The following morning Simone was standing at the kitchen window when Russ came out of his house. He waved as he got into his car and drove off, looking happy. She hoped his plans for the new project were going well. She knew he’d had a sudden request to go and see his agent in London tomorrow. Where was he going today?
As if that was any of her business!
Later that morning Fern arrived for lunch bearing a gift of home-made strawberry jam. She looked round the room. ‘Nice place, this. You must tell me about leisure-village living arrangements another time. I have a recently retired friend looking for somewhere to live.’
‘Come and sit down. I’ll serve lunch in a minute or two.’157
‘How about a cup of coffee now and lunch later? Today we really do need to talk frankly.’
‘OK by me. I particularly want to know what’s going on with Lance. Why is he harassing me?’
‘Harassing? Is it that bad?’
Simone shrugged. ‘It feels like harassment. He gives me the shivers the way he looks at me, so calculating and sexist in an old-fashioned undress-you-with-his-eyes way.’
‘Good description of him. It’s not only you. He gives me and half the women in the family the shivers, too. His wife left him years ago and he hasn’t really got together with anyone since. He mainly ignores women of his own age and tries to chat up women who are far too young for him. Now, let’s start with your parents and come back to Lance after I’ve painted the whole picture – well, as far as I know it.’
‘Fine by me.’
‘First, I have a message from Great-Aunt Henrietta, though she prefers just Aunt as a title and she certainly doesn’t act like an old lady. She rang me yesterday evening with what we call one of her ‘royal commands’. She wants to meet you and asked me to invite you to go for lunch with her on Wednesday or Friday at Pennerton House, whichever suits you best. I think you’ll like her.’
‘I’m sure I will if you say so.’
‘She’s ninety now and is doing well physically for someone that age, and she’s as shrewd as they come. We try not to upset her when she has her mind set on something and at the moment she’s set on making a will that’s fair to everyone – and that includes you now. So if you wouldn’t mind going to see her?’ Head on one side, she looked at Simone.158
‘I’d be happy to do that. I looked at her house from outside last week and was surprised at how big it is, like a small stately home. I’d love to see inside it. Would she show me round, do you think?’
‘She’d probably get her secretary to do that because she has mobility problems with stairs and hates people to see her struggling. You’ll like Elizabeth. She knows as much about the house as Henrietta does and watches over her employer like a mother hen. You’ve described exactly what the house is: a small stately home.’
‘I didn’t realise we had that sort of upper-class ancestor. When I found a Christmas card from her with an address on it, I assumed it was just a fancy house name.’
Fern shrugged. ‘Well, the upper-class element seems to have been dying out of our lot for a while now. No one on my side wants to inherit the house because it would be such a burden to try to keep it going. Henrietta has spent a fortune on maintenance over the years. She’s talked to the closest relatives and told them she’s going to hand it over to the National Trust when she dies. They’ve expressed an interest. Everyone’s relieved.’
‘It would be hugely expensive to maintain.’
‘Tell me about it. The National Trust has agreed to take it on because it’s a little gem and has some rather special historical features from World War Two.’ She gave a wry smile. ‘Lance, of course, feels the house should come to him as the closest male relative, but he wasn’t even asked if he wanted it. Anyway, he’d only sell it and gamble away the money. Henrietta knows that.’
Simone was surprised at how negatively Fern always 159spoke of Lance. What was it about him? She realised her companion was waiting for her to pay attention. ‘Sorry. My mind wandered for a moment or two there.’
‘I’m not surprised. There’s a lot to take in.’
‘Yes. I wish my parents had told me more.’
‘You can ask me any time you want to know something. Now, back to Henrietta. She does want to leave small bequests to various family members, items she feels should stay in the family. I doubt Lance will get any of those either unless he can change his habits. Henrietta doesn’t approve of gambling.’
‘Can’t she just leave him out of her will completely?’
‘She may do that, but he does have a son, and Kit is a nice chap. It’ll look so bad if he’s left something and his father isn’t.’
‘Oh.’ Simone waited, feeling a bit bewildered to have so many relatives.
‘Your mother used to be married to Lance’s father, Ralph, so—’ Fern broke off and stared at her companion. ‘You didn’t know that either?’
