Beyond a Misty Shore (26 page)

Hans was instantly on his feet. ‘I will attend to the fire, Mrs Kinnin. Please, it is such a small thing for me to do to help.’

Sarah nodded. Had the weather been better she would have suggested that they go for a walk either by the harbour or along the promenade but she hadn’t the heart to send them out into the cold mist and they had so little time together: just a few hours tonight for tomorrow he had his work at the farm and Maria must take the bus to Douglas for the ferry. ‘Thank you, Hans. Goodnight.’

Although relieved that her mother was allowing them
some time alone Maria was perturbed that Sarah had made no mention of any future visit. ‘Goodnight, Mam,’ she said, trying to hide her disappointment.

‘Goodnight and thank you, Mrs Kinnin,’ Hans added politely.

When she reached the foot of the narrow stone stairs set into the wall Sarah turned. ‘You are welcome in this house, Hans, and I would like you to come each Sunday for your supper, and you must come for your meal on Christmas Day too. I could not call myself a Christian woman if I left you alone on that day although I’m sure Maude would see you had a hot meal. Maria will not be able to get home, she has to work on Christmas Eve and the ferry does not sail over the holiday, so there will be just you and me.’

Maria took his hand and smiled at her mother, her eyes shining. ‘Thank you, Mam. Oh, thank you so much!’

Sarah nodded and turned again towards the stairs. The look in Maria’s eyes reminded her forcibly of the way she had felt the day she had married John Kinnin.

T
HAT NIGHT, AFTER HANS
left, Maria lay awake for hours trying to find some way to solve the problem of how they could be together. It had been a bittersweet parting and she’d had to fight back her tears. She had hated to let him go and they’d clung together, she promising to come back as soon as she could.

Next morning the mist still heavily shrouded the land and she had feared that the ferry would once again be late, but once they cleared the shores of the island Mannanán’s cloak disappeared and the wintry sun made the crossing a little more bearable.

‘I’ve tea and some scones ready. How did it all . . . go?’ Sophie asked as soon as Maria arrived back from the ferry and sank thankfully into the chair by the fire. They were
alone for Sophie had persuaded Hetty to go up and have a nap, Bella was at Emily’s house for the afternoon and Arthur had tactfully gone to his room on the pretext of writing his annual letter to his cousin in Vermont.

Maria told her everything and upon hearing of her mother’s change of heart Sophie nodded slowly. ‘I
can
understand how hard it is for you, Maria. What will you do?’

‘What can I do, Sophie? I’ve asked Mam to send me the newspapers in case a job is advertised.’

‘You’ll never earn as much as you do now, Maria,’ Sophie reminded her.

‘I know but if . . . if I could get
something
, to use Aunty Lizzie’s favorite saying, “we’ll manage”.’

Sophie didn’t look convinced. ‘So, he’s going to Mam on Christmas Day?’

Maria nodded. ‘I’ll try and get over before then but . . . but if I can’t I’m going to buy him some decent clothes and send them over. Oh, Sophie, it broke my heart to see the terrible old coat he had. He has nothing . . .
nothing
.’

Sophie nodded and sighed. ‘Well, if you do manage to get over you can bring back a goose. I’m going to write to Mrs Sayle. I’m determined that this Christmas is going to be the best Hetty and Arthur have had in their lives.’

‘I wish I could say it will be the best I’ve had, Sophie, but I’ll try to keep cheerful. At least I know Hans loves me and that he’s not too far away, which is more than I did last year,’ Maria said with a rueful little smile.

Sophie thought of Frank who loved her and who would be
thousands of miles away but she said nothing; there would be so much to do in the weeks ahead that her mind would be fully occupied.

The days just seemed to fly by as Christmas approached. Arthur had seen an advertisement in a shop window for a scooter and so she’d bought it and she’d also managed to obtain a second-hand dolls’ pram, both of which Arthur kindly spent many hours renovating until she declared that they looked brand new. She had made the pram set from some white broderie anglaise and she’d also made some new clothes for Bella’s treasured dolls. She had been busy with her dressmaking too for people wanted new outfits for Christmas, and she’d made up the blue velvet for Bella and a dress of a similar shade in taffeta for Katie, which was her engagement gift to her cousin.

