Ellie had thought the sit-down supper at the Tennis Club Dance was beautifully presented, but when she saw the laden tables in the dining-room at Cranmore Park she was quite overcome. To begin with, it looked so decorative. The large platters with a variety of cold meats were decorated with sprigs of parsley and quarters of little tomatoes, lemon slices and miniature carrots. Set at intervals along the narrow tables in china bowls or dishes, themselves decorated with tiny flowers, were salads and side
dishes of rice or potato or crisp green leaves. Despite the narrowness of the tables, a line of posies ran the whole length of each one with buds and blooms from Rose’s own garden set off by white daisies and feathery green fern which must have come from a nursery or a florist. The whole effect was so colourful, she felt quite sad when everyone sat down and began helping themselves and their neighbours, passing dishes backwards and forwards.
‘I think you’d prefer this one, Ellie,’ said James, as he leant over and filled the slim wine glass by her plate with a sparkling white wine. ‘If you don’t like it, give it to Richard here. He’ll drink anything, won’t you Richard?’
‘Everything in this house is worth drinking, James,’ he replied with a grin, as he nodded towards the bottle in James’s other hand.
James poured a glass of red for him and waited while Ellie took a cautious sip.
‘Well?’ he said, encouragingly.
Ellie nodded and thought for a moment. ‘It’s like spring water at first, but then it tastes like the smell of flowers.’
James nodded and looked pleased. ‘I’ll remember that,’ he said, holding up the white wine bottle so that Richard could see it. ‘Remember this is the one for Ellie when the next lot comes round,’ he said, as he moved on along the tables.
She had Richard Stewart on her right and a man whose little place marker card said Brendan McGinley on the other. He was a strongly-built man with dark hair and brown eyes that moved continuously, taking in everything around him. Beside him, across the end of one of the three long tables lined up parallel to each other was Ned Wylie. Directly opposite her sat Sam and Rosie.
Ned and Ellie looked at each other in amazement as they sat down.
‘I didn’t know you knew Rose,’ said Ellie.
‘I could say the same to you,’ replied Ned.
‘Now hold on here,’ said Brendan, who had a soft southern accent. ‘I don’t know either of you good people nor that handsome young man over there,’ he added, nodding at Sam. ‘I met Rosie and Richard in the hall, but who are you two for a start?’
‘That’s a good question, Brendan,’ said Rosie, laughing, ‘but might I suggest we fill up our plates first, before our friends and cousins further up the table start sending down for reinforcements.’
‘What a practical lady you are,’ said Brendan. ‘You are certainly a Hamilton. They’re a very practical lot.’
‘Now what makes you say that, Brendan?’ asked Richard eyeing him with interest.
‘I was just thinking back to one night in Dublin when I dropped in on your Aunt Sarah,’ Brendan began, ‘There was a wee bit of bother goin’ on at the time. Easter time, 1916, it was and I had the misfortune to be on the losing side, but Aunt Sarah took it all in her stride and fed me jam sandwiches. I hadn’t eaten for a while and I’ll never forget the taste of those sandwiches. Then, if memory serves me, while I was being escorted to the docks to be entertained by His Majesty in Wales, a whole battalion of Hamiltons drove down from the North, penetrated the barricades, and sprang Aunt Sarah with Helen and Hugh and returned them to the safety of Ballydown. I’m sure they’re here today but I’m not sure I’d recognise either of them.’
‘So you must be one of the Donegal McGinleys,’ said Rosie, beaming at him. ‘Aunt Sarah used to play football with you in Creeslough.’
Brendan nodded.
‘And you went back to Ardtur with your Uncle Sam, who was Rose’s brother and he found the doorstep of the house from which they had all been evicted in 1861,’ said Ellie slowly, as she recalled the details of the story Rose had told her.
‘Right, young lady, right,’ said Brendan, bowing to Ellie. ‘Now will someone introduce me to this lovely young lady. Is she a Hamilton or is she just thinking about it?’
‘Brendan,’ said Richard, putting down his knife and fork, ‘let me introduce Ellie Scott, grand-daughter of Thomas Scott, with whom John Hamilton served his time …’
‘And with who’s help, my brother Sam, sitting here beside me, managed to win the Tennis Tournament at the RUC Tennis Club last year, the first sporting achievement by any known Hamilton,’ added Rosie, who was enjoying herself enormously.
