The Best of Daughters (25 page)

‘And so that it goes smoothly and without a fuss my brother is putting himself in harm's way.'

‘Teddy always wanted to join the army, darling. He wanted to go to Sandhurst but your father wouldn't allow it. Now he's done an even braver thing if you ask me. Having been to public school makes him different from the ordinary enlisted man. Teddy will have to earn his stripes in more ways than one. It takes courage to do what he's just done, so be kind to him, Daisy.'

She laid her head on his shoulder. ‘I will, of course, but I can't help wishing that he'd found another way.'

Rupert held her close and they were silent for a while in the darkening room. He was the first to speak,
holding her a little way from him and smiling into her eyes. ‘I'm leaving first thing in the morning, Daisy. Kiss me and wish me well.'

She slid her arms around his neck and raised her face, closing her eyes. ‘Come back to me soon,' she whispered and to her surprise she realised that she meant it.

She shed a few tears next day when she waved goodbye to Rupert and Teddy, and was surprised to receive a comforting hug from Beatrice. ‘Never mind, Daisy,' she said sympathetically. ‘I'm sure they'll look after each other.'

Daisy wiped her eyes on her crumpled hanky and stuffed it back in her pocket. ‘You're right, of course, Bea. I'm just being silly.'

‘No, you're not. I'd cry buckets if it was Jimmy going off like that. Let's go indoors and have a cup of cocoa with lots of sugar and cream. Who cares about getting fat?' Beatrice took a few steps towards the front door, paused and beckoned to her. ‘Come on. You won't bring them back any quicker by staying there and catching cold.'

Reluctantly, Daisy followed her into the house. It seemed odd to think that her little sister had grown up seemingly overnight. She herself had been too immersed in her own affairs to notice that Bea had left childhood behind and was now a capable young woman. Perhaps Bea really was serious about her farmer. It was a sobering thought. Daisy shivered as she entered the relative warmth of the house. She had not realised how chilled she was until she came
indoors, and the entrance hall was certainly not what anyone would describe as being overheated. She followed Beatrice to the kitchen which was the only warm place in the house, and they heated milk to make cocoa and sweetened it with the last of the sugar.

‘I'll have to go to the village with the grocery list,' Daisy said as she helped herself to a spoonful of the cream skimmed from the top of the milk and poured it into her cup.

Ruby stopped kneading the bread dough. ‘I'll go if you like, miss.'

‘No, Ruby. It's too soon after your illness.' Daisy said firmly. ‘I feel like a walk.'

‘I'll come too.' Beatrice gulped the last of the cocoa. ‘I heard that they've got a telephone in the post office. I want to see if it works.'

‘But who will you ring, miss?' Ruby stared at her in surprise.

A dull flush suffused Beatrice's round face. ‘The Gurneys had one installed last week and I've been waiting for a chance to ring Jimmy. I haven't seen him for two days, and I want to know if he's missed me.'

‘I'd let him wait if I was you, miss,' Ruby said, shaking her head. ‘Blokes don't like to be chased. They want to think they're the hunters not the hunted.' She tapped the side of her nose, leaving a dusting of flour on it. ‘Mark my words.'

‘Words of wisdom, Bea. Take note.' Daisy rose to her feet. ‘I'm going anyway. I've been cooped up indoors for days and I need the exercise.'

Ruby put the dough to prove, covering it with a
damp tea towel. ‘When are you off to London with Lady Pendleton, miss? Is it this week, or next?'

‘Next week. So I'll have to rely on you and Bea to take over the housekeeping while I'm away.'

‘We managed without you before,' Beatrice said with confidence. ‘We can do it again. Come on then, Daisy. Let's get our coats and hats on if we're going to the village.'

Minutes later they were muffled up in their winter coats with hats pulled down over their ears to fend off the bitter east wind that had skimmed the North Sea and blundered across the salt marshes. When they reached the village, Daisy left Beatrice in the post office attempting to get a telephone connection to the Gurneys' farm while she went to deliver the order to the butcher's shop. She was met with a grim-faced Cyril Smith. He took the shopping list from her with a grunt, making his feelings obvious, but not daring to be overtly rude when his employer was present. Daisy left the shop and was studying the list of groceries she was about to hand in to Mrs Cobb when she almost bumped into a man who was carrying what appeared to be a large wooden cupboard. Although she side-stepped, so did he, making a collision inevitable. ‘Look where you're going.' She caught her breath in a gasp as he lowered the piece of furniture and she found herself face to face with Bowman.

