The Lost Years (21 page)

Chapter 33

At the Rowe farm, a letter from her mother reached Annie the day after Jimmy had left for France. Aware that Perys was at Heligan, Annie had decided to stay on at the farm with her childhood friend for a while longer. She did not feel able to cope with meeting Perys again just yet.

The letter threw her into a state of confusion. Harriet Bray had received very little schooling, and although the letter had been a laborious task for her, it did not make it clear to Annie what was happening at Tregassick.

It did, however, inform her that Perys had called at the farm and that Eliza had now admitted that she and Perys had never been lovers.

In view of what her father claimed to have seen, Annie was extremely confused. She was also distressed. Jimmy Rowe had left the previous day to rejoin his regiment, the Duke of Cornwall Light Infantry, and was expected to embark for France almost immediately. Before his departure, it was evident that he firmly believed he and Annie had an unspoken agreement about a future together. Jimmy’s parents thought so too. They spoke openly of having Annie return to stay at the Rowe farm in the event of Jimmy coming home on leave at any time.

Jimmy’s mother had also pointed out an empty farm cottage as being a place where the parents would one day live when Jimmy took over the running of the farm and he and Annie occupied the farmhouse.

Annie was not happy with such an assumption of her future role as the wife of Jimmy. She knew she should have put the record straight immediately, but was reluctant to cause Jimmy distress on the eve of his departure to war. There would be a more suitable opportunity to enlighten him on his return.

The letter from her mother only added to her confusion. Although it failed to make anything entirely clear, Annie believed her mother was equally uncertain about the present course of events. Had it not been so, she would have made no mention of Perys’s visit to Tregassick, or Eliza’s denial that he was the father of her unborn child. Such news could have waited until Annie’s return.

Having said her farewells to the Rowe family, Annie walked to the nearby small harbour town of Fowey with the intention of travelling as far as St Austell on the motor-bus service that had recently begun to operate between the two towns.

However, once in Fowey, she recognised a fishing boat unloading at the town quay as being from Mevagissey. She knew a couple of the men on board and was able to take passage on the boat for a much quicker journey to the fishing village.

On the way she chatted with the crewmen and elicited the surprising news that Eliza Dunn and Esau Tamblyn were likely to be married before her baby was born.

‘Does that mean that he’s the father?’ Annie asked, incredulously.

‘It means he thinks he is,’ said the skipper of the fishing boat, ‘but then, so do many others. The difference between them is that only poor Esau is simple enough to want to marry her.’

‘I wonder if she’ll go through with it?’ Annie pondered aloud. ‘I was quite sure she was after a grander catch than a simple fisherman.’

‘Well, they do say that needs must when the Devil drives,’ the fisherman said. ‘Eliza won’t be the first to marry when she’s carrying someone else’s child.’ He suddenly chuckled, ‘There’ll be a lot of local men who’ll breathe a sigh of relief when Esau and Eliza walk out of church together.’

* * *

Annie’s return to Tregassick took her father by surprise. He had come in to the house from the cold of the farmyard to warm himself with a cup of tea before returning to his chores.

After Annie had kissed and hugged both parents and told them of her means of transport, Walter said, ‘You must have smelled the tea, girl. Sit yourself down and get warm. There’s a fresh wind blowing - you would have been frozen on a fishing boat from Fowey.’

‘No, I sat under cover most of the time, while Jack Henna told me what has been going on in Mevagissey. Most of the news concerned Eliza Dunn.’

Walter and Harriet exchanged glances and Harriet said, ‘That’s hardly surprising. She’s been the subject of a lot of talk up here, too.’

‘What was it caused her to admit Perys wasn’t the baby’s father? I doubt if it would have been an offer of marriage from poor Esau.’

Again it was Harriet who gave her a reply. ‘As you know, Master Perys was up at Heligan House. When he heard from Polly what Eliza was saying about him he went straight down to Mevagissey to see her and get things sorted. He did, too. Since then Eliza has been at great pains to tell folk that Perys had nothing at all to do with the baby she’s expecting.’

‘I’ve never really believed he did,’ Annie said, ‘not in my heart of hearts. But you saw him kissing her, Pa, so he certainly had more to do with her than he wanted us to know about.’

