When Day is Done

  She was still standing immobile when Josie knocked on the door. ‘Your bed’s ready, Kate,’ she called. ‘I’ve used your posh bedlinen.’ Kate woke from her trance and quickly washed and changed.

  Charlie and Kit were agitated too as they drove to Fairfield. ‘I can’t believe this is happening,’ Kit said, clasping her hands tightly together. ‘Now it’s so near I’m scared, Dad. I wonder what Kate’s really like?’

  ‘We’ll soon know,’ Charlie said sturdily, although he too was apprehensive.

  ‘I wonder how much of what Miss Mills told us was true?’ Kate said. ‘I mean, I wonder did Kate really have a baby and it died?’

  ‘It’s quite possible,’ Charlie said cautiously. ‘But if she did, Kit, we don’t know the circumstances.’

  ‘Oh, I’m not condemning her,’ Kit exclaimed. ‘People are more sensible about such things now. I just wondered if it was true. She seems to have had enough bad luck without that.’

  ‘I don’t think Miss Mills’s memory was very reliable,’ said Charlie. ‘The maid said as much, didn’t she?’

  ‘Wasn’t she horrible about the other sister? I wouldn’t like her for an enemy,’ Kit said. ‘Yet Kate still visits her.’

  ‘Duty visits, I should think,’ said Charlie. ‘I wonder who Mr Richard is?’

  ‘Who knows?’ Kit said indifferently, looking out of the window. ‘Oh Dad, this looks familiar. Are we nearly there?’

  ‘Not far now. Brace yourself, Katherine Margaret,’ said Charlie and Kit laughed nervously.

  A few minutes later they found the house, and the door was opened to them by a small, plump woman with curly white hair, but with a rosy face and merry brown eyes.

  ‘Mr Barnes!’ she exclaimed. ‘Sure, you’re the image of him. Come in, come in. And this is your daughter. I was expecting a little girl.’ She laughed.

  ‘Yes, this is Kit, and I’m Charlie Barnes,’ he said. ‘I hope it’s not inconvenient us coming now.’

  ‘Not at all, not at all,’ said Josie. ‘Kate’s dying to see you. Give me your coats and I’ll tell her.’ She opened a door further down the hall. ‘They’re here, Kate,’ she said. ‘Are you decent?’ then called them into the bedroom.

  They saw a thin woman with neat grey hair and bowed shoulders, wearing a pretty bedjacket, with a lacy pillow behind her. Kate’s face was flushed and she was sitting tensely upright, with her work-worn hands knotted tightly before her on the counterpane. When she saw Charlie, the tenseness left her and she exclaimed, ‘Oh God, you’re so like Henry!’

  ‘That’s what I said,’ declared Josie.

  Charlie held out his hand. ‘Hello,’ he said simply. ‘I’m Charlie Barnes and this is my daughter, Kit.’ Kit smiled shyly at Kate and Josie pushed chairs forward for them to sit beside Kate’s bed. Kate seemed too overwhelmed to speak, and Josie said quickly, ‘We’re surprised at Mr Barnes having a grown-up granddaughter. We still think of him as a young man, don’t we, Kate?’

  Kate still seemed unable to speak, and Charlie said, ‘He was so young when he was killed, but I’m turned forty and Kit’s been at Liverpool University for a year.’

  Kate had recovered a little from the shock of seeing Charlie, and now she said gently to Kit, ‘At Liverpool University? Do you like it?’

  ‘Yes, very much,’ said Kit shyly. ‘I live at the female Hall of Residence in Holly Road.’

  Josie and Kate glanced at each other in surprise. ‘But that’s only round the corner,’ Kate exclaimed.

  ‘Yes, it’s ironic. We’ve been looking for you for ages, and Kit was only a few minutes away from you,’ Charlie said. Kate and Josie looked puzzled and he explained, ‘My mother died a few years ago and I inherited some family papers. I was interested in you before that – er, Miss Drew.’

  ‘Kate,’ Josie and Kate said together, and he smiled and said, ‘Kate. When I was eleven or so I found an old trunk in the attic and my father’s diary was in it. He mentioned you so often that I was curious. My mother had remarried and I was going to my stepfather’s old school as a boarder. I took the diary with me. It was mostly written when he lived in the boarding house where he met my mother.’

  ‘I heard that your mother moved away from Liverpool,’ Kate said. ‘After – after he was killed.’

