Faith Page 16

  ‘Who was the other woman?’ she asked.

  ‘Some stuck-up cow from Chiswick. She had the cheek to come to Vince’s funeral! She had no shame, she talked to all his friends and relatives like she were the bleedin’ widow. Then she comes round here and tells me Vince was going to divorce me and marry her, and he would have wanted her to have the house. I ask you! The barefaced cheek of the woman!’

  ‘She won’t have a leg to stand on unless he left it to her in his will.’ Laura said. ‘What was in his will?’

  ‘That’s the problem, he hadn’t made a new one.’ June began to cry. ‘The one his solicitor had was made before his first wife died. He said he was going to make a new one when we got married, but he never did it.’

  ‘Well, you’re fine then,’ Laura said. ‘It all goes to the wife in that case. No one can chuck you out of the house.’

  ‘That’s not what his sons say, or that cow. The sons reckon they should get it because this house was bought with their mother’s money, and that bitch says she’s got a letter from Vince where he said I tricked him into marrying me. He said he was going to get rid of me and my brats because I was a lazy slut. She reckons he wanted her to have everything if he snuffed it.’

  ‘I don’t think for one moment that would stand up in court,’ Laura replied thoughtfully. ‘Have you been to a solicitor?’

  ‘Yes, but half the time I don’t know what he’s talking about. He said that in this case, the court will look into the whole family and decide who has what. Even if they favour me, Vince’s kids can appeal against it and have a share. What chance do I have over them? They went to posh schools and university, they know what they are doing.’

  ‘Then you have to get a solicitor who knows what he is doing. I could come with you and speak up for you,’ Laura offered.

  ‘You do want a slice of the pie then?’ June said nastily.

  ‘You what?’ Laura exclaimed. ‘I don’t want even the scrapings from his toe nails. Don’t you know why I left? He was always coming on to me. Part of the reason I came today was that I was afraid he’d start on Meggie or Ivy.’

  June looked at her as if she’d just come down from Mars. ‘Don’t be bloody silly! He didn’t even like you, and he treated Meggie and Ivy like they were his own flesh and blood.’

  A kind of snort from behind her made Laura turn to see Meggie was back standing in the doorway, listening. ‘Did he touch you, Meggie?’ Laura asked.

  She had the same insolent, arms-crossed stance as earlier, but her expression had changed from sulky to wary. Instinctively Laura knew that Vincent had pestered her, and maybe that was why she was acting so hostile. ‘Did he, Meggie?’ she asked more gently. ‘You should tell us if he did. I expect he said you were never to tell Mum or he’d throw you all out. That’s what he told me.’

  ‘Don’t put such ideas into her head,’ June suddenly screamed out. ‘How dare you come walking in here telling lies about my Vince?’

  Laura was horrified June would defend Vincent even though he had betrayed her, yet not show any concern about her own daughters.

  ‘Do you really think I’d have left here at fifteen if there was nothing wrong?’ Laura shouted back angrily. ‘He made it impossible for me to stay, and you were a bloody useless mother, you couldn’t even see what was going on under your very nose.’

  ‘She hasn’t changed,’ Meggie said dourly.

  All at once Laura wished she hadn’t come. June was beyond her help, for whatever Laura did for her, whether it was practical stuff like cleaning up, or giving her sensible advice, she’d just go her own way. By tomorrow there would be more dirty dishes on the table, she’d still be sitting here smoking and not acting on advice. She wouldn’t stir herself to fight this other woman, or Vince’s greedy sons, she was what she’d always been, lazy and stupid.

  Where are Ivy and Freddy?’ she asked.

  ‘Out somewhere,’ June replied, her tone suggesting she had no idea where and cared less.

  ‘You’ve got to pull yourself together, Mum,’ Laura said. ‘You should know where Freddy and Ivy are, what is wrong with Meggie, and you should be a real mother to all three of them and look after this place.’

  June looked Laura up and down, pursing her lips. ‘Looks like you’ve done well for yerself anyway, gotta sugar daddy?’

  ‘No, I bloody well haven’t,’ Laura snapped back at her. ‘I’ve worked and kept myself ever since I left here. And I’m going now, I can see you don’t give a toss about me, and if Vincent was touching Meggie up, then at least he can’t do it any more.’

