Whispers (28 page)

‘Well, yer can only do what yer can do, love,’ Mrs Bloom said philosophically as she slurped at her tea and they all lapsed into a thoughtful silence.

Half an hour later, after putting on her pretty mobcap and straightening her apron, Martha carried a tray towards the drawing room for Miss Melody, stopping to admire one of the three Christmas trees that had been delivered the day before in the entrance hall. Miss Melody and Master Leonard had spent the afternoon decorating it with fine glass baubles and tiny candles which the young Master had had sent from London. The other two trees now stood in the drawing room and the dining room, and as her contribution, Martha had spent the afternoon scouring the woods for holly, which was now strewn about the downstairs in ornate glass vases. Grace was no longer able to wait on the young Master and Mistress because she was so enormous that she waddled like a duck now. Miss Melody was not far behind her and Martha excitedly tried to imagine what it would be like to have two babies in the house.

The nursery that Miss Melody had had prepared for her baby was fit for a little prince or princess, and it had already been decided that the child would have a nanny who would travel between the two homes when it was old enough.

Dragging her thoughts back to the present, Martha hurried on, mindful that she still had an awful lot of chores to get through before she could finish for the day.

When she arrived back in the kitchen she found Grace telling Mrs Bloom excitedly about the progress on her cottage. ‘We were hoping to be in fer the summer. But the roof ’s on now, so we might even manage it fer the spring.’

‘That’d be a good time to move in,’ the woman agreed as she basted the leg of lamb that was roasting in the oven. ‘An’ would any of yer happen to know if his lordship will be in fer dinner tonight?’

‘I doubt it.’ Grace chuckled wickedly. ‘It’s no secret that he’s very put out about the party so he’s still keepin’ out o’ the way fer most o’ the time. Look at when he went off to London a couple of weeks since – he didn’t come back fer a whole week. But he did come back eventually, more’s the pity! Did yer know he raised his fist to young Polly last week?’

‘No, we didn’t. What happened?’

‘Well, from what Bertie an’ Hal have managed to glean from it, while the Master were in London he lost a deal o’ money at the gamin’ tables there an’ he had to go cap in hand to Master Leonard to bail him out again. He an’ the young Master were closeted in the study fer a very long while, and their voices could be heard all over the house. Anyway, the outcome of it was that the young Master informed him in no uncertain terms that this would be the very last time he would help him out financially, and the Master come out of the room wi’ a face like a dark thundercloud on him. Young Polly just happened to be passin’, returnin’ one o’ Miss Melody’s gowns to her room, an’ they almost collided. Poor lass, she were terrified. He raised his fist an’ she were sure that he was goin’ to strike her. But then he seemed to have second thoughts, an’ roarin’ at her to get out of his way, he stormed out o’ the house instead. I reckon he realised that the young Master wouldn’t tolerate any more cruelty to the servants and he’s now so deeply in debt that he’s afraid of upsetting him, which is one blessing at least.’

They all nodded in agreement before scuttling away to their chores.

That evening, a tap came on the green baize door and Miss Melody entered with a sweet smile on her face.

‘I’m sorry to disturb you but my husband and I have just been talking, and as a reward for how hard you have all worked to entertain our guests, we thought it would be nice if we gave permission for you all to have a party in the barn. New Year’s Eve might be a nice evening for it, if you’re all agreeable? Our guests will have departed by then. And Martha – you must invite Jimmy, of course.’

Martha flushed prettily as she dipped her knee. ‘That would be wonderful, Miss Melody. Thank you.’

‘I shall provide all the food and drink,’ Melody told them. ‘So now I’ll be off to leave you all to make your arrangements.’ And with that she sailed from the room as Martha hugged herself with delight. Things were just getting better and better! If only Granny would improve, things would be almost perfect.

Jess closed the book and placed it safely away. It was mid-morning and she had become so engrossed in the journal that she had lost track of time. Simon had stayed out all night after their argument the night before and she had struggled to act normally earlier on in the morning when she took the girls to school.

‘Is everything all right, Mum?’ Jo had asked anxiously when Jess drew up outside her school gates.

‘Everything’s fine, love,’ Jess had assured her as she leaned across her and threw the car door open. ‘I’ve just got a bit of a headache, that’s all. Now you get off and have a good day. Look, your friend is waiting for you over there.’

