Chapter 14
14
The shock news that the country was at war slowly began to sink in as the newspapers cautioned against the stockpiling of food, young men examined their consciences with regard to doing their duty, and everyone was alert for spies. For the most part, life went on as it had always done, but Norfolk had concerns not felt by those who lived in the west of the country. Would the Germans attack their vulnerable coastline and sweep down to London? Could the war be coming to them? It heightened Lady Fairchild’s anxiety but Sir Hugo insisted that the British Navy would defend our shores and that her panic was unnecessary.
However, Clarence’s decision to be part of the great commissions rush at the start of the conflict soon sent his mother spiralling into another emotional whirlwind. Not many days after war was announced, Lord Horatio Kitchener – the new secretary of state for war – made a direct appeal for men who were, or who had been, cadets in the University Training Corps to take temporary commissions in the regular army. The oldest Fairchild son was one of the first to attest.
Olivia hadn’t been in the room when he’d told his parents and, according to Louis – who was excellent at recounting precise conversations, even though the emotions involved clearly bemused him – Lady Fairchild had become quite hysterical. But Clarence was a man of twenty-three and there was nothing she could do about it. There was a shortage of officers, he told his mother, and his public school education had given him the qualities needed to fight this war: courage, leadership and a love for his country. He could not, in all conscience, stand by when he was needed.
‘It will be a long time before I see any action,’ he’d reassured her. ‘I might be ahead of the regular Tom, Dick and Harry signing up, but I need to undergo more training and secure a commission before I’m deployed to the front. In all likelihood, the whole shebang will be over before I even make it out to France.’
‘Lucky fellow, then you’ll get a season’s shooting without paying for a gun licence,’ Sir Hugo had joked, but his wife had not found his comment amusing, giving him the most withering stare.
It wasn’t long before Kitchener’s face stared out from every newspaper, shop window and advertising hoarding, shaming any young man who didn’t answer the call to defend those they loved. Sir Hugo bemoaned the appeal for big houses to release their male fighting-aged servants, as hundreds of thousands of men enlisted in the first couple of months, spurred on by a deep sense of duty. The numbers of the rank and file swelled nicely, but soon those trying to secure a commission far exceeded the posts available. The public schools had almost been too successful in their training of young men in both soldiering and sacrifice.
Whilst Clarence waited for his commission to come through, Olivia spent more time with the Fairchild boys than she had in months. Perhaps it was the advent of war, perhaps a tacit understanding that they were growing up and things would inevitably change.
Lady Fairchild suggested the youngsters have a picnic by the lake and make the most of the lovely weather. Clarence immediately took control and duly ordered Louis to locate a table and some blankets, and Benji to beg food from Cook. It was all done in the same strident manner that an officer might command his men, and Olivia suspected he would be perfectly suited to military life, even though, as the eldest son, it had never been part of his plan.
Benji scurried off and managed to secure, amongst other things, egg sandwiches, chunks of cold venison pie and an assortment of sweet treats from the kitchens, and they all set off to the shady spot under the willows by the boathouse. Olivia had just royally thrashed Howard at croquet but had the uncomfortable feeling that he’d let her win, and that almost made her more cross than if she’d lost. He followed her to the blanket and placed himself behind her, out of her line of vision, but almost close enough to be touching.
Their truce of two years ago had held but she couldn’t help but feel a cooling of relations between them, even if she couldn’t pinpoint why. Whereas Benji had quickly assumed the role of adoring younger brother when she’d arrived at Merriford, her relationship with Howard had always been more complicated. Sometimes, he sought her out for tennis or chess, and occasionally sat quietly in the same room as her when she was reading, but contributed little to any conversation when she was around, and actively avoided her eye. If she’d done something to offend him, she wished he’d just come out and say it.
As the food was shared between the group, and everyone revelled in the heat of such a beautiful day, the lads spoke of war and glory. It was all they ever talked of now. The conflict had even overtaken observations regarding the weather as the preferred conversational opening amongst the population at large. Foolhardy heroics and making the ultimate sacrifice were all very well, but Olivia knew that such acts were not much good to a dead man, nor indeed the family of one.
‘All my friends have volunteered,’ Clarence said, tossing a grape into the air and catching it in his mouth. He was leaning back nonchalantly on one arm in the manner of someone who knew he was commanding the conversation.
‘Old Teddy Johnson’s younger brother was camping with the Eton College OTC near Aldershot when the news broke,’ Louis chipped in, looking slightly bemused by it all. ‘They got sent home in all the chaos but he’s determined to get out there as soon as humanly possible to whip the Hun into shape. I’m not sure what I’ll find when I go back to Cambridge with this patriotic fervour sweeping across the nation. Soon the universities will merely consist of foreign men and those not physically fit to enlist.’ He shrugged. ‘I’m holding back for a bit. Total nonsense for everyone to up sticks and rush over to France when they’ll all be back again within a few months.’
Louis was not the sort to get swept up by sentiment. Nor was he one to rush into things before he had the necessary information. He tended to employ more of a ‘wait and see’ philosophy, certainly where physical activities were concerned.
