by Tania Crosse
Another car got between him and Frankie as they came into the town, but he was able to follow at a distance across Bedford Square and up the steep hill opposite. But then she turned into a narrow street on the right, and as the road began to sweep uphill, the Jaguar pulled in and stopped. Gilbert slammed on the brakes, terrified that Frankie might glance back down the road and see him. She didn’t. As she got out of the car, she made a beeline for one of the houses and knocked on the door.
Gilbert’s heart was pumping furiously, his muscles coiled and ready to spring out of the car and punch his wife’s lover in the face. But astonishment felled him as the door was opened not by a man, but – dear God above – by his Little Smoky Eyes. And in her arms was a child of about two years old. By its clothes, it was a boy. Gilbert froze as the penny dropped.
His son.
It had to be. She hadn’t been lying about being pregnant. He had never doubted it, to be honest, and it was his. She wouldn’t lie about something like that. Her innocence had been refreshing. That, together with her pretty face and slender figure, was what had attracted him to her. She wasn’t unlike Frankie in that.
Frankie. How long had she been deceiving him? Visiting Anna when she claimed to have been going shopping? Gilbert was poleaxed and, for the first time in his life, sat drowning in indecision. Bloody little minxes, both of them. And as the shock subsided, rage swirled into its place and the need for revenge flared into his throat and throttled him.
Anna and Ethel linked arms, heads bent together as they walked up the hill to Tavistock North Station, their breath mingling in a halo as it collided with the sharp, frosty night air.
‘This yere ’ill don’t get no easier, do it?’ Ethel grumbled good-heartedly.
‘You’re just unfit,’ Anna chuckled back. ‘You should get more exercise.’
‘Don’t ’ave much bloody time, does I, working all week at Dingles an’ now serving in the pub of an evening?’
‘Well, it was good of you to find the time to come and see Charlie and me,’ Anna teased. ‘I’ve really enjoyed it.’
‘So ’ave I, my maid,’ Ethel replied, sounding so much like her mum that Anna gave a secret smile. ‘An’ it’s good to see you looking so ’appy after all you’ve bin through.’
Anna nodded with a rueful arching of her eyebrows. ‘Yes. I’ll always miss Queenie, just like I’ll always miss Mum and Dad. But I can’t bring any of them back, so I’ve got to look forward. And it’s great that Carrie has said I can stay on when Jeffery comes home next week.’
‘Just in time for Christmas, eh?’
‘Yup! A double celebration! Carrie’s mum and dad are coming down, and then after Christmas, Carrie and Jeffery want to put Polly back in her own room, which you can understand. So Jack’s moving out next weekend. Only two doors down, mind. The lady there’s a widow and she could do with the company as well as the rent.’
‘Just as well. Jack still being so near, I means, when ’e’s so mortal keen on you.’
‘What?’ Anna halted in her tracks. ‘What d’you mean?’
‘Oh, Anna! Poor chap’s in love with you, and you’s no idea? It’s there in ’is eyes whenever ’e looks at you. An’ ’is eyes follow you about the room. Hook, line an’ sinker for you, ’e is!’
‘Don’t be so ridiculous,’ Anna huffed as she started up the hill again. ‘And come on, hurry up or you’ll miss the train.’
‘Now you listens to me,’ Ethel puffed in her endeavour to keep up. ‘Not all men is like that Gilbert. My Bert, for instance, an’ my dad an’ my brothers. An’ Jeffery from what I knows of ’im. An’ that Jack’s a good sort, I sees that. Only ’e’s too darned shy to say ort. You think on it, maid. Now.’ She stopped decisively as they finally arrived at the station. ‘Don’t you wait for the train, not in this snipey weather. An’ you’ve got your posh job in that there solicitors’ office come morning. That’s not summat you ever thought you’d be doing, is it, learning about the law?’
‘No, it’s not,’ Anna agreed. ‘I’m only a clerk but it can be really interesting. And Wendy’s a great laugh. Takes her work utterly seriously, mind. Well!’ She drew in a huge breath and released it in one go, relieved that the conversation had moved away from Jack. ‘It’s been a wonderful afternoon. Have a super Christmas, and give my love to Bert and your mum and dad and all the family, won’t you?’
