Remember Me (30 page)

‘Hello there, Hetty,’ he began, sitting down beside her. ‘It’s good to see you again. In spite of the sad circumstances, of course. It’s a shame, isn’t it, about the old chap? I had a shock when I heard that he had popped his clogs. Still, he’d had a good innings, as they say.’

‘Yes, quite,’ replied Hetty, giving him a disapproving glance. ‘We’ve all been very distressed about it, as you can imagine.’

‘Yes, maybe I can,’ said Samuel. ‘But he wasn’t actually my grandfather, you know. Let me see; he was yours, wasn’t he? I tend to forget, with all our family complications.’

‘Jessie regarded him as her grandfather,’ said Hetty. ‘In fact, she seemed to be more upset than anyone; your sister is a very sensitive girl. And Tommy and Tilly loved Isaac. They are very perplexed by it all.’

‘Yes; where are they, the terrible twins?’ asked Samuel. He hadn’t seen them as he had arrived in Scarborough late the previous evening, and by the time he had risen in the morning they had gone out.

‘They are at school,’ said Hetty. ‘Faith thought it was better that they should carry on in their normal routine. They’ve taken sandwiches for lunch; they do sometimes.’

‘Oh yes, I see…’ Samuel nodded. Then, ‘I feel that you are displeased with me for some reason,
Hetty,’ he went on. ‘I’m sorry that our little – er – romance has come to an end, but I thought the decision to part was mutual. You did write to say, didn’t you, that you didn’t want to see me again?’

‘And I meant it, Samuel,’ said Hetty, smiling brightly at him. ‘I am sure you have other – what shall I say? – fish to fry, in Leeds, haven’t you?’ She would not tell him what she knew. He would no doubt guess that it was Maddy who had told her; he knew the company had been performing in Leeds and that he might well have been seen. She did not want to cause trouble for her sister; she guessed there was not much love lost now between Maddy and Samuel.

‘I suppose you might say so,’ he replied with a sly grin. ‘Maybe more than one fish. You see…I’m not ready to settle down, Hetty. I thought for a time that I might be, but now I know that I’m not. Besides, you’re a lovely young woman and you deserve someone much nicer than me. No hard feelings, I hope?’

‘No…none at all, Samuel,’ she replied.

‘Maybe there is someone already?’ he asked, eyeing her quizzically.

‘Yes, maybe there is,’ she replied. Their eyes met and held for several seconds as each contemplated the other in silence.

‘If you will excuse me,’ said Samuel after a few moments had passed. ‘I must go and mingle a little.’ He rose to his feet. ‘I’m not often in Scarborough,
so I had better go and socialise with the few people that I know. May I wish you all the very best, Hetty? I expect our paths will cross from time to time.’

‘Yes, I’m sure they will,’ replied Hetty.

She wondered, as she watched him walk across the room to talk to Patrick and Katy, how she could have imagined that she was in love with him. Beneath the surface charm and friendliness he was supercilious and calculating. Nevertheless, he was the father of the child she was expecting and there was no gainsaying that. Now that she was three months into her pregnancy she was experiencing a strange sort of calm and inevitability with regard to the situation. She was no longer feeling quite so queasy in the morning and evening as she had at first, a condition that had been easy to hide as she lived on her own.

What would Samuel’s reaction have been had she told him? She honestly could not imagine how he would have reacted; with shock or denial or with a ‘couldn’t care less’ attitude? She didn’t know and didn’t intend to worry about it; that was one problem that she would not think about until it became inescapable.

There were problems, indeed, in spite of the serenity that had settled upon her. Samuel’s remark about the possibility of there being someone else in her life had started her thinking about Bertram Lucas. She and the photographer had enjoyed one
another’s company at the wedding reception. She had met him a couple of times before and had found him polite but somewhat uncommunicative.

He had soon overcome his initial reserve and diffidence of manner, however, when they met on what was a more social occasion. He had told her that his photography business, which was starting to flourish since he had opened his own premises, was forcing him to overcome his innate shyness. As an only child of elderly parents, he had never found it easy to mix; but the wedding of Patrick and Katy was the third one he had been asked to photograph, and it was impossible to be shy in such convivial surroundings.

He had told Hetty, but not in any flirtatious manner, that she was a beautiful young woman with classic features and a well-defined bone structure to her face. Would she be willing to pose for him as a model? he had asked. She had laughed and said that she would think about it. With many young men that would be seen as a provocative suggestion, but she knew that Bertram was totally sincere.

