Α
The silver Healey swept through the large gates, the roar of the engine
splitting the silence that hung in the avenue of trees as it sped on up the
driveway. Adam swung the new motor around in front of the family home
and slid to an abrupt halt on the gravel. Evelyn, who had been holding on
tightly to her hat during their high speed jaunt through the narrow country
lanes, laughed with delight at the thrill of it all.
The sound of car doors slamming echoed back from the walls at the grand
entrance of Nede Hall as the couple extracted themselves from the
gleaming metal machine and danced joyously up the stone steps to the
Ionic pillars. They found the doors already open; the butler had been
expecting their arrival. Divesting themselves of their outer garments and
handing them over to his care, Adam ordered breakfast to be served,
immediately, on the terrace.
The rationing imposed during the war had had little effect on life at the Hall
and, in the months that had passed since its cessation, everything had
slowly returned to normal. Except, that is, for the continuing absence of its
rightful owner, Joshua. For Adam and Evelyn however, this did not seem to
have blighted their lives unduly. Adam had experienced, at long last, the
kind of self-determination that he had not known since his childhood. The
loss of his freedom having been initiated by his removal to boarding school
and completed by the revelation of his true identity, within days of his
departure.
It would be Joshua, his father’s one and only true heir, who had inherited
the family fortune; Joshua, who had followed in his father’s footsteps by
joining the Suffolks. But unlike his father, a heroic and much decorated
survivor of the Great War, Joshua had gone missing from the Second,
some four years ago. It was now presumed that he had either been killed
in action or died in a Japanese prison of war camp. Adam, in his timorous
wisdom, had made himself essential to the war effort and therefore
remained on the estate to enjoy all the luxuries of home; a home that would
very soon become legally his own, once Joshua had been officially
declared, “deceased”.
After breakfast, Evelyn stood by the ornately carved stone balustrade that
fronted the terrace and looked out over the glistening water of the extensive
lake. A few migrating terns had settled on the grassy bank, some distance
from her vantage point.
“What are those lovely looking birds by the lake, Adam?” she beamed after
taking a sip of her coffee.
“Haven’t a clue, I’m afraid. Only know the ones you can shoot!” he joked.
“Mater could probably tell you.”
“I don’t suppose we will see her before they all fly away,” she reflected.
“Let’s take a stroll.”
“Not just now, old thing,” Adam protested. “I need to rest my weary bones
for a while longer. Have some more coffee.”
Evelyn dutifully sat down and topped up both of their cups from the pot. As
they relaxed, in the certain knowledge that there was nothing requiring their
attention for the rest of the morning, the butler reappeared balancing a
silver tray.
“A telegram for you Sir,” he said, presenting it to his employer with
complete indifference.
Adam lifted it from its carriage and waited until the butler had departed
before reading out the message.
“Arriving Liverpool tomorrow stop send car meet RMS Orduna stop Josh.”
Adam handed the slip of paper to Evelyn and continued to stare at her,
incredulous, until she spoke.
“Go and tell your mother,” she instructed him. After a moment’s thought she
continued, “Then get his room prepared and find out when the ship is due
in port. We can take the Rolls up in the morning.”
“Do we really need to go? Can’t we just send the chauffeur?” Adam
whined.
“Please try to look as if you’re happy about it Adam,” Evelyn sighed. “We
don’t know what condition he’ll be in, so let’s just play it straight and see
what happens, shall we?”
Adam gathered his thoughts and went inside. Crestfallen at the prospect of
his impending relegation, he made his way up the main stairs to the East
wing. He broke the good news to Joshua’s despairing mother who,
overwhelmed by emotion, needed reviving from a faint. Once recovered,
Mary set about the urgent task of contacting the rest of the family.
∫
Joshua appeared at the top of the gangway once all of the walking
wounded had been disembarked. Adam barely recognised the ghostly
figure that lifted a half empty kit bag and shook the hand of a kindly medic
before taking his first tentative steps toward the quayside. His health had
improved slowly during the long sea journey and he was now able to walk
unaided. He was still unable to eat sufficient food to recover the weight that
he had lost and the mental scars from his experiences made restful sleep
impossible. His greatest wish was for his de-mobilisation to be rubber
stamped; only then could he set out on the long road to rehabilitation as he
walked the familiar paths of the family estate.
