The Lie (7 page)

Maybe it hadn't been fair to start seeing Alice in the circumstances. He ought to tell her he had plans for the future that didn't include marriage for a few years. Maybe he would speak to her after his sister's wedding this weekend, make sure she understood it was just a casual thing.

‘You do look lovely,' Emily said admiringly as she looked at Frances in her expensive satin wedding gown. ‘That dress is a dream. It's a good thing you bought it when you did, you would never have found anything like it now.'

‘I know.' Frances did a little twirl in front of the mirror. She'd bought her dress two months before war was officially declared. On a shopping trip to Cambridge, she'd seen it displayed in the window of an expensive dress shop in Regent Street, and, on impulse, tried it on. It was a simple design of satin, but heavily embroidered with beads on the hem and sleeves, and the lace over-skirt was exquisite. She'd known as soon as she saw herself in the mirror that it was the one she wanted. Marcus hadn't even asked her to marry him then, but she'd bought it anyway, just in case. It had been covered with a sheet and hung in her wardrobe ever since, and now it was her wedding day. ‘At least that part of it fits with the dream, Emily,' she went on, looking at her sister once more. ‘I always thought we would have a fantastic reception, with Dad giving me away at the church – and then a honeymoon in Paris.'

‘Well, at least you are marrying the man you want,' Emily said. ‘And he has six days' leave to take you away somewhere. The reception might not be all you'd hoped for, but everyone has done their best.'

Friends and family had baked and scrounged, and there was a decent buffet tea and some good wine from the cellars at Stretton Park.

‘Oh, I'm not complaining,' Frances said, her eyes shining. ‘I'm happy just to be marrying Marcus.'

‘It must be wonderful to know exactly what you want and get it,' Emily said. ‘I've never felt about anyone the way you do about Marcus.'

‘You will one day,' Frances said, and kissed her cheek. ‘I thought you rather liked Simon Vane. You're going to stay with his family after the wedding, aren't you?'

‘Yes, I am. He asked me and I said I would, but I'm not sure now that it was a good thing. After all, I don't really know him.'

‘You must have got on very well together that afternoon or he wouldn't have asked.'

‘I suppose not.' Emily wasn't sure why she'd suddenly got cold feet – after all, she'd enjoyed her afternoon out with Simon, and he'd made her go tingly all over when he kissed her. ‘It's just that things have changed. I'll be going away somewhere when I get back, and everything seems  . . . not the same anymore. You won't be living here and—'

‘Nor will you,' Frances reminded her. ‘I wonder if Daniel has thought about that. If he stays here it will be just him and Margaret – and Connor, of course.'

‘I hadn't thought about that,' Emily said. ‘That is a bit awkward for him, isn't it? After all, this is his home – but you know how people talk.'

‘Well, I suppose they are both sensible adults,' Frances said, dismissing the subject. She picked up the blue lace garter her sister had given her and slipped it on. ‘So, there's my luck – the veil was Mum's so I've got them all; something old, something borrowed, something new and something blue.'

‘You don't need luck,' Emily told her, and squeezed her waist affectionately. ‘Marcus loves you, you love him – what more do you need?'

‘I don't know  . . .' Frances felt as if a cold wind had blown over her suddenly and her tummy lurched. ‘Wish me luck all the same, Emmy.'

‘Of course I do,' Emily said. ‘All the luck in the world, dearest. We had better go now or you'll be late.'

‘I've only got to walk over the road.'

‘You still don't want to be late. I saw Henry arrive ages ago. He's pacing about over there like a cat on hot bricks; that must mean Marcus and his family are already inside.'

‘I wanted to ask Daniel to give me away,' Frances said. ‘But Henry expected it so I couldn't say no  . . .' She sighed but neither sister said what was on their minds. ‘We'd better go then.'

Emily walked up the aisle behind her sister. She was wearing a pale green silk dress that she'd bought in Cambridge especially for her sister's wedding. It wasn't really a bridesmaid's gown, but a pretty afternoon frock that would be more practical afterwards. With all the regulations and shortages these days, she had been lucky to find something that would answer both purposes.