‘Now, I’ve got you nearly all,’ said Brendan. ‘Two Hamiltons, one Stewart, one Scott, now how about the Wylie?’ he said, picking up Ned’s place marker and peering at it.
‘Well, you could say I got thrown in with the Hamiltons,’ said Ned.
‘Or thrown out,’ said Ellie soberly.
‘Or even threw another Hamilton in,’ said Sam laughing.
It was Ellie who explained the riddle to Brendan when they all stopped laughing.
‘Ned lives not far away from where I live at Salter’s Grange and when he was a wee boy he went on a Sunday School Excursion. His mother Mary and Rose were close friends. James and Sam and Hannah and Sarah were all there. They got out before the train ran away. Ned’s mother didn’t, but she had just enough time to throw him out. He was only small.’
‘And he landed in a briar bush,’ added Ned cheerfully.
‘Then,’ added Rosie, ‘when our cousin Alex arrived back from Canada looking for his family, Ned found him at Annacramp and brought him to Ballydown.’
‘So that’s what you mean about him throwing in another Hamilton?’
‘Yes,’ said Sam, who’d been watching Ellie and taking it all in. ‘That’s Alex over there with his wife Emily. His young son was born the week Granda died, so there’s another John Hamilton at Ballydown.’
‘Aye, and there’s a couple more Rose McGinleys around, come to think of it,’ said Brendan. ‘My Uncle Sam had six sons and there’s more than a few Roses among their daughters in New York State and thereabouts.’
As the meal went on and Brendan asked his questions about people he could see but didn’t know, Ellie would have liked to have known more about the man himself. He was comfortably dressed, very relaxed in his manner but she’d noticed how quick he was to pick up anything that was said.
‘Rose told me her brother left you his little farm in Donegal, but you don’t look like a farmer to me,’ she said quietly.
‘Quite right you are, Ellie. Even when I did my best to cultivate the said acres I wasn’t much of a hand at it. I then made quite a good rebel in that I managed to survive, which was more than some of my friends did,’ he said matter-of-factly, ‘but I fear I’m very respectable now,’ he continued, ‘I run a small bookshop in Dublin. After the excesses of my youth it appears I have inherited my uncle’s passion for text. I’m not a millionaire, but I own millions of words,’ he said, his eyes twinkling with pleasure.
She was just going to ask him how he’d come to run a bookshop, when two young girls in summer dresses and white aprons and two young men in shirts, ties and flannels with similar aprons came into the room and did a remarkable job of disappearing the central table while leaving its former occupants comfortably seated at one end of what had now become a hollow square.
With this new arrangement, Ellie could now see a short table running across the room. Rose was seated in the middle between her son Sam and her daughter Hannah. Next to Hannah was an empty chair into which James descended at intervals to speak to Hannah or to catch up on his own lunch. Beyond Sam’s father sat a very attractive, dark haired girl with a most lovely, lively smile and a rather serious looking young man.
‘Richard, do you know who the two people at the end of the little table are?’ Ellie whispered, in the growing silence which had descended at the end of the meal and continued through the rearranging of the room.
‘That’s Aunt Sarah’s daughter Helen Sinton, by her first marriage. And that’s Hugh, her brother. He’s an old friend of mine so I’m hoping to get a word with him later. You know there’s going to be an airport in Belfast very soon, don’t you?’
‘No, I didn’t. Where will it be?’
‘Not very far from the city. Up towards Antrim, place called Nutts Corner, so Hugh tells me. He designs aircraft but he has his pilot’s licence. He’s thinking of doing some flying to help them get started. Not many pilots around yet.’
Into the sudden hush, the four young people reappeared carrying a birthday cake with a single candle. It was not a huge affair, but they’d put it on a small table and now carried it, one at each corner, to place close against the short table exactly opposite Rose. James leant forward and lit the candle.
‘Happy birthday, Mrs Hamilton,’ they said in chorus.
‘Thank you, my dears. You’ve been splendid. Please don’t go till I’ve sent you out some cake to take home.’
Rose paused and looked around the room, everyone now completely visible to everyone else.
‘Blow out the candle, Ma,’ said Sam quietly.
‘Oh yes, of course …’
The candle went out first time and as it did everyone stood up and sang Happy Birthday. They clapped and clapped and Ellie wondered why it was that tears should spring to her eyes when she looked at the small, composed figure. Then there were cries of Speech, Speech, Speech.
