The Letter, page 27
Bobbie had obviously realised the same thing because she said, ‘Miss Patterson, how would it be if I took the risk for you? If Millie paints your mural and you don’t like it, I shall pay her for her work, so the only expense you’ll have will be to paint over it. If you do like it, you can pay her what you owe. I have every confidence you will love it and you’ll have got yourself a work of art permanently in your window at an astonishingly reasonable price.’
This last sentence must have been the clincher, because Eileen promptly agreed. Millie would produce a coloured sketch of the design for final approval, and then work from that, starting as soon as she could.
Millie left the bookshop in a far better mood than she’d entered it. Bobbie followed her out.
‘Thank you, Bobbie,’ said Millie. ‘It was kind of you to persuade Miss Patterson.’
‘Nonsense,’ said Bobbie briskly. ‘I’m glad to help you out. And Alice will be pleased. She’s been worried about you, you know, and … well, I don’t want Alice to be worried.’ She beamed her lovely smile at Millie and stepped towards her car. ‘I shall be in to see what you’ve done, and I can hardly wait,’ she said.
‘I absolutely promise to do my very best, Bobbie. This means so much to me – thank you.’
‘It means a lot to me, too,’ said Bobbie and, with a little wave, got into her car.
By the time Millie got home with her painting purchases, she felt a strange mixture of excitement about her commission and her new paints and canvases, and foreboding about telling Bella what she had seen earlier: the best and the worst of news all in one day.
Remembering how Bella had verbally lashed out at her over her and Thomas leaving their jobs, Millie was tempted, for the merest moment, not to tell Bella that Sidney was betraying her. It would serve her right. But no, of course it wouldn’t! Bella didn’t deserve that. It would be siding with the ghastly Sidney Bennett, too. And anyway, the only person who really wanted Bella to marry Sidney Bennett was Bella herself. Everyone else thought it was a rotten idea; they weren’t saying it in so many words, but Millie had no doubt about it. Even Sidney didn’t like the idea any more, if he was now canoodling with Muriel Chalfont so publicly. The man was a disgrace. Anyone could have seen them kissing in the street and in that seafront shelter. He should have told Bella he’d changed his mind before moving his affections to that shameless flirt, who knew he was engaged to Bella. Muriel and Sidney had both behaved appallingly, and they deserved each other.
Thomas, Alice and Bella all arrived home at the same time, giving Millie no chance to tell Thomas or Alice about Sidney’s two-timing and relieve her of the burden of breaking the news. Thomas had been to see if he could find any seasonal jobs in the shops and cafés along the Promenade, and had met the girls coming out of the bookshop and the toyshop on the way home.
Alice was sparkling with excitement about the window commission for Millie, and had Millie tell Thomas and Bella all about it straight away, interrupting with observations about Bobbie’s part in the conversation.
Thomas had had no luck with his job search, but wasn’t too down-hearted. ‘Summat will turn up,’ he said. ‘I just know it. It’s early for the seaside holiday businesses to be fully up and running yet.’
‘Perhaps you can sell buckets and spades at that kiosk overlooking the beach,’ said Bella heavily. ‘Or take the money for deck chairs.’
‘Bella, you’re obviously still cross with Dad, but don’t you reckon you’ve made your point?’ said Alice. ‘You’ve been mardy with him for days, even though you know Dad’s been out looking for a job every day since he left the inn, despite having that frightening little accident.’
‘Which is why I’m still cross,’ Bella answered. ‘I’d have thought you might have found summat by now, Dad. After all, beggars can’t be choosers, and it’s beggars we’ll be if you’re too fussy about where you work.’
‘Nonsense,’ said Alice briskly. ‘We’re all doing our bit to be thrifty – we’ll be all right if we’re careful. And look at Millie! A commission already and guaranteed to be paid for, either by the bookshop or by Bobbie if Miss Patterson really doesn’t like the mural – which she will, I’m certain.’
‘What’s in it for Bobbie?’ asked Bella suspiciously. ‘Why would she do that for Millie?’
‘Because she’s a generous woman and can afford it, mebbe,’ reasoned Alice. ‘She doesn’t have to have a reason to be generous, does she?’
