‘Would you have said “God forbid” if it was to pass to your own daughter?’
‘No, I wouldn’t.’
‘Well, in that case it should pass to her son.’
‘It will in time, dear.’
‘I don’t agree with you in this, Douglas, so let us think it over. Shall we?’
‘Yes, dear, just as you wish.’ He dare not say at this point, I’ve already put the wheels in motion, because he knew she was definitely playing for time to talk him round to her way of thinking, which she usually managed to do…But not this time.
She was sitting now with her hands tightly clasped on her knees as she said, ‘I hate age. I hate getting old. It changes so many things. I never thought, for instance, we would sell the factories. I miss going there, you know.’
He nodded at her, and was saying, ‘Yes, I know, dear,’ when the door was thrust open and in the framework a tall woman stood silently looking at them, and this brought Bridget swiftly to her feet, saying, ‘Oh, no, Nell! No!’
‘We were near the bus station, madam. I had turned to the flower stall and said, “Wouldn’t it be nice to take your aunt some flowers back?” and when she didn’t answer I looked round and’—the woman now shook her head—‘the bus was moving off and I saw her jumping onto it. She’ll be making for the house again. I’m so sorry, madam, but at times I think she’s really getting beyond me.’
Bridget was hurrying from the room now, saying, ‘I must phone Amy,’ but Douglas stopped her, calling, ‘No! No, don’t. Amy will do as she said, she won’t let her in. I’ll go and get her, don’t worry. I’ll likely get there as quick as the bus, that’s if she hasn’t taken the through one. Did you see what bus she took, Nell?’
‘No, sir. I was so taken aback. It was too far away.’
‘I’ll come with you,’ Bridget said, and he did nothing to stop her.
They were standing in the hall. Amy was facing Henrietta, and she was mouthing in no small voice, ‘I’ve…told…you, he…won’t…be in…till…late. He works late in his office. I…keep…telling…you.’
‘I…want…to stay. I can…go…back…tomorrow.’
‘You are not staying here, Henrietta. I’ve told you before.’
Henrietta looked about her, to one side where stood Malcolm, then to the other towards the green-baized door that led into the kitchen and where John was standing, and her words seemed to embrace them all as she cried, ‘This was…my home…before…it was…yours. I…I have…a right here…I can stay…as long as…I like. It was…my grandfather’s…house. It should…have been…mine.’ She had not mentioned her father. ‘It…is…mine.’
Amy came back at her, crying, ‘It never was yours! It is my house and I say you can’t stay here.’ Amy now turned and looked at Malcolm and, lowering her voice, she said, ‘Get your car out and take her back.’
‘No, Mother. No.’ His voice too was low, scarcely audible, but he forgot at the moment that the large objectionable creature, as he viewed her, was standing near him and could lip-read, and he went on, ‘I’ve promised to meet…well, I’m going to Delia’s for tea. As for having her in the car with her bulk; no, Mother! She shouldn’t be at large anyway; she should be locked up. You’ve said all this, but if I had my way…’
His voice trailed off as he saw his mother put her hand tightly over her mouth and John move swiftly from his position near the kitchen door. But it was too late.
Henrietta had taken in only bits of what Malcolm had said, because he hadn’t been facing her directly. But when she moved so that she was able to read his last words, she was lifted back into the past, and she saw the young man immediately change: he was taller and broader, but his face remained the same. It was that of her father and he was going to put her away, lock her up, take her from her mama. Her body jangling, she sprang: it became the continuation of the day she had encountered her father on the landing.
As her nails tore down Malcolm’s cheek she screamed, and so did he, and they were locked together for a while before John and Amy managed to drag her from him. John had gripped her throat and so had almost checked her breathing. This had loosened her hold, but in the ensuing struggle she slipped and fell on the floor; and as if handling a big bale, John rolled her onto her face, then put one knee on her back while he yelled at the two maids, who had made their startled appearance on the stairs, ‘Get the men! Ron, and one of the others.’
