Ed Frobisher stood on the doorstep, a large bunch of flowers in his hands. Lottie stepped aside with an expression of surprise on her face.
‘How nice to see you,’ she said. ‘Come in. Bella’s upstairs feeding the baby. Please excuse me with my apron on,’ and she began hurriedly to take it off, but Ed waved his hand dismissively.
‘Please don’t worry about me. I don’t want to disturb you. It may be an awkward time to call.’
It was awkward, but then any time was, Lottie thought, deciding to keep her apron on after all. Ever since Bella had come home with the baby they were on the go all day.
There was a protracted silence as Ed took off his hat and placed it on the table with the bouquet. ‘I won’t stay long,’ he said, ‘I can see you’re busy. Any name yet?’
‘Not yet, she can’t decide . . . you know.’
‘On what?’
‘Well, he is a beautiful baby, but she is very young and she realizes now how it will tie her down for life. I was just making tea. Would you like a cup?’
‘Thank you. But tell me, how she is and how are you?’
‘Bella is very well. Of course, she is young and she soon recovered though they kept her in hospital for a few extra days just to be sure. And we were very grateful to you, Ed.’
‘Please think nothing of it, Lottie. I was only too pleased to be able to help. Tell me, are you working?’
‘No, not working. Kirkcaldies have given me a few days off. I’ve told them my sister is ill. I can’t tell them the truth, of course.’
‘Of course not. But . . .’ Ed’s expression was grave. ‘She will have to have the baby adopted, won’t she? It will be an impossible situation otherwise.’
‘It will be hard for us, but not impossible. He is such a sweet baby, and to give him up will be very difficult. There are lots of things we have to consider.’ She paused. ‘But look, I’ll go and get tea and then tell Bella you’re here.’
Lottie lingered for a while in the kitchen, trying to get her thoughts together. Ed’s sudden appearance had disturbed her. He had promised to visit, said he would visit, but it was still unexpected. They had reached a kind of intimacy in the time they had spent together on that fateful night, which was impossible to forget or ignore. They had held hands as he tried to comfort her and she had rested her head on his chest in a fit of weeping after she heard that Bella and the baby were all right. He had sent flowers while Bella was still in hospital and through Desmond enquired regularly about her and the baby. Because of his help in getting Bella to the hospital and his concern, he had become part of their lives, and she wondered for how long.
When she returned to the sitting room, to her surprise Bella had come down and Ed was admiring the baby, making clucking noises and one of his fingers was clutched tightly by the baby’s hand.
‘He’s an endearing little fellow,’ Ed said, looking up. ‘No wonder you can’t bear to part with him.’
‘We’re not parting with him,’ Bella announced firmly, looking up defiantly first at Ed and then at her sister. ‘I’m not giving him up and I don’t care what happens.’
A heavy silence fell on the room while Lottie put the tray on the table and began pouring tea. ‘You’re quite, quite sure?’ she asked gently, passing Bella a cup.
‘I’ve always been sure. I never said I’d give him up. It was you who suggested it, and Dad.’
‘We just thought that, all round, it was for the best.’
‘Best for who?’
‘Well, maybe best for the baby and you,’ Ed intervened. ‘It is very difficult for a young unmarried woman to keep a baby. What will people say?’
‘I don’t care what they say,’ Bella said stoutly. ‘It’s what I am going to do.’
And Bella began rocking the baby in her arms and looking lovingly down at him while the infant gazed adoringly at her and, at that moment, Lottie knew for sure that Bella was right.
She handed Ed his tea. ‘Well, the decision is made,’ she said. ‘And I’m very happy about it.’ She smiled encouragingly at her sister and planted a kiss on the baby’s head. ‘Now you must give him a name.’
‘He’s called Edward,’ Bella said as firmly as when she announced she was keeping him. ‘I’ve called him after Mr Frobisher because I know he saved our lives that night.’
‘Well . . .’ Ed looked embarrassed, but not unhappy. ‘I don’t know what to say. I am flattered. Very flattered indeed . . .’
And while he was still speaking, the door opened and Desmond came in.
‘Dad!’ Lottie said in surprise. ‘You’re early.’
