‘Don’t call her that, it sounds horrible.’

‘But how could you possibly be her daughter? Look at you. You’re pale, you’re blonde; you’re the image of me.’ Cornelius reached out a hand to touch her, but Daisy flinched back.

‘She told me that could happen with mixed-race parents. One twin nearly black, the other white. And I know that’s true. I’ve heard of it.’

‘Daisy. Darling. What are you saying? This is all
nonsense
.’

‘Why would she tell me, if it’s not true?’

‘God, I don’t know. I know Vanessa doesn’t much care for her and has left her off a guest list or two. Perhaps the feeling was mutual, perhaps this woman’s cooked all this up to spite her.’

Daisy absorbed this. It sounded absurd. This was a monumental bombshell to drop on anyone, over a mere social snub. She thought back to all the times she’d been with Ruby. Ruby cleaning her up after that scare she’d had with Kit; Ruby going to the gatehouse with her, but being noticeably reluctant to go up to the house. Vanessa’s stone-cold reaction to her. Daisy stared at her father. A politician, a practised liar. Her face grew very still.

‘It’s true, isn’t it?’ she said at last.

‘Daisy, no.’

‘Only it sort of makes sense. A lot of other things, little things, they all seem to add up now. And – oh God, yes – Aunt Ju telling mother to shut up after I got drunk and misbehaved at my deb’s dance; she said something about “bad blood” and I never knew what she meant, it’s puzzled me for years.
This
is what she was talking about. The fact that I’m not her child. That I’m Ruby’s.’

‘Daisy, darling, I promise you . . .’

But Daisy was standing up, staring down at him as if she’d never seen him before.

‘Don’t bother,’ she said, and left him sitting there.

The moment Daisy left, Cornelius surged to his feet. He felt almost dizzy with rage that this was all blowing up in his face when he had tried so hard to suppress it. It seemed to him grossly unfair –
unbelievably
unfair – that a simple mistake made when he had been young and foolish should still have the power to disrupt his life.

He had a good life. A beautiful home, a wife who was always there. He could please himself, see to his own desires exactly as he wanted. But this . . . this
woman
continued to be a thorn in his side. If people knew about this, then his reputation would be damaged and his standing, his career, could be compromised. And he couldn’t allow that to happen.

He left the House and went out into the road to flag down a taxi. He got in, gave the name of the place, and sat there, seeing nothing, as the cab wove through the traffic. That
bitch
had ignored the warning, and now things would have to get really dirty.

He got out when he reached his destination, paid the driver and went into the club. Tito was there, sitting on one of the stools at the bar. His ice-blue eyes widened when he saw Cornelius coming in, looking distraught.

‘Trouble?’ he asked.

Cornelius nodded, still so furious he could barely utter a word.

‘Take a seat,’ smiled Tito, patting a stool. ‘Tell me about it.’

119

Daisy got down to Brayfield late in the evening, and charged into the drawing room where she found Vanessa watching television.

‘Daisy! Why didn’t you let me know you were coming?’ she said, smiling, starting to get to her feet.

‘No, don’t get up.’ Pale and drawn-looking, Daisy hurled herself down onto the other sofa and stared across at her mother.

Her mother.

Daisy felt like her whole world had shifted, plunging her into hideous uncertainty. Everything she had once believed, all that she had lived by, was now called into question.

‘I had lunch with Ruby Darke today,’ she said.

‘Oh.’ Vanessa’s face seemed to freeze.

‘You don’t like her. I could see it when I brought her here.’

Vanessa gave a slight shrug. ‘She just doesn’t seem our sort of person, that’s all.’

‘Is that the only reason you don’t like her?’

‘I don’t know what you mean. I barely know her.’

‘You know her well enough to take her child off her, apparently,’ said Daisy.

‘I . . .
what
did you say?’

‘Ruby told me all about it. About her wartime affair with Pa, and that you couldn’t have a child of your own and so you took hers. Me. I’m
her
daughter, not yours.’

