Page 109 of The Gathering Storm (Morland Dynasty #36)
‘No, no, just the children. You can’t think we’d want to miss all this!
But come into the drawing-room – no need to stand in the hall like a visitor.
Are you staying for dinner? Vivian is dining at his club this evening, so it’s just me.
Mrs Munday will be glad to do something more than an omelette on a tray, which was what I ordered, and which she thinks an insult to her art.
Clara, tell Mrs Munday to rustle up dinner for Lady Launde and me for half past seven. And bring the cocktail tray.’
‘I thought Emma and Kit were in Cannes,’ Charlotte said, seeing that Molly had realised there were secrets to be told and was filling in time with light conversation until they were properly alone.
‘They were. They came back this morning. They said everybody was in Cannes this year. Marlene Dietrich, Delly Cavendish, the Duke and Duchess of Windsor, poor Ena Spain, Ambassador Kennedy and his vast brood. Did you know Billy Hartington is courting one of his daughters – Kathleen? Apparently, it’s quite serious.
Of course, lots of upper-class boys are marrying American girls these days, and she seems a nice enough little thing.
Wholesome and friendly. The Devonshires are putting a brave face on it, but they can’t much relish having Mr and Mrs Kennedy as in-laws. ’
‘Are they going to stay down at Walcote – Emma and Kit?’ Charlotte asked.
‘I’m not sure. Emma was a bit mysterious about it on the phone. Cocktail?’
The maid put down the tray and departed, and as the door clicked softly closed behind her, Molly said, ‘Now, do you want to tell me what’s up?’
She mixed martinis while Charlotte told her the story, then put a glass into her hand and said, ‘Oh, Charlotte, I’m so sorry. Is it really not mendable?’
‘I don’t think so,’ Charlotte said. ‘I know so, really. It hasn’t been working for a long time. I feel as if it’s all been an illusion, like a magician’s act at the music hall, and everyone knew it but me.’
‘And he’s really selling the house?’
‘Yes. Well, as he pointed out, we haven’t been there for long, so it’s not as if I’ve put any real effort into making it a home.’
‘Well, you must come and live here,’ Molly said firmly. ‘The spare room is comfortable, and you can have the children’s bathroom to yourself, so it will be like a little suite for you.’
Charlotte’s eyes filled with tears. ‘Thank you. You’re so kind.’
‘Nonsense. It’s pure selfishness – I shall be miserable without the children, so you’ll cheer me up. What will you do, d’you think? Get a job?’
‘I’ll certainly want to do something,’ Charlotte said. ‘I thought of joining one of the services – the ATS, perhaps, or the Wrens.’
‘No, dear, don’t do that. All the other girls will be so much younger than you, it will make you feel lonelier. There’ll be plenty of civilian jobs, just as important to the war effort. Vivian and I will find the right thing for you. And you can help me at Dolphin until you find your niche.’
At breakfast the next morning, the children were very bright-eyed. ‘Auntie Charlotte, Esmond and me are going to live in the country, with Alethea and Electra,’ eight-year-old Angelica said.
‘It’s Esmond and I,’ her brother corrected sternly.
‘That’s what I said.’ Angelica asserted. ‘We have to go to the country because of the dirty Huns.’
‘Angelica! Who told you that?’ Molly said.
‘Nanny did. I heard her say it to Clara. The dirty Huns are going to gas us all.’
‘You shouldn’t repeat things you hear that people that don’t know you’re listening say,’ said Esmond.
‘Ungrammatical, but correct,’ said Vivian.
‘Are you coming too, Auntie Charlotte?’ Angelica asked.
‘No, I have to stay in London,’ Charlotte said. ‘But you’ll have Alethea and Electra to play with. That will be nice, won’t it?’ Kit and Emma’s two, at nine and seven, were the right age to be playmates.
‘But they’re just more girls,’ Esmond objected. ‘And I’m ten. I’m too old for them.’
‘But they’ll need you to look after them, old chap,’ Vivian said. ‘I depend on you.’
Esmond looked wistful. ‘I’d sooner stay and fight the Germans.’
Emma and Kit arrived so soon after breakfast they must have risen with the lark. Their two daughters looked pale and strained, and Molly sent all the children away to play for ten minutes while she told Emma and Kit Charlotte’s story.
‘Oh, good Lord!’ Kit said. ‘What a beast! I must admit I’ve been completely taken in by him. I thought he was charming.’
‘But that’s the thing about charm,’ Emma said. ‘It charms you.’
‘When you think of the etymology of the word,’ Vivian said, ‘it comes from the Latin for incantation. In Middle English it meant magic spell, or to cast a spell.’
‘Milo did that, all right,’ Kit said, discontentedly. ‘I say, isn’t that a splendid title for a book: The Etymology of Charm . Or a film, even better. Starring Leslie Howard and Olivia de Havilland?’
‘Which reminds me,’ Molly said, ‘are Oliver and Verena sending their children down to Walcote? They don’t have a country place of their own.’
‘It would rather be putting all our eggs in one basket, wouldn’t it?
’ Kit said. ‘No, I believe they’re staying put, but the nippers’ll be sent down to Tunstead Hall if things turn bad.
Oliver won’t leave his practice, and Verena won’t leave him.
Oh, by the way, did you hear, Charlotte, that young Henry is engaged to the younger Partridge girl? The less sandy one.’
‘No, I hadn’t heard. That’s rather sudden, isn’t it?’
‘A bit of war fever, apparently. Oliver said they’re going for a quick wedding because Henry’s volunteered for the RAF.’
‘I suppose we’ll see a lot of that,’ Molly said. ‘What about you two?’
‘We’re already married,’ Kit said blandly.
‘Don’t be foolish. I mean, are you going to stay down with the children? Emma turned cagey on me when I asked her.’
Emma and Kit exchanged a look. ‘I suppose there’s no harm in telling you all now,’ Emma said. ‘We hadn’t decided last night whether to stay down or not. Because, you see, I’m having another baby.’
‘Oh my dear! How wonderful!’ Molly exclaimed.
‘It is, rather,’ Emma said, looking pink and pleased. ‘We’ve talked about having a another for ages, but the time never seemed quite right. But now, with the world going to pieces—’
‘Anyway, the deed is done,’ Kit said, ‘and I couldn’t be more happy.’
Emma smiled at him. ‘I had to persuade him not to delay any more. I’m forty-three, you know. I can’t afford to wait any longer. The only thing I regret is that I won’t be able to contribute to the war effort, like last time.’
‘The baby will be your contribution,’ Kit said.
Everyone thought of the same thing, that babies would be needed to replace all the young men who were going to be killed. And everyone saw that everyone else had thought it too.
Emma cleared her throat, and said, ‘So I’m staying up for a while, until I get too large to be comfortable, and then I’ll go down to be with the children. Unless it starts getting bad, and then I’ll go sooner.’ She looked at Charlotte. ‘You’ll have to do it for me – help the war effort.’
The suggestion was tacit, Charlotte thought: It will keep you busy . ‘I will,’ she said.