‘Certainly will. ’Appy Christmas to all o’ you, an’ all. An’ you remember what I said about Jack. Better get in some mistletoe.’
She skipped off into the station, turning to wave cheerily before she disappeared inside. Anna waved back, and then stood for a moment. Dear Eth. Despite her other fantastic friends, Eth would always be her soulmate. But … was she right about Jack?
Anna turned back down the hill. Yes. Despite their initial clash, she had to admit that she and Jack had got on extremely well in those months they had both been living in Carrie’s house. That walk on the moor together had really cleared the air. But was the tension she had felt before that simply because she had indeed been attracted to him? She didn’t want to be attracted to anyone ever again, so was it denial that had made her feel like that?
Jack was a lovely person, she had soon learnt that. He was kind and gentle, and the way he talked about his now full list of clients proved how thoughtful and considerate he was. He was passionate about his gardening, but as winter had come on and there was less work of that nature to do, he had begun helping his customers in other ways instead.
Up at Fencott Place, which seemed to be attracting business out of season as well, he helped Daniel with the maintenance of the house and outbuildings. Apparently Daniel had also written a novel based on his own experiences in Korea. The book had been snapped up by a London publisher and had just been released in time for Christmas. He had been obliged to go off on a promotional tour just at the wrong time as far as the hotel was concerned, so Jack’s help had been invaluable to Lily. Indeed, the previous weekend, there had been a houseful of guests wanting the full Christmas works who had been booked in before Daniel knew he would have to be away. Jack and Anna had gone up to help. It had been great fun but it had been Carrie’s idea that she should go and her friend had offered to look after Charlie for her. So … had Carrie seen what Eth had, and was trying to push her brother and Anna together?
Anna turned pensively into Exeter Street. Almost every evening, she and Jack sat up at the table together. She had made teaching cards for him, using a thick, dark crayon to write large, bold letters that wouldn’t run into each other in the way he had explained normal-sized print did. While Carrie was engrossed in Dixon of Dock Green or was dancing around to The Billy Cotton Band Show, Jack would pore over the cards and was beginning to master simple words. It seemed that large, well-spaced letters were the key. Whether or not Jack’s brain could ever be retrained to read normal-sized print, only time would tell. But at least he would be able to read certain things he had never been able to before.
And he was certainly keen – or was there another reason for his enthusiasm? Later that evening, Anna studied him furtively as he slowly and carefully copied one of her cards in an exercise book. He wasn’t strikingly handsome like Daniel was, but he was still good-looking enough to set any girl’s heart beating. A tense muscle twitched at his strong jaw, his generous mouth set with concentration, and his sapphire-blue eyes were riveted on his work. Anna’s heart made a frenzied leap in her breast. Yes, she could be drawn towards Jack. But could what Ethel had said about Jack’s feelings towards her possibly be true?
‘Hello, Anna. Have a good morning?’
‘Oh, hello, Jack,’ Anna smiled back as she came in to investigate all the chit-chat she could hear in the sitting room. ‘Popped in for a lunch break?’
‘I have indeed. But I mustn’t be long. Mrs Baldicott expects me at two on the dot.’
‘Mummy!’
Charlie ran over to her and she swung him into her arms. ‘I hope you’ve been behaving yourself for
Auntie Carrie,’ she grinned. ‘And Jeffery, how did you get on at William’s?’
‘He’s proper pleased with me. Reckons I should be able to go back to work by March. Part-time to start, anyway.’
‘Oh, that’s excellent news! I’m so pleased!’
‘Here, there was a letter for you this morning,’ Carrie said, handing her an envelope.
Ah, good. Perhaps it was from Frankie. Anna hadn’t heard from her since she called in a couple of weeks before Christmas. She had seemed almost over happy, as if her contentment was forced. At least, that was how it had appeared to Anna, and the worry of it had been niggling at the back of her mind all over the festive period. But the envelope was typed and Anna sat down disappointedly in one of the comfortable armchairs.
A few seconds later, a horrified cry escaped her lips. She vaulted to her feet, opening her fingers with a shudder and dropping the sheet of paper as if it were on fire. Her bolting eyes stared about her, the anxious faces of her friends blurred and distorted. And when the room began to spin and she swayed precariously, there were suddenly, miraculously it seemed, strong arms around her, and someone was holding her tightly against his chest. Someone who smelt of fresh air and good, solid earth.