Desmond took off his hat and put it on the table next to Ed’s, ignoring Lottie and, turning to the visitor, said deferentially: ‘I didn’t know you would be here, Mr Frobisher. How good of you to call, sir.’
‘Just came to see your grandchild, Mr O’Brien,’ Ed said. ‘He’s very beautiful and I’ve just been told he is to be called after me. I feel very flattered.’
‘Well, they owe you a lot, Mr Frobisher. They might not have got to the hospital in time.’
‘It was just chance that I was there. Anyone would have done the same.’
‘You did more. You stayed all night and supported me through a very difficult time. Otherwise I’d have been alone,’ Lottie’s eyes slid accusingly towards her father, ‘having had no idea where Dad was . . .’
Desmond wriggled uncomfortably. ‘I came home late and didn’t know you weren’t in bed until Gertie’s mother knocked on the door at six and told me what had happened.’
‘Well, it’s past history now,’ Lottie said, ‘and the big news is Bella has just told me that she wants to keep Edward and is not going to have him adopted.’
Desmond plopped himself down in his chair, mopped his brow and looked across at his younger daughter. ‘Well, it’s her decision and she knows we will support her. He is a very fetching little thing.’
‘Oh, Dad!’ Bella cried and still with the baby in her arms, ran across to her father and hugged him. He then took the baby from her and placed him tenderly on his lap, studying his little face as if seeing him for the first time. ‘You made the right decision, Bella. See the way he’s looking at me. He knows. He’s a dear little fellow, an O’Brien all right.’ Then he turned again to Ed, who seemed mesmerized by this touching scene of domesticity. ‘I’m afraid your father is not too well, Mr Frobisher, which is why I came home early.’
‘Oh.’ Ed started up anxiously.
‘Nothing serious. I took him home to have a lie down. He’s had one or two turns recently, dizzy spells. I told him he should see Doctor Carson and he’s promised to. A bit of overwork, I imagine.’
‘I’ll pop in and see him on my way home,’ Ed said. ‘In the meantime, Mr O’Brien, I wonder if I could take Lottie out for a drive to get some air – that’s if she wants to. Give her a little break.’
‘Now?’ Lottie said, startled.
‘Yes, now if you like.’
‘Would you like that, Lottie?’ her father asked.
‘Well, just for a little while. Yes, I’d like that a lot if it’s all right.’
Yes, it was good to get out for a while in this luxurious car with the bonnet down, to feel the breeze on her face, the wind blowing through her hair. She stretched lazily and smiled across at Ed as they turned the corner at the end of her road and headed in a northerly direction. ‘Very nice of you to think of this.’
‘I thought you looked extremely tired. It is a difficult time for you.’
Lottie didn’t reply so he continued: ‘Is there anywhere special you’d like to go?’
‘We can’t go too far. I have to get back to prepare supper for Dad and Bella.’
‘And I mustn’t be too long because I want to go and see my father.’
‘How about Petone Beach? It’s not too far.’
‘Good idea, and we can take a stroll along the beach.’
Sitting back, Lottie remembered the time she had gone there with Violet. What a lot had happened since then. It seemed like a lifetime ago.
Soon they came in sight of the beach and Ed parked the car. They sat looking out on to the harbour. ‘I came here a long time ago with Violet Carson. I was thinking how much had happened since.’
‘Yes, I can imagine.’ Ed looked at her. ‘Shall we have a stroll?’
He got out of the car and opened the door for her and they began to walk along the beach. ‘We live in a very beautiful place,’ he said, gesticulating to the scenery around them and pointing in the direction of the distant hills, ‘don’t you think?’
‘Yes, I do.’
‘But you’d still prefer England?’
‘Not prefer, but I found London very exciting. Dorset’s particularly beautiful.’
‘Oh, you went to Dorset?’
‘I wanted to see Hardy country. I was very interested in Hardy at school. I made a friend in London whose parents lived in Dorchester and she invited me to stay. I actually stood outside Mr Hardy’s house and he was probably inside!’ Her face glowed with excitement.
‘And London?’
