Two days later, Elinor had reason to forget all about the mysterious white van and the men in the wheat field as her stay in Cornwall came under imminent threat.
It all came from what seemed to be an innocuous comment from Leo but Elinor knew her strong-willed mother only too well. As soon as Elinor heard his words, she knew that her kind but overbearing mother was already in the process of moving heaven and earth to bring her back to Scotland again.
‘Elinor, your mother’s been asking me when you’re going to go back home to Glasgow.’
Elinor quickly put her knife and fork down. At those words a sinking sensation started to pool at the base of her stomach.
She and Leo had been enjoying a rare breakfast together. Usually Leo was up a good few hours before Elinor so their paths didn’t cross at the breakfast table, but on Sundays, by mutual agreement, the two of them decided to sit down to a cooked breakfast.
For Leo this meant kippers and for Elinor a more refined combination of scrambled eggs and smoked salmon. But this morning, after hearing Leo’s words, Elinor felt her appetite vanish into thin air.
Her mind started to race into overdrive.
Was Leo getting tired of having her to stay? Was this his polite way of telling her to move on? Or was her mother about to ruin the happiest period of her life since Mark had died?
Leo continued to munch his breakfast slowly and steadily, his movements calm and unhurried.
‘Leo, have I overstayed my welcome?’ asked Elinor eventually, in a small voice.
Leo smiled humorously as he chewed his kippers.
‘Whatever gave you that crazy notion? It’s been an absolute pleasure having you to stay here. But you’re only twenty-eight, Elinor. A young lady. You’ve your whole life before you. I’m not sure being cooped up here in the Cornish countryside, with your seventy-year-old uncle, is a healthy thing for a young lady like you.’
Elinor felt a knot form in the middle of her throat. Tears began to slide down her cheeks unheeded. How could she explain to Leo that Trenouth felt like home to her now?
‘Why didn’t Mum mention this to me? Why is she trying to get you to pressure me to leave?’
Leo looked a little uncomfortable.
‘She knows you’ve made huge strides in dealing with your anxiety since you’ve been here. I think she feels you now need to pick up the threads of your life once more and return to the old life you had before everything fell apart. And I suspect she was also worried you might react badly to that suggestion.’
‘Too right! Of course I would react against it. I’m happy for the first time in ages and she has to try and wreck it all for me?’
‘That’s enough of the over-dramatic talk, Elinor. You need to learn to speak of your mother with some respect. You know she only has your best interests at heart,’ growled Leo, with a note of warning in his voice.
‘If she had my best interests at heart she wouldn’t be forcing me to leave.’
‘You’re a grown adult. No one has the power to force you to do anything you don’t want to do. As long as it’s legal, of course,’ countered Leo placidly.
Elinor wiped her eyes with a napkin and drank some tea, her mutinous emotions swirling around inside of her. She felt like breaking something to release some of the anger boiling within.
‘All I’m going to say is that you should think about the life you left behind. And start thinking about what you want to do with yourself in the future,’ said Leo convincingly. ‘You shouldn’t just let things drift and life pass you by.’
‘Leo, you want to know what I think? I think Trenouth feels like home to me now, not Glasgow. Surfing’s given me a sense of purpose and a release from my anxiety. How am I possibly going to be able to carry on surfing if I go back to living in the West End of Glasgow?’
Elinor let out an angry sob.
‘And Barbara’s helping me return to my painting again. How can any of this be a bad thing? Everything that makes my life worth living is here now. And you can tell my mother I’m still healing and recovering. I don’t understand how Mum thinks a few months is enough time for me to suddenly go back to where I was before my anxiety kicked in.’
Leo nodded in agreement.
‘And on top of everything else,’ added Elinor aggrievedly, ‘Mum’s been supporting me financially up until now. So she can pull the strings at any point in time and so yes, she can force me to come home if that’s what she really wants me to do.’
‘Hold on just a minute there, young lady. You should be grateful to your mother for supporting you. Not everyone’s lucky enough to have such a supportive family. And as far as being beholden to her goes, you’re going down that road far too fast if you ask me. You sold a bloody expensive painting at that exhibition the other night. That should keep you going for a while...’
Leo pondered the problem for a moment.
‘And there’s no reason why you can’t restart your art career,’ he added confidently. ‘Plus, don’t forget your Frankenstein book. That alone could potentially earn you quite a bit.’
Elinor smiled tremulously for the first time since the conversation had been broached. Her uncle was one of the most independent people she’d ever met and he was always going to be able to find a way to avoid Elinor being beholden to anyone, even if it was her own mother.
‘It still wouldn’t earn me enough to be able to find a place to live here on a clifftop near you, Leo. And that’s all I want to do at the moment, if you can put up with me. I’m not ready to move back to Scotland now, if ever.’
‘That’s fine by me. As long as you’ve thought things through properly, I’m happy with your decision. Your mother will no doubt have a few choice words to give me on that subject but she’ll come round in the end.’
They both returned to eating their breakfast with renewed vigour, relieved to have things finally settled between them. Silence reigned peaceably for the next five minutes.
Once Leo had finished his kippers, he pushed his plate away and poured himself a cup of black coffee.
‘On quite another topic, I’ve been thinking of visiting an old school friend who lives in London. He has a smart flat in Baker Street.’ Leo lifted his blue mug and took a swig of coffee. ‘The visit’s been long overdue and I also considered that while I was staying there I could arrange to take your book to the British Museum. If that’s OK with you.’
‘Yes, absolutely. It’ll probably take a good few months to get to auction so the sooner the better, I guess.’
Leo looked across at his precious bookcase. He’d placed Elinor’s book in amongst his prized collection of seafaring books.
‘I don’t even know if the book will end up at auction,’ he remarked. ‘I’ve no idea how these things work. There’s a chance, I guess, that the British Museum or the British Library might want to purchase it for their collection. I have to say, I’m not entirely comfortable with keeping a rare and valuable book sitting inside my bookcase. Although in all the years I’ve lived here I’ve never had anyone try to break into the house.’
He swallowed some more coffee.
‘I take it you’re OK with me selling the book for you?’
‘Yes, of course. I only bought it on a stupid whim in the first place because I liked the poetical lines written at the front of the book. Now I know those lines were by William Blake I can just buy a book of Blake’s poetry.’
Elinor drank a sip of tea and made a face. Her tea was now tepid. She hastily put her mug down again.
‘When were you thinking of going up to London?’ asked Elinor apprehensively, not enamoured by the thought of living in Trenouth without Leo around. He was as much a part of the house as the foundation was.
She wasn’t sure she’d be comfortable staying in Trenouth on her own. It was, after all, a very isolated and exposed spot during the winter and early spring.
‘I was thinking of going this Wednesday and coming back on Sunday. Are you going to be all right on your own? Because I’m sure Barbara would be delighted to have you stay with her.’
‘I know. She would happily have me stay,’ agreed Elinor. ‘It’ll be fine, Leo. I’ll work it out. As you said, I’m old enough now to deal with myself.’
Leo looked doubtful, as though he wasn’t sure Elinor was in a good enough shape as yet to be able to make any sensible decisions.
Elinor patted his arm reassuringly.
‘Honestly, Leo, I’ll be fine. The days will fly by and before I realise the time’s gone, you’ll be back here again.’