Chapter 28
Beside William was an older version of himself, equally confident but with a stick for balance, or perhaps it might come in handy for knocking peasants out of the way.
‘Charlie’s father and grandfather,’ said Henry, as we watched them walk past. ‘William and Oliver Richmond.’
And then William spotted me and stopped. ‘Kerry-Anne, good to see you again.’ He glanced at Henry. ‘Henry.’
‘William.’
I had risen to shake his hand and he turned to introduce me to the older man ‘Oliver Richmond, my father. Dad, this is Kerry-Anne Daly, she’s working with the knitting circle.’
‘Ah yes.’ The older man’s eyes were ice-grey and they locked on to mine. He was wearing the same kind of top as his son, was just as tanned and had the same look in his eye, sly and searching. ‘Well, enjoy your evening.’ They turned to face Matty and Eddie. ‘Lads,’ he said.
‘Ollie.’ Eddie nodded back.
Oliver mumbled something which sounded like, ‘There they are. The troublemakers.’
Eddie raised an eyebrow. ‘What was that, Ollie?’
‘I was just saying,’ went on the oldest Richmond, ‘that you two are troublemakers. Always were. Thick as thieves. Same in school.’
‘Who are you calling thick?’ said Matty, smiling pleasantly at him.
‘It’s just that we’ve been told by the regatta committee that you, Matty Moran, are causing problems. Still won’t accept the name change of the cup. It’s time to accept that things have moved on.’
‘You might have forgotten all about Lolly,’ said Eddie, defiantly. ‘But we haven’t.’
Oliver’s face was totally blank as he stared back at Eddie.
‘Why do you want to change the name so badly?’ said Matty. ‘Got something to hide? Shame, perhaps?’
‘You two have got big mouths,’ said William. ‘We just want to honour my father. He has done so much for the local community, created jobs.’
‘Why not just have a new cup?’ asked Matty. ‘Why change it?’
‘Because…’ began the older Richmond. ‘Because…’
His son found the words. ‘Because we just do, all right?’ said William.
‘And I don’t know what you are talking about, shame and all that.
You should be ashamed, blocking the honouring of someone who has created jobs in this village.
What have you created? Eh? And anyway, the vote on the committee doesn’t have to be unanimous.
We could still get a new name for the cup. But a consensus is always ideal.’
‘Is it now?’ said Eddie. ‘A consensus isn’t normally the Richmond modus operandi.’
‘Oh, big words,’ said Oliver, who had found his glowering power again. ‘Not as thick as you look.’
Eddie and Matty smiled back at him, refusing to be riled.
And then Oliver softened, turning on the charm.
‘Lads, come on. How long have we known each other? All our lives? Seventy-something years? Times change, things move on. This renaming of the cup is for all the Richmonds. It’s a nice honour, that’s all.
You don’t think we, as employers, deserve a little nod like this? ’
I looked at Henry, who pulled a face. ‘Sandycove isn’t as sweet as you might have thought,’ he said, quietly.
Matty was speaking forcefully. ‘It’s wrong, that’s all,’ he said to Oliver. ‘Just leave the Lolly Cup alone. I don’t see why we can’t just remember her. We want to.’
‘Leave it,’ the senior Richmond said to his son. ‘These two will never change.’
‘And nor have you,’ said Eddie. ‘Yes, you’re right, we’ve known each other since we were all in short trousers. And yes, things change, but people don’t. Leopards and all that.’
William was turning the colour of his polo top.
‘Just accept it, will you? Stop making trouble. No one remembers Lolly DeCourcey…’ He was becoming increasingly annoyed, his eyes bulging, bubbles of spit forming on the corner of his mouth.
He glanced at his father, who was leaning on his stick, far more impassively, his gaze on Matty and Eddie.
‘You’re like Luddites, the two of you. Won’t accept the world has changed. ’
‘Luddites, is it?’ Matty seemed amused.
‘Oh, we know the world has changed,’ said Eddie. ‘We’re aware of that. It’s just that if we forget Lolly, then it’s a world that’s not worth anything. Changing the name of the cup obliterates her from our memories.’
‘But it’s about time!’ said Oliver. ‘Isn’t it, Dad?’
‘These two will come to realise that,’ said Oliver, calmly.
‘I mean, I don’t want the honour, personally.
But the committee is determined and the decision has been passed by majority…
your vote doesn’t matter, Matty. It’s my own father and my own grandfather, the men who came ahead of me, the ones who took the laundry and built it to mean something to this community.
