All I Have to Give (39 page)

Ada, when we are alone, drop my formal address. You are very dear to me and we are friends. You must just remember to use it when we are in company.’

‘Ta, Edith. I can think of nothing better than to have you as me friend – well, except me Joe coming home and us getting married, that is.’

‘I know. We are both suffering in different ways, as most people on Earth are.’

Aye, we’re all in same boat. But we have to find a way of going forward towards the future. What kind of future that’ll be, none of us can knaw, but we have to keep going and to
maintain hope.’

‘We do, Ada, we do.’

As Ada left her, Edith leaned back and allowed the tears to flow. It was better to shed them now, and then she could compose herself for her visit to Eloise and Jay’s new town house, and
then to her own home. It would be good to be surrounded by those who loved her. From them she would draw strength. She would give all that she could to help others, and more especially to help
Laurent recover. As Ada said: they must. She would join the march to the uncertain future. She would have Laurent by her side, and Eloise would walk with Jay. Ada would have her Joe. If God was
good, Christian and Douglas would come home and pick up their lives, and life would have some normality and happiness to it.

But she knew she wouldn’t take the road forward as a follower of others; that wasn’t her nature and would leave her too much time to dwell. No, she would be more of a worker for
change and would work to shape whatever future they were left with after the war ended. She only hoped it would end in the victory that looked likely, now that the Americans had truly arrived and
their full might was behind the rest of the Allies.

Ada hesitated as she left the room, but then decided that Edith needed this time to herself.
Eeh, that Kaiser bloke has a lot to answer for. But then this war is meant to
end all wars, so if that is achieved, sommat good will have come out of it.

Soon her life would change. Lady Eloise had looked into Beryl being moved nearer and that was now likely. So she’d get a chance to rebuild their relationship, and settle Beryl some.
She’d devote her spare time to that. It might even, one day, be possible for Brendan to see his mam. She hoped so, as mams shouldn’t be separated from their young ’uns. The
anguished cries she could hear coming from Edith, and her own knowledge of the agony it caused, told her that.

One day soon there would be peace and they could all go about the task of rebuilding their lives and those of others. She couldn’t wait for that day, and neither could she wait to see Joe
again. She’d take five minutes to fill in another visitor request form. This would be her fourth request since she last saw him. All these requests had been refused, but she wouldn’t
give up. None of them could ever do that . . .

Poland, March 1921
Salving a conscience

‘Marcelina, look at them! Our darling girls. How happy they are!’

Elka and Ania, just two days away from their fourth birthdays, ran around the table containing the celebration meal. At last peace had come to Poland and she was once more a recognized country.
The Soviets had been defeated, and today – 17th March 1921 – the Second Polish Republic had adopted a constitution based on the French one. The constitution expressly ruled out
discrimination on racial or religious grounds. An end to anti-Semitism was in sight.

So many of their friends had been murdered. Often accused of being in league with the Soviets, and on their return to Poland in 1917, Petra and Aleksi had feared for their lives and had
regretted their decision to leave London. England had now enjoyed peace for two years, although the Spanish flu pandemic had wreaked havoc on an already weakened nation.

Squeezing Marcelina’s hand, Petra tried to gain comfort and to impart it. They had both been widowed by the pandemic, just under three years ago. Neither they nor the twins had succumbed,
although darling Aleksi and Feodor had been nursed, and had died, at home.

Soon afterwards the Russians had become troublesome. Beating the White Russians, the Soviets had wanted to conquer Poland, and so another war had raged.

Feodor’s father had been adamant that he would not leave Poland again, and now they all lived in Warsaw. This decision had left Petra and Marcelina helpless, stranded with two babies and
living in fear. But today was a good day. A day to celebrate. A day to remember the past too, and to look back with sadness. But, more importantly, a day to look forward with hope. At last the Jews
in Poland were going to be able to live, work and worship without anxiety.

Petra watched as Marcelina played with the children. She could see the light inside Marcelina brightening and her sadness melting away.
I
did the right thing,
thought
Petra.

