Returning across the Green, she saw with alarm that the back bedroom windows were wide open. In that cold weather!
Midge met her as she opened the gate from the lane into her garden. She picked him up to give him a cuddle, but he leaped from her arms onto the fence and from there to the roof of the shed. Ellie dished him out some more cat food and left the door of the shed open a little way, so that he could take shelter there if he felt so inclined.
Inside the house, she confronted a hot and sweaty Stewart, who was trying to heave one of her precious antique side tables up the stairs.
‘Stewart! What on earth are you doing?’
Stewart lost his grip and the table slid back down the stairs, with Ellie lunging forward to break its fall.
Diana appeared at the top of the stairs, also looking flushed. ‘Mother, I didn’t expect you back so early. Stewart’s interview isn’t till tomorrow morning, so he’s just moving some furniture round for me.’
Stewart stood aside as Ellie marched up the stairs. ‘Don’t you think you should have asked me first?’
She stood on the landing and nearly died. Her bedroom, her own particular refuge, the one in which she had slept nearly all her married life, had been turned upside down. The double bed from the back bedroom was now standing in place of her own bed. The dressing table was halfway through the door into the back bedroom, and as her fitted wardrobe doors stood open, Ellie could see that her own clothes had been removed and Diana’s put there instead.
‘You see, mother, how much better it is this way. Stewart and I will have so much more space in the front room, especially with your big old dressing table out and the smaller table in the window instead. You’ll be much cosier in the smaller room at the back …’
Ellie found she was shaking with rage. She took a deep breath. ‘Diana, I have never struck you in my life. Believe me, you are within an inch of it now. You will return everything to the way it was, and you will do it right now. Stewart, see to it, will you?’
‘Mother, you can’t …’
‘I will leave the fish for Stewart’s supper in the fridge. Don’t expect me to cook it for you, because I have been invited out for supper myself.’
‘Mother, you can’t be serious!’
‘Oh, I am. Believe me, I am deadly serious. Stewart, if I don’t see you before your interview tomorrow, then I wish you the best of luck.’
Ellie banged the front door shut behind her, and thought: that’s torn it. Now she can tell all her friends how unreasonable I am. I know, of course I know, that my bedroom is old fashioned, but Frank liked it like that and …
She stopped to blow her nose. How forceful she had been! Had she actually threatened to strike her own daughter? She was halfway between a giggle and a scream. I’m going to be labelled the Wicked Witch of the West, she thought. And I don’t care. So, what do I do till it’s time for Bill to pick me up?
Her feet were already taking her across the Green. She sighed. She had not particularly wanted to ask Aunt Drusilla to help her out with accommodation for Diana. In fact, she had fought against it. But this was the last straw.
Turning into the driveway of the big house, Ellie slowed. Ought she to recognize the car that was parked there? It had a familiar look to it. She examined it for clues. A Jaguar. Oh. Roy had a Jaguar. Yes, it might be his. Aunt Drusilla had mentioned that she knew him.
Roy opened the door to let himself out as she mounted the steps. He looked surprised, almost shocked. Then he shrugged, smiled and stood aside for Ellie to enter the house. ‘We must talk. May I ring you later?’
She nodded and he drove away without saying anything else.
With a feeling of uneasiness amounting to panic, Ellie thought up a wild and fanciful explanation for his presence. Was it possible that … ? No. No, of course not. But she reminded herself that when she had got up that morning, she had believed black to be black and white to be white. Now she was not so sure.
Aunt Drusilla was sitting in her big chair before the fire. All the lights had been turned on, and on the table beside the old lady stood a selection of brightly polished, silver-framed photographs.
‘It’s only me, Aunt Drusilla.’ Ellie bent to kiss the old lady’s cheek, with her eyes on the photographs. She knew those photographs. She had seen them before in Nora’s flat. Roy had taken them to sell for Aunt Drusilla. Or so he had said.
Aunt Drusilla was clutching a large man’s handkerchief. It looked as if it had been made much use of.
‘Sit, girl. Have you worked it out, then?’
