Whispers of Love (11 page)

‘Grandma always says that I look exactly like you in those pictures,' she told Christabel. ‘When I'm grown up I'm going to be a nurse just like you were in the war,' she added with a big beaming smile.

Seeing how enraptured Lewis and Violet both were with Kay frequently revived disturbing memories for Christabel of her own child. Although she knew she'd had no alternative but to have her adopted, the very fact that her baby would now be the same age as Kay sometimes brought a stab of regret over what she'd done. It also made her all the more interested in Kay's progress and sometimes she had to hold back for fear of upsetting Violet or being told that she was spoiling the little girl.

It was yet another reason Christabel decided that the time had come for a change. She decided to organise a family get-together so that she could tell them what her intentions were for the future.

Lilian looked dubious when she mentioned it to her. ‘You mean have a proper party?' She frowned. ‘We haven't had one of those for ages
but have you given any thought to all the work it will entail? I have enough to do looking after Mother and Marlene without taking on anything extra.'

‘We'll time it for Kay's birthday. She'll be five in February so we can plan it for then and tell her we're all going to get dressed up and that there will be a birthday cake with candles on it, she'll love that,' Christabel went on, ignoring all Lilian's protests.

At the very last minute, on the day of the party itself, Christabel decided that the occasion demanded a new dress. She wanted one that was the very latest fashion so she went to Liverpool's Bold Street. Having bought the dress she felt it needed one of the new hairstyles to complete the effect which meant going to the hairdresser's and this made her even later arriving home.

They were all gathered in the dining room ready to start the party when she walked in. The straight-cut apple-green silk dress skimmed her knees and had floating panels of darker green chiffon draped from the waist. With it she wore a matching sequined headband positioned straight across her forehead so that it partially concealed her new hairstyle.

Her appearance stunned them all; they stared at her in silence.

‘Oh, Chrissy, what have you done to yourself?' Lilian's squeal of horror started everyone talking at once.

‘It's the latest fashion,' Christabel retorted,
tilting her head and pirouetting round so that the floating panels flared out seductively.

‘It certainly shows off your legs and you've a good pair of pins, old girl,' Dennis chortled.

Lilian gave him a warning look as she saw her mother frowning uneasily.

‘What is that thing you have on your head, Christabel?' her mother asked in a puzzled voice.

‘It's a headband.'

‘It looks like some sort of Indian headdress with those feathery things in it,' Lilian scoffed.

‘Don't be silly.' Although she smiled, Christabel removed the offending piece.

The gasps when they saw her new hairstyle were even greater than the furore caused by the shortness of her dress.

‘In heaven's name what have you gone and done to yourself, Christabel?' her mother exclaimed. ‘What's happened to all your lovely long hair?'

‘By the look of things she's had it chopped off for one of the new short cuts,' Dennis laughed admiringly.

‘It
is
very short!' Violet murmured.

‘It's called a bob,' Christabel told them, running her hand over the back of her head and then trailing her fingers down her face to where the side hair was swept forward dramatically on to her cheeks just below eye level.

‘You look naked!' her mother told her, her eyes travelling from Christabel's long, slim, bare neck to the low cut neckline of her new dress.

‘It will take time to get used to, but I rather like it,' Christabel defended.

‘Then it seems you are the only one who does,' her mother told her scathingly.

‘You'd better learn to like it,' Christabel laughed, ‘I can hardly put my hair back on again, can I?'

‘No, Christabel, I realise that you can't do that, but you'd better make sure you wear a hat when you go out. I don't want people seeing you make such a spectacle of yourself. Either that, or else stay indoors until it grows again,' she added tetchily.

‘Mother, we've got to move with the times,' Lewis defended as they took their places at the table and he saw the tears glistening in Christabel's eyes.

‘Lewis is right, Mother. I'm sorry you disapprove but I need to look not only smart but also fashionable in readiness for my new job, so I'm trying to make the most of myself,' Christabel affirmed as she passed the plate of sandwiches to her.