She and Hetty spent many hours baking and Arthur had gone into town and had come home with a huge tree and some big bunches of holly. He’d had to walk most of the way for he’d said jovially that there wasn’t a conductor who would let him on a tram with so much prickly greenery. They’d festooned the hall and living room with the holly and she, Bella and Maria had made all the little decorations that now adorned the tree. She had bought gifts for her sister and Hetty and Arthur, and for Lizzie and Jim, which she’d wrapped and placed under the tree. Maria’s, Hetty’s and Arthur’s gifts were duly added to the pile and Bella’s excitement was growing each day.

‘And there’s to be no poking at them or tearing little holes in the wrapping paper to see what’s inside, Bella. Remember, Santa can see you,’ she’d warned her daughter.

Arthur was going to accompany Hetty to church on Christmas morning – he got on well with her friends – and then they would have lunch, after which Sophie intended to persuade Hetty to take a nap and no doubt Arthur would be glad of a few hours’ peace and quiet, perhaps to read the
Father Brown Stories
, which was her present to him. She and Maria would wash up while Bella could play with her new toys.

‘Do you think Hetty and Arthur will come with us to Aunty Lizzie’s?’ Maria asked on Christmas Eve as they were setting out Hetty’s best china and glass on the table in the dining room. The vegetables were all peeled and in bowls of cold water in the kitchen. The goose had arrived and was sitting on the marble slab in the pantry alongside the bowl of stuffing Hetty had made using her mother’s recipe.

‘I don’t honestly know but I think Hetty might be too tired and Arthur . . . well, you know how uncomfortable he feels with crowds of people.’

Maria nodded; she couldn’t see either of them really enjoying themselves packed into Lizzie’s parlour with half the neighbourhood.

‘You do realise that Ben Seddon will be there, Maria?’

‘I do,’ Maria replied, polishing a crystal wine glass.

‘And . . . ?’ Sophie probed. ‘I’m going to have to tell him, Sophie, that Hans is back
and that we’ll be getting married.’ She was bitterly disappointed that she hadn’t been able to get over to see him again but she’d written and she’d sent the gifts she’d bought. He’d written back, thanking her for the brown cord trousers, cream shirt and the brown and cream heavy knitted sweater but bitterly regretting that he had nothing to send to her except his love. That was all she’d cared about but she wished Mam had a telephone or knew someone who had one; she would dearly have loved to have spoken to him on Christmas Day and told him so.

‘It’s not going to be a very happy occasion for Ben then,’ Sophie remarked sadly.

Bella’s cries of delight woke the whole household at six o’clock on Christmas Morning and even Hetty and Arthur, clad in warm dressing gowns, joined Sophie and Maria in the living room where Sophie had suggested Bella hang up her stocking.

‘Mam, oh, Mam, it’s
beautiful
! It’s so shiny and look at the lovely eiderdown and pillow and he left new clothes for all my dolls too!’ Bella’s blue eyes were dancing with excitement, her cheeks flushed pink and her dark curls tumbling over her shoulders.

‘Aren’t you a lucky little girl? Now, I think you’d better get some clothes on or you’ll catch cold,’ Sophie laughed, her own eyes sparkling with pleasure at the child’s delight.

‘Can I open my other presents, Mam? The ones under the tree?’ Bella begged, still patting the pram lovingly and
resolving to dress her dolls in their new outfits and put them all in it and take them for a walk as soon as breakfast was over.

Sophie shook her head. ‘No, you can’t. It’s much too early. We’ll open them all after breakfast. Now, off you go and get dressed while I make a cup of tea to warm us up.’

The child reluctantly did as she was told while Sophie and Maria made the tea.

‘I’ll never forget the look on her face, Sophie, as long as I live. It was
magical
!’ Hetty said, clasping her gnarled hands together, her face wreathed in smiles.

‘And it’s going to be a “magical” day too, I promise,’ Sophie replied determinedly, pushing all thoughts of Frank Ryan from her mind.

