Swansea Summer (32 page)

‘Mine!’ She dropped the spatula into the frying pan, sending globules of fat spattering over the hob.

‘When my mother died she left everything jointly to Norah and me. Then Norah married. A year later war broke out. Her husband wanted her to have something to fall back on if anything happened to him. This house is big enough to take in lodgers and he decided Norah could make a living that way if she had to. He thought it was important she had her independence. None of us knew what was coming and there was no guarantee that either of us would survive. So, to cut a long story short, he bought me out. I invested the money and did very nicely by it. Then, after Norah’s husband was killed and you came along, Norah suggested, and I agreed, that if anything happened to her, you should have the house. That way you’d never be without a home.’

Lily sat down.

‘Bit of a shock.’

‘You and Auntie Norah gave me so much when I was growing up and now this. I don’t know what to say. Thank you sounds so – inadequate.’

‘I’ve a feeling it’s going to be a bit of a mixed blessing, love. I agree with Joy that it makes sense for me to move in with her, but you and Katie are too young to be left on your own.’ He sat at the table.

‘You and Mrs Hunt will only be ten doors up if we need anything,’ she said eagerly. ‘And we won’t. You’ll see that Katie and I …’

‘Are capable young ladies,’ he interrupted. ‘But, there’s Mrs Lannon.’

‘We never needed her.’

‘There was gossip, love,’ he reminded her. ‘I’m a bachelor, not related by blood to either of you.’

‘And now you’ll be leaving, so there won’t be any more talk.’ Remembering the bacon and eggs, she leaped out of the chair and rushed to the frying pan.

‘There’ll be plenty if you give Mrs Lannon notice and I move out while you and Katie carry on living here with Martin and Sam in the basement.’ He handed her his plate.

‘We could brick up the connecting door.’ She heaped the bacon and eggs on to it and laid it before him.

‘You think a few bricks will stop the gossips?’

‘Probably not.’ Scooping the tomatoes, potatoes and beans into bowls, she set them on the table.

‘Especially with things the way they are between you and Martin. You and Katie could move in with Mrs Hunt and me …’

‘And spoil your honeymoon? Never.’ She buttered the bread she’d cut.

‘Judy will be there.’

‘She could move in with Katie and me …’

‘Only if you give the boys notice.’

‘Where would they go?’ Filling the frying pans with cold water, she put them in the sink to soak. ‘Rooms around here are like gold.’

‘So we have a problem.’

‘Unless Mrs Lannon stays,’ she conceded, ‘but Katie and I could never afford to pay her out of what we earn.’

‘No, you couldn’t, but then would you want her to keep house for you?’

‘I’ve said all along that Katie and I could do the cooking and the housework. We don’t need her.’

‘Except for her respectability.’

‘You’ve an idea, haven’t you?’ Taking the tomato sauce from the pantry, she handed it to him.

‘I have heard she’s had an offer to rent her house and she’s considering it.’

‘Then we’d be stuck with her.’ She joined him at the table.

‘You could offer her the top floor as a lodger, not housekeeper, and if you wanted to, you could make some extra money by renting out the other two bedrooms to a couple of girls.’ He took a large bite of bread.

‘Like Judy.’

‘Like Judy,’ he echoed, smiling at her transparent plotting to give him and Joy privacy, ‘and with Mrs Lannon on the premises no one would dare spread rumours about any shenanigans with the boys.’

‘But I would have to be nice to her.’ She made a face.

‘It’s worth thinking about, love.’

‘I will.’

‘About the house and the rent the boys have been paying. It’s in an account in your name. There’s probably enough there to pay for improvements to the basement like John Griffiths did next door. And if there isn’t, there’s also the money Norah left you.’

‘It seems wrong to touch it.’

‘Norah wanted you to have it. In the meantime I’ll check exactly how much rent money is in the account. But if you do decide to go ahead with the improvements, it would mean the boys moving out, at least temporarily, while they’re being done.’ He helped himself to tomatoes. ‘Something else for you to think about, love.’

‘No one else knows the house is mine, do they?’ she asked suddenly.

‘No.’

‘You won’t tell anyone, will you, Uncle Roy.’

‘You’d rather everyone carried on thinking the place is mine?’

‘For the time being.’

‘If that’s what you want.’ He pointed at the food on the table. ‘You going to help me with any of this?’