Simon Vane was Marcus's best man and Emily her sister's only attendant. They stood side by side, Simon giving her a smile of welcome as she joined him at the start of the ceremony. The sun was filtering through the stained glass windows, making patterns on the worn stone floor. It was a beautiful old church, peaceful and familiar. Emily was glad her sister had chosen the church and not gone for a register office affair, as so many did because of the way things were at the moment. It wasn't as lavish a wedding as it might have been, but there were flowers in the church, and all their friends dressed in their best finery; a happy occasion. Except that her father wasn't there to give the bride away.

Emily smothered a sigh. There was no point in wishing for the moon. Her father had gone and there was no way she could bring him back. She glanced to the side, thinking how smart Daniel looked in his uniform. At least he was home, and beginning to feel better if she was any judge. She noticed that he was sitting with Clay and his wife. She had thought Alice might be with him.

Alice had been at the house all morning, helping to prepare the food, but she'd said she was coming to church, and would leave when the ceremony was over to get back to the house and help out at the reception. If Daniel was going out with her –­ why wasn't she sitting with the family?

Daniel could smell Margaret's perfume. It was distinctive and expensive, and powerful. He knew she was sitting just behind him, and the sense of her was playing havoc with his libido. He was annoyed with himself, but images of her naked body kept coming into his mind. He had woken from an erotic dream the previous night, only to realize that the woman he had dreamed of was his father's widow. Now, when his sister was being married, all he could think of was how enticing he found Margaret's perfume.

Damn her! He was suspicious of her, especially since Henry had told him how much she was asking for her share of the land and the house. Apparently, she couldn't bear to live there now that Robert was dead, and she wanted them to buy the house from her, but she wasn't going to let them off cheap.

Henry was against the idea. ‘Put the damned place on the market,' he'd said when they met that morning just before the wedding. ‘That's what I told Clay we should do. I wouldn't give in to her blackmail – but she seems to have him eating out of her hand  . . .'

Daniel glanced at his second eldest brother. Clay was the nearest to him in age, being just two years older. He had married young, probably because his wife Dorothy had already been carrying their first child. They now had three, one for each year of their marriage. Dot had been a very pretty girl before they married, but she had put on weight and she always looked harassed and a bit untidy these days, as though life was all too much for her.

Was Clay faithful to her? Daniel knew that his brother had had quite a reputation when he was younger, and he doubted that a few words said in church would prevent Clay from straying. He wondered if Henry was right  . . . if Clay had been caught in Margaret's pretty claws  . . .

It wouldn't surprise him if his brother fancied her. Daniel could understand that only too well. He was doing his best to shut out the images of her naked body and the smile in her eyes, which had seemed to invite, but Clay was different. Given the chance, had it been offered to him, what would his brother have made of it? He wouldn't have gone rushing from the room like a green youth, that was for certain. Daniel was pretty sure that Margaret would be unwise to play with Clay the way she had with him.

Clay glanced at him sideways, an odd expression in his eyes. Suddenly, Daniel knew that he too was aware of Margaret's perfume, and that everything Henry had told him was true. Clay was caught – but what was he hoping for? Surely he couldn't be thinking of leaving his wife and children. What then? Did he just want to get Margaret into bed – or was she already sleeping with him?

Something was going on, he felt it instinctively. Maybe he would have a word with Clay later  . . .

Alice thought Frances looked beautiful, and her dress was a dream – the kind of wedding gown that every girl wanted but few got. Frances was so lucky, but then the family was rich, or so everyone thought in the village. Alice's mother had warned her about getting her hopes up too high only that morning, when she'd told her that she was just going to slip into church and sit at the back on her own.

‘Don't let that Searles lad turn your head, love,' Mrs Robinson had said, sensing Alice's hurt that Daniel hadn't asked her to sit with him in church. ‘I know he's asked you out a couple of times, but that doesn't mean much. His brother Clay had a name for going with the girls, and look at him now. I pity the lass he married, a baby every year and him  . . . well, I'm not one for gossip, but I wouldn't want you to be in the same case, Alice.'