‘But I will see you again, won’t I?’ he had persisted. ‘Perhaps we could go to a concert together, at the Spa?’

‘Yes, maybe we could,’ she replied. ‘That would be very nice. Or we could go and watch Maddy perform in her Pierrot show?’

On hearing her name Maddy’s ears had pricked
up. ‘Yes… Have you not seen one of our shows yet, Bertram?’ she asked.

‘No, I’m afraid not,’ he replied.

‘You don’t know what you’ve been missing!’ Maddy laughed.

‘It is very remiss of me,’ said Bertram seriously. ‘It is something I must remedy very soon. We will sort out a convenient time for both of us, Hetty.’

But they had not yet done so. The sudden death of Isaac had banished thoughts of enjoyment and frivolity from everyone’s mind. Bertram had attended the funeral service at the chapel but then had gone back to his shop and home premises.

Hetty felt, though, that he was a man of his word and that he would soon be asking her to go to a show with him, as they had tentatively suggested. It would look churlish if she were to refuse, but Hetty knew that to embark upon a friendship with Bertram Lucas might only lead to further complications.

Chapter Twenty-Four

H
etty might have thought that she had managed to keep her condition a secret, but there was at least one person who had guessed that she might be pregnant.

Faith brought up the subject as she and William sat together in the lounge on the evening of the funeral. It still felt strange to them not to have Isaac there, in the wing-backed easy chair, puffing away serenely at his pipe or reading out items of news from behind his newspaper.

‘Have you noticed anything different about Hetty recently, William?’ she asked. ‘I saw you were having quite a long conversation with her earlier today…and she is your daughter. Did she say anything?’

He looked at her in some surprise. ‘Say anything? About what? No…nothing out of the ordinary. We were talking about Father, of course, that’s all. And about certain business matters. Things have to go on as usual, and we must try to get back to normal by next week… What do you mean, anyway? What should I have noticed?’

Faith paused before she answered. ‘It’s a ‘woman’
thing, I suppose. No, maybe it would not have occurred to you. But… I think she’s pregnant, William.’

His mouth dropped open. ‘What? But…she can’t be!’

Faith sighed, shaking her head sadly. ‘Please don’t say she can’t be, William. Because you know as well as I do that it is possible. I can’t say I’m happy about it, because if it is so – and I’m pretty sure that I’m right – then I know who must be responsible.’

He stared at her in shocked amazement, then his face grew dark with anger as the truth began to dawn on him. ‘You mean… Samuel? Yes, by God, Samuel, the stupid young fool! Just wait till I…’ He stopped suddenly, and Faith could see that another thought was now occurring to him. William, too, gave a long drawn out sigh.

‘But I’ve no room to talk, have I? Dear God! It’s history repeating itself…and I don’t have a leg to stand on. Forgive me, my dear, for being so hasty and insensitive. I wasn’t thinking. Samuel is your son, of course…not mine.’

‘But Hetty is your daughter, my dear, and you have every right to feel angry,’ replied Faith calmly. ‘And don’t imagine that I am not just as angry with Samuel, because I am. I know that it takes two, as they say, but for him to behave so irresponsibly… I could see that Hetty was falling for him, but there was nothing I could do about it. I know Samuel can
be very charming, but despite what you may think, William, I am not blind to his faults.’

‘But who am I to take a moral stand?’ said William. ‘I was just as bad.’

‘I don’t think so,’ said Faith stoutly. ‘How old were you? Eighteen? Nobbut a young lad, as your father might have said. And what is more, I can guess who took the lead in…what happened. Bella was no sweet and innocent young miss, was she? And I know very well that Samuel is not a callow youth, wet behind the ears. He is twenty-two now, and he knew perfectly well what he was doing; I’m sure of that.’

‘But how can you be sure?’ asked William. ‘I mean…sure that Hetty is pregnant. She looks a little fuller in the face… Yes, I’ve noticed that. But she appears to be her normal self, not agitated or upset, and she would be, surely, if what you say is true.’

Faith smiled. ‘I might be wrong, but I don’t think so. I’ve told you, women know about these things. I have had four children, William – well, three pregnancies, because of the twins – and I know that after the first few weeks expectant mothers have a certain look about them: a bloom, a sort of inner radiance, and other people notice it.’ She nodded. ‘I’m right; you’ll see.’

