The Winter Promise

by Rosie Goodwin

  Charlie, Susie and Opal were all as pale as ghosts as they stared at each other. Finally Opal nodded. ‘Yes . . . we . . . we’d like that very much,’ she said, her voice barely audible.

  Matthew went out into the hallway and a moment later Opal was surprised to see Eve’s parents, with Eve close beside them, enter the room.

  ‘Mrs King.’ Eve’s mother inclined her head. ‘I think I owe you an explanation, but I’ll offer no apology for what I did all them years ago.’ Her chin was high. ‘I fell in love wi’ your little brother the second I laid eyes on him, an’ I knew if he stayed in that awful nursery in the workhouse he’d die. Most o’ the babies that went in there never reached their third birthdays, an’ the poor little souls soon learned to not even bother cryin’ cos nobody went to tend ’em half the time. Anyway, me an’ Eve’s dad had lost so many babies, so I took him an’ he became the son we could never have, although o’ course I had no idea he were your little brother. I told everyone that a friend of mine had died and he had no one to care for him. I took him home an’ nursed him back to health an’ we called him Christopher.’

  ‘I didn’t know Opal . . . I swear it!’ Eve told her, wringing her hands together – but she needn’t have worried, as Opal was smiling again.

  ‘You owe me no apology, Mrs Fellows,’ she assured the woman. ‘Only my sincere thanks because, as you say, had you not taken him, he probably would have died. But now . . . please, may we see him?’

  Matthew crossed to the door and when he opened it a leggy twelve-year-old, who was the spitting image of his natural father, entered and went immediately to stand beside Mrs Fellows as he stared about, his eyes as big as saucers. There was no sign now of the sickly child they all remembered, and they saw immediately that he had been well loved and cared for. That was obvious from the way he shrank into his mother’s side.

  ‘When the gentleman turned up an’ told us why he was there, I told Christopher everythin’,’ Mrs Fellows explained. ‘But truthfully, he don’t remember livin’ wi’ no one but me an’ his dad here. It’s a lot fer the little chap to take in so’s you’ll ’ave to be patient wi’ him.’

  ‘Oh . . . Jack.’ Opal reached out to him but he shrank away from her and she gulped.

  ‘Me name is Christopher,’ he muttered sullenly.

  Opal nodded quickly as she exchanged a glance with Charlie.

  ‘Yes . . . yes of course it is, but it was Jack when you lived with us.’ He frowned and glared at her, and Opal knew then that they would have to take things very carefully if they were ever to establish any sort of a relationship with him. ‘So . . . you must be twelve now?’

  Eyeing her suspiciously, he nodded, as Susie came to stand beside her sister. ‘We’re so glad to have found you,’ she told him sincerely. ‘And I do hope that we can all be friends?’

  He sniffed but made no move towards her. ‘S’pose so.’ But he didn’t sound at all certain.

  Opal longed to hurry over to him and hug him, but she didn’t dare, and Charlie was so shocked he looked as if he had been turned to stone.

  It was Eve’s mother who broke the awkward silence when she said, ‘I reckon this little chap has a lot to come to terms wi’ at the moment, so if it’s all the same to you I’ll be takin’ him back off home now.’

  ‘Of course.’ It wasn’t the reunion Opal would have wished for, but after all the years of believing him to be dead she was just profoundly grateful to the woman standing in front of her, for without her tender loving care she had no doubt that he might well have been. ‘But . . . may we see him again . . . when he’s ready?’

  Mrs Fellows slowly nodded. ‘Yes, I’ll bring him back tomorrow afternoon, if that suits.’

  Opal’s beaming face was her answer, and she turned to leave.

  Opal, one hand clutched tight in Susie’s, and Charlie’s strong arm about her waist, watched them go with tears in her eyes.

  ‘I can’t believe we’re finally all reunited.’ Susie’s voice was choked as Opal placed her arm about her shoulders and glanced over at Matthew, who looked like the cat that had got the cream.

