by Kirsty Ferry
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Present Day
August Bank Holiday Weekend – Monday
Of course Aidan came to the Hall for the weekend.
‘Do you mind hanging around the pool area and discussing the restoration project with interested parties?’ Cassie asked him. ‘And if accommodation is an issue, you could maybe lodge in the gardener’s cottage, just for a couple of nights.’
‘And where will you be lodging, Lady Cassandra?’
‘In the gardener’s cottage.’
‘Then I shall most definitely lodge there too. But I do have a bit of a problem.’
’Oh no! What is it?’
‘Well, I don’t want to look out of place, and you’re all going to be drifting around dressed up. D’you mind if I join in?’
Aidan grinned as Cassie yelped in delight. ‘That’s my absolute favourite part of these weekends! I love getting dressed up. Come on. Shall we see what we can do for you?’
In the end, he wandered around looking like that famous, moody picture of Ivor Novello – the one where he’s wearing a black jacket and a knotted cravat. Aidan had even done something to his hair that had echoed Ivor’s style and he looked pretty damn good. Cassie found quite a lot of her weekend needed to be spent around the Spa area. She had a walkie-talkie, so really, did it matter much where she was?
Kate, melting in a ridiculous trouser suit that Cassie felt a little guilty about getting for her, looked knowingly at her friend a few times. Kate was stationed selling ice-creams from her revamped bicycle, in a little shady spot by the Spa.
‘Having fun?’ There was a wicked twinkle in Kate’s eyes as Cassie came over on the pretext of checking supplies.
‘I am.’ Cassie smiled at her friend. ‘Are you?’
Kate’s eyes drifted shiftily towards a man in shorts who was, Cassie knew, Theo – a farrier Alex had engaged for the weekend. ‘I am.’
‘Hmm. I bet you are. Theo’s nice, isn’t he?’
‘I hadn’t really noticed.’ Kate sniffed and dolloped some clotted cream on a strawberry cone. ‘Here. Take that and disappear, would you? I’m sure you must be extremely busy.’
Cassie laughed and took it, then she ate it as she wandered over to the old changing rooms. She lurked around the makeshift fence Aidan had put up on Thursday evening to stop people exploring behind the building and smiled, grateful to him.
‘Hey, Cassie! Thought I might find you here.’ Almost on cue, Alex appeared from behind the building.
‘Alex! You shouldn’t do that! You’ll give people ideas about it. And you’ll mess up your outfit.’
Alex had just thrown on some cricket whites and a tank top. The contrast between that and his dark hair and dark eyes had been quite incredible, but he seemed unaware of the figure he cut. He only had eyes for Elodie and the twins. Cassie had opted for a silver and black flapper dress in the end and, as she had promised, she hadn’t bobbed her hair. Elodie had styled it for her in the way she had suggested so many months ago, and Cassie loved it. She had matching, strappy shoes on with square heels and they made her almost the same height as Alex.
‘Ah, it’s just an old jumper. It’s no problem.’ Alex grinned. ‘Have you seen Elodie? She was supposed to be heading over this way with the twins.’ He checked his watch and Cassie shook her head.
‘Not yet. I love that old pram she found.’
‘Hmm. Yes. She says it’s a twin Silver Cross.’ Alex shrugged. ‘I’d hate to try and fold it up to get in the back of the car.’
Cassie nodded in agreement. She had tied herself up in knots on more than one occasion trying to get the modern-day twin pram sorted, and sympathised. At least she didn’t have to do it all the time.
‘Hughie looks good as well, doesn’t he?’ Alex’s placid old horse had been a fantastic attraction pulling the Gypsy Tea Caravan around the estate and looking very important. Cassie thought part of the fun was because Horace, Margaret’s dog, had deemed it his place to sit on Hughie’s back as he trotted along. She wasn’t quite sure how Horace didn’t fall off or Hughie didn’t buck him off – but they had been inseparable all weekend.
‘He’s splendid. He’s always been a splendid horse.’ Alex sounded complacent. Hughie could do nothing wrong in his eyes. And with Elodie – never poor Hughie’s biggest fan – out of the Tea Caravan looking after the twins, there was nothing to stop Hughie having a go at pulling it after all. Hughie hadn’t seemed opposed to the idea, and the rest, as they said, was history.