  ‘That’s right, run out on us again!’ June retorted.

  Laura was exasperated. ‘What do you want of me?’ she asked. ‘To be your slave like I used to be, I suppose. Maybe you want me to nip down the shops and steal a few groceries too? Well, I’m not coming round here to clean up alter you, or to be insulted. If you can’t talk to me properly, I won’t come again. I’ve got a good life now, no thanks to you, and I’m not going to let you destroy it.’

  ‘You don’t know what I went through when you left,’ June said, tears coming into her eyes. ‘I couldn’t sleep for worry, the little ones kept asking for you. And all Vince kept saying was that you thieved money off him.’

  ‘He was right about that, I did,’ Laura admitted. ‘He owed it to me after what he’d put me through. Didn’t you even suspect what he was doing to me?’

  ‘She don’t care about anything but herself,’ Meggie piped up. ‘Soon as I’ve got a few bob behind me I’ll be off too.’

  Laura felt helpless. She could see everything that she’d once felt in Meggie’s face. If she hung around until Ivy and Freddy came back no doubt she’d see and hear more that would distress her. She was a little touched by June’s claim she was very upset when she left, but that was probably yet another ruse to play on her sympathy.

  ‘What happened to Mark and Paul?’ Laura asked.

  ‘Back inside,’ Meggie said. ‘They was out for a couple of years, kept coming round tapping Mum up for money, and like a mug she gave it to them. Then they got caught burgling some house in Hampstead and they got a couple of years apiece.’

  Just the way Meggie spoke made Laura shudder. It was clear she was hanging around now with a rough crowd and had picked up their way of speaking and acting. She had been such a sweet little kid, so eager to please, and loving too. How could all that have gone?

  ‘How are you managing for money?’ she asked June.

  ‘I’ve got a widow’s pension.’ She shrugged. “Course that don’t go very far, and until the probate gets sorted I can’t touch nothing in Vince’s bank account.’

  Laura took £10 out of her purse. It was all she had apart from a few coins. ‘That’s all I can spare right now,’ she said. ‘Go back to the solicitor and tell him that you’ve got nothing. The more information you give him, the more likely he is to see you right. I’ll phone again on Thursday, and if by then you want me to go with you to see him, I will.’

  ‘You’d better leave us your address and telephone number,’ June said, without even looking up or thanking her for the money.

  A stab of fear struck Laura. She knew full well that once the address was handed over, the first time June, or even Meggie, had a problem they’d be round.

  ‘I’ll phone you,’ she replied. ‘I work away from London a lot so I’m rarely at home. I must go now because I’ve got some work to prepare for tomorrow. Will you walk down to the bus stop with me, Meggie?’

  She expected a rebuff, but Meggie nodded, then went to get her coat.

  ‘Bye, Mum.’ Laura bent to kiss June and the smell of smoke lingering around her took her right back to her childhood and made her eyes prickle. ‘I always cared about you,’ she blurted out. ‘I only left because of Vince. But pull yourself together and clear up, eh? This is a lovely house and if you get Vince’s money you’ll be on easy street. You’re luckier than most.’

  June’s arm went around Laura’s waist, and for a second
she leaned into her chest. ‘I’ll try,’ she murmured. ‘And I’m glad to know you’re safe and grown into a beauty.’

  6

  Stuart paid off the taxi outside the Alexandra nursing home in Muswell Hill and walked up to the front door carrying a bouquet of flowers. The elegant Victorian terrace was very similar to Duke’s Avenue where Lena Thompson used to live, but three houses had been converted into the home, and the original front gardens were now paved over.

  In the middle bay window he could see two white-haired old ladies nodding off in chairs, and he was saddened to think that Lena, who had always been so young at heart, vibrant and energetic, should end up here so prematurely.

  ‘Mrs Thompson isn’t very keen on coming down to the lounge,’ the plump, red-faced nurse who answered the door informed him. ‘Go on up to her room, it’s number six on the first floor, left at the top of the stairs.’