Being re-united with his family would be the best of starts. He smiled when
he spotted the familiar faces waiting for him below and held firmly to the
handrail while making his way down the narrow gangway.
“Sorry for the short notice chaps,” Joshua began, after being soundly
embraced by both Adam and Evelyn, “spent most of my time in the sick bay
until we left Gibraltar.”
“Not to worry, not to worry,” Adam reassured him as he led him to the Rolls.
“Let’s get inside and you can tell us all about it.”
The industrial landscape of Lancashire was a joy for him to behold and
Joshua drifted in to a fitful sleep in the knowledge that he was back on
home soil once more. Adam’s initial show of affection gave way to a deep
sense of silent foreboding. The twisting road through the hills of Derbyshire
brought them closer to home and closer to the seemingly inevitable
exposure of his lack of financial constraint.
Joshua woke to find that the rugged landscape had flattened out and the
delights of the East Anglian countryside were ushering in an eagerly
anticipated homecoming. Each mile brought another distant memory of a
past life that had been lost to him in the hell of his captivity. Briefly, he
recounted to his companions the manner of his liberation and return. The
detail of his capture and survival he could not speak of at present. He may
never speak of it, he thought.
His mother’s reception reduced them both to tears. Composed once again,
she took great pleasure in escorting him to his room and suggested that he
rest and bathe before dressing for dinner. Her demeanour had been totally
transformed by the joy that had overtaken her in the last two days. She told
herself not to push her son too hard in his fragile state and took to her room
for some time to reflect on events.
Adam, with more coaxing from his fiancée, had already decided to rally
some support at this delicate time in his life. What he needed, Evelyn
advised him, was a few of the local dignitaries to reassure Joshua that
Adam had performed admirably in his absence. To this end, with Mater’s
consent and support, Adam began making arrangements for a Bridge
evening to ease Joshua back in to the swing of things.
∫
Three days later, when all of the invitations had been graciously accepted,
the Hall stood in readiness to receive the select few; the lights from within
illuminating the stone steps in the gathering evening gloom. Six players
were arriving to take their places with Joshua and Mary at the two card
tables. Adam and Evelyn would serve as hosts to their assembled guests.
First to arrive were Jude and Alicia. Jude had been the family’s financial
advisor for several years and managed to multiply his initial fortune tenfold
in the War years. He had learnt all that he knew under the guidance of his
father, with whom he had been engaged in growing their business and
property interests in Ipswich for the whole of his adult life. Since his
grandfather’s retirement in 1938, Jude had taken on greater responsibility
and with it, full advantage of the opportunities that had presented
themselves. Had his father been aware of some of his more recent
dealings, it was impossible to believe that they would have been met with
anything other than abhorrence. Once Joshua had taken up his
commission and handed over control, Jude had approached Adam as a
potential financier of an overseas portfolio and found him to be a willing
investor.
Alicia revelled in her husband’s meteoric rise. She had become
accustomed to the finer things in life, afforded them by their new found
wealth; many of her more provincial friendships being abandoned for a new
set. Alicia had always felt that she had been destined for greater things.
She was certainly no wall flower and was often attended by several
admirers at the best parties in town.
They made their way through to the drawing room for a welcoming cocktail
and expressed their deep joy at Joshua’s safe return. Before long they
were joined by the Right Honourable Preston Pooley and his wife.
Preston had been a close friend of the family since serving in the Regiment
with Joshua’s father. After recovering from the wound that had enforced a
premature return from the conflict in 1917, he clung to a sincere desire to
continue serving his country in some other way. Morgan had stood by him,
funding his noble ambitions, as he had launched his political career; the
Major proved to be an indispensable and welcome ally.
It had not been easy for Morgan to risk all that she possessed on a man
with such an uncertain future. In their prime, before war had broken out,
they had had an open and risqué relationship in which she had convinced
herself that a mild level of humiliation was tolerable. It was always clear to
her that the love that they shared would overcome any inconvenience she
might feel and that Preston knew deep down, he belonged with her. The
relationship had also afforded Morgan a modicum of freedom that, when
the time came, she could also enjoy.
