Inherit the Skies

by Janet Tanner

  Adam said nothing. He sat gloomily in the overstuffed easy chairs, depressed by the knowledge that he was responsible for their predicament. The aeroplane was nothing but a heap of matchwood and it was all his fault.

  ‘I can’t believe you are going to give up now,’ Annie said wretchedly.

  Max put his arm around her shoulders. ‘ We won’t give up. But first Adam and I will have to find jobs to keep our heads above water and save enough money to begin again. Isn’t that right, Adam?’

  Adam nodded, thinking of the family fortune which might have been his and experiencing, for the first time in his life, resentment towards his profligate ancestors. Just a small portion of the money that had been squandered and gambled away would have paid for the fresh start they needed.

  ‘You can’t afford that kind of delay,’ Annie argued. Tears were shining in her eyes. ‘You have said often enough that it is a race and you will be left miles behind. The Short brothers, Geoffrey de Havilland, A V Roe – they are all pressing on. I’ve even heard that George White of the Bristol Tramways Company is taking an interest. Oh Max, it’s not fair!’

  ‘Fair or not, I’m afraid that’s the way it is. We simply do not have the money.’

  Sarah looked from one to the other of them and knew suddenly what she was going to do.

  ‘There might be a way,’ she said. Three pairs of eyes turned to her. ‘Don’t ask me any questions for the moment,’ she said, ‘ but don’t despair just yet. Leave this to me.’

  She sought Gilbert out in his study next day before he left for the office.

  ‘I want to talk to you about the aeroplane.’

  ‘Of course, my dear. Sit down.’ He indicated the low visitor’s chair opposite his own deep leather swivel. ‘What happened yesterday was a great shame but we must be thankful Adam was not hurt.’

  ‘It was more than a shame – it was a disaster,’ Sarah said. ‘They were working on a shoestring and there is no more money for them to rebuild.’

  ‘Oh dear.’ Gilbert shook his head sadly.

  Sarah knotted her hands tightly together in her lap. ‘Before I go any further I must tell you they do not know I am speaking to you,’ she said. ‘ It’s entirely my own idea. But I can’t stand by and see everything they have worked for thrown away. And so I want to ask you to back them.’

  Gilbert sat back in his chair looking at her narrowly.

  ‘And why should I do that, Sarah?’

  Determination flared in her face. It was not the answer she had hoped for but she was not going to give up so easily.

  ‘Because it would be to your advantage. They have designed an aeroplane that will fly but that design is useless unless they have the finance to rebuild it. Now if you would help them they could do it. A wonderful special aeroplane built here in Bristol. Think of the prestige for Morse Motors! Why, it could be the start of a whole new industry. I’ve been awake all night thinking about it and I’m sure I am right. Flying is the thing of the future. And you could be associated with it, not just as the builder of one engine, not just as the owner of the field where it first took off, but as the man with the foresight to finance it!’

  Gilbert regarded her with a mixture of pleasure and pride. She had come to him for help but she had not come begging on bended knee but with a proposition which she had put with confidence and eloquence as well as good sense. He had been right to foresee a great future for Sarah. One day she would be quite a business woman. A smile lifted his mouth and twinkled in his eyes; Sarah saw and misinterpreted it.

  ‘Don’t laugh at me!’ she said passionately. ‘It is a good design – I know it is. And if you back Adam and Max I know you won’t be sorry.’

  His smile broadened. ‘I happen to agree with you, Sarah,’ he said.

  Her strained expression became one of surprise and delight. ‘You do?’

  ‘Indeed. I must confess I have had thoughts on the same lines myself. Morse Motors needs to move with the times if it is not to be left behind. Max and Adam are two very clever – and brave – young men, and I would be proud to be associated with them. The only reason I have not suggested such an arrangement before is that I feared they might feel I was interfering. However if their situation is as dire as you say then it puts a whole different complexion on the matter. Ask them to come to Chewton Leigh to dine tonight and we will discuss it fully.’

  Sarah hesitated. ‘I don’t suppose you could ask them? I would prefer them to think it was entirely your idea.’