  Stuart was horrified by the stale smell of old age and sickness permeating the home, even though it was tastefully appointed and spotlessly clean. It was very close too, with no windows open, but he supposed the old folks felt chilly when they couldn’t move around. He understood now why Belle had tried to put him off visiting her mother, and perhaps he shouldn’t have come.

  He knocked tentatively on the door of number 6, expecting a feeble voice to reply, but to his surprise the door sprang open instantly, and there stood Lena.

  She didn’t look much different to when he’d last seen her ten years earlier. She was more conventionally dressed in a button-through summer frock, her hair was grey and cut short and the lines on her face had deepened, but she certainly didn’t look like the old biddies he’d glimpsed downstairs.

  ‘Stuart!’ she exclaimed, clapping her hands over her mouth in shock at seeing him. ‘What a wonderful surprise! I thought it was that bloody old vicar who seems to think I need to put myself straight with God before I snuff it.’

  Stuart laughed with relief. If she knew him instantly she clearly wasn’t senile, and that irreverent remark was typical of the kind of things she always used to say.

  ‘It’s good to see you again, Lena,’ he said, handing her the flowers. ‘May I come in?’

  ‘Please do, and quickly, before anyone catches me with a man in ‘my room,’ she said impishly. She sniffed the flowers appreciatively. ‘How lovely. Delphiniums and lilies, my absolute favourites.’

  Lena’s room was large, overlooking the gardens, with its own en suite bathroom, where she quickly placed the flowers in the wash basin saying she would arrange them in a vase later. Everything looked reassuringly comfortable and homely. In fact Stuart remembered some of the furniture, pictures, lamps and ornaments from Duke’s Avenue. He saw she was still painting too; the small table in front of the window held her paint box, brushes and a large sketch pad. He felt an enormous sense of relief, for this was so much better than he had expected.

  ‘Would you like a drink?’ Lena asked. ‘It is after three, and a visit from you is worthy of a celebration.’ She opened a small cabinet and got out a bottle of single malt whisky, a mischievous expression on her face as if she was embarking on something wicked.

  Stuart said he’d have a small one, and quickly explained how he’d been overseas and hadn’t heard about Jackie’s death until his return. ‘I’m so sorry, Lena. It must have been shattering for you, and even worse to lose Frank so soon after.’

  ‘Yes, it was,’ she nodded, her bright smile fading. ‘Absolutely awful! I was hanging on by a very slender thread after Jackie was killed, but when Frank went too the thread snapped. I’d known him since I was fifteen; he wasn’t just a major part of my life, but the whole of it. But I guess I’d been very lucky to have a perfect life for so long, and that my luck just ran out.’

  A lump came up in Stuart’s throat, for she looked the way his mother had after his father died. Wistful but resigned, and not wishing to burden anyone else with her deep sorrow.

  ‘I wish I could find some words to comfort you,’ he said and moved forward to hug her. It was only as he held her that he realized she was far thinner and perhaps shorter than she used to be; she felt more like a child of twelve or thirteen than a grown woman.

  ‘Enough sympathy,’ she said, stepping back from him and turning to pick up their drinks. ‘I miss them both terribly, but I have to carry on. And I want to know where you’ve been and if you’ve made your fortune yet.’

  Stuart smiled, for he knew that when he first met her he often used the expression ‘When I make my fortune’. He was touched that she remembered.

  ‘I suppose I have,’ he said, and as she sat down on one chair he took the other. ‘But money’s a funny thing – the more you get, the more you seem to need. I haven’t got enough yet to retire to the Caribbean.’

  ‘Still as handsome as ever though,’ Lena smiled. ‘Are you married yet?’

  Stuart shook his head. ‘Never met the right girl,’ he said. ‘And you were spoken for.’

  He talked a little about his work and then went on to say how he’d been to Scotland to see Belle.

  ‘She didn’t tell me,’ Lena said indignantly. ‘I dare say she’ll insist she did tell me when I reproach her, and that I’d forgotten, but she didn’t. She seems to think I’m senile.’

  Stuart thought it odd Belle had implied that to him too. ‘Maybe she had a lot on her mind,’ he said. ‘But tell me why you moved in here. You don’t look like you need to be in a nursing home.’