‘I ate earlier.’

‘Then go up to bed.’

‘The dishes …’

‘We still have a housekeeper.’ He grinned. ‘For the present. Let her do them in the morning.’

‘So what did you and Martin quarrel about?’ Katie murmured from the depths of the bed, as Lily returned to their bedroom from the bathroom.

‘Joe. I bumped into him after work. He had a problem and needed to talk to someone.’

‘And you volunteered.’

‘We’re just friends.’ Brushing out her hair, Lily plaited it and fastened the end with a rubber band.

‘But Martin doesn’t believe it.’

‘He does now.’ Climbing into bed, Lily switched out the light.

‘I’m glad.’

‘What’s wrong, Katie?’

‘Nothing,’ Katie answered.

‘You might be able to fool your brothers and Uncle Roy, but not me.’

‘I got the job in Lewis Lewis.’

‘Have you told Mr Griffiths?’ Lily questioned.

‘Yes.’ Katie paused for a moment. ‘He said he’ll give me a good reference.’

‘Oh, Katie.’ Lily gave her an enormous hug.

‘You seem to be everyone’s favourite agony aunt today, me, Joe …’

‘Want to talk about it?’

‘What is there to say? I don’t want to leave the warehouse, John doesn’t want me to go, but he’s too afraid of the things Mrs Griffiths will say if he keeps me on, so I’ve no option.’

‘And after his divorce?’ Lily tried to say something that would give Katie hope if not comfort.

‘That could be so far in the future neither of us dares think about it.’

‘I am so sorry.’

‘As my mother used to say, it’s no good wishing for the moon on a stick. Every moment I spent with John was so perfect it was almost as if I was too happy. Deep down I think I knew it couldn’t last.’

‘Pictures tomorrow night?’ Lily suggested, in an attempt to distract her.

‘What’s on?’ Katie asked uninterestedly.

‘A good Cowboy and Indian at the Plaza, according to the girls in the bank. It’s about an Indian chief, Crazy Horse. Victor Mature’s in it.’

‘I can’t stand Victor Mature.’

‘There’s a musical in the Albert Hall.’

‘Calamity Jane.
I’ve seen it.’

‘It’s a crying shame to go to the pictures in summer anyway. Let’s go for a walk to Mumbles.’

‘The boys will want to join us, and Sam and Adam are driving me mad.’

‘You’ve seen Adam?’ Lily asked in surprise.

‘I got him and Sam to shake and make up tonight.’

‘Good for you, I hate quarrels.’

‘It wasn’t that hard.’

‘Sam and Adam won’t bother you if Martin and I are there.’

‘The sight of you two spooning makes it even worse. Besides, if Helen is coming out the day after tomorrow, someone should get the flat ready for her and although Jack might try, I can’t see him making a proper job of it.’

‘It’s immaculate.’

‘Last time I was sorting Helen’s clothes I noticed it could do with a good dusting and running the carpet sweeper over the rugs.’

‘Then Martin and I will help.’ Pushing her pillow into shape, Lily turned over in the bed.

‘If he finds out you volunteered him for that, you two will have another quarrel.’

‘No, we won’t. Besides, Jack should be there to make sure we put everything back right.’

‘As if he’d even know,’ Katie said dismissively. ‘He’d just get in the way.’

‘Then you and I can do it and Martin can take him for a drink.’

‘I suppose so.’

‘If you want to be by yourself …’

‘Not in John’s house,’ Katie broke in. ‘Although the flat is separate, it is still his house and if Mrs Griffiths found out that we were alone there at the same time, she might say something to Joe or Helen. What did your uncle want to talk to you about?’

‘He and Mrs Hunt have set the date, it’s July.’

‘That’s nice for them.’

‘Yes,’ Lily agreed. Either Katie was too preoccupied to think about the implications for them, or too distracted to ask about it, so she let the matter drop.

‘Sorry I’m such a moaning Minnie,’ Katie apologised.

‘You’ve every reason to be.’

‘Don’t you know sympathy is the worst thing you can give a moaning Minnie?’ Katie lay on her back and linked her hands beneath her head. ‘But thank you for being a friend and maybe soon sister-in-law.’