Jo had instantly perked up and shot off with a smile on her face. She was very intuitive where her mum was concerned and always seemed to be able to sense when Jess wasn’t at her best. But then she’d seen so much over the years, Jess had thought ruefully as she headed back to the house.

She was tidying her hair in the mirror when a voice wafted up the stairs to her. ‘
Hellooo
! Is anybody there?’

Jess grinned. She had forgotten that Karen was coming round to see her. Her friend always managed to put a smile back on her face, and Jess wondered what she would have done without her over the last few years. Karen was her shoulder to cry on and her confidante, and she certainly had enough to confide in her today.

‘Christ, you look awful,’ Karen said bluntly as Jess entered the kitchen. ‘What’s the story?’

‘You’re just not going to believe it,’ Jess muttered as she went to grab the coffee pot.

‘So try me then.’ Karen helped herself to a ginger nut biscuit from the plate on the work station and peered at her. ‘Is it Simon again? Up to his old tricks, is he?’

Tears pricked at the back of Jess’s eyes as she poured coffee into two mugs. ‘In a way,’ she admitted reluctantly. ‘He didn’t come home at all last night. But it’s worse than that . . .’ She gulped before blurting out, ‘I told him I was pregnant, you see, and he didn’t much like the idea.’

‘
Christ Almighty!
’ Karen almost choked on her biscuit as she gazed at Jess incredulously. ‘Well, I have to admit it must have come as a shock to him. It certainly has to me. I had no idea you were planning on having any more kids.’

‘I wasn’t,’ Jess said dismally. ‘And now I don’t know what to do about it. Simon’s made it more than clear that he doesn’t want it.’

‘Huh! The last I heard, it took two to tango, so the least he could do is sit down and talk it through sensibly,’ Karen stated indignantly. ‘Burying his head in the sand isn’t going to help, is it? He ain’t a bloody ostrich.’

Jess grinned despite being so miserable. She could always rely on Karen to tell it like it was, which was one of the things she loved about her.

‘But how do
you
feel about another baby?’ Karen asked now.

Jess spread her hands in a helpless gesture. ‘To be honest, I’m not sure. When I first found out I was horrified. Then I thought it might be a blessing in disguise. You know, that a new baby might bring Simon and me closer together again? And
then
I thought it might be best if I just got rid of it without telling him – and
now
I just don’t know what I want!’ Tears were spilling down her cheeks.

‘You know, you haven’t been right since you moved into this bloody great mausoleum,’ Karen commented, looking around with distaste. ‘I personally can’t see what you ever saw in it. Do you think it’s all getting a bit too much for you?’

‘Everything is getting too much for me at the moment,’ Jess admitted through sobs. ‘There are Mel’s mood swings, Simon staying out again till all hours, and now finding out about this baby is just the last straw.’ She then went on to tell Karen all about meeting Emile Lefavre and what had happened in Paris as Karen listened attentively.

When Jess had finished the whole sorry tale she whistled through her teeth. ‘Blimey, think what might have happened if you hadn’t found the drugs,’ she breathed. ‘The lousy bastard – preying on a young girl like that. Has he been in touch with you or Mel since you got home?’

Jess shook her head. ‘No, I haven’t heard from him and I confiscated Mel’s mobile, so I would have known if he had tried to ring her, but there have been no missed calls.’

Karen tapped the table thoughtfully with her fingertips. ‘It doesn’t make sense,’ she said eventually. ‘There must have been hundreds if not thousands of pounds’ worth of drugs went down that loo. And he wouldn’t have known that you’d found them and flushed them away, so why hasn’t he got in touch? What does Simon think about it?’

‘I haven’t dared to tell him.’ Jess flushed guiltily. ‘Things are so bad between him and Mel at the moment that I thought this could only make them a million times worse. What’s more, if Simon decided to involve the police they might bring Social Services in then and I think I’d die of shame. At the end of the day it’s more my fault than Mel’s. I shouldn’t have let her go wandering off round the hotel on her own. The trouble is, I’m living on tenterhooks now. I keep checking Mel’s room when she’s gone to school in case she has any more drugs stashed away anywhere.’