‘But Hetty and Samuel…they’re not friendly now, are they?’ remarked William. ‘I mean, not as friendly as they have been?’

‘No, that’s the impression I’ve got,’ said Faith. ‘I noticed them earlier today. They were chatting together for a while, but there was no…what you might call…intimacy between them.’

‘Well, I must say I’m relieved about that, in spite of what you think might have happened. That puts a different complexion on things, I must admit. But I was never happy about the two of them getting together. Hetty’s a grand lass. She deserves somebody much better than…’ William stopped, banging his fist against his head. ‘Here I go again! Dear God, what am I saying? Do forgive me, my dear. I am the last person, the very last who ought to be condemning Samuel.’

‘But I agree with you, William,’ Faith smiled. ‘Hetty deserves a good man; someone who would be a good husband and father to her child. Somehow I can’t see Samuel fitting the bill. And I shouldn’t imagine she’s told him about it.’

‘We’ll just have to wait and see what happens,’ said William. ‘I’m blessed if I know what we can do about it, though. We can’t play the heavy-handed parents and insist that they get married. They are old enough to make up their own minds.’

‘And I don’t think for one moment that it’s something either of them would want,’ agreed Faith. ‘As you say, my dear; we will just have to wait and see.’

But Faith did not intend to wait much longer. She invited Hetty to come for tea on the following
Sunday and made sure they were left alone together. There were only she and William, with Hetty and the twins, at teatime. Jessie had gone for a bicycle ride with her cycling club and Maddy had been invited to go along as well. They had taken a picnic tea and would not be back until later in the evening.

William made himself scarce after tea, whilst Tommy and Tilly amused themselves with board games in Tommy’s bedroom. Sunday was a day on which the twins usually played amicably together. On the other days of the week they preferred the company of schoolmates, boys and girls to whose homes they were sometimes invited, or who came to their house to have tea and then play in the garden. But Sunday was different. It was still regarded as a special day in the Moon household, as it was in many Edwardian families. Attendance at church and the wearing of one’s best clothes was the order of the day, so there could be no running wild in the garden or any other sort of boisterous activity. Neither did Faith sew at her embroidery or do her knitting, although her fingers sometimes itched to get at the needles. She knew the restrictions stemmed from God’s commandment that no work should be done on the Sabbath day; a commandment that was broken in the majority of households with the cooking of a huge Sunday dinner. But that, for some strange reason, seemed to be overlooked.

Together, Hetty and Faith washed and dried the
tea things, as it was Mrs Baker’s half day off, and then they sat together in the lounge, each nursing another cup and saucer. Faith believed it was easier to chat over a cup of tea.

‘You are looking well, Hetty,’ she began. ‘You have quite a radiance about you just lately. I can’t help but notice it.’

Hetty smiled as Faith looked at her quizzically. ‘Are you trying to ask me something?’ she enquired.

‘Yes…’ Faith nodded. ‘As a matter of fact, I am… You do have something to tell me, don’t you, Hetty dear. Something that you may not be able to keep to yourself for very much longer?’

‘Yes…’ replied Hetty. ‘I am expecting a baby. But I don’t know how you have guessed. I didn’t think I was showing at all yet.’

‘No, you are not, apart from being a little fuller in the face. But there’s just something about the way you look. I am a mother myself and one learns to recognise the signs.’

‘Yes…I see. I’ve been to see a doctor and it’s due at Christmas time… It is Samuel’s baby, as you have probably guessed.’ Hetty was staring down at her feet and not looking at Faith. ‘He doesn’t know. I haven’t told him and I don’t intend to, not yet anyway. We are not seeing one another now. It was a mutual decision for us to part. And I don’t expect anything from him.’ She looked up then at Faith.

‘I am sorry, Faith,’ she continued. ‘I realise that this must be an embarrassment to you and William.
And you must not blame Samuel, not entirely. I know I have behaved foolishly and recklessly. And now…I must suffer the consequences.’

‘You seem quite calm about it all, my dear,’ said Faith. ‘But then I suppose you have had time, haven’t you, to come to terms with the idea? And I know that you are a very sensible young woman, in spite of what has happened. What do you intend to do? Have you decided?’

‘I shall have the baby, and keep him…or her,’ replied Hetty. ‘There is no question about that. I am twenty-seven years old and well able to take care of myself, and a child. Tongues may wag, but I think I am strong enough to withstand that. I know that you and William may be disappointed with me, but I know you won’t disown me, will you?’ There was a slight twinkle in her eye as she smiled at Faith.

