Secrets

by Lesley Pearse

  Once she’d let all the rabbits out into their pens, and found a few clumps of dandelion leaves for their breakfast, she picked up Misty to stroke her.

  Honour didn’t allow the buck rabbits in with Misty, as she said Adele would only be upset when her babies had to be killed. Adele had often thought she would like to live her whole life like Misty, petted, well fed and protected from the nastiness of breeding. But then she supposed that would mean she’d end up an old maid without any children or grandchildren.

  She was still stroking Misty and contemplating the mysteries of love, sex and marriage, when she heard a car coming down the lane. There were too many bushes and trees at both sides of the cottage to see who it was, so she walked round the side path.

  To her astonishment Michael was getting out of a big black car.

  ‘What a surprise,’ she said, blushing furiously because he was in a formal suit and tie, and she hadn’t even brushed her hair this morning and was wearing the old rag of a dress she always did her chores in. ‘I thought you were still travelling the world.’

  He smiled, but it was a forced, troubled one. ‘I had to come back,’ he said, grimacing. ‘Oh hell, I don’t know where to start.’

  At that point Honour came out of the front door. She must have heard what Michael had said, for she asked if his mother was all right.

  ‘No, she’s not, Mrs Harris,’ he said. ‘May I talk to you? Or are you too busy?’

  ‘Not too busy to see you, Michael,’ she said welcomingly. ‘Come on in.’

  Thrilled that he was back, yet anxious because all did not seem well, Adele put Misty back in her pen, then joined her grandmother and Michael indoors.

  ‘Mother and Father have separated,’ he burst out. ‘Mother is going to live at Harrington House. I don’t understand what it’s all about and I’d be very grateful if you wouldn’t say anything about it to anyone.’

  ‘I’m sure you know me well enough to know I wouldn’t dream of that,’ Honour said crisply. ‘Have you brought your mother down here, or are you just checking the house out for her?’

  ‘No, she’s here. I drove her down yesterday,’ he said. ‘We stayed the night in a hotel because it was too much for her to come straight here. She is very upset.’

  For a moment Adele’s heart leaped. It was sad of course that his parents were splitting up, but he’d said they weren’t happy anyway. Her pleasure was because she thought she’d see Michael more in future.

  ‘It’s to be expected that she would be upset,’ her grandmother said sympathetically. ‘She’s been married a great many years. I am very sorry, Michael, it must be very troubling for you, especially when you are just about to go up to Oxford. But I’m sure your mother will have adjusted by the time you have to leave.’

  ‘But that’s the real trouble,’ he said. ‘I have to go now, at least back to Alton to return Father’s car. I can’t stay with her and I don’t know how she’ll manage. She’s never looked after herself.’

  ‘Of course she can look after herself, she’s a grown woman,’ Honour said dismissively.

  ‘She’s never had to do it,’ Michael insisted. ‘She’s always had servants to take care of her and the house. There isn’t anyone at Harrington House, not a cook or a maid, no one. And I haven’t the first idea how to get someone for her. That’s why I came to see you. What do I do, Mrs Harris? I can’t just drive off and leave her there alone.’

  ‘That’s perhaps the very best thing to do,’ Honour said. ‘She’ll soon learn to take care of herself.’

  ‘Granny!’ Adele said reprovingly. ‘Poor Michael’s worried enough without you being tough.’

  Michael looked gratefully at Adele. ‘I’m worried sick. We brought a box of food with us, but I can’t even trust her to make a meal for herself. I told you what she can be like, when she’s upset she just goes to bed and stays there. Our housekeeper at Alton had the knack of persuading her to get up and get dressed, but on her own she’ll stay there for ever until she dies of starvation.’

  ‘Poppycock!’ Honour exclaimed. ‘People have a very strong sense of self-preservation. She might lie in bed for a couple of days feeling sorry for herself, but once she gets hungry she’ll soon get up. She’s not a young and foolish girl, she’s a mother of three grown-up children. It’s time she started behaving like an adult.’

  ‘You are probably right, Granny,’ Adele said cautiously. ‘But poor Michael can’t be sure of that once he’s gone. What if I went up there to help her?’