What did it matter that Gos and Miriam, Feodor’s parents, wouldn’t accept the girls, or believe the story that Petra had told them about how they came to be with her. The girls were
safe, and her beloved Marcelina had some happiness in her life.

Her thoughts went to Edith as she watched the little red-headed Elka and Ania running away from their mama and their cousins, Jhona and Isaac – Feodor’s brother’s children
– who had joined in the game.

What had become of Edith? Had she found new love and forgotten the girls? Petra doubted she’d forgotten them, but did think that, when she remembered, it would be with relief. Her problem
had been sorted. She’d probably gone back to her society life a heroine, without a smear on her character.
Yes. All in all, I did a good job and brought peace to two women: my beloved
daughter, and Edith, whom I have to admit I became very fond of.

She thought about her secret box. Hidden away, it held the true facts and papers pertaining to the children’s real identities. This gave her an inner peace. It secured in her a knowledge
that if ever it became necessary to do so, she could reveal the truth about their dual nationality, as their registration here in Poland would perhaps be the saving of them one day – who
knew? With this thought, she packed her sometimes troubled conscience into the deep recesses of her mind and went to join in the fun.

London, March 1921
A wedding to remember

‘Oh, Ada, darling, you will look wonderful. Your frock is beautiful. Joe is going to be so proud of you when you walk up the aisle towards him.’

‘Ta, Edith. I only managed to finish me frock last night. I left the hem undone till I was sure Joe was finally coming home. I didn’t want to jeopardize his chances by having
everything ready. A bit of superstition, but I thought that if I didn’t leave something undone, I might put a jinx on things – what with his release date having already been put back
five times in the last nine months!’

‘Well, he is home now. And Annie has rung and said he is as nervous as a kitten.’

‘I can’t wait to see him. But I thought it best not to, till we meet in the church. When I saw him three weeks ago I told him that the next time would be as I walked up the aisle.
Eeh, it were funny posting the banns in the prison chapel. But the prison chaplain said he would duplicate them in his parish church and wed us there.’

‘St Anne’s is a lovely church, with its pepperpot spire and majestic pillars. A wonderful place for a wedding. Now, come on, let’s slip your dress on.’

Taking the beautiful turquoise-satin dress by the hem, Edith slipped it carefully over Ada’s hair for her. Then Ada took over. ‘Eeh, I’m not used to being dressed. I can
manage.’

They were in a bedroom in Edith’s Holland Park home. Edith had insisted that Ada stay the night before her wedding and went from there to the church.

Ada hadn’t felt out of place, as she visited often, often sitting with Christian when his nurse was off-duty and Edith needed to be working.

Christian had returned home badly wounded. He’d been blown up when the vehicle he was travelling in hit a mine. All the others in the truck had died, but Christian survived. If you could
call the almost vegetative state that he was in, and being totally blind, surviving.

The last six months of the war had been terrible. When the war ended it should have been a time for rejoicing, but Edith hadn’t felt that she could. She was still going through so much
heartache and torment. Though her elder brother Douglas returned home all in one piece, the shock of what happened to Christian had quickly been followed by the death of their father; and on top of
that, poor Edith was coping with the broken Laurent. The love of her life.

Ada had loved Laurent on meeting him. His bravery shone from him. He courageously took on the battle to walk again, and didn’t allow his facial injuries to daunt him. Because of this,
everyone accepted him as he was. He and Edith had married as soon as he could stand on his false leg. It had been a quiet affair, but a lovely wedding, and one that had helped to smooth over some
of the sadness within Edith.

‘Ada, when I see the light on your hair, like it is now, I think of my girls.’

‘Aye, they had lovely hair.’

‘Oh, Ada. Will this pain never go away?’

‘Eeh, lass. It will be like a wave. Receding at times, then crashing over you at others.’

‘I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have brought it up today. This is your special day.’

‘I know, but those are the times when the wave crashes. It hit me this morning when I woke. Me lads came to me, and I had to fight not to tear me heart from me. But I focused on what the
day is going to give me. Me Joe is finally going to be me husband. He has his freedom, and our life together begins; and somehow that happiness cushioned the sadness and I could cope. You have to
think of something to do the same for you, Edith.’

