Chapter 60 Mother-in-Law
At this dark and cold time of year, with the lights of Christmas back in their boxes and stowed away in the loft, it’s heartening to see delicate white snowdrops appear from the frozen earth.
It gives hope for a brighter future and is a sign that our deepest wishes can emerge, fragile but unbroken, even at the darkest hour.
There are swathes of these bright white flowers beneath the bare beech trees and across the manicured lawns of Glynburgh Private Hospital.
I imagine that the patients take a great deal of comfort from them.
I’ve arrived a little early and take a walk in the grounds to pass the time, admiring the soft yellow stone of the house, and the large, landscaped lake.
‘Lalla Rook,’ I say. ‘To see Madeleine Rook – she’s my mother-in-law.’
‘Of course, it’s good to see you. Is this your first visit to Glynburgh?’
‘No, it’s not. Sadly, I was here to visit her husband last year.’
‘Oh, well, I hope he’s better now.’
‘Not really,’ I say. ‘He’s dead.’
‘Oh, sorry,’ she says, the mortification glowing on her cheeks.
‘We all go sometime,’ I say, and smile.
She clicks away at her Apple computer, deciding to avoid further small talk, and suggests I take a seat.
A nurse arrives within minutes, shakes my hand, and walks me to a well-appointed suite.
Once she was out of the emergency room, Madeleine generously insisted on no longer being a burden on the NHS and came to Glynburgh to convalesce in more comfort. She’s been here for almost a month.
‘You may be surprised by her condition,’ she says, touching my arm. ‘If you’ve not visited her before.’
‘Oh, has it deteriorated dreadfully?’ I ask, with a hopeful expression that seems to confuse her.
‘No, not at all. She’s much improved. She’s a fighter.’
‘Isn’t she?’ I say.
The nurse opens the door, and her voice rises to a volume she clearly uses for the more senior patients.
‘Hello, Madeleine, dear, I’ve a visitor for you today.’
‘Is it Stephen?’ she says from her bed, her voice rising in hope.
‘It’s your daughter-in-law.’
I appear in the doorway to watch her frown appear. It’s probably harder to disguise your disgust when you’re recovering from what I now understand was simple heart failure rather than a stroke or heart attack, but Stephen was always one to exaggerate.
‘Can you stay?’ Madeleine asks the nurse, reaching a hand out towards her.
‘We’ll be fine,’ I insist, and hold the door open until the nurse feels obliged to slip out.
I feel Madeleine’s cold eyes on me as I wander around her room silently. I pick up her cards and read the anodyne messages from well-wishers. I smell the roses in the vase on her bedside cabinet and read the chart at the end of her bed.
‘Heart’s not so strong, is it?’ I say, tapping the chart. ‘Must be so worrying. I mean, one shock and it might pack up for good.’
Even though she’s stronger than Stephen suggested, without her make-up, fine clothes and elegant house, Madeleine looks much older. Her skin is so thin that you can see every contour of the bone beneath.
‘Where’s Stephen?’ she says. ‘I don’t want to speak to you.’
‘But I do want to speak to you, Madeleine, on a delicate matter, so Stephen doesn’t even know I’m here,’ I say, and sit down in the rather upright chair at her side. ‘Lovely place here. Do they treat you well?’
‘I want to see my Stephen,’ she says, her sharp eyes on me as I inspect her drip.
‘I have a couple of questions. That’s all. I want an honest answer – just a straight yes or no, OK?’
Her eyes widen as she stares at me. There’s something about her sunken eyes and sharp bones that gives her an ill-deserved grandeur.
‘Question one – did you convince Stephen to divorce me?’
Madeleine looks to the window, which is both rude and revealing.
‘A simple yes or no will suffice, Madeleine.’
Her mouth puckers and tightens. I don’t feel I have much time, so I reach across, take her wrist and quickly pull out the cannula. She lets out a small cry, more of shock than of pain.