‘
I DIDN'T SEE
you,' Bowman said slowly. ‘But now I do, you're a sight for sore eyes, Miss Lennox.'

His appreciative glance made her dizzy with delight but her heart was pounding and she was finding it hard to breathe. She wanted to return his smile but she was afraid to give way to the feelings that threatened to engulf her. ‘Good day to you, Mr Bowman.' She attempted to walk past him but he put the cupboard down, blocking the pavement. She stepped into the road but his hand shot out and he caught her by the sleeve.

‘Don't run away, Daisy.'

She stared straight ahead, not daring to look him in the eye. ‘Please let me go.'

He released her immediately but for some reason she could not move.

‘Go on then,' he said harshly. ‘Walk off. Pretend that you don't give a damn about me. Don't listen to what I have to say.'

She raised her head. ‘You can't have anything to say that would interest me. We've been through all this before and nothing has changed.'

‘Only that you've named the day. You're throwing yourself away on a toff with more money than sense,
who'll probably get killed by the first German bullet that's fired.'

‘That's a horrible thing to say, even for you, Bowman.'

‘But it's true. You belong to me, Daisy Lennox. Heart and soul. Don't deny it.'

Their eyes locked as if in mortal combat and she knew that part of what he said was true, but it was not meant to be. Their story could never have a happy ending. ‘You're married,' she said abruptly. ‘And even if you were a free man it wouldn't make any difference. You're a womaniser, Bowman. You take what you want and then you tire of the poor soul who's fallen in love with you.'

‘I'd never tire of you, Daisy. I love you truly and deeply. I can't sleep for wanting you, but we're worlds apart and I don't intend to drag you down to my level.'

Her whole body felt as though a flame had passed through it. The scent of him filled her nostrils and her heart beat all the faster. Whatever it was that drew her to him was stronger than thought alone. No matter how hard she fought against it, she knew it was a basic animal instinct that made her want him as much as he wanted her. Those hypnotic brown eyes held her gaze, drawing her towards him, robbing her of the will to simply walk away. His lips invited hers to open and taste his kisses . . .

‘Daisy.' Beatrice's voice made Daisy come back to earth with a jolt that was physical in its intensity. ‘I've been looking for you everywhere.' Beatrice raced up to them, stopping dead when she saw Bowman. ‘Oh, hello. Sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt, but I must
speak to my sister.' She grabbed Daisy by the arm and drew her aside. ‘Jimmy's going to pick me up in the dog cart. I'm to wait here for him. That is all right, isn't it, Daisy? You won't tell Mother where I've gone?'

Dazed and disorientated, Daisy took a moment to gather her thoughts. ‘Why ever not?'

‘Because we're going into town for lunch and maybe we'll go to the picture house or something. Mother doesn't mind when I'm at the farm with Jimmy's family, but she wouldn't approve of us being seen together in public. You won't say anything, will you, darling Daisy?' Steepling her fingers as if in prayer, she gave Daisy her most appealing smile. ‘Please promise me this one little thing.'

Daisy sighed. ‘I suppose nothing I can say will stop you.'

‘Oh, thank you.' Beatrice hugged her and raced back towards the post office.

‘I must go,' Daisy said unnecessarily. ‘This conversation never happened, Bowman.'

He bowed his head, saying nothing, and she walked on slowly, forcing herself to put one foot in front of the other. This time she believed him. She knew for certain that his love for her was as real as hers was for him, but that did not make it right. They had met at the wrong time and in the wrong place. There was no beginning and there would be no end. She made her way to the post office and general store to hand in the grocery list.

Life went on much as usual in Rainbow's End, despite the fact that Teddy had left home filled with enthusiasm
for his new career in the Rifle Brigade. Gwendoline openly mourned for him, but, as usual, Victor kept his feelings to himself. The only comment he made was that it was dashed inconvenient businesswise, but very soon he had hired someone to take Teddy's place at work.

