The Granville Sisters

by Una-Mary Parker

  ‘What sort of a surprise?’

  He clambered quickly out of the bed, and took her in his arms.

  ‘Tell me?’ she asked, resting her head on his shoulder. He smelled of fresh sweat and musk and she felt weak with desire again.

  ‘Wait and see,’ he teased, holding her tightly, raising his thigh and thrusting it between her legs, so he could lift her slightly off the ground. She clung around his neck, pressing herself against him.

  ‘Tell me,’ she implored. ‘Oh, if only we could be together all the time. You’ve no idea how much I hate leaving you.’

  ‘I know, my darling. We’ll just have to make do with for ever,’ he whispered. ‘I’ll love you for ever. I’ll want you for ever. We’re a part of each other for ever. That will never stop, even when we’re apart.’

  She knew in her heart it would always have to be like this; snatched nights and somehow more partings than greetings; or did it just feel that way?

  ‘Next time you’re down you’ll see my surprise,’ he continued, looking into her eyes.

  ‘A new car?’

  ‘Better than that. Now, no more guessing.’ As he lowered her to the ground, he placed his hand on her flat stomach. ‘Don’t forget, we’ve yet to make our baby.’

  Two weeks later, because she couldn’t bear being away from him any longer, Juliet phoned Daniel.

  ‘I’m coming down to London tomorrow,’ she said. ‘Can you meet me at the station?’

  There was a pause. He hesitated before saying, ‘Could you make it the next day? I’m a bit tied up tomorrow.’

  Darts of panic shot through her. Daniel sounded odd, wary.

  ‘Why?’ she asked sharply, knowing it was unreasonable of her to expect him to drop everything at a moment’s notice, but nevertheless, she felt dashed with disappointment. ‘What are you doing?’ Her mind was spinning. Had his wife found out about them? Or perhaps she was also coming up to London tomorrow? Bringing their children with her?

  Jealousy seeped through her brain like a feverish poison.

  ‘What’s so special about tomorrow, that you don’t want to see me?’ she snapped recklessly, not caring whether anyone overheard her or not. Supposing he’d met someone else? That was when it hit her that she knew nothing about him.

  ‘Calm down, Juliet.’ Daniel’s deep rich voice was authoritative and commanding. ‘I do have to make a living, you know.’

  ‘Why can’t you get the day off,’ she shot back, edging towards hysteria. He’d never been too busy to see her in the past.

  ‘What’s wrong with Wednesday?’ he asked, calmly. ‘I’ll meet your train and we can—’

  ‘Perhaps you’d rather I didn’t come at all?’ she raged. Then she slammed down the receiver, shaking all over. If he left her … But the idea was too terrible to even think about. Tears of frustration and vexation rushed to her eyes. She could hear the servants in the next room, laying the table for luncheon. In a few minutes, Iona would come drifting out of her room, trailing one of her many strange outfits, carrying a posy of herbs and surrounded by all the dogs, who padded in her wake as if they were attached to her by invisible leads. Juliet turned and hurried upstairs to compose herself, wondering what the hell she was doing with her life in a place like this.

  Later that day, there was a telephone call for Juliet.

  ‘The gentleman said he was the treasurer of the Red Cross Ball,’ the butler informed her.

  Glowing with exultation, Juliet picked up the receiver as a warm flood of relief surged into her heart.

  ‘I’m afraid it’s very short notice but is it possible for you to come to London tomorrow, Duchess?’ Daniel said carefully, in case anyone was listening on the line. ‘We have … erm … figures we should look at. Things to go through. We urgently need to convene a meeting; that is, if you can mangage it, Duchess?’

  ‘If I change a few things around, I could possibly manage it,’ she replied, her voice cool and businesslike. ‘Could you arrange for a car to meet me at the station and take me straight to your headquarters?’

  ‘Of course, Duchess. It would be our pleasure.’

  ‘Where are we going?’ Juliet asked curiously. ‘To the houseboat?’

  Daniel was heading west, along the banks of the Thames.

  ‘Have you forgotten I have a surprise for you?’ he asked, his dark eyes sweeping over her body as they stopped at the red lights. One look at him had banished her fears; he was as much in love with her as ever.

  ‘I hadn’t forgotten.’

  ‘Well then,’ he teased, reaching for her hand.

  ‘I want to know what it is …’ she begged.