‘London was fascinating. This friend whose parents lived in Dorchester was an artist and I met some interesting people. I began to model for students at the Slade School of Art . . . with my clothes on,’ she said hurriedly, noting his expression. ‘It was all most respectable and I would have stayed but for the wire from Dad and the news about Bella.’
‘Stayed forever?’
‘Not forever. I’d have come home to see Dad and Bella.’
‘And your mother?’
‘I never want to see my mother again,’ she said coldly. ‘And she knows it.’
‘Isn’t that a very sad state of affairs?’
‘It is very sad, but my mother left us – walked out of the house without saying goodbye to me or my sister – and took my young brother with her. So I lost a mother and brother. I saw him recently and he scarcely knew who I was. Bella and my mother were quite close. My mother and I never got on. She thought I was useless and I thought she was very hard, particularly after Dad came back from the war. I understood she had a lot to do and I wanted to help her, but we always clashed and she wanted me to leave school to help support the family. At that time Dad didn’t – couldn’t – work and my mother was horrible to him.’
‘And the Carsons helped you then, I understand?’
‘Very much. Madeleine was particularly good to me. She did all she could to help me stay on at school; she thought I might be a teacher, but when Mum left home I had no option but to leave. You see, Ed, I missed out a lot in life. I am only half educated and yet I get to meet people like the Carsons and, well, you who went to Cambridge.’
‘I’m not particularly well educated, Lottie. Don’t misunderstand me. I did go to Cambridge but at my father’s insistence. I studied law, which I hated, and got a poor degree. Then I went into the army and came out a wreck, sickened and embittered by war. My father thinks I’m useless, too, if you want the truth, and sometimes I think I am compared to him. I’m a partner in a law firm – I did actually manage to qualify as a solicitor – but I do very little. My grandmother left me enough money to make me independent, much to my father’s disgust, so that I don’t really need to work.
‘So you see, compared to me you are a paragon; besides which, I admire you so much, the way you’ve looked after your family, taken mundane jobs when clearly you are very clever, and supported Bella, who in many ways would be an outcast of society forced to have her baby adopted.’ Ed stopped abruptly and looked at his watch. ‘Shall we get back and, look, I’d love to come and see Bella and my namesake and . . . and perhaps you also?’
From then on Ed became a fairly constant visitor to the O’Brien household. He would appear on the doorstep, always unannounced and always with flowers for Bella and usually a small toy, a rattle or a cuddly bear, for Edward. Lottie wasn’t often in because she was working, or she would arrive home to find her sister and Ed chatting amiably, Bella having given him a cup of tea, and playing with the baby.
At first, Lottie had thought he might be courting her sister, but eventually she came to realize his interest was in her from the way his face lit up when she came through the door and his invitations to go for a drive which she generally refused on the grounds that she had to help Bella. Despite the bond that had undoubtedly been formed between them that night at the hospital and cemented during their walk at Petone Beach, she saw him as a friend, not a lover, and preferred it that way. Relying on his shyness and perhaps his gentlemanly good manners, she had no intention of getting too close to him and risking a repetition of her relationship with that other upper-class family: the Carsons.
Apart from that, Ed didn’t attract her at all. She knew he was about thirty but he looked much older. In appearance he was nondescript, of medium height, with dark hair going grey, a pale complexion, and he wore gold-rimmed spectacles which he peered over as if he were short-sighted. Nor was he glamorous in the way Hugh was with his height, charm and striking good looks, nor artistic and self-assured like Adam. He didn’t dance, sail or play tennis – his leg was too much of a handicap. He dragged it a little and always supported himself with a stick.
In short, he was rather a brotherly figure, pleasant and friendly, comfortable to be with and she appreciated what a nice man he was, just as her father had said. Besides, she was short on friends and it was good to have one like Ed, who was so natural that she could even forget at times that her father worked for his in a servile capacity. With Ed it didn’t seem to matter.
Bella liked him a lot and was completely at ease with him and on the occasions she announced that he had been and left, Lottie was always conscious of a slight feeling of disappointment because she had missed seeing him. It was strange – unreal but not unwelcome.