‘Alex, that reminds me, I was going to ask — oh! Sorry. Can I help?’ Cassie smiled at the woman who was approaching them, fiddling nervously with her handbag strap. Then her eyes locked onto the woman’s and her heart stuttered, the smile slipping off her face. ‘Oh!’ She was immobilised by staring into eyes that were, she realised, identical to her own.
‘Cass?’ It must have been a split second before Alex put his hand reassuringly on her shoulder, but it felt like a year. ‘Can we help?’ he asked the woman, guardedly. Cassie reached her hand up and briefly squeezed her brother’s. She was close to Alex, always had been. But here, staring at this woman who was staring back at them and appeared to be just as shocked, she had never felt more united with him.
‘I — I don’t know.’ The woman’s eyes travelled up and down them, and finally came to rest on Alex’s face. ‘I hope so.’ She swallowed and attempted a smile. ‘I’ve come quite a long way, and I was hoping to get a feel for the place. It’s been a while since I was here. Things change, I think. A very nice young man told me there was an event on this weekend. I found I couldn’t stay away any longer.’
Cassie stared up at Alex. It wasn’t often she was lost for words, but this was unlike anything she had experienced before, and her emotions were suddenly all over the place. She knew, without a doubt, that this was Anne. Her mother.
The woman was dressed in a pair of neatly pressed, cream linen trousers, a navy blouse and had a cream cardigan slung over her shoulders. Despite the heat of the weekend, she didn’t look rumpled or crumpled at all.
She pressed her palms together. ‘I’m sorry. Maybe I should go. Maybe I should have waited and got lost in the crowds. If it’s a bad time …?’
Then Alex spoke. ‘No. It’s all right.’ His voice was more controlled than Cassie thought she could have managed, but it wasn’t quite as warm as it usually was. It was cool and a little restrained. ‘You’re very welcome to be here. It must be quite a while since you saw the place.’
The woman, Anne, had the grace to blush. ‘If I’d known sooner, I would have come like a shot. There were things that prevented me. I did try. I swear.’
Alex nodded. ‘We know that now. I made some calls after we got the first letter. I’m sorry, but I didn’t open the second one—’ He flushed.
Anne briefly nodded and smiled at him. ‘Don’t worry about it now. But thank you so much for making those calls … Alex.’ Then she turned her attention to Cassie. ‘The money disappeared quite quickly. Things weren’t easy. Cassandra …’
‘Cassie. Everyone calls me Cassie.’
‘Cassie.’ Her smile grew wider. ‘It’s pretty. I used to call you that. I’m glad it stuck.’
‘Alex and I did all right, in the end. We’re all right. But I couldn’t have done it without him. And I still miss my father. He wasn’t the most hands-on parent, but he loved us and he was still ours, despite what happened between you two.’
Anne lowered her eyes. ‘I know. Which is why I’m not going to go into details. Is it enough for you to know that I wish so much that things could have been different? That I could have at least spent some time each year with you both?’
Cassie looked at her. ‘I wish you had done that too. But you couldn’t. You tried. I’m sort of okay with that, I think. I can’t speak for my brother, though.’
Alex’s hand squeezed her shoulder a little more tightly and then he let go. ‘It’s enough for now. Like I told Cassie, it’s pointless dragging the past o
ut. For any of us.’ He looked out over the estate and put his hands in his pockets. ‘You should be proud of Cassie though. She’s managed to pull this weekend off. And I couldn’t have coped with the last few years if she hadn’t been here. I might not have been here.’
‘Alex, you’ve come a long way from then,’ murmured Cassie, ‘And you’ve got Elodie properly now. You never needed me, not really.’
‘But I always knew you were there. And shut up, I know you changed your degree to help out. Sorry you did so badly in Business Admin.’ He smiled suddenly. ‘Yes. I think we’ve done all right. But …’ He nodded over Anne’s shoulder. ‘There are some people you need to meet. You can maybe make up for lost time with them.’ His eyes shifted to Anne and there was a challenge there. Cassie knew that Alex had felt Anne’s desertion keenly, and he still had a few barriers there, bars to his emotions that his demons pounded on now and again. But he’d get there if Anne matched her pace to his.