  ‘I couldn’t ask you to do that,’ Michael said quickly. ‘I didn’t come here for that. I just thought Mrs Harris might know how to get a maid or a housekeeper.’

  ‘Now, do I look as if I employ a maid?’ Honour gave a wry smile. ‘I left that kind of thing behind years ago. You could place an advertisement in the newspaper. There’s so many people desperate for work you’ll soon get someone.’

  ‘But that would take time,’ Michael said despairingly. ‘I don’t even know if Mother would know how to interview anyone. And in the meantime she’s likely to get in a fearful mess. Do you know anyone in Winchelsea, or even Rye, who might come in?’

  ‘I don’t, Michael.’ Honour shook her head. ‘But maybe you could ask in the shop in Winchelsea. Or the neighbours?’

  Michael grimaced. ‘I don’t want to have to confide in anyone local,’ he said. ‘It won’t help her in the long term if word gets around that she’s a bit—’ He broke off.

  Honour nodded in understanding. ‘No, I don’t suppose it would. I can’t understand, Michael, why your father didn’t bring her up here and get the household sorted out for her. I know it’s none of my business, but he does have a duty to care for her. Has he thrown her out, or did she run away?’

  Michael hung his head and didn’t respond, Adele and Honour looked at each other. ‘Answer me,’ Honour ordered. ‘It won’t go any further than this room.’

  ‘There’s lots of things I don’t understand,’ Michael said haltingly. ‘They’ve been having huge arguments all year about Harrington House. My grandfather left it to my mother and I think my father tried to force her to sell it. I was in Europe when it all blew up and she hasn’t explained anything to me.’

  ‘Are you saying he told her she could get out if she wouldn’t sign?’ Honour asked.

  ‘I think so,’ Michael said, his eyes brimming with tears. ‘But Ralph and Diana, that’s my brother and sister, seem to be blaming Mother too, so maybe there is something more I don’t know about. I got home from France the night before last, to find Father ordering the maid to pack Mother’s bags.’

  ‘I see,’ Honour said thoughtfully. ‘It sounds to me as if your mother needs a lawyer as well as some domestic help.’

  ‘My father is a lawyer! On the way down here Mother kept saying that all his lawyer friends would side with him and no one would listen to her.’

  ‘That’s foolish talk,’ Honour said dismissively. ‘Her father, your grandfather, was a well-respected man in these parts. He was also highly intelligent, so if he left his house solely to your mother, he had a good reason for it. She should go to his lawyer in Rye. The days when a man was automatically entitled to a woman’s money and property as soon as he married her are over.’

  Adele had listened to all this in silence, watching both Michael and her grandmother. She could sense that Granny’s sympathies lay with the other woman and she very much wanted to relieve Michael of his immediate anxiety about her.

  ‘I could help your mother,’ she said impulsively. ‘I know I don’t know anything about what maids do, but I can cook and clean.’

  ‘I couldn’t possibly ask that of you,’ Michael said. But a faint ray of hope came into his eyes.

  ‘You aren’t asking. I’m offering,’ she said. Then, looking at her grandmother, she said, ‘You wouldn’t mind, Granny, would you?’

  ‘Not as a temporary measure, not if you really wanted to,’ Honour said cautiously.

  ‘Then that’s settled it, I’ll
go,’ Adele said, and smiled at Michael. ‘That is, if you think she’ll accept me?’

  ‘Accept you?’ Her grandmother’s voice rose with indignation. ‘She’d better be grateful! You are worth a great deal more than being someone’s maid.’

  ‘She certainly is,’ Michael said, and smiled warmly at Adele. ‘But then it would only be until I can get someone permanent.’

  ‘She’ll need to be paid. I’m not having her acting as a lackey for nothing,’ Honour said tersely.

  ‘Granny!’ Adele gasped.

  ‘Mrs Harris is quite right,’ Michael agreed. ‘I know we pay the housekeeper at Alton two pounds a week, but her husband works for us too and they have their own cottage in the grounds. Suppose I offered two pounds ten shillings a week, would that suit you?’

