Sandsend
By the time Phoebe arrived in the little town of Sandsend she had been travelling over twenty-four hours and was exhausted. She asked about places to stay at the train station and when given a few options, chose the nearest one. She registered with the landlady and was relieved when she walked into her bedroom and saw that although it was small and at the back of the house, it was clean and the bed was much comfier than the camp bed she was used to sleeping in.
Phoebe sat on the bed and thought of Jocasta and how much she would have preferred to now be in her friend’s sunny, welcoming home. She pictured sitting at Jocasta’s table with a mug of cocoa in her hands as she and her friend chatted about their days. But she wasn’t there, she was here in Sandsend.
Phoebe unbuttoned her coat. She needed to freshen up and have an hour’s sleep before going to meet with Archie’s brother, Louis. She pulled the curtains closed and lay on the bed, closing her eyes.
* * *
The next thing she knew, it was almost dusk.
She sat up with a start, furious with herself for sleeping for so long. Phoebe pulled back the curtains and opened the window to let in some fresh air. She was relieved to see that the weather had cleared up and the rain had stopped. She hoped it wasn’t too late to call in at the Baileys’ house, but thought it preferable to go straight away rather than the next morning, as she had mentioned in her telegram that she would arrive at some point that day.
Having asked her landlady directions to the lane where Archie’s home was, ten minutes later she was standing in front of the door, trying to muster the courage to walk up to it and knock.
The door opened and the sight of the man standing before her made her catch her breath. Phoebe had to concentrate on not letting her legs give way. People thought she and Celia were similar in looks, but this man was the image of Archie.
‘Miss Robertson?’ he asked, walking out to greet her.
Phoebe was unable to speak and, try as she might, she could not force her legs to move. She noticed a look of concern on his handsome face, but before he could say anything further an older woman stepped past him and put an arm around Phoebe’s waist.
‘Can’t you see, Master Louis, you’ve given this young lady a shock?’
‘What? Oh, right. Sorry about that. I forget it’s a surprise for people when they first meet one of us. Archie and me, that is.’ He stepped back to give the woman and Phoebe space to walk into the house.
‘I’m Mrs Dunwoody. You sit right here, my dear.’ Phoebe felt a seat behind her legs and the pressure of hands on her shoulders, and sat as instructed. ‘There, that’s the ticket. You take it easy while I fetch some tea for you.’
She heard the woman walk away and speak to someone in the hallway. ‘Poor lamb obviously had no idea you and Master Archie were twins. Go in and speak to her. I’ll fetch some sweet tea and something for her to eat. She looks washed out, poor soul.’
Phoebe struggled to gather herself, still unable to believe what she had just seen.
The man she now knew to be Louis stepped in front of her and sat on the chair facing hers. ‘I’m sorry for upsetting you, Miss Robertson,’ he said, looking distraught.
‘Please don’t apologise,’ Phoebe said. ‘Truly. It was a momentary shock, nothing more.’
‘I think you’re being generous. I had presumed my brother might have mentioned that we were twins.’
Phoebe grimaced. ‘He did.’ She studied the face in front of her. It was the face of the most precious man she had ever loved. ‘For some reason, though, I didn’t expect you to look exactly like him, and it threw me for a moment.’
He began to make pleasantries and as Phoebe watched him speaking she realised his mannerisms were slightly different, his voice slightly lighter. Although his features matched Archie’s, they clearly had their differences, albeit subtle ones that weren’t initially obvious, and more in their character than in their appearance.
‘It was good of you to come all this way,’ he said. ‘It’s much easier to speak face-to-face than via letter. I had considered waiting until my leave ended and I was back in France, but thought you might request compassionate leave. I’m glad you did. I’m glad we didn’t have to wait to meet.’
She saw the unmistakable sorrow in his eyes. How selfish she was being. She might be in love with Archie and hoping to marry him and spend the rest of her life with him, but hadn’t this man been close to Archie while in their mother’s womb? How much pain must he be in right now? she wondered, realising she needed to acknowledge his loss.
‘As am I.’ She looked down at her hands for a moment, trying to form the right words to convey her thoughts. ‘Mr Bailey…’
‘Louis, please.’
‘Thank you. And you must call me Phoebe.’ She took a steadying breath. ‘It’s very kind of you to invite me here. I, too, am glad to be able to meet you and find out more about Archie.’ Her voice caught as she said his name and Phoebe realised she had a long way to go before she even began to feel relatively normal again. If she ever did. He was waiting for her to continue. ‘Mostly, though, I want you to know how very sorry I am.’
‘What for?
‘Archie going missing is heartbreaking for me, but I can only imagine how it must feel for you to know your brother is unaccounted for.’
‘Thank you, Phoebe. That’s kind of you.’ He smiled. ‘You’re right when you say it is difficult for me, and for Mrs Dunwoody. She’s known and cared for us for many years.’ He looked as if he was struggling to contain his emotions for a moment. ‘We might be men now but she’s cared for us in some capacity ever since we were babies, and she was devastated when I told her about my brother. But please don’t think that I feel your sorrow is any less for you not knowing Archie as long as I have. A fiancée’s feelings for her partner are passionate and deeply felt, and I can only imagine how heartbroken you must be right now.’
