Hers to Have and to Hold, page 15
‘No wonder she went a bit crazy and kidnapped Alfie,’ said Jack.
‘We know that she knew about Bryn being killed, but how did she discover about my being in the hospital after giving birth to Bryn’s son?’
Jack said, ‘Perhaps Glyn did tell her.’
‘You’re probably right.’ She felt angry and disappointed. ‘There’s also another way. A muddle in army records, with there being two Mrs Bryn Joneses living in Liverpool.’
‘But why kidnap Alfie?’ said Jack.
‘Spite! Hurt! Anger! To get back at Bryn and hurt me as well for having what she didn’t have. We can only guess,’ said Eliza.
‘You could be right,’ said Jack. ‘But if it was her who attempted to kill Bryn and Glyn’s mother, for what reason?’
Eliza shrugged. ‘Me head’s beginning to ache. Let’s drop the subject for now and just enjoy the countryside.’
‘All right,’ said Jack. ‘We could come across a pub with a beer garden and a marvellous view.’
‘I’d enjoy a glass of iced lager and lime,’ said Eliza as the road began to twist and climb.
Jack said. ‘I’d like a pint of cold beer. That’s if they have any lager or beer, what with rationing.’
Their shoulders brushed, and Jack took her hand and swung her arm. ‘So, will you get in touch with the vicar as soon as you get back to Liverpool and try and arrange the christening for December?’
‘Yeah, it won’t be easy, but it’s worth a try. If Glyn can manage it. I suppose I should try and book a room in a B&B. Amelia has invited his mother to stay, but I think it’s too much to expect her to invite Glyn as well.’
‘You’re still considering having him there?’
‘He mightn’t be able to make it,’ she said. ‘I have been wondering whether to invite Mairi. She’d probably enjoy a change of scene.’
‘And she could look after the old lady on the journey,’ said Jack.
They turned a corner and a few yards away was a picturesque inn, and a view of a valley and the mountains of Snowdonia that almost took their breath away.
He increased his pace, pulling her by the arm into the beer garden and an empty table with benches facing each other. A few minutes later a waiter approached them, and Jack ordered a pint of the local brew and a chilled shandy for the lady, presuming they had both available.
The waiter said, ‘I can let you have one pint of beer, but no lager. But I’ve just had some cider delivered today from Herefordshire, if the lady would like a glass of that.’
‘Yes, please,’ she said eagerly, smiling.
The waiter asked if they would like freshly baked sausage rolls to have with their drinks. Jack raised an eyebrow at Eliza, who nodded. She found herself relaxing in a way she had not for what seemed ages and told herself that there was no need to worry about Alfie. He was safe with Mairi, and having some time away was doing her good. The evening was turning out much better than she had thought it would.
‘Have you thought of anyone else you want at the christening?’
She nodded. ‘It’s a long way off yet,’ she said. ‘But I won’t be asking many people, what with it being Christmas and wartime.’
‘We’ve passed the longest day and, before you know it, harvest festival will be here, and the days will be shorter.’
‘Then Bonfire Night,’ said Eliza, but corrected herself. ‘No, no bonfires or fireworks because the blackout will still be in place.’ She sighed with disappointment. ‘Although hopefully, we’ve seen the last of the Luftwaffe.’
‘We can still roast chestnuts and have bob apple,’ Jack said.
‘You’re thinking of Halloween,’ she said. ‘Then Christmas. I wonder if there’ll be anything in the shops to buy. Unless the war’s over by then.’
‘I can’t see the Battle of the Atlantic being over,’ said Jack. ‘And victory on land to defeat the German army still has some way to go.’
‘But the Luftwaffe seem to be leaving Liverpool alone now,’ said Eliza, taking a gulp of her drink.
He nodded and changed the subject. ‘The sun is sinking. We’ll have to make a move soon. I don’t fancy walking down the road in the dark, with its twists and turns.’
‘We’d be all right if there was a full moon,’ she said.
‘I’d enjoy seeing the stars clearly here, out in the countryside,’ he said.