‘I’m not sure. Roy is …’
‘… my illegitimate son, yes.’
Ellie sat down with a bump. The old lady wasn’t one to beat about the bush.
Aunt Drusilla tried on a smile. It looked grotesque, but then, there were tears in the folds of her cheeks and beneath her eyes.
She said, ‘I suppose I’d better explain. I fell in love with his father when he came to teach at the school I attended. I was in my last year there, a lanky, ugly girl. I couldn’t believe it when this charming, handsome young teacher singled me out for attention. Naturally I fell for him. My father disapproved, saying he was a fortune-hunter.
‘I didn’t believe him. What teenager in love ever does? When I left school we became secretly engaged and I got pregnant. Percy had vowed we would be married the moment I was old enough to marry without my father’s consent. My father made it clear that there would be no money if we married, and Percy cooled off. In those days you didn’t keep illegitimate babies. My father arranged for me to stay with a distant cousin in the country and the baby was adopted at birth. Luckily he went to a professional family who doted on him, gave him a good education and left him a small fortune.’
‘Roy. He was fortunate in his adoptive parents.’
‘Yes. As for me, I returned home and learned how to make myself useful to my father. Over the next few years he proved my business abilities and discovered that my younger brother – his only son and Frank’s father – was lacking in that respect. When he died, he left me the bulk of his money. I enjoyed making money. It became my one aim in life. I did have one or two men hanging around after me over the years, but I never encouraged them. I’d had enough of that.
‘Percy married his headmaster’s daughter, sired the unprepossessing Nora, and eventually took over the school. It amused me to give him a lease on one of my flats and to see what a pig’s ear he made of marriage to his whining wife. As for the child, she turned out about as badly as could be expected of such a union. When I heard that he’d died, I laughed. Certain people thought I ought to help Nora out of her difficulties, but I didn’t see it like that. He ruined me, and he ruined his daughter. So be it.’
Ellie was reassessing everything she’d known about the family. ‘And then Roy found out that you were his mother, and came looking for you?’
‘He found out that his mother was a wealthy woman, and came looking for a handout to finance a development scheme. I would have sent him away with a flea in his ear, but for some reason he reminded me of my own dear nephew Frank …’
‘… and so you pointed him in my direction, thinking that if he married me, he would get the finance he required and you’d be shot of him.’
‘Something like that, yes. But you didn’t want him.’
‘No. Like you, I was reminded of Frank at first. I was attracted to him, yes, and he tried hard enough. But, no. It wouldn’t do for me, or for him.’
‘He expects me to act like his mother! Now, after all these years!’ Aunt Drusilla laughed, a high, almost mad sound. Then she sobered. ‘Make a pot of tea, will you, Ellie? I asked Roy to do it, but he couldn’t even find the kitchen. And talk about ham-fisted! I don’t know where he gets his clumsiness from. His father, I presume.’
Ellie made the tea, and they sat in companionable slience until the old woman said, ‘Get rid of those photographs for me, will you, Ellie? I don’t want them.’
‘Perhaps Roy will. He
’s polished them up beautifully.’
‘Got someone else to do it, more like. Put them in the top drawer of the armoire. I’ll give them back to him next time I see him. He wants to develop that big house on the Green. What do you think? Is it a good proposition?’
‘I really don’t know enough about finance to say. I like his ideas, yes, and I think they’d pass the planning committee.’
‘Hm. Then I might take it further. Unless, of course, you want him out of your life, in which case I’ll tell him I can’t help.’
‘I don’t want him in my life particularly. I get angry when I think how he tried to bamboozle me, but no … on the whole, I think I feel sorry for him. As to developing that site, I don’t want to come between a friend and a good business deal.’
‘You think of him as a friend? No more than that?’
‘No more than that,’ said Ellie firmly. ‘He amuses me, but it won’t go any further. Tell me, do we recognize the relationship now?’
‘Yes, I suppose so. I leave it to you to tell Diana. Turn the central heating up, will you, dear? I’m feeling the cold.’