Ellie assumed that James might say a few well-chosen words. She rather gathered that he often had to address large audiences and sometimes audiences of very prominent people. But James kept his seat, his eye on his mother.
Rose got to her feet.
‘Well now,’ she said, ‘as you’ve all come because I asked you to come and many of you no doubt at some inconvenience,’ she went on, casting her eyes round the gathering, ‘you are entitled to whatever you might ask for. Even a speech,’ she said, shaking her head, as everyone laughed.
‘I am indeed unaccustomed to public speaking,’ she began, to further laughter, ‘but I have never failed to say what I thought to any member of my family … and I hope they’ll forgive me for that …’ she added, dropping her voice slightly.
Ellie was amazed. She had always enjoyed Rose’s capacity to laugh at herself, but she’d never imagined she’d be able to stand up in front of so many people and make them laugh and wait upon her every word.
‘But I’ve never had the chance to speak my mind with so many of my family all at once. It is an occasion too good to miss.’
There was another burst of laughter as Rose looked around her assembled guests.
‘Over forty years ago, too many over for my arithmetic to be more exact, my two sons, James and Sam, told me to jump out of a moving train. Often, it is only after one has acted that one knows it was the right thing to do. So it was on this occasion. I jumped and took Hannah and Sarah with me. The Sinton family from Armagh followed behind, together with two girls and their boyfriends, all young shop assistants.
‘Had we not jumped, not one of us would be in this room today,’ she went on matter-of-factly. ‘It is not simply that I would not be here, my children and grandchildren would not be here, and there wouldn’t be great-grandchildren waiting at home. Think also of the husbands and wives, the old friends and neighbours and the new friends I’ve made, who would not be here either. And those four lovely young people from the University who’ve been looking after us.
‘This is not simply ‘my birthday’ therefore. It is a moment to give thanks. However much we may have lost, and we have all lost someone or something dear to us, nevertheless, today we must celebrate. We are here, we are alive. The most precious thing in life is to have someone you can love and trust. I have been fortunate. I have had not just one very special person in my life, I have this whole room full of people I love and trust. Is it any wonder I don’t need birthday presents?’
There was a moment of stunned silence, then a huge round of applause as Rose reached out her hand for the knife, pulled the cake towards her and began to cut it up in a most business-like manner.
‘Ellie, there you are,’ said James, as he walked down the garden path. ‘Was my lovely niece able to cast any light on the origins of your rose?’
All around the garden, in the filtered sunlight of the marquee Rose’s guests sat or stood in twos or threes. Only her neighbours from the adjoining houses and her former housekeeper of many years had slipped away to leave her with her own immediate family.
‘Probably no,’ said Ellie, who was on her knees looking at a border plant she’d never seen before, ‘but we decided we wouldn’t let the facts get in the way,’ she added, smiling at James as she stood up. ‘Everyone remembers the pink rose, even Sam’s father, and Sam says his father is no good at flowers. Wouldn’t know a daisy from a dandelion, he said. So Rosie and I have decided this is the Hamilton Pink. She’s told me how to take cuttings in the autumn and how to bud, so by this time next year I hope to have lots to give away. Hamiltons first, of course.’
‘That’s a lovely idea,’ said James nodding. ‘Ma will be delighted. In fact, you’ve completely upstaged me,’ he went on, laughing wryly. ‘I was seriously thinking of asking McGredys or Dicksons to name a rose for her. It’s quite expensive, but that doesn’t matter. Knowing my Ma, she’ll be far happier with what you produce. You must tell her about it yourself, right away. She did go up for a little rest, but she sent me to fetch you. She wants to have a word with you before she comes down.’
‘Oh,’ said Ellie, taken aback, ‘are you sure she doesn’t just want to be quiet a bit longer?’
‘Quite sure. I had strict instructions. Ellie and only Ellie was what the lady said. She’s in her bedroom, but she’s not even lying down,’ he said as he turned and strode away.
‘Oh Ellie, what a pretty dress. Is that the material you and Ruth bought when you were up on holiday?’
‘Yes, it is, the one I was worried about because of cutting on the bias,’ she admitted, smiling ruefully when she remembered sharing her anxiety with Rose.
‘Come and sit here. I must go down quite soon, because there are people who have a long way to go and they’ll want to say goodbye,’ she explained, moving over on the window-seat to leave room for her.
