Daisy’s convalescence moved forward in leaps and bounds with the arrival of James. Ella, noting this, was worried for her daughter. She could see that there was a strong attraction between the two but could see no possibility of a happy outcome. She wanted to warn them both, but did not know how to do it tactfully. All she could do was limit the opportunities they had to be in each other’s company.
Ella was standing at the window looking out on the garden. Nutmeg was in bed; Walter was dozing in his chair, sleeping off a good dinner. She wondered where Daisy and James were. Surely it was too cold to be outside, but when she moved over to the French window to draw the curtains, she saw two figures walking together in the twilight. She could just make out a circle of silver-white light framing them. It could, she knew, be a trick of the light except that she had seen this before and associated it with two people who were meant to be together. This sort of thing had happened to her before. It went with what she called an ‘inner knowing’, and everything told her that the feeling between these two was more than liking. With the knowledge came anxiety: whatever they did about it, someone was going to be hurt, and if they did nothing, either one or both of them would suffer.
With a quick look at Walter to check he was still sleeping, she crossed the hall to his study where the only telephone in the house stood on his desk. While she waited for her son-in-law to answer, she tried to assemble her thoughts and decide what to say. He was there all too soon.
‘Hello, Richard.’ Oh, God, she sounded over bright, even to herself.
‘Ella…?’ He sounded surprised to hear her voice. ‘Nothing wrong, is there? Margaret and Hazel both well?’
‘Oh, yes – fine….’ It took Ella a moment or two to realize that Margaret and Hazel were Daisy and Nutmeg. ‘I just wondered how you and Giles are getting along without them.’
‘We are also fine,’ Richard assured her. He wondered why his wife had not telephoned herself. ‘We both miss them, of course, especially Margaret,’ he added, giving Ella the perfect prompt.
‘Yes, I am sure you do. Dai – Margaret is really quite fit again now, ready I think to come home. Perhaps you would care to come to lunch on Sunday and collect them both?’
‘Thank you, yes, I would. If you are sure she is ready to come back.’
‘Quite sure. Only … well … maybe it would be a good idea if you didn’t mention I had called you, give her the impression that you couldn’t bear being without her….’ Ella’s voice faded as she imagined Richard scowling into the silence. Oh well, she was just giving him more proof that she was a scatty, emotional person. She had no illusion about his opinion of her. He had firm views about what he referred to as the ‘sanctity of marriage’, and a woman’s place both in the home and in the general scheme of things. Ella wondered how he squared that with getting Daisy to work in his office. But it was amazing, she thought, how people could adjust their views to their own wishes.
She put the receiver back slowly into its rest, suddenly doubtful about the wisdom of her actions. After all, she had bucked the system herself and left an unsatisfactory marriage, but then that was precisely why she knew how tough life could be for women who did not conform. She did not think Daisy had the same hard core that she herself possessed. That probably made her a nicer person, but also much more vulnerable.
When James and Daisy returned to the house from their twilight stroll, Ella anxiously scanned their faces. She thought her daughter had the unmistakable look of a woman in love. My God, she thought, how far have things gone? When she told Daisy her husband had telephoned – a slight rearrangement of the truth – and that he was coming at the weekend to take her and Nutmeg home, she saw her cast an anguished glance at James. He appeared not to notice. At any rate, he made no effort to return it. Ella wished with all her heart that her daughter could learn not to show her inner feelings so clearly on her face.
Nutmeg pouted. ‘I would rather stay here,’ she said. ‘I like staying with you, Grandma.’
‘Oh, you will be glad to be home again and see Giles.’
‘No, I won’t. Giles teases me, but he doesn’t get into trouble all the time like I do.’
‘Oh, come now, Nutmeg, I am sure you don’t,’ Ella protested.
‘I am afraid she often does, Mother. Giles always seems to do the right thing and say the right thing. Richard doesn’t like her being such a tomboy.’
‘And sour old Aunt Edith is always telling me off,’ the child cut in.
Ella, looking at her high-spirited and frequently untidy granddaughter, could well believe that. She was afraid she had inherited some of her own wilfulness and could only hope it didn’t land her in trouble. Alas, Hazel was slapped down by Richard within minutes of his arrival.
‘I am not Hazel any more, I’m Nutmeg,’ she told her father.
‘Nutmeg! Whatever sort of a name is that?’ Giles asked scornfully.
‘No name at all,’ Richard replied coldly at which the child promptly launched into an account of how she had come by it.
‘As far as I am concerned, and everyone else from now on, you are Hazel,’ Richard told her.
‘I am so sorry. It was all my fault,’ Walter explained apologetically.
Richard listened with a slight tightening of his lips. ‘I do not care for nicknames,’ he began, but was interrupted by Giles.
‘I think it is clever, I like it. Nutmeg … Nutmeg …’ he experimented with the sound.
‘Well, you will not use it. It sounds quite absurd!’ Richard snapped, thinking it was high time everybody was back home; Ella and Walter were both far too soft with the children.
Hazel’s lips wobbled, but he turned away from the threat of tears on his small daughter’s pouting face. They disappeared when Giles, behind his father’s back, mouthed the word ‘Nutmeg’ to her with a grin.