Amy had pressed Malcolm onto a hall chair and was now wiping his face with a handkerchief, repeating as she did so, ‘It’s all right. It’s all right,’ but when he muttered, ‘My eye,’ she said, ‘It’s the blood running from your brow. Don’t worry. Don’t worry, dear. Oh, my God! My God! I knew this would happen. She’s a maniac, she’s mad. Always has been. When I get to that telephone I’ll make my mother see that this is the final straw.’
But there was no need for her to get to the telephone to her mother, for almost at that instant, through the open door came both Bridget and Douglas, and Douglas, taking in the scene, muttered, ‘Oh, dear God! Not again.’
He went straight to where John still had his knee on the broad back and was now holding on to one of Henrietta’s arms and when Douglas said, ‘I’ll see to her. I’ll see to her,’ reluctantly, it would seem, John released his hold on the big groaning form, then straightened up, pulled his tunic straight, stroked his hair back and dusted his hands, the while he watched Douglas raise the woman to her feet.
Henrietta’s body was still jangling but all the fury had gone out of her, and she was the young girl again, whimpering, ‘He said…I…was mad. He…he was…going to…put me away, Douglas.’
‘Don’t be silly, Henrietta. He said no such thing.’
‘He did! He did!’ The childishness had gone out of her tone now and she was yelling and looking towards where Malcolm was being led from the hall by Amy, and she cried out, ‘He…said it…to…Amy. He did! He did!’
‘Stop that!’ It was Bridget now standing before her. ‘You have been warned, haven’t you, what would happen if you let go of your temper again? Well now, you’ve brought this on yourself.’
The big face crumpled, the tears came into the eyes and she spelled out on her hands now, ‘I just wanted to see Joseph. I’ve never seen him for a long time.’
‘He’s very busy. He told you. Come along.’
As Bridget led the jangling woman through the now small crowd of workers round the doorway, Douglas, seeing his daughter emerging from the passage, made his way towards her, saying, ‘I’m sorry, dear, I’m…’
He got no further for, hissing at him now, Amy said, ‘Get her locked up! Do you hear? If it wasn’t for who she is, I would have called the police.’
‘What has she actually done?’
‘What has she actually done! She’s clawed Malcolm’s face. She went for his eyes. She’s mad, I tell you.’
‘No, not mad, Amy, just frustrated. She only wanted to see Joseph, and if you had let her stay…’
‘Daddy.’ She now gripped his arm and pulled him into the corridor, away from the sight and sounds in the hall, and still speaking sharply, she said, ‘She could have waited a long time because Joseph hardly lives here any more. He goes out in the morning and I don’t see him until seven or eight at night, and then only a glimpse before he goes into his office.’
‘He’s working up a business, dear, you know that; and twice he has taken Kitty and Bertha either to a concert or a play. Apparently you didn’t want to accompany them.’
‘I’ve got no taste for blaring bands and comedy strips, and what is more I consider them too young for that kind of thing. Anyway, that isn’t the point. She is the point.’ Her finger now stabbed along the corridor. ‘Put her away before she kills somebody,’ she demanded, swinging angrily away from him.
Angry himself now, Douglas hurried across the hall and outside to Bridget and Henrietta, who were already in the car, and when Henrietta whined from the back seat, ‘It…was what…he said…’ he snapped
at her: ‘Shut up you! Shut up! Not one more word. I’ll deal with you when we get home.’
Henrietta shut up, and Bridget, who had been on the point of saying something, remained quiet. It wasn’t often her beloved Douglas lost his temper, but the few times she had heard him use this tone, she knew there was some plain speaking to be done.
Six
The shop was closed. They had the sitting room to themselves; Janet had gone to the pictures. It was the first time they had actually been alone during all his visits. And now there was a feeling of slight embarrassment between them, but he broke it by coming to the fore, saying, ‘Your mother’s gone out on purpose in order to leave us alone, hasn’t she?’