Walter suddenly appeared ill-at-ease and Harriet said, ‘He explained that to us, Annie. When Eliza stopped him in the driveway up at Heligan, the time our Martin saw them, it seemed she was asking him to find out something for her. He did what she asked and when he met up with her to tell her what she wanted to know, she kissed him. He said it took him by surprise at the time. Your pa agreed that when he thought about it, that is what happened. She kissed him, and not the other way around.

As Harriet spoke, Annie was looking at her father in increasing disbelief. ‘But Pa . . . you said you saw them kissing. You made it sound as though they were kissing each other.’

‘Ah . . . well . . . I didn’t mean it to sound like that. I had to admit to Master Perys that it happened just the way he said it did.’

Annie was very close to tears. ‘How could you have led me to believe what you did. Pa? Everything I’ve done since then has been because of what you told me. I even went to the Rowe farm so I wouldn’t have to meet Perys again. He must be so hurt by the way I’ve behaved towards him. How could you do such a thing?’

‘You mustn’t take on so about it, girl. It’s all turned out for the best. If things had carried on the way they were you’d have been the one who would have ended up hurt. It’s much better for you to settle down with a nice young man like Jimmy. Someone who’ll have his own farm one day.’

‘What makes you think I want to be a farmer’s wife? What makes you think I want Jimmy?’ Annie began putting on the coat she had taken off only a few minutes before.

Alarmed, Harriet said, ‘What are you doing, child? Where do you think you’re going?’

‘To Heligan. To tell Perys I’m sorry for the way I’ve behaved and to explain why I wasn’t here to meet him when he called.’

‘Now you just stop there. I’ll not have you running off after someone who lives up at the big house . . .’

Walter started up from his chair, but he suffered from arthritic knees and was slow in his movements, while Annie was young and determined. She was running out of the farmyard by the time he reached the farmhouse door and his shouted demands that she ‘Come back!’ did nothing to slow her.

At Heligan House, the housekeeper was frostily disapproving when Annie called at the front door and asked to speak to Perys.

‘Master Perys is not here,’ she said, acidly. The door would have been closed in Annie’s face had she not asked, ‘Can you tell me when you are expecting him to be back?’

‘I doubt if he has any reason to return to Heligan. He has gone off to London again, to join the Royal Flying Corps.’

The housekeeper’s statement dismayed Annie, but before she could ask for his London address, the door had closed. There was nothing Annie could do except leave and make her way home.

She had hardly passed out of sight of the house when a figure emerged from a shrub-lined path at the side of the driveway. It was Polly.

‘I saw you from an upstairs window,’ the maid said by way of explanation for her presence. ‘I thought you might be looking for me.’ Suddenly fearful, she asked, hesitantly, ‘It’s not . . . it’s nothing to do with Martin . . . ?’

‘No, Polly, it has nothing to do with Martin,’ Annie hastened to reassure her future sister-in- law. ‘I came here hoping to speak to Perys, but I’m told he’s gone back to London.’

‘He went back this morning,’ Polly confirmed. ‘He was very unhappy, Annie. He came all this way specially to see you. When he heard you’d gone off to stay with Jimmy’s family and that you were going to marry him, he was very upset. He was able to sort Eliza out - and rumour has it that he laid into Esau too - but it was you he’d come to Heligan to see. He told me yesterday there was nothing at Heligan for him now. He’s gone back to London, but he’s not going to be there for long. He’s a pilot now and he’ll be in the RFC, same as Martin, as soon as Christmas is over.’

‘He’s passed his pilot’s exam? Oh, Polly, why hasn’t he written to tell me what he’s been doing? None of this mess would have happened if he had.’

Polly showed her surprise. ‘But he has written, Annie. He told me so himself. He wasn’t quite sure whether there were four or five letters, but he was definite about writing and I don’t think he was lying.’

‘No . . .’ there was a break in Annie’s voice. ‘No, Polly, I don’t think he was . . .’

When Annie arrived back at Tregassick Farm it was already dark and both her parents were once more in the kitchen.

Harriet was the first to speak. ‘You shouldn’t have run off like that, Annie. It upset us - your pa in particular.’

‘I was upset too,’ Annie retorted. ‘I still am. Perys has gone back to London. He’ll be in the RFC immediately after Christmas and he’ll go to war thinking I’m going to marry Jimmy.’

‘That’ll be best for everyone,’ Walter said. ‘Jimmy’ll make a good husband. No good could possibly come from you throwing yourself at the likes of Perys Tremayne.’

‘How would you know?’ Annie demanded angrily. ‘Would it be because you’ve read the letters Perys sent but that never reached me?’