‘Don’t hold back for too long,’ Clarence said. ‘We have a family reputation to uphold. Both our grandfathers served, and that cousin of mother’s made a career out of it until the Boers got the poor chap. We can’t be seen to shirk our duty.’ He tugged a further handful of grapes from their stalks. ‘I’m not sure if the pater is pleased that he’s too old, or a bit done, and wishing he could be out there, but he certainly doesn’t much like the son and heir gallivanting across Europe when I should be taking over the reins of Merriford. A part of me, however, is pleased to be making my own decision about something at long last.’
‘Not sure why Mother’s in such a state about you going. She’s practically produced a whole platoon,’ Howard joked. ‘If you bite the dust, old chap, there’s a few of us in reserve. I might inherit yet, and I have grand plans for the old place.’ He punched Louis playfully on the shoulder. ‘Enlist, there’s a chap.’
Clarence smiled but then looked more serious. ‘There’s a rumour that the horses will be requisitioned. Father’s dreadfully cut up about it – I think he’ll almost miss them more than he’ll miss me – but with at least two of the stable hands already signed up, we soon won’t have the staff to look after them.’
‘I’ll miss the horses too,’ Benji whispered. He didn’t ride but Olivia knew he was a frequent visitor to the stables, as were Clarence and Sir Hugo. His gentle nature had always preferred animals over humans. ‘I hope they are treated kindly out there.’
‘Most of the chaps I know are only getting the uniform so they can persuade their sweethearts into the bedroom,’ Louis volunteered, as usual blissfully unaware of the inappropriate nature of his remarks.
‘Oi, there’s a girl present,’ Howard reminded him and four sets of eyes turned to Olivia.
‘Well, it’s true. I’m sure she’ll be the first to have her head turned by a handsome man in regimentals – after all, she was always banging on about dashing knights and the like.’
‘She’s only fifteen, for Christ’s sake,’ Howard muttered through gritted teeth, but Louis blundered on.
‘What exactly does your girl think of it all, Clarrie? Is she happy that her fiancé is off to charge at the enemy with his bayonet fixed? Because, all our jokes aside, there’s no guarantee you won’t get killed.’
Olivia’s insides withered a little at the brutality of Louis’s words but the brothers had spent a lifetime with his frankness.
‘She’s not happy about it all but then women worry too much. She’ll like me in my uniform well enough, but don’t you be getting ideas about stepping into my shoes. I’m coming back as soon as we’ve shown the kaiser what for.’
Olivia could tell that Howard was becoming increasingly agitated. She turned to him and noticed that his fists were in balls. He gave a short snort. ‘I don’t understand the uniform thing. Men can be brave and chivalrous in other spheres. It’s not a khaki peaked cap and a few brass buttons that makes you a man.’
‘Worried it will all be done and dusted before you get a chance to do your bit? Or worried that you’ll never get to experience the pleasures of the flesh?’ Clarence ribbed, and smacked his brother affectionately across the head. A rough and tumble ensued and Olivia slid away from the jostling bodies. They couldn’t help themselves – any opportunity to show off their strength and become top dog. Perhaps, she considered, the war would be a temporary outlet for the restless energy of thousands of frustrated adolescents across the world.
* * *
The whole thing finally became heartbreakingly real when Clarence left a fortnight later for training and, over the following weeks, alarmingly long casualty lists started appearing in the newspapers. Olivia witnessed Benji’s silent tears as the horses were taken away, and people began to realise that the war was not going to be the jolly jaunt so many brave young men had convinced themselves it would be. She was later to learn that three-quarters of a million willing men enlisted in the first eight weeks, but the German war machine had been forty years in the preparation. And as the kaiser pushed through Belgium towards Paris, there was a growing unease that the enemy had been underestimated and the quick victory that everyone had predicted would not materialise.
She tried to communicate with Seth, partly to quiz him further over his wild claims that he existed in some place where the Titanic had not sunk and her parents might still be alive. But, more than anything, she needed to speak to someone who was not part of the Fairchild family and had no idea of what they were going through. How refreshing it would be to pretend the country was not at war. But there was no reply to her soft whispers of his name, and no scuffling feet or squeaking bedsprings when she pressed her ear to the cold bricks. Their interactions had always been sporadic at best and often a couple of weeks would pass before she caught up with her crotchety friend. And he was a friend now, whatever the truth of his existence and despite their quarrel. He may huff at her unrelenting cheeriness and grunt at her overly dramatic pronouncements, but he always made her feel safe and that her opinions were valued.
As the days passed, however, other things took precedence over conversations with a voice that she started to suspect she had finally outgrown. She still undertook her lessons in the mornings, but helped Lady Fairchild in practical ways with the fundraising for the troops in every spare hour outside of that, so that by December, and with the household preparations for Christmas now in full swing, Olivia realised that she hadn’t heard from Seth for months. She had grown up so much since moving to the manor. Imaginary friends belonged to childhood and she no longer felt like a child, even if she was caught in that bemusing wilderness where she was also not yet quite an adult. Seth, she finally accepted, had merely been a product of her grieving imagination. He had helped her to settle, and now he had gone.
Because hadn’t she long since decided that when she no longer needed him, her mind would simply let him go?