A Ruthless Need, page 24
‘You’ve done this afore then?’ Ted commented.
‘No; not quite like this. Anyway, it isn’t finished yet. If he’s found by daylight, from the state of the ground it might be assumed there’d been quite a bit of a tussle. So I think I and my dad should be the ones to find him, then I can do a bit of ploughing around.’
‘Eeh! My God! I never thought to witness anything like this.’
They were standing on the path outside the barn now, and Geoff said quietly, ‘If I were you I’d go along to The Hare and have a drink, if they’ve got any in. I’ll pop in there meself later. And…and, Ted, no matter what you’ve been doing to save your own skin, I want to thank you very much for what you’re doing to save hers…and mine, because you seem to know as much about us as we know ourselves: you know how things are between us, and that whatever touches her affects me. So, I thank you for us both.’
‘Oh, that’s all right, that’s all right. You’re your father’s son, and I suppose, in a way, I’m doin’ it for him, ’cos he’s been decent to me all these years, especially when I had the youngsters runnin’ about. I always like to pay me debts in whatever way I can, even if it is with somebody else’s property.’ He stayed himself from laughing and said, ‘’Tis no jokin’ matter the night though. ’Tis no jokin’ matter the night. God, I’ll not sleep until they find him an’ hear what they say, ’cos bet your life, if they think it isn’t an accident they’ll be on to me. I know they will. I know they will.’
‘No, they won’t: it’ll be an accident all right. Anyway, you stay as long as you can at The Hare, then walk home with somebody. By that time they should be wondering why he hasn’t turned up. The main thing is, act ordinary. Go on with you now.’
‘Aye. Aye, as you say, act ordinary; but it’ll take some doing. Be seeing you. Be seeing you.’
Geoff now went into the barn, and saw that she was still standing with her back tight against the beam.
Putting his arms about her, he shook her slightly, saying, ‘Now listen. Listen carefully. Everything’s all right. It just looks as if he’s had an accident. His foot’s in a tree root, and when we find him that’s what it’ll be, the result of an accident. Now come on, you’re going home. You’re going in and you’ve got to try, whether you like it or not, you’ve got to try to act as if nothing has happened. You can do it.’
‘I…I can’t, Geoff.’
‘Well, what is the alternative?’ His voice was cold. ‘Go back and tell your mother that you’ve shot your father, because he was aiming to shoot me? And why was he aiming to shoot me? Because he’s always hated my guts, and the very thought of his daughter lowering herself…once again, was just too much for him. So, no matter how you pleaded that you were trying to save me, you wouldn’t have the shred of a name left. You think you haven’t got much of a one now, but believe me, dear, they’d hound you, and you’d be unable to stand it. You’d have to clear out, and…and without me. Yes, without me, for, face up to it or not, as I don’t like to, I’m handicapped, I can only really use one arm, and I’m lame. But on the plus side, I’ve a small pension and a ready-made home, and the responsibility of a father whose mind, at the moment, is not very stable, I’m afraid, not forgetting my adoptive sister and her child. So here I’m stuck, Janis; and you can be stuck with me, and in a way, happily, if you so wish, that is if you can defy your remaining parent. So what is the alternative for you? It’s just as I said, you’d be out on your own, a real working girl for the first time in your life, and you wouldn’t like it. Oh, no, Janis, you wouldn’t like it. So, my dear, I’m going to take you as far as the gates and from there for the next few hours you are on your own. It’s up to you. Go in and talk to Florrie Rice, speak to your mother, then go up to bed. Come on, there’s no time to lose.’
Docilely she went with him, and she never spoke until they came up out of the woods and to the side gate that led to the stables, and there she clung to him for a moment, saying, ‘I’ve…I’ve made a mess of everything. All my life I’ve made a mess of everything.’