‘Daisy, this is ridiculous. I hope you haven’t been troubling your father with this rubbish?’

‘Oh, God forbid I should trouble anyone. I’ve only just learned I’m a bastard, born out of wedlock. And that I had a brother, a
twin
, but you didn’t want him, did you? Because he was dark-skinned, like Ruby. The pair of you wanted a white baby. Someone you could easily pass off as your own.’ Daisy’s eyes bored fiercely into Vanessa’s. ‘Well, aren’t you going to say anything?’

Vanessa swallowed and looked away from Daisy. ‘Your father denied all this, of course,’ she said stiffly. ‘Didn’t he? Just as I do.’

‘He denied everything.’ Daisy’s eyes were sparkling with tears and malice. ‘But d’you know the funny thing, the one person who seems to
radiate
truth is Ruby. Not Pa. Not you.’

Vanessa looked back at her. ‘Daisy. This is all nonsense.’

‘That’s what he said, too. I didn’t believe him. And I don’t believe you.’

‘I have no idea why she’s trying to stir up trouble like this . . .’ started Vanessa.

‘Did you have a script? Have you been looking at it together, the pair of you?’ Daisy gave a sour laugh. ‘That’s what he said too. That it was just Ruby being bitchy because you’d forgotten to invite her into the inner circle along with all those dried-up harpies you fundraise with. Well I don’t believe Ruby’s that shallow, and furthermore I don’t believe she’d give a
fuck
about your meetings and your charitable functions and all that crap anyway.’

‘Daisy . . .’ Vanessa was squirming in her seat.

Daisy pulled her hands through her hair. ‘Did he phone you, is that it? Has he pre-warned you about this?’

‘I haven’t spoken to your father since last weekend.’

Daisy dropped her hands, her face naked with hurt and bewilderment. ‘For God’s sake,’ she said, starting to cry. ‘Won’t one of you at least have the decency, after all this time, to admit to the truth?’

Vanessa stood up, her face cold.

‘Daisy,’ she said firmly, ‘I have no idea what you’re talking about.’

‘Fine,’ snapped Daisy, jumping up. ‘You won’t admit it. OK. But I don’t want to see either of you any more. And I
don’t
want you near the children.’

‘Daisy!’

‘And I don’t want you near
me
.’

Daisy drove around after she left Brayfield, aimlessly, not knowing where to go or what to do. She ended up in London, at Michael Ward’s restaurant, where she found Kit at the bar.

‘Oh, it’s you,’ he said. ‘Thought you’d left the country or something.’

He hadn’t seen her for ages. He’d heard she’d got married, had a couple of kids. She’d dropped out of the London scene, and he hadn’t expected to see her again. Now, here she was. And the last thing he needed right now was Daisy.

It had been a hard day, he’d received some bad news. He’d been visiting Jennifer on and off for a long time now, taking her little presents, chatting to her; but today, when he’d gone out to High Firs to see her and take her some new pens, she was nowhere to be found. Her room was empty, the bed stripped. He’d found the manageress, and asked her what was going on.

‘Jennifer Phelps?’ The manageress was shaking her head. ‘I’m terribly sorry, she died last night. Went peacefully in her sleep, bless her.’

He left the home, still clutching the pens he’d bought for her, feeling bereft. They hadn’t been
close
, of course – he rarely got close to anyone – but he’d enjoyed her company, dotty as she was, and he knew she enjoyed his. Now the poor old duck was gone, and he felt sad about it, sadder than he would have expected.

Added to
that,
he’d been doing the rounds for Michael this afternoon, getting on with business, and that fat fuck Tito had cruised by with some of his boys, and Tito had grinned at him, mocking the fact that Kit couldn’t do what he wanted to do, and smash the bastard’s greasy face to a pulp.

He wanted – so badly – to do something about Tito. But Michael had said no; that they did business together, that it was impossible.

