CHAPTER 26
Home at last. It had been a fine holiday, for more reasons than one. Henry felt the years, the wasted years, dropping away from him with the passage of every day, and Lynn was blooming like the young bride she was.
There came a break in the happiness one day. Lynn answered the ring of the doorbell to find Catriona standing outside.
‘Gran,’ she said. ‘I hadn’t expected you.’
‘I have no doubt about that,’ the older woman said. ‘I came without warning, so as not to give you the opportunity of being away when I arrived. That hair style is most unbecoming. Open the door properly girl, I wish to come in. ’
Such was the power of fearful habit that Lynn did as she was ordered, showing Catriona to the library.
‘I’ll just go and find Henry,’ she said. ‘I think he’s still in the garden.’
Henry simply lifted his eyebrows when he was told the news of their unannounced visitor. He glanced ruefully at his dirty hands and filthy clothing, the result of digging out a perpetually wet spot where the drainage was not all it should be.
‘I suppose it had to happen,’ he said. ‘Bad gossip generally travels twice around the world before anything good is even noticed. I’ll just get cleaned up, then I’ll come. Can you put the kettle on, my love? I won’t keep you on your own with her for longer than I can help.’
‘No, don’t hurry,’ said Lynn. ‘I’d like a few minutes with her alone first. And don’t worry, I can handle her. I’ve had lots of practice.’
Lynn made coffee mechanically, her thoughts in a whirl. Setting out the refreshments on a tray, she carried it all through to the library, then sat down, regarding Catriona with more than a touch of hostility on her face, all the while fingering a small, shiny pendant she wore around her neck.
The older woman broke the heavy silence first. ‘I expect you can guess why I have come just at this time.’
‘No gran, I can’t begin to imagine. Why don’t you tell me?’ She kept to herself the thought that she could guess very well what had brought Catriona.
‘Very well, I will. We have a mutual acquaintance, someone who brought me some rather disturbing news recently. Perhaps you know who I mean?’
‘I don’t care for guessing games, gran. Why not say what’s on your mind, and finish with the farce?’
Catriona looked angry at the words, but continued. ‘You remember Mrs. Wilson, no doubt, your mother’s neighbour.’ She waited expectantly, but Lynn was silent. ‘Mrs. Wilson was on a short holiday not long ago, a weekend cruise to Denmark. She happened to see you on the ship. She told me that she saw you several times during the crossing. You were in company with a man who, by the description, must have been your precious Mr. Forsyth.’
She waited again, but again was met with silence. That’s another one off the Christmas card list, thought Lynn inconsequentially. Not that I ever sent her one, but she’s off the list she was never on, anyway.
‘You were seen entering his cabin late in the evening. What have you got to say to that?’
Lynn’s mouth opened. She licked her lips before answering. ‘Why, that’s not true, gran.’
‘You deny it?’ demanded Catriona.
‘I deny it. I never entered Henry’s cabin at all.’
‘Then...?
‘He came into mine.’
Catriona gave a sound of annoyance. ‘Late at night?’
‘Depends on what you call late,’ said Lynn. ‘If you think that ten in the evening is late, then yes, we were in the cabin together late at night.’
Catriona breathed in heavily. ‘You have the bare faced effrontery to sit there and tell me that you spent the night together?’ she said with an odd sense of deja vu. ‘You admit it?’
Lynn shook her head. ‘No.’
‘You intend lying about it, then?’
‘Would it help, when you have clearly made up your mind? No gran, I do not intend lying about it, mainly because there’s no need for lies. Henry came into my cabin, yes. I didn’t know how to operate the morning call button because the instructions in English were missing, and he came in to show me what to do. He’s travelled on these boats many times before. If your informant had been a little more observant, she would have seen that he came out again in rather less than two minutes, and entered his own cabin, where he stayed all night. As far as I am aware, that is. I wasn’t checking up, and I didn’t have a handy spy about me. If I had, I wouldn’t have used one, considering that how Henry amuses himself is his own affair, whether it’s with alcohol, gambling or a casual on board pick up with one of the many unattached women that seemed to be everywhere. Now I’m not sure just what mischief two consenting adults can get up to in less than two minutes, assuming that there is a measure of consent, but I suspect it isn’t the sort of mischief that your mind has rolling around in it. Nor is likely to be very satisfying to either one. Even if it was any of your business. Which it isn’t.’
‘I find that difficult to believe,’ remarked Catriona.