Life had settled into a kind of routine. Lottie continued working in the haberdashery department at Kirkcaldies and got home as soon as she could to help Bella. Her father usually came in a short time after her. They had tea, played with the baby, she did household chores while Bella settled Edward for the night and her father read the paper. She was glad, eventually, to fall into bed, exhausted with the day where one had no time for fun or entertainment just because one had to keep going. And every day was like this for some weeks, even months, after Edward was born. There was no choice. Day after day it was the same.
One evening Lottie got in feeling more tired than usual to find Ed sitting on the carpet in his shirt sleeves playing with Edward. She looked at him with a weary smile and slumped into her father’s chair. ‘What a day!’
‘That bad?’
He got to his feet and rolled down his sleeves, gently rescuing his spectacles from Edward who had somehow got hold of them and seemed to be trying to put them on.
‘My boss is away and it seems to be the one day that half the populace of Wellington wanted to buy buttons or ribbons.’
‘Oh, dear.’
Lottie rose from the chair. ‘Where’s Bella? I must start thinking of supper.’
‘Bella’s in the kitchen. We have got a little plan for you,’ Ed said mysteriously, shrugging on his jacket while Edward started to bawl and reach up for his spectacles. ‘I’m going to take you out to dinner. We both insist.’
‘Oh, no, I can’t possibly . . .’
‘You can. Bella has already prepared supper for herself and your father so all you need do is get changed – that is, if you want to because you look pretty fine as you are.’
At that moment Bella appeared from the kitchen, wiping her hands on a cloth. ‘Really Lottie, you must go. I think it is a very nice idea of Ed’s. You haven’t been out for weeks. You get no fun.’
‘Nor do you.’
‘Yes, I do. I have the baby all day and I meet my friends and go for walks in the park. I do all kinds of things while all you do is work, then rush home and look after us.’
‘Well . . .’ It was tempting and the very idea bucked her up and made her feel less tired. ‘In that case I’ll go and see if I have anything decent to wear. Is there anything I can do in the kitchen?’
‘It’s all done,’ Bella said, giving her a push. ‘Go away and enjoy yourself.’
‘She is a very sweet girl, your sister,’ Ed said, looking across the table at Lottie.
‘She is a dear,’ Lottie replied, ‘and she has come on enormously since having baby Edward.’
‘In what way?’
‘Well, she’s more mature. She used to cling to me a great deal. Now she has grown up, is more independent.’
She sat back and watched the waiter pour wine. It was the same hotel she had been to so often with Hugh and she even thought one or two of the waiters recognized her. They certainly recognized Ed and sprang to attention when he entered the dining room, taking him to one of the best tables and hovering attentively while he ordered.
Lottie wore one of the dresses she had worn in London and her hair glowed in the lamplight while her face shone with pleasure as she looked across at her partner. ‘Thank you for this, Ed. It really is a treat.’
‘It is a treat for me.’ He paused and gazed at her. ‘You look really lovely tonight, Lottie.’
‘Thank you, Ed.’ She smiled uncertainly, taken aback by the intensity of his gaze.
‘There is something I want to ask you,’ he said and paused while their waiters fussed around them again with their fish entrée. Lottie steeled herself, wondering what was to come and hoping it would not mean the end of a friendship.
‘I would like to help you with Bella and Edward. I know it is a struggle for you and you have to work very hard, and although you look beautiful tonight there are still deep shadows under your eyes which shouldn’t be there. I would like to give you an allowance which would enable you either to stop work or work fewer hours so that you can help Bella and relax more. I’m really doing this for Edward; please understand that.’
Lottie slumped back in her chair, feeling shocked but also relieved it had not been a proposal of marriage, which she had half expected given the occasion, the splendour of the best hotel in Wellington and the way he looked at her, which suggested much more than mere friendship. For a moment she stared at him and then, swiftly recovering her composure, leaned across the table. ‘Ed, it is terribly kind of you but of course I can’t possibly accept . . .’
‘Please think about it,’ he interrupted her. ‘Don’t decide now. It is not just for you. It is to help Bella and Edward, to whom I feel especially close. You have become a kind of family to me, Lottie. I have no brothers and sisters. My father is remote and unloving and my mother is caught up in all her good works, the many committees she is on. I don’t want to embarrass you, but . . .’
