A Summer of Secrets

by Lorna Peel

  “I’m sorry,” he said quietly. “She had no right to speak about you like that.”

  “I set her straight.”

  He closed his eyes for a moment and nodded.

  “Thomas? Thomas, where are you?”

  Hearing Lady Heaton’s voice, they hurried out of the room, finding her at the telephone in the hall.

  “It looks as though I spoke too soon, Sophia. Danielle is at the hospital demanding to see Stephanie. She is being quite aggressive.”

  “Aggressive?” Thomas asked.

  “She is drunk, apparently,” Lady Heaton replied, wrinkling her nose in distaste.

  “I’ll get the car.”

  “I’ll get my coat.” Lady Heaton turned to go.

  “No,” Thomas snapped. “Sophia and I will go.”

  Sophia shot an apologetic glance at Lady Heaton before running for her coat and handbag.

  They were halfway to Leeds before Thomas spoke. “Will she recognise you?”

  “Yes. She visited while I was staying at Michelle’s. Don’t rush into anything, will you? I don’t really know what to do when we get there. I don’t know if her husband or children know where she is.”

  “Well, what do you expect me to do?” he asked harshly. “Ring them myself? ‘Hello, you don’t know me, but…’”

  “No. I’ll try and calm her.”

  Her stomach was in knots when they emerged from the lift. Danielle was seated on the bench outside the I.C.U. with a security guard standing over her. She looked terrible, hair and make-up all over the place.

  “Sophia?” she wailed then caught sight of Thomas. She made an “Oh,” sound and clapped a hand momentarily to her mouth. “You’re Thomas.”

  Thomas was staring in consternation and couldn’t reply.

  “Come on, Danielle.” Sophia took her arm. “Michelle will be wondering where you are.”

  “I want to see my baby.”

  “No.” Sophia was firm. “You’re not seeing Stephanie while you’re in this state.”

  “Is this your mother?” the security guard asked her.

  “No, mine,” Thomas murmured.

  “We’re taking her home,” Sophia assured the security guard. “Sorry about this.”

  “Need a hand with her?”

  “No, we’ll manage, thank you.” Thomas gripped Danielle’s other arm.

  “You’re my baby, too, aren’t you?” Danielle asked him.

  “Let’s get you into the lift,” he replied instead of answering.

  Somehow they managed to get Danielle into the back of the Jaguar, where she curled up and fell asleep. At the abbey, Thomas parked right outside the flat and he had to carry her up the stairs.

  Sophia immediately rang Michelle. “Michelle, I met your mum in town this evening.”

  “Oh? I didn’t know she was coming up.”

  “No? Oh. Well, it’s just that she, um…had had a little bit too much to drink, so I have her here at the flat. Just in case you wondered where she was.”

  A long silence followed. “So she’s back on the booze, is she?”

  “Michelle, I didn’t know she—”

  “Well, it’s not the sort of thing you want to broadcast, is it?” Michelle interrupted.

  “I thought I was your friend?”

  “You were in London,” Michelle snapped. “Then you had your mum and dad to look after.”

  “Michelle, I’m sorry. Look, she’s fine here until the morning.”

  “Thank you but I’ll come and fetch her.”

  “She passed out, so you’d better bring Tony to carry her.”

  Michelle exhaled a long sigh. “A little bit too much to drink?”

  “I’m sorry.”

  “Tony’s out, but I’ll get someone to mind Cathy and then I’ll be straight over.”

  Sophia ended the call and glanced at Thomas. He hadn’t spoken since the hospital and was staring intently at the woman sleeping in the armchair.

  “Go back to the house. I’ll come across to you when she’s gone.”

  He nodded and walked out.

  Fifteen minutes later, Michelle pulled up in the stable yard and Sophia went downstairs to let her in.

  “Okay.” Michelle pushed past her and went up the stairs. “Let’s fetch her.”

  Sophia quickly glanced around the stable yard before following her, but thankfully it was deserted and dusk was falling.