  ‘We lived in Shrewsbury. Moved there from Liverpool when I was about four with my grandmother. My mother’s mother. I farm now in Shropshire,’ said Charlie.

  ‘And now your mother is dead,’ Kate said. She seemed unable to take her eyes from his face.

  ‘Yes. She and her second husband were living in Italy when she died. He’s a good man and I think he made her happy,’ said Charlie. ‘He’s staying in Italy because the climate suits him.’

  They were both skirting round the subject of Henry until Charlie noticed the silver-framed snapshot on the bedside table. ‘That photo!’ he exclaimed. ‘There’s one like that in my box of pictures.’

  Kate blushed and picked up the photo. ‘Your mother gave me this when I visited her during the war – the Great War, I mean. You’re the baby in it, of course. You looked like your father even then. Do you remember him at all?’

  ‘Only odd flashes,’ Charlie said.

  Josie had been perched on the end of the bed, but now she rose and said to Kit, ‘Come and help me to make tea, love. Leave these two to talk over old times.’ Kit would have preferred to stay, but she went with Josie to the kitchen, and Kate and Charlie were left smiling at each other.

  ‘I can’t believe we’ve found you at last,’ said Charlie. ‘I’ve wanted to meet you ever since I read the diary.’

  ‘I can’t imagine why I was mentioned in it,’ Kate said. ‘I only worked in the guesthouse, though my aunt owned it, but Mr Barnes was one of the guests.’

  Charlie hesitated, then said carefully, ‘You were obviously important to him. I showed the diary to Meg, my wife, and she thought so too.’ He smiled. ‘Kit was named Katherine after you, although we didn’t think then we’d ever find you.’

  ‘For me?’ Kate said in amazement.

  ‘Yes. You see, we read the diary so often you seemed real to us. We decided that if we had a daughter we’d call her Katherine and if we had a son we’d call him David, because my father wanted me to be called David.’

  ‘And did you have a son?’ asked Kate.

  ‘Yes. We’ve got two boys, David, and Ben, who was named after Margaret’s brother, my best friend who died while we were at school. Ben’s very like me to look at and a born farmer, and we think David will be a vet. He and Kit are like Meg to look at.’

  Meanwhile, in the kitchen, Kit was telling Josie how they had traced Kate. ‘Dad knew about her from a diary of his father’s he found just before he was sent to boarding school,’ she said. ‘And later they found a letter from Kate to his father.’

  ‘I can’t get over how like Mr Barnes your dad is,’ said Josie. ‘Not just the looks, but the same kind of quick, impulsive way with him.’

  ‘Dad hardly remembers him, but he seemed a nice man, judging by his diary.’ Kit added shyly, ‘He seemed very fond of Kate.’

  ‘He was a lovely man,’ Josie declared. ‘Funny you thought that about him and Kate. No harm in telling you now your grandma’s dead, but me and Mrs Molesworth – we always thought he should’ve married Kate.’

  ‘So do we. Mum and Dad and I,’ said Kit. Josie looked amazed and Kit blushed. ‘He mentioned her so often in the diary and seemed so concerned about her. My grandmother was very cool and reserved. We didn’t think that they could have been very well matched. Mum said she thought Grandmother was probably happier with Paul, her second husband. Why did he do it? Marry her, I mean, if he cared about Kate? If he was really like Dad he wouldn’t have been right at all with Grandma Vetch.’

  ‘I think the truth was, love, she married him,’ Josie said. ‘I think he admired her and she was strong-willed, like, and then I don’t think he realised Kate had grown up till it was too late.’

  ‘Isn’t th
at sad?’ Kit said, but Josie said briskly, ‘Happens more often than you think. Fellows think they do the asking. Don’t see how the girls have manipulated them until their goose is cooked. The nicest fellows are the easiest game.’

  They both laughed, and Kit thought how much she liked this merry little woman and how easy it was to talk to her. She told her all about her mother and her two brothers and the farm and how her father had found that he was descended from farmers. ‘Mum’s a farmer’s daughter too,’ she said. ‘Her father and mother live with us. Grandad’s very frail now but they’re both lovely. Have you got a family?’

  ‘Yes, thank God. I was an orphan but I married into a lovely family and now I’ve got one of my own,’ said Josie. ‘Kate’s like one of my family.’

  ‘But she’s got no family of her own?’ Kit said.

