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TESS EMAILED HER CV to Jonathan the next day before leaving for work. It was more or less up to date as she had planned to approach local GP practices shortly, wanting a new position before she was due to finish at the hospital. The extra training she had undergone in order to become a GP was nearly at an end and she couldn’t wait. Now all she had to do was tell her parents. Tess phoned them that evening and was pleased when her father answered.
‘I’m trying for a job in Guernsey, Dad...’ She told him about her friend’s husband and the vacancy and that she was sure about returning to the island.
‘Whatever you decide, I’ll back you, Tess. You know that, love. I’ve always been so proud of you becoming a doctor and you’ve earned the right to make your own choices.’ She heard him sigh. ‘Coming here was great for my career, no question, but I miss the old place and our friends. To be honest, I was wondering about going back now I’m retired, but your mother isn’t keen. Says she would miss city life and her friends. But if you’re there, perhaps we could come and visit, eh?’
Tess had never heard her father say he missed Guernsey and was taken by surprise.
‘Of course you could, Dad. But don’t book your flights yet as there’s a lot of work to be done on the house first.’ She laughed, imagining her mother’s face if she saw the place now!
‘Don’t worry, I can guess. I suppose you want to talk to your mother, but she’s out at some ladies’ supper and won’t be back till late. In fact, she’s hardly ever at home these days. I’m beginning to wonder if she’s got a lover on the side,’ he laughed. Tess heard a falseness in his laugh and was shocked.
‘You don’t mean that, do you, Dad?’
‘I don’t know, love. It’s just...your mother seems more distant these days and we hardly ever go anywhere together anymore. She hasn’t said anything to you, has she? If she’s unhappy about something?’
‘No, but I don’t think Mum would share anything that personal with me. Don’t worry, Dad, I’m sure she’s just making the most of retirement. Why don’t you suggest you two go away for a weekend? Get some quality time together.’
‘Good idea, will do. Anyway, I’ll tell her you called and to ring you tomorrow. Night, love.’
Tess switched off her phone and poured a glass of wine. Surely her father had got it all wrong? Women in their late sixties didn’t have affairs, did they? She cast her mind over anything her friends said about their parents’ relationships and came up with nothing. Thinking about it, her mother had changed a bit lately. New, younger hairstyle – often a giveaway – new wardrobe and a change of make-up. She had put it down to a belated midlife crisis and saw it as something positive. But what if it was because of a new man in her life? Tess prayed her father was wrong as she didn’t want him hurt. But if it was true, she wouldn’t speak to her mother again.
One evening two days later Tess received an email from Jonathan to say his partners had all agreed to invite her in for an informal interview on her next visit. She punched the air in excitement. Looking good, girl, looking good. Curled up on the sofa, she had been flicking through the TV channels trying to find something light to watch as an antidote to the grimness of a day in A & E. She had narrowed the choice on iPlayer between Mrs Brown’s Boys, Have I Got News For You and Doc Martin. The email made the decision for her. Doc Martin would get her in training for life as a GP, she thought, grinning. When it had finished she heaved a contented sigh, imagining herself in beautiful Guernsey, not that dissimilar to Cornwall, and spending her days ministering to her patients with a rather better bedside manner than that of Doc Martin. Then having fun with friends on the beach. Idyllic! Tess made a cup of coffee and was about to reply to Jonathan’s email when her phone rang. Glancing at the screen, her happy mood subsided. Her mother.
‘Hi, Mum. Dad gave you the message I rang, then?’ Her tone sarcastic.
‘Yes, but I’ve been busy and this is the first evening I’ve had free.’ Elaine sounded abrupt, as if Tess was lucky to be phoned at all.
‘Dad mentioned you’re out a lot these days. Have you made some new friends?’ Tess tried to keep her voice light, but talking to her mother always set her teeth on edge.
‘As it happens, I have. A couple of women I met at a talk recently. They...they ask me to go to the cinema with them and, oh, various talks and things. Nothing that would interest you,’ Elaine said quickly. Too quickly, Tess, thought, her heart sinking. Maybe Dad was right...
‘What did you want to tell me, Tess? Your father didn’t say what it was.’
She told her mother about the chance of a job in Guernsey which had confirmed her decision to move back. There was silence on the line.
‘Mum, you still there?’
‘Yes. For what it’s worth, I think you’re making a big mistake. Guernsey’s a backwater and you’ll be bored to tears within months, if not weeks. And as for that house! I told you it’s unlucky and old Doris used to mention odd things happening. Like it was haunted. Why don’t you sell it and buy a nice house in Exeter? No mortgage, you’d be laughing.’
Tess gritted her teeth. Stay calm, she admonished herself.
‘I’m sorry, Mum, I’ve made up my mind. Dad was happy for me, says he’s been missing Guernsey and would love to visit me once I’ve settled in.’
A sharp intake of breath echoed down the line.
‘Your father’s getting maudlin in his old age. Only remembers what he wants to remember about what he refers to as “the good old days”. Pah! They weren’t that good or we wouldn’t have left, would we? Still, it’s your choice, my girl. Don’t say I didn’t warn you. Now, I must get on, promised to call a friend before it gets late. Goodnight.’
Tess was left trying to make sense of her mother’s attitude. Something wasn’t adding up, as why would she be so against her living in Guernsey? It wasn’t as if they were close, far from it. Elaine had always favoured her brother and had been devastated when he moved to Canada. And she had been dismissive of her father’s view on the move. It didn’t sound as if they were getting on, which confirmed what he had said. Knowing there was probably little she could do, Tess switched on her laptop and sent an email to Jonathan. At least that was positive.