‘Yes, you are right. I will focus on the fact that I have at last engaged a Polish-speaking investigator. I didn’t think I could at first, but I realized that to break my confidence
would mean the agency would never again be commissioned by anyone, so why would they do so? He has had a lot of success in tracing people misplaced through the events of war, and has reunited many
families. He has agreed to take my case up and search for my girls.’

‘There you are then. All will be well, I know it will. Now, is that husband of yours ready? If he is to be best man, he needs to be on his way to the church.’

‘He is. Ready, that is. I don’t think he has gone yet, though. Ha! He moaned about having to wear a starched collar. He said we British have always been known as “stuffed
shirts”, but should have been known as stiff ones!’

‘Eeh, Laurent’s a good ’un. He’s what we would call a joker, but Annie would call “a right card”!’

‘Yes, it is his sense of humour that gets him through. Well, both of us really.’

Edith’s voice was wistful again, so Ada pulled her up sharpish, before she sank back into her morose mood. ‘Reet. How do I look?’

‘Beautiful. Darling Ada. That colour really suits you, and having your hair plaited up like that is a stroke of genius; it looks so pretty. Oh, Ada . . .’

‘Now, now.’

‘These are tears of happiness, I promise. I am so happy that at last you and Joe will be together.’

‘We have a lot of hurdles to jump yet, but we’ll jump them together. And, Edith, ta for offering Joe that maintenance job. He’s reet handy, and will keep Jimmy’s Hope
House up to scratch, you’ll see. We’ll have no leaky roofs this year!’

‘I know. And it’s going to be a real treat for them all: you having your wedding party back there. The children are so excited. And all the young mothers are working their socks off
getting the wedding breakfast ready.’

‘Wouldn’t have it anywhere else. Me Jimmy is honoured and remembered there. And that’s down to you, Edith. The young ’uns all look up to him as a hero.’

‘He was. Oh, Ada, come here.’

Ada went into Edith’s outstretched arms and took comfort from the hug she received, but didn’t stay long, for it was too much for her. ‘Reet, I’m ready. Let’s do
this.’

‘Your carriage awaits you, Madam.’

‘Eeh, fancy me riding in a Rolls-Royce. I never thought I’d see the day. Lead the way, my maid-of-honour.’

Laurent was waiting for them at the bottom of the stairs. He had his false leg on, but sat in his wheelchair, no doubt conserving his energy for his duty as best man. He gasped as he looked at
Edith. ‘
Ma
chérie,
you look beautiful.’

Edith wore a dress in a style similar to Ada’s. But hers was cut just below the knee, where it gave way to white stockings and satin pumps with a little heel. The dress flowed from the
bodice in gentle folds. The colour – a darker blue than Ada’s long, flowing frock – enhanced rather than paled Ada’s dress and suited Edith’s very dark hair and olive
complexion so well.

‘Oh, and look at you! Ada, you are gorgeous. The prettiest bride since my own Edith.’

Ada blushed. Somehow, when Laurent complimented her, it sounded so delicious – if that was a word you could use for a compliment. But it was one that fitted, as his accent and his lush
tone seemed to sweep all over her and make her feel special.

‘You should have left by now, Laurent. You need to be at the church to greet and support Joe. Go along with you! Your driver is waiting outside for you, and has been for fifteen
minutes.’

‘Don’t chastise me, my darling. I had to see you both before I went. I will go now. Call the chap in to help me.’

At the church, Jay was waiting outside for them. He was to give Ada away, and she could think of none better.

Excitement knotted her tummy muscles as she took his arm and drank in his compliments. She felt, and was sure she looked, like a queen! This was going to be a good day for her. She’d not
had many good days in her life to count, and the total of them could be summed up on her ten fingers and toes. But right now she’d only think of them, and not of the terrible days she’d
suffered.

Joe turned as she walked up the aisle. His smile warmed her through and gave his face a lovely look, as his expression combined both love and happiness.