The Orchid House (44 page)

‘I can imagine. You have obviously been jolly busy whilst I’ve been away.’

‘Everyone has,’ said Olivia modestly. ‘But I should warn you, darling, the house is in need of urgent repairs. Having so many people in it revealed its faults. And I rather think you picked the perfect moment to come home. The old place did look pretty grim, lined with hospital beds and medical equipment.’

‘Jolly nice place to recuperate though, for the chaps who were here.’

‘Yes, they used to sit on the terrace when the weather was good enough. Some of them didn’t make it, of course,’ Olivia sighed. ‘There was one particular chap, poor thing had a bullet lodged in his head that had blinded him. I used to read to him as often as I could. Then, one night, when I was reading to him, he died in front of me, out of the blue.’ Olivia’s voice cracked with emotion. ‘The doctors said the bullet must have been dislodged and that is what killed him.’

‘Golly, how bloody for you,’ Harry said guiltily; it had not occurred to him that either Olivia or his mother and father would have suffered particularly during the war. He’d thought of them tucked safe and snug within the secure walls of Wharton Park. But it was obvious from what they had said over lunch that they too had had a raw time of it.

‘Any bombs drop nearby?’ he asked.

‘A few on Norwich but, thank goodness, we escaped unscathed here.’

‘So, any casualties from the estate?’

‘Yes,’ Olivia replied sombrely. ‘We’ve lost nine young men altogether. I’ll give you a list of their names and perhaps you could visit their families. And Mr Combe stepped on a mine at Weybourne beach only a few weeks ago. You can imagine that Mrs Combe was devastated.’

‘Yes. Poor Mrs Combe. That’s a disaster. So we have no farm manager presently?’

‘No, we have been waiting for you to come back to choose a replacement. And –’ Olivia bit her lip – ‘do you remember Venetia?’

Harry grinned. ‘How could one forget her? She’s such a character.’

‘Yes, absolutely up for anything, which is probably why she ended up in France gathering information for some hush-hush organisation. Anyway, she disappeared three years ago and we’ve only just found out what happened to her.’ Olivia faltered before adding, ‘She was captured in Paris, tortured and then shot by the Nazis.’

‘I am so dreadfully sorry, Olivia. I know how fond you were of her,’ offered Harry quietly.

Olivia bit back her tears. ‘Thank you. I’m just awfully glad it’s finally over. Perhaps life can return to some semblance of normality soon. Now,’ she cleared her throat and slipped her arm through Harry’s elbow, ‘I’ll show you the kitchen garden. It’s about the one thing that’s blossomed and grown since you’ve been away.’

She pushed open the door in the wall and Harry spied the rows and rows of well-tended vegetables. It was triple the size it had been when he left.

‘This is impressive, Olivia.’ He could not bring himself to say ‘darling’. ‘How did you manage without Bill?’

‘I’m not sure,’ she smiled, ‘one just does manage. Jack did as much as he could and at least it meant we could provide the patients with wholesome food.’

Harry glimpsed the hothouse, the sun glinting off its glass, in the corner of the garden. He walked towards it.

‘Unfortunately, the hothouse did not fare so well. It was stripped of flowers and came into its own for growing tomatoes. Bill has been hard at work since he returned, restocking and planting, and it’s slowly returning to its former glory. I think it comforts him somehow.’

‘Shall we?’ Harry indicated the door.

‘Of course, if you would like to,’ Olivia agreed.

Harry pushed the door open and was immediately assailed by a strong fragrance that evoked only one thought: Lidia.

For a second, his head spun and he staggered slightly.

‘Harry, are you feeling all right?’ Olivia took his arm anxiously.

He brushed her away. ‘Don’t!’ he said sharply, then regretted it. ‘Sorry, I …’ His voice trailed off and he walked away along the rows of flowers. He stopped with surprise in front of a tray of orchids. ‘I don’t remember these ever being here.’

Shaken by Harry’s brusqueness, Olivia replied carefully. ‘No, Bill brought them home with him. I am amazed they survived the journey, but apparently Bill tended them every day and they have positively bloomed since they came here.’

‘Bill has always had a natural affinity with plants and I must say orchids are incredibly beautiful.’ Harry stooped to sniff the fragrant scent, allowing himself to drown in memories of Lidia for a few seconds. He stood upright. ‘They grow like billy-o everywhere in the Far East, especially in Thailand.’