  ‘Very well. If you think it best. Now,’ he glanced at his fob watch, ‘I must be getting on. I have a full day ahead of me – including a meeting with my stock broker. If I am to finance this operation I can’t afford to be late for that, can I?’

  ‘No.’ Her face was alight now. She rose, and almost without thinking, leaned across the desk and kissed him on the cheek. ‘Thank you. Thank you for everything.’ Then, embarrassed by her own action, she turned and hurried out of the study.

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  An hour later Sarah climbed the rickety staircase to Annie’s room for she wanted to forewarn her friend about the dinner invitation. It might be late in the afternoon before the men got around to telling her about it and Annie would want to sort out something decent to wear.

  When she tapped at the door there was no response and after a moment she tried it. It gave. ‘Hello! Are you there?’ she called. Then as her eyes grew accustomed to the dim light she saw Annie bent double over the little sink. After a moment the girl straightened up, wiping her mouth with her hand, and as she turned Sarah was shocked by her pallor.

  ‘Whatever is the matter?’ she asked.

  ‘Nothing.’ Annie smiled wanly.

  ‘How can you say that? Are you ill? Is it something you ate?’

  ‘No. Neither of those things.’ Annie steadied herself against the sink. ‘I’m pregnant, Sarah. I am going to have a baby.

  ‘What?’ Sarah stared in disbelief. ‘But you can’t be!’

  Annie laughed but it sounded a little hollow. ‘I’m afraid I am. Oh, don’t look so shocked, Sarah, please. I know everyone else will be. But not you. I couldn’t bear it.’

  Sarah shook her head. She still could not believe her ears or the evidence of her eyes. Pregnant – Annie?

  ‘But when …? How …?’

  ‘It just happened,’ Annie said simply, crossing to collapse into the overstuffed chair. ‘I know it was very wrong. But we love one another so much and we’ve waited so long. I expect you think I am very wicked.’

  ‘Oh don’t be so silly!’ Sarah said sharply. ‘Of course I don’t think you are wicked. Heaven knows, given the chance I might be in the same position myself …’ She broke off remembering the electric tension that was there between her and Adam, the longing to be close, to give, that was so powerful it was almost unbearable. How could she be sure that given the right circumstances she would have been any stronger than the generous, affectionate Annie?

  ‘Does Max know?’ she asked.

  Annie shook her head. ‘No. I didn’t want to worry him when he has so much on his mind. But I don’t know how much longer I can keep it to myself, Sarah.’

  ‘You goose!’ Sarah said fiercely. ‘You should have told me at least!’

  ‘I didn’t want to tell anyone – not even you, dear, until I’d told Max. I thought if the flight was a success I’d break it to him then. But now everything has gone wrong. And I’m not going to be able to hide it much longer, Sarah. My skirt was too tight to button up properly this morning so I’m going to begin to show soon.’ An expression of pure panic crossed her face. ‘Oh Sarah, what am I going to do? I can’t be a burden to Max just now. I thought of trying to get rid of it but – oh, I couldn’t do that.’

  ‘I should think not!’ Sarah exploded. ‘Risk your life in the hands of some backstreet butcher? Annie, really!’

  ‘It’s not me I am worried about,’ Annie said simply. ‘ If it would help I’d be ready for anything. But I couldn’t
destroy my own child – Max’s child …’ Her lip trembled. ‘I thought of leaving him and running away somewhere he couldn’t find me. But I can’t do that either. Oh Sarah, I’m so afraid! I don’t know what to do for the best …’

  ‘Everything is going to be all right, you’ll see.’ Sarah crossed to kneel on the floor beside Annie’s chair, taking hold of her trembling hands. ‘ Listen, I am going to tell you something – as long as you promise to keep it a secret. I have just been talking to Gilbert Morse. He has agreed to back Max and Adam by providing them with enough capital to rebuild the aeroplane and maybe pay them wages as well. He is very enthusiastic about the whole project and I know he is right to be. So you see things, are not nearly as black as they seem. But the suggestion must come from Gilbert. I don’t want Adam or Max to know I had anything to do with it. That’s why I want you to promise not to breathe a word.’