  Somehow, they managed to get Danielle down the stairs and into the back of Michelle’s car.

  “If you find her drunk again, Sophia, please ring me immediately,” Michelle told her as she got into the driver’s seat.

  “Michelle, I’m sorry, I—”

  She watched Michelle drive away and rolled her eyes. She turned and walked across the stable yard to the house, finding Thomas in the library.

  “Whisky?” he asked.

  “Yes, please. Please don’t judge Danielle on today.”

  He laughed harshly. “Don’t judge her? She turns up drunk at the hospital, demanding to see one of the children she sold.”

  He passed her an enormous whisky and brought his over to the window. “Does she have a drink problem?” he asked.

  “Yes. Michelle said something like, ‘So she’s back on the booze, is she?’”

  “Terrific.” He took a sip of whisky. “It just gets better and better, doesn’t it?”

  “How are you?”

  “I think I’m still in shock,” he admitted. “I almost lost my sister and now I feel as though I’ve really lost my mother, too. I mean, I have, because Lady Heaton is not my mother. But now that I’ve seen the woman who really is my mother…” He turned. “This sounds awful but I feel like I’ve lost fifty pounds and found fifty pence. How am I supposed to forget that my first sighting of my real mother was when she was drunk?”

  Sophia grimaced. “Michelle wasn’t very pleased with me. She didn’t want me knowing about her mother.”

  “Danielle might not even remember where she was today with a bit of luck.”

  “So you don’t want to see her again?” Sophia asked.

  He curled his lip and looked away. “It might be for the best and it would save a lot of problems. And the transaction was, as you said before, illegal. At least I’ve seen her now. But I still feel so…”

  “Lonely?”

  He nodded then put his glass down. She did likewise with hers and went to him. He pulled her to him, his hands holding her shoulders so tightly it hurt, but she put her arms around him and held him as he sobbed.

  When he raised his head she reached up and gently wiped his tears away. “Better?” she whispered.

  He nodded. “Stay with me tonight?”

  She lifted a hand to his cheek where another tear was trickling down. She rubbed it away gently with her thumb. “Are you sure?”

  “Yes,” he whispered hoarsely. “Please?” She nodded. “I told you you’d have to be patient.”

  “I’ll be patient,” she said softly and he smiled.

  “Thank you for letting me cry all over you,” he said softly then bent his head and kissed her. “Will you move in with me?” he asked softly.

  She swallowed. “I’d love to…”

  “But…?” he prompted.

  “Dad. Lady Heaton.”

  He sighed. “I’m going to have to have a long hard talk with her.”

  “Don’t be hard on her. Imagine finding out that you’re infertile.”

  “Imagine standing back and allowing your husband to service another woman. They probably breed racehorses with more care.”

  “How do you think she’d take it?” she asked. “The possibility of me living here?”

  “I don’t understand?” he frowned.

  “In her eyes, I’m a member of staff.”

  “Well, to me you’re not.” He pushed curls away from her face. “I really thought Simon had killed you.”

  “What happened with him?” she asked.

  “He jumped out of the window. I
caught him as he ran across the yard. We fought for a few minutes but he punched me in the stomach, winded me, and got away. Des had managed to get up to your flat and found you in the bedroom. He called me up there and…” He inhaled and exhaled deeply. “And for a moment I thought you were dead.”

  She knocked on her skull with her knuckles. “Wood. Simon said that you were at school together.”

  “Yes, but that’s something I’d rather forget.”

  “Why?” She frowned.

  “Because he was an idiot then and he didn’t change one bit since.”

  “He mentioned drugs.”

  He gave her a humourless smile. “I bet he did. How about alcohol?” he asked and she shook her head.

  “Not alcohol.”

  “It’s a wonder we weren’t expelled. We nearly got caught once. Cannabis. I told him to get rid of the stuff. He refused. We argued and had a fight. I knocked him out. He retaliated and spiked one of my drinks with something. I woke up in a corridor completely naked. I didn’t speak to him again for years. You can imagine how I felt when he and Stephanie started going out together.”

