Hothouse Flower (55 page)

‘I swear it’s legal. She’s ours Elsie, our child. And no one is ever going to take her away from us, I promise.’

‘What’s your name?’ Elsie cooed to the baby.

‘Her mother called her “Jasmine”. But we can change it if you’d like to.’

‘Jasmine … well, I think that’s just right, considering her … Pa –’ Elsie tasted the word on her tongue with relish –‘grows beautiful flowers.’

‘And I’ve brought home crate-loads of them too, sweetheart.’

She looked up at Bill. ‘She’s a baby from Thailand, isn’t she? But she’s not a funny colour at all.’ Elsie stroked the soft skin of Jasmine’s forearm.

‘Well, there’s a story behind her,’ said Bill, ‘and if you’ll stop fussing over the babe for a few seconds and make your husband a nice strong brew, I’ll tell you exactly how it happened.’

Armed with a cup of tea, Bill related the sorry tale to his wife.

‘You understand, don’t you, that I didn’t have no choice? You’d have done the same with her, wouldn’t you?’

‘Yes, Bill, and you knows I would too.’

‘Thank God,’ he breathed, never loving or admiring his wife more than he did at this very moment. ‘But you know too, that for all our sakes, her Ladyship must never know?’

‘Course I do, silly,’ Elsie murmured, all her pent-up maternal instincts releasing into a warm contented glow, as she rocked her new child in her arms. ‘And I’ll never breathe a word, if it means we can keep this little treasure forever.’ She looked up at him. ‘But will you do like this Lidia asked, and tell his Lordship the truth?’

‘Lidia’s written him a letter,’ Bill sighed. ‘It was waiting for me at the hospital the very last time I went to visit her. She was having her operation so I didn’t get to see her. She left me an orchid too – said in the note it was special and for the baby to remember her by. No blooms on it yet, but –’

‘Oh, Bill, stop fussing about them flowers of yours and tell me what you’re going to do with the letter for his Lordship!’ Elsie interjected.

‘To be honest, Else, I don’t know.’

‘As sure as eggs are eggs, it’ll only stir things up if you give it to him. What if he wants our baby for himself? I’d let sleeping dogs lie, if I were you,’ she cautioned.

Bill kissed the new mother and her baby. ‘Tell you what, Else, I’ll pop off down the hothouse to have a think.’

Bill sat on a crate of orchids, took Lidia’s letter from his pocket and looked at it. He had no idea what it said. It wasn’t his business. His eyes still welled up every time he thought about the moment Lidia handed over her baby to him without a word of self-pity, though the pain was visible in her beautiful amber eyes.

As he held the letter in his hands, Bill thought of the passion the lovers had shared and the tragedy of the situation. For all he knew, Lidia was dead. Surely there was no risk if he did pass the letter on? Nothing could be done anyway. His Lordship knew where his duty lay, which was why he had sent Bill to find Lidia in the first place. He would want to know what had happened to her, and perhaps it was best if those answers came from Lidia herself, the woman Harry loved. And he might take comfort from having proof of their love living right here at Wharton Park. If he wanted to come down to the cottage occasionally to see his little girl as she grew up, then what would be the harm?

As long as her Ladyship never knew …

Harry would never tell her, that was for sure.

Ignoring his wife’s sensible advice and simply remembering that he was a mere messenger in this whole drama, Bill hastily secreted the letter in the usual place under the orchids for his Lordship to find.

Then he turned his attention to the crates and started unpacking and sorting his precious plants.

Olivia, who was now eight weeks away from her own child’s birth, heard of the new arrival from Elsie that afternoon. She was invited down to the cottage to see the baby, and saw the joy in Elsie’s eyes.

‘She is utterly beautiful,’ Olivia breathed, as the baby grasped her finger and gurgled. ‘What have you called her?’

‘Jasmine, your Ladyship.’

‘Perfect,’ Olivia exclaimed, smiling at Elsie. ‘I told you life had a way of sorting things out, didn’t I?’