‘So Bill tells me,’ said Olivia as the two of them left the hothouse and walked back towards the house. ‘Despite the awful time of it you both had, he said it was a beautiful part of the world.’

‘Oh yes,’ muttered Harry, ‘it was.’

After dinner that evening, Harry climbed into bed beside Olivia. And, despite himself, took her in his arms and made love to her. Her body was all wrong: so much more rounded and fuller than Lidia’s, her skin a startling, unfamiliar white and, worst of all, she smelt so different. Nevertheless, by closing his eyes and allowing his frustration to fuel his ardour as he slammed into his wife, he could take himself back to Thailand, and to Lidia.

Afterwards he lay next to her, guilty and apologetic.

‘I am awfully sorry, I hope I didn’t hurt you. I am … rather out of practice,’ he lied.

‘No, Harry, you didn’t.’ Olivia had taken his violent approach as passion, and was amazed and gratified.

‘Good.’ He kissed her on the cheek and then, disgusted with himself, climbed out of bed. ‘I will sleep in my dressing room tonight. I’m awfully restless just now and often get nightmares. I don’t want to disturb you. Goodnight, Olivia.’

‘Goodnight.’ Olivia blew him a kiss as he walked across the room. ‘I love you,’ she whispered, as the door shut behind him.

Harry pretended he hadn’t heard and walked through to his dressing room. He sat down on his narrow single bed, put his head in his hands and wept silently.

*

In the morning, Harry walked across the park to the hothouse, having been unable to slip away and meet Bill as planned the day before. Bill was nursing his orchids at the far end, his Bakelite radio filling the air with soothing classical music.

He smiled when he saw Harry. ‘Hello, sir. How was your first night home?’

‘Fine.’ Harry shut the hothouse door behind him. ‘Sorry I didn’t make it down here for that cup of tea,’ he apologised.

‘Under the circumstances, I wasn’t expecting you to. I know how everyone wants a bit of you when you first arrive home.’

‘Yes.’ Harry needed to come straight to the point. ‘Bill, you haven’t received any letters for me at your cottage, have you?’

Bill shook his head in surprise. ‘No. Why should I?’

Harry walked over and sat down on the small stool at the end of the hothouse.

‘The thing is, Bill …’ Harry swept a hand through his hair, not knowing how to begin. ‘Can I trust you?’

‘With your life, sir, as you well know.’

‘Exactly. And if I tell you the story of what has happened since I left Changi, it
will
be with my life,’ Harry said emphatically. ‘I need your help, Bill, but it’s a lot to ask of you.’

‘You know you can count on me, sir.’

‘I rather fear what I have to say will shock you.’

Bill continued calmly watering his plants. ‘After what we both went through in the past four years, I doubt anything you might tell me will shock me. So, fire away, I’m listening.’

‘Right then.’ Harry gathered his courage and slowly began to tell Bill his story. He told him of Thailand, and playing at the Bamboo Bar, and finally of the girl with whom he had fallen irrevocably in love.

‘I simply can’t live without her, Bill,’ he ended, relieved to be speaking the words out loud. ‘And I mean to give up my life here at Wharton Park and return to Bangkok as soon as possible. I was never cut out to be lord and master anyway. And, in the meantime, I’ve given Lidia your address so she can write to me without Olivia finding out.’

He was breathless with emotion and looked up at Bill, who was still tending his flowers. ‘I suppose you think I am a ghastly fellow to betray my wife and family like this.’

‘I don’t think that at all, sir. I think you’ve fallen in love. It’s not your fault she lives on the other side of the world. As you know,’ Bill met Harry’s eyes, ‘my Elsie was all that kept me going in Changi. And if she lived on the other side of the world, I’d go to her.’

‘You would?’

‘I would. Having said that, I’m not already married to another, with the weight of responsibility you have.’ Bill scratched his head. ‘Reckon your news will be a rare old shock for your family. Especially with your father so sick. They’ve all been counting the days till you came home, so you could take over running the estate. Don’t know what they’ll do if you go, sir, I honestly don’t.’

‘Stop calling me “sir”, will you?’ said Harry irritably. ‘When it’s just the two of us, Harry will do nicely.’ He immediately hung his head. ‘Awfully sorry to snap, Bill. I’m just rather apprehensive, as you can imagine.’

‘You must be,’ Bill agreed with a sigh. ‘Wouldn’t like to be in your shoes, and that’s for certain. Anyhow, for my part, there’s no problem with them letters you mentioned. Although I’ll have to put Elsie on to it, if they’re going to be arriving at our house, like.’