Ella bustled in from the kitchen to tell them in an overly bright voice that lunch was ready. This diffused the tension and they all trouped into the dining room for what turned out to be a somewhat strained meal. Daisy retreated inside herself, even the children were subdued, and the conversation was kept going only by Walter’s valiant efforts to discuss business with Richard.
Almost immediately the meal was finished, James made some excuse about meeting a friend and said a formal goodbye to Daisy. He would have done the same with Nutmeg, but she hurled herself on to him and he had little choice but to sweep her up in a bear hug. ‘Goodbye, Nutmeg,’ he said softly. ‘I have enjoyed meeting you – and your mother.’ He looked over the child’s head and smiled at Daisy. She did not return the smile or the sentiment.
Ella was glad that Richard had carried the cases out to the car and was busy stacking them in the boot with his usual care. When Daisy kissed her goodbye a few minutes later, she felt her cling to her as she pleaded, ‘Come and stay with me – soon, Mother. It’s ages since you’ve been.’
Watching the car turn out of the driveway gate, Ella wondered if it would have been better to let things take their own course.
Daisy retreated into her thoughts on the way home. Richard seldom talked when driving. Light conversation was not his forte; he gave his full attention to whatever he was doing and only spoke when he had something to say.
Hazel and Giles were chattering together in the back seat, for once amicably, catching up on what had been happening in each of their lives while they were apart. Daisy hoped this would last till they reached home. Richard had a very short fuse when it came to putting up with bad behaviour in the back seat. Daisy was with him on this; driving with squabbling kids in the back could be hazardous, though there were worse things. She remembered bringing the children home from a party when Giles threw up down the back of her neck, causing her to drive off the road into a ditch. A kindly farmer had hauled her out with his tractor.
Daisy let her thoughts drift to her mother. She had really enjoyed her time there; the years had dropped away as she let her mother fuss over her. She smiled as she heard Hazel rattling on about Grandma and Grandpa and relaying again to Giles how she had got a new name. Turning sideways to glance at Richard, Daisy saw him frown and his lips tighten. ‘Your name is Hazel,’ he reminded her tersely.
Daisy repressed a sigh; she could see trouble ahead over this. Why on earth couldn’t Richard lighten up, be a bit more like Walter – or James. Briefly Daisy wondered if Ella could have had anything to do with Richard collecting her but dismissed the thought. There was no reason whatsoever why her mother would want to get rid of either her or Hazel. On the contrary, she loved having them there. Her thoughts then strayed to James. She was painfully aware that she could very easily fall in love with him, so perhaps it was as well she was returning home.
On that thought, Daisy sat up a little straighter in her seat. Ella had told her in no uncertain terms that it was more than time she took over the charge of her own home and children. Daisy knew she was right; she just had to convince Richard.
The opportunity to broach the subject came sooner than she expected. The children were in bed, the last meal of the day finished and she was in the kitchen helping Edith clear up.
‘Richard will be glad to have you back at the office,’ Edith told Daisy in the slightly superior tone she sometimes felt was kept especially for her.
‘I am not going back to the office,’ Daisy told her, picking up the tray of coffee and carrying it into the lounge where she began to pour it. She passed a cup to Richard, in itself a minor act of defiance; it was one of the many chatelaine tasks Edith had usurped.
Daisy had to repress a wild desire to giggle when Edith, astonished by this act of defiance, followed her into the lounge with the tea towel she had been hanging on the Aga rail still in her hand. Noticing it, she ticked to herself.
‘Did you hear that?’ she demanded of Richard. ‘Daisy says she is not going back to the office.’
Richard sipped his coffee and looked over the rim of his cup with raised eyebrows, his glance going from one to the other of the two women. He answered with his usual economy of words.
‘I have had to manage while she has been away. No doubt the present arrangement can continue. It was, after all, intended in the first place as a purely temporary arrangement. I am very grateful to you, Edith, for stepping in here and making it possible.’
Both women stared at him in surprise. ‘But … but …’ Edith stammered. She looked almost forlorn. Daisy, steeling herself for a battle with Richard, felt let down to find that he was actually supporting her.
Edith was the first to find her voice.
‘I am quite willing to stay on and help. Daisy may find the house – and the children – too much for her. After all, she is still convalescent.’
Daisy smiled. ‘That is kind of you, Edith, but it will not be necessary. I can assure you I am quite fit again. My mother looked after me very well indeed, and I am looking forward to taking over the reins and running the house again.’ She glanced at Richard and was surprised to receive a small nod of approval. ‘I am sure you will be glad to return home yourself, Edith. As Richard said, we are very grateful to you, but I realize that coping with young children is not easy at your time of life.’ Seeing Edith bridle visibly at this reference to her age, Daisy hastily added, ‘There is no need for you to rush away, of course,’ and could have bitten her tongue.
Edith ignored this and spoke directly to Richard. ‘I will probably go tomorrow. You are right, of course, I should be back home. If Daisy finds she is unable to manage, you can always call on me to come back and help.’
Daisy forced herself to smile. She would manage, she told herself, and if ever she needed help again, it would be her mother she would turn to.