‘Sorry, I thought you were finding it difficult to pay attention. Yes or no? I doubt Stephen has the imagination to come up with this himself.’
She rubs her arm and starts to pick off the remaining surgical tape. This suggests guilt, but I need to hear her say it.
‘I’ve devoted several years of my life to making Stephen happy and raising our children. And yet, he spends time with you and comes back saying he wants to leave me. Anyone would think you’ve poisoned his mind against me, or, worse.’
‘Worse?’ she spits.
‘I suspect you threatened to disinherit him.’
‘None of your business what I do with my wealth,’ she says firmly.
‘So that’s it. You told him he’ll get nothing if he’s still with me,’ I say.
She swallows and she looks down at her hands.
‘You’re a parasite,’ she says, staring at me coldly.
‘We never really bonded, did we?’ I say, although she’s spot on with her description. Age hasn’t wearied her perception at all.
‘You stole him from his fiancée.’ Her body leans forward, showing more determination than I imagined she had. ‘He loved her. I loved her. She was from better stock.’
‘Eugenics is frowned upon these days, Madeleine. And she was sleeping with one of his friends. Not so classy.’
‘Liar,’ says Madeleine, trying to shift herself onto her elbows. ‘You made it all up, as you always do. I know what you are.’
‘And what’s that?’ I say.
‘A nothing from nowhere,’ she says, her eyes twinkling with delight as she looks me up and down. ‘A charade. But I found your shadow. I found Lola Wells. The poor girl taken into care with a murderer for a mother.’
‘My name is Lalla Rook.’
‘Is it, indeed? You made up this fantasy of who you are and fooled everyone. But not me, and now it’s all coming apart at the seams,’ she says.
‘We’re all inventions, Madeleine. Some are born with their masks on, others have to create one to survive. We all strive for more. You’re no better than me.’
‘I am better than you. I don’t need to lie and cheat to find a husband. I’m going to tell Stephen all about you, and then we’ll see what happens. Would’ve done it already, if I hadn’t had heart failure.’
‘I think you’ve been suffering heart failure most of your life, Madeleine. You’ll convince him I’m someone else and you think, along with your threat to disinherit him, that’ll be enough.’
‘Seems like checkmate, Lalla.’
‘Actually, I find it quite reassuring. If he was leaving me because he’d found someone else or had fallen out of love, I might worry, but if it’s just due to your lies and money, then I can do something about it,’ I say, taking her wrist and squeezing it until she squeals and pulls away.
‘He’s never loved you, Lalla, because you’re not real.
You’re a set of reflections. Now, you have a choice.
You can agree to a divorce on amicable terms and avoid public humiliation, or I’ll not only tell Stephen, I’ll release everything I know to the press, and prove he married you under false pretences. You’ll get nothing.’
‘You shouldn’t threaten me, Madeleine.’
‘Oh, I believe I just have,’ she says with a smile.
‘And let this be a warning – I’ve only just scratched the surface with you.
I know there’s more. I daren’t think what I’ll find next if I carry on scraping around in the mud, so your best move would be to disappear and take your funny little children with you. ’
‘Pardon?’ I say, my stomach lurching. ‘My children?’
‘Everyone knows, Lalla. Everyone talks about them behind your back. Nathan’s sweet but he’s a bit of a simpleton, and Nelly is just strange.
God knows how Stephen has stayed so long.
I always told him not to mingle his genes with the lower orders.
Use them for fun, but don’t bloody breed with them. ’
I have to stand and turn away or she’ll see my distress.
I feel my legs weaken as I take two small steps to the window.
I want to feel strong now, but I don’t feel any strength at all.
I want to curl up and lie on the floor. In the face of attack, I’ve always been able to punch right back harder, but I can’t focus now.
This wasn’t how this was supposed to go, and I can’t think.
I steady myself on the windowsill and feel the cold stone against my hands. Outside, I can’t quite see the lake any more as it’s lost in a layer of mist.
‘Just go back to whatever hole you came from,’ she says, ‘and I won’t dig any deeper.’