Page 111 of Fire Must Burn

‘So I’ve heard,’ said Mrs Bainbridge. ‘Such a pity. I attended a few soirées at Kimbolton Castle when I was younger.’

‘I thought your face looked familiar,’ said Lady Cater. ‘What was your name back then?’

‘Brewster. I hadn’t been presented yet, so was relegated to the ranks of the other adolescents, but we had our fun.’

‘I’m certain you did,’ said Lady Cater. ‘Perhaps you encountered my son, Bruce, when you were there.’

‘I do remember him. He was kind enough to dance with me, even though I was such an awkward gangly thing back then.’

‘I highly doubt that,’ said Lady Cater. ‘So you work now?’

There was a faint hint of distaste in her pronunciation of the verb.

‘Yes, isn’t it exciting?’ burbled Mrs Bainbridge. ‘They say television is the wave of the future, and I was quite lucky to get in on the ground floor. I’ve never had a full-time job before. My poor husband gave his life for King and country several years ago, and I’ve been very much at loose ends since our son went away to school. Mummy pulled some strings and I just started a few days ago. This is my first assignment, in fact!’

‘I’m afraid that television hasn’t reached us yet,’ said Lady Cater, ‘but I suppose the invasion is inevitable. I’m not sure I like the idea. I have made my peace with the radio, but it doesdictate one’s choices, doesn’t it? But at least when it’s on one isn’t bound to a single location and may wander about the room doing other things. Television, on the other hand, confines you to a single seat for the duration of the experience. I don’t relish being held slave to an armchair.’

‘You still have the choice as to whether or not you’ll watch it,’ said Mrs Bainbridge. ‘I’ve found that it has brought many aspects of the world to my attention that I might not have been aware of before. I’m hoping to do the same for others now.’

‘You make your work sound positively altruistic,’ said Lady Cater. ‘What is this project that you’ve come to see me about?’

‘We’re putting together a programme about the civil war in Spain,’ said Mrs Bainbridge, pulling out her notebook and pencil. ‘We believe that enough time has passed to give us some perspective on it, especially now that we’ve had a chance to see General Franco in action for a decade, so we want to revisit and reassess the war as a precursor to the greater war that followed.’

‘How does my late son factor into this?’

‘We are interested in the different types of Englishmen who volunteered to fight in Spain on either side, as well as the circumstances and family backgrounds which led them to join. Was there anything in particular about Bruce’s life here that you believe inspired him to go to Spain?’

‘There was nothing about his upbringing that precipitated that,’ said Lady Cater.

‘Then you wouldn’t say that he developed socialistic tendencies from living here?’

‘Look around you,’ said Lady Cater. ‘Does anything you see, does anything about this place smack of socialism?’

‘Not in the slightest,’ said Mrs Bainbridge. ‘But one needs to ask, then, if you believe that perhaps he joined the International Brigade as a reaction to his upbringing?’

‘Not at all. The very idea is appalling. Bruce embraced every aspect of the Cater traditions, as well as the Cater wealth, wholeheartedly. We gave him every advantage, and he took advantage of everything we gave him.’

‘Interesting,’ said Mrs Bainbridge. ‘Do you think the transformation occurred because of his time at Cambridge?’

‘I don’t think that he ever turned away from who he was or where he came from,’ said Lady Cater. ‘Despite falling among some questionable companions while he was there.’

‘Who, for example? Did he join the socialists? Or the communists?’

‘He did not,’ she replied hotly. ‘He never would have shamed the family like that. He took his degree and eventually would have taken his rightful place on that wall with his father and his father’s father.’

‘Yet he joined the anti-fascist side,’ persisted Mrs Bainbridge. ‘What do you think prompted a decision like that?’

‘Some reckless impulse of his, I suppose,’ she said. ‘We never knew the reason, and never will.’

She’s lying, thought Gwen.

‘Our understanding is that he may have gone in part because of an incident at Cambridge,’ she said.

‘Where did you hear that?’ snapped Lady Cater.

‘Mr Danielli, my associate, heard something about it from his time there.’

‘Oh? You were at Cambridge?’ asked Lady Cater.