Her husband’s change in circumstances had forced Morgan to lower her
expectations. The sense of disappointment had slowly gnawed away at her
until she now felt uncomfortable in the presence of those she had once
considered her equals. Preston, on the other hand, took full advantage of
the authority that came with his new title, once he had finally secured his
seat in the House. Furthermore, it had bestowed upon him the arrogance to
engage in flirtatious behaviour with any young filly, as he put it, that chose
to indulge his interest in them.
The last to arrive were Romain and Claudia whose best days were long
gone but their close friends stayed loyal to them, even if there seemed little
hope of restoration. Romain had once possessed the good looks that one
would expect of his Italian lineage and Claudia’s joie de vivre had graced
many an evening in the Hall, during the heady days of the roaring twenties.
Romain had acquired a passion for the good food and fine wine that his
ancestors had enjoyed, with an unfortunate inability to curtail his excesses.
He continued to perform his magisterial duties with practiced ease but
those he crossed in his official capacity were quick to question how he
managed to afford such extravagant tastes.
With the onset of the War, Claudia’s nervous disposition had come to the
fore and in the six years that her husband’s girth had expanded, she had
inexorably faded to a shadow of her former self. The couple were often
either late for engagements or would telephone at the eleventh hour with
an apology for their non-attendance. Now that peace had been declared
and Joshua had made it home, hope that the pair would rediscover their
sense of proportion had been rekindled.
The assembled party chattered on through another round of cocktails.
Joshua received more handshakes, hugs and kisses than he had prior to
his departure for his last fateful duty. To his mother’s surprise, this did not
have the desired effect of putting him at his ease. In a brief moment that
she had him on his own she took the opportunity to encourage her son.
“It’s bound to take time, Josh,” she told him as he forlornly studied the olive
on a stick that remained, unwanted, in his empty glass.
He shrugged his shoulders and flashed a smile that instantly melted her
heart.
“Adam can keep things on track until you are ready to take the reins again,”
she continued.
“I’m not sure that’s such a good idea, Mother,” Joshua cynically opined.
Curiously, Mary did not challenge her son’s statement but pressed him for
some leniency, “Now Josh, you know that your Father wanted Adam to be
one of the family. Why don’t you give him a chance?”
“I have always tried to treat him as my brother ... can’t you see that? I just
wish he could associate with some more dependable people. You know
what he’s like.”
“Let’s not argue about it now, my love. Just enjoy this evening and we’ll talk
more tomorrow. Our world has changed Joshua, remember that ... and try
to relax,” she advised him, in her ‘caring mother’ voice.
“Yes, I shall,” he assured her and set about mingling with their guests, with
a fresh vodka martini.
∫
The next day, Joshua accepted his mother’s proposal that he escort her to
various social engagements over the summer months to help him recover
his mental and physical strength. He agreed to assist Adam in running the
estate and sign any papers that needed his authorisation but otherwise he
should not tax himself unduly.
In truth, he suspected that Adam would be more than willing to relinquish
his duties if it allowed him the opportunity to enjoy the season in whichever
way took his fancy. On the other hand, he would not be surprised if there
were some secrets to be unearthed at Nede Hall which Adam would
attempt to keep from him, at all costs.
True to his word, Joshua intended to keep to the promise that he had made
to his mother but he knew there would be plenty of time to direct a few
pertinent questions toward some of the right people. He hoped that things
hadn’t changed quite as much as his mother had presumed.
Away from Nede Hall, another private meeting had been arranged as
Preston and Morgan finished their bidding and agreed a final contract with
Jude and Alicia. A discrete invitation had gone out for Jude to pay a visit to
Preston’s club for lunch to discuss “an outstanding business matter”, as
Preston had described it. It concerned a member of their host’s family but
the person in question was unaware of the situation. Jude, trying to
concentrate on how best to play his weak hand, had nonchalantly accepted
the invitation; he trusted in his belief that Preston had more to lose than
himself if a certain matter were not properly managed.