Having long finished the sausage rolls, which had been very tasty, they drained their glasses, said goodnight to the waiter, left a tip and headed off down the hill to the town.
They walked hand in hand, and she felt happy and hopeful that their relationship was heading in the right direction. She waited for him to say something but then, to her surprise, Jack broke into song.
‘Why are you singing?’ she asked. ‘You’ll wake the birds.’
‘I’d like to hear a nightingale,’ he said.
‘You might here,’ she said. ‘But do you think they sing in Berkeley Square in London?’ she said.
‘Like in the song?’ he said. ‘I’ve never been to London, but they have trees, so maybe they did have nightingales before London was blitzed.’
‘The song is making out a nightingale is a love bird,’ she said, resting her head against his arm.
He stopped. ‘How right you are.’
She felt his fingers lift her chin and she glimpsed the stars far up beyond his shoulder. Her heartbeat quickened as his lips covered hers. She was caught up in the moment, aware of his arm pressing her against his body, sending a thrill through her. His kiss deepened and she wanted it to go on for ever. Could this be real love? Or were they just reacting to the moon and the stars, and the scent of honeysuckle and the singing of a lone bird? She told herself to stop thinking and then his mouth lifted, and she let out a moan. She would have drawn his head down, but his lips were tracing kisses around the curve of her chin and down the side of her neck in a way that felt wonderful. She whispered, ‘What’s happening to us?’
He sighed against the material that covered her breast, and then raised his head and gazed into her face. ‘I’m doing what I’ve been wanting to do ever since I first set eyes on you.’
‘But I was marrying Bryn,’ she said in an undertone.
‘I should have swept you in my arms and run off with you. I would have if I’d known what we know now.’
She giggled. ‘It would have been more dramatic in a church. Having said that, I didn’t know you then, and besides, I wouldn’t have Alfie.’
‘Some good can come out of the worst of things.’ He paused. ‘I suppose we have to make a move and get back to our lodgings.’
She agreed. ‘Mairi will be wondering what’s happened to me, and Alfie could have woken up and be crying for me.’
‘Same with my family, although I doubt they’ll be crying.’
She laughed, in no mood to discuss Jean. They carried on walking arm in arm down the road, taking extra care at bends. Jack escorted her to the house through the darkened streets. He kissed her good night and said, ‘Shall we keep our feelings for each other to ourselves for now?’ She nodded.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
Eliza woke the next morning feeling bright and breezy, looking forward to seeing Jack again. She relived those moments when he had kissed her and held her tight. She could almost feel his lips on hers, and then Alfie woke up and started wriggling in his cot. She went over and lifted him out and kissed him, happy that Jack was fond of him. How would she feel towards him if he was one of those men who didn’t like children, especially other men’s children?
She danced around the room with Alfie, humming ‘A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square’. Then she stopped and returned him to his cot and went to the bathroom. When she returned to her bedroom, she washed Alfie, and put on a fresh nappy and romper suit and the matinee jacket she had knitted in eggshell blue. Then she removed her pinny and went downstairs to the kitchen to make Alfie a bottle. She found Mairi preparing a breakfast tray for the old woman upstairs in bed.
‘I’ve just made a pot of tea,’ she said. ‘Help yourself to one.’
‘Thanks, I will once I’ve made Alfie his bottle and fed him,’ said Eliza.
‘What are your plans for today?’ asked Mairi.
‘I really should go and see the solicitor,’ she replied, wondering if Jack had made an appointment to do so.
‘I see,’ said Mairi. ‘Mrs Jones has got it into her head that she’d like to go around the shops with you and wheel Alfie in his pushchair.’
‘What!’ Eliza almost screeched but managed to control her voice.
‘I think she wants to show him off,’ said Mairi.
‘I suppose that’s natural for a grandmother with her first grandchild,’ said Eliza. ‘What time was she thinking of going?’
‘About a quarter to ten.’
Eliza agreed to the plan, adding, ‘I’ll need to phone Jack.’
‘Do you have the phone number?’ Mairi placed a small dish of marmalade on the tray.
‘No, do you have a telephone book?’
