Whispers of Love (38 page)

‘Or even before,' Christabel said regretfully. ‘I'm sure that if he had told Violet the whole story she would have understood that he was only acting in her best interest; well, in all our best interests, in fact. He prevented her from grieving because she had lost her baby and he certainly saved me as well as our parents from having to hang our heads in shame.'

‘Put like that, what he did really does sound sensible and courageous,' Kay agreed.

‘Yes, and I think the time has come for us to accept that he meant well and to put it all behind us. The wonderful thing is that we now know the truth and we've found each other at last. You'll never know how much that means to me,' Christabel murmured, wiping away a tear from the corner of her eyes.

‘In many ways I think I probably do,' Kay assured her. ‘I've got a mother now and Jill really does have a grandmother. Mind you,' she went on quickly, ‘Jill may find it easy to call you “Granny”, but I'm not sure I am ever going to be able to call you “Mum”,' she said.

‘I wouldn't expect you to,' Christabel assured her. ‘Violet was very much your mother; she brought you up until you were eleven,
remember, so I think the best thing we can do is let things remain exactly as they stand.' Christabel maintained.

‘You mean you don't want me to make any changes?'

‘That's right. We are both quite happy with what you call us at the moment,' Christabel affirmed quickly as she spotted Mark and Stuart walking towards them bringing the coffee Mark had promised and a glass of lemonade for Jill.

They stayed in the garden for about half an hour, enjoying their drinks and mulling over their plans for the forthcoming wedding. Jill made two long daisy chains; one for her mother and one for Christabel.

‘This is your very first present from me now that you are my granny,' Jill told Christabel solemnly as she draped it over her head and patted it into place.

‘Thank you, that makes it very special indeed and I promise I'll treasure it forever,' Christabel told her.

‘How can you do that? The flowers will die in a day or two. Do you mean you'll have a funeral service for them like we had for Aunty Lilian?'

‘No, I'll tell you what. When I take my daisy necklace off tonight I'll press it so that it will last for ever and ever.'

‘How will you do that? Is it magic?'

‘No, it's not magic. What I will do is put the
necklace between two sheets of clean blotting paper and then put them inside the biggest, heaviest book I can find.'

‘What will happen to it then?'

‘Well, I'll leave it inside for a whole week and when I take it out, the daisies will be pressed as flat as flat can be.'

‘What will you do with them then?'

‘I'll mount them on to a piece of white card and then put the necklace inside a picture frame and hang it on the wall in my bedroom and keep it for ever and ever.'

‘Will I be able to see it in its frame the next time I come here?' Jill asked.

Christabel hesitated. ‘It won't be here, in this house, darling, it will be hanging in the bedroom in my new house; the one I will be living in when I marry Mark.'

Jill nodded solemnly. ‘Will Mark be my granddad, then?' she asked, her vivid blue eyes fixed on Christabel's face.

‘Do you want him to be?'

‘Oh yes, if you are my granny, then I want him to be my granddad,' Jill nodded.

‘Right, well, he will be, then, and don't forget that when we get married you are going to be our flower girl.'

‘I know that, but when is it going to be?' Jill asked, putting her hands on her hips and looking from Kay to Christabel and back again. ‘I've got my white dress and my white socks
and shoes and the flowers for my hair and I want to wear them.'

‘It will be soon, my dear. Very soon now. We still have one or two more arrangements to make but you won't have to wait very much longer,' Christabel promised.

Three weeks later, on a lovely mild day in late September, Christabel and Mark were married. Christabel wore her pale turquoise dress with its matching jacket and pretty face-framing hat. Mark looked very distinguished in a light grey three-piece suit. Jill looked enchanting in her dainty white dress with a garland of rosebuds in her hair.

As she stood beside Mark, Christabel felt calm and happy throughout the short civil service. It wasn't until they took their places at a table in a beautifully appointed private room at the Grand Hotel in New Brighton that she felt slightly apprehensive.

