The Girl on the Cliff (53 page)

‘Her father’s daughter,’ Hans raised his eyebrows, ‘showing financial acumen at the age of ten. Well, Aurora, as you are my client, and therefore my boss, I must adhere to your wishes. And yes, as your trustee, I believe they are sensible.’

‘I’m going to powder my nose, as Granny says,’ said Aurora.

When she’d skipped off, Hans asked, ‘How is Matt?’

‘He’s good, thanks, Hans. Busy packing up the loft and his life in the Big Apple.’

‘It is a big change he is making – that you are both making. But, I think, the right one. A fresh start can be very beneficial.’

‘Yes,’ Grania agreed. ‘And I don’t think I ever thanked you for knowing me better than I knew myself. You made me see the mistakes I’d made.’

‘Attchh! I did nothing,’ Hans refuted modestly. ‘The trick is not only to know your failings, but to strive to put them right. And that is exactly what you have done, Grania.’

‘Well, I try, but that pride of mine will never completely disappear,’ she sighed.

‘You are with someone who understands you, probably far better than he ever did before. Matt is a good man, Grania. You must take care of him.’

‘I know, and I will, Hans, I promise.’

‘What are you two talking about?’ said Aurora, arriving back at the table. ‘Can we go up to the room now? I want to phone Granny and tell her all about my new house.’

‘Aurora tells me she’s decided she wants to live in Cadogan House,’ said Kathleen, when Aurora had finished chewing her granny’s ear off and passed the phone to Grania.

‘Yes.’

‘You do know that’s where Mary, your great-grandmother –’

‘Yes, I do.’

‘Well now, I’m a-wondering; do you remember, during the telling of Mary’s tale, that when Lawrence Lisle brought his little baby girl home with him, he asked that a suitcase be stored upstairs until the baby’s mother came to collect it? You don’t think … ?’

‘Well, there’s only one way to find out,’ said Grania. ‘Next time I go, I’ll take a look.’

A week later, when Matt had arrived in London, Grania took Aurora and Matt to Cadogan House. Aurora provided Matt with a guided tour, after which he came downstairs to the kitchen and put his arms around Grania.

‘Hey, honey, it’s a good thing I don’t have the same problem as you,’ he whistled. ‘This house would even make my pop sit up and be impressed. It’s like, amazing! And I’m gonna be living in it rent free,’ he smiled. ‘Will I be able to cope?’

‘Well, it’s not mine either, Matt, is it? It’s Aurora’s.’

‘I’m teasing you, baby.’ Matt hugged her.

‘Are you sure you’re OK about it, Matt?’ Grania looked up at him. ‘Can you be comfortable here?’

‘Lady,’ he held his hands up, ‘I get to be with you and pursue the career I love. And if my wife and child can provide the creature comforts along the way, I have no problem with that.’

‘Good. Now, do you think you could make yourself useful, and come up to the attic with me? I’ve brought a torch. There’s something I want to look for.’

With Aurora happily ensconced in the drawing room, listening to a barely audible
Swan Lake
on the ancient gramophone, Matt and Grania climbed the stairs to the top of the house.

‘There,’ Grania pointed to a square cut-out on the ceiling, ‘that must be it.’

Matt looked up at it. ‘I’ll need something to stand on to reach it.’

They duly sourced a wooden chair from one of the attic bedrooms. Matt stood on it precariously, reached above him and struggled with the rusty catch. He yanked it and it gave way, freeing the opening in a cloud of dust and cobwebs.

‘Man, I don’t think this place has been visited for decades,’ Matt said as he poked his head into the hole. ‘Pass me the torch.’ Grania did so, and Matt shone it around the attic. ‘Don’t think you’re gonna like it up here, baby. Why don’t you tell me what it is you’re looking for and I’ll see if I can find it?’

‘From what my mam told me, you’re looking for a small and very old suitcase.’

‘OK.’ Matt used the strength in his arms to haul himself up, and sat on the edge of the hole, his legs dangling
beneath him. There was an instant noise of pattering from above them.

‘Mice, or worse, rats.’ Matt blanched. ‘Better tell the surveyor to take a look when he comes round.’

‘In that case, perhaps we can get someone else to clear everything out another day,’ Grania suggested with a shudder.

‘Hey, no way! At least I’m useful for something.’ Matt smiled down at her. ‘Stay there and I’ll go and have a poke around.’ He swung his legs over the threshold and gingerly stood up. ‘Think some of these boards are rotten, honey. Wow, this place is packed with old stuff.’