The following Monday, Jude dutifully presented himself at the appointed
time and, feeling ill at ease in the environment that Preston frequented,
followed the steward nervously through to the inner sanctum of the
smoking lounge. His guide came to a halt beside a gentleman seated in a
leather bound chair and hidden behind a raised copy of The Times. On the
table in front of him, a cigarette smouldered in the ashtray next to an empty
wine glass. Jude stood motionless for a few seconds, in the expectation of
receiving some form of greeting.
“Hello Preston,” Jude said, when one did not arrive.
“Yes, yes, take a seat my man. Dashed interesting article about the new
International Court in here,” he proclaimed to Jude as he folded the paper
and dropped it onto the table.
“What’ll ya have?”
They exchanged a few thoughts about the Bridge hands that they had
played until the steward returned with a fresh glass of wine and a whisky
and soda. Preston made some salacious observations about Evelyn’s fine
figure which, in the all male territory that he currently inhabited, Jude felt
obliged to endorse. Eventually, they got down to business.
“We have much to discuss,” Preston began. “So, why don’t you kick things
off by giving me your thoughts on this unfortunate situation with young
Joshua?”
“Well,” Jude began, nervously. “It seems to me that the main issue here is
the problem of managing the cessation of trading while he is on the scene.
We must ensure that there are no loose ends; I can’t see why he would
suspect anything though. He’s been out of touch for so long, he probably
doesn’t even realise that this sort of thing goes on.”
After a moment’s consideration, Jude continued, “Your boys won’t give
anything away, will they?”
“I should damn well hope not!” Preston bristled.
“Obviously, there will be some very unhappy customers ... when we turn
them away.”
“Someone else will fill the gap in the market. They always do,” said the MP,
with a mind to who else he might contact before supplies ran low.
“What if Joshua gets his own man to go through the books?”
“That’s your area, I’m afraid. Just make sure he doesn’t feel the need to,”
Preston advised and lit another cigarette.
“I’ll double check everything before he’s had time to find his feet,” Jude
assured his partner in crime. “And keep a very low profile until the coast is
clear.”
“Leave the others to me,” Preston ordered. “I’ll make sure they understand
that careless talk really can cost lives right now.”
Their meeting was over and Preston turned his attention to International
affairs once more as Jude gulped down the last of the alcohol. The bite of
the malt in the back of his throat was softened by the mixer but he still
appreciated the warmth of the liquid as it slid down. He thanked Preston for
the drink and hastened out to make a start on his assignment.
Once his lackey had departed, Preston folded away the newspaper and
went to make an important private telephone call.
It was no surprise to hear Romain’s suggestion that they meet in his
favourite public house. Preston suspected that his associate was incapable
of getting through a single day without consuming at least one bottle of
wine and was amused to find the portly fellow was already ordering a
second one on his arrival, later that day.
Romain was in no hurry to get back to his neurotic wife after a long hot day
presiding over petty criminals. He knew enough to realise that Joshua’s
return was a huge inconvenience for Preston but not an insurmountable
problem. His primary objective was to elicit an assurance from him; he
needed to know that any impending unpleasantness would not reveal his
own complicity. Any guarantee, regarding the regular payments he had
been receiving in return for his silence, would be a bonus.
“So, what’s to be done, old chap?” was Romain’s opening question,
expecting that he himself would be required to merely say and do nothing,
as before.
He was not disappointed when the reply came, “I think the only option is to
pull up the drawbridge on the whole thing and wait for the dust to settle. In
the meantime, I’ll look at other avenues ... which won’t require any further
assistance from the folks at Nede Hall.”
“That sounds capital to me,” the supposedly upstanding member of the
community confirmed. Seeking further clarification he continued, “... and
how about our little arrangement?”
“If all goes according to plan, then I see no reason to change things in the
long term. For now, let’s not draw any undue attention, eh what?” Preston
re-iterated and cast Romain a long and serious stare until he knew that the
point had been conceded.
“Consider it done,” was the jovial response as the two men clinked their
crystal glasses to seal the agreement.
“Waiter!” Romain called across to a passing attendant.