  “Was he bisexual?” she asked bluntly.

  “What?” he exclaimed then frowned. “What did he say to you?”

  “Something along the lines of that you and he were very close. That a lot of you experimented, not just with drugs, and that I’m the first shag, male or female that you’ve had in years.”

  “I’m not bisexual,” he roared and she jumped. “I don’t care what he said, I’m not bisexual. The lying bastard. Bloody hell.” He fought to control his temper. “Why the hell didn’t you say something before this? You’ve been wondering all this time?”

  “No. Well, yes…I knew I should ask you but…” She sighed and rubbed her eyes. “There just never seemed to be a right time, not that there is ever a right time to ask something like that. I’m sorry.”

  “I don’t know if he was bisexual but as far as I know, he never tried anything with me. The only time I can’t answer for is that night.” His face contorted in disgust. “Surely I would have remembered something? Felt something?” He clapped a hand to his mouth. “Oh, God, I feel sick.”

  “Come outside.” She took his hand and they went outside and onto the front steps. “Take a few deep breaths.” He did as he was told. “Feel better?” she asked softly.

  He nodded. “A little.” He sat down on the top step hugging his knees.

  “Thomas.” She sat beside him. “I had to ask about him, I’m sorry.”

  “No, I’m glad you felt that you could.”

  “For what it’s worth, I think he was lying. Trying to stir things.”

  “Well, we’ll never know for sure, will we?” he replied quietly.

  “Well, I still love you. Nothing has changed there.”

  He looked at her and gave her a little smile. “Come up to bed.”

  “I’ll just get my phone and lock the flat. I’ll be ten minutes.”

  By the time she returned to the house, locked the side door and set the alarm, he was already in bed and watched as she got undressed.

  “Look at you,” he whispered.

  “Hmm?” She frowned. He nodded at her and she looked down. There were bruises on her right breast and waist. “I hadn’t even noticed.”

  “Bastard. If only I’d—”

  “Hey?” She climbed into the bed. “Stephanie is going to be okay, I’m fine, and we’re going to forget about our previous conversation altogether.”

  He smiled gratefully. “I just don’t know if I can tell Stephanie about our mother. Or lack of. But she’s not stupid, she’s going to notice something is not right.”

  “I know. Worry about it when she comes home, yes?”

  He nodded, leaned over and kissed her breast. “You’re beautiful,” he whispered.

  “So you keep telling me.” She smiled as he kissed the other one.

  “Please move in with me?”

  “I need to talk to Dad. Look, as soon as it’s convenient, I’ll cook a meal for the three of us. All he can see at the moment is your title.”

  “Does he know you’re sleeping with me?” he asked.

  “Yes, I think so.”

  “You think so?” he repeated, drawing back from her.

  “Thomas, he’s my dad,” she tried to reason with him. “And he’s quite old for a dad. And he’s very set in his ways and outlook on life.” She sighed. “I will tell him. He needs to get rid of the notion that once you’ve bedded me you’ll abandon me.”

  “Oh, good grief.” He rolled onto his back. “When I mentioned the master and the serving wench thing I was joking.”

  She laughed. “I know you were. Did your father ever talk to you about women?”

  “Yes.” He put an arm behind his head. “I was told about the birds and the bees.”

  “I meant marriage,” she added. “You told me once that it was just automatically expected of you. Did he never speak to you about it?”

  “No. But Stephanie has.”

  She was astonished. “Stephanie?”

  “Yes. She told me only to marry if I loved the woman in question, not to marry someone because they are ‘suitable’, or would make a good wife. What’s brought this up?” he asked, rising onto an elbow.

  “Lady Heaton told me that if I couldn’t love you or if I didn’t want children, to tell you and then leave and not come back. But I do love you and I do want children sometime.”