Harry was horrified at the thought. He knew how close Elsie and Olivia were. ‘Can she really be trusted to say nothing to my wife?’

Bill nodded. ‘Yes, if I tell her not to. She’s the best keeper of secrets I’ve ever met.’

‘But surely it puts her in such a difficult position?’

‘I’d say it does, but it can’t be helped now, can it? And if you don’t mind me saying so, I wouldn’t like her to see them letters arriving at our cottage from the part of the world where I have just spent the past four years, and think it was me who’d got myself a girlfriend. And that you and I had cooked something up.’

‘No,’ Harry agreed, ‘I can see that. Well,’ he sighed in acceptance, ‘if Elsie has to know, she has to know. And I am hoping it won’t be too long before I can come clean and tell my parents and Olivia of my plans. Even in the past twenty-four hours, I have felt as though I should burst if I don’t.’

Bill whistled. ‘As I said, I don’t envy you, I really don’t. She must be worth it, your girl.’

Harry stood up and gave a small smile. ‘She is, Bill, she is. Right, I suppose I had better be getting back. I will pop in with a letter for Lidia and a few bob for you to post it for me. And perhaps it’s best if you bring her letters here and leave them under the orchids over there.’ Harry indicated a tray.

‘If that’s what you suggest,’ Bill nodded sagely.

‘Jolly good. Thank you, Bill. Once again you’ve come to my rescue.’ Harry turned to walk towards the door.

‘If I could say one thing …’ Bill ventured, and Harry turned back.

‘Of course, Bill. You know how much I value your opinion. Although nothing on earth could make me change my mind.’

‘I’m not going to try and do that. I can see it would be pointless. What you feel for her is written all over your face,’ Bill said softly.

‘Good. Carry on then.’

‘I was only going to say that it’s taken me a bit of a time to get comfortable again here. It was thoughts of home that pulled me through, that’s for certain. But since I’ve been back,’ Bill tried to find the words to explain, ‘it sounds stupid, I know, I’ve missed things about that funny life we made for ourselves out there. And, more than anything, I’ve missed the place: the heat, the scents of them flowers that grew everywhere, the lushness of it all … and the blue sky above us, framing the picture.’

They were both silent for a while, lost in the past.

Finally, Harry looked at Bill, and gave him a grim smile. ‘I miss those things too, but it’s not all that which is taking me back. I only wish it were that simple,’ he added with a sigh, and left the hothouse.

After Harry had left, Bill continued to tend to the flowers, thinking about what Harry had said and how he would put it to Elsie. He knew she adored Olivia and would not take kindly to betraying her. And, of course, if Harry did as he had suggested he would, Bill had no idea what would become of them all on the estate.

That evening, he told Elsie he needed her to keep something secret.

‘Of course I promise not to tell, if you say not to,’ she said, studying his worried expression. ‘What is it, Bill? Just get on and tell me, why don’t you?’

When Bill had explained the situation, Elsie sat pale and motionless, an expression of shock on her face. Eventually she said, ‘You don’t think he’s really going to do it now, do you?’

‘Yes,’ Bill nodded. ‘I’m sure he is.’

‘But it’ll be the end of the estate if he does. And of us,’ she added grimly. ‘Who’s going to run it if Master Harry leaves? There’s no one else, and I know from Miss Olivia that things are that bad. The farm needs restocking, the machinery is worn out and the house needs all sorts doing to it.’

‘Well, Master Harry said he’d suggest to Lord Crawford that the estate could be handed over to a cousin who’s about the same age as Harry.’

‘That won’t be possible. He means his cousin Hugo, but he was killed in North Africa about eighteen months ago.’ Elsie shook her head. ‘There’s no one else.’

‘I see,’ Bill sipped his tea. ‘I suppose no one has told Master Harry about this yet?’

‘No. Well, it’s not the kind of conversation you have on the first day home. Although, from what Miss Olivia says, Harry wasn’t close to his cousin, so he’s probably not even thought to ask. You never know,’ Elsie’s face brightened a little, ‘the news might make him change his mind. Surely he wouldn’t leave his dying father and his mum alone to run Wharton Park, would he? Because as sure as eggs is eggs, Olivia won’t stay here once she has heard the news.’ Elsie clasped her hands together in despair. ‘After all them years of waiting for him, and he betrays her like this!’

Bill sighed. ‘Sweetheart, it really isn’t our business and –’