‘Yes, I rather thought you might,’ said Lynn with a calmness she was far from feeling. ‘But you see, it really doesn’t matter what you believe. It doesn’t alter anything. Henry and I spent that night in separate cabins. Even if I had proof of it, I wouldn’t give it to you, because I know you will believe what you want to believe. I don’t like being called a liar, gran, but I guess I’ve got used to that from you over the years.’
‘You are right. I still find it difficult to believe,’ repeated Catriona, but rather lamely. ‘You were on holiday with him? You were seen leaving the ship together in Denmark.’
Lynn smiled without humour. ‘I must have been seen leaving the ship in company with hundreds of others, but I suppose your informant made no claims of orgies. Or did she? Anyway, I’ve been on holiday with my father. Not that I remember it, but I know I have been. There’s surely no evidence of unnatural relations, is there? If there is, perhaps I should have been told.’
‘That’s not the same thing at all, and you know it,’ Catriona flared. ‘You were on holiday with a man not your relation, and one you were not married to.’
‘That’s right, gran. We went on holiday together, travelling around Scandinavia. Remind me to show you my holiday snaps sometime.’
The careless, off hand manner in which the younger woman spoke threw Catriona’s thought processes off balance. She tried to get them back in order and regain the initiative.
‘I have no wish to see your holiday photographs,’ she snapped. ‘Just what do you imagine people will think?’
‘But it doesn’t matter what people may think, gran. I’m not in the slightest bit interested in what people may think. It’s not important. It might have been in your day, but not now. Times have changed. Maybe for the worse, I wouldn’t know, but changed anyway. For the record, I’ll tell you why we went away together. It was a study trip, combined with a holiday, a study trip in an effort to make more sense of what I had been taught. That’s all it was meant to be. If you wish to twist it into something unclean and nasty, go ahead. I can’t prevent you. You are entitled to your opinion, as I’m entitled to mine.’
‘Only a study trip? Only a holiday?’ Catriona sneered.
‘You want the truth, gran,’ said Lynn. ‘I’ll give it to you. We did not share a cabin that first night, as I told you. We did not share a bed the second night, nor the third, nor the fourth. I’m sorry I can’t tell you just when we did share a bed, as I wasn’t keeping track of every minute of every day in case I was asked to account for my every action at some time in the future, and if I had been, I certainly wouldn’t have entered it into my diary, even if I kept one, which I don’t. If I want something sensational to read I’ll go to the world of literature. All I can tell you is that it was sometime and somewhere in Sweden towards the end of the holiday. I’m not even very sure of where it was, we’d been travelling so much and visited so many places. Satisfied now?’
‘No, I am not satisfied...’
Lynn broke in rapidly, with a cheerful grin that successfully hid the turmoil she was feeling. ‘Why, gran. Don’t tell me you’re actually jealous?’
‘Jealous!’ Catriona spluttered. Her face went white with rage. Her lips opened and closed, but no sound issued forth from them. The situation had slipped away from her in a way she could never after define, and her granddaughter was firmly in control.
’Yes, jealous.’ Lynn kept on remorselessly. ’You could have had him, you know. You could have had him years ago, but you chose someone else. You promised to marry him - he told me that, unless he’s a liar as well - and you broke that promise. He never lost faith in you just the same. Let me tell you something else, something else which is true, and which you know to be true. I know he offered you his wealth when you met him last time. I know, because I was listening at the door. Naughty of me, of course, but then I’m a naughty girl, aren’t I? I go away on holiday with a man and share his bed. Nor do I have any remorse over that, because I intend to continue sharing his bed. He is the kindest, most considerate, most faithful person I know, or am ever likely to meet. Yes, he offered you his money, and do you know why? Of course not, you never think of anyone but your own selfish self, so I’ll tell you. When he asked you to marry him all those years ago, he gave you everything he had. It wasn’t much then, but it was still everything. Everything he had. Now you were a strong churchgoer at one time. You must know the story of the widow’s mite. It’s a bit like that. He felt a moral obligation to keep that promise. Of course, while you were still married, things were different, but as soon as he discovered you were divorced, he felt obliged to remake the same offer of everything he had, which happens to be a good deal more nowadays, and a good deal more than you seem to realise.’
’I told him I wasn’t for sale. Unlike some.’
’Ooh nasty, gran. Tell me, were you born that way, or have you had to work at it? Very nasty. Or at least, it would be nasty if it happened to be true. I wasn’t for sale either, whether you believe it or not. Nor was he buying you. He wouldn’t have married you now, because he thinks you belong to someone else, divorced or not. Old fashioned, but that’s the way he is. He just wanted to see you comfortable financially, especially when you told him you were not so well off any more. He could have given you so much but you threw it in his face. You told him to find another woman on whom to spend his money - if any. The problem was, he didn’t actually know anybody else, except me. He remained faithful to you all these years. This time I just happened to be available, so he gave it all to me.’
