Hilary Dempster could not wait to move out of Camden Corners. Every night spent with Eve on the sofa was a reminder of the risk they had taken and what almost happened because they had once left Eve on her own in this house.
She had employed a company to come to the house and strip out the carpet in the second bedroom. They then sanded the floor boards and painted on a triple coating of varnish which brought up the wood grain nicely. To the new floor she added two rugs from other parts of the house. After the beds were replaced, and the remaining picture on the wall removed, she locked the door again. She had no intention of allowing anyone to enter there.
In the meantime, she went around the house placing green stickers on the furniture that was needed for Harmony House. With Eve’s help she did the same in the kitchen. Last of all, she invited the new owners to return and select anything remaining that they would like to keep in the house and she gave them a very good price, thereby ensuring there was almost nothing left to dispose of when the three women finally departed from number 46.
She observed that Mavis and Eve were no less anxious than she to move on. They often sat together in the daytime or when watching television in the evening. Mavis made a point of closing the heavy drapes after quickly scanning the back yard. The home invasion and its consequences were weighing on her mind. Eve was seemingly the least affected. She took courage from the assurances of the police that her husband was not to be released before his trial. Hilary had to believe this situation was in fact preferable to the daily fear of Howard’s uncertain temperament. It made her wonder what kind of hell Eve Barton had lived in for years.
One Sunday night when Mavis and Eve were watching 60 Minutes, Hilary went up to her office to check over some figures. It was a tricky business to coordinate the dates for vacating her house and arranging for a removal van to have access to Harmony as well as releasing Mavis’s furniture from storage. She was hoping to employ one removal van to do both jobs on the same day. Vilma was working on some publicity scheme for Jannice’s place but she had not yet revealed what that was about. If all went well, Vilma would supervise the sale of the O’Connor home.
Thank God for Vilma! She’s a free agent and has donated her time to help others. What would we have done without her?
Hilary was just circling dates on her calendar when the phone rang on her desk.
Who would be calling on a Sunday night?
“Mother! Is that you?”
“Desmond! What’s wrong?”
“Why should something be wrong, mother?”
“I’m sorry. It’s just that you don’t call very often and I was surprised.”
“Well, as it happens, I was surprised recently and that’s why I’m calling you. A school pal from Camden Corners came to see me in Toronto and in the course of conversation about this and that, he mentioned the old place was up for sale.”
“Yes, that’s right, Desmond. A couple from Mississauga has bought the house. They will be moving in quite soon.”
“When were you going to tell me this?”
His belligerent tone was beginning to annoy Hilary. She sat up straighter ready to do battle if necessary. She had no illusions about her son. He was, unfortunately, a mercenary character. Since moving to the big city for work, he was chronically short of money. She subsidized his lifestyle ever since his father’s death but if he was expecting an early inheritance he was going to be out of luck.
“This all happened quite fast, Desmond. I saw an opportunity to establish a place for my old age together with friends who would look after me, and I them. You know I have never had any great liking for Toronto, even if you ever offered to take me in. Similarly, it seems unlikely you would want to move back here to London and care for me in my old age.”
“Good God, mother! You are not that old. All those concerns are far in the future, I would think. Why are you making such decisions right now? Has something happened? A fall? A medical emergency? What?”
“I am quite well at the moment, thank you for asking, son. The truth is, I am a woman alone and that can be frightening. I felt I needed to plan for my future while I still had an asset.”
There was a momentary silence. She knew he was calculating something.
“So, what did the place sell for?”
She named a figure that was several thousand dollars below the actual selling price, and waited for his reaction.
“Not bad for London. Not bad at all. You should be able to pass on a third of that without any trouble.”
She knew at once what he meant and her heart fell. Each time they spoke she hoped a change of mindset would come with maturity. But not yet, it seems.
“That will not happen, Desmond. You must understand this house is mine. Your father’s will makes that very clear. Any benefit to you, will come from my will, which, as you say, is some time in the future, God Willing. I need all of this money to guarantee my place in a larger home on the outskirts of the city.”