  It sounded like a fortune to Adele. She knew some families lived on much less than that. But before she could say anything her grandmother spoke out.

  ‘You will point out to Mrs Bailey that my Adele was not intended for domestic work, she was top of her class at school. If she is to live in, she must be allowed a couple of hours off every afternoon and one full day a week. She is not to be slapped or bullied either. And your mother must understand that this can only be a temporary arrangement.’

  Adele could only gasp at her grandmother’s cheek.

  ‘I will relay your views,’ Michael said, and Adele saw his mouth twitch with amusement. ‘But are you sure you want to do it, Adele?’

  ‘I’m happy to do it,’ Adele said. She even felt excited. Harrington House was a lovely old place, and however difficult Mrs Bailey was, she didn’t think she could be any worse than her teacher at school, or even her grandmother. While she hadn’t learned to cook many different dishes, Granny always said that if you could read a recipe book, you could cook. And they must have electric light at Harrington House, maybe even gas too. ‘Will we go now?’

  Michael looked at Honour for confirmation this was all right with her. She nodded her agreement.

  ‘Well, if it’s all right with you, Adele, it would be best. Then I can introduce you to Mother myself and show you around.’

  ‘That’s fine,’ Adele said. ‘I’ll just go and put something presentable on. I won’t be long.’

  As Adele was brushing her hair, the required hundred strokes Granny always insisted on, and twisting it up into a neat bun at the back of her neck, Honour spoke to Michael.

  ‘Adele is a good, honest and hard-working girl, and I am sure she will give excellent service to your mother,’ she said, her expression serious and concerned. ‘But you do understand that I will whisk her away immediately if I feel she is being treated unfairly?’ she added, giving him a stern look. ‘Make this clear to your mother, Michael.’

  ‘I promise,’ he said. ‘I shall come back down just as soon as I can, but you never know, by the time I get back to Alton, Father might have seen he was wrong to push Mother out.’

  ‘You must try and find out the whole story,’ Honour said. ‘You need to know exactly what is going on. Ask your brother and sister what they know too.’

  Michael sighed. ‘They are always influenced by Father. Whether he’s right or wrong, they’ll back him up.’

  ‘You must try and stay neutral,’ Honour said, her tone softening with sympathy. ‘Help your mother by all means, it’s right that a son should do that, but at the same time make sure she knows she has to help herself too. You are not her keeper.’

  He smiled weakly. ‘I’ll do my best.’

  Adele stared out at the road in front of her as Michael drove. In her tidiest dress, dark blue cotton with white collar and cuffs, a dress her grandmother had helped her to make with work in mind, she thought she looked appropriately attired for what lay ahead. She was suddenly very apprehensive. Not only because she had no idea of what helping Mrs Bailey was going to entail, and whether she could actually do it, but because of Michael.

  This was going to change everything between them, that much was certain. Whenever she’d thought of him this summer it was with memories of walks, bike rides and picnics, and she’d hoped there would be more in the future.

  But by going to work for his mother, that would be ruled out. She might not know how the upper classes ran their homes, but she knew gentlemen didn’t have maids for friends. It just wasn’t done.

  ‘Will Mrs Bailey tell me what she expects of me, or do I just do what I think needs doing?’ she asked nervously.

  He glanced round at her and he looked terribly worried. ‘I really don’t know,’ he said with a big sigh. ‘Back in Alton the staff all have their set jobs, and our housekeeper keeps them in line. I don’t know if Mother even gave her any instructions. I can only ever recall her sitting at her desk writing letters, or arranging flowers. Of course she may have done much more than that and I never saw it.’

  ‘Well, will she tell me what she wants to eat, and when?’

  ‘I don’t know,’ he said. ‘Oh hell, Adele. I think you’ll have to play it by ear. It might be as well just to cook what you think is right. She doesn’t eat much at the best of times.’

  It was beginning to sound as though Adele was being sent to take care of a very difficult spoiled child. But she reminded herself that Granny and home were just down the road, and if the worst came to the worst she could just walk out. They had agreed that for the time being Adele would go home every evening after supper. She thought she could cope with almost anything if she could leave at seven.

