The look of pure joy on Andre’s face made her feel ashamed, for it was clear he was thrilled with her decision. Laying Joseph gently back down on the sofa he hurried across to take her hands gently in his. ‘You do understand that this would not be a conventional marriage? I mean there would be no children and we would not …’
‘I know exactly what you mean,’ she answered hastily. ‘And I accept that.’
‘Good, then please wait there for just a moment.’ He disappeared back into his own living quarters only to return minutes later with a small velvet box. When he sprang the lid and revealed the contents, Nessie gasped. It was a ring but a ring the likes of which she had never seen before. Nestling into a gold band was a fine ruby surrounded by ice-white diamonds that caught and reflected the late afternoon sunshine pouring through the window, sending rainbow prisms all across the walls. ‘This has been in my family for many generations,’ he explained. ‘And because my parents were never gifted with a daughter it was given to me many years ago for my wife.’ He chuckled then. ‘Needless to say, at the time my parents did not know that I was … Well, let us just say that I never imagined it would be worn so I shall be delighted to see it on your finger.’
‘Oh no, Andre. I can’t accept it. It’s far too grand,’ Nessie objected, curling her fingers into a small fist.
He laughed as he gently uncurled them. ‘Nonsense. As my wife you shall have many jewels and fine clothes, the best that money can buy, which is no more than you deserve,’ he insisted and before she could protest further he slipped the ring onto her finger and told her tenderly, ‘We may not be entering a conventional marriage, Nessie, but I want you to know that I do love you, as much as I would be able to love any woman. You are the kindest, most thoughtful person I have ever known, after Jean-Paul of course, and I have a feeling that we are going to be very content together.’
She nodded numbly as images of Oliver’s face floated in front of her eyes but she firmly pushed them away. She had agreed to marry Andre now and had every intention of being the very best wife she could be to him. Molly walked in then with a mop and bucket in her hand and at the sight of the two of them her mouth dropped in amazement.
‘So … what’s goin’ on ’ere then?’
‘Nessie has just done me the very great honour of agreeing to be my wife,’ Andre told her with a flashing smile.
Molly looked mildly surprised for a moment but then hurrying over to them both she placed her arms about them.
‘Why, that’s bloody wonderful news. It’s about time somethin’ nice happened around ’ere! Congratulations. When is the big day to be?’
She noticed that Nessie looked a little stunned and it was Andre that answered.
‘We haven’t got as far as planning that yet. But I would like it to be before Christmas when my mother is visiting.’
‘Hmm, well that don’t give us much time to plan everythin’,’ Molly said.
‘Oh, we won’t need much time. I only want a very quiet wedding,’ Nessie said hastily. ‘The smaller the better, in fact, with just you and Charlie and Maria and Reuben present.’
Andre looked somewhat surprised, although he didn’t argue. ‘Are you quite sure?’ he questioned and when she nodded he smiled.
‘Then so it shall be,’ he agreed as Molly enviously admired the sparkling ring on Nessie’s finger. ‘How about the first week in November then? There is no point in delaying. And it will be nice to arrange a wedding instead of a funeral!’
Nessie nodded again then left with Molly to fetch George home from the babysitter.
Once they were alone Molly peeped at her curiously before asking cautiously, ‘Are yer quite sure about this? What I mean is, an’ it’s no business o’ mine, o’ course, but I had an’ inklin’ you had feelin’s for young Dr Dorsey.’
Nessie managed a weak smile although inside she was crying. ‘I’m quite sure, Molly. It’s the best solution all round. It will be security for me and the children and Andre needs someone to look after him. He isn’t always in the best of health, as you know, and his heart condition isn’t likely to improve.’
Molly looked doubtful but held her tongue. Nessie had turned her and Charlie’s lives around with her kindness and there was nothing that Molly wouldn’t have done for her but she didn’t feel able to interfere. She just prayed that Nessie wasn’t making the biggest mistake of her life.
The following week Connie Dorsey was sitting in the drawing room thinking about George. Since the news of his death, her grief had not lessened. If anything, she felt even worse than she had on the day the policemen had come to visit. The door was slightly ajar, and as the sound of voices stirred her out of her thoughts, she realised two of the maids were talking about Marcie. She perked up, suddenly interested.
‘Aye, she cleared off to London early one mornin’ be all accounts,’ one of them said. ‘So now it’s down to her sister to look after the baby an’ she already looks after her little brother. Mind you, I dare say now she’s marryin’ that rich undertaker it won’t be a problem. He’ll probably hire a nanny to care for ’em.’
The news startled Connie out of her maudlin thoughts and set her mind racing and over dinner that night, she asked Oliver, ‘Is it true what I’m hearing? That George’s mother has run away?’
