Chapter Forty-Nine
‘You were saying?’ nudged Ari.
Mary took a deep breath but suddenly the house was filled with distant shouts and two little boys and two wet dogs came running around from the side of the property. Seb sauntered behind with Hector struggling to get free and join the rest of the pack. Leo and Will dived on Aster and Nick shouting excitedly and Ohana leapt onto Nick, as Dragon and George bounded over.
‘Seb! Help, we’re under attack,’ laughed Ari. ‘Did you have a lovely time, boys?’
Turning to their mother they nodded enthusiastically and finally spotted the new face. An old woman with tears running down her face.
‘Why are you crying? Did George eat your shoes? He’s just teething, he didn’t mean to hurt you?’ Leo looked at the lady, his eyes full of concern. He didn’t like seeing grown-ups cry, but he was worried that George was in trouble again. Yesterday he had eaten one of Daddy’s shoes and Daddy shouted a lot and then Mummy shouted that she had told him not to leave them there. Leo felt bad because it was him who had given George the shoe to play fetch with, even when Will told him not to. Now this old lady was crying, and he wondered if he was in trouble again.
‘Bless you. But the pair of you are the absolute spit of my little boy at your age.’
‘Oh, Granny,’ said Ari jumping up and giving her a hug .
Both boys looked at the old woman again. They knew who their grandma was, she had a swimming pool. So who was this lady?
‘Boys. This is my grandmother. My daddy’s mummy, which makes her your great-grandmother.’
A great-grandmother sounded cool, but Hector couldn’t even say their names yet. How would he manage great-grandmother?
‘How about you call me Gee-gee, instead of Great-grandmother?’
‘Like the horses?’ ask Will curiously.
‘Yes,’ laughed Mary through her tears, ‘why not?’
‘Would you like to see our bedrooms? I have a picture of my favourite horse in there,’ said Will, tugging at her skirt.
‘I should like that very much, if that’s okay with your mammy and daddy.’ She looked at Ari and Seb who smiled.
Aster stood up. ‘Come on, let me lead the way. If they play up, I’ll throw them to the crocodiles. Seb, why don’t you get some fresh drinks for us all.’
Having put everything in place she and Mary followed the boys who were excitedly telling Mary about all the things in their bedrooms.
As the silence settled, Nick put Ohana back on the floor and glanced at Ari who was beginning to look tearful.
‘I feel so sorry for her. I can’t imagine what it must be like to lose your only child at that age.’ Her eyes welled up and she wiped them with the palm of her hand. ‘Stupid hormones.’
‘I feel sorry for her too. And at least Aster seems to be thawing towards her. ’
‘Is Aster doing her whole “strangers bad” routine?’ tutted Ari.
‘And then some. Mary was so worried to meet you, Aster has been abysmal. In fact, she might not be thawing to Mary at all but making sure the boys are safe.’
Ari looked momentarily alarmed until Nick reassured her that Mary was absolutely lovely, and Aster was overreacting – if that indeed was what she was doing.
‘Like I said, I think she’s thawing.’
‘And how about you? How are you doing through all this? You’re looking tired – the last time we spoke you sounded happy. Now you’re about to be exonerated and you look exhausted.’
‘I think it’s all catching up with me.’
‘And what about Gabe? You haven’t mentioned him much recently. I thought that there might be something there?’
Nick sighed there was no putting off Ari once she was bothered, but if she explained a bit, maybe she could convince her to stop asking questions.
‘The thing is, I thought there was something as well, but he’s a Harrington and Aster is convinced that they are behind all this.’
‘But not him, surely?’ pleaded Ari.
‘I honestly don’t think he’s involved in any of this but what does that matter? It’s his family. There’s hardly any future for us when they are trying to frame me.’
‘Oh God, Nick. What a horrible mess. Are you sure they’re behind this? ’
Nick shrugged her shoulders. ‘I don’t know but Aster is convinced, and honestly, the coincidences are huge. Plus, who else out there would hate me this much?’
Ari squeezed the slice of lemon over the ice at the bottom of the glass and fanned herself with the coaster. After everything that Nick had done for the family it seemed beyond cruel that someone would be pursuing her so relentlessly.
‘Don’t worry. We’ll clear your name and let’s hope that Aster is mistaken.’
‘Aster is never mistaken,’ called out a voice from the patio door. She and Mary walked out carrying a fresh pitcher of lemonade.
‘I’ve convinced Seb to entertain the children for a few minutes so that Mary can finish her tale. Then you can explain why you think I am mistaken.’
‘About Gabe,’ said Nick in a flat voice.
Aster scowled but said nothing and Mary quickly returned to her story, settling down and trying to defuse the tension between her granddaughters.
‘Where was I? Ah yes… my life would change forever. Well, you see, Mrs Cherry needed a new housemaid and cleaner. Someone to help her run her establishment. The way she said “establishment” made me pause – it didn’t sound right – so I asked her politely if she didn’t mean her lovely home. Or was she talking about somewhere else? Well, she looked at me for a bit and then asked if Fiona of Philippa hadn’t explained what her job was.
‘Which is when I discovered that the establishment in question was where gentlemen would visit to find pleasure outside the marital bed. ’
‘No!’ laughed Ari. Aster looked confused and Nick laughed at her. ‘A brothel.’
Mary tutted. ‘Yes, if you want to be so coarse but brothel always seems such a loaded word. What Mrs Cherry ran was a safe establishment for girls to make a lot of money. They could always say no, Mrs Cherry kept them healthy and when it was time to leave, she would set them up with loans and business advice.’
‘So did you ever—’
Ari cut Aster off. ‘Aster, that’s none of our business. Everyone makes the best of their own life and they don’t need us prying into those choices.’
‘Thank you, dear,’ said Mary laughing, ‘but no, my salary for cleaning and tending was enough. Sure, I never made enough to buy a house, but I could have bought a car if I wanted. And every year I would holiday abroad, and I built up a nest egg for Michael to give to him or his children. Although now looking around I’m not sure that you need it.’
Ari leant forward seeing the older woman’s distress. ‘We need our grandmother far more than we need her money.’
As Mary looked up Nick was nodding, and Aster was just watching her carefully.
‘Anyway. That’s what I did for the rest of my working life and I got to know all the regulars – politicians, bankers, nobs and even judges. Which is where my story starts. Judge Percival was also known to the girls as “Soots”, because he had a thing for streaking his face in coal dust. Mrs Cherry always charged him more because I had to wash the sheets twice to get the marks out. If you like, before the ruling starts I could go and say hello. Remind him of the good old days. ’
Nick and Ari stared at Mary in astonishment and Aster burst into laughter. ‘Oh, I might like you after all.’
Mary smiled shyly. ‘You see, the thing I learnt working there was, that at the end of the day, for all their power and influence, men are easily led and quickly undone. The things I could tell you about some of the people I see on the television.’
‘Go on,’ said Aster, but Nick interrupted her.
‘Not now, the children are returning.’ The distant sound of hullabaloo was drawing closer. ‘And thank you, Mary, for the offer but I want to win this because I’m innocent, not because some chap remembers he used to be called Sooty.’