’Enough, I hope, to subsidise your studies. You’ll not get another penny out of the family. I’ll see to that.’
’I’m sure you will. In fact, you already have, but there’s one thing you don’t see, gran. He really does have money. Lots of it. He has given me a grant of several thousand pounds a year until my studies are finished. I don’t need to borrow. I don’t need to beg. And I don’t need to sell myself, to give him anything I don’t wish to give. I’m a student, not a prostitute. I offer him only what it pleases me to offer. He has given me a home, a real home for once, one that does not include the fighting and bickering I had to get used to, fighting and bickering caused by you and only by you. He provides my meals. He buys me presents unexpectedly, pays for my clothes and books. And, in the end, he has made me sole beneficiary of his will.’
’Debts, I suppose. Have you seen the colour of this grant yet?’
’Yes, and it’s not red. It’s not even in the slightest bit pink. The first year’s instalment is already in my bank account. My account, gran, untouchable by anyone else. Untouchable by you. Untouchable even by Henry. He insisted on that. And there are no debts. I have seen his bank statements. He insisted I saw them, because he has given me full access to his money and property. I know pretty well what his income is. Would you like to hear it? He won’t mind if I tell you.’
’Go ahead,’ the older woman nodded grimly. ’I don’t guarantee to believe it.’
Lynn smiled in a manner which was not exactly pleasant. ’You don’t have to. Why would you, when you don’t accept anything else? It won’t alter the truth of the matter, but it might give you something to think about in your lonely house. Now I think anyone would have to agree that this man is not poor. He ran a number of businesses when he was working, shops, offices and so on. I’m not quite sure exactly what he did have in that line, but it was quite a lot.’ Lynn paused. ‘Come to the window. Do you see that car in the drive? It’s Henry’s car. A Bentley. It’s practically new, was new only a few months ago. It’s paid for. In cash, I happen to know. He owns this house. Not so new as the car, but large and very expensive. This is the best area of the town after all. Also paid for. Also in cash. He owns over twenty thousand books, many of them first editions, which he enjoys collecting and, I might add, reading. Cash again. In fact, he has an annual income of, well perhaps I’d better not give you the exact amount, even if it meant anything, but it runs well into seven figures. He lives off his investments, so it’s quite a lot he owns. It’s something he worked for, and now he’s got it. It could have been yours, gran. He was willing to leave it all to you, except for living expenses and seeing me through university. Now I’ve got it, because you didn’t believe him, because you threw it back in his face as you threw so much at him long ago.’
’At least I don’t have people pointing fingers at me,’ snapped the older woman.
’Nobody points fingers at me either, not with that amount of wealth behind me,’ Lynn retorted drily. The calm statement shook Catriona.
’And when he gets tired of you? What then?’
’He won’t, and that’s not a question of belief. I know it. He is totally honourable and totally honest, a fact you might have recognised for yourself. If he makes promises, he keeps them. And even if he does get tired of me, even if he throws me out, I’ve been well paid for it. Better than many women in a similar position. Better than your husband paid for his girl friends, I’m quite sure.’
There came a resounding crack as fingers swept across Lynn’s cheek.
‘Satisfied, gran?’ asked Lynn, dabbing a spot of blood away from her face. ‘Did you used to hit grandad as well? Or couldn’t you show him that much emotion? Maybe that’s why he went after other women, but I imagine you would know the ins and outs of that yourself.’
There was a momentary silence as the two women glared at each other. They became aware that their conversation was not unheard. Catriona recovered rapidly.
’I want a few words with you,’ she said grimly to Henry, as he came through the door, going on to the attack immediately. ’Aren’t you ashamed of yourself? You have taken Lynn away on holiday, on her own admission and made use of her youth. Good heavens, she’s only a child.’
’Oh, hardly a child,’ he demurred. ’She’s a legal adult, although I’m not certain what an illegal adult is, I’m sure.’
’I think we can dispense with the subtleties of language. What do you mean by it?’
’By what?’
Lynn stirred. ’Come and sit next to me, Henry. It’s all right, this is just gran making trouble as usual. I’ve told her the main story, but I think she is after details of our trip to Scandinavia.’
’Details? Well, all right, if that’s what you want. Exactly what is it you wish to know?’