‘Now, tell me. Any news from George since you wrote to me? Or, more precisely, has he said anything since then about coming home or setting a date.’
Ellie shook her head. ‘No, all he says is that he misses me and longs for us to be together. But he says that every time,’ she confessed sadly.
‘Well, he needs to do better than that, Ellie. He may not be naturally thoughtful, but in this situation, he simply has to learn and learn quickly. Now I think it’s time you took more thought for what you want. No, let me finish,’ she said, as Ellie opened her mouth to protest.
‘We all have things we can do nothing about, like working in a lumber camp with no accommodation for women, but that doesn’t mean that we don’t talk about them, share them, see what could be done. Remember Ellie, in every situation there’s always something a person can do. That’s why so often, in the face of even a great disaster, people make a cup of tea. And one action often leads to another and that is when things start to improve. Do you see what I mean?’
‘Yes, I do,’ Ellie said firmly, thinking of the night when Daisy and her family were face with eviction and they went together for an ice-cream.
‘I think you should tell George how difficult it is for you here at home, not knowing what he’s thinking about your future. I also think you ought to make it clear that you want him to come home to be married.’
‘But why so, Rose? I really don’t mind where we’re married, just as long as we can be together again.’
‘But Ellie dear, you and the George that went away are unlikely to be at all the same people by the time you’re able to meet up. It’s just over a year since he went, isn’t it? Well, he’s clearly not coming this season, so it won’t be before the ice melts in March next year. He doesn’t say enough for you to know if he’s changed, and besides don’t you think you yourself have changed if you think about it?’
Ellie blushed slightly. ‘Well, no, I don’t think I had thought about it.’
‘I didn’t imagine you had. I’ve noticed you tend not to think about Ellie, so that’s my job. Old ladies shouldn’t give advice, but some of them can’t resist, so I’m going to ask you to do one thing for me. Don’t go out to marry George. Stay here at home. Let him come to you and then make sure he really is the man you want, not just a man that looks the same as a man you loved when you were younger. Do you understand?’
Ellie nodded and caught her lip.
‘Now we must go, but you’ll be up again soon for your holiday won’t you? I think Annie said August. We can talk about it then, but in the meantime, remember to tell George what you want. If he loves you, then he’ll want that too, whether it’s possible or not. At least he can write about it, can’t he?’ said Rose crisply, as she got to her feet, kissed her and gave her a hug.
‘Ellie dear, would you go and fetch me a Hamilton, son, or grandson, any one of them will do. I’m too tired for the stairs without my stick and I refuse to carry a stick on my birthday,’ she said, her eyes sparkling with laughter.
Neither Emily nor Ellie said very much on the way home. Between wine and food and the excitement of talking to so many new people, they were both tired out, but very happy.
They dropped Emily first at a small cottage in Stonebridge. Before the Morris had even come to a halt two little boys had run from the dwelling to climb up on the yard gate and shout their greetings. Kevin followed behind, a child in his arms, picking his way between pieces of axle and chassis overflowing from the barn opposite the house which he’d turned into his workshop.
He came and shook Ellie’s hand, leaving it slightly sticky from the baby’s bread and jam, while Emily insisted she come over and see them whenever she got a chance.
As they headed down the steep lane towards Richhill Station she heard Sam’s father ask to be dropped on their way past the farm. When they stopped, he got out and opened the door for her to come and take his seat in the front.
‘I’ve a wee job I need to finish while Sam sees you home, Ellie,’ he explained, as he shook her hand. ‘Tell that good father of yours, I’ll take a run over one night this week, all being well.’
‘I will indeed,’ Ellie said, as he looked in at the two of them. ‘He’ll be pleased to see you, I know.’
They drove off and bounced back across the level crossing. She could hardly believe it was only this morning Sam had made the joke about how un-level it was. She looked at him sideways, his eyes firmly on the steep and twisty road ahead. The same square frame as his father, powerful shoulders, broad forehead, skin tanned, but not so weather beaten. What was so different were the eyes. His father’s were large, solemn and a misty grey. His, a startling blue. Even concentrating on the road ahead they seemed to be taking in more than most.
‘Did you enjoy yourself, Ellie?’
‘Oh yes, Sam, it was a wonderful party. I only had one bad moment.’
‘What was that?’ he said, startled, as he glanced sideways at her.
‘When the two policemen came striding down the hall as I was coming to look for you or your father to help Rose downstairs. I thought something awful must have happened the way they just walked through the open door.’
