The Victory Garden(57)

The letter went on, with Clarissa wanting to know more about Robbie, how he was doing and what were her wedding plans.

If I’m to be a bridesmaid, please put me in blue. It goes so well with my eyes.

The absurdity of this was too much for her. She closed her eyes to squeeze back tears. Could she write to Clarissa and tell her the truth? Then she decided Clarissa was someone she could tell. But not yet. Not today, when she was still overwhelmed with emotion. However her parents had behaved, they were her parents—and in spite of everything, she loved them. She knew she was walking away from the house she had grown up in, the security of her childhood. There would be no one to take care of her again.

She was still lying on her bunk when she heard footsteps coming up the stairs. She looked up as a strange woman came in. Her hair was in a sleek dark pageboy bob with a straight fringe, and she was wearing red lipstick. Emily looked again, then sat up in surprise.

“Alice?”

“How do you like it?” Alice put her hand up to her hair. “We decided, since we were wearing bloomers, we’d go the whole hog and get our hair cut. Daisy and me went into the hairdresser in Tavistock yesterday, and then we went to the chemist and bought some lipstick and rouge.”

“You look marvellous. So glamorous,” Emily said.

Alice’s face became serious again. “How did it go at home then?”

“It didn’t,” Emily replied. “It was awful, Alice.”

“You told them then?”

“I didn’t get a chance to. They launched into this long tirade about a friend’s daughter who is in the same condition as me. They said the most awful things. My father said if it were his daughter, he’d show her the door, cast her out . . .” Her voice quivered. “So I packed up some of my things and I left.”

“I’m sorry, love,” Alice said. “You’ve gone through more than a human should bear. But don’t you worry, we won’t let you down.”

“But what will we do when we leave here, Alice? You don’t have a place to go, do you?”

“I’ve got a little put by,” Alice said. “Not much. And I’ve relatives in London, but frankly, I’ve already decided I’m not going back there. So I’ve had a chance to think this past couple of days, and you know what I’m thinking? I liked that little village we were in. I enjoyed Nell Lacey’s company, and she’s struggling to run that pub on her own. So I thought I might offer my services. She doesn’t have to pay me, but she can offer me a roof over my head, and I’ll help her with the pub and taking care of her husband when he comes home.”

“Oh,” Emily said, trying to be glad for Alice, but realizing that this plan did not include her. “That’s a splendid idea, Alice.”

“It need not be forever,” Alice said. “Just until the world returns to normal.” She looked at Emily. “You could come, too. I bet a pub has to have spare rooms.”

Emily shook her head. “No, I couldn’t. I’m not being a burden to anybody. I have the pay that is owed me that I haven’t touched, which would take care of my board and lodging for a while, and I’ve some jewellery I could sell, but I don’t want charity.”

“How is it charity for a friend to want to take care of you?” Alice asked sharply.

“You would be tainted with my shame,” Emily said.

“That’s bloody nonsense and you know it. Anyway, you tell people you’re a war widow. Nearly everyone is. No one will even question it. The subject of your young man didn’t come up during the week we were there. You’d be quite safe.”

“No, I told Lady Charlton all about him, and how we were going to marry and move to Australia. She gave me a compass as an early wedding present. So if she knows, Mrs Trelawney knows, too. And if Mrs Trelawney knows, she’s probably told the whole village.”

“Don’t you believe it, love. They don’t like that Mrs Trelawney down in the village. They think she’s spiteful and gives herself airs.”

Emily stared out of the window. It was a bright day, and puffball clouds raced across the sky. She remembered the view when they had stood together on the moor, how hopeful everything had seemed, how perfect the village had looked lying in its hollow. And her thoughts went to the little cottage.

“There is one thing I could do,” she said slowly. “I could ask Lady Charlton if I could live in the cottage in return for continuing to work on her garden. It doesn’t seem she’ll have any gardeners returning from the war, so I can be useful.”

“You’d rather live in that poky place than in a room in the pub?”

“Yes, I would,” Emily said. “Only I’d have to tell Lady Charlton the truth first. It would be up to her to decide.”

“Well, at least we’d be close by and I could keep an eye on you. Make sure you were eating properly,” Alice said. “And I could help you get that place spruced up again. It needs a lick of paint, a good scrubbing and new curtains.”

“Yes,” Emily said. “I believe it could be quite nice.”

Daisy came into the room and beamed when she saw Emily. “Oh, you’re back,” she said. “Did you have a lovely time with your folks? And what do you think of my hair?” Her bob was shorter than Alice’s, and it bounced when she twirled. “It feels so free and light. My dad’s going to kill me when I go home. But then I’m not sure I’m going home again. I’m certainly not working at that place.”