  ‘Sit still and keep quiet,’ he commanded, but his lips tipped up at the corners with amusement.

  ‘Oh, Daniel. Don’t torture me.’ Her hand slid up his thigh.

  ‘It won’t be long now.’

  ‘What won’t?’ she asked.

  ‘Until you see my surprise.’

  She was like a restless child, maddened with impatience. ‘Can’t you give me a clue …? Can I try guessing?’

  ‘No guessing. No clues.’

  ‘Beast. I hate you.’

  ‘You’ll love me when you see it.’

  ‘See what?’

  They were in Chelsea now, and he drove along the King’s Road for a short distance, before turning up a small side street. Halfway along, he slowed down, and parked his car on the left.

  Juliet looked around, bewildered. ‘What am I supposed to be looking at?’

  A slow smile spread across his face. ‘Come with me.’

  They got out of the car, and he took her hand, leading her twenty yards along the narrow pavement.

  ‘There you are,’ he said, stopping suddenly. ‘Do you like it?’

  ‘What are you looking …? Oh! My God! It’s yours? Since when? I can’t believe it!’

  ‘It’s ours,’ he said softly.

  They were facing an adorable doll’s house of a cottage, with little windows with pale blue shutters, and a pale blue front door. There were even roses in the tiny front garden.

  ‘Ours?’ she repeated stupidly.

  ‘I’ve just bought it, for us. I didn’t think I’d have the keys until tomorrow, which is why I wanted you to come to London a day later, but I managed to exchange contracts, and here we are.’ He threw out his arm with an expansive gesture, before pushing open the small blue gate.

  ‘It’s perfect! The most enchanting house I’ve ever seen!’ Juliet exclaimed, entranced. ‘I can’t believe you’ve bought it.’

  Daniel nodded. ‘It’s ours,’ he repeated. ‘A place of our own, where we can do as we like,’ he added, drawing her to his side as they entered the tiny square hall.

  ‘Oh, darling …’ She flung her arms around his neck and kissed him. ‘This is the most marvellous surprise I’ve ever had. We must christen every room by making love in it!’

  ‘There are only three rooms, so we’ll have to christen them several times,’ he laughed.

  ‘Surely the hall makes a fourth? And the bathroom? What are we waiting for?’

  ‘Juliet?’ Liza looked at Juliet with surprised curiosity.

  ‘Oh! Hello, Mama.’ Juliet blushed, the front door key of her house in her hand, and although it was ten o’clock in the morning, she was wearing a black cocktail dress and a sable wrap. Liza’s eyes followed the car that had dropped Juliet off, as it sped away down Park Lane.

  ‘What on earth are you doing?’ Liza asked suspiciously. ‘Where’s Cameron?’

  ‘I stayed over at a friend’s house last night. They gave a dinner party that went on for hours … and they wouldn’t let me come home alone,’ Juliet replied lightly, slipping her key into the front door lock.

  The lies were getting bigger and deeper and more complicated, like strands which were dependant on each other; if she forgot her story and made a mistake, the whole lot would get hideously knotted.

  ‘Oh.’ Liza looked unconvinced. ‘Isn’t Cameron down here, the
n?’ She followed her daughter into the black and white and silver art deco hall.

  ‘You know he hates London, Mama. I just popped down for a couple of days. Fundraising committe, you know.’ Juliet lingered at the bottom of the stairs, which were carpeted in black, hoping her mother wasn’t going to stay, asking awkward questions. She’d spent the night with Daniel, after they’d been out to dinner, and she was exhausted. All she wanted now was to be on her own, so she could relive in her mind the wonders of his love-making. It amazed her that one moment he could be utterly tender, and the next masterfully passionate, leading her to heights of ecstacy she had never thought possible.

  ‘Mummy, I have to catch a train …’ she began, but it was no use.

  ‘I’ll talk to you while you change. How’s Glenmally? Any chance of you and Cameron coming to Ascot with us?’

  Sighing inwardly, Juliet ordered coffee to be brought up to her bedroom. While she slipped into a hot scented bath, Liza sat in the dressing room, giving a monologue that required no answers.