‘I did hear a whisper in the surgery,’ he admitted. ‘But I don’t know how true it is. I haven’t seen Nessie this week.’
‘She’s probably too busy making plans for the wedding,’ Connie remarked, her mind fixed firmly on her grandson.
Oliver’s head snapped up. ‘What do you mean? Whose wedding?’
‘Marcie’s sister’s, the one that opened the soup kitchen with you. Nessie. She’s marrying the Frenchman she works for apparently, and rather hastily by all accounts! But enough about that. If Marcie has left, who will look after George?’
Her husband glared at her across the table then so Connie didn’t notice the colour drain from Oliver’s face. He felt as if someone had thumped him in the stomach and it took all his willpower to remain quiet.
‘Now don’t you start interfering in that direction,’ Johnny Dorsey warned, wagging his fork at her. ‘We’ve paid the girl off and that’s an end to it, as far as I’m concerned.’
Connie straightened in her seat and laid her knife and fork down. ‘That is our grandson we’re talking about, Johnny, in case you’ve forgotten,’ she told him, her face set.
Johnny groaned. ‘Oh, for goodness sake, woman, don’t start that again. I’m sure this Nessie will be more than capable of looking after him if his mother has disappeared off the scene.’
‘That isn’t the point.’ Connie had no intention of not being heard this time. Every other time she had tried to talk about the baby he had changed the subject or left the room but this time she was determined. ‘I’m going to see him,’ she informed her husband firmly.
Johnny slammed the table with his fist. ‘Over my bloody dead body!’ he declared.
Connie rose from the table her eyes never leaving his face. ‘I’m sure that can be arranged,’ she quipped and turning she sailed from the room leaving him open-mouthed.
Oliver left minutes later and paced up and down his room. His mother must have it wrong, he reasoned. Nessie and Andre getting wed? He was one of the very few who knew about Andre’s former partner, Jean-Paul. Why would Andre suddenly want to marry a woman? His woman, a little voice said. Well, there was only one way to find out, he would call into the funeral parlour tomorrow after surgery. With his mind made up he prepared for bed but it was a long time before he was able to fall asleep, as thoughts of Nessie married to Andre whirled around his head, making him feel sick with jealousy.
When Oliver arrived at the funeral parlour the next day, he found a young woman nursing George and he quickly averted his eyes. Before he could speak, Nessie appeared from the stairs. She looked mildly surprised to see him.
‘Oh … hello, Oliver. It’s not your day to visit Joseph, is it?’
Slightly embarrassed he shook his head. ‘No … no, it isn’t but seeing as I was passing I thought I’d just pop in and take a look at him. How has he been?’
The young woman rose discreetly, fastening her blouse as she handed George back to his aunt. ‘There yer go, missus. He should be fine fer a while now. I’ll pop back to feed him again in four hours, shall I?’
Nessie smiled at her. ‘That would be fine, thank you, Alice.’
The girl scuttled away and it was then that Oliver noticed the ruby ring sparkling on Nessie’s finger. It was so beautiful that it would have been difficult to miss it. Leaning over Joseph he cleared his throat and asked, ‘How has he been?’
‘Oh, much the same.’ She lay George in his crib and came to join him, feeling awkward.
Once Oliver had finished his examination he turned to face her and asked quietly, ‘Is it true that Marcie has left home?’
‘Yes.’ Nessie studiously avoided his eyes.
‘And is it also true that you are now betrothed to Andre?’ His voice was no more than a whisper, his eyes fastened on her face, but before she could answer him Andre swept in beaming with a wide smile.
‘Hello, Oliver. Come to check up on the little chap, have you? How do you find him?’ He took his place at Nessie’s side and gave her an affectionate peck on the cheek.
‘No worse,’ Oliver answered as his heart sank.
‘Good, good, and have you heard our news? Nessie and I are going to be married, the first week in November.’
‘Then congratulations are in order. I hope you’ll both be very happy.’ Suddenly Oliver just wanted to be gone. He felt as if his heart was being torn in two and he didn’t know how long he could keep up the pretence of being happy for them when all he wanted to do was ask her why? Her and her damned silly ideas about class. Surely she knew how much he loved her. But it was too late now, soon she would be another man’s wife.
‘Right, I’d best get on.’ He headed for the door as fast as his feet would take him and Nessie experienced a moment of such despair that it was all she could do to stop herself from running after him. Yet she knew she had done the right thing. His family would never have allowed him to marry her. And so she turned to her fiancé and forcing a smile she said, ‘I’d better get on. I have to visit St Nicholas’s Church to organise a funeral with the vicar there. Molly is going to keep an eye on Joseph.’