‘Somewhere!’ Mairi picked up the tray and left the kitchen.
Eliza finished making Alfie’s bottle, poured herself a cup of tea and sat down at the table with Alfie on her knee and popped the teat in his mouth. He started to suckle, and she reached for her cup. It was peaceful in the kitchen, and she might have dozed off if it was not for a knocking on the front door. She attempted to rise with Alfie held against her, but then she heard footsteps on the stairs and relaxed back in the chair. She heard the murmur of voices and the door closing, and then Mairi entered the kitchen, waving an envelope.
‘For you,’ said Mairi. ‘It’s been forwarded from Liverpool, and I had to sign for it.’
Eliza stared at her. ‘I wonder who it’s from?’
‘Do you want me to take over and feed Alfie while you open it?’ suggested Mairi.
Eliza hesitated and then lifted Alfie up, while he was still sucking the teat, and handed him over to Mairi and reached for the envelope that had been placed on the table. She slit it open with a finger and removed the sheets of paper inside. She began to read; it was the last thing she would have expected. A letter from the chairman of the board of Jones slate business shareholders inviting her and Alfie to a meeting in Newtown. The date was in two days’ time, but the letter had been written a week ago. What was she to do? She really should attend. She must speak to Jack. She ate a slice of toast and drained her cup of tea, and then donned her coat and hat and left Alfie with Mairi. She left the house and hurried to the B&B, where she found Jack and his mother and sister just having breakfast. She explained the situation to them, including how Alfie’s grandmother wanted to go around the shops with her and Alfie at about a quarter to ten.
‘You do that,’ said Jack. ‘I have an appointment with the solicitor.’
‘Doesn’t he want to see me as well?’ she asked.
He shook his head. ‘I found it strange, too.’
‘But you have to go to find out what’s going on.’
Jack agreed. ‘I won’t stay longer than an hour, and I’ll pick up you and Alfie at the house afterwards and we’ll go straight to Newtown.’
‘What about fuel?’ she asked.
‘Don’t you worry about that, leave it to me.’
She said no more, and he saw her out. He kissed her lingeringly and watched her until she was out of sight, and then went inside and finished his breakfast.
Gladys Jones was disappointed when she was told that she would only have an hour to go around the shops with Alfie and Eliza, but she could see that Eliza was not going to change her mind or tell her where she and Alfie were going. Still, she found enjoyment in meeting those who knew her and admired Alfie and congratulated her, making no mention of Bryn’s loss to her. Cards of sympathy had already been sent.
Eliza felt less guilty about cutting short the outing, when it came to leaving with Alfie. Newtown was further south, in Mid Wales, not far from the border with England. As she made herself comfortable with Alfie on the rear seat, Jack said, ‘It’ll take about two hours through some nice scenery. We’ll stop and have a picnic lunch about two o’clock.’
She was desperate to know how he’d got on with the solicitor but thought he would tell her when the time was right. She guessed that would be when they stopped for lunch so instead, she asked, ‘Did they make that for you at the B&B?’
He nodded. ‘And I only asked this morning. Excellent service.’
They didn’t talk much on the journey, as it would have meant shouting and, besides, Eliza felt that Jack needed to concentrate on his driving.
They stopped for lunch by the River Severn. As he unwrapped their food, and Eliza unscrewed the top off the thermos flask, Jack said, ‘I wonder why they’re meeting in Newtown. According to the landlady, it used to be a centre for the Welsh textile industry, nothing to do with slate. Apparently, there’s a Dolforwyn Castle nearby, built by the Welsh Prince of Gwynedd in Medieval times, but later taken by the English.’
‘Good place for a break. Perhaps they like to meet somewhere different every year and make a holiday of it,’ suggested Eliza. ‘I’ll ask if I get the opportunity. Now tell me, what did the solicitor have to say?’
Jack frowned. ‘I found him a bit backward in coming forward and he seemed a bit annoyed when I told him about you considering asking Glyn to be one of Alfie’s godparents. I told him that I was the other godfather, and it was really none of his business, as the role did not need legal representation. He almost burst and he said more than he meant to, in my opinion.’ Jack smiled.