‘Anna, whatever is it?’ Jack asked urgently, and now she seemed steadier on her feet, he leant back to frown into her ashen face.
She lifted her head, eyes wild with anguish. ‘It’s … Gilbert,’ she scraped the words from her stricken throat. ‘He … he wants to claim Charlie as his son. He wants to take him away from me!’
‘What!’
She scarcely heard the shocked voices about her as she continued to stare into Jack’s strong, familiar face. Her chin began to quiver and her head drooped with a wrenching sob, but Jack’s hands moved onto her shoulders and he gave her one short, sharp shake.
‘Look at me, Anna,’ he said firmly, and when she turned her head away with a deep moan, he repeated the command so fiercely that she felt compelled to obey. His jaw was set and his eyes bore so intently into hers, it was as if he could see right inside her. ‘We won’t let him. I won’t let him, I promise you!’
Anna gulped. Good, kind Jack. She thanked God he was there. He would, he would move heaven and earth, she knew. Charlie … oh, the thought was unbearable, and she was ready to sink into the comfort Jack was offering her. Tears were trickling down her cheeks, and as she shook in his arms, she buried her head in his chest and wept against him.
Chapter Thirty
‘Oh, that’s preposterous!’ Wendy declared dramatically. ‘He can’t do that, can he, Ian?’
After a lunch hour when her only attempted mouthful stuck in her throat, Anna found herself back in the office. She was still shaking and feeling sick with worry, her gaze fixed on Ian’s face as he concentrated on the letter.
‘He says I deliberately ran off with his child,’ she groaned hysterically. ‘He says he can give Charlie a much better home when all I have to offer is a life of struggle, and that’s absolutely true.’
‘No, it’s not.’
Behind her, his hands resting on her shoulders in support, Jack’s voice was steady. Blow Mrs Baldicott, he had said when he insisted on coming back to the solicitors’ with her. She and Charlie were far more important than one cantankerous client. Now, as Anna studied Ian’s beetling brow, she was glad to feel Jack standing steadfastly behind her.
It seemed an excruciating age before Ian lifted his head from the letter. ‘This is just a bluff,’ he said at length. ‘He’s probably expecting you to cow down because you don’t know what else to do. But we know better.’
He smiled encouragingly, offering Anna a seat. It seemed so weird, unreal to her, in this familiar place where she worked every morning. She would never have expected to become one of the practice’s clients.
‘First of all,’ Ian went on, ‘is he named as the father on the birth certificate?’
Anna’s eyes were wide in her pale face. ‘No. He didn’t want to know when I told him I was pregnant. Just watched as his mother threw me out.’
‘And he’s made no attempt to contact you since?’
‘No, not until now.’
‘Excellent!’ Ian beamed back. ‘Well, if he wants to assert his rights, he’ll have to prove he’s the father, and that might be pretty difficult for him. Now, present company excepted, who else believes Charlie to be Gilbert Ashcroft’s son?’
Anna sucked in her cheeks. ‘Frankie. His wife.’
‘His wife?’ Ian repeated in a more cautious tone, Anna realised with dismay.
‘Yes,’ she answered, her voice trembling as she spoke. ‘We’ve remained friends – in secret – ever since I was dismissed from the Hall. Two and a half years ago now. They’re both desperate for a family. Gilbert in particular wants an heir. It’s a sort of heritage thing for him. He must have found Charlie and me through Frankie. But I know she would never have told him, not unless … Oh, Lord.’
‘Unless what?’
‘Unless … well, I discovered afterwards that he’s apt to be violent sometimes. When he can’t have his own way.’
Ian gave a triumphant snort. ‘And he expects to gain custody? Well, that’s all good from our point of view.’
‘But not from Frankie’s. God, what a mess.’
Ian raised an eyebrow at the distress in her voice. ‘But one I’m sure we can sort out. So, who else knows?’
‘Well, his mother, I suppose,’ Anna replied with a tearing sigh. ‘The Dowager Lady Prudence Ashcroft. She walked in when I was asking Gilbert for an allowance. She refused to believe that her son would have done such a dishonourable thing and called me a liar. But I think, deep down, she knew it was true.’