Arley Meadows was a quiet young man who lived with his widowed mother on the outskirts of Colchester. Daisy had only met him once when she called in at the office to beg a lift home with her father, but she had been less than impressed by Arley's subservient demeanour. There was nothing she could put her finger on but she knew from the first moment she saw him that he was not as meek and mild as he pretended to be. In his cheap but immaculate black cut-away jacket, starched wing collar, pinstripe trousers and white spats worn over his highly polished shoes, he was patently trying to be something that he was not. Daisy had no patience with humbugs and mountebanks. She hoped that her father would not put as much trust in Arley Meadows as he had in his former partner, who had let him down so badly.

Despite her low spirits after Teddy's departure Gwendoline rallied enough to compile guest lists for the coming nuptials, and she visited the great house twice a week to discuss the arrangements with Lady Pendleton. Daisy tried to keep a low profile. She realised that she had little or no say in the matter anyway, and she was eager to return to London to continue her training with the FANY. By dint of acquiescing to all Lady Pendleton's plans for the wedding, Daisy found
herself in an ideal position to suggest that it might be a good idea to leave her mother in charge of the arrangements in Nutley Green, and for herself and Lady Pendleton to continue what was turning out to be a military-style campaign from the house in Grosvenor Square.

The details were finally agreed and at the end of January Daisy returned to London with Lady Pendleton, but despite her desire to spend most of her time at evening classes or weekend camps with the FANY she found herself caught up in a succession of social engagements and even more wedding plans. There was the design of the wedding dress to be discussed, and once chosen there were visits to the fashion house for fittings. There was the trousseau to be selected, and accessories, hats, gloves, bags and shoes must be purchased to complement the gowns suitable for every occasion. It seemed to Daisy that they had done all this only a few short months previously during her first visit to Grosvenor Square. Her tentative suggestion that the garments and accessories already purchased would do very nicely for the honeymoon was immediately dismissed by Lady Pendleton, who seemed totally oblivious to the true cost of her extravagant purchases. Daisy could not help feeling guilty and embarrassed by this display of unwarranted largesse. She had been brought up to a considerable degree of comfort but she had experienced what it was like to be relatively poor, and spending this amount of money on luxuries seemed almost wicked when there were many families living on or below the breadline.

As to the round of parties and entertainments, if the truth were told, Daisy was rapidly becoming bored with the interminable afternoon teas, dinner parties and charity events that she was forced to endure in London. Even trips to the theatre had begun to pall, although in April she had enjoyed the first night of
Pygmalion
with Mrs Patrick Campbell playing the part of Eliza Doolittle, and Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree as Professor Higgins. Daisy had seen a little of herself in the character of Eliza, although she knew that her mother would be horrified at such a thought. Even so, Daisy could relate to Eliza, who was flung into a life that was so different from the one to which she had been born and raised. She just hoped that she would not make quite as many faux pas as the cockney flower girl. She had laughed out loud when Eliza forgot herself and uttered a really bad swear word, although there had been gasps of horror from some of the more elderly people in the audience. She had enjoyed
Pygmalion
unreservedly, but the more intellectual theatrical productions so beloved of Lady Pendleton went over her head, occasionally sending her to sleep. She found symphony concerts boring, and grand opera even worse. She had actually dropped off during a piano recital in the Bechstein Hall in Wigmore Street, and had been rudely awakened by a sharp dig in the ribs from her ladyship when the programme came to an end.

Daisy was beginning to realise that she was far more at home in the country than she was in the social whirl of London, and she had come to the conclusion that
she might do very well living quietly in Pendleton Park. She resolutely put all thoughts of Barnaby Bowman out of her mind. She did follow the activities of the suffragettes in the newspapers, although she had been shocked when Mary Richardson had slashed the Rokeby Venus with a meat chopper at the National Gallery. She could not condone such vandalism, and she found herself for once in complete accord with her future mother-in-law, but she still held true to the idea of the WSPU, even though their meetings were now out of bounds to her.