By half past four both Hetty and Arthur agreed that it had been the best Christmas they’d ever experienced. They’d had a wonderful breakfast followed by the opening of their gifts, more gifts than either of them had ever received before. Hetty was especially delighted with the soft lavender wool shawl Sophie had given her and the large bottle of Yardley’s Lavender Water, which was her favourite, from Maria. Arthur’s gift was a silver brooch set with garnets, which were her favourite gem stone, and from Bella there were three lace-edged handkerchiefs, embroidered rather lopsidedly with the letter ‘H’, which Bella had spent many laborious hours sewing under her mother’s guidance. Arthur had received a copy of the
Father Brown Stories
from Sophie and
also a copy of
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes
from Maria. From Hetty there was a real cashmere jumper wrapped in tissue paper. It had belonged to her brother but had never been worn, she’d confided. From Bella he’d received a bookmark made of stiff cardboard that she’d painted bright red and on to which she’d stuck the letters ‘AC’, which she’d cut from a magazine. Arthur said he would cherish and take great care of it.

Lunch had been a truly magnificent meal, they’d all declared: homemade soup followed by the goose and all the trimmings and then the pudding, which Sophie remarked was a vast improvement on last year’s Victoria sponge cake. Bella had been thrilled when she’d found a silver threepenny piece in her portion. As they’d sat sipping the port wine which Arthur had bought Maria wondered what kind of a day Hans and her mother had had. At least he had some decent clothes to wear for it, she thought, if not a presentable overcoat. Sarah would make him welcome and feed him well and if they couldn’t be together, she thought wistfully, then at least sharing Christmas with her mother and in her old home was the next best thing. She smiled at Sophie, knowing her sister’s thoughts would be with Frank Ryan spending his day on a ship somewhere in a climate that was far warmer than this.

It was after seven when they finally arrived at Lizzie’s house in Harebell Street. Hetty had said she wished she had the energy to accompany them but that she was utterly exhausted by the excitement of the day and would have an early night. Arthur, as Sophie had anticipated, had also
decided to stay at home. He felt that Hetty shouldn’t be left alone and as Bella flatly refused to be parted from her new toys, even to go to a party which as she said was really for grown-ups, he would keep his eye on the child too.

‘It’s very kind of you to look after her. She should go to bed no later than half past eight, which is very late but this is a special day,’ Sophie had said to him.

Lizzie’s house seemed to be bursting at the seams with people, she thought as they pushed their way up the narrow lobby. Not only were the family and the Seddons there but also Pat and Martha Ryan and quite a few of the other neighbours too.

‘Lord, what a crowd! I thought she said it was just a family do?’ Maria said, taking off her coat and adding it to the pile that already covered Katie’s bed.

‘She did and I think it’s a good thing that Hetty and Arthur didn’t come,’ Sophie added as they went downstairs and in search of the happy couple.

Sophie had to admit that Katie looked lovely. The blue dress fitted her perfectly and the colour suited her. ‘Katie, congratulations, you look lovely, you really do.’ Sophie kissed her cousin on the cheek as Katie shyly held out her left hand.

‘Oh, that’s beautiful!’ Maria enthused, examining the tiny diamond on Katie’s finger. ‘Congratulations to you both,’ she added, smiling at Matt, who was managing to look shy and proud at the same time.

‘What’s happened to Miss Foster and Mr Chatsworth?’ Lizzie demanded, emerging from the kitchen.

‘They both apologise, Aunty Lizzie, but Hetty is exhausted, Bella had us all up at six o’clock, and Arthur is keeping his eye on her and Bella. Wild horses wouldn’t drag her away from her toys and her pram,’ Sophie laughed.

Lizzie rolled her eyes expressively. ‘You wouldn’t believe the job I’ve had to get our Billy in from the street with that scooter; he’s been out there most of the day. He’s absolutely over the moon with it, Sophie, bless you.’

Sophie handed over the gifts she’d brought for Katie and Matt. ‘These are for you, Katie, from Miss Foster and Mr Chatsworth. They’re for your “bottom drawer”.’