  ‘And it’s all thanks to you,’ she told him. ‘Somehow, against all the odds, you’ve found all the missing pieces of the jigsaw and put them back together again.’

  Yet even as the words were spoken, it dawned on her that this wasn’t entirely true. In her heart she had always dreamed that if ever she was reunited with Charlie and Susie again, they would all live together once more, but this would not be possible. Charlie was a married man with a home and businesses in London, Susie clearly had a deep allegiance to her adopted father and had no intention of leaving him, and Jack – or Christopher as he now preferred to be called – was quite obviously very close to the people he had believed were his birth family. Even so, she had never thought to see him again, so all she really cared about was growing close to him once more, even if it took a long time to win his trust.

  ‘It’s been a truly remarkable couple of days,’ Opal commented, and they all nodded in agreement. ‘And from now on things can only get better.’

  And indeed, things did get better. Over the next four weeks, Susie and Opal grew close again, and after the initial shock of discovering his true roots, Christopher became a regular visitor. Charlie wrote to Opal each and every week and arranged for her to go and stay with them once Matthew and Susie had returned to London, and she was greatly looking forward to it.

  But the best times for Opal were the evenings when everyone else had retired to bed and she and Matthew would sit and chat and really get to know each other. They soon found out that they had a lot in common, and the time they spent together seemed to pass in the blink of an eye.

  ‘She’s like a different woman,’ Mrs King commented to Eve one morning when Matthew, Susie and Opal had gone for a walk.

  ‘She certainly is, ma’am.’ Eve grinned. ‘She’s got her old sparkle back, ain’t she?’

  ‘Hm, and I have a feeling a lot of that is due to a certain gentleman.’

  Eve glanced at her, uncertain how to answer – Opal had been married to her son after all. But to her relief, she saw that the old lady’s eyes were twinkling with mischief.

  ‘It wouldn’t surprise me if we didn’t hear wedding bells again in the not too distant future,’ Mrs King said optimistically and Eve hoped with all her heart that she was right. Opal deserved some happiness.

  All too soon the day for Matthew and Susie to leave rolled around and Opal was tearful as she helped her sister to pack.

  ‘I don’t suppose I could persuade you to stay for just a little bit longer?’ she wheedled. Susie shook her head. ‘I have to go back to London. But you know you can come to stay with us as often as you like and for as long as you like. And don’t worry, I shall be coming back here too. I don’t intend to lose you again!’

  Eventually all the bags were down in the hall and after saying a tearful farewell while Will loaded the luggage on to the carriage Susie discreetly went to sit inside it. Mrs King and Eve then said their goodbyes to Matthew too before quietly slipping away and suddenly there was just the two of them, and it would have been hard to say who looked the most miserable at the prospect of parting.

  ‘This is it, then?’ Matthew’s brow was creased.

  ‘For now.’ Opal took his hand. ‘But it won’t be for long. You’re not going to get rid of me that easily.’

  He paused as if he were considering saying something and then throwing caution to the wind, he told her, ‘I don’t know if you’re aware of this . . . but I . . . Well, the truth of it is, I think I’m falling in love with you, Opal. I felt something for you the very first time I met you and now . . . I suppose what I’m trying to say is, do you think you could ever look on me that way?’

  Opal’s eyes were gleaming as she looked up at him. ‘I already do, my love,’ she whispered and before she knew it, she was wrapped in his arms and as his soft lips came down on hers she felt as
if she had finally come home after a very hard long journey.

  Through the gap in the green baize door further along the hallway, Eve stifled a giggle as she spied unashamedly on them. ‘It looks like I might have to hold on a while afore I go an’ make the fire up in the drawin’ room,’ she whispered to Mrs King, who was sitting at the kitchen table enjoying a cup of tea with Cook. ‘The young mistress an’ Matthew are busy, if yer know what I mean!’

  ‘And about time too,’ Mrs King declared with a smug expression on her face. ‘I wondered how long it’d take for them to get around to it! Now come away, girl and leave them to it.’

  And Eve was only too happy to do just that. Suddenly, the future looked rosy for all of them.

