‘Not all of us have to continually drink the bar dry to find happiness,’ Louise had snapped at him.
It was unusual for Louise to snap at anyone, let alone her beloved brother, and Flora had wondered if the comment was engendered by an urge to defend Rupert, or a growing irritation with Teddy.
The romance between Rupert and Louise had quickly blossomed into something deeper. Both Flora and Archie had liked Rupert immediately upon meeting him and it had warmed their hearts to see the growing love the couple shared. Subsequently, just two weeks ago, the pair had announced their engagement and Rupert had come down to stay at High Weald for the weekend to celebrate. He had been fascinated by Flora’s inheritance from Beatrix and begged to be allowed to come with her when she visited the bookshop in a few weeks’ time. Enquiries had confirmed that the building had not been bombed during the Blitz, and Flora was expecting the title deeds imminently.
Rupert, although from a good family, had no private income of his own. So Archie and Flora had agreed that the young couple should move to Home Farm across the lane, which had stood empty since the farm manager had left. She knew that, with a lick of paint, and some new curtains and furnishings, which Louise’s clever fingers would so deftly create, the house would suit the newly-weds well. And Flora already had the perfect wedding present in mind for the young couple.
‘Mother, can I speak to you?’
Louise found Flora in the garden on a sunny May morning.
‘Of course.’ Flora stood up and studied Louise’s concerned face. ‘What is it?’
‘Can we sit down?’
Louise indicated a bench in the shade, under a rose arbour that Mr Tanit had recently built.
‘What is it?’
Flora could see Louise’s long fingers clasping and unclasping in agitation.
‘It’s . . . delicate. It concerns one of my Land Girls. And Teddy.’
‘Then you’d better tell me.’
‘I’ve known since Christmas that something was going on between the two of them. Remember the night of the Land Girls’ party when Tessie didn’t arrive?’
‘I do.’
‘Well, that night I was on my way back home from the cottages when I saw Teddy and Tessie appear from the drive of Home Farm. It was well past midnight and it confirmed what a couple of the girls had already mentioned to me.’
‘You mean they knew where she was?’
‘Yes, and with whom.’
‘I see.’
‘I hoped that the relationship would peter out – I am sure that you are aware of Teddy’s short attention span, especially when it comes to women – and it seemed to.’
‘Then, why do you tell me now?’
Louise sighed deeply and looked away across the garden. ‘Because Tessie came to me yesterday in floods of tears. And announced that she was “in the family way”, as she put it. She’s pregnant, Mother, and she swears it’s Teddy’s child.’
‘Oh God . . .’ It was Flora’s turn to clench her fingers together in distress. ‘And is it?’
‘She is four months or so gone and her fiancé has been away fighting in France for the past six months, without leave. All the other girls knew she was out with Teddy until the early hours that night and covered for her. The dates fit, I’m afraid. So I’d say that it was, yes.’
‘And Teddy? What does he say?’
‘She hasn’t told him yet. He broke off the relationship after, as Tessie said, he’d finished having his way with her.’
‘Then I suppose he must marry her.’
‘He won’t. He doesn’t love her or, indeed, even like her any longer! Besides, Tessie’s a bright and very pretty young woman, but she comes from the East End of London. The two of them have nothing in common. And the child, if it’s a boy, would be the heir to High Weald. What on earth would Papa say?’
Flora took in the ramifications of her son’s despicable actions, and then thought of Archie’s reaction if he heard the news. It would be the icing on the cake of the strained father-son relationship.
‘You say the woman has a fiancé?’
‘She does, yes. They were childhood sweethearts and have been walking out together for years.’
‘Do you think he might love her enough to forgive her, and take the child on as his own? She won’t be the first girl in wartime to have suffered the same fate, after all.’
‘I couldn’t say, Mother, but I doubt it, don’t you?’ Louise answered carefully, her tone suggesting that Flora’s desperation was making her naive. ‘I mean, if it was Rupert, he’d leave me without a second glance. And this isn’t just about how her fiancé feels about Tessie. It’s about how Tessie feels about Teddy. She believes she is in love with him.’
‘From what you’ve said, Teddy quite obviously doesn’t feel the same.’
‘Perhaps you could speak to him? You’re the only one he seems to listen to. I swear, Mother, he’s gone quite wild in the past few months. And is gathering a reputation for his carousing locally that Papa would be shocked to hear of. Forgive me for burdening you with this, but something has to be done. And fast.’
‘Thank you for telling me, Louise. Leave it with me now and I will try to think what is best to do.’
‘I will tell Tessie that I have talked to you and that you will discuss it with Teddy.’
Flora spent the rest of the day in the garden, wishing that Teddy could be more like the calm, composed Mr Tanit, who spoke little, yet handled both plants and animals so tenderly.
He has compassion, she thought, wondering if her son would ever learn what the word meant.
During a long night of watching Archie sleep peacefully next to her, Flora tried to decide what she should do. If he heard of his son’s dreadful misdemeanour, Flora knew how he would react. Honour was everything to him and she wouldn’t be surprised if he threw Teddy out of High Weald on the spot with nothing.
That afternoon, Flora asked for Louise to send young Tessie to see her. The girl arrived in her study, her sweet face pale, her large blue eyes fearful. Flora saw the slight curve of her belly, and experienced a sudden ache in her own. Even though she and Archie had tried for a child, she had never succeeded in conceiving one. But then, she had been thirty when they had finally walked down the aisle, and a few years later Flora had known she had missed her chance.
As she studied the girl, a moment of madness made her picture holding this child in her arms and bringing it up as her own. Teddy’s child . . . destined to be another fatherless infant. Flora dismissed the fantasy and composed herself for the confrontation.
‘Hello, Tessie. Do come and sit down.’
‘Thank you, ma’am. I’m sorry to bring you into all this, especially seeing how kind you have all been to me and the girls. Have you spoken to Teddy? What did he say?’
Flora readied herself to lie. ‘Yes, I have, and sadly, he denies all knowledge of such a relationship. Or such an event.’