“But that’s ridiculous, Mom.”
Here it comes.
“You know how tight things are for me. I didn’t get that promotion I was counting on. How will I afford to come and see you without the old house to stay in? Is that what you want? Complete isolation from your only flesh and blood?”
She tried to calm her shaking limbs. There was no point in prolonging this agony. It would end in acrimony as always.
“Don’t worry about that, Desmond. There will be a guest suite for the convenience of friends and family. Let me know when you wish to see me and I will reserve it for you.
Now I need to go. Take care, my dear.
Goodbye.”
She placed the handset down slowly and carefully but not before she heard the shattering sound of his anger at his end of the line.
It’s over. He knows now. I can move ahead with my plans without dreading this conversation. I doubt I will see him in London again.
She dabbed at her eyes and breathed out and in without allowing any other thoughts to enter her mind.
Downstairs she heard the door open and Mavis’s voice call for her. It was time for their nightcap; tea and talk about the day ahead.
“I’ll be right there, Mavis. Wait for me.”
Although most of the coordination was now occurring by telephone for the sake of speed, Vilma and Jannice had a reason to call for another meeting of the co-housing group. They felt it was time to share their good news and they wanted to do it in style.
Vilma contacted Hilary with the invitation to her North London house and Jannice called Honor, assuring her they would share a cab ride to Vilma’s. The purpose of this meeting was kept under wraps. The excuse was the final chance to gather at Vilma’s since the house was soon to be transferred to her step-children’s lawyer.
There was a bit of grumbling at Hilary’s.
“We have so much to do, Mavis. I can’t imagine why Vilma wants to be bothered with this meeting.”
“I’m sure she has her reasons and we can’t refuse after all she did for us not long ago.”
Hilary noticed how reluctant her friend was to mention the awful business of Dobrinski’s attack. She suspected Mavis was not sleeping well. At first she blamed the Lazy-Boy chair in which she had chosen to sleep, but as Mavis looked more and more drawn around the face, she concluded that it was her mind’s discomfort causing the symptoms, rather than her body’s. Once more Hilary longed for the move to Harmony to be closer to completion.
In the end, they were all glad to get out of Camden Corners for an evening of what Vilma had eventually announced as ‘a celebration’. Eve had a secret hope of getting another chance to raid the closets. The more she admired the dress and jacket outfit she had acquired there, the more she realized how dowdy her old clothes were. She decided to wear the new dress in the hopes it might prompt Vilma to offer more. She would never dare to ask.
Mavis just wanted to get away from her memories for a few hours. She had never before been subjected to bodily violence and it weighed on her mind how helpless she felt in the face of Howard Dobrinski’s malice and physical strength. The fact of her own need to resort to violence against him was hidden away at the back of her mind. She knew she was not yet strong enough to deal with that troubling aspect. She hid all of this from her house partners in fear that Eve would feel obliged to revisit the episode. Of all of them, Eve appeared to be recovering the best but then, Mavis decided, she was finally relieved of the daily worry she must have endured while living with that beast of a man.
The trio arrived at Vilma’s house in good spirits. They found Jannice and Honor already started on cocktails and a veritable feast of appetizers displayed in the kitchen and attended by a uniformed young man and woman from a catering company. The house was redolent with delicious aromas and both Vilma and Jannice were positively bouncing with excitement.
“Welcome! Welcome! Dinner will be served later. Please fill your plates and glasses and follow me to the dining room where all will be revealed.”
Vilma was not joking. Displayed on large posters all around the walls were the photographs of Jannice in the beautiful antique clothing from the attic wardrobe. Glasses and plates were placed on the table and promptly forgotten as the visitors moved from one to another of the posters and exclaimed at the remarkable effect of petite Jannice’s form encased in those amazing dresses, captured in poses reminiscent of a bygone era.
