The Bannister Girls (16 page)

If she was strictly honest, it wasn't half as bad down here
as Margot had expected. There had even been a bit of excitement on the day she arrived, when Angel had wanted to show her around the village, and she had borrowed Ellen's bicycle and wobbled her way along the lanes with Angel on her own machine, amid shrieks of laughter.

It wasn't the hideous excitement of the village murder, if one could apply the term to it, but
real
excitement. The sort that could get a girl's pulse racing and put some extra colour into her cheeks.

A battalion of soldiers had arrived for billetting in the area, marching through the village and whistling those dear little army tunes that were becoming all the rage. ‘Pack up your troubles in your old kit bag and smile, smile, smile…'

And all the village girls were smiling and giggling as the soldiers winked and waved, and the children marched along beside the soldiers, waving their Union flags, and trilling along with them. Such fun!

She and Angel had been in the village when the leading trucks came through, rattling on the cobblestones and stopping every now and then while the sergeants consulted sheafs of papers and detailed the lower ranks where they were to be billetted for the next couple of weeks.

‘There's a new training area this side of Bristol,' Angel told Margot. ‘Daddy said that Bristol is bursting at the seams with soldiers, so they're having to find accommodation farther afield for them all. I suppose we'll get our share.'

Margot looked at her with shining eyes. She was as dark as Angel was fair. They made a startling and attractive contrast as they leaned on their bicycles and waved the soldiers through.

‘I hope we'll get some nice ones. Won't your mother object frightfully, Angel?'

Angel laughed. ‘I daresay. Though Mother's becoming
frightfully
resigned to everything the war is doing to us all. Haven't you noticed that already?'

‘Yes, I have. She's quite a lady, isn't she? I can see where you girls get your independence.'

‘Except for Louise. She still hangs on to Mummy's apron strings, in spite of being married.'

Margot gave a little snort.

‘Oh well, you can hardly count Stanley as a real man, can you? I mean, he's not like any of
these
, is he?'

She waved furiously at the line of soldiers turning to whistle at them.

‘We've all changed, haven't we?' Angel said, waving dutifully. ‘Can you imagine this kind of behaviour being condoned a year ago? It would be scandalous – and even now, we're getting some very funny looks from some of the village folk. We'd better go home before I disgrace myself by forgetting that I'm Miss Bannister from the big house!'

They turned reluctantly away from all the noise and excitement.

‘How's Ellen getting on with her farmer?' Margot said as they wheeled their bicycles through the unusually crowded village and into the open lanes. ‘I haven't seen her yet.'

‘I think it's all fairly blissful,' Angel commented. ‘Though if you're looking for a romance there, don't bother. Ellen's just not interested.'

‘What a funny girl!' Margot smiled broadly. ‘She's not much like her sister then, is she?'

‘As a matter of fact, Margot,' Angel said in a studied voice. ‘I rather wanted to talk to you about that.'

Margot slid off the bicycle in an ungainly heap.

‘I
knew
there was something going on! I could tell by your voice on the telephone – and it's not just the fact that you kept your driving prowess a secret from me! We've shared too many secrets, darling, and you've had that about-to-burst look all over you ever since I arrived! So do
tell
me, before I begin imagining all sorts of things!'

They walked slowly, leaning on the bicycles. Angel didn't look at Margot as she told her everything in a rush. About
the night she and Jacques had met, when she had spent the night in an hotel in London instead of going straight home; about the awful fuss when her mother had discovered her
faux pas
; about the roses, and the letter that had arrived recently.

Only then did she glance at Margot, to see her friend's eyes round and shining and admiring.

‘I say, old thing, what a simply marvellous adventure. And have you fallen madly in love with your Frenchman? Is it the Real Thing, as they say?'

‘Of course it is! Do you think I'm in the habit of spending the night with every stranger I meet?' She bit her lip as the angry words tumbled out.

‘Oh Margot, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to snap. It's just – it's just –'

Margot's voice was gentle.

‘It doesn't matter. I'm a thoughtless idiot for being flippant as usual. I'm the one who should be sorry, Angel darling.'