‘A new job? What sort of job? You never said you were thinking of going out to work. Does it mean you're going to a new hospital? I thought you'd given up nursing for good.'

‘I've been offered a post as nurse-companion to a young girl who is recuperating from tuberculosis. As part of her treatment, she is being sent to live in Switzerland,' she explained.

‘Switzerland!' Her mother's reaction was a
mixture of disbelief and consternation. ‘Surely you could find something nearer home,' she grumbled as she stirred the cup of tea Lilian had placed in front of her. ‘I shall be so worried about you. All that snow and ice everywhere and all those mountains, you could so easily break a leg, you know.'

‘Mother, Fiona Gleeson is recovering from TB. She isn't fit to undertake anything energetic, let alone ski. She has been sent out there by a Harley Street specialist because the alpine air is considered to be very beneficial. I have been hired as a nurse-companion. My job will be to entertain her and make sure that she has plenty of rest. It will also be my responsibility to ensure that she eats the right foods, and takes the medicines prescribed.'

‘And what about her family? Where will you live? Will there be servants to look after you?' A torrent of questions poured out from all sides.

‘Fiona's parents will come out and visit her about once a month. There's a housekeeper and servants to look after the chalet. All I have to do is keep Fiona company and make sure she sticks to the rules laid down by her specialist.'

‘Won't you find it very dull?'

‘Dull?' She shrugged. ‘I've never been to Switzerland before so it will be quite an exciting experience. I've been told that the scenery there is absolutely magnificent.'

Her vivid blue eyes hardened as she stared at her mother. ‘The fact that I am going away
will make things better for you all. It will give Lilian more space. Now that she has a child and all the paraphernalia that entails, as well as the fact that Dennis is home, means we are very cramped.'

‘There's no need for you to rush off or to go to the other side of the world; this is your home as well, and there's plenty of room here for all of us,' her mother told her quickly. ‘I'm not entering into an argument with you, but the thought of you going off to Switzerland worries me, whatever you may think,' she added huffily.

‘Dissatisfaction with what you have seems to be one of the aftermaths of the war with you young people,' she went on reflectively. ‘Only this morning Mary handed in her notice and told me that she will be leaving at the end of the month because she's getting married and moving to Scotland. I must say, it came as something of a shock to discover that she's been engaged for almost two years. I've never even thought about her having a life outside our home.'

Christabel was about to point out that they'd always taken Mary for granted, rather like they did herself, but she decided it was time for them all to remember that the real reason they were all there was not to have a family argument but to celebrate Kay's birthday.

‘Do you want some more jelly and blancmange, or are you ready for someone to light the
candles on your cake, Kay?' she asked, smiling across the table at the little girl.

‘I'm ready for my birthday cake, Aunty Chrissy. I'm waiting to blow the candles out,' Kay said eagerly.

‘Then we'll ask your daddy to light them right this minute,' Christabel told her. ‘Would you like me to help you blow them out?'

‘Yes please.' Kay held out her hand to Christabel who rose from her seat and went round to the other side of the table to stand behind Kay's chair.

‘Now don't forget that you are supposed to make a wish, Kay,' Lewis told her as he applied a light to the five little candles and they all commented on how pretty they were as they flickered and then burned brightly.

Christabel squeezed Kay's hand reassuringly as the five-year-old took a great big breath and then blew it out in the direction of the candles as hard as she could.

‘They're all out,' she exclaimed, clapping her hands excitedly. ‘Now can I have my wish?'

‘Your wish?' They all looked at her uncertainly.

‘I think you are supposed to keep what you've wished for a secret or else it won't happen,' Violet explained.

‘I can't do that or it will be too late and then it will never happen at all,' Kay whispered, her eyes misting with tears.

‘Too late? I don't understand what you mean by that.' Lewis frowned.

‘Aunt Chrissy will be gone away to Switzerland and then it will never happen.'

‘Whatever do you mean, what are you trying to say?' Violet asked, looking puzzled.

