Deceit of Angels (22 page)

“Well,
that can be remedied,” suggested Jason, smiling broadly at the turn of event.

“But
we’re going back to Bishop Sutton on Sunday.  And I’ll be too busy.”

Caroline
looked crestfallen.  “Oh well, I can only ask.  Our best player is Deborah
Gilbert-Hines and she pales into insignificance compared to you.  If you change
your mind, ring the club and they’ll contact me.”

She
was gone in a moment, walking quickly through the restaurant and out into the
foyer.

“Well,
fancy that!  Being invited to join the ladies team,” said Anna, in great
amusement.

“You
did say you were captain for the team in Wakefield.  I think you should do
it.”  Anna shook her head.  Jason continued his argument.  “Not even to give
Deborah a good thrashing?”

Anna
wagged her finger at him.  “Now then, when you play in a team you play
together.  Personal rivalries should be put aside for the greater good.  Those
sorts of battles are better fought in the individual matches.”

“Mmm,”
said Jason into his wineglass.  “Well, I’ll be in the front row!”

It was
mid-afternoon when they arrived back at the Grange and Anna decided to make the
phone call to the twins.  Jason thought this was a good time to tell his mother
about his future plans with Anna and clear the air somewhat.  He disappeared to
the study, where Margaret seemed to be hiding herself these last few days.

Anna
walked into the parlour and finding it empty crossed the floor to the phone. 
Her hands shook as she lifted the receiver and dialled the number, her heart
thudding as the phone rang at the other end, but no one answered.  Finally, she
decided to ring her sister.

“Hello.” 
It was Elaine’s voice. 

“Hi,
it’s me, Anna.”

“Anna! 
How are you?”

“I’m
very, very well.  How’s everyone there?”

“We’re
fine too, but missing you very much, especially the boys.”

“That’s
what I’m ringing about.  I’ve called Mum, but there’s no answer.”

“Ah,
I remember now.  They’ve all gone into Leeds to pick up books and some stuff
for living in halls.”

Guilt
flooded through Anna.  This was something she should have been helping them
with. “Has their dad gone with them?”

She
heard Elaine give a chuckle.  “Dave’s in Germany on business.  The lads will be
home soon, or why don’t you call them on their mobiles?”

“I’d
rather not speak to them while they’re on the move.  I want them to come down
for another visit, only this time for longer, perhaps for a weekend.  If you
and Mum come too, then you can stay in a hotel and we can have a chat about
everything.”

Elaine
didn’t answer for a moment but finally said,  “Are you really staying in
Bristol?  Aren’t you ever coming back here?”

“Of
course I’ll come back for a visit, but I won’t be living there again.”

“Mum
was saying how happy you seem now.”

“Oh
Elaine, I am.  Very, very happy.”

“It
sounds like you’ve got a good job.”  She paused before adding, “And what’s your
plans regarding Dave?”

Anna
licked her lips before replying.  “I’m going to ask Dave for a divorce.”

She
heard Elaine let out a huge breath.  “We wondered about that.  Well, I can’t
say I’m surprised.  I know what you’ve had to put up with.”

“Thanks
for your support.  Once my marriage is over, I can move on with my life.”

Anna
heard someone enter the room and turned to look.  Jason was hovering on the
threshold not quite sure if he should intrude, but Anna beckoned for him to
come in.  He walked over to the drinks’ cabinet and poured himself a whisky.

“So,
what happens now Big Sister?”      

“Ask
the boys to ring me and we’ll take it from there.  I’ll give you this number,
since I’m not at Bishop Sutton at the moment.”  She gave the number of the
Grange. 

“I’ll
do that.  I’m passing their door later ‘cos I’ve a patient round the corner. 
Talk about busy, all the Christmas babies are starting to arrive…If you know
what I mean.”

Anna
gave a giggle.  “I’ll talk to you later.  Bye.”  She put the phone down and ran
over to Jason who was still standing by the cabinet nursing his drink.