Angel turned away again, her face fiery.

‘I haven't told you everything yet. I feel so guilty for involving you in deception without your knowledge, Margot, and I ask your forgiveness for that –'

‘Don't be silly. When did you need to ask?'

‘I'm asking now,' Angel said carefully.

Margot stopped walking again, and Angel was obliged to stop too, turning to face her. A long way behind them, the slow march of footsteps and a distant singing told of the soldiers' progress through the village.

‘Is there a chance for you to see him again? Is he on leave? Tell me what you want me to do,' Margot said instantly.

Weak tears filled Angel's eyes.

‘Oh, I can't think why I was getting such cold feet about asking you. You're the tops, Margot –'

Margot was brisk and businesslike. ‘Well, I might be if you tell me of your plan. You do have a plan, I suppose?'

They moved hastily onto the grass verge as the trucks came slowly through the lane, followed by a depleted line of soldiers. The truck driver learned his head out of the window.

‘Can you tell me the way to a place called Meadowcroft, ladies? Sounds like a few of these lads are going to have it cushy for a few weeks,' he added cheekily. ‘Real lady of the manor in residence, so I'm told.'

Angel kept a straight face as she pointed out the direction of the house. So they were to get their quota of soldiers after all. She didn't know whether to be pleased or irritated, since civilians clearly had little say in the matter.

They waited until the little convoy had gone, but Margot's interest in the soldiers was less than her excitement over Angel's plan, which she quickly outlined.

‘It'll be no trouble at all, darling. Auntie doesn't have a telephone, but she could easily be contacting me from a friend's house, but we'll make it clear that it'll be no use your mother calling her to check up on you. You must call your mother from your hotel to say that you've arrived safely, and while you're in the arms of your beloved, I shall make the supreme sacrifice and visit dear old Auntie, who will be absolutely delighted to see me. When Jacques' leave is up, you can drive to Auntie's cottage and collect me. How does that sound?'

‘Wonderful! I knew I could rely on you, Margot. I shall never be able to repay you.'

‘You probably will, one of these days. I haven't given up hope of finding myself a lover yet!' she teased. ‘I shall call on you for assistance then, Angel.'

‘You'll have it,' Angel said at once.

It all worked incredibly easily. The presence of the four soldiers billetted in the big house deflected some of Clemence's attention from the girls. She found it frequently necessary to pacify Cook's irritation at having to prepare
meals for four extra heartily-eating men, when food was beginning to be in short supply. She greeted Margot's request a few days later with nothing short of undisguised relief.

‘I'm sorry I was out when your dear Auntie telephoned, Margot dear, but I see no reason why you shouldn't visit her for a few days. And it was charming of her to invite Angel too.'

‘She didn't invite me. I did ask Margot while she was speaking on the telephone, but no luck,' Ellen pretended to pull a face, adding her weight to the authenticity of the tale. To her horror, Clemence took her seriously.

‘Perhaps Margot would write to ask her Aunt if you could go too, Ellen –'

‘Oh no, I was only teasing! I'm far too busy at the farm,' Ellen said hastily. ‘Besides, Margot is really Angel's friend. I wouldn't want to chime in.'

‘You know you wouldn't do that,' Margot said. ‘But unfortunately, Auntie's cottage is very small, and there's not much room for visitors. We shall have to squeeze up as it is.'

‘That's settled, then,' Ellen said with relief. ‘At least we'll have a bit more room around here with you two out of the way. Perhaps Louise will be a bit less rattled with more space in the house too.'

‘That's not very gracious of you, Ellen dear.'

‘Oh, Margot knows what I mean. She's not the sort to take offence, Mother!'

‘Of course not,' Margot said brightly. ‘Then is it all right for Angel and me to go at the end of the month, Lady Bannister? That was the time Auntie mentioned.'

Clemence smiled, pleased at the girl's consideration in visiting an elderly aunt. ‘I'll have to confirm it with Angel's father, but I'm sure he'll make no objection.'