‘I can’t, Ed. Believe me, I appreciate it because I know it is well meant. But my family has taken enough charity. I am perfectly able to work and help Bella. I would feel like a kept woman taking money from you. Remember we accepted help from the Carsons, and although extremely grateful because it was done with the best of intentions, I was a girl then and now I am a woman. It also caused a lot of trouble and awkwardness because for years I was paying back Madeleine. She never asked for it but I considered it a debt of honour. I don’t want to go through all that again.’
‘But from me it is a gift,’ Ed began, but Lottie held up a hand to silence him.
‘Between us Dad and I can manage perfectly well. We appreciate what you are doing for us and the kindness you have shown. Please don’t spoil it, Ed. Please.’
And she reached over and took his hand, aware of the tiny shudder that seemed to pass through him as she did so.
Violet said, ‘Isn’t it ridiculous! I’ve got engaged to Albert.’ She had been bubbling with some sort of repressed excitement ever since she appeared at Lottie’s counter, laden as usual with masses of parcels, and asked her to meet her after work. Now they were sitting in her car outside the store, Violet’s excited face turned to her companion.
‘But why is it ridiculous?’
‘Because of that silly name, but he is rather nice, don’t you think? Did you like him?’
‘Yes, I thought he was nice.’
‘Only that?’ Violet looked dismayed.
‘Violet, I hardly know him. You and he rushed off after the game.’
‘You don’t think he’s a bit dreary?’
Lottie laughed and clutched her companion’s arm. ‘How do I know? The point is, are you in love with him?’
‘I think so.’ Violet looked doubtful. ‘I think I am. The family like him.’
‘But the family aren’t going to marry him. Maybe you should be a little surer before you accept.’
‘But I’ve accepted. In fact, we’re going to have an engagement party soon and I want you to come.’
Lottie shook her head impatiently. ‘Really, Violet, I don’t know what to say. That sounds pretty definite to me. I wish you every happiness, Violet, I really do, but I don’t think I can come to the party.’
‘Why not?’
‘Well . . .’
‘Because of Hugh? But he won’t be there. All that is in the past. Besides, Ed Frobisher will be coming and you like him, don’t you?’ Violet glanced at her slyly. ‘I know you’re seeing each other.’
‘Well, not exactly seeing each other. I mean, not in that way. We’re not romantically attached, not a bit. Look, I’m sorry but I must get home,’ and she made as if to get out of the car.
‘I’ll take you,’ Violet said and put the car into gear. ‘I want you to be at the party. Then you can tell me honestly what you think.’
‘About what?’
‘About Albert.’
‘But you’re engaged to him. You’re having a party.’
‘Yes, but you know, Lottie, what you think matters a lot to me. I think you’re a good judge of people. You’re so sensible.’
‘I wasn’t very sensible about Hugh.’
‘Hugh behaved horribly and it was not your fault.’
‘Well . . .’ Startled, Lottie didn’t know what to say.
‘Come, I’ll ask Ed to pick you up.’
As the car came to a halt outside the door of her house, Lottie said, ‘Do you know about Bella, my sister?’
‘What about Bella?’
‘Bella has had a baby. She is not married and Ed has been extraordinarily kind. The day he drove me home after the tennis match we found Bella in labour. Ed drove her to the hospital and she had a complicated labour – she could have died or lost the baby. He stayed with me all night and often comes to see Bella and the baby and . . . occasionally we do go out. But it is pure friendship, nothing more. He is simply a really nice person.’
‘Oh, he is, but he is quite shy and withdrawn; maybe because he had such a difficult time with that horrible wife of his.’
‘You knew her?’
‘Yes, we knew her, but she behaved very badly and went off with someone else. She lost a baby and it seemed to unhinge her. She was a notorious flirt and hurt him a lot. He deserves someone better.’ Her pretty violet eyes stared straight into Lottie’s face. ‘Someone nice like you. I think he’s a little in love with you, maybe a lot.’
‘Oh, now that is ridiculous.’
‘No, it’s not. He asked me to set up the tennis match so that he could see you again.’
‘Then why didn’t you tell me?’
