Alex and Teddy decided to remain in London until the end of the following week, which pleased Uncle Walter to have the opportunity of keeping the house open and having company, although no amount of coaxing would persuade Alex’s mother to remain in the capital.
Having lost his general duty (No 3) uniform aboard the Sorrel and his peculiarly named undress kit and mess undress kit (No 1 and No 2) which had hardly been worn, but which had seemingly shrunk in the wardrobe, making them just that little bit too tight to wear, Alex decided that he needed replacements, especially in the light of his forthcoming diplomatic posting. A trip to Savile Row was required to revisit the establishment of Messrs Hawkes & Co, the renowned military tailor.
Alex also remembered that the finest haircut that he had ever enjoyed had been at a gentleman’s barber he had found after his last visit to Hawkes’, and Alex thought that he might try to find the same establishment again so that his hair might be suitably groomed to suit his new station in life.
Meanwhile, Teddy wanted to visit several shops in London to acquire some more fashionable clothes. The shops in the Cotswolds were fine for everyday garments to be worn around in the country, but she was feeling as though she needed to acquire at least some dresses that were more fashionable and less practical.
They took a taxi from Bedford Square to Oxford Street, where they parted company, agreeing to meet up at the Trocadero Grill on the corner of Coventry Street and Shaftesbury Avenue at one o’clock, where they could lunch before visiting Swan & Edgar’s department store on the other side of Picadilly Circus. Alex jumped out of the cab at New Bond Street, whilst Teddy continued along Oxford Street to Selfridges department store. As Alex cut through Clifford Street, he saw the devastation of the Blitz – many of the shops and houses had been destroyed, and gaping holes now existed where previously homes and businesses had existed. Saddest of all was the gap in the row of terraced houses where the Feldmans had operated their jewellery business, and Alex took a moment to stop and enquire from a police officer who was directing traffic, whether he knew what had happened to them.
‘Goodness me,’ the officer thought back, ‘it must have been in the Blitz, well before my time in this division. I recall someone saying that the family had moved to the father’s house, but don’t ask me where that would be.’
‘Thank you, Constable,’ Alex said and made a mental note to check up on their whereabouts. He still felt much admiration and respect for the jeweller who had created both his and Teddy’s engagement and wedding rings and who had so generously given them an exquisite recreation of a Fabergé egg for their wedding.
Alex entered Hawkes & Co at 1 Savile Row and was greeted by one of the tailors almost as if he was a long-lost family member. ‘Good morning, sir. Nice to see you again. How may we help you today?’
Alex explained his requirements, and the tailor asked whether Alex had an account with the company.
‘I believe so,’ Alex said, ‘although I have not had any uniforms made since the beginning of the war.’
‘What is the name, sir? And the address?’ the tailor asked.
‘Alexander Carlton, and the address is Onslow Gardens,’ Alex responded.
‘Ah, yes, sir.’ The tailor found Alex’s details in the card index contained in a neat oak file behind the desk. ‘Lieutenant, isn’t it, sir? Oh, goodness, you have done well, sir. Congratulations.’
Alex felt some element of embarrassment and responded by merely smiling at the tailor.
‘Right, sir,’ the tailor said, grabbing a tape measure, ‘let us take some measurements.’ He set about the undertaking and recited a string of measurements to an assistant. When the tailor had completed his task, he looked at the list and made some slight adjustments.
‘There we go, sir,’ the tailor pronounced. ‘I imagine that you will need an aiguillette if you are taking up a post at a diplomatic legation. Attachés use a number three that is worn from the left shoulder. We do two types. One uses gold thread which is quite expensive, and the other a slightly less costly option. Which would sir prefer?’
Alex thought for a moment before agreeing on the more expensive option, as the tailor promised that it would substantially outlast the alternative. ‘I am sure that you have made the right choice,’ the tailor agreed. So Alex took the opportunity to place an order for several new shirts, both formal and daywear shirts, and one or two other accoutrements, to make a sizeable order.
The tailor suggested that the uniforms should be ready for an initial fitting by the end of the following week, which neatly coincided with when Alex and Teddy were planning on returning to the Cotswolds, and it was hoped that the entire ensemble would be completed about a week after that. ‘Shall we send them to Onslow Gardens again, sir?’