‘Yes. Yes.’ She nodded at him from where she was sitting at the end of a small couch placed at right angles to the fire, and she repeated, ‘Yes, that’s her motive. But…but, Joseph, I…well, to put it plainly, I know how you feel, and…and I know how I feel, but I couldn’t live with myself if I were to be the means of breaking up a family…separating a man and wife.’
He jerked himself up from his chair and, sitting beside her, he caught her hand as he said, ‘You’ll certainly not be breaking up the latter. Amy and I are living in the same house, but we haven’t been sharing the same bed for some long time now.’
She shook her head. ‘That makes no difference, Joseph. You are still a family and I don’t want anything to start that we’ll both regret.’
‘There’ll be no regret on my part, Liz, I can assure you. It’s very strange, you know, but I can recall the first time I saw you when I was sitting in that chair.’ He pointed. ‘There was something hit me then that I’d never experienced before. I didn’t recognise it until I had called that first time to thank you, but from then I knew. You see, I’d been hemmed in all my life with so-called love, and what love I had to give was, in a way, dragged from me. But this feeling for you was spontaneous. And you, what did you feel?’
She drew in a long breath before she said, ‘I’m not going to tell you. I’m not going to go into it, because, as I see it, nothing can come of it.’
‘If…if I were to get a divorce?’
When she made to spring up he gripped her hands and held her firmly down as she said to him, ‘You’ll get no divorce through me. If…if there’d only been her, your wife, but you’ve got six of a family, and your youngest is only fifteen now.’
‘Yes, but my eldest two are settled, at least they know where they are going. William’s definitely a farmer, Malcolm’s at university in his second year; he is on twenty now and I think his bent is teaching; he’s good at languages. Alice, she is determined to marry and soon. My wife is not for the match, but I am, and it should happen that her young man has a cousin in the British Embassy in Paris and has offered him a post there. But I think they prefer married couples, so he’s pressing his suit and Alice is pressing her mother. But even if Amy doesn’t give her consent she has mine, and she’ll go ahead. That’s three settled. Jonathan is nearly seventeen and he has passed for the Royal College of Music. That just leaves Kitty and Bertha. Well, they are two bright girls and I’m very fond of them, and they of me. They’re both intelligent and I’m sure would understand the situation. Anyway, I am forty years old, Liz, and the thought of spending the rest of my life in that house with Amy, oh no. No. No!’ He closed his eyes and shook his head and repeated, ‘No! Because I’m determined, once the two girls are settled, and I may say’—he was pointing at her now—‘I had this all worked out in my mind before I met you. Once they were settled in a career whichever way they wanted to go, I was to make the break. And you know, truthfully, I wasn’t concerned so much about the effect it would have on my wife, but what it would have on her parents; and again not so much on her mother, but on her father, Douglas, for he is a splendid man, an honest man and kindly with it. So there you have it, Liz. Are we going to say, hello, and ta-ra, every time I come? Am I not to touch you? Do you know something? We’ve never kissed, have we? Oh, my dear, my dear.’ His arms went about her now and she leant against him, her head on his shoulder, and he stroked her hair, saying, ‘There, there. Please. The last thing in the world I want to do is to upset you. We’ll have it your way. If it’s the family you’re worried about, I’ll wait; another year or two won’t make all that difference as long as you promise me that I can look to the rest of my life being spent with you.’
He now stroked the thick brown hair back from her brow; then lifting up her face, he brought his fingers around her wet cheeks and into her trembling lips, and when she said, ‘I’ve refused two offers of marriage within the last two years and I’ve asked myself why, and what of my future when Mam dies? What am I waiting for? Yet, the day when I helped to lift you from the pavement outside, and then saw you sitting in that chair, I knew…well, like you, perhaps not exactly then. It was when I heard your voice: there was something about your voice, the way you spoke, the look in your eyes. You were different. I knew then why I was waiting, and on Christmas Eve when you sent the fruit and the flowers I cried myself to sleep.’
Gently he took her face between his hands and as gently he placed his lips on hers, and when her arms went round him he held her close, then said quietly, ‘Oh, Liz, Liz, as long as I can hold you it will be enough for the time being.’