  ‘Oh Sarah!’ Annie covered her face with her hands but the tears that trickled through her fingers were tears of relief. ‘That would be wonderful! If things work out Max and I will be able to get married!’

  ‘That’s right,’ Sarah agreed. ‘Wait until Max knows the project is safe again, then tell him and we’ll have a double celebration. But remember – not a word about my part in it.’

  ‘I think they should know what you have done for them,’ Annie said loyally. ‘But if that’s the way you want it, Sarah …’

  ‘It is.’

  Annie clasped her hand. ‘Oh Sarah, I’m so glad that we are friends! And I hope that one day you will be as happy as I am now. You and Adam …’

  Sarah smiled. ‘I’ll let you into another secret, Annie. Adam has asked me to marry him.’

  Annie’s face lit up with delight. ‘That’s wonderful! And you have accepted?’

  ‘Not yet. I do love him but after being engaged before and hurting poor Eric so much I want to be quite sure this time.’

  ‘But you are sure! You must be! You two make a perfect pair. And he adores you, I know he does. I’ve never seen Adam care for any girl the way he cares for you.’

  A glow of warmth spread through Sarah’s veins.

  ‘Perhaps like you I was just waiting for the moment to be right,’ she conceded.

  They smiled at one another and in that moment it seemed to them both that nothing could go wrong in their world again.

  Dinner at Chewton Leigh was over, the men had retired to the library for brandy and cigars and Blanche, pleading a headache, had gone to her room. Annie, still feeling unwell, had not joined the party and to Sarah’s relief Max had accepted her excuse that she thought she was suffering from a stomach upset without pressing her too far. The dinner had been a pleasant affair, the food and wine superb as always and the conversation easy and undemanding. But now Sarah and Alicia were alone.

  ‘Well, Sarah, what shall we talk about to amuse ourselves?’ Alicia asked facetiously. She was looking beautiful in a gown of cerise pink, her jet black hair drawn into a shining pompadour which served to emphasise the finely chiselled lines of her face.

  ‘Do we have to talk at all?’ Sarah countered. Her thoughts were very much with the men in the library where she guessed Gilbert would at this very moment be putting the terms of his propostion to Adam and Max.

  As if reading her mind Alicia smiled, a trifle smugly.

  ‘I dare say we both know why Father issued the invitation to dinner tonight,’ she said, perching on the edge of the chaise and arranging her skirts around her.

  Sarah turned to see the shrewd eyes, like chips of cold glass, upon her. ‘I do, certainly. I did not know you were aware of it.’

  Alicia’s lips curved slightly. ‘Father tells me everything. You of all people should know how close we are. His only regret, I think, is that I am not a boy.’

  ‘I’m sure that’s not true. He has three sons, after all.’

  ‘And all of them a disappointment to him in one way or another. James should have been the girl and I the boy. But that is one of the tricks nature delights in playing, I suppose. And I intend to make sure that I, at least, do not disappoint him.’

  Sarah made no reply and after a moment Alicia continued: ‘Yes, I think father is determined to back the aeroplane. He even mentioned to me that he might think of setting up a separate company if the new tests are successful.’

  ‘Really?’ Sarah felt a prickling of excitement. This was more than she had even dared to hope for.

  ‘Yes.’ Alicia was watching her reaction closely, her features more feline than ever. ‘It could mark an important step forward for them, Sarah. Provided of course that you do nothing to rock the boat.’

  ‘Me?’ Sarah said, surprised. ‘What have I to do with it?’

  ‘More than you realise. Father has two passions in life – the family empire – and me. If he could see the two merged together he would be a happy man.’

  ‘I don’t understand.’

  Alicia lifted a slim hand to smooth her sleek pompadour. Rubies and diamonds, family heirlooms, glittered on her fingers and wrist.

  ‘Come now, Sarah, I am sure you do if you only stop to think for a moment. It is Father’s dearest wish that Adam and I should … form an alliance. Don’t you see what it would mean to him? He would set up a company with himself and Adam as partners. A new family company, a generation of Morse Motors especially created for me, my husband and our children.’