  ‘Yes. She’s got a sister and brother-in-law, and two nephews. One of them lives in the flat upstairs and he’s as good as a son to her,’ said Josie. ‘When I first met Kate I’d come from an orphanage to work in the guesthouse. She was so kind to me, like a sister, and she’s been a true friend to me all my life. We’d better get this tea in to them, love. Their tongues’ll be hanging out.’

  They laughed and picked up the trays to carry to the bedroom, but before they left the kitchen Kit said quickly, ‘I was named after Kate, Katherine Margaret, because of what Mum and Dad read in the diary.’ Josie’s eyes widened in surprise but before she could speak they were in the bedroom.

  They found Charlie with his elbows resting on the bed and his face close to Kate’s. ‘Oh thanks, Josie,’ said Kate. ‘We’re just talking about how they traced me.’

  ‘We had no luck until a woman in a shop near the boarding house tried to help us. When we went back to her she’d found an old man who used to fill coal buckets at the guesthouse,’ said Charlie.

  ‘Little Jackie,’ Josie exclaimed. ‘Poor lad. He was nearly starving and I think his mother drank his wages. He went in the Army and it was the first time he ever had new clothes on his back.’

  ‘He remembered both of you and said you were kind to him. He told me that one day Kate was giving him a dripping buttie and my father came into the kitchen and gave him sixpence.’

  ‘Aye, he would have. That’s what he was like, a lovely man,’ Josie said. Kate said nothing, but her eyes shone.

  ‘It was great to meet someone who knew you, but it was Mrs Hayes, the shopkeeper, who remembered an old lady whose cousin worked for your aunt, Miss Mills.’

  ‘Essy!’ Kate exclaimed.

  ‘I wrote to her and we’ve been to lunch with her today,’ Charlie said. ‘Her maid gave us your address.’

  ‘Today!’ Josie exclaimed. ‘You didn’t let the grass grow under your feet. You’re your father’s son all right.’

  They all laughed, and it was a happy tea party, but soon Charles glanced at his watch. ‘We’ll have to go, I’m afraid. It’s a long drive home, but I’m absolutely delighted to have met you, Kate, and you too, Josie.’

  ‘So am I,’ said Kit. ‘I can’t believe we’ve found you at last, and just like we hoped you’d be. It’s like a dream come true.’ Everyone smiled and Kit blushed, but Charlie said quickly, ‘It was a bonus meeting you as well, Josie. Can we come again to see you, Kate? I feel there’s still so much to talk about.’

  ‘Oh yes, do, any time,’ Kate said eagerly. ‘I’d love to see you both again.’

  ‘Could I come on my own?’ asked Kit. ‘You see, Dad will be in Shropshire but I’m only five minutes away in termtime.’

  Kate took her hand. ‘Of course. As often as you like. You know you’ll always be welcome. Just phone me to be sure I’m in.’

  ‘And any of the family will be more than welcome in Wicklow too, any time,’ Josie declared. ‘We’d love to have you.’

  While Josie went out to get the coats, Charlie said quietly to Kate, ‘I’ll come when I bring Kit for start of term if I may, and I’ll bring the diary with me.’

  Kate blushed. ‘Thank you,’ was all she said, but she smiled at him gratefully.

  Josie went to the door with them, then returned to Kate, plumping down on the side of the bed and hugging her. ‘Oh God, Kate, I’m that excited. Sure, I don’t know whether I’m on me head or me heels. I just can’t imagine how you must feel.’

  ‘I feel drunk,’ Kate said. ‘Drunk with happiness. Oh Josie, I was so afraid I wouldn’t like them, but they were so perfect. It all seems like a lovely dream.’

  ‘It does, it does,’ Josie exclaimed. ‘Sure, I’m that excited I feel I’m rising in the air like a balloon.’ She flung her arms round Kate again and they laughed and cried together.

  Charles and Kit were equally excited as they drove home to the farm. ‘I can’t believe we’ve found Kate at last,’ Kit said. ‘And Josie too. Weren’t they both lovely?’

  Charlie agreed. ‘I was getting worried about what Kate would be like,’ he admitted. ‘I wondered what a life like hers would have made her, but she was as sweet as a nut. I can see why my father thought so much of her.’

  ‘Wait till we tell Mum,’ Kit said. ‘I hope she’ll be able to meet Kate and Josie.’