Ellie put the silver frames in the drawer the old lady indicated and turned up the heating at the thermostat in the hall. On her return Aunt Drusilla said, with a return to her imperious manner, ‘And now, to what do I owe the pleasure of this visit?’
Change of subject, thought Ellie. ‘Well, the truth is that Diana is driving me mad, and I have to get her out of my house or I shall do something I shall regret. Can you find some suitable accommodation for her elsewhere? Until they manage to sell the house up north, she won’t have enough to pay rent on anything decent down here, so I thought I might offer to pay the rent for her on a two-bedroomed flat, possibly furnished, for anything up to six months.’
‘You are no businesswoman, Ellie. You ought to start by asking me to give her free housing, since, as you very well know, I am getting her services cheap.’
‘I thought we’d got past that stage. I suspect that Diana may not be as …’ she hesitated, searching for the right word.
‘As trustworthy as you? I agree. I shall keep my eye on her. Well, there is a first-floor flat – fully furnished, central heating – which became vacant yesterday. I will let you have a lease on that, and who you sublet to is your business. It’s situated in the next road, in a big house similar to this. No access to the garden, I’m afraid. But then, I don’t think Diana is a gardener, is she?’
‘Ah. Have you let Roy have a flat in the same house?’
‘No. He’s in a different house in another road. Did he tell you I’d let him have a flat?’
‘No. I guessed. And the rent for Diana’s flat?’
‘Do you care?’
‘No, I don’t think I do. Anything to get her out of my hair.’
‘You’re a terrible businesswoman, Ellie. Well, I’ll be fair. I’ll instruct the estate agents to let you have the keys tomorrow. I have only one stipulation to make. Diana must not know that I own the house, or indeed that I own anything apart from the riverside flats. You will tell her that you have discovered the flat for yourself, and are renting it to her.’ ‘Agreed.’
‘Do you think Stewart will get a transfer to the London office?’
‘Gut reaction says no, but I think Diana is determined to move down here. I suppose she might insist on Stewart giving in his notice and looking for another job down here, but … he’s a nice lad, you know.’
‘He’s not up to her weight. Ellie, your advice please. As you may have guessed, I own not only the riverside flats, but also a dozen houses converted into flats and let out on short leases. I don’t wish Diana to know about them, or to manage them. As you know, I have not been satisfied with the estate agents who have been managing my affairs. Do you think – if the worst comes to the worst – that Stewart might be a possible manager for those other properties, if I set up a dummy company as a front and got them to employ him as manager?’
‘He is meticulous and honest, yes. No decorative flair, no driving ambition. He might do well.’
‘I’ll think about it. You’re looking very smart today. You also look as if you have been crying. Have you had any more of those dreadful letters?’
‘No, but I found out who was sending the typed letters …’ She told Aunt Drusilla what had happened at the solicitor’s office that morning. ‘It’s strange. I was frightened by the letters when they came from unknown hands. Now I know who sent them, I’m not frightened, but I do feel distressed for them. What sad, empty lives some people live! The damage those two women have done! And where has it got them? Pills and more pills for Sue. And for Harriet the loss of a job which has meant everything to her.’
‘So it’s finished, then? You’ve done a good job, Ellie.’
‘I hope so. I hope it was Harriet who sent the wax figures and made those threatening phone calls. I shall find out tonight when I have supper with Bill.’
Ellie took the tea things out to the vast, unheated kitchen, and washed up. A tray with a meagre supper stood ready on the table for Aunt Drusilla. Ellie took that through and left it on the side table. Aunt Drusilla did not appear to have moved since Ellie left the room, but one of the silverframed photographs had migrated from the drawer to the table at her elbow. Ellie said nothing about that. She kissed the old lady and bade her goodnight.
Going down the drive, she thought how strange it was that she had come so close to someone whom she had always regarded as the cross in her life. She had actually kissed the old lady with affection! That was something that would have been inconceivable even a short time ago. But there it was. Ellie understood her better now.
