The Lie (21 page)

‘It is our engagement night, Mum.'

‘That's as may be,' her mother said, and fixed her with a sharp look. ‘You're not married yet and there's many a slip betwixt cup and lip. Just because you're engaged doesn't mean you can do as you like. While you're under my roof you'll behave decently.'

‘Yes, Mum, of course I will.'

Alice was too happy to let her mother's words bother her. She had everything she wanted from life now. Daniel loved her and he'd promised they would marry sooner than she'd expected, although he hadn't said anything for definite yet. But she could wait now that they were engaged. He wouldn't go off with anyone else, because he loved her.

Daniel was reluctant to leave the next day, but his pass had been for just forty-eight hours and he had to get back. He wasn't sure when he would get leave again, because they were so rushed at the depot. Trucks and lorries had a habit of breaking down when they were most needed, and some of the men had been posted to other bases. He knew he was lucky to be working in England so that he could see Alice, and hopefully make arrangements for their wedding soon.

When he got to his base and reported for work, he was surprised to be asked to see his commanding officer immediately.

‘Ah, there you are, Searles,' Major Andrews greeted him cheerfully. ‘Had a good leave, did you?'

‘Yes, sir. I got engaged to my girlfriend.'

‘Glad to hear you made the most of it. We may manage to give you another short break before we leave, but it's on the cards we shall have to go off at short notice, so don't count on it.'

Daniel felt a sinking sensation inside. ‘Where are we off to, sir?'

‘You know I can't tell you that, Corporal  . . . but it's probably a lot warmer out there than it is here, as you'll see when you get your kit.'

Corporal? When had that happened? Daniel stared as Andrews smiled at him. ‘What was that, sir?'

‘You've been promoted. Bit tardy really if you ask me, you should have had it before now – but it's come before we push off so that's a good thing.' He frowned as Daniel hesitated. ‘You're fit to see active service, aren't you? Not that you'll be in the firing line much. Too valuable. We need our engineers. Carry on, Corporal.'

Daniel saluted and knew himself dismissed. It had come as a bit of a shock to learn that he was being sent abroad. Warmer than it was here? He shivered in the icy wind. Anywhere would be warmer than here!

As he returned to his mates, they were whispering about where they were headed. Most of them seemed to think it might be Egypt.

‘I reckon they're going to need a lot more of us out there,' one of the men said, and several others agreed with him.

‘It might be Gibraltar or Malta,' someone else said. ‘It don't have to be the desert.'

‘Bloody Malaya or somewhere,' one of the others grumbled. ‘I bloody 'ate them foreign places, can't stand the heat, me.'

Daniel frowned as he got on with his work. It didn't matter much where they sent him; it would amount to the same thing. He wouldn't be able to see Alice for a long time. He remembered their love-making, how good it had been, and wished he'd somehow arranged for them to be married before he came back. There was a chance that he might get a few hours' leave before he was sent overseas; the powers that be usually did that if they could, and he could only hope.

He would write Alice a letter, tell her that he was being posted and ask her if they could get married with a special licence if he managed to get back. All of a sudden, he couldn't wait to be married to the girl he loved, to know that she was his, would be waiting for him when he finally came home again.

‘It's lovely to see you,' Frances said, and kissed Emily on the cheek as she met her at the station. She was driving a little Austin car, which Marcus had bought her when he was on leave before Christmas, because he said he didn't want her walking everywhere now she was having a child. ‘You've just missed Dan, you know. He was here for a day and a half – spent all his time with Alice, of course. I imagine they will get married as soon as they can now.'

‘Yes, I expect so,' Emily said, and looked at her sister intently. ‘How are you, love? Are you feeling all right?'

‘Never felt better,' Frances said, and laughed. ‘I had a bit of morning sickness but it didn't last long. I'm just so excited I can't tell you – and it's good to have you home for a while. It seems ages since we were at home together.'

‘It's not really my home now,' Emily said, smothering a sigh. ‘I expect we shall live with Simon's family after the war, at least some of the time anyway.'