Grania stood below, listening to Matt’s feet above her.

‘OK, I’ve found a couple of trunks … but they are real heavy.’

‘No,’ Grania shouted up, ‘it was a small suitcase.’

‘What’s in it anyway that’s so important?’ he called. ‘Hell, the cobwebs are out of a horror movie! Even I’m getting spooked.’

Grania heard thumps as Matt moved objects above her. Then finally …

‘I think I’ve found something – what’s left of it. I’ll hand it down to you.’

Matt’s hands appeared through the hole, holding a small suitcase, its colour indeterminate due to the layers of dust on it.

‘OK, I’ve had enough. I’m getting out of here.’ Matt emerged, his hair turned grey by cobwebs. ‘Jesus!’ he said as he levered himself down on to the chair. ‘I’d only do that for love.’

‘Thanks, darling,’ Grania said, turning her attention to
the suitcase. As she rubbed the dust off the top of the worn leather, she could see a vague imprint of initials in the top. Matt knelt next to her.

‘I think that’s an “L” and a “K”,’ she said.

‘Whose suitcase is this anyway?’

‘If it’s the right one, it belonged to Aurora’s great-grandmother. Lawrence Lisle arrived home with a baby,’ explained Grania, ‘telling his staff that the mother would arrive to collect Anna
and
the suitcase. She never did, so Anna never knew anything of her real mother.’

‘Well now, those rusty locks are gonna take some opening. Let me have a try.’

Eventually, they took the suitcase down to the kitchen to find a suitable implement. Grania found a knife in the drawer and Matt eventually prised open the locks.

‘OK, you ready to look inside?’ asked Matt.

‘I think it should be Aurora who does that. This is technically hers, after all.’ Grania collected Aurora from the drawing room and brought her downstairs to the kitchen.

‘What is that?’ Aurora eyed the filthy leather suitcase with distaste.

‘We think it was your great-grandmother’s, who never arrived to collect it. It was left here almost a hundred years ago,’ explained Grania. ‘Would you like to open it?’

‘No, you do it, there might be spiders inside.’ Aurora wrinkled her nose.

Grania looked equally unenthusiastic.

‘OK, ladies, guess it’s the man’s job.’ Gingerly, Matt levered the top open, with a crackle of old leather, to reveal the suitcase’s contents.

All three of them peered inside.

‘Pooh! It smells of old,’ said Aurora. ‘There’s not much in here, is there?’

‘No.’ Grania felt disappointed. In the suitcase was a silk-covered bundle – nothing else.

Sensing his girls’ reticence, Matt put his hand round the bundle and drew it out, placing it on the table. ‘You want me to unwrap it?’

The girls nodded.

Tentatively, Matt unwrapped the contents from the thin, faded silk surrounding them.

Aurora and Grania gazed down at what Matt had revealed.

‘It’s a pair of ballet shoes,’ whispered Aurora in awe. She picked one up to inspect it. As she did so, a mouldering envelope fluttered to the floor.

Grania bent down to retrieve it. ‘It’s a letter, and it’s addressed to …’ Grania tried to decipher the faint ink.

‘Looks like “Anastasia” to me,’ said Matt, leaning over Grania’s shoulder.

‘Anna … my grandmother’s name was Anna!’ Aurora said excitedly.

‘Yes, it was. Perhaps Lawrence Lisle shortened it,’ suggested Grania.

‘That’s a Russian name, isn’t it?’ Aurora asked.

‘It is. And Mary, who looked after Anna when she was a baby, always said she suspected Anna was brought by Lawrence Lisle from Russia.’

‘Shall I open the letter?’ said Aurora.

‘Yes, but be very careful, it looks fragile,’ cautioned Matt.

Aurora’s small fingers opened the envelope. She glanced down at the words and frowned. ‘I can’t understand what it says.’

‘That’s because it’s written in Russian,’ said Matt from behind them. ‘I took the language for three years in high school, but that was a long time ago, so I’m rusty. But I reckon, with the help of a dictionary, I could decipher it.’

‘You’re full of hidden talents, sweetheart.’ Grania turned round and placed a kiss on Matt’s cheek. ‘Why don’t we stop off at a bookshop on our way home?’

When they arrived in Kensington at Alexander’s pretty townhouse, where they would live while Cadogan House was renovated, there was another letter, addressed to Aurora, waiting for her on the mat.