  ‘In spite of what Daddy says about the prospect of war – I do wish Ian wouldn’t tell him so much, he gets so depressed – there are more parties than ever this year! My dear, I’ve got luncheon parties, tea parties, cocktails, dinners, dances …’

  His hands drive me crazy, Juliet thought, as she lay in the fragrant water. They’re so strong and yet gentle … Was there ever a lover like him? I’d die if he ever tired of me. I wish I could stay longer … Does his wife miss him? Does he still sleep with her? I can’t bear to think of that; them being together.

  ‘Juliet? Did you hear what I said?’

  ‘Sorry. What was that?’

  ‘I asked whether you’d heard about Harrods?’

  ‘Harrods?’ Juliet stepped out of the bath, and wrapped herself in a soft white towel.

  ‘Yes, darling. Richard Burbridge – you know, his family own the store – has asked for Territorial recruits, in case there is a war. Apparently the Harrods staff have rallied magnificently, providing volunteers for all three services.’

  Juliet emerged from the bathroom and started dressing, putting on exquisite cream satin and lace lingerie that was part of her trousseau.

  Liza continued, ‘I find the situation so blurred, don’t you, darling?’ She held up a small mirror from her handbag, and touched up her bright red lipstick. ‘I mean … did Czechoslovakia and Austria originally belong to Germany? Daddy says a treaty that was signed after the Great War has been overturned. But who by? Oh! The whole thing is an absolute nightmare. Just when everything was getting back to normal after the Depression, and we all had lots of money, and such a good time. Daddy says it may all come crashing down again, later on this year! Do you believe that? What does Cameron say?’

  Sitting at her new dressing table, which was entirely made of mirror, Juliet looked at the reflection of her mother’s face.

  ‘As long as Cameron can kill every living creature he sees in the Highlands, he couldn’t care less about the Germans,’ she replied acidly.

  ‘Do you think you should come down to London so often, without him?’ Liza dabbed her nose with a scrap of swansdown and a little pink cloud of powder hung in the air. ‘I’m surprised he doesn’t mind.’

  Juliet shrugged. ‘He’s been hors de combat; someone took a pot-shot at him a little while ago.’

  ‘Who? Cameron? Someone shot at him?’ Liza’s mouth fell open.

  ‘He said it was an accident.’

  ‘What do you mean – he said it was an accident? What else could it have been. Is he all right?’

  ‘I’m afraid so,’ Juliet murmured in a low voice.

  ‘What? What did you say?’

  ‘He’s fine.’

  ‘He doesn’t mind your trips to London? It’s gorgeous to see you, sweetheart, but are you sure Cameron doesn’t feel neglected? It’s very, very important to put your husband’s feelings before everything else, you know. And he’s so good to you. Look at the jewels he’s given you. And that car. You’re a very lucky girl to have such a kind and generous husband.’ Liza was thinking of Charles as she spoke; poor Rosie was lucky if he gave her a box of chocolates for her birthday.

  ‘Cameron’s fine,’ Juliet insisted wearily.

  Liza started gathering up her gloves and handbag, as she rose to leave. ‘I suppose you might as well run around, until you have a baby … there’s no sign of one yet, I presume?’

  Juliet’s smiled secretly at her reflection. ‘Not yet,’ she replied lightly, ‘but hopefully, soon.’

  ‘You’re such a pessimist, Henry,’ his sister exclaimed. They were all staying at Hartley Hall for the weekend, and Candida had put forward what she called a ‘spiffing idea’.

  ‘Are you out of your mind?’ Henry exclaimed incredulously. ‘It’s bad enough with Liza, but I didn’t expect you to put your head in the sand too.’

  ‘This is different,’ Candida retorted. ‘I know there’s going to be a war, but don’t tell me it’s going to happen within the next three months. All I plan to do is take Marina to St Malo, which is just the other side of the Channel, for God’s sake. She’s been really ill with glandular fever and the doctor says she needs a change of air. I thought it would be fun if Louise came with us. They’re both fourteen now and they’ve always got on. They can keep each other company.’

  Henry rubbed his hand across his head. His face was creased with anxiety. ‘To go abroad right now, and to Europe, of all places, is crazy. Why don’t you take Marina to Cornwall?’

  ‘The weather is too dicey in England. Even in July. We don’t want to be cooped up in a hotel, looking at a rainswept beach, Henry.’

  ‘What about Scotland, then? Stay with Juliet and Cameron? Or the Norfolk Broads?’

