Lorna Cook - The Forgotten Village

The woman in front of him now as he entered the sitting room was not the Veronica from back then. Her hand shook slightly as she chewed her nails and stared wide-eyed but unseeing into the fire. He watched her silently, wondering what had happened to her since he’d last seen her that had changed her quite so much.

She spotted him out of the corner of her eye and forced a smile. ‘Gin and tonic?’ Her voice almost broke as she spoke and she knew she had to work harder to keep a tight lid on her emotions. She wasn’t used to men other than Bertie being in the house. She told herself it was just Freddie, but that only made it worse.

‘How’d you get hold of decent gin?’ he enquired. ‘Black market?’

Veronica shrugged. ‘I assume so. Bertie always finds a way of getting what he wants.’

He nodded and made his way over to the drinks trolley, glancing around the room as he did so. ‘I will, thanks. This room’s empty.’ It was an obvious comment.

Veronica didn’t answer.

‘I assume all my old things are in the attic?’

‘I think so.’

‘It’s probably just an old cricket bat and a trunk of books, but I’ll go up later and take a look,’ he said. ‘I think I’ll get out of your hair tomorrow.’

She turned quickly from the fire to face him. ‘But you’ve only just arrived.’

He made an apologetic face and then shrugged. ‘The factory doesn’t run itself, you know.’

She looked into the fire again, forcing herself to breathe calmly. ‘Are you … very busy?’ She was on the edge of asking him if he was happy.

He threw himself into one of the few remaining overstuffed settees and stretched his legs out. ‘I shouldn’t complain. But we’re struggling to keep up with the demand for munitions.’ He rubbed his eyes, which looked tired. ‘Bertie shows no interest in the business. So I’ll just keep at it in the office on my own.’ He put his head back against the settee. ‘How are you?’ He stared up at the ornate plasterwork. ‘It’s been a while.’

She followed him to the settees and sat opposite him. ‘It has.’

Veronica felt suddenly nervous. The joy of seeing Freddie again after all this time had hit her unexpectedly, guiltily, even if his arrival had ruined her chance to leave. She still didn’t understand what had happened between her and Freddie all those years ago. There had been a fleeting moment when she thought it was they that would marry, not she and Bertie. How stupid she’d been to think that.

Freddie had put up no fight when she’d left him. He’d not loved her after all. He’d made it too easy for her to walk away. And now here he was, as dangerously handsome and as charming as ever. Why didn’t he look as nervous as she? How could he sit there looking so … confident?

She avoided his question. How was she? She was a shipwreck of a person. And she was sure he could see that.

‘I’m just going to check on Anna. I left her with rather a lot to do. Lunch won’t be long.’ Veronica left the room with Freddie looking at her retreating figure.

*

‘What’s happening?’ Anna asked as Veronica entered the room. She shoved the last of the clothes away and pushed the empty trunks into the corner.

‘He’s going tomorrow, he says.’

‘Good. We can try again after he leaves.’

Veronica sat on the bed and put her head in her hands. ‘It’s no good, Anna. That was it. That was my only chance. Bertie’s not planning on going anywhere else. He’s only out today because he’s at his solicitors attempting to fight the requisition order on the house. I’ll have to wait until we get to London. Perhaps I can slip out one day when Bertie’s busy. It’ll be easier in London. There I can disappear into a crowd instantly.’

Anna was silent for a moment and then said, ‘He’s not here now, is he? Just go. Now. We can walk down to the village. We’ll see if William’s still able to drive us to the station. You’ve got your money? And you can just take the jewellery box in your handbag. You can sell the jewels. What will they fetch?’

‘I’ve no idea.’ Veronica felt hope rise within her. ‘Enough to find somewhere to rent, I think, while I look for some kind of job. Although heaven knows what I’ll do. I must do something. But I’m sure I can work all that through later.’ Veronica stood. ‘Yes,’ she smiled, clutching Anna’s hand. ‘Let’s go. Let’s find William.’

Anna grabbed the jewellery box while Veronica cast her eyes over her bedroom one final time. But as Veronica turned, she stopped dead and gasped. Freddie was standing by the open door.

Veronica tried to force her face into a normal expression, but Freddie’s look was one of uncertainty. Veronica panicked: how much had he heard?

‘I just came to put my cases in my room,’ he said, looking from Veronica to Anna and then back again.

‘Right, yes.’ Veronica snapped to attention. ‘Of course. I’m sorry I haven’t checked to see …’

Anna spoke up. ‘The Blue Room is still made up, sir. The others have been emptied.’

Veronica threw her maid a helpless look as Freddie bent to pick up his suitcases.

Inside the Blue Room, Freddie dumped his cases just inside the door while Veronica threw open the thick blue curtains and removed the blackout frame from the windows. She couldn’t remember the last time anyone had slept in this room. It had been so long since they’d had guests. So long since Bertie had allowed Veronica to have any of her remaining friends to stay. And now all their friends were in far-flung locations, playing their individual parts in beating Hitler; something she longed to do but which Bertie would never allow if it meant her being out of the house for long periods of time. She wasn’t sure her old friends from London would have come if she had invited them. Not just because they would be doing vital war work somewhere or other, but because they’d never really liked Bertie, had never really accepted her marrying him. As such, she hadn’t kept in touch with them. Bertie had discouraged it, feeling the same disdain towards her friends as they felt towards him. Inviting them to a party at Tyneham House wasn’t worth the argument with Bertie. And he no longer invited any of his friends, preferring privacy and quiet. They had been shut up alone in Dorset for so long, Veronica thought she was going to go mad.

Winter sunshine penetrated the room. Veronica stood by the window, reluctant to turn and look at Freddie. When she eventually did, she attempted a smile and hoped it masked the fact that she felt like the stuffing had been knocked out of her.

Freddie looked at her and a worried expression appeared on his face.

‘Veronica, I hope you don’t mind my saying. You look very thin. You look like you’ve had no sleep. Are you unwell? Are you ill? I mean, really ill?’