Anne. She couldn’t bring herself to call her Mum, or Mother, or anything like that at the moment. But maybe in time she would?
Cassie followed Alex’s gaze and smiled as she saw Elodie huffing and puffing towards them with the immense Silver Cross pram.
‘God, this thing is heavy.’ Elodie’s cheeks were pink, but she was laughing. ‘I’m so much happier with the proper pram. I’m beat just coming along here!’
‘Here, let me take it. You should have called me, and I would have come right away for you.’ Alex melted away from Cassie, heading arrow-straight towards his wife, his eyes never leaving her. Then he put his arm around Elodie and bent his head close to her, whispering something that made her eyes go as round as saucers and glance over at Anne.
Cassie dipped her head and smiled. Rubbish. It was total rubbish. Alex didn’t need her at all – it was always going to be, always had been, Elodie he needed.
Then Cassie raised her eyes and looked at Anne. ‘That’s Elodie, in case you hadn’t realised. Is she how you remember her?’
Anne was staring at the young couple and the pram, tears shimmering in her eyes. ‘She was always going to be a beauty. I’m so pleased for them.’ She glanced at Cassie and half-smiled. ‘And the babies? I’m right in thinking they’ve got twins, aren’t I?’
‘Yes.’ Cassie nodded. ‘Alfie and Freya. They were born in July. So you haven’t missed too much of their lives, really.’
Alfie and Freya were absolutely adorable this weekend. Elodie had taken them out for a few walks around the estate, and hadn’t minded being stopped every few steps as people admired the babies. Freya already had Alex wrapped around her tiny finger, and Alfie was a carbon copy of Elodie, all chubby round curves and blonde hair. Freya was more serious and really, it was as if Alex in miniature was staring at you when she fixed her midnight blue eyes on you.
‘And God willing, I won’t miss any more of their lives,’ murmured Anne.
Alex had, by now, pushed the Silver Cross towards them, and stopped so Anne had a clear view inside it. ‘Anne, this is Elodie. And weighing this bloody pram down are our children, Alfie and Freya. Elodie, this is my mother, Anne. D’you remember her at all?’
Elodie held her hand out and shook her head, but she was smiling. ‘Just a little bit. Alex told me everything – I’m so pleased you’ve managed to get here today for Cassie’s weekend. It’s all come together beautifully. Have you seen the Hall yet?’
Anne shook her head. ‘Not yet.’
‘That’s good. Look – why don’t we pop over there now? It’s almost time to feed the twins and I don’t want them screaming on our way around the estate. I’m always glad of a pair of extra hands to help juggle bottles. And I could murder a cuppa myself.’
Anne looked at Alex, worried. ‘I don’t know. I mean Alex might be busy. I can always come back another day…’
‘No. Today is fine.’ Alex’s face was still a little thunderous, but the clouds were clearing and Cassie was glad. ‘Cass, are you coming with us?’
Cassie paused for a minute, then nodded. ‘I think so. Just for a little while. But I need to tell Aidan first.’ He was there, she saw now, heading over from the pool towards them. He waved and smiled, and his eyes settled briefly on Anne.
‘That’s Aidan? He’s the man who told me about the weekend.’ Anne smiled. ‘He seems lovely.’
‘He is.’ Cassie’s eyes were fixed on his approach. ‘And I think he’ll be around for a lot longer than just this weekend.’
Monday Evening
Cassie made it her business to sit in the ticket booth at five o’clock. That way, she could watch all the cars driving away, spilling out of the overflow car park Alex had fashioned out of some parkland, and see the sun-tanned faces of the visitors as they looked longingly back at the Hall, just where the road curved around and you got the best view of the south front.
‘You did okay in the end, Cassie.’ Alex had come to join her and was leaning on the sun-warmed, green-painted wooden hut, watching the people drive past, just as she was.
He looked more relaxed now, but rather hot and bothered, and she reached out of the window and ruffled his hair. ‘Thanks, Bro. That means a lot.’
He laughed and ducked out of her reach. ‘You know I don’t dish out praise lightly, but I really mean it this time. I’ll admit that I had my concerns, but when I saw those advertising leaflets appear back in, oh, March, was it? Well, then I knew you had it all in hand.’