*** It was later than she had thought. She walked home quickly, wondering if she had time for a shower before Bill came to pick her up. She walked straight into a party being hosted by Diana. Stewart was pouring drinks for wall-to-wall people, but Ellie could see cigarette ash all over the carpet, and nibbles tossed around everywhere. The noise level was appalling, as the guests competed with deafening music from the stereo. There was no sign of Midge.
‘Oh! Who are you?’ An ultra-thin woman in black bumped into Ellie. ‘Where’s the loo?’
Ellie tried to hang up her coat, but there was no room on the stand in the hall. Carrying it, she went into the kitchen. Someone popped their head around the door. ‘What fun! Freddie’s just sicked up in the fireplace. Have you got any more ice?’ The head disappeared.
Ellie looked in the fridge. The fish she had bought for Stewart’s supper was still in its wrapper. She went up the stairs. Two men seemed to be having a wrestling match on the double bed, which – thank goodness – had been returned to the back bedroom. On her own single bed in the front room lay a pile of coats. A woman was seated at Ellie’s dressing table, primping.
‘Oh, are you the daily? There’s no more loo paper.’
‘Hurry up, Vanda!’ Ignoring Ellie completely, a man appeared in the doorway, zipping up his flies. ‘I say, this is very boring. I thought you said this woman knew everyone, but it’s a crowd of nobodies. How soon can we get away?’
‘I only met her a couple of times at the museum or something. Can’t even remember what she does. I wouldn’t have come if we weren’t due just down the road at eight.’
Ellie panicked, worrying about little Frank, but he was lying fast asleep in the cot, clutching Gog. She went into the bathroom and locked the door. The bathroom was in chaos, not a clean towel or any loo paper in sight. She piled the towels into the laundry basket, got out some new loo paper, and had a shower. Several people came banging on the door, but she ignored them. There were shouts and loud goodbyes from below.
Suddenly the house went quiet. Venturing out of her sanctuary, Ellie found her bedroom empty of clothes and people. Everything on the dressing table had been knocked over or pushed on the floor. She made a leisurely toilet and went downstairs to find Stewart rather cack-handedly trying to clean up. Diana was lying on the couch, complaining of a headache.
/> ‘Sorry, mother!’ said Stewart. ‘I didn’t know we were going to throw a welcome back party till this evening. I said I didn’t think you’d like it.’
‘No, I don’t,’ said Ellie crisply. ‘I know it wasn’t your fault, Stewart, but whatever happens at your interview, this has proved that we can’t all live together. I have to have my house to myself again. Diana, I have found a flat for you locally for six months, furnished, which should do you until you can sell your own house up north. You can have the keys tomorrow and I want you to move in the following day. I will pay the rent, but you will cover all outgoings and repairs. Understood?’
‘What? But this is my home!’
‘No, it isn’t. It’s mine. You’re a grown-up girl now, with your own lifestyle, which is not mine.’
Stewart picked up the pieces of a broken wine glass. ‘I told you she wouldn’t like us having a party, Diana.’
‘But you’ll pay the rent?’ Ellie nodded. ‘Well, I suppose … where is this flat? Local? Big enough for an au pair? It will have a garage, of course.’
‘I wouldn’t think so, not in this area. You shall have all the details tomorrow. Meanwhile, you’d better cook that fish for Stewart’s supper, or it will go off. I’m out this evening, remember.’
‘With that no-good Bar-tick, I suppose!’
‘Don’t speak ill of your cousin …’
‘Cousin?’
‘Second cousin,’ amended Ellie. ‘He’s Aunt Drusilla’s long-lost son, put out for adoption at birth.’
Diana flushed. ‘What?’
‘Don’t shout, dear. Yes, he came looking for his mother, after all these years. Touching, isn’t it?’
Stewart was gaping. ‘You mean, he’s after her money too?’
‘Stewart!’ Diana was appalled, not that her husband had been tactless, but that he had spoken the truth.
‘Yes, dear. That’s right. He’s after her money too. But he does care for her in his own way. And no, I’m not going out with him tonight, but with Bill Weatherspoon, my solicitor.’
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