Gemma Makes Her Mark

in the accounts department at Cunard. He was handsome butconsiderably less well-off than her – an ideal combination, Annehad felt at the time. They had got married in late 1954 and chosenFarnham as the place to buy their first house. Anne had a hankeringfor suburban living, increasingly in vogue at the time, and Farnhamlooked to be an ideal location: within reasonably easy reach of theCunard offices in London but far enough away from the capital tofeel it. It was a substantial detached property built a few yearspreviously and lived in by just the first owner and then for acouple of years only. Even though her father was not particularlyconvinced of Jeffrey’s suitability as a future son-in-law, he hadprovided a substantial deposit for the house as their wedding gift,leaving only a small mortgage to be based on Jeffrey’s fairlyaverage salary. He had also made sure that his daughter got thevery best and the wedding was a lavish affair. With both her fatherand uncle highly regarded in the company, the wedding was attendedby most of Cunard’s senior staff. The ceremony was held at StAndrew’s, the imposing Parish Church of Farnham, dating back to the12th century and according to parish records a milestone on themedieval Pilgrim’s Way between Winchester and Canterbury. It hadbeen followed by a reception at the Frensham Pond Hotel, amagnificent building overlooking Frensham Great Pond and with partsof it dating back to the fifteenth century. Previously known as TheWhite Horse its sense of history was enhanced by it having servedas a smart and welcome billet for Canadian soldiers serving withthe Allies in the Second World War.

Over the years sincethen, Anne had used every opportunity to throw in Jeffrey’s facethe fact that it was her family who had the money and who hadprovided the house and the rest. She had used that strategy toforce Jeffrey to attend to her every need and had never wasted theopportunity to demean him and his background, even if in what sheconvinced herself was a playful manner, and especially wheneverthey were meeting with or entertaining any friends orfamily.

Although shehadn’t been aware of it at the time, years later as she reviewedher feelings, Gemma had realised that her mother had no realinterest in her and didn’t really enjoy motherhood, and especiallythe restraints it might have put on her. However, these couldhardly be deemed onerous, particularly as most of the domestic workhad been farmed out to nannies, cooks and cleaners. The only timesGemma could remember laughing and playing at home had been when herfather was with her. Even that would have been manageable if ithadn’t been for the way her mother had treated her dad when hebecame ill, which had occurred when Gemma was old enough to beaware of what was happening. Although Jeffrey was only in hismid-fifties, heavy smoking had caught up with him, as with many menof his era, and lung cancer had taken hold. Looking back itappeared to Gemma that Anne had seen her husband’s illness andsubsequent death as an opportunity to move on and essentially haddone her best to ignore both her husband and her daughter. She hadgone on mini-holidays and nights out with Ruth – Anne’s bestfriend, a would-be socialite who was distantly related to theCunard family and had become friendly with Nancy Cunard, the onlychild of the Cunard Line heir Sir Bache, in the years before herdeath in 1965. Ruth had her own apartment on New Bond Street in theWest End and Gemma recalled that Anne seemed to be spending moreand more time there once her husband became ill. Sure, Anne hadpaid for private treatment for Jeffrey but that was doubtless onlyfor appearances’ sake and as some sort of salve for her conscience.By the time Gemma reached her mid-teenage years and even before herfather’s illness had taken hold, she had grown to hate thepretentiousness of her mother, and of Ruth for that matter. On topof her swanning around while Gemma’s dad was dying, her mother haddecided to take up golf and had joined ‘The Sands’, better known asthe Farnham Golf Club, no doubt seeing it as another opportunityfor social networking and climbing.

In partbecause it was expected from the upper sixth formers of FarnhamGirls Grammar School, but also to avoid living in the family housewith her mother, soon after her father’s death in 1976 Gemma hadgone straight to university and then on to her probation job.Although Surrey University was only a few miles away in Guildford,Gemma had made sure she got a place in the halls of residence forher first year and had never moved back to Farnham. However, shehad determined at her dad’s funeral that she would get some sort ofrevenge on her mother in due course. She would never forgive theway her dad had been left knowing his wife was more interested inmoving on and socialising than caring for him.

It was odd howall of that played back in her mind on the journey back from courtthat Friday afternoon. She wasn’t going to forget her father or lether mother get away with how she’d treated him; and, unbeknown tohim, Mark would be given a big part to play in helping her carry itall through. As she turned into the parking space alongside theircottage – one of the benefits of it being an end terrace property –she could smell and hear the barbecue and see the smoke driftinginvitingly over the side gate into their back garden. Beforegetting out of her car she dabbed a bit of her oddly-named Opiumperfume around her wrists and ears – Gemma thought it was strangethat perfume manufacturers used class A drugs to label theirproducts. Gemma felt good that she had made a decision of sortsabout her future.

As shewandered into the garden, Gemma could see that Mark was wearing hiscompromise for shorts, cut away jeans, and a white T-shirt and wasoblivious to anything other than the task in hand. Gemma felt atwinge of guilt: he looked happy and really quite cool. He reallyhad no idea of what had been going on in her head ever since she’dsat with her