How? What? Where? Why? resounded in a growing crescendo of surprise until Vilma clapped her hands and requested everyone to sit and hear the tale from Jannice’s lips. This was accomplished with the aid of the photographs and a copy of the letter passed around from hand to hand.
“This is extraordinary! How did you two conspirators manage to keep this concealed for so long?”
“Well, Hilary, we have been busy setting things up for our next reveal.”
“What next?” Eve was quivering with excitement.
Vilma took over and explained about the article soon to appear in the next edition of The Londoner, timed to bring attention to the Museum’s Antiques event which had already garnered considerable interest among Londoners.
“We were interviewed for the article, which was quite exciting in itself. There will be photographs, of course, and mention will be made of the fact Jannice’s house is for sale.”
“Don’t forget, Vilma, there will also be a photo of the actual wardrobe in the article!”
Jannice was bubbling over with the chance to finally talk about all this. She had previously been sworn to secrecy by the editor who said nothing should diminish the impact of the article if they wanted to get results.
“You really had no idea this treasure trove was waiting in your attic all these years?”
“Nope. No clue. Thank heaven Vilma made me go up there and look around. If I had sold the house as it was before we started to clear it out, someone else would have discovered all this and a piece of O’Connor family history could have passed me by.”
Between bites of appetizers and sips of drinks, many more questions were asked and answered until Vilma had to collect plates and ask her guests to move to the living room until the caterers could set the table and serve the first course of the meal.
Jannice, the star of the show, held court while this was accomplished and talked to the women about the feel of the hand-made trousseau and how Amelia could have possibly coped with the loss of her fiancé in such a dramatic fashion.
“Well, first on my list of outings will be a walk in Springbank Park to find that historical plaque!” declared Hilary. I must surely have walked past it without noticing. You have brought the disaster to life with your story, Jannice. What an adventure!”
“We will see how it affects the house sale. That’s the next objective. The photographer is convinced an antiques dealer will want to buy the clothes collection and the reporter is attending the show to see if he is right.”
“I think you will cause quite a stir at Museum London. Have you thought of appearing in one of the outfits? Perhaps the gorgeous blue day dress with the dashing hat?”
“That’s a marvellous idea, Mavis. I will do it! Thank you.”
The conversation continued throughout the meal’s three courses with items of interest related to Harmony House gradually creeping in. Up to now, things were moving ahead as planned. The elevator issues had been solved with the minimum of disruption. Hilary and Mavis had been summoned to the lawyer’s office for the transfer of the keys and the signing of papers accompanied by another deposit of 20% of the cost. Following this all the signees would receive their contracts and become official co-owners of Harmony House as soon as the final payment schedule had been approved.
Vilma produced a bottle of champagne and a tray of crystal glasses for a toast.
Jannice raised her glass convinced for the first time that she would meet and surpass her portion of the sale price.
Vilma teared up at the contrast between these friendly women and Nolan’s adult children who continued to disdain her at every attempt at reconciliation.
Eve rejoiced that the main part of her inheritance money would soon be safely deposited in the developer’s hands and not ever accessible to her husband.
Mavis thought of her antique furniture soon to be released from storage and installed in her new bedroom where the happy memories of her beloved Peter would accompany them.
Honor looked around the table and blessed the day she had spotted the little advert in the grocery store and recognized an opportunity.
Hilary felt her heart expand with sheer joy at the accomplishment this table of diverse women, soon to be housemates, represented.
It would have been more than enough of a celebration already, but Vilma had one more trick up her sleeve.
“Honor, you missed out on the last closet raid. Please accompany us upstairs where I have now removed all the clothing items I wish to keep. These are in storage for a short time with the rest of my personal possessions. Everything else you see is available to whomever it fits. I have provided large shopping bags so you can remove the contents tonight. Tomorrow I vacate this house and go to a hotel until Harmony House is ready for me. All the remaining clothes and shoes are to be collected and taken to Goodwill, so help yourselves, ladies!”