A week later Tess received an email from Andy, attaching the final List of Works they had agreed, and informing her he had two builders lined up to visit the house prior to tendering quotes. He explained no-one else was available in the foreseeable future, but thought two would be enough. One was Premium Builders, a large company Andy had worked with on several projects and the other was Jack Renouf. Tess was surprised he’d agreed to quote after her terse dismissal of his offer to buy. Reading the email she wasn’t sure how she felt about him being her builder. It would be more awkward for him than her, given that he was primarily a developer not a builder. A question of swallowing some of the abundant male pride. Ah well, she’d have to wait and see. Maybe the other firm would win the contract. Andy had arranged for Premium to come on the Friday afternoon and Jack on the Saturday morning. And with the meeting at the surgery planned for early Friday evening, it promised to be quite a weekend.
As the plane taxied on the runway in Guernsey, Tess couldn’t help thinking about how different this trip was compared to her first only two weeks before. With a potential job and builder on the horizon, her life was moving forward at a fast pace. And she no longer felt as a stranger in her homeland. Colette had invited her to stay, but she had declined for two reasons. Her friend was only two weeks from her due date and secondly, Tess was concerned there might be awkwardness between her and Jonathan if the interview at the surgery didn’t go well. Much as she would have loved staying with them, they also lived quite a way from Hauteville and it suited her to have a short walk from the hotel. As it happened, Andy had invited them all for Sunday lunch and it promised to be great fun. Tess found herself smiling broadly as she left the terminal and headed towards the taxi rank.
An hour later and she was walking down Hauteville towards St Michel ready for a morning of sifting and boxing. Soft clouds scudded across the pale blue sky, propelled by a sea breeze carrying the familiar salty tang. May was around the corner and Tess promised herself that if she made good progress this weekend, she would take time out for a cliff walk to admire the spring flowers. And it would provide much needed exercise.
Tess took a cautious sniff as she unlocked the front door. Not too bad. Stale, but not as unsavoury as last time. Again she opened windows everywhere before carrying empty boxes and black sacks upstairs. At least the bedrooms were not full of stuff like downstairs. She packed the boxes with books from the overflowing shelves on the landing before going through drawers and cupboards for items to throw away or keep. She struck lucky in one drawer, finding a handwritten family tree, presumably drawn up by Doris. It started with Eugénie and ended with Clive and herself. It detailed the marriages and births down the generations and what struck Tess was how few children were born and that not many had lived beyond late middle-age. Perhaps her mother was right about the house being unlucky, she thought, putting it in her bag for safe keeping. By the time she had finished it was lunch-time and Tess, after piling up more rubbish bags outside, locked up and returned to Pandora for a shower and change. A leisurely bar meal sitting outside on the terrace and she was ready to return to meet the first builder.
The chap who turned up was pleasant and professional and they went round the house together as he scribbled notes on his clipboard. As he left he said he would email his quote to both Andy and herself, probably within the week. Andy had already told her the reports from the damp and rot firm were okay, only unimportant issues having been found. The roofer had listed some minor repairs to the roof and pointed out the lack of adequate felting. So far, so good. All she had to do now was find storage for the many boxes and start a thorough search of the masses of papers left by Doris. The big disappointment had been the lack of anything directly connected to Eugénie. No diaries or letters. Nothing. Feeling too tired after her exertions and the early start, Tess decided to finish for the day and went next door to see if Heather was in. She was and it wasn’t long before tea and cake were spread before them as Tess brought her up to date.
‘Sounds as if everything’s moving along well, especially if you get the job at the surgery. We’ll have you over here before you know it,’ Heather smiled, topping up her tea.
‘Yes, I’ll have a lot of decisions to make. A bit scary, really. I’m not used to making such big changes and apart from my time at university in Plymouth, I’ve spent the past twenty years in Exeter.’ It was beginning to hit home what a big change she was making.
Heather nodded.
‘I can relate to that. As you know, we came here for Neil’s work, and although I was looking forward to it, I was also apprehensive. A born and bred Londoner, it was a bit out of my comfort zone.’ She laughed. ‘But you have the advantage of having been born here, spent your early childhood here. Surely it will feel like you’re just coming home?’
‘Yes, you’re right, but when I think of all I have to do...’ Tess spread her hands wide and grimaced. What she didn’t want to say was that she was worried her parents were heading for a split and maybe she shouldn’t be moving away. For her father’s sake.
‘You’ll be fine. I had you down as a very competent and self-assured young woman and I’m never wrong.’ Heather tilted her head to one side and Tess had to smile.
‘Okay, you’ve convinced me.’ She chased some cake crumbs around her plate and licked them off her finger. ‘I tell you what I was hoping to discover among Doris’s papers was something either about or personal to Eugénie and Hugo. Did Doris ever tell you she had anything like that?’
Heather frowned.
‘I don’t think so. To be honest, I never asked if she’d found proof of the supposed liaison with Hugo. I assumed the family had something to back up the story. Couldn’t it still be there? You said there was an awful lot of stuff piled up.’
‘Possible, I guess. I think Doris may have started out trying to keep to a kind of filing system, and then it all got out of control and she ran out of room as she was becoming more frail.’ Tess frowned, adding, ‘But I’m determined to find whatever is there, no matter how long it takes. Family honour is at stake.’
This made them both laugh and Tess declared she’d better leave and prepare herself for the meeting at the surgery. Heather gave her a hug as they said goodbye, and wished her luck. As Tess walked back to the hotel and passed Hauteville House, she couldn’t help whispering, ‘Are you my great-great-great-grandfather, Victor? Or is it all a silly family fantasy?’