‘Because I know you. After all, we’ve got to know each other pretty well and I know how hurt you were by Hugh. But Ed isn’t Hugh. Or maybe that’s part of the problem?’
‘Maybe it is,’ Lottie said a little wistfully. ‘Would you like to come in and see the baby?’
‘I would love to come in and see the baby but I have to meet Albert. In fact, I’m late already. Shall I tell him you’ll be at the party with Ed?’
‘If you like,’ Lottie said. ‘But you’ll have to ask Ed.’
‘I don’t imagine he’ll refuse,’ Violet said slyly. ‘I don’t think you realize how lucky you are to have all the men fall in love with you. You’ve got something special Lottie and you don’t know it. But that’s what makes you so nice.’ And impulsively she leaned over to kiss Lottie’s cheek.
Having an escort did make a difference. Otherwise, she was sure she wouldn’t have gone. As it was she looked stunning, having splashed out and bought a new dress of aquamarine silk taffeta in the fashionable flapper style of a straight tubular column, sleeveless with a dropped waist and scalloped hemline reaching just below the knee. Ed had presented her with a magnificent corsage made of white orchids when he picked her up and she had pinned this to the left of the scooped neckline. She wore flesh-coloured stockings and T-bar shoes with buckles and a very slight high heel so as not to be taller than Ed.
He looked rather good, too, in a tuxedo and there was something different about him, an air of confidence, an energy as he opened the door for her and made sure she was comfortable in her seat. Yes, she did like Ed. She had been annoyed with him for offering her an allowance, with its echoes of Carson patronage, yet she got over it because there were differences, because she felt he had Bella and the baby’s interests at heart as much as hers. She only hoped he didn’t bring it up again.
So they exchanged glances as he got into his seat and then he patted her hand.
‘Happy?’
‘Yes, why not?’
‘You look perfectly lovely tonight, Lottie. All the men will be after you.’
‘Don’t be silly.’
‘You underestimate yourself.’ Ed started the car and the perfect machine purred into life. ‘That’s what Violet says. And she’s right.’
‘Oh, you talk about me with Violet?’
‘Of course.’ He chuckled.
Yes, there was definitely something different about Ed tonight.
‘How do you like Albert?’
‘Well, I don’t really know him. Do you?’
‘No, but she doesn’t seem too sure if she is in love with him.’
‘Oh, that’s Violet. She’s crazy about him if you ask me. Otherwise, she wouldn’t be giving a party, would she?’
‘No, I suppose not. I’m rather nervous about seeing all the family again, to be truthful.’
‘Violet knew you would be, that’s why she asked me to escort you and I jumped at the chance. There is no need to be nervous with the Carsons. They are very nice people and from what I hear are very fond of you. Just be perfectly natural with them and everything will be all right. Besides, you have me.’
And suddenly to Lottie that seemed important. Someone she could lean on.
The room was already thronged with people when they arrived at the Carsons’ house, which was ablaze with lights, to be greeted by Violet and Albert standing at the door, looking happy as engaged couples should. Violet threw her arms round Lottie, whispering, ‘I’m so glad you came. I didn’t think you would. You remember Albert? Ed, you know Albert?’
‘Of course.’
Ed and Lottie shook hands with Albert and then, while Violet greeted another guest, wandered into the crowded room, Lottie rather nervous, Ed seeming quite self-assured and greeting a number of people with a nod or by name.
Looking around her Lottie again recalled the many times she had been there, first as a nervous schoolgirl, then almost as a member of the family, feeling completely at home. Now she felt anything but and her misgivings returned when she felt a tap on her back and turned to see Madeleine with a broad smile on her face, who greeted her with a kiss.
‘Isn’t it lovely about Violet?’
‘Lovely.’
‘And Albert is so nice.’ She turned to Ed. ‘Ed, your mother was asking after you.’
‘My mother?’ Ed looked about him with surprise. ‘I didn’t know she was coming. Is my father here, too?’
‘No, your mother says he’s not so well.’
‘Oh, dear, again? I’d better have a word. Lottie, come and meet my mother.’
‘I see you had your baby.’ Lottie smiled at Madeleine.