‘That will be nice,' Frances said. ‘They have a lovely house, I believe. Marcus has been there and he says Simon's people make his look like paupers.'

‘That isn't true,' Emily said. ‘I know they have money but so does Marcus's father.'

‘Yes, but you know what I mean.' Frances looked a bit smug. ‘We've both done well for ourselves. Whatever happens with the farm, we shall be all right.'

‘What do you mean?' Emily looked at her in alarm. ‘Has something happened?'

‘No – but Margaret drained the kitty dry, didn't she? Henry was struggling to keep things afloat before that, and things aren't getting any better. It's quite possible that they may have to sell at least some of the land in a couple of years – that's what Marcus's father thinks. He is in a much better position, of course, because he has other interests. They own a lot of property in London, you know. It may not be worth so much at the moment, but it will be one day – and they have the packing factory as well, of course.'

‘I know your father-in-law has money,' Emily said, feeling a bit annoyed with Frances for being smug. ‘But it's
our
family I'm worried about. Has Henry been saying something to you – is the problem imminent?'

‘Oh, no, I shouldn't think so. It's just that Henry isn't good with figures. He shouldn't be running the farm on his own. It wasn't a good idea to cut Clay out altogether, especially since Dan can't help much.'

‘But I could do some bookwork if Henry wants,' Emily said, ‘just while I'm here. I'll telephone him in a few minutes and see what he says.'

‘Oh, don't get involved in all that,' Frances said, and pulled a face. ‘I want you to be with me while you're here. You've only got a few days.'

‘We shall have plenty of time to talk and shop,' Emily said. ‘If Henry is struggling I want to help.'

‘I wish I hadn't told you now.'

‘Well, you have,' Emily said, and then laughed. ‘Don't look so miserable, love. You would hate it if the family went bankrupt, you know you would.'

Frances shuddered. ‘Don't! I can't bear to think about it, all the sniggering and the whispers. You know, there's plenty of people who would like to see the family take a tumble.'

‘All the more reason I should help Henry with the books while I'm here,' Emily said, and smiled at her sister as they got out of the car. ‘And now you can show me the nursery  . . .'

Henry gave her a sheaf of papers, pulling a wry face as she started to leaf through them. ‘I don't know what half these new regulations mean,' he told her. ‘At least, I know what I've got to do and what I can't do – but it's all the forms to fill in and the returns for tax. I can't get my head around it, Emily. Dan did some of it for me in the summer, but I've sort of left it since then.'

‘Give me a few hours and I'll know what I'm doing,' she told him with a smile. ‘Don't look so worried, Henry; it can't be so bad, surely?'

However, when she started to work her way through the pile she discovered that he had let things slide badly. Amongst all the stuff from the ministry that needed to be filled in was a form that said he would have to pay a fine of £3,000 because of persistent lateness with the tax returns. It seemed that they had owed money for the past three years, which meant it wasn't just Henry who had neglected the books. She was surprised that Dan hadn't picked it up when he was home, but when she asked Henry he told her he hadn't given Dan everything.

‘He couldn't have paid it,' Henry said looking ashamed. ‘I thought I could do it myself when things picked up  . . .'

Emily could hardly believe her father would be so careless until she started to look through the accounts, and then she discovered that they had been losing money for a long time. At least if she got these latest figures to their accountant, they might escape paying the huge tax penalty that was being demanded.

How could her father and brother have been so foolish as to ignore this for so long? If Dan had known he wouldn't have agreed to give Margaret so much as her share, because it meant the estate was worth that much less. Surely Henry must realize that the longer they left things like this the worse it would get?

She filled in all the ministry forms and put them to one side for posting, and then made a start on getting the bills and invoices into some kind of order. When she had finished she felt rather pleased with herself until she opened the current bank statement and discovered how deeply in debt they were as a family. And what made it worse was that Henry hadn't been paying the interest on their loan. He was just going to have to find the money from somewhere, otherwise they might end up losing everything.

