Then he saw that Ethel was not alone. Earl Fitzherbert was with her.
Fitz stared at Lloyd with a mixture of surprise and distaste.
Even in his shock Lloyd noticed that his father was wearing a perfectly cut light-grey suit with a double- breasted waistcoat.
He looked back at his mother. She was quite calm. This encounter was not a surprise to her. She must have contrived it.
The earl came to the same conclusion. ‘What the devil is this, Ethel?’
Lloyd stared at the man whose blood ran in his veins. Even in this embarrassing situation, Fitz was poised and dignified. He was handsome, despite the drooping eyelid that resulted from the Battle of the Somme. He leaned on a walking stick, another consequence of the Somme. A few months short of sixty years old, he was immaculately groomed, his grey hair neatly trimmed, his silver tie tightly knotted, his black shoes shining. Lloyd, too, always liked to look well turned out. That’s where I get it from, he thought.
Ethel went and stood close to the earl. Lloyd knew his mother well enough to understand this move. She frequently used her charm when she wanted to persuade a man. All the same, Lloyd did not like to see her being so warm to one who had exploited her then let her down.
‘I was so sorry when I heard about the death of Boy,’ she said to Fitz. ‘Nothing is as precious to us as our children, is it?’
‘I must go,’ Fitz said.
Until this moment, Lloyd had met Fitz only in passing. He had never before spent this much time with him or heard him speak this number of words. Despite feeling uncomfortable, Lloyd was fascinated. Grumpy though he was right now, Fitz had a kind of allure.
‘Please, Fitz,’ said Ethel. ‘You have a son whom you have never acknowledged – a son you should be proud of.’
‘You shouldn’t do this, Ethel,’ said Fitz. ‘A man is entitled to forget the mistakes of his youth.’
Lloyd cringed with embarrassment, but his mother pressed on. ‘Why should you want to forget? I know he was a mistake, but look at him now – a Member of Parliament who has just made a thrilling speech and been appointed PPS to the Foreign Secretary.’
Fitz pointedly did not look at Lloyd.
Ethel said: ‘You want to pretend that our affair was a meaningless dalliance, but you know the truth. Yes, we were young and foolish, and randy too – me as much as you – but we loved each other. We
Fitz’s face was no longer merely impassive, Lloyd saw. He was struggling to maintain control. Lloyd understood that his mother had put her finger on the real problem. It was not so much that Fitz was ashamed of having an illegitimate son; he was too proud to accept that he had loved a housemaid. He probably loved Ethel more than his wife, Lloyd guessed. And that upset all his most fundamental beliefs about the social hierarchy.
Lloyd spoke for the first time. ‘I was with Boy at the end, sir. He died bravely.’
For the first time, Fitz looked at him. ‘My son doesn’t require your approval,’ he said.
Lloyd felt as if he had been slapped.
Even Ethel was shocked. ‘Fitz!’ she said. ‘How can you be so mean?’
At that point Daisy came in.
‘Hello, Fitz!’ she said gaily. ‘You probably thought you’d got rid of me, but now you’re my father-in-law again. Isn’t that amusing?’
Ethel said: ‘I’m just trying to persuade Fitz to shake Lloyd’s hand.’
Fitz said: ‘I try to avoid shaking hands with socialists.’
Ethel was fighting a losing battle, but she would not give up. ‘See how much of yourself there is in him! He resembles you, dresses like you, shares your interest in politics – he’ll probably end up Foreign Secretary, which you always wanted to be!’
Fitz’s expression darkened further. ‘It is now most unlikely that I shall ever be Foreign Secretary.’ He went to the door. ‘And it would not please me in the least if that great office of state were to be held by my Bolshevik bastard!’ With that he walked out.
Ethel burst into tears.
Daisy put her arm around Lloyd. ‘I’m so sorry,’ she said.
‘Don’t worry,’ Lloyd said. ‘I’m not shocked or disappointed.’ This was not true, but he did not want to appear pathetic. ‘I was rejected by him a long time ago.’ He looked at Daisy with adoration. ‘I’m lucky to have plenty of other people who love me.’
Ethel said tearfully: ‘It’s my fault. I shouldn’t have asked him to come here. I might have known it would turn out badly.’
‘Never mind,’ said Daisy. ‘I have some good news.’
Lloyd smiled at her. ‘What’s that?’
She looked at Ethel. ‘Are you ready for this?’
‘I think so.’
‘Come on,’ said Lloyd. ‘What is it?’