For a few moments Simone could only gape at her. ‘I had no idea Mum had been married before, no. What was this Ralph like?’
‘I didn’t see him till he was older, but he was good-looking still, though a bit of a cold fish.’
Fern paused again, as if to give this time to sink in and Simone gestured with one hand for her to continue.
‘The marriage didn’t last long and in case you’re wondering, she and Ralph didn’t have any children. She left him after six months and skipped off to Australia with your father while she was still married. Brits could 160just go and live there in those days. It was a couple of years before Ralph started looking round for another wife and everyone assumed he was waiting for a divorce to come through.’
‘Do you know why she left him?’
Another hesitation, then Fern said, ‘People weren’t certain but they suspected that he’d started thumping her. A couple of them saw suspicious bruises apparently. Anyway, she ran off with your father to Australia and it was years before she got in touch again. She didn’t come back to visit till after Ralph was dead and even then she and your father only caught up with a couple of people, Joe and me among them, because she’d been close to my mother – and Henrietta, of course.’
‘Wow. It’s – hard to take it all in.’
‘I’m not sure when they got divorced, no one is. And if you didn’t know she’d been married before, you won’t be able to tell us. Not that it’s any of our business.’
Simone could only shrug. She doubted she’d even ask her mother about it after she got back. It could be best to let this sleeping dog lie.
Fern went on with her tale. ‘When your parents came back, your mother said she and Ralph had got a divorce almost immediately, but I’m not sure the rules allowed that then. No one pursued it but we’ve never been quite sure. Lance’s father simply turned up with a brand-new young wife one day so probably something had been done. The new wife left him too a few years later.’ She looked at Simone sympathetically. ‘Confusing, isn’t it?’
‘Very. No wonder my parents always refused to discuss the past and their family history with me. I’d have 161appreciated some information before I came here, only, to be fair, they didn’t know I was coming until after I’d left. They’ve been travelling round Australia in a caravan for the past couple of years.’ She frowned. ‘But I don’t see how that affects Lance or why he’s pestering me.’
‘My guess is that he thinks you might be coming into money taken from what he considers his share from Henrietta ought to be, so he wants to keep an eye on you, but who knows what goes on in that man’s twisted little mind?’
Simone shrugged. ‘My husband left me reasonably well provided for, so I don’t need Henrietta to leave me anything. Any items she’s distributing should go to the people who’ve helped keep an eye on her over the years, surely?’
‘She’ll do as she sees fit, as usual. Let’s leave it at that for today, shall we? I’ll get Joe to email you the basic family tree. You need time to take all this in and I’m getting hungry, so can I be cheeky and ask you to feed me now?’
Simone stood up. ‘Yes, of course. I have everything ready in the fridge. And I’ve remembered that you’re a coeliac. I checked the ingredients in the wraps carefully and there are no wheat or other gluten-containing grains in them, but you might like to check them yourself.’
‘I would, if you don’t mind. Can’t be too careful.’
She did that while Simone got the various salads and a frittata out of the fridge and they were soon sitting, eating and chatting about the leisure village.
When they’d finished their meal, Fern said she had to go.162
‘Thanks for telling me so much,’ Simone said. ‘It’s better that I know given I’m staying here for a few months. Will you be at Henrietta’s if I go on Wednesday?’
‘No. She wants a cosy chat with you, as she calls it. There will just be her and Elizabeth. I’ll let her know you’re going.’
Simone stood at the door waving goodbye to her visitor, then looked regretfully towards the next house. The car still wasn’t back yet.
She went back indoors and finished clearing up, feeling a bit lost as to what to do until teatime. She thought of phoning her daughters for a chat but wasn’t ready yet to tell them what she’d found out and it was likely they’d be alseep already.
A few times she caught herself glancing next door.
‘Oh, you fool!’ she muttered. ‘Stop thinking about him. He’s a busy man.’
Unfortunately, she wasn’t busy, wished she were. And her thoughts were in a tangle after Fern’s visit.
That’s when it occurred to her to get online and join one of those organisations that allowed you to research your family history. Maybe she’d find out something more about her parents and ancestors there.