‘No, I suppose not. It’s just a bit odd that she should offer to lavish money on Millie. She hardly knows her.’
‘Bella, you really are in a bad mood, aren’t you?’ said Alice mildly. ‘Why would you begrudge Millie having her first real commission when the one from Mrs Hailsham fell through so horribly? It’s what we all want, isn’t it – Millie to be employed doing summat she’s really good at and enjoys? It’s the start of her painting career, and that’s to be applauded, not resented.’
‘Yes, you’re right. Oh, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to be mean. It’s just that … everything seems so hopeless to me. All these months of planning the wedding and saving up for my dress fabric, because I can only afford a home-made dress, and Dad’s growing the flowers, which will be lovely, but other brides get to choose theirs from a florist and have them made into bouquets by professionals, and I don’t think we’ll even be able to afford to have the town hall room for the reception, never mind the music I’d have liked, even though the wedding’s postponed so we can save up some more. And we probably won’t be able to afford our own house now, either, and so we’ll still end up at Mrs Bennett’s, the way things are going. And Sidney’s been in a very odd mood lately, but mebbe he’s feeling mardy, too.’
Millie felt a rush of panic. She couldn’t not say anything now – couldn’t let Bella think everything between her and Sidney Bennett was just as it had always been, and that she was actually going to marry him – but she knew that telling Bella was not going to go well. How could it? However, if she kept quiet, she would be colluding with Sidney and deceiving Bella, and that was unthinkable, now she’d considered it. She took a deep breath.
‘Bella, there’s something I need to tell you.’
She’d spoken quite loudly, and everyone looked at her expectantly.
‘What?’ asked Bella. She had picked up on Millie’s tone and her eyes were wide with foreboding, as if she was in a car and about hit a wall at speed, and there was nothing she could do to prevent it. ‘Tell me,’ she croaked.
Millie stood up from what had become her favourite chair in the sitting room and started pacing, flapping her hands.
Just say it. Say it after three: one, two, three.
‘Sidney and Muriel Chalfont. I saw them kissing.’
‘What! When did you see that? When?’
‘This morning, in Baybury.’
‘No, you must be mistaken. Are you sure it was Sidney? Why wasn’t he at work? And how do you know who Muriel Chalfont is?’
‘Yes, it was Sidney Bennett, and it was Muriel Chalfont. I know it was. I heard her being called by her name one time when she went into the hotel. They met at a tearoom, and then they left and … I saw them plainly in the street.’
‘Sit down, Millie,’ said Alice. ‘Tell us calmly.’
‘Aye, I remember you said you’d seen them together walking on the beach one time, but I thought nowt of it,’ said Thomas. ‘But kissing in the street, you say? In front of folk? Then anyone could have seen.’
‘Yes. I’m sorry, but yes, they were. And I saw. And then they went down to the seafront, to sit in one of the shelters, and they were kissing again.’
‘No …’ whispered Bella, her face completely white.
Alice reached out and tried to take Bella’s hand to comfort her, but Bella snatched it away, beyond being comforted.
‘It’s true,’ said Millie. ‘I followed them to make sure I wasn’t mistaken – that it wasn’t somehow innocent and I’d got it all wrong, although I knew straight away it was them – and it’s true. I wouldn’t lie to you about this, Bella.’
‘No! Oh, I can’t bear it!’ Bella started to cry very loudly, huge sobs, and Alice leaned over and put her arms around her.
‘Poor love,’ she murmured. ‘Don’t cry, Bella. Please don’t cry …’
‘Muriel Chalfont!’ gasped Bella, furiously, pushing Alice away. ‘That vile, spoiled hussy. She was nasty at school, and she’s even nastier now. Hasn’t she got enough of her own to not need to take from me? To steal my fiancé?’ She flung herself down on a sofa cushion, howling.
The others all looked at each other, helpless.
‘You can’t steal people, my love,’ said Thomas. ‘If Muriel Chalfont wanted to flirt and Sidney didn’t, he’d have told her to sling her hook. Oh, I’m sorry, Bella. I’m so sorry.’
‘Don’t speak to me, any of you!’ screamed Bella, her face now red, tears flowing unchecked. ‘Please, don’t say owt more to me!’ She got up and ran from the room, and they heard her feet drumming on the stairs.