“How
did it go?” he asked.

“The
lads were out, but it was lovely talking to Elaine.  It’s a busy time of the
year for her.”

“Why’s
that?”

“I
told you Jason, she’s a midwife and people get very careless at Christmas
time.”

He
suddenly realised what she was talking about and gave a chuckle.  “I can
imagine.  Now, what would you like to drink?  Why don’t you try a vodka and
orange?”

“Are
you trying to get me drunk!  Because if you are…it will certainly work!”

He
made her the drink and passed the glass to her.  “I’ve talked to Mother and
told her that her attitude is out of order.”

“Oh,
Jason, you didn’t upset her did you?”

“I
really didn’t care if I did or not.”

“But
I don’t want her upset over me!”

“Well,
she insisted that she had to get it off her chest.”

Anna
began to feel faint and took a sip of her drink.  “So, how does she feel about
me?”

“Well,
she believes that you should have told me the truth right at the beginning,
perhaps at your interview.”

“But
I wouldn’t have got the job.”

“I
told her that, but she thought that irrelevant.”

Tears
began to well up and she brushed them away with the back of her hand.  “That
interview seems such a long time ago now.  So much as happened since then.”

Jason
smiled.  “That’s exactly what I said.  I told her that I took you on as a
personal assistant not as my future wife.”

Anna
put down her glass and wrapped her arms round his middle.  He responded with a
gentle embrace.

“Perhaps
she’s right.  I should have told you the truth when we first met,” said Anna.

“And
where would you be now?”

“Not
with you that’s for sure.”

“And
still unhappy?”

“Yes.” 
She swallowed the rest of her drink in one gulp.

“Hey,
steady on!” he said in alarm.  “You’re not supposed to do that.”

“I
needed it!”

“I
feel as though I’m corrupting you,” he said, shaking his head.

“I
know.  And it’s wonderful,” she giggled.  The telephone rang and Anna gave a
cry of delight.

“It must be the
boys!”  Anna was overjoyed to hear from her sons and listened intently as she
was told how they had enjoyed Ibiza, how brown they were and the girls they had
met.  Jason made himself comfortable with the newspaper, but after ten minutes,
it had been agreed that a weekend visit would be arranged and they would ring
back with details of how many people would come.  By the time she put down the
phone, she felt exhausted with the emotional stress and flopped onto the couch
next to Jason.  “I fancy another drink,” she said licking her lips.

Jason
stood and pulled the bell.  “I’ll get Fran to bring up some tea.”

“Spoilsport!”

“Did
someone mention tea?” said Margaret, suddenly appearing in the doorway.

Anna
felt a wave of apprehension pass through her, but was surprised to see Margaret
smiling and looking more like her old self.

“Yes,
I’ve just called for Fran,” said Jason casually.

Fran
finally arrived with the tea and although Anna felt extremely uncomfortable in
Margaret’s presence she tried to relax and appear at ease.

“I
need to talk to you two,” said Margaret, putting her cup down on the tray. 
Anna’s gaze turned to her, although she noticed that Jason wasn’t too happy
about this and was staring intently at his mother, the muscles in his jaw
tensing.  “I hope you can both forgive a silly old woman who should have known
better.  Anna, I had no right to treat you the way I did.”

Anna
felt stunned at such a confession, but it was Jason who answered.  “It’s OK,
Mother.  Don’t worry about it.”

Anna
grimaced at his coldness and her heart went out to the elderly lady sitting
opposite them.  She stood and went to sit next to her.

“It’s
fine, really it is.  Please don’t fret.  Mothers will always worry about their
children even when they’re big enough and ugly enough to look after
themselves.”

Jason
looked startled.  “Big and ugly!  I beg your pardon!”  But then he smiled and
came to sit beside his mother.