  ‘I don’t, not any more, but I was doolally after Frank died. I don’t remember much about it now, but apparently I wasn’t eating, acting strangely and wasn’t looking after myself. My doctor recommended I came here. When I began to recover, we discussed the possibility of sheltered housing because the house in Duke’s Avenue was far too big for me to live in alone. But I’d got to like it here by then, I had the nurses to have a chat and a laugh with, I’ve got lots of friends and old neighbours around here, so it’s easy for them to drop in. They offered me this nice big room – they call it the VIP suite – and said I could bring my own stuff here to make it like my own home. So here I am, bowed but not beaten.’

  ‘But isn’t it far more expensive than living in your own place?’ Stuart knew she must have got a small fortune from the sale of Duke’s Avenue, but as he understood it, nursing-home fees could quickly eat that up.

  ‘I made quite a good deal with the owners,’ Lena smirked. ‘You see, I don’t need nursing, and they like having a few able-bodied people around as it’s more cost effective for them. It’s a bit like living in a hotel really, except I know I won’t be kicked out if my health deteriorates.’

  ‘Does that mean you are allowed out then?’

  ‘Of course! It isn’t a prison,’ she said indignantly. ‘I go up to the shops, to the library, and sometimes have a night or two away with a friend. I help in the garden, go out to dinner sometimes with friends. It’s a bit depressing going down to the lounge or the dining room, mind you. Most of the other residents are gaga.’

  ‘Well, I’m very glad you aren’t,’ he said, wondering why on earth Belle had told him that Lena probably wouldn’t know him.

  ‘How did Belle seem to you?’ she asked, as if she’d picked up on his thoughts.

  ‘Very bitter and angry about Laura! That’s perfectly understandable, but I hadn’t expected it. You see, when I read up on the trial, it seemed to me that Belle didn’t believe Laura had done it.’

  ‘And now she’s rabid about her?’ Lena raised one eyebrow quizzically.

  ‘Well, yes,’ Stuart agreed.

  ‘I find that odd too,’ Lena said thoughtfully. ‘Frank, Toby and I went up to Scotland immediately we got the terrible news. We were all distraught of course, something like that is beyond anyone’s comprehension, but Belle was hysterical, she kept being sick, and over and over again she insisted that Laura couldn’t have done it.

  ‘As it turned out, with Frank dying and me being in such a state, there was no question of my going to the trial.
But Toby was there, and as I understand it Belle still believed totally in Laura’s innocence and expected her to be acquitted. It was only later, when she came down here to sort me out, that she appeared to have completely changed her mind.’

  ‘The weight of the evidence, I suppose,’ Stuart said cautiously. ‘What was Toby’s opinion of the verdict?’

  Lena frowned. ‘He was very confused. It didn’t help when he discovered that Laura lied to us all about her family. He said that she clearly wasn’t the person he believed her to be. As I expect Belle told you, he went off working abroad soon after – he’s in Australia now.’

  ‘I’m sorry, you must miss him a great deal,’ Stuart said.

  ‘I do, but in a way I’m glad he went, he’s got a far better life there, a lovely young wife now too, and a baby on the way. They are coming over next year for a month, which will be lovely.’

  Stuart smiled. ‘So you’ll be a granny at last, that’s great. But getting back to the verdict in the trial, what did you think of it?’

  ‘I was, and still am, convinced of Laura’s innocence.’

  ‘You are!’ Stuart exclaimed in surprise.

  ‘Belle will tell you that’s because I’m losing my marbles,’ Lena said, leaning towards him in a conspiratorial manner. ‘But I knew Laura really well, almost as well as I knew Jackie. Yes, she lied about her family, she’d done a lot of things which perhaps she shouldn’t have, but I know she was not the conniving, uncaring and evil person the lawyers and newspapers made her out to be. But you know that, Stuart, you were in love with her.’

  ‘Yes, I was, Lena.’ Stuart sighed. ‘It is good to hear you stick up for her. You see, I went to see her in prison, and I believe she’s innocent too.’

  Lena sat back in her chair and smiled. ‘That’s wonderful, and very big of you to put aside past hurts. But then, you always were a very balanced and fair-minded person, that’s why Frank and I liked you so much. Now, tell me how Laura is.’