‘What did he say?’ asked Eliza, placing the thermos and cups on a nearby rock after she had poured out tea. Her attention strayed a moment to the car, a couple of feet away, where she had left Alfie asleep on the back seat with the window half-open.
‘Go and check him if you’re anxious,’ said Jack.
She smiled apologetically, and went over to the car and looked in. ‘Still asleep,’ she said. She returned to her spot by the rock and handed a cup to Jack and picked up the other cup. They both took a mouthful of the hot tea, and gasped and spluttered and swallowed, before biting into a sausage roll.
‘So, what did he say?’ she asked a few minutes later.
‘That Ada Jones had visited him. She asked him about the will he had made when she and Bryn were still living together. He told her that her husband had made another will, with another legal representative, while in the army and he had gone through a form of marriage with you and included any children you and him might have – and that will cancelled any earlier will.’
‘Poor Ada and her daughter,’ said Eliza. ‘I’m not interested in any money Bryn might have left. I just want Alfie to inherit the shares in the slate business that are due to him.’
‘Which means the other solicitor would deal with that, not Mr Davies,’ said Jack. ‘No doubt the new man will be in touch with you soon.’
‘I’d like Bryn’s daughter to have the money.’
Jack said, ‘I understand your motive but while she’s a child, no doubt her mother will get her hands on it if she can. But hopefully we’ll find them, and Ada will be arrested and most likely go to prison for a long time.’
‘Poor little girl,’ said Eliza. ‘I wonder if she understands anything that’s going on.’
There was a pause and then Jack started speaking again. ‘There’s something else,’ said Jack. ‘Ada wants to get in touch with Glyn. I told the solicitor he’d returned to the Middle East, and I did not know where to get in touch with him.’
‘Maybe she thinks she can worm her way into Glyn’s good books again,’ said Eliza.
‘Surely, he’s not so stupid as to trust her,’ murmured Jack. ‘Besides, I thought he was interested in someone else now.’
‘We’ll just have to wait and see,’ said Eliza. ‘In the meantime, there’s the meeting in Newtown.’
There came a wail from the car, so she rose and climbed into the back seat, and set about feeding and then changing Alfie’s damp nappy. Jack gathered everything together from the picnic site and placed it in the boot, before climbing into the driving seat, starting the engine and setting off.
They were soon in the county of Powys, over the border of Montgomery, where there was another castle called Montgomery, which, Jack informed her, had been built by the English.
‘Did you like history when you were at school?’ asked Eliza.
He nodded. ‘We had a good teacher who brought it alive. He was writing a book on castles. Did you know Liverpool had a castle once upon a time?’
‘If I thought about it, yes, because there’s a North and South Castle Street not far from the Pierhead. It’s a pity it’s not still there. It would attract more visitors.’
‘Or been blown up by the Luftwaffe while trying to destroy the docks.’
‘Chester still has a castle.’
‘But it doesn’t have a port as busy and large as ours,’ said Jack.
‘True, but let’s change the subject. How much further to Newtown?’ she asked, settling Alfie comfortably against her shoulder and handing him a teething ring attached to a stuffed toy cat by a blue ribbon.
‘Can’t be far now,’ he replied.
‘We need to find somewhere to stay the night.’
‘I’m sure they’ll have booked you in somewhere,’ said Jack.
‘But what about you?’
‘I’ll find somewhere.’
‘There could be somewhere at the hotel where I’m to meet Jones the chairman,’ she said.
‘Too expensive and it’s most likely booked up.’
‘How d’you know?’
‘It’s August, prime holiday time.’
‘Oh no! I shouldn’t have put you to all this trouble,’ she said.
‘Stop worrying. I can always drop in at the police station and sleep in a cell,’ said Jack.
‘You are joking,’ she said.
He laughed. ‘I’ll ask if they can recommend a place.’
As it was, the chairman was able to help him out. ‘My grandmother will squeeze you in and, as it happens, she has Cousin Rosie from Liverpool staying with her.’