‘I haven’t given up hope he’ll come home,’ she said a little too brusquely. ‘Sorry. I didn’t mean to snap. I’m a little overtired.’
Mrs Dunwoody walked back into the room carrying a tray weighed down by a tea set, plates and a large fruit cake that made Phoebe’s mouth water.
Louis got to his feet and took the tray from the older woman and waited while Mrs Dunwoody pulled a table over towards their seats. Then he placed the tray down on it. ‘There are only cups and plates for two here.’
Mrs Dunwoody frowned. ‘Yes, of course there are.’
‘I want you to join us,’ he insisted, glancing at Phoebe. ‘Miss Robertson, er, Phoebe, won’t mind you doing so, I’m sure.’
‘I’d be happy if you stayed,’ Phoebe said, wanting to get to know this woman who cared so much for the man she loved.
‘Thank you, dear.’
Phoebe watched while the woman retrieved another cup then poured three cups of tea and cut their slices of cake. When they were eating, Louis said, ‘Mrs Dunwoody, Phoebe was saying how she hasn’t given up on Archie.’
‘Neither have we,’ Mrs Dunwoody said, giving Phoebe a nod. ‘He’s a resourceful young fellow and it’ll take a lot for him not to come home, especially when he has a lady such as yourself waiting to marry him.’
Phoebe felt much better to be in the company of others who loved Archie so much. ‘This is delicious cake,’ she said. ‘I hadn’t realised how hungry I was before now.’
‘I’m not surprised,’ the housekeeper said. ‘Coming all the way from France like you have. Was it too terrible, the crossing and all that?’
Phoebe told them about coming over in the ambulance train and how there had been a couple of delays and how she had overslept at the B&B.
‘You could always stay here,’ Louis suggested.
Phoebe thanked him for his kind offer but didn’t think it was the right thing for her to do. ‘The place where I’ve taken a room is very clean and I’m sure it’ll suit me well.’
As they finished their last mouthfuls of the delicious cake, Louis placed his plate and fork onto the tray and picked up his cup and saucer before sitting back in his chair. ‘They returned his personal effects, and I’ve taken out letters from me and Mrs Dunwoody to Archie, but I thought you might like to keep the ones you sent to him?’
Phoebe was touched by his thoughtfulness. ‘That’s very kind of you. I’d love to have them. I can always return them to him if…’ She took a deep breath and raised her chin defiantly. She was not going to let herself think the worst. ‘No, I will return them when he comes back to us.’
‘Quite right.’ He smiled. ‘They’re in his small study. I’ll bring them through to you before you leave. I didn’t think it was right to have them on display here, in case it upset you seeing them.’
‘I find that any reference to Archie, or thought about him, is rather upsetting at the moment.’ She swallowed the lump in her throat and sat up a little straighter. ‘But it’s something I’ll have to deal with.’
‘Quite.’ Louis looked at her. ‘Archie mentioned in his last letter to me that he had proposed and you’d accepted,’ he said, smiling. ‘He didn’t mention when you were planning to marry but…’ He seemed to regret his words and Phoebe wanted to reassure him that she wasn’t going to cry because of them.
‘We were hoping to be married on his next leave, if possible.’ She closed her eyes, feeling tears threatening to make an appearance and not wishing them to. ‘But plans change. That is something I’ve learnt in my time at the hospital in Étaples.’
‘They certainly do,’ Mrs Dunwoody said, finishing her tea and pointing to the tea pot. ‘More tea, anyone?’
Phoebe shook her head. ‘No, thank you.’ She felt a wave of tiredness come over her. ‘I should be going. I’m a little weary from the journey and don’t wish to take up too much of your time.’ She stood.
Louis and Mrs Dunwoody got to their feet. ‘You will come back to visit us again tomorrow though, won’t you?’ Mrs Dunwoody asked. ‘It’s been lovely meeting you, but your visit has been too brief to show you photos of young Archie.’
‘Or tell you much about him and our family, and I’m sure he would want you to know,’ Louis said. ‘He was always so proud of coming from Sandsend.’
‘He was,’ Mrs Dunwoody agreed. ‘Always telling folk how splendid this place was.’ She smiled. ‘And it is. Maybe you could come here mid-morning tomorrow and Master Louis could take you for a walk around the village. Would you like that?’
Phoebe sensed that the housekeeper was used to organising the men in the family. ‘Yes, I would. Very much. Thank you.’
‘That’s good news,’ Louis said, brightening slightly. ‘I’ll find some photos for you and look forward to giving you a tour of the place.’
‘I’ll look forward to it, too.’
‘I’ll just fetch those letters for you.’
* * *
As Phoebe walked back to the B&B, she felt relieved that Louis and Mrs Dunwoody were even nicer than she had dared hope.
What a perfect life Archie enjoyed here before the war took him away from Sandsend, she mused. She would have loved being a part of it, and she still would be a part of his future. She had to believe it, if she wasn’t going to completely fall apart.