  ‘She will,’ Charlie said confidently. ‘We’ll keep closely in touch with Kate now we’ve found her. When I take you back I’ll bring the diary for Kate to read, and her letter.’

  ‘Let’s go before I book in at Holly Road and I can come with you,’ Kit said eagerly. ‘And I’ll ask when I can go there on my own.’

  Back home they burst into the farmhouse kitchen full of their news, and Margaret shared their excitement at finding Kate at last, and their pleasure that she was as nice as they had hoped.

  ‘I can see why she meant so much to my father,’ Charlie said later to his wife when they were alone. ‘There’s a sort of warmth about her. I feel that she loved my dad, Meg.’

  ‘I’m sure he loved her,’ Meg said softly. ‘How happy he’d be that you’ve found her, Charlie.’

  ‘It made me feel very close to him. I loved my mother, you know, and I know she loved me, but she couldn’t show affection. It must have been hard for him.’

  Margaret kissed him. ‘Perhaps they didn’t really have time to find out,’ she said softly. ‘They had so little time together before he was killed.’

  Charlie hugged her fiercely. ‘I’m so lucky I’ve got you, Meg,’ he said. ‘I wish he could have known happiness like we’ve had.’

  ‘Well, at least he had Kate’s company, even if he didn’t know he loved her,’ said Meg. ‘I just hope our children meet people who can make them happy and realise it.’

  ‘Plenty of time for that,’ said Charlie, taking her in his arms.

  Richard called in as usual after he returned from work, to see Kate and Josie. From their excited account of the visit, as they interrupted each other or both spoke at once, he realised how momentous it had been to them. Kate even picked up the photograph which stood by her bed.

  ‘Charlie’s the baby in this and he’s grown up so like his father,’ she said.

  They all looked at Henry’s photograph. ‘He’s the spitting image of him, and not only in looks,’ Josie declared. ‘He doesn’t speak quite the same but he’s got all his little ways.’

  ‘The way he sits and the way he throws back his head when he laughs, just like Henry,’ Kate said. She was quieter than Josie, but her eyes were like stars and her face was flushed with excitement, and Richard stayed and listened, and asked questions.

  ‘He found someone related to Essy,’ Josie told him, ‘and went to see her this morning. Magdalen gave him this address.’

  ‘He said Essy told him the history of the family, all about my parents and grandparents,’ said Kate.

  ‘I bet he got an earful about your Rose too,’ Josie laughed. ‘You know what Essy’s like about her.’

  ‘He only said she talked a lot about Beattie,’ Kate said with a warning glance, and Josie remembered belatedly that Rose was Richard’s mother.

  ‘My t
ongue’d get me hung,’ Josie said later when Richard had gone. ‘But Richard never turned a hair, did he? He’s a good lad. He must take after Robert.’ Kate said nothing. She knew that Josie had never forgiven Rose for abandoning her.

  Josie returned to Ireland the following Saturday, and the next day Richard drove Kate to Sandfield Park to have tea with his parents. Kate was looking forward to telling Rose about the visit by Charlie and Kit which filled her thoughts, but Rose showed little interest.

  She now behaved like a complete invalid, and Robert cared for her devotedly. Richard urged him to encourage Rose to go out and meet people, or at least to dress and receive visitors or go for a drive, but Rose preferred just to move from her bed to her sofa every day. She wore pretty négligés and arranged herself gracefully on the sofa, although she was growing increasingly fat, and Robert was her willing slave. Kate was uncomfortably reminded of Aunt Beattie, but the similarity never seemed to occur to Rose.

  On one of his visits John told his father bluntly that he was not doing his wife any favours. ‘Fresh air and exercise is what Mum needs,’ he said. ‘Even to walk round the garden would do her good. She’s never going to feel well lying around, bored and thinking about her ailments all day.’

  Robert never argued, but he and Rose continued the same lifestyle, and in the end both sons realised the futility of protesting. Now Robert covered for Rose’s lack of interest by asking what Charlie did for a living, and Kate told him eagerly about the farm and Charlie’s wife and two sons. ‘He said one of his sons was like himself and the other son and Kit look like their mother. He is so like his father, Henry Barnes. It’s quite uncanny,’ she said.

  As they drove home, Richard said awkwardly, ‘Don’t be hurt by Mum showing no interest, Kate. I think her world has narrowed down to her problems with her health.’