  Epilogue

  September 1866

  ‘Come along now, m’dear. You’re almost there – one more good push should do it,’ the motherly little midwife encouraged, as she leaned over Opal. The poor young woman was exhausted.

  Knowing that she was close to meeting her baby, as the next pain built, Opal gave an inhuman cry and, with her chin on her chest, she made one last mighty effort. At that moment the door burst open and Matthew charged in, his face grey with concern. He had been marching up and down the landing, beside himself with worry for hours, and he could stand it no more. The nurse he had employed to help the midwife looked at him disapprovingly. As far as she was concerned, the birthing room was no place for a man to be but seeing the look on his face, she knew better than to ask him to leave. He looked positively murderous.

  ‘Oh, my poor sweet love.’ His eyes were shining with unshed tears as he leaned over his wife and took her damp hand in his.

  Just then the midwife gave a crow of approval. ‘That’s it . . . that’s it! Keep it going – I can see the head.’

  Matthew kept his eyes firmly fixed on Opal’s face and seconds later a newborn’s indignant cry echoed around the room.

  ‘It’s a boy, and a right bonnie one too,’ the midwife cried triumphantly, as she deftly cut the cord connecting him to his mother and handed him to the waiting nurse. ‘And would you just look at that shock of hair. I’ve never seen a newborn with such a thatch, and it’s exactly the same colour as his mother’s.’

  The nurse meanwhile quickly dried the baby in the towel she had warmed ready and placed him on his mother’s chest as Opal stared down at him in awe.

  ‘Oh, Matthew . . . just look at him,’ she breathed. ‘He’s so perfect!’

  ‘He certainly is, just like his mother,’ Matthew answered in a choked voice as he stared with pride at his brand-new son. He was indeed a handsome little chap and Opal could hardly believe that she and Matthew had made something so perfect.

  Suddenly Opal gasped and tightened her grip on her new son, as a pain ripped through her. She groaned and stared at the midwife in alarm.

  ‘What’s happening?’ she gasped.

  The midwife hurried over and grunted in surprise as she examined Opal.

  ‘Is everything all right?’ Matthew asked anxiously.

  ‘Well . . . it all depends what you mean by all right,’ the woman answered, as she rolled her sleeves up again. ‘But I think she’d better hand the baby back to the nurse, because if I’m not very much mistaken his lordship is going to have a brother or sister any minute now!’

  ‘What!’ Matthew’s eyes had opened so wide with shock that they looked as if they were about to pop out of his head. ‘You mean you think there’s still another one to come?’

  The midwife nodded. ‘I’ve no doubt about it,’ she agreed, as Opal let out a long moan of pain.

  The second baby, a little girl who was the image of her father, was delivered fifteen minutes later, and Matthew looked as if he was about to burst with pride.

  As Opal was to tell Matthew later that day, ‘After having the first one it was like shelling peas – well almost,’ she added with a little grimace as she sat up.

  ‘Twins!’ he kept saying disbelievingly as he stared at them tucked into their mother’s arms.

  Opal giggled weakly. ‘It’s a good job I bought plenty of baby clothes, isn’t it?’

  ‘It wouldn’t have mattered if you hadn’t, they’ll never go without anything,’ her proud husband assured her.

  After the delivery, the nurse had had to almost crowbar him from the room while they saw to Opal and now that he was back beside her, he didn’t intend to leave anytime soon. In fact, he felt as if he could have stared at his brand-new family all day long.

  ‘Have you let Susie and Charlie know about the babies?’ Opal asked after a time and he nodded.

  ‘Oh yes, I sent notes to both of them immediately after the births, so I wouldn’t be surprised if they descended on us any time now. But you don’t have to see anyone, if you don’t feel up to it yet. I don’t want you tiring yourself any more than you already are.’

  Opal grinned. There was a glow about her, and she knew that she would remember this special time for as long as she lived.