Cassie narrowed her eyes and glared at him, but he remained obstinately staring out after the cars and didn’t catch her eye. She could see the little smirk on his face though, so she leaned further out of the window and hit him.
‘Ouch,’ he said mildly, but he still never looked at her.
Cassie jumped down from her perch and left the hut, coming outside to stand next to him. She folded her arms and watched as the last few cars began to drive away.
‘I think the civil engineering company I engaged – in plenty of time, I hasten to add – did a wonderful job on the pool.’
‘And on the squash courts and on the tennis courts.’ Alex nodded. ‘I’ve heard all this before, remember. The managing director was clearly extremely dedicated to your project.’
Cassie blushed slightly. ‘There was a lot of work to do.’
‘Clearly.’
‘I had a risk assessment and everything,’ Cassie was defensive. ‘He read it and he agreed we needed to work on the squash courts if I wanted people to go upstairs. And then we couldn’t leave the tennis courts as they were a health hazard and looked very out of place.’
‘A risk assessment. Yes, Elodie mentioned that to me. She read it a while ago I think. Probably before you did.’
‘And I had a project chart. A big one.’
‘Yes. Before your post-its. I heard about that too. I think you just enjoyed colouring it in.’ This time, he was too quick for her and managed to duck, laughing, out of the way of her playful slap. ‘Well, little Sis, whatever you did, it worked out pretty well in the end.’
‘I think it all worked out perfectly. I think the pool access went down a treat, didn’t it?’
Alex nodded. He couldn’t help but agree with that one. They’d had no major incidents, except the odd scraped knee or belly-flopping tourist, and the water remained clear and fresh. The weather had been boiling hot all weekend and they’d ended up issuing timed tickets for the pool, so it never got overcrowded. People had been happy to splash around in it and jump off the diving board – carefully supervised by a couple of lifeguards they had appointed, of course – and Kate’s ice-cream bicycle added massively to the atmosphere. Theo the farrier also had something like a sparkle in his eye whenever he passed Kate, so Cassie was very hopeful that something else good would come out of this venture.
Margaret had, in Elodie’s absence, done a sterling job of dishing out tea and cakes, and sandwiches, and had a smile on her face the whole time. They didn’t run out of food at all. They sold Granny Delilah’s cookbooks at the kiosk, in th
e tea room and in the gift shop, and Alex was already planning a second printing of them, just for general sale throughout the year.
And at one point, before she headed down to the ticket booth, Cassie had glimpsed a group of people sitting beside the pool in the bold rays of sunlight, just to one side – indistinct outlines, some with arms around one another, some lying on their fronts, some raising glasses. She closed her eyes briefly and heard the hum of conversation, the bright bursts of laughter, and she smiled to herself. When she opened her eyes and looked across, there was, of course, nobody there. Cassie hoped that Stella and her friends had enjoyed the party. She thought they were simply elusive memories, shades of happier days, living their lives to the full before the world changed forever. It was right that they should remember, and, of course, be remembered.
She hadn’t made the secret room public knowledge. Its time would come, but that time was not this weekend.
Cassie picked at a loose thread on her dress as she stood next to Alex and waved the last car off.
‘You look great, by the way,’ Alex told Cassie. ‘Everyone looked great.’
‘D’you think our relatives would have liked it? Seeing the Hall brought back to life, just as they knew it, even if it was just for a little while?’
‘I think they would.’ Alex nodded. ‘And Stella would have loved it as well.’
‘Stella. It’s a pretty name, isn’t it? All sort of – starry.’
‘Yes. Elodie thought about it for Freya, but Stella’s real name was a bit of a mouthful and it was a lot of pressure to put on a baby girl.’ Alex smiled looking over the estate. ‘That and the reputation! Estella Amelia Aldrich. It’s a big name.’ He pushed himself away from the wall. ‘If you ever want to have a look at Dad’s genealogy stuff, it’s all in there, you know. Even little notes about how her brother Leo couldn’t be bothered to pronounce her name properly. Dad did some family stories which are quite nice. I was looking at them last week, to see if there was anything that I could give you to add to your display, then something twin-ish happened and distracted me. Then there was Anne. It never stops, does it? I meant to tell you earlier.’ He grinned, but it was a good-natured grin and Cassie knew he wasn’t complaining.