  ‘Henry,’ Candida groaned good-humouredly. ‘Why are you always such a stick-in-the-mud? We’ll be perfectly safe. If the worst comes to the worst,’ she added in her booming voice, ‘we can hop on the ferry and be back at Southampton in a few hours.’

  ‘It seems safe enough to me,’ Liza intervened. ‘It would be fun for Louise too.’

  Henry sighed heavily. It would soon be August. The situation was very unsettled, with Hitler whipping up a patriotic fever amongst the Germans.

  ‘They’ll invade Poland, Norway and Denmark,’ Henry said. ‘France will be next. Then England. Hitler is unstoppable. It was just a matter of time.’

  ‘Rubbish!’ Candida scoffed. ‘Nothing’s going to happen that fast.’

  ‘Only for two weeks, then,’ Henry agreed reluctantly. ‘And come back at once, if there’s the faintest sign of trouble.’

  ‘We will, old boy.’ Candida smiled affectionately at him. Since the death of her husband, Henry had been very supportive, not only of her, but of Marina and Sebastian, but there were times when he drove her mad with his caution. ‘That’s settled then. We’ll be off next week,’ she said before he changed his mind.

  ‘Liza, I suppose you’d better tell Louise,’ Henry said wearily.

  ‘She’ll be so excited, Henry. I’d better get her some nice beach clothes. And a hat with a brim. She mustn’t get the sun on her face.’

  On Sunday, Rosie and Charles, pushing Sophia and baby Jonathan in the big smart pram that had been hers, walked over to Hartley for lunch.

  ‘How he’s grown,’ remarked Lady Anne in delight, when she saw the new baby.

  Rosie plonked Jonathan in her arms, and he looked up at her, gurgling and waving his tiny hands around.

  ‘He likes you, Ma,’ Candida observed tactlessly, and then, too late, saw Liza wince. ‘But then, I suppose,’ she continued, without missing a beat, ‘that you see him almost every day; and the rest of us only see him occasionally.’

  Lady Anne gave her daughter the hint of a conspiratorial smile. They never talked about it, but they both felt Liza was only interested in children when they became social-climbing fodder.

  ‘That’s right, Candida,’ Lady Anne agreed. ‘I can hardly keep away from Speedwell Cottage,
so I can see Rosie and her lovely babies. I’m probably the most awful bore,’ she added, knowing perfectly well she wasn’t.

  ‘You can come as often as you like, Granny,’ Rosie said warmly. She looked wan and strained. Two children had done nothing to bring back the bloom of her late teens. Her blue eyes held a dull look, and her skin was dingy. Painfully thin again, her summer dress hung loosely on her frame. She was only twenty-two now, but she felt like forty.

  ‘I’m going to Brittany, with Aunt Candida and Marina,’ Louise told Rosie, as Henry offered everyone a drink before lunch, and Amanda handed round a silver dish of home-made cheese straws.

  ‘Lucky you.’

  Sophia clambered up on to Louise’s lap. ‘’Tory,’ she begged. ‘Tell ’tory.’

  ‘I’ll read you a story after lunch,’ Louise promised.

  ‘Louise has a way with children,’ Lady Anne observed, watching them together. At weekends she was always running down to Speedwell Cottage, offering to help Rosie with the babies.

  ‘I want lots of my own, one day,’ Louise said now, hugging her little niece tightly.

  After lunch, Rosie walked in the garden with Henry, as she pushed Jonathan in his pram. ‘Daddy, I hate to ask, but …’ she drew in a long shuddering breath.

  ‘How much do you need?’ Henry asked in a low voice, so the others, sitting on the terrace having coffee, wouldn’t hear.

  ‘It’s worse than that.’

  ‘What do you mean? You’re not pregnant again?’

  She shook her head, her blonde hair hanging limply to her shoulders. ‘Charles has lost his job at the gallery.’

  ‘Oh, God, I’m sorry, darling. What happened?’

  ‘They sacked him because he was fiddling his expenses. The usual thing; he didn’t tell me, stayed in London, gambling, and getting into debt, before I found out.’

  ‘Why doesn’t he sell his place in Cumbria? Of course, he’d have to find alternative accomodation for his mother and sister. Nevertheless …’

  ‘You and Mummy have never seen his so-called castle, have you? It’s a ruin, Daddy. His mother and Henrietta live in four rooms in the only part that’s still standing.’ Despair filled her eyes. ‘I don’t know what to do with him.’