‘Definitely not soon. Goodnight, Katie.’ Lily closed her eyes. Within minutes her breathing became shallow and regular. Katie continued to lie still and unmoving lest she disturb her. All she could think about, all she could visualise was John’s face as he had pushed her away from him. And she was still thinking about him as the shadows lightened from dark to pale-grey and the first rays of morning stole through a chink in the curtains.

Mark Davies extracted an envelope from a file and slid it across the desk towards John as he walked into John’s office. ‘I received that this morning from Richard Thomas.’

‘What does it say?’ John pushed the letter he’d been reading aside.

‘Read it for yourself.’

‘You wouldn’t be my solicitor if I didn’t trust you, and I have a warehouse to run.’

‘Esme is giving you formal notice that she is about to move back into your house.’

‘She can’t. She …’ He fell silent as he studied the expression on Mark’s face. ‘She can?’

‘According to this, she left the matrimonial home to nurse her mother.’

‘That’s rubbish!’

‘And your daughter is about to be released from hospital and will need nursing care that only a mother can provide.’ Mark sat down.

‘Helen will never stand for Esme nursing her.’

‘Helen is eighteen, legally a minor …’

‘A married minor,’ John reminded him.

‘That’s another thing. Esme is citing Helen’s pregnancy and your permission for her marriage to …’ Mark opened the letter and scanned the page for the phrase he wanted “… a boy of criminal tendencies and persuasion” as an example of your unsuitability to have custody of the children.’

‘Custody! Joe’s twenty-one, Helen’s eighteen.’ John left his desk. ‘What does she really want?’

‘On the face of it, what this says; to move back into the matrimonial home.’

‘And if I refuse?’

‘At this stage it’s wiser to keep talking.’

‘Talking doesn’t seem to be bringing me any closer to a divorce.’

‘You have told me everything?’ Mark looked him in the eye.

John’s blood ran cold as he recalled Esme’s threat:
Don’t think I’m going to do nothing while you let Katie Clay move in …’
You think there’s something else you should know?’

‘Have you another woman tucked away somewhere?’

‘I’ve already admitted adultery,’ John answered evasively. ‘You fixed it up, remember.’

‘A technical adultery with a professional, which is of little use if Esme’s prepared to forgive you and take you back when she is the one who is supposed to be suing for divorce. And you can’t sue her without grounds, and desertion’s no good when she’s offering to move back in with you.’

‘There has to be something you can do to make her change her mind about dropping the petition,’ John urged.

‘Legally there’s nothing. But for the life of me I can’t see what she hopes to gain from her refusal to give you a divorce when you’re so set on it.’

‘Public sympathy, the respectability that comes with being a wife, even an unwanted one.’ John paced restlessly to the window and looked out over the yard. A lorry had just come in and the warehouse staff were unloading a consignment of Dansette record players and radiograms. ‘We could try upping the settlement.’

‘I’d advise strongly against that. As I keep telling you, it’s already far too generous for a wife without dependent children.’

‘But if it is simply a question of money …’

‘There is no mention of money in the letter, John. Just a request – sorry, a demand – you reinstate her as your wife.’

‘And if I refuse to do so?’ John turned his back to the window and looked at Mark.

‘I can’t understand Richard Thomas putting his name to a letter like this,’ Mark mused, not really listening. ‘If it should get out that he directed a client to reject such a generous settlement … of course, that’s it – the settlement. We could write to them, stating that your offer will remain on the table for, say, only one more week. If Esme persists in refusing to press ahead with her petition for divorce after that time, you’ll withdraw it and her monthly allowance, in favour of drawing up your own petition.’

‘And if she still refuses to go ahead?’

‘Then we’ll do exactly that,’ Mark said flatly. ‘Withdraw your settlement offer, stop her allowance and set about lodging another petition. Adultery would be the simplest. If you’re certain she’s had lovers I’ll get a private investigator on to it.’

‘And in the meantime?’

‘I don’t understand.’

‘Esme has to live off something.’ John limped back to his chair. ‘Her mother left her practically nothing.’

‘I thought you wanted to get rid of the woman. She’s screwed you for every penny she can get and more.’

‘It seems so – drastic.’

‘It is drastic,’ Mark agreed.

‘There has to be something else we can do.’

‘Nothing that I can think of.’

John recalled the venomous look on Esme’s face when she had threatened to expose Katie. Remembered what it had been like to live with her … and how it would be if she moved back into their house. But she had been his wife, even if only in name for over twenty years, the mother of his daughter …’No.’