CAROLINE
CAROLINE HAD HARDLY SLEPT A WINK,OF COURSE.SHE’Dhad to get up at dawn to wash her hair, do the housework and prepare a cold lunch for Frank, the old clock ticking as if marking her guilt. Thankfully, he’d been out the night before, and she and Annabel were able to creep out of the house before he awoke. She left a note explaining that they were taking Miranda on a grand tour of London. There would be hell to pay on their return, but she’d deal with that later.
Whatever happened, she knew it would be worth it.
The morning was fresh, a clear pale-blue sky above them as they hurried to the Underground station. From there, they would head to Victoria Station to meet Angus beneath the clock.
‘Are you wearing lipstick, Mum?’ Annabel eyed her.
‘A little,’ Caroline muttered, and trying to keep her voice nonchalant, she said, ‘Did I tell you, someone else is joining us today. Angus Buchannon is an old friend of Betty’s and mine, a gardener at Balmoral. He’s down in London for a few weeks organizing a coronation surprise in the palace gardens.’
Annabel’s eyes opened wide. ‘I wonder what it is!’
‘I’m sure he won’t mind telling you when we see him.’
The bright concourse at Victoria Station was busy, and they wove through the crowds, Caroline suddenly shy to see him, nervous that he’d changed his mind and didn’t come.
But there he was beneath the clock. Out of his work attire, he looked more like he used to, wearing a dark wax jacket as if he’d just walked in from the Highlands.
As he spotted them, Caroline could see that he, too, was nervous, but instantly, he beamed a great smile, striding towards them and shaking hands with Annabel. ‘It’s lovely to meet you, Annabel! I’m Angus, an old friend of your mother’s. Do you know what we have in store for the day?’
Any reticence the girl had dissolved. ‘Mum said it’ll be outdoors.’
Looking up at the great train boards above the concourse, he pointed to one of them. ‘We’re taking the nine-thirty train on platform five, and you’ll see when we get there.’
The tickets bought, they found the platform and boarded the packed train. Before long, the whistle blew and the train shunted forward, and soon they were heading over the great River Thames, winding through the suburbs and into the countryside.
Meanwhile, Angus could hardly wait to talk to Annabel. ‘Now tell me, what are you doing for the coronation?’
‘There’s going to be a parade down the main street in Camden. Our class is putting on a dance display, twirling batons and waving flags.’ She grinned and then confided, ‘I’m one of the better ones, in the front row. It’s very modern, just like in the movies.’
‘I’m sure you’ll be the star of the show!’
Caroline watched him. A thousand questions must be flying through his head:Is this truly my child? Has she been growing up thinking another man is her father?
Meanwhile, Annabel asked, ‘Are you Scottish?’
He smiled, a question after his own heart. ‘I am indeed. I live in a cottage in the grounds of Balmoral Castle. Have you ever been there?’
‘No, we never go anywhere.’ Annabel heaved a great sigh. ‘We’ve been saving up to go to the beach for years.’
‘One day soon,’ Caroline said. She could barely look at Angus. What kind of parent never takes their child on a simple day trip?
‘At least we have today,’ Angus said cheerily. ‘Maybe you can come to Balmoral Castle sometime, see where the queen lives when she takes a break from London.’
‘Isn’t it cold, living in a castle?’
‘Balmoral has huge stone fireplaces with roaring fires, and there’s always cèilidhs, Scottish dances, to keep you warm.’
Angus was comfortable talking to children, especially as he’d never had any of his own. Caroline suddenly felt a stab of sadness for him, for all the stages of Annabel’s childhood that he’d missed.
And how heart-breaking it was that Annabel would never know that this curious and good man was her real father.
Yet Caroline could only thank goodness Annabel hadn’t guessed. The resemblance wasn’t so strong, now that Angus’s hair was shorter, the auburn faded with age, although with an adult’s insight and the right clues, it wouldn’t be hard to piece together.
The train drew to a halt, and they found themselves in a picturesque old station surrounded by rolling green hills dotted with sheep and trees.
It was clear that Angus had been there before as he guided them out to the lane, and off they went through the fields.