‘A darling girl, Cherie. I do hope you will come and see us now that we have found you. You know we really missed you, Lottie.’ She smiled at her understandingly. ‘Are you working?’
‘At Kirkcaldies, for the time being.’
‘We must get together. We must try to arrange something. We live not too far from Ed, though Andy may have to go overseas.’
‘I’d like that . . .’ And then Lottie felt Ed tugging her hand. ‘I’d better go. I’ll see you a bit later.’
Lottie felt nervous about meeting Ed’s mother. She didn’t know why, and followed him reluctantly across the room. She was sitting in a far corner glass in hand talking to a number of other women of about her age who had found a nice place where they could sit and gossip and watch the younger people, rather like a scene from a Jane Austen novel. Among them was Mrs Carson, who rose to greet Lottie and kissed her warmly.
‘How lovely to see you again, Lottie. And how pretty you look tonight.’ She turned as Ed bent towards the distinguished-looking grey-haired woman who Lottie recognized from the wedding anniversary party, bent and kissed her.
‘Is Dad not well again, Mother?’
‘I don’t know what’s the matter with your father. He gets tired so easily. I left him resting, but Gerald Carson is keeping an eye on him and can’t find anything seriously wrong.’ As she spoke to her son her gaze was on Lottie.
Ed drew her forward. ‘Mother, I’d like you to meet Lottie.’
‘How do you do?’ Lady Frobisher said with a smile, outwardly charming, but studying her face carefully. ‘I feel I’ve seen you somewhere before.’ She extended her hand and Lottie shook it.
‘It was at your wedding anniversary party, Lady Frobisher.’
‘Oh, were you there?’
‘I was one of the waitresses.’
‘Oh.’ Lost for words, Lady Frobisher looked at her son and then added in a distant voice, ‘How interesting.’
‘Lottie is a great friend of our family,’ Mrs Carson said and then a penny seemed to drop and understanding dawn.
‘Oh,’ was all Lady Frobisher said again, and she kept her eyes fixed on Lottie, as though trying to peer into her soul.
Then Lottie knew that she knew who she was and probably all about her, that they had probably discussed her already and they were all trying to be kind but were in fact patronizing. Again, she wished that she had not come. It was always a mistake to try and revisit the past.
‘Your mother doesn’t like me,’ Lottie said in the car on the way home. ‘Or at least doesn’t approve of me. I could tell.’
‘I don’t know what makes you think that,’ Ed said. ‘I thought she was perfectly pleasant. It was difficult to hear yourself think with all that noise.’
‘Perhaps you’re right,’ Lottie said but she knew he wasn’t.
‘I thought it was a very good party.’
‘It was good. The food was fabulous.’
A silence fell between them as if each were absorbed in their own particular thoughts.
And she had enjoyed herself after that brief encounter with his mother. Ed knew quite a lot of people to whom he introduced her, and they had danced a little. Lottie also danced with some other men including Albert, while Ed sat it out and watched. But all the time, whoever she was with, she was aware of those penetrating eyes of his mother, although unseen, observing her somewhere from a distance.
When she left Ed went to see her off while Lottie remained talking to Violet and Albert. She had spent some time with Madeleine, renewed her acquaintance with Andy and, yes, she did remember those tennis matches when they had first known one another and she was a schoolgirl.
Dr and Mrs Carson sought her out, Dr Carson kindly enquiring after her father, but there was always lurking the feeling that somehow she was on trial, she didn’t belong, and as Hugh’s ex-fiancée she was an embarrassment. Better to have stayed away. Ed belonged. It was his crowd and she was an interloper.
Ed stopped outside her door. The house was in darkness. Ed looked towards it and she hesitated. ‘I’d ask you in, but it is very late.’
‘It is late. Do you go to work tomorrow?’
‘Yes.’
‘Perhaps you could have dinner with me tomorrow night?’
‘Not tomorrow, Ed. I have a lot to do.’
‘The weekend, then. Sunday? We could go out somewhere along the coast?’
‘That might be nice.’
‘Shall I call for you around ten?’
‘All right, then.’ She looked at him, sensing something in the atmosphere, and then he leaned towards her, slid his hand around her waist and very gently but firmly kissed her.