Dreams Can Come True
Page 34
“Maggie!”
“Mrs. Haines!”
Both men spoke at the same time when they saw her. Both men came towards her, and both outstretched a hand.
It was Mr. Arlington who got to Maggie first, greeting her in a solicitous manner while inquiring of her health, pulling out a chair for her and asking how long she had been back.
“Richard, would you get Mrs. Haines a coffee? Two sugars wasn’t it, my dear? And Richard, would you bring me one as well?” Arlington was trying to put the young man in his place.
“Why, thank you, Mr. Arlington, and Richard, perhaps you would like to get yourself a coffee too. I have quite a lot to say, so I’ll wait until you come back.”
“Something amiss, dear lady?” Arlington asked, while they sat facing each other across the office desk, him trying to ascertain the reason for her visit before his protégé returned.
“And may I say that it looks as if your holiday has done you a power of good. You’ll be surprised to see me here as well as Mr. Clegg, won’t you? Did you know your son-in-law left him in the lurch and I felt it my duty to assist him?”
“I had heard, and that’s why I’m here today, Mr. Arlington. I need to sort out what’s happening and see what I can do.”
Mr. Arlington went quiet then and she observed him under lowered lashes, until the silence became uncomfortable and she began to fiddle with her hem. He tapped a foot and shifted about, then walked to a cabinet and then came back. In his hand he carried a paper wallet and placed it on the desk before her without an explanation of what was within.
“Ah, yer back then, Richard. Shall I be Mother or shall I let you pour?”
Richard smiled at her attempt to lighten the mood; perhaps now they could get back to normal again.
“Now then, Maggie, before we make a start I’d like to have a look at that file I’ve just placed before you. You will notice that your son in law has taken out a substantial loan without your permission. Mr. Clegg here did ask him for collateral, but he refused to give it. Am I to take it that Eddie Dockerty is a thief?”
“Strong words, Mr. Arlington,” replied Maggie, as in the background she heard Richard gasp at the man’s affront. He would have adopted a more subtle approach if the matter had been left to him.
“In fact I gave him my authorisation, but it was held up, as I remember, in the post.”
“Oh.” Arlington looked rather agitated. “I wish I’d known that earlier; we were thinking of taking court proceedings against the man.”
“In whose name, Mr. Arlington? Mine or Sheldon’s? Surely yer didn’t think that I’d be suing one of me own?”
“I don’t know what to think,” he began, looking helplessly at Richard. “It was your mother in law who suggested that I oversee the business until such time your son returned.”
“Ah, Michael. I wondered when we would get on to him. Have I missed something? When was my funeral? Did yer send me a floral wreath? Was there a mention of it in the Chester broadsheet? Because I seemed to have missed it all, yer know.”
“Oh, come now, Maggie, you can see our point of view. Michael had come home from India and you had disappeared off the face of the earth. It was natural that his grandmama would want him to be restored to his rightful place as your inheritor.”
“This company was doing fine under the stewardship of my son in law. As far as I’m aware, Richard was running the Loan Department just as well. Because of your wife’s interference, Mr. Arlington, I have lost a very good Works Manager and the company of my family in our home at Selwyn Lodge. I am reliably informed that Michael still has three years to do in his regiment. What am I to do meantime, run the place meself?”
“Well, yes. If you’re not requiring my help and from the tone of your voice it seems you won’t be wanting me to, it appears you will have to run Sheldon, until such times that your son is able to take over. But remember, my dear lady, that you are running your business in a man’s world. Men don’t take kindly to women proprietors, as you already know.”
“Yes, you’ve always made that very clear, a woman’s place is in the home. But what do you say about it, Richard? Are you still willing to work for me?”
The young man nodded and smiled at Maggie gratefully.
“Good, I’m glad to hear that, because now I’m going to tell yer of me plan. I’ve decided to sell Sheldon, both the loans and the property. You may look alarmed, Mr. Arlington, but it’s a decision that I’ll not be thwarted from.”
“But my dear… Surely this needs some thinking through? What about Michael? Alice will be so angry…”
“Good day, Mr. Arlington, and thank you fer what you’ve done.”
Maggie sat on the sofa in the drawing room later, still trembling a little from her “run in” with Mr. Arlington. She sipped at a warming brandy while she thought on what Mr. Arlington would call “her audacity”. Well, she’d seen him off, hadn’t she? No more interference; no more snide remarks from Alice. Once she had sold the business she could do just as she pleased. She thought for a moment of Rosemary. Soon, she’d be able to claim her back and take her to their cottage in Killala. Though she’d miss the view of the Welsh hills from her bedroom window; it was little enough sacrifice to be with her child.
The place was warm now and the boiler hot, so after checking on the horses, Maggie soaked herself for a while in a scented bath. There was thinking to do and plans to make. An early night would see her right.
The first shafts of sunlight poked their way through the chink in Maggie’s bedroom curtains next morning. She awoke slowly, surprisingly refreshed in her mind, considering all the thoughts that had been churning around her head the night before. It was time to put her plans into action. First she’d feed the horses, visit the butcher and grocer, then catch the midday train to Chester to see her solicitor. She wandered into the bathroom wearing her morning gown, then heard the postman knocking on the front door. The knocking grew louder; more impatient. So annoyed was Maggie that she ran in anger down the stairs. She would tell that Alec to stop his noise in no uncertain terms!
“What do yer thinking you’re doing, Alec?” she shouted through the door, as she fumbled with the locks and bolts and cursed as she scraped her hand. But it wasn’t the postman standing there; it was an entirely different man.
“Johnny!” Maggie gaped. He’d come back again after all this time. There he was on her doorstep, looking haggard, wild and bleary-eyed.
“I’ve come to see me daughter, Maggie.”
“How did yer get to know?”
“From Fred Ellery, then the Heaney’s… I heard from the solicitor that you had bought my house. Maggie, why didn’t you tell me? Why give birth to our baby without the slightest hint?”
She opened the front door wider, feeling her spirits rising as she looked upon his face.
“I’ve got a lot to tell yer, Johnny. I think you’d best come in.”