Henry & Sarah

by Kadrak, Suzanne

  When Holly had left again, Oscar put on his glasses, unfolded the telegram and began to read.

  dear oscar - just bought a ticket for america - will leave sunday early in the morning - thanks for your letters and endless support - need to start a new life - will keep in touch with you and will let you know my new address as soon as I have one - your friend henry

  Oscar let the letter slowly sink into his lap.

  God, please… no more bad news today…

  He took off his glasses and massaged his forehead. He had never felt at such a loss in his entire life.

  After a few minutes of feeling that the whole world was coming to an end, he suddenly had an idea.

  Maybe it wasnʼt so bad at all that Sarah needed to go to London with Damian.

  Maybe it wasnʼt so bad at all that Henry had decided to go to America just now.

  Maybe it simply all just fell in place.

  And what is keeping me here, now that my sister obviously doesnʼt want me around anymore...?

  Oscar sat about half an hour at his desk, lost in thoughts and considerations.

  “Dr. Scott?”

  It was Holly again. She opened the door and came in, wiping her hands at her apron.

  “Will I serve some cabbage along with the roast beef instead of potatoes—just for a change?”

  Oscar looked at her puzzled.

  “Are you alright, Dr. Scott?” Holly frowned. “I must say, you appear quite worn out these days. You know what I think, Dr. Scott? I think you could do with a proper holiday, a change of scenery, Dr. Scott.”

  Oscarʼs lips formed a small smile.

  “It is funny, Holly, but I was just thinking exactly the same.”

  “Oh, were you, Dr. Scott?”

  Oscar leaned back in his chair and stuck the leg of his glasses in his mouth as he pensively looked at his house help.

  “Holly, I wonder if in the future you could do without the money which I have given you in the past years for washing my socks and serving me dinner.”

  Holly looked at him strangely for a moment, then she said, “Well, I have saved quite a bit, so I suppose my husband Trevor and I will be fine for a while... But why are you asking?”

  “Because I might go indeed on a holiday… a somewhat longer holiday…”

  “A longer holiday?” Holly Whiterspoonʼs face fell. “What do you mean, Dr. Scott?”

  Oscar got up, smiled at her mildly and hugged her.

  “My dear, Holly,” he said with a sigh. “Eventually, there comes a time for all of us when we are forced to make a major decision…”

  Holly looked at him blankly.

  “Dr. Scott, that doesnʼt sound to me as if you were going on a holiday at all?! That sounds as if you were never coming back!”

  “It is just an idea, Holly. I am not quite sure about it as yet,” Oscar answered. “After all, I would miss you terribly if I left. You and Trevor have become like a family to me.”

  “That is very sweet of you to say, Doctor. But tell me, who would look after your patients?”

  “I guess I could ask Dr. Carson to take them. As far as I know, he still has a lot of capacity, so he surely would be able to devote to some extra clients. We are good friends. He will not mind. As for you: If I should not come back, I will write an excellent letter of reference for you. So you should be able to find new work in no time at all. But do me favor and do not apply for a position in my sisterʼs house…”

  Holly frowned.

  “And what about the young Lady Partridge?” she asked.

  Oscar knew that every so often Holly had become silent witness to his brooding, to the moments when he had worried about his niece. At some stage in the past, he even had confided to her what he really thought about his sister and the way she was treating Sarah. Holly had proved to be understanding.

  “She will be fine, do not worry about her…” he mumbled.

  Holly was staring at Oscar for a little while, thinking hard, trying to digest the unexpected news he had broken to her. Then she suddenly said, “So what about dinner then? Will I serve cabbage or potatoes?”

  Oscar could hardly suppress a grin. Wasnʼt that so typically Holly? No matter what major changes lay ahead or what crisis one went through—all that counted in the end were the meals.

  “You know, Holly, I think I will actually leave the choice up to you. As for me, I will quickly go to town. I must send a telegram to a dear friend of mine in London.”

  Oscar put on his jacket and headed for the door. Then he turned to his house help again.

  “Oh, and by the way, Holly: Do me a favor and do not tell anyone about what I have just told you, will you?”

  “Alright, Dr. Scott. Not anyone, Dr. Scott.”

  “Perfect,” Oscar twittered happily and stepped outside where the sun had finally broken through the clouds.

  Yes, he thought, Sarah definitely needs to go to London.

  He would go and see her one more time before she left, and he would definitely do everything in his power to strengthen her for the weekend—with strong medication if necessary.

  But she would go.

  And once she was there, they could think about how to proceed.

