The Loner

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The Loner Page 9

by Rachel Ennis


  ‘There wasn’t a copy of Henry’s reply. But in Sarah’s response she says she will be honest in return. She cannot deny that Marigold loves him. But persisting in his attentions will deny her any chance of marriage and a family.

  ‘I found a heart-wrenching letter from Henry in which he cites Sarah’s arguments and tells Marigold they must part.’

  ‘No!’ Viv moaned.

  Annie shushed her.

  ‘Marigold stayed calm. She wrote saying she was truly blessed to have him and her mother care so deeply for her. But it was her life, her decision, and she wouldn’t give him up. He had married his wife in good faith. No one could have foreseen her tragic illness.’

  ‘I bet her family wasn’t surprised,’ Annie muttered darkly.

  ‘Shhh,’ hissed Gill and Viv.

  ‘Marigold told him that no one can see the future. Her mother would have to accept that she loved him, as would he.

  ‘Henry planned to stage five G&S operas from May to September, changing every month. After the summer visitors had gone, the winter months would be spent learning new operas, rehearsing, and making new sets and costumes.

  ‘After Marigold’s grandmother died, Marigold and Sarah had to leave the cottage. Henry moved them into the Market Street property. But this cost Marigold and Sarah their jobs at Downing’s. Without Henry’s financial support their situation would have been desperate. Meanwhile the ongoing costs of Adelaide’s care were a drain on him.

  ‘Living upstairs, Marigold and her mother had a bedroom each, a sitting room, and bathroom. Sarah had a south-facing workroom at the back and took in sewing and dressmaking alterations.

  ‘Marigold decided to open a café on the ground floor and decorated it with posters and playbills. She hired a cook who was also a member of the society, two waitresses, and a girl to wash up. A letter from Henry’s accountant praised Marigold’s financial management.

  ‘Henry varied the winter program at the Palace Theatre by inviting other companies to stage musical variety shows or put on a pantomime.

  ‘In 1930 Marigold fell pregnant. But when her pregnancy began to show, Henry had to tell her she couldn’t take part in the operas any more.’

  ‘Why not?’ Gill demanded.

  ‘She was unmarried and expecting a child. That went against the morality clause and the licenses wouldn’t be renewed. Marigold was afraid he would leave her.’ Jess swallowed. ‘In the folder was a draft of his letter to her in reply. He confessed his guilt that he had never loved Adelaide the way he loved her, and though they did not have the benefit of a church blessing, he was hers body and soul. Picture me sitting in the Record Office with tears streaming down my face.’ She spoke lightly but the memory made her throat ache.

  ‘Marigold had a daughter. Henry registered her birth and was named as the father. They called her Zoe.’ Jess swallowed hard. ‘She died two weeks later.’

  Mor and Viv gasped.

  ‘Though Henry and Marigold were devastated, the loss brought them closer. Henry paid Sarah to make costumes for the productions. Though Marigold was still running the café, he asked her to train new actresses and singers joining the society – who better?’

  ‘He wanted her to feel needed,’ Mor said, her chin quivering. Viv patted her hand.

  ‘Society members with carpentry or painting skills built and refurbished the sets,’ Jess continued. ‘The shows were popular and well supported. Then in 1938 Henry fell ill with heart problems. His producer and stage director asked Marigold to take charge of the company. Thanks to Henry sharing all the financial details with her because he trusted and valued her opinion, she proved to be a shrewd and capable manager.’

  Jess cleared her throat and steeled herself. ‘Henry died in 1939, aged sixty-seven. Marigold was devastated. Together nearly twenty years, he had been her only love. The report of his funeral in the local papers focused on his wartime fundraising and his dedication to the operatic society. The church was overflowing. Confined in Bodmin Asylum, Adelaide did not attend. At the burial Marigold was told by Henry’s solicitor that the Market Street property was hers for her lifetime.’

  Viv got up, wiping her eyes. ‘Wrung out I am.’ She crossed to the sink and refilled the kettle.

  ‘What happened to her after?’ Mor said, wiping her nose and tucking the tissue up her cardigan sleeve.

  ‘Took the words out of my mouth you did, Mor,’ Gill said.

  ‘You have got the rest?’ Annie demanded.

  ‘Yes. But I need a drink first. My throat’s dry as sandpaper.’