  “She’s probably wondering why I haven’t proposed yet.” He sighed. “She knew what she was marrying and marrying into. I deliberately haven’t mentioned marriage because I don’t want to frighten you away. I love you and if we were to marry, I’d be marrying just you. You would be marrying me, a title, and all of this.” He indicated the house and estate with the sweep of an arm. “That’s why I suggested you move in with me. Don’t think that I’ve never thought about marrying you because I have. I’d marry you in the morning if you’d have me, but would you marry me and all that comes with me? The need to provide an heir? The need to keep coming up with ways of keeping this place going without turning it into the Heaton Abbey Theme Park? The need to somehow deal with the fact that I am one of two children your best friend’s mother sold? The need to realise that you could end up with not just one but two mothers-in-law if Danielle decides she wants to see her ‘babies’ more often? It’s a mess and do you really want to marry me, all this, and a mess? Think about it.”

  He lay down again and turned over with his back to her. She sighed. He was right.

  ”I’ll think about it,” she replied, kissed his shoulder, and lay down with her back to him.

  Chapter Ten

  She woke to find herself alone in the bed. Downstairs, she peered into the breakfast room but it was empty, and so was his office when she crossed the stable yard.

  “His Lordship’s gone to the hospital,” Des told her from the door of his office.

  “The hospital? Is Stephanie…?”

  “No, no, she seems to be well on the mend,” he assured her. “He said he wanted to beat the traffic.”

  “Oh, I see.”

  “The tours start again today, don’t they?” he asked.

  “Yes, so I’d better get on. Thanks, Des.”

  There were twenty-five Americans on her first tour that afternoon all listening intently except for one woman who was staring at the photographs on the table in the drawing room. Halfway up the main staircase, she realised that the woman had gone.

  “I don’t believe it,” she whispered, then added; “Did anyone see where the lady in the green jacket went? Some of the rooms are private…” She tailed off hearing a roar.

  “Can you not read, woman? It says private. And how dare you start looking in the drawers. Give those to me. Please leave this room immediately and re-join the tour. Now.”

  Sophia raced down the stairs and across the hall then halted as Thomas appeared, leading the woman firmly by the arm. She hadn’t known he was
back from the hospital.

  “One of your group, Ms Nelson?”

  “Yes, Lord Heaton.”

  He nodded, looked up, and she followed his gaze. The rest of the group were leaning over the bannisters agog.

  “Excuse me.” He turned and walked back to the library.

  “That’s Lord Heaton?” The woman’s mouth fell open. “Do you have any postcards of him?”

  Sophia frowned. “Postcards? Of Lord Heaton?” In a strop?

  The woman nodded vigorously. “Ones like that picture in there.” She nodded towards the drawing room.

  “Oh, right. Well, I’m afraid we don’t, but I’ll suggest it. Could I please remind you all that the Heaton family do live here and therefore some of the rooms are private.”

  She continued with the tour and was gasping for a coffee by the time they reached the kitchen. The tour leader was munching a currant bun, having decided not to go on the tour, and probably relieved to be free of the group for three-quarters of an hour.

  “You been wandering off again, Lydia?” The leader asked the woman casually.

  “Yeah, but I got to meet Lord Heaton.”

  “No!”

  “Got yelled at, too, when I looked at his drawings.” The woman grinned. “My, he is handsome.” The grin faded. “But they got no postcards of him.”

  When the group had been shepherded out to the gardens, and Sophia had gulped down a cup of coffee, she went in search of Thomas. She found him in the library smoking a cigarette.

  “I’m sorry. Apparently, she wanders off a lot.”

  “Does she.”

  “You made her day, anyway.”

  An eyebrow rose. “She likes getting shouted at?”

  “I don’t know, but she thinks you are very handsome and wanted to know whether we had any postcards of you.”

  He shrugged in incomprehension and lifted the cigarette to his lips.

  “How is Stephanie?” she asked.

  “Starting to complain as well as order me about.”

  Sophia laughed. “That’s good.”

  “For Stephanie, yes. She’ll be back to shouting at me soon.”

  “The woman was looking at some of your drawings?”

  “Yes,” he replied shortly. “Bloody nerve.”

  “New ones?” she enquired and he nodded. “Can I see them?”