The entire family had now had plenty of time to come to terms with the revelations disclosed by Kay's birth certificate. As they all took their places at the big round table with its gleaming cutlery, sparkling wine glasses and a two-tier wedding cake taking pride of place in the centre of it, Christabel wondered if there would be any adverse comments from Marlene and Bill now that the formalities were over and they were all relaxed.

At the end of the meal, Cecil Roberts, who
was Mark's best man, rose to his feet to say a few words. He regaled them with a history of their friendship, from their first meeting when they'd been young doctors at Hilbury Hospital, to their decision when the war ended to go into partnership and start their own practice, right up to the present day.

As soon as he sat down Mark's eldest son Neil rose to his feet and made a short pithy speech about what a good father Mark had always been. He then asked them all to raise their glasses in a toast to his father and his new bride.

Christabel felt apprehensive the moment Neil sat down and Stuart stood up, and took a long sip of her champagne to steady her nerves.

He started off innocuously enough by making a few complimentary remarks about her and Mark. Then, after a short, rather dramatic pause, he looked across at Kay and waited until she had pushed back her chair and walked round the table to stand at his side.

Christabel's heart thundered. What was going on? She felt Mark reach for her hand beneath the table and squeeze it as Stuart started speaking again.

‘Now for a very special announcement,' he said, picking up his glass as though in readiness for a toast. ‘As most of you know, Kay's birth certificate was found amongst her father's papers a few weeks ago and Christabel is happy and proud to have this opportunity to be able
to officially acknowledge that she is Kay's mother and also Jill's grandmother.'

As they all raised their glasses and chatter broke out all around her, Christabel's head swirled. Then as Kay and Jill came round the table and hugged and kissed her she felt tears brimming in her eyes.

‘I now have a complete family,' Mark announced huskily as he hugged all three of them at once.

‘This really does mean that you are my Granpy now?' Jill said, looking up at Mark with a beaming smile.

‘Yes, I certainly am; that's, of course, if you want me to be,' he told her gravely, looking over the top of her head at Kay who signalled her approval with a smile and a nod.

‘What about us?' Marlene demanded. ‘Are we part of your family too? I know Aunt Chrissy isn't my mother but I think Tracy and Tommy would like to have you both as Gran and Granpy as well, wouldn't you?' she said, looking at her own two children who nodded enthusiastically.

‘That's tremendous news, I'm very glad to hear it; the bigger the family the better.' Mark smiled as he opened his arms for the two children to join them. ‘Don't forget you've got two new uncles as well,' he added as he looked across the table at his own two sons, Neil and Colin, who were both smiling indulgently.

It was only afterwards when they returned
to Rolleston Drive and Christabel saw that, while their celebrations had been going on, a ‘For Sale' sign had gone up outside the house, that she felt a momentary sadness.

It had been her home, as well as Kay's, for such a long time that it was something of a wrench to realise that this would probably be the last time they would ever all be gathered together there.

She still found it disappointing that her hopes that Kay and Stuart would move into Rolleston Drive had not come to fruition but perhaps it was for the best.

‘Our home is in Cookham,' Kay told her when she begged her to think carefully before deciding to sell her family home. ‘We have made friends there and Stuart wants to carry on the estate agency that his father started and has worked hard to build up.'

The next time I entertain any of the family, Christabel mused, it will not be here but in my new house. A new life and a new home that was free of any memories of the past. It was going to be a fresh start in every way; both for her and for Mark.

The house they'd bought was slightly smaller and much more modern. Every item of furniture was new; all pieces they'd shopped for and decided on together. Even the carpets and curtains and all the gleaming new fitments in the kitchen and bathroom had that pristine unused appeal.

As soon as they were ready to leave for the two-week holiday they planned to take in Cornwall, Christabel took one last look round. Then, resignedly, she handed over the keys of the house to Stuart to pass on to the estate agents he'd appointed to handle the sale.

As they all came out on to the driveway to wave her and Mark off even though she was leaving Rolleston Drive for the last time Christabel felt no regrets whatsoever.

She felt a sense of peace as well as happiness as she made herself comfortable in the front passenger seat beside Mark. There were no more dark secrets, no hidden scandals. Everything was at last out in the open and her past was accepted not only by Mark but also by the whole family.

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