  * * *

  “Oh, it is really a shame that you are going away, Mr. Abbott...” Mrs. Potter said when Henry spilt the news to her that he would leave for good in only a matter of days. He knew that she had got used to his regular payments and regarded them as sort of a steady income, but he couldnʼt get rid of the feeling that she was kind of relieved to see him going as she had grown suspicious towards him due to his neglectfulness and excessive drinking. He guessed that she found—just like himself—that a change of scenery would do him good and would ultimately lead to a recovery of his mental sanity, which undoubtedly had suffered enormously within the past months. She didnʼt know, though, why he had been in such a terrible state as he had never told her the reasons for his despair.

  He spent Tuesday gathering his belongings which he wanted to take with him to America. They werenʼt much; just some clothes and books. There were also a few possessions of his deceased mother; for example, all letters which his brother had sent to her from America and a precious ring with a wonderful clear blue amethyst which his father had once given her as an engagement gift.

  “Give this ring to the woman that you love and that you want to spend your life with,” his mother had said to Henry on her deathbed.

  Maybe some day, some other girl... Henry thought bitterly as he was holding the ring in his hand now, knowing that it would be quite hard to find someone other than Sarah whom he would gladly have given this precious token of his mother.

  He put the ring to all the other things he intended to take with him, then he got ready to go into town in order to buy a suitcase, finally get shaved and have his hair cut. Apart from that, he wanted to post a letter to Sarah in which he was telling her that he would leave and that she would never see him again.

  He was just on his way out, when Mrs. Potter came rushing towards him.

  “Mr. Abbott,” she said, “a man has just brought this for you.”

  She handed him two telegrams. Henry looked at them. One was from his brother Paul in New York, the other one from Oscar.

  “Thanks, Mrs. Potter,” he mumbled absent-mindedly and crept back upstairs.

  He opened his brotherʼs message first, as he guessed that it was the response to the telegram which he had sent the day before, announcing his arrival.

  great w p - will wait at port - paul

  The letters ʻwpʼ brought a little smile on Henryʼs face. With his brother Paul being older than him—although only one year, one month, and a single day—Paul had regularly teased him by calling him W.P. when they had been children. The letters stood for ʻweepyʼ—a pet name that Paul had given him because he had witnessed Henry cry as a child. Henry had lost count of the numerous fights he had had with Paul in his attempt to make his brother stop calling him like that, although he
knew that deep in his heart Paul had never really meant to hurt him. Despite their little rows, they had been the best of friends all along and had always been there for each other whenever one had needed the other.

  Reading Paulʼs lines now made Henry feel loved and welcomed. It was nice to know that a part of the family would be waiting for him once he arrived in distant, foreign America.

  He put his brotherʼs message on the table and began to read Oscarʼs.

  dear henry - she will be in london on the weekend - mount merrion hotel - damian will be there too - but maybe you will find a chance to speak to her - please meet her before you leave - your friend Oscar

  Henry chuckled. But what had begun as a chuckle soon transformed into hysterical laughter. He laughed so much that tears welled up in his eyes. After a while, he realized that they were no tears of joy but rather of rage and despair.

  “What do you want, God?!” he shouted. “Havenʼt I gone and bought this ticket just as you told me to do? So why are you torturing me now?! You expect too much of me! Too much! I am not that strong to face her again!”

  He crumbled Oscarʼs telegram into a little ball and threw it into the farthest corner of the room. Then he let himself sink down to the ground where he buried his head in his hands and waited until until his anger had ebbed away.

  Why canʼt she leave me alone? he thought glumly. Will she be haunting me forever?

  After a little while of crouching on the floor, Mrs. Potter carefully knocked at his door again because she had heard him curse loudly in his room and was worried about him. He assured her that he was fine, which wasnʼt a lie.

  He was fine indeed because he had come to a decision; and that decision was that he would not go to the hotel.

  No, he didnʼt want to see her, didnʼt want this old wound to crack open again, a wound which hadnʼt even had a chance to heal properly so far. He would send Sarah the letter which he had just been about to post before Mrs. Potter had held him up, and that was it. He was just on the brink of building his new existence, and he wouldnʼt allow Sarah to mess with his life again.

  He pushed himself up from the ground, left the room and went to town, where he first had his hair cut and then bought a suitcase just as he had planned to do. And somehow he even managed to forget about Oscarʼs telegram. He visited a shop where a cunning, business-minded salesman tried hard to talk him into buying one of the most expensive suitcases he had to offer with the explanation that it was durable enough to withstand ice-cold waters and shark bites—just in case the ship should sink. When Henry explained that a mediocre cheaper model would suffice, the salesman began to show him about one hundred different kinds of suitcases, all having their very own alleged advantages. Eventually, Henry was completely dazzled because of everything and agreed to buy any kind of suitcase if only the salesman would leave him in peace.

  When he came back home, a little annoyed and rather tired, he noticed that in his confusion he had completely forgotten to post the letter to Sarah.