  Sarah’s eyes widened. ‘Your husband? You mean … Adam?’

  ‘Of course. I made up my mind to have him, Sarah, a long while ago. And I would have won him by now if you had not stood in the way.’

  ‘You are mad, Alicia,’ Sarah said furiously. ‘You have been spoiled, I know. You have always had everything you ever wanted. But even you should know you cannot buy love.’

  Alicia’s lips curved. ‘Everything and everyone has a price, my dear. Adam wants to succeed with his flying machine very much.’

  ‘Adam would never … You’ve got the wrong man. He is upright and honourable. And perhaps I should tell you that he and I …’

  Alicia waved her to silence with an imperious gesture.

  ‘Oh yes, I know all about you and Adam,’ she said dismissively. ‘I know he has eyes only for you – at present. But if you were not here I’d like to see how quickly he would change his tune.’

  Suddenly, unaccountably, Sarah felt frightened.

  ‘What are you saying, Alicia?’

  Alicia was very still and in that stillness her power was more apparent than it had ever been.

  ‘Go away, Sarah. You did it once before – you can do it again. No-one would be in the least surprised. Go away and leave Adam to me and I will see that his future is assured with all the scope and backing he needs to build a dozen aeroplanes and a position in his own company – our company – commensurate with his ability. I’ve even thought of a name for it – Morse Bailey. It sounds good, doesn’t it? Adam will never regret it if he does as Father wishes and marries me. He is a generous man – you know that – and how much more generous would he be to his own daughter’s husband? No matter how many expensive failures there may be along the way he will stand them. And eventually Adam will have all the success he has ever dreamed of. More probably. So you see, Sarah, it is not only my way you stand in by remaining here. It is Adam’s.’

  She smiled and the cold certainty of that smile infuriated Sarah.

  ‘You bitch!’ she said.

  Alicia raised an eyebrow. ‘My goodness, Sarah, wherever did you learn such language? Of course on reflection it is probably true but I don’t mind you calling me names. Not when I hold all the cards.’

  ‘You do not hold all the cards. Adam loves me.’

  ‘And you love him. Which is why you will do as I say.’

  Sarah was shivering in spite of the heat of the room, her blood like rivers of ice in her veins.

  ‘And if I don’t?’

  ‘Then I will ruin him,’ Alicia said calmly. ‘I will make certain he does not get a single penny
of Father’s money. I can do that, make no mistake. However interested Father may appear to be now I assure you by the time I have finished he would not be prepared to allow Adam house room, never mind backing and accommodation, soft deals for engine building and a nice secure future. He and that crippled friend of his would be out of here so fast their feet would not touch the ground – and they would be lucky to find suitable work anywhere ever again. Father is very influential, you know.’

  ‘Alicia you wouldn’t!’ Sarah cried, aghast.

  ‘Don’t try me, my dear. I think you know me well enough to be quite sure that I certainly would. And there is something else, too, just for good measure. Father never did hear the truth of what happened between you and Hugh, did he?’

  Sarah was white now except for high spots of colour flaming in her cheeks.

  ‘The truth of that matter is very far from what your stepmother made it out to be,’ she said furiously. ‘Perhaps it is time I told my version of it.’

  Alicia smiled. As she had said, she held the winning hand – and she knew it.

  ‘Who would believe you?’ she asked. ‘You attempted to seduce Hugh – succeeded for all I know – and you were packed off in disgrace. The truth was kept from Father to spare the pain of knowing that a girl he had befriended and treated with kindness and generosity could behave in such a despicable manner. Perhaps now it is time he learned exactly what a little viper he nursed in his bosom.’

  ‘It is my word against Hugh’s and Hugh is not here,’ Sarah said. ‘I was a child then but I am not a child any longer. Gilbert would know the truth when he heard it.’

  ‘That his son was a rapist? That would make him very happy, Sarah. A nice way to repay him for all he has done for you.’

  ‘Alicia, you are despicable,’ Sarah said, her voice low and trembling. ‘I always knew it but I never thought even you would stoop to this.’

  Alicia’s mouth quirked but her eyes had a faraway expression in them.