‘That all depends on whether I’m welcome or not.’ Dorcas nodded towards the small carpet bag she had packed just in case. ‘Let’s see what sort of reception I get before I decide, shall we? But now, where is that sister of mine?’
‘She’s in there.’ Emmy led her to the drawing room door. ‘You go in and have a few moments alone with her while I go and get an extra cup. But I’d best warn you, she might not be the same as you remember her. She’s very shaky today, so much so that I’m having to hold her cup for her while she drinks. I don’t mind telling you she absolutely hates it! She’s so independent, but I’m sure seeing you will perk her up.’ And while Dorcas stood composing herself ready to go in to her long-lost sister, Emmy scooted back to the kitchen.
‘Have I to get the spare guest room ready fer yer ma?’ Aggie asked.
‘I’m not sure yet,’ Emmy told her as she bustled about adding extra biscuits and another cup and saucer to the tray. ‘But we should know soon enough. I’m just giving them a bit of time alone as they haven’t seen each other for years and I don’t want to intrude.’ She began to watch the clock but every minute seemed like an hour and eventually she made fresh coffee and lifted the tray. ‘Well, they’ve had fifteen minutes to break the ice. If I know my aunt and my mother, they’ll either be the best of friends or at each other’s throats by now. I’m going in.’ She took a deep breath and sailed along the hallway. Outside the drawing room door, she stopped to listen and not hearing raised voices she took it as a good sign and went in.
Her mother and aunt were sitting either side of the fireplace in the wing chairs and chatting animatedly.
‘I was just telling your mother what a good help you’ve been to me but that I worry you don’t get out and about enough, and even when you do it’s always with Jake.’
‘Jake and I have a lot in common and we get on well,’ Emmy told her as she handed them both their coffee, but Imogen’s hand shook so much that she had to take it off her almost immediately and place it back on the tray. She was clearly embarrassed about it and when Emmy lifted it towards her lips she waved it away.
‘I’m not very thirsty. Just leave it on there for now,’ she said irritably, then she turned her attention back to her sister and asked bluntly, ‘So, you’ve fallen on hard times. All Gerald’s fault, was it?’
For the first time in her life Emmy saw her mother look flustered as she replied quietly, ‘I .?.?. I thought so at first and I don’t mind admitting I hated him for bringing us all down but now .?.?. Well, I suppose I should have listened when he tried to tell me that the business was in trouble. Instead, I went on demanding.’
‘Hm, even as a child you were demanding. Because you were the youngest you were spoilt,’ Imogen commented unsympathetically, but it didn’t seem to offend Dorcas.
‘I suppose I was, but I had such high hopes for my girls.’ There were tears in Dorcas’s eyes as she glanced towards Emmy. ‘I dreamt of them making good marriages to men who could keep them in comfort for the rest of their lives. But now .?.?.’
‘But now they’re making their own way in life and if and when they do marry it will be for love, be their choice a beggar or a king. I know I would have married my Marcel if he hadn’t had a penny to his name.’ Now it was Imogen who had to blink back tears but after pulling herself together she went on, ‘As it happens I have more money than I know what to do with so if you need some I—’
‘No!Thank you, but I’m managing very well,’ Dorcas said proudly. ‘In fact, I’m quite enjoying some aspects of my new life. For instance, when we lived in Astley House, I don’t think I ever ventured into the garden apart from to show it off to visitors, but now I’m actually growing my own vegetables and my maid Hetty is teaching me to make jam from the fruit in the orchard and all manner of things. I’m getting quite good at making bread and pastry too, although I have to admit it isn’t as good as Hetty’s yet. I just wish .?.?.’ Her voice trailed away for a moment until she said softly, ‘I just wish I could have the chance to tell Gerald that I’m sorry.’
With a lump in her throat, Emmy slipped away to leave the two sisters to speak in private and once in the hallway she beckoned to Aggie. ‘Would you mind preparing the guest room for my mother, please? I think she’ll be staying for this evening at least, and I’ll tell Cook that there’ll be one extra for dinner.’
She could hardly believe the change in her mother and for the first time in her life she was proud of her.