‘Very well, and on your way back you must call in at the dressmaker and choose the material for your wedding gown. Even if you don’t want a big wedding, I insist you have a new outfit.’
‘All right,’ she agreed reluctantly, then hurrying to the door she lifted her cloak and bonnet and hurried on her way.
On her way back from the church Nessie visited the dressmaker as Andre had requested and looked through the bolts of material. She knew that she should have felt excited to be choosing the material for her wedding gown yet as the dressmaker suggested various fabrics she felt nothing. Eventually she settled on a soft-green satin that the woman assured her would be perfect for her colouring and the occasion. Finally, once she had been measured and discussed patterns, she set off back to the funeral parlour feeling weary.
‘How has he been?’ she asked as she stepped through the kitchen door and then stopped abruptly when she saw Oliver’s mother sitting on the sofa with George in her arms. She was staring down at George as if he was the most precious child in the world. A ripple of unease coursed up her spine.
‘M-Mrs Dorsey. What can I do for you?’ she asked when she managed to find her voice.
Molly was standing by the sink wringing her hands and she instantly babbled, ‘I’m sorry, I asked her to come back later when you were home but she insisted on waitin’ and then George woke up and …’
‘It’s all right, Molly,’ Nessie assured her, then remembering her manners she asked, ‘Have you offered our visitor a drink?’
Molly shook her head, so going towards the sink to fill the kettle, Nessie told her, ‘You can get off now, if you like, Molly.’
Molly looked uncertain but when Nessie gave her a reassuring smile she nodded. ‘All right. But if you need anything yer know where I am.’ She hurried away and when Nessie had placed the kettle on the range to boil she turned back to Mrs Dorsey and asked again, ‘So what can I do for you?’
Connie was slightly taken aback at her forthrightness, but she couldn’t help feeling a certain admiration for her. She seemed very sensible and down-to-earth for one so young with so many responsibilities weighing on her shoulders.
‘Actually, I think it’s more a case of what I can do for you,’ she responded. ‘You see, I heard that your sister had left leaving you with another child to look after so I’ve come to take him off your hands.’
‘Take him off my hands! He isn’t a parcel to be passed about you know.’ Nessie answered heatedly. It was all she could do to stop herself from rushing over and snatching George from the woman’s arms but she forced herself to remain calm. ‘I assure you, George is receiving the very best of care, so thank you for the offer but he’ll be staying here with me.’
‘I don’t think so.’ Connie Dorsey gave her a cold stare. ‘I’m his grandmother and he belongs with me.’
‘And I’m his aunt and I say he stays here!’
Connie bit her lip. She had hoped that the situation could be handled without resorting to unpleasantness but now she saw that she had no choice but to make a threat.
‘Did your sister leave the money I settled on her for George’s upbringing?’ she asked suddenly.
The question took Nessie by surprise. ‘Well … no,’ she faltered.
‘And did she ever tell you where she got the Meissen figurines on your mantelpiece from?’ She had spotted them the second she came through the door.
‘Th-they were a gift from her,’ Nessie croaked.
‘Hmm, a gift straight from my house. She stole them from my home on the day she was dismissed.’
‘I … I didn’t know.’ Nessie’s eyes were wide with fear now. How could Marcie have been so stupid as to steal something so valuable?
‘I’m sure you didn’t but the thing is, if I were to report that she’d gone off with my hundred pounds and stolen the figurines there would be police everywhere looking for her. She would never be able to return to her home town again without finding herself in an awful lot of trouble. You wouldn’t want that for her now, would you?’
Nessie stood so still that she might have been turned to stone and Connie suddenly felt sorry for her. ‘Why don’t you let me take my grandson and give him the sort of upbringing he deserves?’ Her voice had softened now. ‘We can forget about the money and the figurines then. And I promise you that he will be loved. He’s all I have left of his father now, don’t you see?’
‘What if I were to raise the hundred pounds? And you are welcome to take the figurines back. I don’t want them!’ Nessie declared.
Connie shook her head. ‘That’s no real solution, is it? She would still be guilty of theft on two counts and that is a punishable offence.’
Nessie felt torn between the devil and the deep blue sea as she stared back at the woman. Her heart ached at the thought of letting Marcie’s baby go, for she still hoped that her sister would come home one day to claim him, but how could she if Mrs Dorsey carried out her threat?
‘Would I be able to see him sometimes,’ her voice was heavy with tears now.
‘Of course,’ Connie told her gently.
Nessie’s shoulders sagged. ‘When would you want to take him?’
‘I could come back in the carriage for him later today.’
Nessie squeezed her eyes tight shut for a second then slowly she nodded. Deep down she knew that, for Marcie’s sake, she really had no choice.