‘No,’ Alex said, ‘I am currently residing with my family in the Cotswolds, so it would be much more convenient if they could be delivered there?’
‘Of course, sir,’ said the tailor obligingly, ‘and shall we render our account to the same address?’
‘Yes, please,’ Alex confirmed.
Alex left Hawkes & Co and made his way to where he recalled that the barber’s shop was to be found, and he was gratified that it was still there, although several of the other houses on either side were missing. Entering, he saw the familiar face of the elderly barber smile at him as he was busily styling the hair of a distinguished-looking businessman. ‘I shall not keep you a jiffy, sir,’ he told Alex, ‘if you would care to take a seat?’
Alex sat, and within ten minutes, the barber had finished with his previous customer, and he called Alex to take a seat in the leather chair.
‘My, my, my, sir,’ the barber said, having assessed Alex’s hairstyle, ‘not a moment too soon, if I may be so bold. May I suggest a shampoo and shave, sir?’
Alex agreed to the luxury of being pampered, and the barber set to work. By the time he had completed the task some half an hour later, Alex hardly recognised his face staring back at him from the mirror. Again the barber had worked a miracle, and Alex’s usually unruly hair had been well and truly tamed and styled to perfection.
‘There we go, sir,’ the barber pronounced, ‘that has made a great improvement. Would sir like a little eau de cologne to freshen himself?’ Alex nodded his agreement, and the barber splashed some onto his hands before rubbing it firmly into Alex’s recently shaved chin, causing Alex to wince at the astringency. As Alex paid for the haircut, the barber repeated the surreptitious question he had asked the first time Alex had visited. ‘Anything for the weekend, sir?’ Alex again declined, and the barber nodded understandingly. ‘Very good, sir.’
Alex left a good tip for the barber and stepped from the shop to make his way to Picadilly and lunch with Teddy.
*
Memories have the habit of fading over time. If Alex had recalled when last he met Teddy in Picadilly, he would have remembered that Teddy was seldom on time for meetings – thus, he waited for a good fifteen minutes before she turned up.
‘I do hope they have held our table,’ Alex grumbled as he briefly kissed his wife, and they made their way inside the building, but they were in luck, and soon the maître d’ had escorted them to a discreet corner table. Rationing meant that the food they were offered was not of the standard that was customary in peacetime, but both he and Teddy managed to find something on the menu that was acceptable. During luncheon, Alex told her of his exploits that morning, and Teddy was visibly shaken when she heard that the Feldmans had been bombed out, but was relieved when Alex explained what the policeman had recalled.
As they waited for their dessert, Teddy pressed Alex for more details about his new job, and it was as much as Alex could do to prevent her from wheedling the classified information out of him.
‘All I can tell you,’ Alex explained, ‘is that it is a complete change of direction and is much safer than anything I have done previously. It could open doors to a career after the war is over in an area that you would most definitely enjoy, and I have been selected for the position over many other candidates. The job also carries the rank of commander, so there is a sizeable pay rise attached to the role.’
‘This all sounds most intriguing.’ Teddy still wanted more details. ‘How were you selected? Whereabouts in the country will you be based? You are still a fit and young man in comparison to some of the dinosaurs in the navy, so why have you been chosen if the job is so safe?’
‘Alright,’ Alex sighed, feigning resignation, ‘I will tell you as much as I can, provided that you promise you will not overreact or cause a scene. Do we have a deal?’
Teddy’s suspicions were now on full alert, but she nodded her agreement.
‘I was recommended for the job by both the brigadier and Captain Jeffers. It was felt that I needed to broaden my horizons a little, and because I am no longer considered a safe pair of hands in the intelligence world, they felt that my career path needed a redirection.
Smiling, Alex continued, ‘Believe me, darling, one of the options open was being sent for active duty, but as I have never served on a ship apart from that very brief spell on HMS Sorrel, that was an option that was considered too risky for all concerned. Another avenue they explored was giving me a staff job shuffling paperclips in some remote department where I would become bored with life extremely quickly, so I told them that I would prefer mine disposal to that option.’ Teddy bridled at that prospect, as she knew that an RMSofficer’s life expectancy could be measured in weeks, if not days.
‘The upshot is that they have found me a role in the corps diplomatique that may not necessarily end with the cessation of hostilities.’
