Page 58 of The Sun Sister

‘Oh, well...’ Dorothea shrugged. ‘It was quite the scandal. Alice and Kiki were part of what was known as the “Happy Valley set” out in Kenya. There was all sorts of talk of their antics. Alice was married, but had an...unfortunate liaison with a man called...?’

‘Raymund de Trafford,’ Walter answered.

‘That’s the one. Anyway, Alice became infatuated with Raymund and was so devastated when he refused to marry her that she shot him on a train at the Gare du Nord in Paris as he was saying goodbye to her, before turning the gun on herself. Neither of them died,’ Dorothea added.

‘Holy moly!’ Cecily was agog. ‘Was she put in jail?’

‘No. There was a trial, of course, and she spent a short spell in custody, but she eventually ended up marrying the man!’

‘No!’ Cecily was enraptured by the sheer romance of the tale. Africa was beginning to sound thrilling.

‘But that all happened so long ago. And I’m sure Kiki doesn’t behave like that,’ Walter said firmly. ‘She said she’d look after our girl like she was her own. Well now, Cecily, the real question is, do you want to go?’

‘As a matter of fact...yes, I think I do. And not just because of Jack’s wedding – I’m a grown woman now, and I can deal with that. It’s more that, well, Kenya sounds fascinating.’

‘Even though you’ll miss the birth of your sister’s child?’ said Dorothea.

‘Oh Mama, you’re going to be there for Mamie, and I’m not leaving forever, you know. Only for a few weeks.’

‘And of course, darling,’ Walter said, turning to his wife, ‘Cecily could always go stay with Audrey while she’s in England on her way to Africa?’

Audrey was Dorothea’s ‘trophy friend’, having nabbed herself an English lord for a husband fifteen years ago. If anything was going to persuade Mama to let her make the trip, it was the thought of her daughter staying with Audrey, and all the eligible young Englishmen she might just meet while she was there.

‘True, true...but is England safe these days, Walter, what with Mister Hitler?’

‘Is Manhattan safe these days?’ Walter raised an eyebrow. ‘If one wanted to be safe above all, one would never walk out of one’s front door. So, is it decided?’

‘I would of course have to get in touch with Audrey to make sure she’s at home when Cecily arrives in England, and have her chauffeur meet her from the steamer. Kiki could go with Cecily to visit Audrey too – the two of them knew each other when they lived in Paris,’ Dorothea thought out loud.

Walter cast his daughter a glance, and gave a tiny wink.

‘Well,’ said Cecily, ‘if you both are happy for me to go, then I will. Yes, I will,’ she nodded.

For the first time in weeks, Cecily’s mouth formed into a natural smile.

Having just over two weeks to prepare for her journey, Cecily and Dorothea were kept busy shopping for everything she would need for her trip: formal wear for her week at Audrey’s, then sundresses and blouses fashioned from cotton and muslin (which had to be especially made by a seamstress as it was deepest winter), along with skirts and even shorts, which Dorothea had baulked at.

‘Oh Lord, where are we sending you to?’ she grimaced as Cecily tried them on.

‘A place that is very hot, Mama. Like summer in the Hamptons.’

Despite her mother’s constant negativity, as Evelyn helped her fill her steamer trunk, Cecily’s excitement mounted. The night before she left, her sisters and their husbands arrived for dinner. Walter presented his daughter with a Kodak Bantam Special camera, and her sisters gave her a pair of binoculars for ‘manspotting’, as Priscilla put it.

‘Do take care, darling sis,’ Mamie said as they stood in the hallway after dinner. ‘Hopefully I’ll be able to present you with a new nephew or niece on your return.’

‘Come back happy,’ Hunter said as he kissed her goodbye.

‘And preferably married,’ Priscilla called from the stoop.

‘I’ll do my best,’ Celia called as they disappeared out of view into the snowy night.

Rather disappointingly, as the steamer approached Southampton port, Cecily saw that England looked as gloomy and grey as the Manhattan she’d left behind. She donned her new hat, then wrapped her fur shrug around her shoulders as her steward came to collect her luggage.

‘Is anyone meeting you, miss?’

‘Yes.’ Cecily dipped into her purse and took out a card on which was printed the name of the chauffeur who had (hopefully) been sent from Woodhead Hall to meet her.

‘Thanks, miss. You stay inside your cabin for now – it’s dead nippy out there – and I’ll come and fetch you when the car’s pulled alongside.’