‘It’s from the Royal Ballet School!’ Aurora picked it up and looked at Grania, hope and fear in her eyes. ‘Here,’ she handed it to her. ‘Can you open it for me, Mummy? I’m too nervous.’

‘Of course. Right.’ Grania tore the envelope open, unfolded its contents and began to read.

‘What does it say, Mummy?’ Aurora’s hands were fisted with tension under her chin.

‘It says …’ Grania looked at Aurora and smiled, ‘it says you’d better start packing as soon as possible, because they have offered you a place at the school, starting in September.’

‘Oh,
Mummy
!’ Aurora threw herself into Grania’s arms. ‘I am
so
happy!’

‘Well done, sweetheart,’ said Matt, joining in the hug.

Once all three of them had calmed down, Matt took himself off upstairs with his newly purchased dictionary to try and translate the letter.

Aurora sat at the kitchen table, still clutching the ballet shoes and talking excitedly about the future as Grania
prepared supper for the three of them. ‘I wish Matt would hurry up, I can’t wait to find out who my great-grandmother was. Especially today, when I know I’ll be following in her footsteps,’ she added.

‘Well, there’s a lot you don’t know about your history, Aurora. And, one day, I’ll sit down and tell you. And the really weird thing is, for almost a hundred years, it seems to have been entwined with mine. Mary, my great-grandmother, eventually adopted Anna, your grandmother.’

‘Gosh!’ Aurora’s eyes were wide. ‘That’s a coincidence, isn’t it? Because you’ve done the same with me, Mummy.’

‘Yes, I have.’ Grania dropped a tender kiss on top of Aurora’s head.

Two hours later, Matt arrived downstairs and announced he’d managed to decipher most of the letter. He handed Aurora the typed translation.

‘There you go, sweetheart. It’s not perfect, but I’ve done my best.’

‘Thank you, Matt. Shall I read it out loud?’ suggested Aurora.

‘If you’d like to,’ said Grania.

‘All right,’ Aurora cleared her throat, ‘here goes.’

Paris

17th September 1918

My precious Anastasia,

If you are reading this, you will know that I am no longer on the earth. My kind friend, Lawrence, has been instructed to give this to you if I do not return to
retrieve it, and when you are old enough to understand. I do not know what he will have told you about your mama, but the important thing for you to know is that I love you more than any mother could. And because of that, while our beloved Russia is in turmoil, I wanted to make sure that you were safe. My baby, it would have been easy for me to accompany Lawrence to England, leave behind the danger, as so many of my fellow Russians have done. But there is a reason I must return from Paris to our home country. The man who is your father is in great danger. In fact, I do not know whether he is still alive. So, I must go to him. I know I will risk immediate arrest, and perhaps death, but I can only pray that when you, my Anastasia, are older, you too will have the pleasure and pain of knowing what true love for a man is.

Your father is from the greatest family in Russia, but our love had to be hidden. It is with shame that I tell you that he was already married.

You were the result of our precious love.

From the shoes I have enclosed with this letter, you will guess that I am a ballerina. I danced with the Kirov and I’m famous in our home country. And that is how I met your father. He came to watch me perform
The Dying Swan
and, from then on, pursued me.

I am in Paris now, because I understand my connection to our Imperial Family has put you and me in grave danger. So, I took a contract with Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes to give me the opportunity to leave Russia and bring you to a place of safety.

My friend Lawrence, my kind English gentleman (I
think perhaps he is a little in love with me too!) acted as my saviour and said he would bring you to London and take care of you for me.

My sweetest child, it is my fervent hope that the madness in our country will end soon. And I will be free to come to you in London, then take you back to our beloved homeland and introduce you to your father. But, while all is in chaos, I know I must sacrifice my own feelings and send you away.

God speed, my precious little one. In a few hours’ time, Lawrence Lisle will arrive to take you on your journey to safety. It is only fate that can decide whether we will meet again, so I say goodbye, my Anastasia, and may fortune favour you.

Know always that you were born out of love.

Your loving Mama,

Leonora

Silence reigned in the kitchen.

Matt cleared his throat and surreptitiously wiped a tear from his eye. ‘Wow,’ he whispered, not knowing what else to say.

Grania put her arms around Aurora as tears fell down her cheeks too.

‘Isn’t it … beautiful, Grania?’ Aurora whispered.

‘Yes, it is,’ she agreed.

‘Leonora died when she went back to Russia, didn’t she?’

‘Yes, I think she probably did. If she was famous, we may be able to find out what happened to her. And who Anastasia’s father was,’ pondered Grania.