‘Yes, you have, haven’t you?’ His voice was harsh, but breezy. ‘Well, now, this is a test. Don’t make a mess of it, because remember: if you do, it’s the finish of everything for both of us; and it will hit you more than it will me. Go on, now.’ He was about to press her away when he pulled her to him and kissed her hard on the lips. Then he, too, was walking away along the main road towards home, thinking, why does this kind of thing always happen to me? First, the army, where he could have risen still further, and had meant to. Then to be left with a body that was handicapped. Next, to become entangled with Lizzie, only for that to be swamped with the revival of emotions that had never really died, and all to head to this.
He had not mentioned how the loss of his mother had affected him, because Lizzie had been there to take her place; at least, in a way. It was quite true what old Meg had said in one of her bits of raw philosophy; a man didn’t only want a wife; she had to be a mother, housekeeper, and loose woman all in one.
And it was Meg who greeted him when he entered the house, asking, ‘Where’ve you been? It’s kizzened up to cork, and it was a lovely bit of fish. Did that Ted bring you a salmon?’
‘Salmon? no; but he wanted me to pick up a few bottles of whisky on the side.’
‘Oh, good. You can get a couple for me when you’re on.’
‘I’m…I’m sorry.’ He walked into the scullery now, saying, ‘I didn’t like the set-up, and the stuff wasn’t sealed. I think somebody’s got a still somewhere, so I let it go. Where’s Lizzie?’
‘Where would she be, but upstairs with the child? She’s got nothing else these days to keep her occupied.’ Her last words were merely a mutter, and he came back at her as if he hadn’t heard, saying, ‘What’s that?’
‘Nothing, nothing. Anyway, I’ve put your supper on the table. It’s there for you, such as it is.’ And with that she went out of the kitchen. And he came out of the scullery and looked at the plate of dried-up fish, which he pushed aside, then walked towards the fireplace and, resting his hand on the mantelshelf, he gazed down on to the brightly black-leaded hob. His mind was in a turmoil, yet, in it he was planning out the action he must take later on that night, because as indifferent as Mrs Bradford-Brown was to her husband, she would surely begin to wonder when he didn’t turn up later on.
He had already decided to stay downstairs in the sitting room until twelve, supposedly reading. If he had heard nothing by then, well, he would have to take it from there, wouldn’t he? But about this other business at which that wily old woman would keep nudging; he would have to have it out with Lizzie, come into the open. But one thing at a time; let him get tonight over first.
It was twenty past eleven when the phone rang. He almost sprang across the room to the hall, and when he picked it up he immediately recognised the refined tones of Mrs Bradford-Brown. ‘Is that John?’
‘No, no; it’s Geoff here. Is that Mrs Bradford-Brown?’
‘Yes, yes. I’m…I’m rather worried. Mr Bradford-Brown went out earlier this evening. I…I think he was hoping to come across those poachers. Anyway, he was intending to join Farmers Hobson and Ryebank and Major Murray at the major’s place to see what was to be done. I…I phoned the major a little while ago and he said that my husband hadn’t put in an appearance. They imagined he had another engagement…I must admit to being worried. Would you mind telling your father…asking him if he would come and do a round in case my…my husband has been attacked or met with some accident?’
‘Of course, Mrs Bradford-Brown. I’ll do that right away; and I’ll come along with him; I haven’t been to bed yet.’
‘Thank you. Thank you.’
He put the phone down and stood looking at it for a second, then hurried up the stairs, opened his father’s door without ceremony, went to the bedside and shook him by the shoulder, saying, ‘Dad! Dad!’
‘Yes? What is it?’ John turned slowly on to his back.
‘Mrs Bradford-Brown has just phoned; the boss seems to be missing.’
‘Missing? What d’you mean, missing?’
‘He went out earlier tonight, apparently trying to locate the poachers, and he hasn’t turned up. He was to go to Major Murray’s, but he didn’t put in an appearance there either. She asked if you will go around. I said you would, and that I’d go with you.’
‘He could have gone into Durham to his club.’
‘She didn’t seem to think so. Anyway—’ Geoff was moving down the room now as he said, ‘if he went out after the poachers, he would likely take his gun. Are you coming?’
‘Aye, yes; I’m coming.’
