Best Kept Secret (The Clifton Chronicles, #3)(20)

‘As you wish,’ said Matron, unable to mask her surprise.

As they drove back to Barrington Hall, Harry asked Sebastian why he’d chosen Jessica.

‘Sandra was quite pretty,’ he said, ‘and Sophie was lots of fun, but I’d have been bored with both of them by the end of the month.’

‘And Jessica?’ asked Emma.

‘She reminded me of you, Mama.’



Sebastian was standing by the front door when Jessica came to tea.

She climbed the steps, clinging on to Matron with one hand and clutching one of her paintings in the other.

‘Follow me,’ declared Sebastian, but Jessica remained on the top step as if glued to the spot. She looked petrified, and wouldn’t budge until Sebastian returned.

‘This is for you,’ she said, handing over her painting.

‘Thank you,’ said Sebastian, recognizing the picture he’d spotted on the wall in the corridor at Dr Barnardo’s. ‘Well, you’d better come in, because I can’t eat all the crumpets on my own.’

Jessica stepped tentatively into the hall, and her mouth opened wide. Not because of the thought of crumpets, but at the sight of real oil paintings with frames hanging on every wall.

‘Later,’ promised Sebastian, ‘otherwise the crumpets will get cold.’

As Jessica walked into the drawing room, Harry and Emma rose to greet her, but once again she couldn’t take her eyes off the pictures. She eventually sat down on the sofa next to Sebastian, and transferred her longing gaze to a pile of sizzling hot crumpets. But she didn’t make a move until Emma handed her a plate, followed by a crumpet, followed by a knife, followed by the butter, followed by a bowl of raspberry jam.

Matron scowled as Jessica was about to take her first bite.

‘Thank you, Mrs Clifton,’ Jessica blurted out. She devoured two more crumpets, each accompanied by a ‘Thank you, Mrs Clifton’.

When she turned a fourth down with ‘No thank you, Mrs Clifton’, Emma wasn’t sure if she would have liked another one, or Matron had instructed her not to eat more than three.

‘Have you ever heard of Turner?’ asked Sebastian, after Jessica had finished her second glass of Tizer. She bowed her head and didn’t reply. Sebastian stood up, took her by the hand and led her out of the room. ‘Turner’s quite good actually,’ he declared, ‘but not as good as you.’

‘I just can’t believe it,’ said Matron as the door closed behind them. ‘I’ve never seen her so at ease.’

‘But she’s hardly uttered a word,’ said Harry.

‘Believe me, Mr Clifton, you’ve just witnessed Jessica’s version of the Hallelujah Chorus.’

Emma laughed. ‘She’s quite delightful. If there’s a chance of her becoming a member of our family, how do we go about it?’

‘It’s a long process, I’m afraid,’ said Matron, ‘and it doesn’t always end satisfactorily. You could begin by having her here for the occasional visit and, if that goes well, you might consider what we call a weekend leave. After that, there’s no turning back, because we mustn’t set up false hopes.’

‘We’ll be guided by you, Matron,’ said Harry, ‘because we certainly want to give it a try.’

‘Then I’ll do everything I can,’ she replied. By the time she’d drunk her third cup of tea and even managed a second crumpet, Harry and Emma had been left in no doubt what was expected of them.

‘Where can Sebastian and Jessica have got to?’ asked Emma, when Matron suggested that perhaps they should be on their way.

‘I’ll go and look for them,’ Harry was saying, when the two children came bursting back into the room.

‘Time for us to go home, young lady,’ said Matron as she rose from her place. ‘After all, we must be back in time for supper.’

Jessica refused to let go of Sebastian’s hand. ‘I don’t want any more food,’ she said.

Matron was lost for words.

Harry led Jessica into the hall and helped her on with her coat. As Matron walked out of the front door, Jessica burst into tears.

‘Oh no,’ said Emma. ‘And I thought it had all gone so well.’

‘It couldn’t have gone better,’ whispered Matron. ‘They only start crying when they don’t want to leave. Take my advice, if you both feel the same way, fill in the forms as quickly as possible.’

Jessica turned around and waved before she climbed into Matron’s little Austin 7, tears still streaming down her cheeks.

‘Good choice, Seb,’ said Harry, placing an arm around his son’s shoulders as they watched the car disappear down the drive.



It was to be another five months before Matron left Barrington Hall for the last time and headed back to Dr Barnardo’s on her own, another of her waifs and strays happily settled. Well, not so happily, because it was not long before Harry and Emma realized that Jessica had problems of her own that were every bit as demanding as Sebastian’s.

Neither of them had paused to consider that Jessica had never slept in a room on her own, and on her first night at Barrington Hall she left the nursery door wide open and cried herself to sleep. Harry and Emma became used to a warm little object climbing into bed between them not long after she woke in the mornings. This became less frequent when Sebastian parted with his teddy bear, Winston, handing the former prime minister over to Jessica.