‘I think you had better tell me everything,’ said Catriona.
‘Well,’ said Henry slowly. ‘I assume you don’t want to hear about how nice a day it was when we set out, or if the sea was calm, if we suffered from seasickness, that sort of thing.’
‘You assume correctly,’ said Catriona.
‘Well then,’ murmured Henry. ‘It’s hard to know what’s relevant. It was a jolly good breakfast we had that first morning, wasn’t it, Lynn? And the caviar we had for lunch was quite tasty, even if it wasn’t Beluga. That buffet lunch is absolutely superb. I don’t know how they do it for the money. It looks expensive, but you do get a lot for it. We could hardly move afterwards, could we? I do know we drove to Billund first, after we left the ferry, on the right hand side of the road, of course, as the Danes are as odd in that respect as the rest of Europe. Dangerous, I call it. Luckily we didn’t run into anything, as a Bentley is a bit expensive to repair. Then there was the Viking ship museum at Roskilde, absolutely superb, you should try to visit there one day, Catriona, I’m sure you would enjoy it. Perhaps Lynn could give you some of the background. She’s pretty knowledgeable about the whole thing.’
Lynn almost choked with laughter at the sight of her gran’s face as she took in the nonsense Henry was speaking.
‘You don’t need to indicate your senility,’ said Catriona in a tight voice. ‘I know how old you are, to the very day.’ She stressed the word old. ‘You are well aware of the details I wish to hear.’
‘Yes,’ said Henry. ‘I can guess. But as to whether I am willing to give them is a moot point. Do you have any right to hear them, is what I’m getting at? Whatever Lynn and I have done, or not done, is that any concern of anyone else’s? I doubt it.’
‘She is my granddaughter. I do have some right in the matter.’
‘Actually, I think you’ll find you have none at all,’ said Henry. ‘No legal right, and no moral right either. As I already pointed out, she is legally an adult.’
‘No?’ said Catriona in a tight voice. ‘Well, I’m taking that right.’
‘Very well,’ said Henry. ‘If there’s any chance of keeping you happy, I’ll tell you something. I happen to think a good deal of Lynn. She’s a good sort, one of the best, and deserves the little bit of help I can give her. I’ve made certain arrangements concerning her finances, which I do not intend to go into detail with you, or indeed with anyone else. She will be well looked after, of that you can be assured.’
‘Oh, no doubt you’ve made promises, but how is anyone to know whether you’ll keep them?’
’I’ll keep them. I’m pretty good at that. It’s one of the things I’m best at, in fact. It’s a pity you never recognised it.’
’So you say, but talk is cheap. You could throw her out tomorrow and she’d have no comebacks at all.’
He smiled without humour. ’I don’t think so. Married women have protection under the law. Not that she needs it.’
She gasped. ’Married?’
’Yes. Didn’t Lynn tell you? We got married in Sweden. Special licence, but married just the same. And in church. A Lutheran church, not Catholic, but a church just the same, and quite legal. It wasn’t difficult to arrange. That’s why I said that you have no rights in the matter,’ he added drily. ’They have all been transferred to me. Sexist perhaps, but that’s the way it is. It’s an old custom.’
’You never told me that,’ Catriona gasped, glaring at her granddaughter.
’You seemed to take it for granted that all he wanted was to ... well you know. You never gave me a chance to explain.’
’Perhaps I can explain,’ said Henry. ’I admit that intimacy took place before getting married, but we were married within a few days afterwards. You see, I’ve always subscribed to the theory that if a woman is good enough to love, she’s good enough to marry, if I may put it a little more politely than is usually heard in men’s clubs. Since Lynn was good enough to love me in return, then marriage it had to be. I don’t want a hole in the corner affair. I want the real thing. I always did. It wasn’t her youth I was making use of, you see, although I admit that is a definite bonus.’
Lynn giggled. Intimacy took place, indeed. Henry had a delightfully old fashioned turn of expression at times, that appealed to her sense of humour. Accurate, though, very accurate.
Catriona sank back in her chair, looking disturbed. ’A statement like that is all the better for a bit of proof,’ she said.
’Proof you shall have,’ said Henry, ‘although I don’t feel the need to give it. That’s something between me, Lynn and whatever gods we happen to recognise. Still, it may ease your mind, for what that’s worth. If it prevents you from bothering Lynn - my wife - again, it will be worth something.’
He crossed to a bureau, searched in a drawer and took out a piece of paper. ’Here you are, our marriage certificate. It’s in Swedish, of course, but I can give you a copy and you can have it translated if you wish. I assume you wouldn’t trust my translation, although I’m quite capable of giving it.’