Over dinner that evening Imogen surprised Emmy when she said, ‘I’ve been thinking about that family you told me about, the O’Flanagans. I thought that perhaps on Sunday you might take them another hamper. I’ll have a word with Cook. Of course, I realise that they’re only one family out of hundreds who are in that dire position and I’ve had an idea I’d like to speak to Jake about, if you’d ask him to call in and see me.’
Emmy nodded; she was intrigued but didn’t like to pursue it and so the rest of the meal was spent with the two sisters catching up on their lives. It had taken very little persuasion to get Dorcas to agree to stay for the night and seeing how much the two women were enjoying each other’s company, Emmy retired early to leave them to chat.
Her mother was already downstairs when Emmy went to prepare a tray for her aunt the next morning and Dorcas greeted her warmly, something she had never done before. She had never made a secret of the fact that Abi was the favourite but now she said quietly, ‘I realise that I haven’t always behaved as I should towards you, my dear, and I’m sorry. But hopefully now I can put things right. I’ve finally realised that there are more important things in life than mere personal possessions.’ She gave a hollow laugh. ‘I’ve also realised that when the odds were stacked against us the people who I thought were my friends turned their backs on me. So please, come home and see me when you are able to, I have a lot of making up to do, and when you see Abi tell her the same. I don’t suppose I can get you to change your mind and tell me where she is so that I can go and see her before I catch the train, can I?’
Emmy shook her head as she held her mother’s hand. ‘I can’t do that because I promised I wouldn’t. But I will get her to write to you again,’ she promised. ‘But you’re not leaving already, are you? I’m sure Hetty is capable of looking after the cottage.’
Dorcas chuckled. ‘Oh, she’s more capable than me, to be honest, but I did say I wouldn’t be gone for long. My life is there now and I intend to make the best of it.’
‘And how are Uncle Bernard and Aunt Sybil?’
Her mother shrugged and gave a wry smile. ‘Oh, the same as always. I don’t see Bernard but Sybil still pops in to let me know how lucky I am that they helped us. In truth, she’s right and do you know, I almost feel sorry for her now. I’ve only just realised that she’s actually a very unhappy, lonely woman. Both of the boys are here in London and I don’t think she and Bernard have ever been that happy together. But there we are. It’s none of my business, so I just try to be polite. Shall we go into breakfast? And then I really must be on my way.’
‘She’s changed – and for the better from what I remember of her,’ Imogen told Emmy when her mother had left. ‘I reckon if your father would only go home now, they might make a go of things.’
‘I agree,’ Emmy told her as she passed her aunt the newspaper. ‘The trouble is none of us have the faintest idea where he is.’ She started to sort out what clothes her aunt would wear that day. Imogen had insisted the day before that she felt well enough to have her spiritualist friends round for a get-together that evening, and so Emmy would have plenty to do getting things ready for their arrival.
They began to arrive shortly after six that evening and Emmy showed them in while Aggie rushed about getting drinks for them. Lady Medville was the third to arrive and she looked down her nose at Emmy as she handed her her coat and commented, ‘I wasn’t aware that Imogen had employed a new maid.’
‘She hasn’t, ma’am. I am her niece.’
The woman sniffed and sailed past her as Emmy went to answer the door to yet another guest.
Soon they were all chattering like magpies and as Emmy passed the drawing room door, she heard Lady Medville say, ‘Yes, it’s been brought to my attention that Hugo has been associating with a little slut from a gentleman’s club. It was the final straw, I don’t mind telling you. I love my son dearly but he’s been going off the rails badly lately and so his father and I have decided to send him to France to stay with his grandparents and work in one of our businesses for a few months. At least it will get him away from the terrible people he’s fallen in with.’
As Emmy moved on to the kitchen she frowned. Hugo? She seemed to recall that was the name of the young man Abi had been seeing. And hadn’t she said that he was the son of a lord? A cold finger ran down her spine. If this was Abi’s Hugo, she would be heartbroken when he was sent away. She decided that she would go and see her just as soon as it was possible.
The opportunity came sooner than she expected when her aunt told her irritably the following afternoon, ‘Why don’t you go out for a couple of hours and get some fresh air. You’ve been clucking around me like a mother hen all day and I want to get some rest!’ She had clearly overtired herself the night before and was obviously not feeling at all well, although Emmy knew that she would have died rather than admit it.