Alice had her hands to her face now and looked in shock. ‘Oh, Millie …’ She sighed. ‘I wish you’d told me first. We might have found a way to break it to her more gently.’
‘I don’t think we could have done,’ sighed Thomas. ‘It’s not your fault, Millie. It’s a cruel blow, however it falls, to learn of such a betrayal.’
‘I couldn’t let her continue to think she was saving for a wedding and a home with that man when it isn’t going to happen,’ said Millie, ‘could I?’
‘No, love,’ said Thomas. ‘She had to know sooner rather than later. Not saying wasn’t an option.’
‘Even so …’ said Alice with a huge sigh. ‘Oh, I could kill Sidney Bennett. It’s absolutely typical of him to ruin everything with his clumsiness and his selfishness and his stupidity. Couldn’t he see that a wife like Bella would be the making of him? She’s more than he deserves, and he’s passed her over in the cruellest and most careless fashion for that worthless cat Muriel. I’ve a mind to go round to his mother’s house now and tell him exactly what I think of him.’
‘You don’t owe him the shoe leather,’ said Thomas, looking absolutely furious. He stood up and squared his shoulders. ‘I’ll be the one to do it. And, by God, I shall make sure he knows how disgusting he is in my eyes.’
Thomas hammered loudly on Nancy Bennett’s front door. After a couple of minutes, in which she slowly drew back the heavy curtain and fiddled with the lock, she peeped out, almost as if she feared she was about to face a horde of Viking invaders on her doorstep.
‘Oh, Thomas Marchant, it’s you.’ She sounded as if she would have preferred it to be the Vikings.
‘It is indeed, Mrs Bennett. I’m here to speak to Sidney.’
‘He’s not here. He has an engagement at the hotel this evening,’ she couldn’t resist adding smugly.
‘He had an engagement with my Bella – an engagement to be married – but he seems to have forgotten that,’ said Thomas angrily.
‘Bella? What’s she got to do with owt?’ asked Nancy, slow to understand. ‘My Sidney’s dining with some very important people. He’s moving in the best circles now, you know.’
‘Is he, indeed? Would that be the Chalfonts?’ asked Thomas.
Nancy looked even smugger. ‘And what if it is? You can’t blame the lad for wanting to get on in life.’
‘No, I can’t,’ said Thomas, thinking this awful woman was as slow on the uptake as her son. ‘But I can blame him for two-timing my daughter. I can blame him for lying to her, promising to marry her, and then flirting openly – in public, actually kissing in the street, where anyone could have seen him – with Muriel Chalfont.’
Nancy looked taken aback for a moment. She clearly had no idea that the relationship between Sidney and Muriel had developed this far. She fought to control her mouth from forming a wide smile, which made Thomas even angrier. He wouldn’t be surprised if that mammy’s boy hadn’t been encouraged by this ridiculous, social-climbing woman.
‘Well now, I’m not so sure my Sidney was ever really engaged to Bella,’ she began.
‘Rubbish! The poor girl has been saving up for months for the stuff to make into her wedding dress. She’d been planning for ages for the wedding to be in September, but then they decided to wait a while longer so they could save the deposit for their own home. You know all this!’
‘But he never gave her a ring, did he?’ crowed Nancy triumphantly. ‘It’s not a proper engagement if she’s not wearing his ring.’
‘Who says so?’
‘I do.’
‘Well, you can say what you like, Nancy Bennett, but all Bella’s talked about for months is the wedding, and now her heart is broken. Your son hadn’t even the decency or the courage to come and tell her he’d changed his mind. Disgraceful!’
‘Well, she knows now, and I doubt he’ll change it back,’ said Nancy, with the air of someone having the final word.
‘If he does, I will personally wring his bloomin’ neck,’ shouted Thomas. ‘The lad’s a two-timing louse, a bounder, a spineless idiot without honour or integrity. And if he so much as speaks to my precious girl again, I will kick him down the steps of that hotel. And now I’m going round there to tell him so to his face.’
Nancy looked shocked, possibly at the names Sidney was being called, possibly because the last thing he would want when he was dining at the hotel with the local bigwigs was the irate father of the girl he had betrayed turning up and causing a disturbance.