Sam laughed.
‘Ah dear, my fault. I should have warned you. That was Billy and Charley, the two eldest. They were both on duty. There was a meeting somewhere in Belfast this Sunday prior to next week’s commemoration of Wolfe Tone. There’s Protestants going down to march at Bodenstown, so they were called in reserve in case there was trouble. But whatever they were expectin’ mustn’t have happened. So now you’ve met near all of my family.’
‘Yes, and all you’ve met of mine is my Da.’
‘Ach never mind. I feel like I know Polly. She writes a good letter by the sound of it.’
‘Yes, she does. When I read her letters, I can almost hear her saying the things. Like the time I told you about her finding Uncle Jim in Peterborough.’
‘Aye, that was a good one. Does she ever think about comin’ home?’
‘I don’t know, Sam,’ she said thoughtfully, as he slid neatly into the entrance to Robinson’s field. ‘She might think about it on her bad days, but to be honest they couldn’t afford it. Not with three wee ones.’
‘It’s a pity isn’t it that so much comes down to money in the end?’ he said, looking directly at her before he got out and came round to open the door for her.
‘Lovely evenin’ isn’t it?’ he said quietly, as they paused by the motor and looked out over the meadow beyond, the shadows of the cows long in the lowering sun.
She guessed what he was thinking. A lovely evening to walk the lanes with a friend. But however innocent their intentions, someone would see, jump to conclusions, and carry word of it back to the Robinsons.
‘It’s been such a lovely day altogether, Sam. Thank you for collecting me and bringing me home. I expect I’ll see you at the Club.’
‘Oh indeed you will,’ he replied, perking up visibly. ‘We’ll have to practice for the tournament, won’t we?’
She crossed the road and stood at the foot of the lane to wave to him as he headed back to the farm. Then she walked up the lane, picked her way through the ploughs and harrows and half-constructed gates, and found herself thinking of Emily and Kevin who had saved up together to come home and to face the difficulties of one being Protestant and the other being Catholic.
‘Ach, hallo son, did ye get wee Ellie home all right? There’s tea in the pot. I think all that food and wine made me thirsty.’
‘Thanks, Da. A mug of tea would be great. Aye, she’s home safe and her Da’ll be expectin’ you next week,’ he said, as he filled up a mug beside the paraffin stove on the workbench and added milk from the open bottle.
‘Great day, wasn’t it? Granny was in good form. I wish we could see your Aunty Hannah a bit more often and I missed Sarah,’ said the older man sadly. ‘But then, as Granny said, we’re lucky to be here at all.’
Sam nodded as he drank his tea thirstily and made up his mind.
‘Da, I want to marry Ellie Scott.’
‘Ach Sam, that’s great news. You couldn’t pick a nicer wee girl. When did this all come about?’
‘No Da, it hasn’t come about, I wish it had. Ellie’s spoken for. Or rather, she was going to be married, but they’d no money so her man’s away to Canada to save up.’
‘Ohhh, so that’s the way of it. I’m sorry, Sam. That’s hard on you and you just gettin’ on your feet. Robert told me they were expectin’ a wedding in the family, but I was a bit mixed up between his two younger daughters. I thought maybe it was Florence, who’s older than Ellie.’
‘What am I goin’ to do, Da? I thought I loved that other woman but it was nothin’ like this.’
‘Well, aren’t you that much further on? Now you know what you’re lookin’ for. An’ all’s not lost yet. Is the date set? Is she goin’ out to him or is he comin’ home for her?’
‘I’ve no idea, Da. I couldn’t bring m’self to ask.’
‘Now you’re not usin’ your wits, son. Who do you think would know, barring Ellie herself?’
‘A girlfriend maybe. Daisy? Or maybe Granny.’
‘I think both of them would have a fair idea. It would do no harm to find out. As the saying is: There’s many a slip twixt cup and lip. I know that went against you last time. It might be different this time,’ he said reassuringly. ‘I’ll tell you this much. Bear in mind that young woman will never do what a certain other young woman we know did. She’s too straight for that. She’ll not break her word unless there’s good reason. But there may well be good reason if she finds she doesn’t love him as much as she thought.’
‘So I might be in with a chance, Da.’
‘Oh yes. If you bide your time you might well be in with a chance. That wee girl would be worth waitin’ for,’ he ended before lapsing into his more familiar silence.