Seven
‘You must have been mistaken.’
‘How could I have been mistaken after going into all those details?’
William turned now and kicked a log further into the blazing fire as he muttered, ‘I can’t believe it. Dad and a woman?’
They both turned and looked towards the dining-room door now as it opened and Malcolm came in, and he, glancing from one to the other, said, ‘Have you seen Mam? I thought she was in here.’
When Jonathan shook his head, Malcolm looked at him and said, ‘What’s wrong? What’s up?’
It was William now who, pointing to his brother, said, ‘You tell him. See what he thinks.’
So Jonathan again related his news. He started by saying, ‘Father…Father’s got a woman.’
‘Father’s got a woman! What do you mean?’
‘Just what I say.’ Jonathan now pushed his head forward, and in a lowered voice said, ‘I told Willie here about it. I was walking from the station looking for Mr Bradley’s house, the new master who’s taking me during the holidays. Well, I recognised Father’s car as it passed me, and of course I recognised him, too, and I thought it was too late to attract his attention, when just a little way on he turned up an alleyway; and as I passed it I saw it was a narrow street with some shops in it and he had stopped the car at the top. I walked up and realised he must have gone into the off-licence shop, so I went in thinking to speak to him, but he wasn’t there. A little woman was behind the counter, and I was stumped for a moment; then I asked for…well, a bottle of beer. Beyond the counter was a glass door, at least the top half was glass, and I could see Father as plain as if he were standing before me now.’ He now lowered his head. ‘He had his arm around the shoulder of a girl. Well, she looked like a girl, but she could have been a woman; and they were laughing together, and—’ He paused, then muttered, ‘I saw him put his face down to hers and then they moved out of sight.’
Malcolm was looking at William and William was nodding at him, saying, ‘Well, what d’you make of it? What d’you think?’
There was a longish pause before Malcolm said, ‘I can’t imagine it of Father…yet, we all know things haven’t been very good between him and Mother for some time, have they? And that’s likely why he’s out at nights most of the time now.’
‘He could be at the office, he’s got a lot of work on…’
‘Don’t be naive, Willie!’ Malcolm turned away disdainfully, and even Jonathan raised his eyebrows.
‘What if Mother found out?’ said William now.
‘Oh, then the fat would be in the frying pan,’ said Jonathan, and the other two simultaneously repeated the same words: ‘Yes, the fat would be in the fryi
ng pan then, all right.’
‘Should you tackle Father?’
Malcolm reared now as he looked at his twin and exclaimed, ‘Why me? What would I say? But why me?’
‘Because,’ said William tersely, ‘you’re always putting it forward that you’re the eldest and that, because of those seven minutes, what’s coming to you and what isn’t coming to me. Oh yes, you’ve stopped saying openly that this house will be yours one day; but it’s still in your mind, I’ll bet. So, that’s why you should approach Father.’
‘Well, I’m not going to be bawled out and told to mind my own bloody business. Anyway, lots of men of his age have mistresses; and Mam…well, as we all know, she isn’t too easy to put up with at times.’
‘Yes, you’re right there,’ said William, ‘and I think that’s because she only has one person on her mind all the time and that’s Dad. As Grandpa once told us, she trailed him from the minute she could walk, and was always determined to have him. He said it in fun but…well, I should imagine that it can become a bit wearing at times.’
‘Do you think he’ll ask her for a divorce?’
At this William turned on Jonathan, hissing, ‘Shut up! Divorce? No, of course not.’
‘Don’t be too sure.’
The three of them now looked at each other questioning; then turned quickly towards the archway that led into the serving room, and it was William who darted there. But when he found it empty he looked back at his brothers, saying, ‘I thought I heard the door click, didn’t you?’
‘Look in the corridor.’
At this Jonathan ran to the far door of the dining room, pulled it open and looked into the corridor. But seeing no-one there, he sighed with relief and then joined his brothers again…
The Black Candle Page 47