‘Yes, your Ladyship, you did. And it has, hasn’t it? For all of us.’

On her way back to the house, Olivia paused outside the hothouse. She had not seen Bill since his return and wanted to congratulate him too on his new arrival, and express her admiration for his kindness: Elsie had explained that, in Thailand, there were many single mothers who were too sick or poor to care for their babies, and that Bill had met one such unfortunate girl. When she died in childbirth and her baby was doomed to a grim orphanage, Bill had done the only decent thing and brought the baby home to Elsie, where he knew she would be loved and cherished.

Olivia felt her own baby kick and smiled, secure within the knowledge that her child would not have the same problems as the poor little thing Bill had rescued.

She opened the door to the hothouse and found the floor cluttered with crates of orchids. Bill was not there, but Olivia decided to wait for a few minutes in case he returned. She walked down the rows of flowers, enjoying their wonderful scents, and stopped by the pots of orchids. She picked one up, thinking it would be something beautiful to look at during her forthcoming confinement.

Her attention was caught by an envelope beneath the pot; she picked it up and saw it was addressed to Harry, but with no address or postmark. The writing was unfamiliar and there was a small bulge in one corner of the envelope. Olivia’s curiosity got the better of her and, sure the letter contained nothing that Harry would not wish her to see, she opened it.

Moments later, when she had read the few short words three times over, Olivia sank to the floor, panting with shock.

She unwrapped a small wad of paper which had formed the bulge in the envelope and stared down at a tiny amber ring, made for a child’s finger.

She swallowed hard to push the lump in her throat back down … she would not, could not, cry. This was beyond any relief tears could bring to her.

Olivia tried to make sense of what she had read:

This woman had been deeply in love with her husband. And, presumably, as Harry had apparently asked her to marry him, he with her. He had also promised her he would return to her in Bangkok as soon as he could. When Harry had realised this wasn’t possible, he had sent Bill, under false pretences, to find her. And Bill had come home with what the woman said was her husband’s child in his arms.

Bill came into the hothouse.

Olivia struggled to stand up, her knees giving way beneath her.

‘Your Ladyship, what are you doing down there? Let me help you.’

‘No!’ She stood and strode towards him, waving the letter at him furiously. ‘Would you kindly explain to me what
this
is?’

Bill’s face filled with horror as he realised what she was holding.

‘Your Ladyship – you weren’t meant to find it. Please …’

‘Well, I
have
found it, and if you do not tell me now what on
earth
you and my husband have cooked up between you, I will have you and your wife and that …
bastard
off my land instantly! Tell me!’

‘Please, remember your condition, your Ladyship, you mustn’t upset yourself like this.’ Bill tried to think quickly. He knew everything was at stake. ‘It was nothing, really, just a lonely soldier getting confused.’

‘What? So confused he asked another woman to marry him!’ Olivia shook the ring at him. ‘When he already had a wife at home who had waited patiently for
four long years
!’

‘Calm down, your Ladyship, you really must,’ Bill entreated.

‘I will calm down when I know the truth.’ Olivia was shaking. ‘Either you tell me or I will have you
out
!’

‘I don’t know what she says in the letter, I didn’t look … I –’

‘It says that she loves him, that she will never forget what they had together in Bangkok and that she “understands” he cannot honour his vows to her. And that he must take care of her “gift” to him because she is ill and unable to do so. Oh,
God
!’ Olivia shook her head in despair. ‘And there was I believing he was distant because he was getting over his experiences in Changi. When all along he was pining for some
whore
in Bangkok!’ She looked up at Bill. ‘Is this girl alive? Elsie told me she had died giving birth to my husband’s … baby.’ She spat the word out.

‘I don’t know.’ Bill found he could not lie. ‘She might be, your Ladyship, but she was very ill indeed when I left.’

‘Well,’ Olivia ripped up the letter and threw the pieces in the air, ‘whether she is or not, she is now! And when you see my husband, you tell him she’s
dead.
Otherwise, all three of you will be homeless immediately!’