So tonight he didn’t want to hear about anyone else’s troubles; he had enough of his own. But Daisy looked like she’d been knocked sideways by something. He sighed. ‘All right, come on, what’s up?’ he asked.

‘Nothing,’ she said. ‘Get me a glass of wine, will you?’

Kit summoned the barman.

‘Shit! No. I can’t drink, give me an orange juice.’

The barman popped open a bottle of Britvic and decanted it into a glass. Daisy snatched it up and drank it, straight down. Then she turned and looked at Kit. She had to talk to someone about this, she
had
to.

‘Ruby told me something today,’ she said.

‘Oh yeah? What?’

‘She says I’m her daughter.’ It poured out of Daisy then, the whole sorry tale. That Ruby had given birth to illegitimate twins, and Daisy had been taken by Cornelius and Vanessa, but the boy had been – apparently – passed on elsewhere.

‘Right,’ said Kit, draining the last of his pint as he listened to all this.

‘What?’ she asked, looking at his face. ‘You don’t seem very surprised.’

‘That’s because I’m not. I tried to trace that boy. Ruby’s son. She told me you were her daughter. The twin of this boy I was looking for.’

Daisy stared at him. ‘You knew, and you didn’t
tell
me?’

‘It wasn’t my place to tell you.’

Daisy nodded her head, bit her lip. ‘It’s so awful. She said he died in a fire.’

‘I’m sorry, Daisy,’ said Kit. ‘It’s true. He was taken to a children’s home, but it burned down. He’s dead and gone.’

120

‘Where the hell have you been?’ asked Simon when Daisy dragged her exhausted body through the front door of their home at gone twelve that same night.

Daisy shook her head. She was so tired, wrung out by all that had happened, all these shocking new things she had discovered. That her mother and father were liars. That Ruby was her mother. That she’d had a twin, and . . . oh God, that she’d lost him, that she would never know him. Maybe that was why she’d been such a screw-up all her life. She was missing a part of herself, and maybe somehow she had always known it.

She dropped her bag onto the floor and took off her coat.

‘Did you hear what I said?’ Simon asked, coming and placing himself in front of her, red in the face with temper, hands on hips in indignation.

Even wearing flat shoes like she was now – and oh, she
detested
flats – Daisy noted that she was a couple of inches taller than her husband.
May as well give it up and wear four-inch heels
, she thought with a bubble of hysterical mirth.

‘Yes,’ she said, moving past him to get to the stairs. ‘I heard you. Are the twins asleep?’

‘Of
course
they’re asleep. It’s nearly one o’clock in the morning, what else would they be doing?’ He caught her arm in a painful grip. ‘Where have you been, Daisy? What have you been up to?’

‘Up to?’ Daisy could almost have laughed at that. ‘I haven’t been up to anything, Simon. I’ve . . . just had some really strange news. So I drove around a bit. Tried to take it all in.’

‘What news?’ snapped Simon.

‘Can you let go of my arm? I just want to sleep.’

‘Not until you tell me what’s going on.’

‘Nothing is going on. And I can’t talk about this any more, not now.’

‘Daisy!’ He shook her. Daisy lost her footing and fell against him, feeling his fingers digging into the flesh of her arm. ‘For fuck’s sake. I’ve been worried half out of my mind, wondering where you were.’

‘I’m not a dog, Simon. You don’t have to keep me on a leash. I won’t wander off, you know.’

‘Won’t you?’ His eyes were hard as they stared into hers.

‘You’re hurting my arm,’ she said, gritting her teeth. This was crazy and also rather funny. Simon and his family had bought into the posh Bray clan, but really, they’d been sold a pig in a poke. This explained so much! It even explained why she had always thought that Vanessa loved the
idea
of having a daughter – that she wanted a dress-up doll, a perfect little well-behaved replica of herself – rather than the boisterous reality that was Daisy.