She shook her head dumbly. ’No need. I believe you. Married? I hadn’t thought...’ Her voice trailed off.
’That’s always been the trouble, gran, you never thought. You never allowed people to go their own way, to make their own decisions. You could have had all this yourself, but you didn’t think.’
Catriona looked around the room as though seeing it for the first time, her face crumpling and ageing rapidly. She suddenly looked small and defenceless.
’I believe you,’ she repeated. ’I have to believe you.’
’And if you believe that,’ said Lynn none too gently, ’you have to believe the rest as well. Or maybe not. That’s your choice. It’s up to you. It doesn’t really matter any more what you believe. I know the truth, and that’s really the only point at issue.’
’I suppose... You are wealthy, aren’t you? I never looked properly. Of course, the car, and this house...’ Her face was drawn and even grey.
’And my bank statement, gran,’ said Lynn. ’Look.’
She crossed to the same bureau and took out a slim book, showing it to the older woman. ’See here, where it gives the current balance. This is what Henry has given to me. Five million on account, quite apart from the annual grant I told you about. That’s all mine, for whatever that means. He wanted it that way, so that whatever happens, I am secure for life. Even the house is in my name, but you’ll have to take my word for that. Only the car is still in Henry’s name, and that because of the insurance. The company wouldn’t accept me as a fair risk.’
’And I could have had it. You said that,’ Catriona whispered.
’Yes,’ said Henry. ’It was all for you originally. You turned it down, remember. You said that I had nothing you wanted forty years ago, and I had nothing you wanted now. To be fair, I had nothing except potential forty years ago, but I think you have to admit that my potential has been realised. I would have seen Lynn through university and set her up for life, keeping enough for my own needs, which are actually rather simple and not at all expensive, and you would have had the rest. But you didn’t want it. You threw it back at me. Not very kindly, either, but that doesn’t matter. So, I gave it all to Lynn. I have nothing left to give away at all now. I’m actually poorer than I was when you first knew me. At least, poorer in the sense in which you seem to understand poverty. I’m sorry, Catriona. Sorry for you, and the way you’ve turned out, but it was your choice after all. Your choice, and you made it.’
‘He is still much older than you. You realise he’ll die years before you. With children to bring up on your own. If he’s still capable of that.’
Lynn simply smiled at the statement, the smile of a woman with knowledge. A smile that infuriated the older woman.
‘You’ll be a widow a long time,’ said Catriona savagely.
Lynn addressed Catriona again. ‘No gran, I won’t. I’ll never lose him, not really. When Henry said he has nothing left to give, he meant just that. Do you see this pendant I’m wearing, gran? It represents everything Henry ever really owned. Look at it. Perhaps you’ve seen it before.’
Catriona did as she was asked and searched her memory. ‘So? Is it that one you lost on the crane years ago in that old quarry?’
Henry nodded. ‘That’s the one. I wrote to you to explain about it, but you never answered my letter.’
‘I never opened it,’ Catriona said. ‘You frightened me at the time, frightened me badly. I never understood why. It wasn’t like you at all.’
‘Perhaps you should have read my letter,’ said Henry. ‘You may have discovered that it was very much like me.’
‘Well, what about it? It’s just an old sixpence.’
‘No, it’s a bit more than that,’ said Lynn. ‘I’ll not tell you the story. I doubt if you would understand it. Enough to say that you could have had it yourself, and that if you did, you would be far richer than you ever dreamed. It’s more than money. More than position. More than anything else, it’s a sort of personification of Henry. When he gave me this, I cried, because I knew what it meant to him. I wear it all the time, awake or asleep, outside or at home, fully dressed or otherwise, because in that way, I always have the man I love next to me, and that applies whether he is dead or alive. I will never lose him, no matter what happens.’
Catriona stared at her granddaughter in blank incomprehension.
‘And now I think you had better go, gran,’ said Lynn. ’You’ve broken up my parents’ marriage, you would do the same for Liz and Ken if you knew where to find them, but you can’t do anything to mine. It’s rock solid. Both of us know what it is like not to have a proper family life, and now that we have one, in each other, we will not let it be broken, not by you, not by anyone. Besides, I can see by the look on Henry’s face that he has something on his mind, and if he hasn’t, I’ll give him something to think about. We haven’t made love today yet, and we are falling behind schedule.’
They watched as Catriona climbed into a taxi and departed. They never saw her again.