While she was doing that an email arrived from Fern with what was known of the family tree attached. It was a bit of a jumble, with some branches researched and others mostly ignored.
Dealing with all that kept Simone nicely occupied for the afternoon.
She decided to watch television that evening and have some of the leftovers for a late meal. There was a knock on the 163door as she was just about to get something to eat and when she opened it, she found Russ brandishing a bottle of wine.
‘Fancy a drink? You Aussies call it a sundowner, don’t you? I replenished my stocks of wine on the way home and I haven’t tried this one before. You could help me test it.’
Her spirits rose immediately. ‘I’d really enjoy some company. And actually, I have enough leftovers from providing lunch for my cousin to feed you, if you don’t mind miscellaneous bits and pieces. Come in, do.’
He beamed at her. ‘That sounds great.’
As they ate, she told him about Fern’s visit and the shock revelations about her parents and he whistled softly as the tale ended.
‘Bet you didn’t expect that.’
‘Definitely not.’
He was such a good listener she shared her puzzlement over what to do about it.
‘I don’t think you need to do anything about it at the moment. If they’d wanted you to know, your parents would have told you, and after all, it all happened a long time ago.’ He changed the subject. ‘I wish I could be a fly on the wall when you go to see the old aunt, though. It’s like a modern gothic tale, isn’t it, disposing of the family bits and pieces? I’m looking forward to hearing the next instalment.’
‘Thanks for listening. That’s enough about me. Tell me about your day. You looked full of yourself when you came home.’
‘I had a great day, checking locations where I can 164find various animals living peacefully in the wild, with a guy from a local nature lovers’ group. Afterwards I went shopping, not just for wine, but for bits and pieces of equipment so that I can start filming.’
‘What you do sounds interesting.’
‘Then I wonder … would you mind reading my proposal through? I’ve jotted down a rough draft, to see if the idea sounds, well, attractive? This series would be partly for children. You’d bring a new view to it, since you’ve not seen my other programmes, but you know about young children. It’s only a couple of pages.’
‘I’d love to.’
‘Here it is.’ He grinned. ‘I didn’t think you’d refuse.’
She read it quickly and nodded. ‘Sounds interesting and with fun activities.’
They continued to chat until she yawned suddenly and they realised how late it was getting. His company ended the day nicely, especially as he stopped at the door and reached out to touch her lips with one very gentle fingertip. ‘Would you object to me giving you a goodnight kiss?’
‘I’d like it.’
It was very nice, too, and she was sorry when it went no further than a couple of kisses. She hadn’t wanted a man in that way since rat man, but she did now.
No, what was she thinking of? It was too soon. She wasn’t going to rush into a relationship with anyone ever again. Look what had happened when she had rashly allowed rat man to move in with her.
When she went to bed, her thoughts turned once again to her parents. Why had they never mentioned 165her mother’s first husband? Lots of people got married more than once. There was nothing to be ashamed about in that.
The thought of her mother having been married to Lance’s father made her shudder, though. Ugh. She didn’t want to be connected to him in any way.
In the morning she watched Russ set off again. This time he was smartly dressed. Well, you would be if you were having lunch with your agent, wouldn’t you? She hoped everything would go well for him.
She might go up to London a few times while she was here, only it’d be more fun to do that with someone.
Determined to do something useful with her day, she made a careful list of items she considered essential, mainly food, and went out shopping. But she got seduced into buying a rather pretty skirt and top at the shopping centre, a younger style than she’d been wearing lately. Well, she wasn’t antique, was she? Didn’t need to dress like an old, past-it woman.
After she got back, she put everything away in a kitchen cupboard she’d cleared for her own use, then went out for a brisk walk round the lake. She hadn’t done much exercise since her arrival and it was a fine day, if a little cool by Aussie standards.
But the rest of the day dragged, she had to admit.
And Russ didn’t get back until much later than she’d expected. She heard his car and saw him stop in front of next door from her bedroom window.
She felt better to have him back. There was a house on the other side of hers but its occupants were away. Her 166fellow residents seemed to do a lot of coming and going.
And a lot of the leisure village area was still a work in progress, with streets but no houses along them yet and piles of building materials in some parts.