‘Annie! How dare you accuse your pa of doing something like that? You just say you’re sorry - this minute!’

‘Well, someone has the letters and I’ll find out who it is by checking with Postmaster Gilbert tomorrow.’

Before Harriet could say anything more, Walter said, ‘There’ll be no need for that. Yes, I took the letters because I guessed who they were from, but I didn’t read any of ’em. They’re upstairs locked in the deed box, still unopened.’

‘Walter’ This from a shocked Harriet. ‘I’d have staked my life against you doing anything like that. It’s . . . why, it’s unforgivable!’

‘I thought it was for the best,’ Walter said, not meeting his wife’s shocked look. ‘After what I’d seen going on between him and Eliza Dunn.’

‘After what you thought you saw,’ Annie said, tearfully. ‘Or was it what you wanted to see? It seems to me Eliza didn’t need to spread any lies about Perys - you’ve done a good enough job of it for her.’

‘I’ve told you, I did what I thought was best for you.’ Walter repeated, doggedly, well aware he was in the wrong.

‘I’ll never, ever trust your judgement again!’ Tears were running down Annie’s cheeks now. ‘I’ll never forgive you for what you’ve done, either. Perys came all this way especially to see me, now he’s gone back believing I’m to marry Jimmy. Jimmy’s family think so too . . .’ Trying hard to maintain control of her voice, she said, ‘I’ll have my letters now and go off to my bedroom to read them. I don’t want to have to look at you any more.’

Walter took a key from one of the pockets in his waistcoat and handed it to her, saying, ‘You know where the box is kept.’ The guilt he felt made him speak far more gruffly than he intended.

When Annie had left the room, Harriet rounded on her husband. ‘Walter Bray, we’ve been married for a very long time and I felt I knew you. I never thought the day would come when you would behave in such an underhand and dishonest way - and towards your own daughter, too. I’m thoroughly ashamed of you.’

Harriet rarely showed anger, and on the infrequent occasions when there had been a difference of opinion within the family, she had invariably taken her husband’s part. Her strong criticism of him on this occasion increased the misery that gripped him now.

In truth, the decision to keep Perys’s first letter from Annie had been taken on the spur of the moment. He never expected there to be more than one. But having kept the first he felt that subsequent letters might have referred to earlier ones, thus causing questions to be asked about them. However, despite his decision, he could not bring himself to destroy the letters. They had gone into the deed box, for which he held the only key.

‘I did what I thought was best for our Annie,’ he said, miserably. ‘I didn’t want her getting hurt by someone who was just out to have a bit of fun with her.’

‘So you decided you'd be the one to hurt her,’ Harriet commented. ‘It’s going to take our Annie a very long time to forgive you. It’s going to take me a while too, even though I think I understand why you did it. Not that I agree with you. You should have said something to me before deciding on such a thing. You’ve split this family as nothing ever has before, Walter Bray.’

Rising to his feet, Walter said unhappily, ‘I’ve got animals to bed down for the night. I’ll be back in for supper.’

‘You’d better hope there’ll be some on the table for you,’ Harriet said, unfeelingly. ‘I’ll be going up to see our Annie between now and then. She’ll need some comforting, I’ve no doubt.’

Harriet waited for a full half-hour before going upstairs. A ribbon of pale light shone from the gap beneath Annie’s bedroom door, but when she knocked there was no reply.

Knocking again, Harriet said, ‘It’s me, Annie. Can I come in?’

When there was still no reply, Harriet lifted the catch and pushed open the door. The lamp was turned low and Annie was lying fully clothed on the iron-framed single bed, her face turned to the wall.

‘Annie, my love, you shouldn’t be up here on your own like this. Come down to the kitchen and we’ll have a talk, just you and me. Your pa is out in the yard. He’ll be there until supper time.’

Annie made no reply. Unhappy to see her daughter so distraught, Harriet sat on the edge of the bed and stroked her hair, something she had often done on the occasions when Annie was ill as a small girl.

‘What your pa did was wrong, girl, very wrong, but he thought he was doing it for the best. He’ll likely be proven right in the end. Young Master Perys is a Tremayne. He’s none the worse for that, but when it comes to choosing a wife he’ll be looking among the wealthy families in the county. Gentlemen only look to young country girls for what they can get from them. A bit of fun, that’s all you’d be to him. Your pa and I have seen it all before, Annie, too many times. We both want more for you than that.’