She glanced, shamefaced, at Jack, pinching her bottom lip between her finger and thumb, but he rubbed her arm compassionately. ‘We’ll get through this, you’ll see,’ he assured her, but she could draw no comfort from his words, well meaning though they were.
‘Anyone else?’ Ian prompted.
‘Mrs Smudge. The cleaner. But I don’t think Gilbert has any idea that she knows. And as far as I know, the other two servants knew I was dismissed because I was pregnant, but Gilbert’s part in it was all hushed up.’
‘Right. Well, none of this provides absolute proof. And even if Charlie looks a bit like his father, well, I’m not sure what water that would hold in court. It strikes me he hasn’t got a leg to stand on. But,’ and here he fixed Anna’s gaze, ‘even if by some fluke, this Gilbert managed to persuade a judge that he is Charlie’s father, no judge is going to give him custody after his track record. No. At worst, he might be allowed to see Charlie once in a while under strict supervision. But I don’t believe it will ever even get to court. I think he’s just trying to put the frighteners on you so that you’ll give Charlie up for adoption without any fuss. ’
Anna had been listening as if through a fog, trying to concentrate but not sure she had taken in all of Ian’s words. So she was glad when Jack asked, ‘So what happens next?’
‘Well. We’ll write back to his solicitors. We won’t say a great deal to start with. Try and nip it in the bud. Save any details for later on in the unlikely event that we need them. But I’ll pass it on to Clarence.’
‘Yes, it’s more his speciality,’ Wendy nodded vigorously. ‘Only, he’s in court this afternoon. But of course, you know that, Anna.’
Yes, she did. But she wished vehemently that Clarence, one of the senior partners who specialised in family law, had been there to confirm Ian’s opinion.
‘Now, don’t worry, Anna,’ the younger solicitor was saying. ‘It’ll be all right.’
‘I hope so,’ Anna croaked, a lump the size of a golf ball in her throat.
‘Well, I suggest I take you home,’ Jack broke in. ‘No point in going on discussing it any further at the moment. You’ll be in tomorrow morning anyway.’
‘You really mustn’t worry … Oh dear, sorry, telephone!’ Wendy rolled her eyes at the shrill ring. ‘See yo
u tomorrow,’ she mouthed as she lifted the receiver.
‘Come on.’ Jack opened the door and ushered Anna through. Outside, the blustery January wind plucked at her coat as she stood on the pavement. It seemed incongruous that the town appeared just as normal, safe and familiar, and yet she had been threatened with losing her beloved child – no matter what anyone else could say to reassure her. She felt invisible, as if the passers-by could see neither her nor the anguish that stabbed at her heart.
She started when Jack took her by the elbow. ‘You shouldn’t go back yet,’ he murmured. ‘Let’s go for a walk by the canal.’
He stepped up to the kerb, checking that the road was clear. Anna was happy to be led across, grateful for Jack’s arm firmly about her as they turned into the park. Without her saying anything, he knew instinctively that she would feel stifled indoors, and that she needed some fresh air to clear her head and calm her nerves, even if it was so bitterly cold.
The park was almost deserted, just an old man slowly walking an equally old black Labrador with a grey muzzle and grey eyebrows. Further along, a woman in a red headscarf was playing with a young terrier haring about after a ball, but that was all. It was too cold to go out unless you had to.
‘What about Mrs Baldicott?’ Anna asked, suddenly coming to her senses.
‘Oh, I’ll explain to her, and tough if she doesn’t like it. It’s not as if there’s any gardening to be done this time of year. I’ll call round later to see if she needs anything urgent like changing a light bulb or anything. You’re far more important.’
Anna felt herself well up with gratitude. ‘That’s good of you, Jack.’
‘It’s what friends are for. Pity the pubs are shut. What you need is a stiff drink rather than a walk in this cold wind.’
‘Oh, I don’t know. It’s giving me a chance to get my head straight with nothing else to think about.’
She gulped in a lungful of air and let it out in a heavy sigh as her eyes scanned the park in an attempt to calm herself. Jack must have heard her and shook his head as he walked along beside her.