‘The diplomatic corps?’ Teddy was again suspicious. ‘But that’s embassies and consulates and the like, isn’t it? Surely there is nothing in this country that involves the diplomatic corps?’
‘Actually,’ Alex expanded further, ‘about a third of the personnel in the corps are based in London and the home counties, but you are right, this will be an overseas posting, but do not worry, my sweet, it is in a neutral country and in Europe, and the prospects are actually incredibly exciting.’
‘I don’t understand.’ Teddy was clearly confused. ‘I thought you said that you were not allowed to have an overseas posting?’
‘In the intelligence service, I’m not.’ Alex hated lying to his wife, but he knew that after the promises he made on his return from Finland, it would be the highest level of betrayal if Alex hid the fact that he would be overseas from her. ‘But this is a diplomatic posting, nothing to do with intelligence.’
‘I see.’ Teddy was clearly less than happy at the news Alex had just divulged. ‘And am I allowed to know which of the neutral countries we are discussing?’
‘I shouldn’t really tell you until it has been announced in the diplomatic list.’ Alex appeared concerned that he was about to divulge a state secret.
Teddy was not giving up. ‘Well, as you are a navy man, I presume that implies that it will not be Switzerland?’ Alex said nothing. ‘So that leaves Ireland, Spain, Portugal and Sweden.’
‘There are a couple of others,’ Alex said, attempting flippancy, ‘like the Vatican.’ The look that Teddy gave Alex silenced him instantly.
‘As you do not speak Spanish or Portuguese, that leaves Sweden and Ireland.’ She thought for a moment. ‘You are going to Stockholm, aren’t you?’
‘Honestly, darling, I cannot tell you.’ Alex looked apologetic.
‘Alright,’ Teddy persisted, ‘but I note that you are not denying it.’
‘Neither am I confirming it.’ Alex deliberately smiled slightly as he replied.
‘What is the job title?’ Teddy tried a different tack.
‘Oh, that’s simple,’ Alex said, breathing a sigh of relief. ‘I will be going as number two to the naval attaché. Simon told me that it was just an endless circuit of dinner parties and cocktail soirees with other diplomats when he was in Stockholm. He really enjoyed his time there.’
‘Yes, but we all know why Simon was really in Sweden, don’t we?’ Teddy had seemingly already put two and two together and reached the correct sum.
‘Look, darling,’ Alex attempted to appease her further, ‘I am going to a neutral country to do a job for the navy, which has brought a good promotion and excellent prospects. The job is not dangerous and is more about flying the flag for Britain. There really is nothing to worry about, and the good thing is that when the war is over, it’s a sufficiently senior posting that you will be able to join me.’
‘What about our daughter?’ Teddy asked. ‘I cannot just leave her now that I’m just starting to have a relationship with her, which I did not have when I was in the ATA.’
Alex had all of the answers. ‘Of course, depending on circumstances, she may be able to join us, or otherwise, the government would pay for her education in a good private school here.’
‘It rather sounds as though you have made up your mind!’ Teddy was unhappy.
‘But surely this is far better than being on a ship on the North Atlantic or Russian convoys?’ Alex countered.
‘That is as may be,’ Teddy retorted, ‘but we agreed after Finland that we would make these decisions together. At least this time, I know where and what you will be doing before you depart. I just hope there is nothing behind this posting that you are keeping from me because I might not forgive you again.’
‘I promise.’ Alex held his breath and hoped that he would not live to regret the ever-so-small untruth that he had just uttered to his wife.
‘I want to go home now,’ Teddy announced petulantly.
‘Did you not want to go shopping?’ Alex asked.
‘Not now,’ Teddy stated flatly, ‘I have quite gone off the idea.’
With that, she rose and left the restaurant, leaving Alex to gather his things, pay the waiter and follow her out into Picadilly Circus. He found Teddy waiting for him on the corner of Coventry Street before hailing a taxi.
*
It seemed to take the whole gamut of negotiation skills that Uncle Walter had developed over his entire business career for Teddy to start to realise that Alex’s new job was a positive move that, in theory, took him out of danger. However, had either been aware of the fate of poor Dickie Liscomb, then it is unlikely that even Uncle Walter’s considerable talents would have convinced Teddy.
