Chapter 22 Elise #2
“Ended up going back to London. Lots of them did. Good riddance in his case. But if you really want to find out about Marsh House, you want to speak to Lilias’s sister, Ruth. Owned Marsh House up until a few years ago, she did.”
The old lady who’d lived in the house alone! “She’s still alive?”
Belle nodded. “Not only alive but living right here at Rose Lodge Care Home.”
Elise sat back with surprise. “Really?”
Belle laughed, triumphant at the impression her news had made.
“Yes. Mind you, she must be about a hundred years old. Haven’t seen her about much lately.
Always was a bit of a hermit, even before she came here.
Standoffish too. Thinks she’s better than the rest of us.
But yes, Ruth Carter-Brown is still alive. ”
Elise was so excited by this development, she wanted to go in search of Ruth Carter-Brown right away but knew it would be extremely rude to do so. But she would certainly leave a note for her before she left, asking if they could meet up.
Belle was looking at her. “You’ve known sadness in your life, I reckon,” she said.
“Always pick up on it, I do. Probably on account of having had lots of sadness myself. But you’re only young; you can start all over again if you care to.
Just need something to start it off. For me it was my dad dying.
We aren’t supposed to say things like that, are we?
But it happens to be true. If my legs were up to it, I’d dance on that bastard’s grave, I would.
Sometimes death really is the best thing for everybody. ”
Elise sat reeling, Belle’s speech like a hurricane blasting over her. But the old lady hadn’t finished.
“My dad was an evil old bastard. Did just what he wanted when he wanted and never mind how it hurt anybody else. Such a relief when he fell down dead. Blossomed after he’d gone, I did.
Fell in love, got married to my Bert. The image of my dad, he is.
Throws me sometimes, it does, him looking like Dad what with him being the way he was.
But Ted’s not like him, not now, anyway.
Got himself into a bit of trouble when he was younger—well, they all do, don’t they, when they’re teenagers?
But that’s all in the past. You could do a whole lot worse than him for a boyfriend. ”
Sometimes death is the best thing for everybody.
Belle’s sentence was still swirling around Elise’s mind, taking her straight back to Charlie’s hospital room.
Her sobbing over her son’s lifeless body.
Death had come as a release, it was true, because Charlie had been so very, very poorly.
But she would never be able to say death was the best thing, not when that meant losing her boy forever.
“Everything all right?” Ted asked, having returned with a tray of teacups, looking from one to the other of them.
“Yes, fine,” Elise said with an effort, wiping away a tear. “I . . . I’ve just got something in my eye. Where’s the loo, please? I’d better go and splash some water in it.”
“Out in reception, on the right. I’ll put your saucer over your cup to keep your tea hot, shall I?”
“Yes, please.” She pushed herself up from the chair and made her escape, hearing Ted ask Belle, “What have you been saying to her?” as she left.
In the toilet, Elise did splash water on her face, hoping it would dull down the redness of her eyes, thinking that presumably, someday in the distant future, she might be able to hear casual references to death without feeling as if her insides had been scooped out. It certainly wasn’t the case now.
Drying her face on a tissue from her bag, she stared at her reflection in the mirror.
She had to focus. Decide how to make the most out of the incredible coincidence that Lilias’s sister—someone who was bound to have met David in person all those years ago—was living right here at Rose Lodge Care Home.
Belle had called Ruth standoffish. It probably wouldn’t be a good idea to just ask the staff to set up a meeting without any explanation. Maybe if she sent Ruth one of her drawings, she could intrigue her into agreeing to meet with her? Yes, that might do it.
Acting on the idea straightaway, Elise took her sketchbook from her bag and leafed through it, tearing out one of the drawings and writing a quick note on the back.
Then she left the toilet and went over to reception to ask for an envelope, placing the folded sketch inside and addressing it to Ruth.
“Could you make sure Ruth Carter-Brown gets this, please?” she asked, and the girl behind the desk smiled.
“Of course. She’s asleep at the moment, I think; she’s not been too well lately. But I’ll make sure she gets it first thing in the morning.”
“Thank you. And can I phone, to see if there’s any reply?”
“’Course you can. Give me your name, and I’ll write a note for the day staff.”
By the time Elise got back to Ted and Belle, almost ten minutes had passed.
“There she is. We were getting worried about you, girl.”
“Yeah. Think your tea’s proper cold by now, saucer or no saucer.”
Elise removed the saucer from the cup and sipped the tea, doing her best not to grimace. “That’s okay. I ought not to stay too long, anyway. My dog’s not used to being left alone.”
“Remember what I told you,” Belle said as Elise and Ted got up to leave shortly afterwards. “Good times are just around the corner. You’ve only got to let them in.”
“Give you one of her pep talks, did she?” Ted asked as he started up the van.
“Something like that, yes.”
“Famous for them, she is. Fancies herself as a bit of a fortune teller. Don’t mean any harm, though.”
Elise managed to smile. “She’s very nice. Thank you for bringing me, Ted.”
He grinned. “You’re welcome. Find out anything useful?”
“Maybe, yes.”
He looked at Elise questioningly, but she wouldn’t be drawn.
“I see. Secret, is it?”
But Elise just smiled and said nothing.