They drove away from Meadowcroft in bright sunshine. The two small suitcases were stowed securely, and Angel
promised Clemence that she would telephone as soon as possible to report on their safe arrival. Only when they had got well away from the house and were spinning along the road in a north easterly direction, did she let out a gleeful whoop of relief.

‘I never thought we'd actually do it! Oh, Margot, are we very wicked?'

Margot laughed, pulling off her straw hat and letting the warm breeze lift her dark hair as she leaned back against the seat. Angel discarded her own hat with a little gesture of bravado, uncaring as the pins tumbled out of her fair hair to let it cascade around her shoulders, and Margot openly admired her friend's confidence in handling the motor.

‘Well, if you're not going to be, darling, this whole escapade is a waste of time!'

A thrill as sweet and sharp as a flame ran through Angel's body. This day had seemed as though it would never arrive. But she was really on her way to meet Jacques. She was going to stay with him at the Swan Inn, and it would be as ecstatic as the first time … her heart jolted, and she spoke without thinking, her voice abrupt with sudden nerves.

‘I'm scared.' She ran her tongue around lips that were suddenly dry.

‘Of Jacques?'

She shook her head vigorously. Her hair swung over her shoulders like a shining cloud.

‘Not of Jacques. Of me. Perhaps I've just been imagining how wonderful it all was. Our feelings might have changed. Could I have been in love with love, and not with the man?'

Margot spoke frankly. ‘You're such a goose, Angel. If you could see the way your eyes sparkle when you speak of him, and the way they soften when you're thinking of him, you wouldn't question it. It's perfectly obvious that you love the man!'

‘But does he love me? Truly love me, I mean.' She mumbled the words that tormented her.

‘Didn't he ask you to stay with him? Didn't his letters tell you so? Why this sudden doubt?'

Angel looked straight ahead as the reliable little Sunbeam took her nearer and nearer to Jacques.

‘I keep thinking of those wounded boys coming home in the trains, Margot. You've never seen them as I have. Did you know our chauffeur, Hobbs, is dead? He was on one of the trains Mother and I met. It was terrible. He had no legs, and he was shell-shocked and gassed, and I began to think I could never face another wounded man. Well, I've seen plenty more since then, and it's made me realise how vulnerable we all are.'

‘Vulnerable?'

Angel glanced at her. ‘Men on leave have a kind of desperate desire for security about them, Margot. They never know if they'll see another tomorrow. Perhaps that's the way Jacques felt when we met. Perhaps he'll see me differently now.'

‘Of course he won't. He's coming back to you, isn't he?'

Angel ignored the question.

‘Margot, have you ever thought how many lonely women there are going to be after this war? Fifty years from now, there will be an entire generation of elderly spinsters. Young widows, or those who chose to stay unmarried after their sweethearts died at the Front. I sometimes think about them –'

‘For goodness' sake, stop being so morbid. It's not like you, Angel. You've changed, darling. But you're Jacques de Ville's sweetheart now, so cheer up! If you're going to be miserable for the next three days, he'll wish he'd stayed in France.'

‘You're right. And if I didn't have butterflies in my stomach, it would mean that all this wasn't so terribly important, wouldn't it? Remember how Miss Phipps always used to say that at college? It's still ridiculous though. I'm the
happiest girl in the world, so why should I be thinking such dismal thoughts?'

‘Because you're too nice, that's why. Much nicer than me. I'd only be thinking of myself, not all the unknown women who aren't lucky enough to be meeting a delicious Frenchman!' Margot spoke candidly, and Angel laughed at her nonsense. Yes, she was lucky, so lucky. She must cling on to that thought.

By late afternoon they had reached the cottage where Margot's Auntie lived. Angel saw the affection with which the two Lacey women greeted one another. As soon as she could, she said good-bye to them both and continued alone. Not for anything could she have endured sitting through a formal afternoon tea, knowing that Jacques was waiting for her. The brief uncertainty was passing, and in its place was a soaring excitement.

She arrived at the Swan Inn and sat in the car for a few moments, wondering what to do. Should she enquire if Jacques had arrived? Was she supposed to announce herself as Madame de Ville…?