‘Daniel isn't like that,' Alice told her. ‘He's nice, Mum, honestly.'

‘Then why hasn't he asked you to sit with him today?'

‘I don't know – perhaps because he knows I'm going to leave as soon as they go into the vestry so that I can get back to the house and help when the guests start arriving.'

‘Because that's the way he sees you? As one of the hired help?'

‘I do help out there,' Alice said sensibly. ‘It doesn't matter to Daniel or me. I know he likes me a lot.'

‘But does he love you – does he respect you?' Her mother gave her a straight look. ‘I can't see him asking you to marry him, Alice, and that's a fact.'

‘Maybe he doesn't want to get serious yet, Mum. There's a war on – and I'm young. You and Dad would say I was too young if he asked me, wouldn't you?'

‘Yes, we probably would,' her mother admitted, and she smiled. ‘I've nothing against Daniel, love. I just don't want to see him break your heart.'

‘He might hurt me,' Alice said. ‘But I shan't let him break my heart – besides, he isn't like that.'

‘Have it your own way then.'

Alice had dismissed her mother's warnings, but inside she couldn't help feeling a little hurt that Daniel hadn't asked her to sit with him in the church. He could easily have waited for her, walked her over from the house, but he hadn't mentioned it, even though he'd said they might go out one day next week.

Was he using her to pass the time away while he was home? Was he only going out with her because he was bored? She hadn't thought he was like that, but it was a bit disappointing that he seemed to have drawn back. She had thought he was really interested at first, but now  . . .

Alice became aware that the bride and groom were going into the vestry to sign their names. That was her cue to slip out and get back to the house. Millie was coping on her own for the moment, but she couldn't do it all.

Emily took her place next to the bride and groom for the photographs. There was an official man from the photographer's studio in Ely who everyone used for occasions like this, and several amateur ones snapping away with their box cameras. The photographer was asking for a picture with the bride and all her brothers now so Emily moved away, standing next to Simon.

‘At least they've got a good day for it,' he said, glancing at her. ‘You look lovely, Emily. I like that dress.'

‘Yes, I was lucky,' she said. ‘I think it's pre-war actually. They got it out for me from a back room. Frances and I have shopped there a lot in the past so I expect we get special treatment.'

‘Yes, I thought it looked better than most of what's in the shops now.' He raised his brows at her. ‘You are coming with me later, aren't you?'

‘Yes, of course,' Emily said. She was feeling better about it now that she'd seen him again. Simon was very nice and she had been silly to get cold feet earlier. She didn't understand why she had felt reluctant to meet his family, because usually she enjoyed visiting. Her father had always encouraged her to stay with friends and she was certain he would have approved of Simon, because he came from a good family; after all, it wasn't as if she was going off alone with him. ‘I'm looking forward to it, Simon.'

‘Good. So am I  . . . oh, it looks as if Marcus needs me. I'd better see what he wants. We shall have plenty of time to talk later.'

‘Yes, we shall,' Emily said, and experienced a feeling of pleasurable anticipation. It would be rather nice to meet Simon's family and have a little holiday before she started her new job. She went over to stand by Daniel after the photographer moved on to the groom's family. ‘I thought Alice might be with you in church, Dan?'

‘Oh, did you?' Daniel gave her an odd look. ‘Why was that?'

‘Aren't you going out with her? I saw you together in Cambridge one afternoon and thought you might be courting.'

‘We're friends, of course,' Daniel said. ‘We've been out a couple of times – but she had to get back to the house to help with the food and things. Margaret was relying on her. I thought it might be awkward if she had to walk the whole of the church to get out so I didn't mention it.'

‘Oh  . . .' Emily was surprised. ‘I thought it might have been more than just casual when I saw you out together. She's a lovely girl, Daniel – don't hurt her, will you?'

‘I know Alice is a nice girl. I have no intention of hurting her.'