Emily sighed as she put the statements back into the envelopes. She would have to persuade Henry to sell something – even if it did mean parting with some of their land. He wouldn't like it, but only the sale of a few acres would sort this mess out.

Nine

D
aniel couldn't believe his luck when he was told he was getting a forty-eight hour pass. He had already bought the special marriage licence and he sent Alice a telegram telling her to expect him home the next day. If they were lucky they could get married and spend the night together before he was posted.

Alice had replied to his earlier letter, telling him that her father had agreed to the wedding after some persuasion, though her mother wasn't pleased, because she still felt Alice was too young – and because it was all such a rush. Daniel didn't mind whether Mrs Robinson was pleased or not. All he wanted was to make sure they were married before he had to leave. It had given him nightmares wondering if Alice was pregnant. He would have felt so awful if he'd had to leave her and then discovered she was in trouble, but now everything was working out just as he'd hoped.

He had written to Henry too, asking him to look around for a house or cottage they could rent. Alice could go on living with her family for a while if she had to, of course, but she would like a place of her own. It would give her something to do while he was away. She could still work as a land girl, of course – but not if she had a child.

He'd been an idiot wasting so much time. They could have been married before this if he hadn't taken so long to make up his mind. Suddenly, everything had become crystal clear to him: he wanted Alice to be his wife, and nothing else mattered.

‘Well, I'm sure I expected something different when you got married,' Mrs Robinson sniffed. Her eyes were red because she'd cried for most of the night. ‘My only girl and you're getting wed in this havey-cavey style as if you were in trouble.' She blew her nose on her handkerchief. ‘That's what everyone will say, Alice. It's not that I don't like him, just that it is not how it should be.'

‘They can say what they like, Mum,' Alice said, determined not to let her mother spoil this day. ‘I'm not and they can count up the months as much as they like.'

‘But why couldn't he have got leave properly earlier? We could have had a nice wedding with a pretty dress and all the trimmings.'

‘I've got a nice dress,' Alice said. ‘
Your
dress, Mum. What more could I want?'

Her mother's wedding dress had needed some extensive renovation, but Alice was good with her needle and what she'd achieved in a few hours was little short of remarkable.

‘You look lovely,' Mrs Robinson said, realizing that she was being unfair to her daughter. She gave her a watery smile and then hugged her. ‘I'm sorry to moan at you, Alice, but it has all been such a rush.'

‘It was just the same for Emily,' Alice said, and hugged her back. ‘And for lots of other girls, Mum. I couldn't let Daniel go overseas without getting married, could I? Supposing  . . .' Alice swallowed hard. ‘You know what I mean, Mum.'

Mrs Robinson knew only too well. It was a part of the reason she had been against the wedding. Alice could be a widow before she was even a wife, and if she fell for a child— but there had been no telling her. She was desperate to marry him and her father had stuck up for her.

‘If it's what the lass wants,' he'd said, ‘she's going to have it, Mother. We've no right to deny her.'

It didn't help much that Mrs Robinson suspected her husband had made a huge sacrifice in letting his beloved daughter have her way. Alice was the light of her father's life and he would feel it when she was no longer there to brighten his day. At least she was going to stay with them for a while, just until Henry Searles sorted out a house for them. Apparently, there was one down the fen they could have, though that was another bone of contention for Alice's mother. However could her girl bear the thought of living in a place like that?

Alice would have gone to live at Timbuktu if it meant she could marry Daniel before he went back to the war. She didn't care whether Henry found her a house or not; all she knew was that she was going to be married and have one more night with the man she loved.

Her father had seen the vicar and arranged for them to marry at the church with the special licence. There was quite a crowd waiting outside when she arrived with her father in the car he'd hired specially, even though they wouldn't have had to walk all that far. ‘My daughter's going to church in the best her old dad can hire,' Mr Robinson had told her proudly. ‘Maybe we can't give you a fancy reception like your mother wants, but you'll have the car and there will be a nice little nest egg for you when you're ready to set up home.'