How many women and men were employed by us over the decades?
Hundreds? We put food on the tables of Sandycove, put shoes on the feet of children.
Eddie, your own father drove one of our vans.
Matty, your mother was one of our most respected laundresses.
You know that, lads, and yet you still resist.’
‘The committee can do what it wants,’ said Eddie. ‘It’s your insistence that Lolly’s name is wiped out…’
‘But then there would be too many cups,’ said Oliver, carefully and calmly, as though Eddie was a child. ‘It would be confusing.’
‘Things do change, we know that,’ said Matty.
‘But in reality we’re an extension of everything that’s come before us.
An unbroken line reaching back millennia.
The past is present. We don’t start again and move on.
We learn from the past and from those who went ahead of us.
There are no beginnings and endings in life.
We are just lucky to be here for however long we are.
And I think the renaming of the cup is a shame on all of us. Especially—’
‘Let’s leave it now,’ interrupted Oliver, who then switched into a smile.
‘But the winner of the cup is all to play for. It may not be you this year, Henry.’ He turned to him.
‘Such a star of sailing. But Charlie might be a contender. I mean, the boy is determined. Decent boat, which helps. You might have competition…’
There was a derisive snort from Eddie.
‘Well, let’s hope the Richmonds don’t cause any more accidents,’ said Henry beside me, as William bristled.
‘How many accidents have we caused? And anyway, accidents happen.’ He smiled at Henry and Eddie. ‘It was totally unavoidable and just one of those things. She didn’t die, did she?’
‘No,’ said Eddie, looking straight at him. ‘She didn’t.’
‘Look, that’s all over,’ said Oliver. ‘We just need you to fall into line about the cup.’
‘He’s never fallen into line in his life,’ said Eddie.
‘You’re right there, Eduardo,’ said Matty.
‘But no one knows who the hell she is!’ shouted Oliver. ‘It’s men like you who hold everyone back. Worshipping the old days and the old ways. This is progress.’
Eddie turned to the older Richmond. ‘There’s no need for that shouting now, Ollie. Look, can’t you understand why this is important to all of us? Lolly was our friend.’
But Oliver refused to respond, looking away, as though Eddie hadn’t spoken. ‘Our family deserve some recognition and respect here,’ blustered William, ‘after all the employment we have given.’ He had taken a step forward, his chest splayed, like the gorilla at Franklin Park Zoo.
‘We’ll talk about it again,’ said Eddie, fixing him with a look. ‘Leave it now. We’re just having a drink. Ollie, call off your son before he causes another accident.’
What accident, I wondered, as Eddie turned his back on Oliver and William, and he and Matty continued drinking their pints.
‘And I thought Sandycove was such a nice place,’ I said. ‘Like something out of a storybook. What’s going on with everyone?’
‘I’m not sure of it myself, to be honest,’ said Henry. ‘I just know that Matty and Eddie used to be friends with Lolly DeCourcey and they want to keep her name, and yet the Richmonds just want it completely gone. I don’t know why both sides are so determined to get their own way.’
I yawned suddenly. ‘I think I’m going to have to go to bed.’
Henry stood up. ‘Well, then I’d better walk you back.’
It was one of those still, idyllic summer evenings as we walked along the seafront, back to the village.
‘So what exactly happened with Lucy when she had her accident?’
‘Well…’ Henry shook his head. ‘It was last year’s regatta and it was a really windy day.
Lucy was past the island, in between these rocks, at Kitty’s Sound.
It’s a tricky enough move because you have to suddenly slow down, make sure you are positioned exactly right, because there are rocks on either side of you and at this time of the year you can never tell how deep the water is.
Anyway, Charlie’s speedboat went into her.
It went out of control and Lucy capsized and was trapped, her ankles were tangled in a rope, and the other boats were speeding past, not aware of what had happened and the rescue boat couldn’t get through.
By the time they did get to her, she’d managed to get herself free, but she was half-dead, shaking, grey, and had to be pulled aboard.
God, we were all so worried about her. Gran had witnessed something like that before and apparently it was agonising.
Luce was brought to hospital and checked out, sent home with a letter for counselling, but she didn’t bounce back.
She’d lost her confidence, didn’t go back to work, and stayed in the house for months.
So, getting back in Maeve is a huge thing for her. ’
‘Life is never simple. It can upend you.’
‘Or capsize you.’
‘You think you’re never going to be the same again. And you’re not. You aren’t,’ I went on.
‘But somehow we keep going.’