“I’ve
just had a phone call from Sarah Orchard,” Margaret said awkwardly.  “We’re
trying to finalise my birthday trip to London and also she and the doctor are
coming for dinner tomorrow evening.  I hope you don’t mind Anna, my dear, but I
needed to confide in her.”

“Oh,
for goodness sake…!” started Jason, but Anna felt the need to stop him.

“No
Jason, other people are going to find out sooner or later.  What does it matter
now.”

Margaret
took her hand.  “You’re very understanding.  However, Sarah has known me a long
while and she decided to tell me a few home truths.  Especially about the time
I told your father, Jason, that I was…pregnant so that he would marry me.”

Jason
stared at his mother in astonishment.  “You did what?”

Margaret
shrugged her shoulders.  “It was during the war.  I was only seventeen when we
got engaged and we decided to get married when peace came and Tom came out of
the Navy.  But it seemed to be dragging on for years and I had the impatience
of youth.”

“So,
you told him you were expecting a baby?” said Anna.

“Yes,
and he came home on leave and we married by special licence.”

“But
didn’t that cause a scandal in your family, expecting a baby before you were
married?  I thought girls in those days waited until they were wearing a
wedding ring.”

Margaret
started laughing.  “My dear, you won’t believe how many illegitimate births
there were in those days.  It was an unsure time, your man went off and you
didn’t know if you’d see him again.  People lived for the moment.  Yes, there
were a lot of war babies.  So, we married in January 1945.  Of course the war ended
in the May.  If I’d known, I would have waited.  I was only eighteen.”   

Jason
felt puzzled.  “But didn’t he get suspicious when a baby didn’t arrive?”

“I
was going to tell him that I’d made a mistake, but then I fell pregnant on my
wedding night.  So, I was expecting a baby after all.  And Tom, the poor love,
never realised.  It never occurred to him to count up the months.”

“That’s
because he trusted you,” said Anna sadly.

“I
know.  And it was very wrong of me to deceive him like that.”

Jason
had remained quiet, counting up the years.  “But that can’t have been me.  I
wasn’t born until 1956.”

She
patted his knee.  “No, my dear.  You came along eleven years later.  I was
nearly thirty before you arrived and by then we’d given up all hope of having another
child.  That’s why you were such a blessing.”

“But
what about your first baby?” His voice was hushed.

“She
would have been your big sister.  She was stillborn.  I carried her for nine
months, but it all went wrong when I went into labour.  I shouldn’t have been
allowed to deliver her, you see.  I’m too small to have a normal delivery and I
nearly died too.  I should have had a caesarean.  That’s why you came into the
world that way.”

Jason’s
face turned white, the revelation shaking him to the core.  “You never told me
anything of this.”

His
mother brushed away a silent tear.  “There didn’t seem to be any point.  I was
going to call her Christina after your grandmother.”  She turned her gaze
towards the window, her thoughts distant.  “It’s strange to think she would
have been in her fifties by now and most probably with children and
grandchildren.  And I would have been a great-grandmother.”  She turned to
Anna.  “So, you see, Anna.  We are all capable of deception and I’m no
different.”

After
Margaret had left, Anna and Jason sat quietly together.

“I
might have had a sister,” he whispered after a short while.

She
hugged him close.  “Your mother was very brave to tell us.”

“Christina. 
That’s a beautiful name.”  He pulled Anna closer to him, holding back the
tears.             

 Nigel Barnes
was very happy to take on Anna as his client and when she kept her appointment
with him, he greeted her warmly.  Jason had suggested accompanying her but Anna
had different plans.  She wanted to do some shopping and spend some time on her
own.

Anna
travelled to Bristol with a great deal of apprehension and yet excitement.  It
was the first time she had driven alone in her new car and she was enjoying
every minute.  She felt independent and totally at ease as she picked up the
main road.  But she wondered what the solicitor would say to her and what he
would advise.  When Dave came back from his business trip, she would have to
speak to him about the divorce and she wasn’t looking forward to that.