“I can recommend the duck,” he advised Preston and set about the
important task of choosing his first course.
∫
Although Adam remained unaware of the lengths to which his friends had
gone to keep him free of suspicion, he had received some timely advice
from Preston and been persuaded by it; all things considered, his
ignorance as to just how precarious their position had been was a blessing
in disguise. But it had taken all of his resolve to relinquish his inheritance
and he felt humbled by it. As the days grew longer and Joshua began to
ease his way into the role that was rightfully his, Adam embarked on his
new life of subservience.
Joshua began his rehabilitation by taking leisurely tours of the estate, revisiting the local farms where he had frolicked in his youth. Many of the
original tenants had been replaced, due to the ravages of war, but some
older men had escaped the mayhem and still worked the land. Joshua was
regularly told sad tales of sons and daughters who had lost their lives but
also heard many happy stories of those who had returned. All, like he, had
been changed by their experience.
The farmers’ wives were happy to welcome him in to their homes and there
was always some light task or other that he could lend a hand to. He felt his
strength returning as each day drifted by and he would often wander back
to the Hall under a darkening sky. He was not always entirely sober by the
time he headed off homeward, having felt obliged to accept the most
excellent hospitality.
As Joshua regained his confidence to manage, so the tenants’ trust in their
landlord increased. Before too long, some were brave enough to express
their fears about the future, had the gentleman not returned from overseas.
After listening to the concerns of several trustworthy men, Joshua began to
sense that a storm was gathering like a dark cloud on the horizon. He
decided that the time had come to put his mind at rest and give Adam the
opportunity to refute the condemnation of his accusers.
On the day before the Cambridgeshire Meeting at Newmarket, Adam was
desperate to finally rid himself of his self-imposed sobriety. In a few hours
he and Evelyn would be motoring along in the Healey to join the three day
party. Mistakenly believing that he had achieved his goal of lasting the
course without falling, Adam ambled cheerily into the study for a fond
farewell. There he found Joshua gazing out of the bay window, his hands
linked resolutely behind his back.
“Is this going to take long?” he asked, blatantly revealing his eagerness to
get away as soon as possible.
“That depends,” Joshua cryptically replied as he turned to face his understudy.
“On what?” Adam wondered.
“Look Adam, let’s not kid ourselves that all’s rosy in the garden,” Joshua
began.
“Ever since my father took you in, I’ve done my best to treat you as a true
brother. I felt it was only right to show you the same loyalty as your father
had shown to mine. He sacrificed his life for the good of the Regiment at
Gaza, knowing that he would never see his unborn child.”
Adam was worried now. He wondered where this was leading and tried to
interrupt, “Just what ...”.
“Let me finish. What I’m trying to say Adam, is that with the best will in the
world, you’ll never truly belong here unless you begin to behave as if you
are my brother.”
Adam stared in disbelief at Joshua. His direct approach had left him
speechless. He awaited his next utterance.
“Are you naive enough to believe that you could hide the truth from me?
Don’t you realise that this estate is a community, not your personal
playground.”
“You’re forgetting that I never asked for any of this Josh,” Adam retaliated,
feeling that he should, at least, go down fighting.
“That is true,” Joshua conceded, “but there are many, many people who
would jump at the chance to take your place.”
“So, what do you want me to do about it?” Adam countered, defiantly.
“You can make a simple choice. I’m prepared to forgive all of your previous
dalliances and transgressions. If you want to make a fresh start Adam, I
can help you.”
“And otherwise?”
“Then you must accept responsibility for your actions ... come what may,”
Joshua concluded.
“Do you have any idea what you’re asking of me Josh?”
“Of course I do. I didn’t say it would be easy.”
Adam turned to leave and paused in the doorway. “I’ll be back on Monday.
Please, don’t do anything until I’ve had time to think it through.”
Joshua turned back to the window and surveyed the grounds. He watched
as Adam joined Evelyn in the open topped Healey and heard the engine
fire into life. He continued listening to the distant sound of the motor as it
receded; it passed through the gates and all was quiet once more.
“I’ll be waiting,” Joshua belatedly replied; he was already looking forward to
hearing Adam’s response.