‘I swear, I will,’ replied Bill in desperation. ‘Whatever you say, your Ladyship.’

Olivia paced up and down breathlessly, sweat beading on her brow. ‘The child must be taken off the estate at once! At once, do you hear me? She cannot stay here … I cannot have my husband’s
bastard
growing up at Wharton Park! I will collect her tomorrow morning and take her to –’

‘NO!’ Bill surprised himself with his vehemence. ‘I’m sorry, your Ladyship, but that child is staying put, with Elsie and me.’ Bill found he was shaking with emotion too. ‘Throw the three of us off if you wish, but I promised that poor girl I’d take care of her babe, and that’s what I’ll do.’

‘Then you must all be gone by tomorrow morning. Yes, you can all get out! I will not have my husband conspiring secretly with my staff against me!’

‘As you wish, your Ladyship,’ Bill replied, willing himself to recover his calm and say the right thing. ‘But, with respect, I was on his Lordship’s business. And I’m sure he will want to know whether the journey was … successful or not. I need not tell him whose the babe is, if that is your wish, but if you make us leave, it would not take long for his Lordship to put two and two together and work out why.’

Olivia stopped pacing and stared at Bill silently. ‘Are you blackmailing me, Bill?’

‘No, your Ladyship.’ Bill did his best to choose his words carefully. ‘I am stating the facts. Perhaps – perhaps it’s best if his Lordship does know the truth. Maybe your Ladyship wants him to know? And account for his actions to you?’

Olivia sank down on to a crate, all the anger suddenly leaving her. She put her head in her hands. ‘Oh, God … what an unutterably dreadful mess.’

‘Please,’ Bill coaxed, ‘you must remember the reason his Lordship sent me to Bangkok; once he was home here, he remembered how much he loved you. And knew he had to stay.’

Olivia looked up at him, her face taut with despair. ‘Don’t patronise me, Bill. Harry has
never
loved me! And he never will. He is a pathetic, inadequate, weak man, whom I despise with all my heart.’ She took a few deep breaths, struggling to compose herself. ‘At least he’s not here. He is in London until tomorrow, seeing the bank. I presume you have not spoken to him yet?’

‘No, your Ladyship,’ Bill said quietly.

‘Well, that’s something. And he knows nothing presently about the child?’

‘No. We had no contact whilst I was away.’

‘You swear you are speaking the truth, Bill?’ Olivia eyed him.

‘I am, your Ladyship. He would have known if he had read that letter, but he won’t now, will he?’ Bill hung his head in shame. ‘It’s my fault, my Elsie told me it was wrong to give it to him. She’s always right, she is,’ he added, almost in a whisper.

‘She is a very sensible girl and you are lucky to have her,’ Olivia agreed. ‘She will never say a word about this?’

‘Never,’ Bill replied adamantly. ‘You know how she’s longed for a babe of her own. She’d do nothing to put that in jeopardy.’

‘No. And, of course, you are right,’ Olivia’s eyes softened for a second, ‘this is not the child’s fault. So be it. But, Bill, his Lordship must never know. I could not bear him mooning over some half-caste brat down the road, when he has his own child to love … even if he cannot love his wife,’ she added pitifully. She looked at Bill, her composure finally returning. ‘You must promise me that when you speak to his Lordship, you will say nothing of the child, only that her mother is
dead
. And that will be an end to it. The future of Wharton Park, and all of us who are part of it, is at stake. Do you understand me, Bill?’

‘I do, your Ladyship.’

‘I will speak to Elsie, and tell her I know,’ Olivia added. ‘I will not be made a fool of by my own maid. And the three of us will keep this secret until the day we die.’

‘Yes, your Ladyship,’ Bill agreed gravely.

‘Then that is settled.’ Olivia held up her head and walked past him towards the door. She paused, then turned back to him. ‘Please know I do not blame you, Bill. You were merely doing as you were bid. My husband, poor fool that he is, has little understanding of what you have done for him. You have been a loyal and faithful servant. And I bear you no grudge.’