  With fresh tea made and poured, Jess described the rescue from Dunkirk. ‘But a hundred and forty thousand soldiers were still in France. Eight thousand were taken prisoner when Paris surrendered in June. The others, along with civilians fleeing the German advance, crowded onto every boat they could find and escaped across the Channel. Steamers, trawlers, liners, cargo boats, and naval craft arrived in Falmouth crammed with exhausted, filthy, and hungry people. Forced marches had left soldiers’ feet so swollen their boots had to be cut off.’

  ‘My uncle was one of them,’ Annie broke in. ‘He said people were good as gold, offering them cups of tea and all. But they had to be very careful and only drink tiny sips at a time.’

  ‘Why was that, Annie?’ Mor asked.

  ‘Because the sea was covered in oil and they’d swallowed it when they swam out to the boats.’

  ‘Dear life!’ Gill was horrified.

  ‘Soon after, refugees started arriving from the Channel Islands. They were followed by twenty thousand evacuees from London and other cities,’ Jess continued. ‘Marigold organised concert parties to raise morale. With many of the cast called up, wounded, or killed she returned to the stage herself and encouraged fresh talent.

  ‘Some newspaper reports were supportive. Others questioned her fitness to train impressionable young people. But they were shouted down by all those who remembered the money she and Henry Chenhall had raised for the World War One relief effort.

  ‘In 1944 Sarah’s sight failed and the effects of rationing made it impossible for them to keep the café going. That was when Marigold boxed up all the memorabilia and stored it in the attic, then turned the café into a lunchtime soup kitchen for the needy.

  ‘In 1950 she leased the café to a new tenant who turned it into a coffee bar. In 1952, the year of the Queen’s coronation, Sarah died, aged seventy-seven.

  ‘Marigold died in 1975 and the property reverted to the estate. The new owner was a second cousin of Henry’s. After lying empty for a while the ground floor was reopened as a burger bar, then a vegetarian café, as I’m sure you all remember. Then back last year Simon Opie, the son of Henry’s heir, inherited the estate.’ Jess closed her folder. ‘The rest you know.’

  ‘That was some story, Jess,’ Gill said.

  ‘You brung it all to life,’ Mor wiped her eyes again.

  ‘I don’t want to hear no more talk about you stopping,’ Annie warned.

  ‘She’s right, Jess,’ Viv said. ‘Listening to that it was like Marigold and Henry was here, like we knew them.’ She pushed herself off the sofa. ‘’Tis no good, I got to go. I been sitting here with my legs crossed because I didn’t want to miss nothing.’

  As she bolted upstairs the others all got up. Gill went to the sink and turned on the tap, and Annie and Mor began collecting the used crockery.

  ‘Tell you what I heard today,’ Gill said over her shoulder. ‘Treeve Kingdon have bought the farm alongside the marina.’

  ‘What do Boss want with a farm?’ Mor asked, drying the plates as Gill washed them.

  ‘He’s going to turn the old barns and cowsheds into holiday lets.’

  ‘Never mind that,’ Viv said from the stairs, ‘what about Mor’s hen night?’

  ‘I don’t want –’ Mor began.

  ‘’Course you do,’ Viv said.

  ‘Don’t worry, Mor,’ Annie patted her arm. ‘I won’t let them go mad.’

  ‘We got to see you o
ff in style,’ Gill said.

  Morwenna eyes filled. ‘I can’t hardly believe it. I never expected –’

  Jess put an arm around her. ‘We’re your friends, Mor. You’re stuck with us now.’

  The End

  Rachel’s Recipe

  Leek and potato soup

  Ingredients

  1lb potatoes

  2 large leeks

  1 rasher bacon

  Salt and pepper

  ¾pint stock

  ¼pint milk

  ½oz butter.

  Chop the bacon up small and fry lightly in a saucepan. Add the butter, sliced leeks, and peeled diced potatoes. Cook on a gentle heat until the vegetables are tender. Add the stock, season well, and cover. Simmer for a further twenty minutes. Add the milk to the soup just before serving. Reheat and add more seasoning if necessary. Delicious with a sprinkling of finely grated cheddar cheese.

  Other titles by Rachel Ennis

  For more information about Rachel Ennis

  and other Accent Press titles

  please visit

  www.accentpress.co.uk

  Published by Accent Press Ltd 2015

  ISBN 9781786150691

  Copyright © Rachel Ennis 2015

  The right of Rachel Ennis to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by the author in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

  The story contained within this book is a work of fiction. Names and characters are the product of the author’s imagination and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, electrostatic, magnetic tape, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the written permission of the publishers: Accent Press Ltd, Ty Cynon House, Navigation Park, Abercynon, CF45 4SN

 

 

 


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