  ‘I wonder what their cousin will make of them?’ she mused, as she stared down at the tiny faces. Charlie and Francesca had had a little girl, Florence, the year before, and they doted on her. ‘And what about names?’ she asked. ‘Have you any preferences?’

  ‘I quite like Albert for a little boy; we could call him Bertie. What do you think?’

  ‘I love it,’ she assured him with all the love she felt for him shining from her eyes. ‘And what about Beatrice for our little girl? It’s Mrs King’s middle name. They can be known as Bertie and Bea then?’

  ‘Perfect!’ He sighed with satisfaction, but there was no time to say more, for at that moment there was a commotion on the landing and a flush-faced maid appeared, saying, ‘I’m so sorry, ma’am. They wouldn’t give me time to announce them but insisted on seeing you right—’ Her words were cut short as Charlie gently elbowed her out of the way and charged towards the bed, Francesca with little Florence in her arms close behind him.

  ‘Twins! Well done, sis.’ He laughed as he stared down at his brand-new niece and nephew. ‘And I have to say they’re a lot prettier than our little Flo here was when she first put in an appearance. She was a right wrinkled little screwed-up thing. Though she’s a picture now,’ he added hastily as Francesca glared at him. ‘But where’s our Susie?’

  ‘She’s at the bookshop,’ Matthew told him and Charlie chuckled. Susie had started to work part-time at a bookshop in Oxford Street, because she said she got bored with nothing to do at home all day – but she hadn’t fooled any of them. They had all suspected that her desire to work had everything to do with the young man who owned the shop, and they had not been surprised when he and Susie had announced their engagement only the month before.

  They all billed and cooed over the babies for a time, but then Opal’s face became sad as she muttered, ‘Isn’t it sad that Mrs King didn’t live to see the babies? She would have loved them.’

  ‘Ah, but wherever she is she will see them,’ Francesca said stoutly.

  Mrs King had died peacefully in her sleep the year before, and as promised she had left the house and everything she possessed to Opal. Eventually she and Matthew had decided to keep the house open, and they now spent a few months each year there so that Opal could spend time with Christopher, who was now apprenticed to a carpenter in the town and loving every minute of it. He and his parents had moved into the house at Opal’s request as the old cook had wished to retire, and Eve’s mother had been only too happy to take her place. Eve’s mother had also proved to be a great help with Eve and Will’s two mischievous little sons, so all in all everything had worked out well and Opal couldn’t have felt more contented.

  ‘Just think, when Susie gets married in November, we will have had a death, a birth and a marriage all within the year,’ Opal said quietly and they all nodded in agreement.

  ‘It is the circle of life, let’s drink to it,’ Francesca suggested and, lifting a glass of champagne each from the silver tray the maid had deliver
ed to the room shortly before, they all solemnly raised their glasses.

  ‘To the circle of life, and to little Bertie and Bea – may they grow in love and strength.’ Matthew led the toast and, as they all solemnly sipped from their crystal glasses, Opal looked around at the beloved faces gathered about the bed, feeling truly blessed. Seconds later Susie burst into the room like a ray of sunshine, her face alight.

  ‘I thought it was a joke when I got the message that you’d had two babies!’ She laughed, staring from one to the other of them with a wide smile on her face. The nurse Matthew had employed stood patiently aside for a time to give the family time to bill and coo over the new arrivals, but then she told them sternly, ‘That’s enough for now, if you please. The new mother must have her rest.’

  Everyone reluctantly trooped from the room with promises to be back very soon, leaving Matthew alone with his wife. He kissed her soundly as he told her, ‘Well done, my darling. I think you’ve made me the happiest man on earth! And while you have a well-deserved sleep, I’m going to go out and buy another crib.’

  Opal stared up at him adoringly, her face aglow. At present the twins were tucked into the one crib they had bought and they looked so perfect lying there that just looking at them brought a lump to her throat.

  She nodded as the nurse swished the curtains tightly together and tucked the blankets about her. ‘Now you have a little nap and get your strength back, and when you wake up, I’ll have a nice cup of tea ready for you,’ she promised as she too left the room.