  Later that evening when he was lying in bed, he suddenly found himself staring at the little crumpled paper ball that still lay in the corner of the room. And suddenly, despite all his anger and despair, he came to the conclusion that maybe it was better if he went to meet Sarah. Maybe fate really wanted him to see her just one last time before he departed. Maybe fate wanted him to tell her about his plans in person instead of sending her a mere letter. Maybe they both needed that encounter to draw a proper line, to call it quits forever, so that they could finally go on with their lives in peace.

  Yes, it was surely what fate had in mind, because he simply could not come up with any other reasonable explanation for it all.

  Chapter 13 – Relapse

  Just as Lady Partridge had assigned him to do, Oscar went to see Sarah one last time towards the end of the week.

  Under different circumstances, Oscar would have rioted and would have conjured up a major fight between himself, his sister, and the rest of the family. He found it highly unfair that they forbade him to see Sarah in the future—although he was well aware that he had given them enough reason to mistrust him. After all, he had so frankly aired his unpopular opinion about Damian Cox and about Sarahʼs move to India.

  But despite it all, he didnʼt feel any need to start up a fight. On the contrary, he wanted to lull the Partridges into a false sense of security by acting as if he had come to terms with having been expelled from the mansion grounds.

  The reason for this was, of course, that he had a plan. Other than that, he feared that if he rebelled all too much, he ran the risk of his unique plan being discovered and crossed.

  Regarding the relationship with his sister, he was surprised to see how quickly he had put up with the fact that the family bond between her and himself was broken. He didnʼt feel as hurt as he had imagined he would. He was, of course, sad and disappointed because he had always hoped that deep inside of Priscilla Partridge there would at least be a flicker of understanding and sympathy. But she had clearly shown him that there wasnʼt, and that didnʼt give him any reason to put up with her any longer.

  Sarah lay huddled up in her bed again, her eyes glassy and dazed, but Oscar noticed to his relief that she was not half-unconscious as on the previous days. She took notice of him when he entered the room. Oscar guessed that it was because he had stopped giving her sleeping pills, although he knew that they meant the world to her.

  She appeared rather on edge and upset.

  “They do not want me to see you again, Uncle Oscar!”

  Oscar rushed over to her, sat down next to her and took her in his arms.

  “I know,” he said soothingly, rocking her gently. “But donʼt you worry, you will not lose me. Rest assured that I will always be there for you, I promise.”

  “But how do you want to manage this?” Sarah asked, a bewildered look in her eyes.

  “Let me worry about that, Sarah, alright?”

  She nodded slightly, but judging her tortured expression it was obvious to Oscar that his words hadnʼt really convinced her.

  Is it any wonder? he thought. After all, he wasnʼt sure himself what to do if his plan for the weekend should fail.

  “I canʼt sleep, Uncle Oscar. I toss and turn all night, restlessly...” Sarah said.

  Oscar let out a sigh.

  “I am afraid, I can not give you another pill. If I do, you will be comatosed on Saturday when Damian wants to take you to London—and that would be horrible.”

  “Why would that be horrible?” Sarah said, sounding indifferent. “He does not care about me anyway, and the less I am able to move and speak, the less there is a risk that I do something wrong which could embarrass him. Actually, I really abhor the thought of joining him and I think that no matter if you give me any pills or not, I will just stay in bed and pretend that I am dead.”

  Sarah crossed her arms over her chest and pouted.

  “No, you will not,” Oscar said firmly, not tolerating his nieceʼs stubbornness anymore. He was growing rather worried as he saw his chances dwindle to pull his secret plan through.

  “Sarah, it is actually very important that you feel your best on Saturday. I want you to follow my instructions and not make a fuss about it. Have I made myself clear enough?”

  I want you to feel strong enough to stand through the escape...

  Sarah looked at him sheepishly. Oscar was aware that she wasnʼt used to that stern and slightly harsh tone to his voice. He put the palm of his hand on her cheek and comfortingly stroked her skin with his thumb.

  “Sarah, my girl, I only want the best for you,” he said softly.

  “Is everything alright?” she suddenly asked uncertainly. Oscar didnʼt fail to notice the slight air of suspicion in her voice. He wondered if he should tell her about Henry but came to the conclusion that it was better not to. After all, she had made it quite clear in the past that she did not want to see him again because she was more or less successfully trying to banish Henry from her life.<
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  But there was another eason why he didnʼt want to let her in on his plan: he didnʼt want to make any false promises. Just in case she really wanted to see Henry all of a sudden, and just in case Oscar should fail to convince Henry to go and meet her, she would be devastated if he didnʼt come in the end and would leave without her. After all, Oscar still had not received an answer from Henry and didnʼt know what decision he had made. He wanted to spare Sarah the possible disappointment. He knew he had to pull this plan through secretly. There was no other way.