Ten minutes later they were both in the yard, their shoulders hunched against the cold night.
‘Wild-goose chase,’ John said. ‘She’s started some in her life, she has, but this is the silliest. If the truth was known, he’s tight; he’s got tight, as he’s been doing lately, and he’s sleeping it off in one of the rooms that she’s never thought of looking in.’
‘Yes, could be,’ said Geoff. ‘Could be. But we’d better look around anyway.’
So they looked around.
Six
The bloodstained body of Ernest Bradford-Brown was discovered by his estate manager, John Fulton, and the manager’s son Geoff at half-past one on the morning of 1 April 1944. Police investigation has revealed that while out searching for salmon-poachers the deceased had tripped and fallen, and in doing so had accidentally discharged his shotgun. Foul play is not suspected. Mr Bradford Brown leaves a wife and daughter.
This short report in the local newspaper seemed to cause little interest in or speculation about the death of Ernest Bradford-Brown. There was a war on and there was other news to report, not all of it good. Bomber Command had just lost 94 planes of the 795 that had taken part in the raid on Nuremberg. Nor, later, did his funeral attract much attention, for he had not been a favourite local landowner; much the reverse. He might have been envied for his money, but he was despised for his lack of quality…county quality. Even his wife’s connections hadn’t been able to grease the locks on all the doors in the county to allow him in. And then there had been his daughter’s divorce. That had been a nasty business. People still had the smell of it in their nostrils. No woman worth her salt would walk out on a man just because he had been disfigured. And so it had really not been expected that county representation at the funeral would have been other than thin on the ground. But when representation of local businesses was also lacking at the funeral, it was surmised that although Mrs Bradford-Brown was known as a very gentle and quiet lady, she was also known as a very proud one and, being so, she would take the slight badly…
Alicia had taken the slight badly. It had aroused her anger and settled in her mind an indecision that had been wavering there long before her husband had died. And now, she was relating her decision to her daughter.
Janis was sitting in the drawing room, her face pale, and her dark dress made it appear ashen-hued. She sat silent, staring at her mother sitting opposite as she folded and refolded a cambric handkerchief and said, ‘It is your own fault that he’s cut you off completely. But he didn’t do it just recently; it was after the divorce. That really upset him. He could have stood anything but that. You shamed him. You knew how much he thought of our good name. Your father had had a very hard life, a struggle to make his…’
Now Janis pulled herself forward in the chair and, bending towards her mother, she said quietly, ‘Why are you so sanctimonious now about Father and his hard struggle? You never cared for him. You despised him, and you let him see it. You had the name and the position. You took him because he had money and was making more. You took him to clear Grandfather’s debts and keep you in this house. Say what you like, but don’t talk to me as if you are mourning him, because you’re not.’
‘Who said I am mourning him? I was merely stating a fact. If you had let me go on, I would have proved that to you by saying he was a climber. He wanted to be thought well of. He wanted a position in the county; he wanted to be looked up to. The payment for that was his money. He knew it and I knew it. So, I’m not being a hypocrite or sentimental about him. In fact, at the present moment I’m feeling a great release. I’m sorry he died as he did, and there’s one thing troubles me about his death. I’ve asked myself again and again why he was at that end of the grounds, when he was supposed to be with Major Murray discussing what they were going to do about the poachers. I spoke to him just before he went out. He looked angry. I suppose it was because we had lost so many birds of late, although not from that end of the grounds.’
Janis had her eyes closed and her head was bent forward, her chin resting in her hand, her elbow pressed tight into the arm of the chair, when her mother’s voice came to her, saying, ‘I’m surprised that you have taken his going so badly, because you had been at loggerheads for some time. It was only because I insisted that you were allowed to come for weekends. I will tell you something else you didn’t know. He knew you were seeing that Fulton individual again.’
Janis’ eyes were wide, her mouth open, and when her mother nodded at her, saying, ‘Yes, that surprises you, because you have, haven’t you?’ All she could do was to gulp and say, ‘Yes; he comes into the canteen.’
‘Is that all?’