‘I can understand that,’ Karen said sympathetically. ‘And you really weren’t joking when you said everything is a mess. You’ve sure had enough on your plate lately. But now back to the baby. You’ve got to make your mind up what you’re going to do about it sooner rather than later if you’re considering having an abortion. It’s not like it used to be you know. They give you one tablet on the first day and another tablet the next and then that’s it now. There’s no operation involved any more.’

‘I know,’ Jess said brokenly. ‘I suppose that a termination would be the easy solution. But I don’t think I could bring myself to go through with it.’

‘Well, this is something you’re going to have to decide for yourself. It’s your body, so you should do what feels right for you.’

‘I know.’ Jess stared out of the window as Karen squeezed her hand. She would have to think very carefully before reaching a decision either way.

‘And is that the lot then?’ Karen teased, trying to lighten the atmosphere.

‘No . . . actually it isn’t.’ Seeing as they were having a heart-to-heart, Jess decided to tell her everything. When she had managed to compose herself a little, she told her friend, ‘I think this house is haunted. What I mean is, I don’t see ghosts floating about the place or anything like that, but I know there’s a presence here. It’s watching over me.’

‘Oh, lordie! This just takes the biscuit, girl. You really
are
letting your imagination run away with you now,’ Karen scoffed.

‘I’m not, I swear it. And I can prove it.’ Jumping up from the chair, Jess scuttled away upstairs to return minutes later clutching Martha’s journal. She then hurried on to tell Karen how she had come across it and about the room in the attic as Karen flicked through the pages.

‘And you think it’s the girl who wrote this who is still hanging around here, do you?’ Karen asked as she stole a nervous glance across her shoulder despite herself.

Jess couldn’t help but smile. ‘Yes, I do, as a matter of fact. It was Laura from Blue Brick Cottage who first told me that someone was still here. Of course I didn’t believe her then, but now . . .’ She knew that she must sound as if she had lost her marbles, but it was such a relief to talk to someone about it at last. ‘Laura reckons that this person is here for a reason and it’s something to do with me, although I have no idea what it is.’

‘I see.’ Karen peered at her friend closely. It seemed to her that Jess was fast approaching some sort of nervous breakdown, but she didn’t want to say that for risk of offending her, so instead she said cautiously, ‘But why would a spirit, or ghost or whatever you want to call it, know anything about you?’

‘I don’t know, but Laura can sense these things. She’s sort of psychic.’

‘Hmm.’ Karen was a firm believer that there was a logical explanation for everything, and she certainly didn’t believe in the afterlife. As far as she was concerned, when you were dead you were dead and that was the end of it, which was probably why she lived her life to the full, determined to enjoy each and every day.

‘Do you know what I think?’ she said, changing the subject abruptly. ‘I think a bit of retail therapy is called for. Apart from that trip to Paris, which turned out to be quite stressful, one way and another, you’ve worked yourself almost to death since you moved in here. There’s no time like the present, so go and get your glad rags on.’

‘But the girls will be home from school,’ Jess objected.

‘That’s hours away yet and I’m not going to take no for an answer,
so
go and get changed. I won’t budge from here until you do,’ Karen warned.

Knowing what Karen could be like when she had her stubborn head on, Jess slipped away to her bedroom where she quickly changed into a black trouser suit and a crisp white blouse. I look more like I’m going for a job interview, she thought as she brushed her hair. But at least I’m respectable now, so that will have to do.

An hour later they were browsing through the shops in Nuneaton. They had both decided it was a little late to venture any farther afield. In Next Jess bought a lovely little pair of denim dungarees and a matching T-shirt for the new baby that had been born within the grounds of Stonebridge House but her heart wasn’t really in it and she just wanted to go home.

‘Why are you buying that?’ Karen enquired with a disapproving lift of her eyebrow. ‘I thought Simon wanted the gypsies gone as soon as possible? I reckon they’ve got a bloody cheek parking there in the first place, if you were to ask me.’

‘Well, they haven’t been any trouble and it’s not the baby’s fault, is it?’ Jess retorted.

Karen sighed. ‘You’re such a soft touch,’ she said as she dragged Jess off to look at the Per Una section in Marks & Spencers.

Jess trailed around from shop to shop after Karen for another hour but then she put her foot down, saying, ‘I really ought to be going else I’ll be late getting back for the girls.’ They had each gone in their own cars so at least she didn’t have to give Karen a lift home.