Knowing she scarcely had time to grieve today, Flora sent up a small prayer for her dear departed friend, then consulted her to-do list. At five o’clock, the pre-Christmas celebrations would begin with a party for the Land Girls, and she would help Mrs Tanit set out the homemade cider to go with the freshly made mince pies. Flora wanted an evening of fun for the girls, who had arrived a year ago to replace the men away fighting, and who had worked so hard on the High Weald estate. They would be departing early tomorrow morning on a specially chartered bus, which would take them back to their families for Christmas.
And then, on Christmas Eve, her mother would arrive to spend the festive season at High Weald. Flora marvelled at how her relationship with her mother had changed. Rose was a welcome guest at High Weald, and a more regular one now that rationing in London was hitting hard. Flora thanked God for the chickens that laid their eggs, although the fattest chicken would be missing from the coop by this evening. Over time, she’d had to give in to her family’s demand for meat and ‘Dottie’ was this year’s sacrifice.
To cheer her spirits, she counted her blessings that her family had not suffered during the war as other families had; neither of her beloved men had left to fight: Archie because he’d been invalided out in the Great War and was too old to enlist, and Teddy due to the ridiculous miracle of his flat feet. Flora still did not know how this could possibly have hindered him as a soldier, especially as he was so energetic on them, but neither did she care. The condition had saved her son from possible death.
The news had caused Archie some concern – after all, the young squire of the village was meant to be an example – but it was hardly Teddy’s fault and he had sworn that he would play as active a role from home as he possibly could.
Sadly, his attempts at doing so were continually curtailed. Her husband cited lack of discipline, but Flora put it down to the high spirits of a young man who had come of age during a war. With his friends from Oxford leaving to join up, her son’s enthusiasm for his studies had waned, and after a term of what the head of his college had called ‘unsuitable behaviour for an Oxford undergraduate’, Teddy had been sent down.
Since then, he’d tried the Home Guard, but had found it difficult to take orders, calling the local guard ‘crusty old fuddy-duddies’. Flora then acquiesced to Teddy’s request to manage the farm when Albert, the farm manager, had joined up. But Teddy’s inability to get up at dawn had irritated the handful of long-serving farm staff under his command.
Archie had then secured Teddy an administration job at the Air Ministry on Kingsway, where he himself worked, but that hadn’t lasted long either. Flora wasn’t sure of the details – a grim-faced Archie had merely said it had been decided Teddy should leave to find other employment. Reading between the lines, Flora had surmised it was something to do with a girl.
It was hardly surprising that women swooned over him. With his height, strong build and blond, blue-eyed looks, not to mention his charm, he could hardly fail to attract attention from the female sex. Teddy would be twenty-five soon, and was yet to settle down. Flora was certain that, when he did, all the wrongs would be righted and her darling son would become worthy of the title and the estate he would one day inherit.
Flora walked down the icy passageway into the warm, steamy kitchen, where Mrs Tanit was conjuring up something that smelt like mince pies but were cleverly made from all manner of alternative ingredients.
‘How are you doing?’ Flora asked her.
‘Very well, thank you, ma’am. What would you like for dinner later? I was thinking I could use the leftover pastry to make a savoury pie for the others. I have some spinach, mash and eggs I can fry for you,’ she said in her softly accented voice.
‘Goodness, a pie! Now that would be a treat. As long as we can find something to put in it.’
‘Mr Tanit has found some beef shin going spare in the village. I thought I could use that.’
Flora knew better than to ask its provenance. The local black market for meat was rife. And just this once, she wouldn’t resist. ‘You can indeed,’ she agreed, grateful once again for the Tanits’ presence. The young couple were not afraid of hard work. Mr Tanit not only drove, he also assisted Flora with the never-ending jobs in the gardens and the orchard, such as collecting the windfall apples, as well as helping to tend the menagerie that Flora had gathered under her protection over the years.
‘Can you also make up my mother’s usual room?’ Flora asked Mrs Tanit. ‘Oh, and of course, we will need mulled wine for the villagers’ drinks tomorrow at lunchtime. Take some red wine from the cellar, but we’ll have to make do without the oranges.’ Even the thought of an orange made Flora’s senses tingle with longing.
‘Yes, ma’am.’
‘And tonight, Louise is bringing the Land Girls up at five sharp,’ she added in afterthought. She left the kitchen, and then went back to her study to write a letter of condolence to William, Beatrix’s husband. Flora had just put her pen down when there was a knock on the door.
‘Come.’
‘Hello, Mother, am I disturbing you?’ Louise popped her head round the door, her shoulder-length auburn hair neatly held back with two combs, her dark eyes so like Archie’s.
‘Of course not. Although I have just had some very sad news. My friend Beatrix died yesterday.’
‘Oh Mother, I’m so terribly sorry. I know how fond of her you were. And such a talent lost to us too. I remember you used to read Teddy and me her animal stories.’
‘The world will certainly be a lesser place without her.’
‘It’s so sad that she didn’t live to see peace. I am sure it will be coming soon. Or at least, I hope it will,’ Louise corrected herself.
‘What is it you wish to see me about, darling?’
‘Oh . . . it’s nothing. It can wait for another day. The girls are all very excited about tonight’s party,’ she continued brightly.
‘And we will do our best to make it as cheerful as we can.’
‘I have sewn them lavender bags to take home as a gift,’ she said. ‘And we are all dressing up!’
‘Wonderful, and please do not think that I will be sad this evening. Beatrix would not have wanted any of us to mourn.’
‘Nevertheless, any loss is a difficult one, and I know that you are simply being brave.’ Louise walked over and kissed Flora on the cheek. ‘I will see you at five o’clock.’
‘Is Teddy coming this evening, do you know? I have asked him to attend.’
‘He said he’d try, but he’s very busy today.’
Doing what? Flora asked herself as Louise left the room. And then put away the thought. He was her son and she had to trust him.
The Land Girls gathered later that evening in the drawing room, drinking cider and eating Mrs Tanit’s excellent tribute to mince pies, made from dried plums and apples gathered from the orchard earlier in autumn. Louise was encouraged onto the piano, and they sang Christmas carols with gusto, before ending with Vera Lynn’s ‘We’ll Meet Again’.
As Louise ushered the girls out to the lobby to collect their coats and return to the two cottages they occupied near the stables, Flora saw a look of concern on her daughter’s face.