The honeymoon was a blissfully happy one. Kane proved to be a caring and tender husband, a generous and passionate lover and an amusing companion. The weather threw everything at them – rain, hail, sleet and snow – but it didn’t matter. It was two weeks out of time, a magical interlude when they got to know each other as man and wife and cemented a union which had been thirteen years in the making.
The happy couple returned home knowing huge changes were in front of them. Ralph, Sadie and Harriet had all agreed to accompany them in a move up north, and in the weeks preceding the marriage, Kane had wound up his agency business. Both Kane and Sophy’s houses were up for sale and offers had been made on each of them which were more than acceptable. For the time being, until the legal formalities were finalised and monies exchanged, it had been agreed that Ralph would continue living in Kane’s house and deal with boxing up any items of personal value and furniture his employer wanted to keep. Kane would join Sophy in what would be their marital home until the move.
Patience and William, on hearing their plans, had volunteered to look for suitable accommodation in Sunderland for them. Patience had undertaken this task with relish, thrilled that Sophy was returning to her roots.
A letter from Patience was waiting for Sophy and Kane when they sat by a roaring fire checking their post on the day they got home. She and William had found the perfect place, Patience had written excitedly. It had just dropped into their laps as though it was meant to be. A doctor friend of William’s had converted a farmhouse some years before, about half a mile west of where they lived. He’d sold most of the land to a neighbouring farm, but the place had a wonderful garden and a couple of terraced cottages set in what had been the farmyard. These were in a state of some disrepair but it wouldn’t take too much time or money to bring them up to scratch, and they would be snug little homes for Ralph, and Sadie and Harriet. The doctor, who had been offered a wonderful post in a large Edinburgh hospital, was anxious to sell immediately and would therefore take a reasonable offer. Could Sophy and Kane come up and see the house as soon as possible? Time was of the essence, Patience had urged.
The next letter they opened was one from an actor-manager Kane knew who now ran a touring theatre company based in the north. Kane had written to him asking him to spread the word within the industry that a buyer was looking to purchase a theatre Sunderland way. It appeared he’d heard of two possibles, one in Seaburn which was a very nicely presented music hall at present, and another in Bishopwearmouth itself which had recently suffered fire damage and was something of a wreck. He’d been assured, he added, that this would be reflected in the asking price of the building.
‘Oh, Kane, we have to go and see them both, the house and the theatre in Bishopwearmouth. It’s a sign, don’t you see? Them both coming to our attention on the same day and both at a reasonable price.’ Sophy, swept away on a flood of excitement, looked at her husband with shining eyes.
Kane, ever the pragmatist, was less enthusiastic. ‘We don’t know what “a reasonable price” is in either instance,’ he pointed out. ‘What the seller may consider reasonable is quite different to what the buyer thinks is a good price.’
Sophy wouldn’t be dampened. ‘You didn’t think Ralph and Sadie and Harriet would want to up sticks and move away from London, did you? But they do, all three of them. That was the first sign this was meant to be. This is the second. We have to go without delay before the house or the theatre are snapped up by someone else.’
‘What about the one in Seaburn?’
‘No.’ Her voice was adamant. ‘It’s the one in Bishopwearmouth we should have, I know it. We must go straight away, Kane.’
‘We’ve just walked in the door, sweetheart. We’ll need a day or two sorting out here. We’ll go next week sometime, I promise.’
They left the next morning. Ralph arrived as Sophy was saying goodbye to Sadie and Harriet in the kitchen, and as Josephine – who had learned to walk the month before and was now running her mother ragged – saw him, she waddled towards him, face beaming and arms raised to be lifted. And Ralph whisked her into his arms as though it was an everyday occurrence, his tough face tender as he murmured, ‘And how’s my big girl then?’
Sophy glanced at Harriet who was watching the tableau with a fond expression, then at Sadie who nodded her head in the direction of the hall. When the kitchen door was shut, Sadie whispered, ‘He’s been round every day since you’ve been gone on some excuse or other. I’ve thought for some time he’s had his eye on Harriet.’
‘And what about Harriet?’ Sophy asked, bemused.