  As they drew up in front of the house, Adele saw that the windows were still dusty and that the door brass hadn’t been cleaned for a very long time. While that was hardly important, she wondered how neglected the inside was.

  She became scared then, wishing she hadn’t been so impulsive in offering her help.

  ‘You’ll be fine,’ Michael said, as if reading her thoughts. ‘My mother is difficult, but she can also be very charming. Show her you genuinely want to help her, and she’ll show her appreciation.’

  Michael opened the door and walked in, beckoning Adele to follow. ‘Mother!’ he shouted, once in the hall. ‘I’ve got someone to give you a hand.’

  The hall was large with a wide oak staircase going up from it. It had a flagstone floor which looked none too clean, and some very dreary pictures on the wall. It certainly wasn’t as nice as Adele had expected.

  Mrs Bailey appeared at the top of the stairs. She was a small and slender woman with delicate features, wearing a pale green dress. Her hair was beautiful, somewhere between red and blonde, and she wore it in loose waves just touching her shoulders. Adele knew she was a couple of years older than her grandmother, but she looked closer to thirty. If it hadn’t been for her red-rimmed eyes, she could have passed for a film star.

  ‘I can’t find any coat hangers,’ she said petulantly. ‘It was all very well you telling me to hang up my clothes. But how can I without anything to put them on?’

  ‘Never mind that now,’ Michael said, looking up at her. ‘I’ve brought someone to help you. Come down and meet Adele Talbot.’

  The woman didn’t move for a moment, just stared at Adele. She had blue eyes just like Michael’s, and milky-white skin as clear and unlined as a child’s. Adele thought she was childlike in every way, with her unabashed stare, little-girl mouth and petulant manner.

  ‘Is she a maid?’ she asked as she began to come down the stairs. She moved very elegantly, and Adele saw she was wearing pale green high-heeled shoes which matched her dress exactly. ‘Where did you find her? Has she got references?’ she added, as if Adele wasn’t there.

  Adele decided it would be best to act in the way her grandmother did. Straight to the point, state her case, and if Mrs Bailey didn’t like it, well too bad. ‘No, I’m not a maid,’ she said. ‘I am just a friend of Michael’s and when he told me you needed help to settle in here, I volunteered. I can cook, clean and do laundry. If you want my help I’ll stay, if not I’ll go.’

  ‘But you are just a child,’ she exclaimed,
looking Adele up and down. She looked back to Michael. ‘How do you know this girl?’

  ‘I met her when we were down here two years ago,’ he said. ‘Adele lives at Winchelsea Beach, I called in this morning to ask if they knew of anyone to help you. Adele kindly offered her help. She is very capable and trustworthy.’

  Mrs Bailey said nothing, just waved her hands in a distracted manner. Adele sensed she was the kind who couldn’t make a decision about anything.

  ‘I know you don’t know anything about me, ma’am,’ she said. ‘But my grandmother is very well known around here. She suggested I came as a temporary measure to help you out. As I understand it, you don’t have any other help right now?’

  ‘No, I don’t,’ Mrs Bailey said. ‘But Michael, surely you could have got me someone more mature?’

  ‘Where from?’ he asked. ‘There isn’t a shop where you can go and buy staff and expect them to start work straight away.’

  ‘Why not the grandmother then?’ she said. ‘Or is she very old?’

  The woman’s assumption that she had only to bleat she needed help and anyone from the working classes would drop everything for her riled Adele. ‘My grandmother wouldn’t work for anyone,’ she said sharply. ‘It’s me or nobody. Now, I don’t wish to be rude, but if you think I am unsuitable, just say and I’ll go home.’

  ‘She’s very outspoken,’ Mrs Bailey said to Michael, her voice shaking a little.

  ‘I trust her,’ he said. ‘Now, come on, Mother. You know I have to leave soon with the car, and I don’t want to leave you here all alone. Give Adele a chance to show what she’s made of, you are lucky to get her.’

  ‘I need to talk privately to you,’ she said to her son. ‘Come into the drawing room.’

  Michael excused himself and asked Adele to wait. He and his mother went into the room on the right of the hall and shut the door behind them.