Kay took hold of Christabel's hand and then reached up and pulled her face closer so that she could whisper in her aunt's ear. ‘I want you to give me your pretty headband, Aunt Chrissy, so that I can wear it to remind me of you all the time you are away,' she said with a tremulous smile.

There were times when Fiona Gleeson behaved as if she was nine rather than nineteen, Christabel thought as, half asleep, she struggled into her dressing gown and padded into the adjoining room to see why, yet again, Fiona was ringing the bell for her.

She even looks like a spoilt child, Christabel reflected, as she regarded the willowy figure propped up in the four-poster bed, clutching an oversized golden-furred teddy bear to her chest. Fiona's straight blond hair fanned out over the mountain of lace-edged pillows like an exotic shawl, framing the girl's delicate features.

‘Fiona, did you ring?' Christabel asked, smothering a yawn and running a hand over her own ruffled hair in a vain attempt to smooth it back into its sleek bob.

‘You know I did; you weren't still asleep, were you? It has been light for ages and ages!' The silver-blue eyes were accusing, the pale lips petulant. Two bright spots of feverish colour pinpointed her cheekbones.

‘Yes, I was asleep,' Christabel admitted. ‘After all,' she added, ‘I have been up twice during the night to attend to you.'

‘Well, that's what you are here for,' Fiona said petulantly.

Christabel smiled patiently but said nothing.

When she had first applied for the job of looking after Fiona, only daughter of Sir Henry and Lady Margaret Gleeson, it had sounded enchanting.

There would be snow, blue skies, sunshine and a crystal-clear, sparkling atmosphere. She'd be living in a luxury chalet-style house overlooking a picturesque village bright with flowers. It was a popular resort for wealthy people who could afford to indulge in their enjoyment of skiing and tobogganing.

Fiona's parents had painted such an idyllic picture that she'd had no hesitation about accepting the post. After the tension-wrought atmosphere at home it had sounded like the perfect solution.

St Moritz was every bit as enchanting as the Gleesons had predicted. It had been chosen as the most suitable place for Fiona's recuperation, not only because it was considered to be the finest of the Alpine resorts, but also because it was one of the main tobogganing centres, a sport in which both Fiona's father, and her brother George, intended to participate whenever they came to visit her.

What the Gleesons had not told Christabel was that their daughter was not only an invalid, but also thoroughly spoilt and excessively demanding. She was given to tantrums when
she couldn't have her own way and this made her an extremely difficult patient.

Christabel often found herself thinking that it had been easier to control an entire ward of wounded soldiers than this one delicate-looking girl. She would have found it even more difficult if it had not been for the arrival of George Gleeson.

Fiona's brother had been sent out by his parents to make sure that everything was all right and that Fiona had settled in, and he was to report back on her progress. He was tall and extremely handsome. He had a shock of thick fair hair, hypnotic green eyes, a deep mellifluous voice, and a bold, yet charming manner. From their very first meeting, Christabel liked him.

George was something of a disappointment to his family. Following on from Eton he'd gone to Cambridge, but in his second year there he'd been sent down after a drunken brawl. It was the end of his academic life; instead of following his father into banking, he had trained as an actor. His classical features had won him several small-time parts.

His training, however, had imbued him with a voice of such melting quality that he had only to speak her name for Fiona to listen to his advice and do what he asked of her.

Determined not to let him see how charming she thought he was, Christabel treated him with cool reserve. This, she noticed with interest, seemed to intrigue him and she sensed his visits
to St Moritz were not merely to check on his sister's health.

The visit from George had a most beneficial effect on Fiona. He insisted on taking her for a drive each day while he was staying there. Once she was warmly wrapped up in a chinchilla jacket, with a matching fur muff and an ear-hugging cloche hat, they would drive out in one of the jingling two-horse sleighs that were so popular in the resort.

George always invited Christabel to accompany them, and insisted they must stop for afternoon tea at one of the many café-restaurants. George's gallant attentions and witty conversation would bring a sparkle to Fiona's eyes, and even Christabel found herself smiling as he regaled them with anecdotes about his life in the acting profession.