‘No; he has been for a drink to the flat once or twice.’
Alicia Bradford-Brown pulled herself up to her feet and her lip curled and her whole expression was one of disdain as she looked down on her daughter, saying, ‘How much lower can you get? All right, yes, yes, he was commissioned, but he still remains what he was before he went into the army. Well, as you have informed me more than once, it is your life and you are going to lead it in whichever way you wish. Well, in return I’m going to tell you that I too am going to lead my life in whatever way I wish. So therefore, perhaps it is as well that you’ve got him to fall back on. However, I will give you a choice: I am selling the estate. It has already been put on the market: Mr Gist is to manage the businesses and I am going to join my cousin in Cornwall. She is living on her own in that big, gaunt place and is pleased at my decision. Now, here is something for you to decide. As your father hasn’t left you a penny and I don’t intend to make you an allowance, you are welcome to come with me until after the war, when I intend to move to Switzerland. It is up to you to choose. I’ll leave you to think about it.’
Janis watched her mother walk down the room and out of the door, and as she stared after her, she murmured, ‘Oh, dear God!’ She had fully expected her father to leave her something, because his income from the businesses, which included six estate offices, scattered along the Tyne, as well as the value of this house and land must have made him a millionaire. But he hadn’t left her a farthing. What he had said was, ‘Any remuneration that might come to her would be at the discretion of her mother.’ And what had her mother said? Accompany her down to her cousin Beattie’s mausoleum of a house in the bleakest part of Cornwall. Then after the war, to Switzerland. Tagging along dependent on this ageing woman who seemed to have shed her years and become young again, imagining a new life before her. And what would happen when she died? She’d likely leave the whole lot to some distant relative, just for spite, and all because she, Janis, was breaking the social code.
When she got to her feet her knees felt weak: she could think of nothing but that she’d have to see Geoff and talk to him, ask him…But ask him what?
‘You really mean to go, Meg?’
‘Yes, lass. It’s better that I should. Anyway, I’ve burned me boats. As I told you, I got Bill McGurk to take me bits and pieces down to the new place yesterday. The neighbour next door had kindly scrubbed it out for me. She seems a very canny lass. She’s got three bairns, but they’re all safely away in the country, this way I think, and her man’s at sea, and she’s on nights at the factory, and the days are long, she said. So she did it out for me. We’ll get on like a house on fire. She said I reminded her of her mother. I said, not her granny? and she laughed and said, no, her granny was still alive! her mother killed herself looking after her. Aw, lass.’ She put her hand on Lizzie’s arm, saying, ‘Don’t look so down in the mouth. It isn’t all that distance to Shields. And look, there’s three rooms; you can come and stay with me, as I said afore. On the other hand, I’ll be sorry to leave you, lass. But things are not right here, are they? Do you mind if I open me mouth a bit wider?’
‘No, Meg, as wide as you like.’
‘Well, Lizzie, I think there should be some plain speakin’ atween you and Geoff. And the sooner the better.’
‘What do you mean by that, Meg?’
‘Just what I say, lass. You’re not daft or blind. He’s a changed man these last few months. Well, since the turn of the year, and there’s a reason for it.’
‘And do you know the reason, Meg?’
Meg now turned and went towards the fireplace and, lifting up the kettle, brought it to the table and mashed the tea, then took it back to the hob, before returning to the table and putting the cosy on the teapot. ‘I’m not opening me mouth any further,’ she said, ‘I’m just goin’ to say to you, have some plain speakin’, because you’ve got your own life to think about and that of the bairn, and it might need sorting out. Now that’s all I’m goin’ to say, really, so you needn’t ask. I may be wrong in opening me mouth so far. Anyway, look, it’s a lovely fine day and you’re on your way out to give her an airin’. Have this cup of tea afore you go. Just wait a minute till it draws. By! she’s bonny.’ She was looking through the window to where the child was in the pram outside in the yard. ‘And she’s gettin’ on like a house on fire. I’ve never believed in bottle feeds, but she’s thriving on ’em all right…There you are.’