‘No, indeed we won’t,’ said Faith. ‘William knows, by the way. I confided in him about what I believed had happened. He went off the deep end as you can imagine, calling Samuel all the names under the sun, until he realised that it was actually a case of the pot calling the kettle black!’

Hetty gave a wry smile. ‘Yes, I’ve thought of that too. Poor William! But the circumstances are different. I have a home and a job, for the moment, and I am not penniless. My mother – Bella, I mean – had no choice but to let me be adopted, but that is the last thing I would want to do. And now that I’ve got used to the idea, I don’t mind at all…
Maddy knows, by the way,’ she added. ‘I was quite upset at first and I had to tell someone. Maddy happened to be there, and she was a great support to me.’

‘Yes, Maddy’s a grand girl,’ agreed Faith. ‘I have been very blessed with my family, and with William’s children, including you, my dear. But I am concerned about Samuel. He has behaved foolishly and selfishly, in spite of you saying that he is not entirely to blame. He will have to know about it, won’t he? He is responsible for what has happened and he should be there for you, financially, if not in any other way.’

‘I wouldn’t want to marry him, even if he were to offer,’ said Hetty. ‘I know now that we are not right for one another. But I fell for his charm. He is a very personable young man,’ she smiled.

‘But he is not reliable,’ said Faith. ‘No, I would not want to see you married to Samuel, but he is not going to escape scot-free. William and I will see to that.’

‘Leave it a while, please,’ said Hetty. ‘We don’t see him very often, do we? Maybe the next time he visits Scarborough we could break the news to him. Do you know…it has probably never even entered his head that I might be expecting his child.’

A few day’s later Bertram Lucas came into the office where Hetty was working, to invite her, as he had promised, to accompany him to one of the evening Pierrot shows. She had been expecting him
and she knew that she must agree to go with him. And then…well, she supposed she would be obliged to tell him that she could not go out with him again, always supposing that he wanted to do so, of course. But she guessed that he might want to continue their friendship. They had made friends so readily at Patrick and Katy’s wedding.

‘How about tonight?’ he asked. ‘No time like the present, unless you are doing something else?’

‘No, I have no other plans,’ Hetty told him. ‘It will be good to go out for a change. I haven’t been out anywhere for a while.’

‘No, of course not. I waited a while as it didn’t seem right to ask you so soon after Mr Moon’s death. You don’t think that it’s still…too soon?’ He looked at her a trifle anxiously.

‘No, not at all,’ she smiled. ‘Grandad Isaac would have said, “Off you go, lass, and enjoy yerself…” I can almost hear him saying it now. It was a shock to us all with it happening so suddenly, but in another way we are all quite used to it, being surrounded by…all this sort of thing every day.’ She gestured towards the vases and urns on display on the shelves, the purple drapes at the windows, and an eye-catching arrangement of flowers: lilies, irises, early chrysanthemums and carnations in funereal colours of white, purple and mauve.

Bertram nodded. ‘Yes, it’s a real family business, isn’t it? Patrick was telling me that Katy has started to work here as well.’

‘Yes, Katy does a little of everything as well as looking after their home. She helps me in the office two afternoons a week, she serves in the shop sometimes, and she has even offered to go out on jobs with Patrick and William.’

‘Laying-out jobs, you mean?’

‘Yes, that’s right. It is something that Faith has never done – and I can’t say I blame her – although William’s first wife used to help him. Katy’s a very down-to-earth sort of girl. She will be a great asset to the firm.’

‘Patrick has told me a little of your family history,’ said Bertram. ‘I hadn’t realised that Faith was not his mother. And he explained to me that you are his half-sister, and Maddy’s, of course.’

‘Yes, we’re an odd bunch,’ Hetty laughed, ‘and we don’t harbour any secrets about what has happened in the past. It’s all a long time ago.’ And destined to become even odder, she mused. Her forthcoming child, by some quirk of Fate, would be a grandchild to both William and Faith, but not in the usual way. And it would not be possible to keep it a secret for very much longer.

‘The show starts at half past six,’ said Bertram, ‘so I will call for you at six o’clock, shall I? We want to get a seat near to the front.’

‘Yes, so we do,’ agreed Hetty. ‘But that should be no problem; I’m sure Maddy will be only too pleased to reserve seats for us.’