During the remaining course of the day, Teddy’s mood calmed. By evening, when she and Alex had arranged to go out for dinner, she was almost her usual relaxed and loving self. Appreciating all that Uncle Walter had done to calm the troubled waters, she suggested that he might like to join them, which he gladly accepted, although Alex suspected that he felt the need to be present just in case the storm had not fully abated.
Alex had chosen a quaint and intimate restaurant on Great Russell Street opposite the temporarily abandoned British Museum. As they sat in the window, Alex imagined the logistical nightmare of removing all the museum’s artefacts to a place of safe-keeping in the weeks immediately before the Blitz. Alex considered the damage caused after the bombing and fire in May 1941, which had destroyed that part of the library that had not been relocated and several galleries of the building.
So absorbed in his thoughts was Alex that he was wholly unaware of the waiter standing and waiting for him to place his order. Teddy gave his shin a slight kick that brought his thoughts back to the present.
‘Oh, I am sorry,’ Alex apologised.
‘Would sir care to order?’ the waiter asked, and Alex asked Teddy and Uncle Walter what they had ordered. Teddy had chosen the fish, despite the waiter being decidedly noncommittal as to the species, but she had gained his assurance that it would not be the much-despised snook16. Uncle Walter had selected soup and the steak and kidney pudding, even though it had been made with corned beef.
Alex decided to have the same as his adopted uncle, and after the waiter had shuffled away, Uncle Walter commented ruefully, ‘How I miss the Cotswolds.’
Later that evening, as they lay in the large and comfortable bed in one of the rooms that Alex had seldom seen during his childhood at Bedford Square, but which had been made up especially as Teddy was staying as well, Teddy turned to her husband and apologised for her ill-tempered mood of earlier in the day.
‘You see, my darling,’ she said, ‘I am genuinely worried that something will happen to you and that I will lose you.’
‘Dearest Teddy,’ Alex began, ‘I can assure you that I have had my fill of thrill-seeking. I accepted the diplomatic post purely because it should be one of the safest postings imaginable and because I genuinely thought that you might like to be the wife of a diplomat if I decide to stay on after the war.’
‘What about the job that Uncle Walter wants you to do?’ Teddy asked. ‘Working in his business with a view of taking it over when he retires.’
‘There is plenty of time for that,’ Alex said. ‘I’m only twenty-six, and if war is over in the next couple of years, I shall still be under thirty. The diplomatic corps might be an excellent opportunity for us both to see some more of the world before we are ready for our cottage and slippers by the fire. Besides, I doubt Walter will ever retire. I feel certain that my uncle is a man who will die with his boots on!’
‘What a strange thing to say,’ Teddy commented.
‘Not really,’ Alex explained. ‘How many other men of his age do you know with the vitality and drive of my uncle? The man is a veritable dynamo. I am sure he will understand and put off his retirement for a few years to pursue this. Anyway, it’s only an option at the moment. I might not be very good at being diplomatic, or there may not be the opportunities available. Who can say?’
‘You said earlier,’ Teddy asked gently, ‘that they might consider paying for our children’s school fees, if they could not be with us?’
‘I believe that is the case,’ Alex said absently. ‘I recall Simon mentioning something about the children of diplomats being educated in England. Wait a moment,’ Alex’s brain had just caught up with what Teddy had said, ‘you said our children.’
‘Yes, my darling,’ Teddy said winsomely. ‘You see, I rather think that I am expectant again!’
‘What?’ Alex was confused. ‘How? When? My goodness! Are you sure?’
‘Pretty sure,’ Teddy said. ‘I missed last month’s cycle, and I have been feeling strange recently. I did not want to say anything until after it had been confirmed, but I did not want to see Dr Baxter until after our trip to London, so I have an appointment next week.’
‘Oh, my goodness gracious me!’ Alex exclaimed. ‘Have you told Mama?’
‘No,’ Teddy explained, ‘but I think she has guessed already.’
‘Oh, my sweet Teddy.’ Alex gathered her into his arms and gave her an enormous hug. ‘What absolutely wonderful news!’
16 Snook (or more correctly Snoek) was an extremely inexpensive South African fish that was canned and shipped to the UK during World War II as a source of protein, but it was smelly, had a foul taste and was invariably inedible, so did not catch on as an acceptable product, even in wartime!