‘Mother . . . I—’
‘Please, do not interrupt me. You are a lazy, insolent drunk and, frankly, an embarrassment to this family. Only last week, your father spoke about remaking his will.’
‘And disinheriting me?’
‘Yes.’ Flora knew she had struck gold by the look on Teddy’s face. ‘And I can certainly see why. To be frank, if your father heard even a whisper of the rumour that is circulating about Tessie, it would be the final straw.’
‘I see.’ Teddy sank down into the armchair.
‘I suggest that, from now on, there are no further lies between us if we are to salvage the situation.’
Teddy looked beyond his mother out of the window. ‘All right.’
‘I have sent Tessie away, with enough money to make sure she and the baby will be safe.’
‘Mother, you didn’t need to do that, really, I—’
‘I think I did. This is almost certainly your child, and mine and your father’s grandchild. Admit it, for God’s sake, Teddy.’
‘Yes,’ he finally agreed. ‘There is a chance but—’
‘I’m not interested in the “buts”. You simply cannot continue in the same vein. I understand that you’re bored and struggling with your life, but your reputation as a womaniser and a drunk is growing apace.’
‘I am indeed bored. And it’s hardly surprising I feel the way I do. If it wasn’t for my stupid flat feet, I’d have been off years ago doing my duty and serving my country.’
‘Whatever your excuses, you must now make a choice. You can either stay and become a son that your father and I can be proud of. Or I shall suggest to your father that we send you to Ceylon to stay with your Aunt Elizabeth and Uncle Sidney, where you can help them on their tea plantation. Either way, you have to prove to your father that you are worthy of being his heir.’
Like Tessie earlier, there was silence from the armchair.
‘You would send me away? There is a war on, Mother.’ Teddy’s voice cracked slightly. ‘Ships are bombed and sunk constantly.’
Flora took a deep breath before she continued. ‘I would, simply because I am no longer prepared to cover for you or excuse your actions. It is down to my constant interventions on your behalf that things have not reached crisis point with your father before now. However, as much as I love you, the look on that young woman’s face today, sitting where you are now when I told her that you had denied having any form of relationship with her, made me realise that I can no longer condone your recent behaviour. Do you understand me, Teddy?’
He hung his head miserably. ‘Yes, Mother, I do.’
‘I still believe there is a good man inside you. You are young and there is a chance for you to make amends and prove to your father that you can one day inherit this estate.’
‘Yes. I will stay, Mother,’ he said eventually. ‘And I promise I will not disappoint you and Papa any longer.’ And without another word or glance at her, Teddy left the room.
39
Over the next couple of weeks, Teddy did indeed seem to have turned over a new leaf. He was as helpful as he could be around both the house and the garden. And there was a great deal to do as, the day after Flora’s talk with Teddy, Mr Tanit announced that he and his wife were leaving High Weald immediately. He wouldn’t be drawn on the reasons, and when Flora asked if there was anything she could do to persuade them to stay, Tanit remained tight-lipped.
‘It’s best, ma’am. Mrs Tanit no longer feels comfortable at High Weald.’
They left that night, and Flora was awake until the early hours, wondering what she’d done to offend the sweet-natured housekeeper.
Louise shrugged despondently at the news in the kitchen the next morning.
‘Surely you must have seen why?’ she whispered. ‘Teddy has been all over her in the last few months. I mean, I can’t be sure, but if I’d been that poor girl, I doubt I could have stood it either.’
Flora closed her eyes, remembering her son putting a hand on Mrs Tanit’s back while they had been standing at the range in the kitchen.
The following evening, Flora ate alone, as Archie had telephoned to say he was delayed at the airbase, a common occurrence these days. In bed that night, she heard the drone of German bombers close by, but hardly gave it a second thought. Such sounds had become as familiar as that of the chirruping of the birds at dawn. However, tonight it sounded near, and Flora sighed with irritation that they might have to move down and sleep in the cellar for the night if the bombers came any closer.
Sure enough, just before midnight, the air raid sirens went off, and Flora, Teddy and Louise trooped down the stairs. Two hours later, the all-clear sounded and they returned to bed, Flora knowing that Archie would almost certainly stay in a bunk at the airbase for the rest of the night.
‘Mother! Mother, wake up!’ Louise’s cry roused her the next morning. ‘There’s a telephone call for you. Someone called Squadron Leader King. He wants to speak to you urgently.’
Heart in her mouth, Flora flew downstairs, almost tripping in her hurry to reach the telephone. Yet she already knew the reason for the call.
The squadron leader imparted the news that Archie and fourteen others at RAF Ashford had been killed outright when a bomb had directly hit the tented area that accommodated the reserve fighter pilots and other members of staff.
Despite Flora’s previous strength in adversity, she fell apart. The sheer irony of it all overwhelmed her . . . Archie surviving this far, and their happiness at his posting to Ashford rather than working in London – the main target of the German bombers – only for him to lose his life a few miles from home . . . it was a situation her addled mind could not comprehend.
Louise called in the doctor, who prescribed sedatives, and for several days Flora lay in bed, with no will or energy to rise from it. Without her beloved Archie, she’d rather be dead too. Even the sight of his daughter’s haunted face was not enough for her to leave her bedroom. She lay there, reliving every single moment that she and Archie had spent together, and railing at the God she could no longer believe in for taking him away from her forever.
And worst of all, they had not even had a chance to say goodbye.