‘I think if you fetch up there making a noise like you are doing, you’ll not even get to the dining room,’ she said.
‘Do you now?’ said Thomas. ‘Well, we’ll see about that, won’t we?’
He turned and stalked away in the direction of the hotel, leaving Nancy standing helplessly on her doorstep with her mouth open.
At the hotel, Thomas decided that Nancy was probably right: if he went in making a row from the outset, he wouldn’t get far.
He took a few deep breaths to steady his temper, then walked along the Promenade, past the tall windows of the Imperial’s dining room, and saw a table occupied by the Chalfonts and Sidney Bennett. There the lad was, smarming and kowtowing, and there was Muriel, simpering and sitting very close to him. Well, it was as well to be sure of the facts of the situation before he made his move.
He went up the front steps and the commissionaire opened the door for him. There were a few people in the foyer occupying the sofas and possibly waiting for their friends. Good. Thomas didn’t like an audience, as a rule, but this was different. This was for Bella. He swallowed down his natural timidity and squared his shoulders.
He went to the reception desk.
‘I wonder, please, would it be possible to write a note to be delivered to Mr Bennett, who is dining with Mr Chalfont this evening?’
‘Yes, of course, sir,’ said the smart young woman on reception. She produced a sheet of paper headed with the hotel’s crest, and an envelope, also with the crest on the back. ‘Here, sir – use this pen if you like,’ she said, offering him a ballpoint with a smile.
‘Thank you.’
Thomas took the stationery and the pen and went to sit at a little table to one side of the large and luxurious room, aware that he was shortly to shatter the peaceful murmur of civilised conversation. He wrote:
Sidney Bennett,
I am in the hotel foyer. I have important information, very much to your advantage.
T. Marchant
He sealed the brief letter in the envelope and then asked the head waiter, who was at the dining-room door, if he would please deliver this urgent message to Mr Bennett. Then he saw an empty sofa right in the centre of the room and went to sit down on it. This would do perfectly.
After a minute or two, Sidney appeared, looking puzzled and clutching the note Thomas had just written to him. He looked around and saw Thomas.
‘Mr Marchant?’ He came over to where Thomas was sitting. ‘What information? What do you know that’s to my advantage?’
Thomas stood, took a step towards Sidney, and looked him up and down.
‘It is to your advantage, Sidney Bennett, that you keep away from my daughter Bella and, indeed, never try to speak to her again,’ he said loudly. He was pleased to hear that his voice was quite steady and that he was entirely in control. His anger was ice cold. Remembering the scene of his and Millie’s confrontation with Fairbanks on the day they left the inn, he paused to allow a quiet to fall in the foyer. ‘Because if you do, you two-timing scum, you cowardly, social-climbing nobody, I will come here and I will drag you away from your important friends and kick you down those steps into the street. I will also make sure that everyone in Theddleton knows that you are not to be trusted, that you cannot keep your word and that you have neither decency nor integrity. I’ve always thought you were stupid and selfish, and I have been proved right. I thank God that Bella now realises what kind of a man she might have married. Fortunately, it is not too late for her, but I pity any woman unlucky enough to be taken in by you. Remember, Bennett, if I hear that you have spoken one word to Bella, I will damn well make sure you wish you hadn’t.’
The people sitting around in the plush foyer were agog and had completely given up pretending that they weren’t eavesdropping and fascinated by what they were hearing.
Sidney had gone completely white, as if he might faint. ‘I … I …’ he began, but he didn’t know how to continue. He had nothing to say, not even lame excuses to stammer.
Thomas stood looking at him in disgust for a moment and then, without another word, he pushed him out of the way with both arms to the chest, so that Sidney stumbled back and sat down heavily in an undignified heap on the deep carpet. Without even looking at him again, Thomas turned and left. The doorman was very prompt to open the door for him.
Thomas set off for home, now shaking with anger. Of course, he’d got what he had secretly wanted: Bella wasn’t going to marry Sidney Bennett after all. But, oh dear God, how long would it be before poor Bella saw the broken engagement as anything but the complete wrecking of her carefully planned future?
