Except, she thought, he’s more handsome, intelligent, funny and adorable. She continued to gaze at him until she saw the dawn of comprehension.
‘Yes,’ she whispered. ‘Robin. Did you not guess? I named him Jack Robinson Deakin. I gave my maiden name for his birth certificate.’
Jack stood staring at her as if a thunderbolt had struck him.
‘The bright boy that he is,’ she said proudly, ‘he decided that he didn’t want to be called Jack Robinson because—’
‘Everybody meks a joke about it,’ he mumbled.
‘That’s why he called himself Robin Jackson.’
‘He’s my son!’ Jack’s words were husky and low. He swallowed hard but the tears came anyway and his voice broke. ‘I’m so very sorry, Delia, that I put you through so much because of my – my brutal behaviour. I’m not usually – I mean, I never – don’t – normally behave in that way. I wasn’t brought up to be unfeeling. Ma and Da are going to be that mad at me and I – I don’t want them to be ashamed of me. I am ashamed,’ he said, weeping with emotion, and rubbing his eyes and nose with the back of his hand, ‘and I’ll do what I can to mek it up to you.’
He took a deep breath and muttered, ‘God knows what Susan’s going to say about it. She’ll mek my life unbearable.’
Delia gave a wry grimace. ‘Serves you right,’ she declared.
They went back inside and Delia waited in the scullery whilst Jack went through to face his parents and sister. She leaned on the stone sink and looked outside through the small paned window at the yard where she had disclosed the truth of what had happened all those years ago. Beyond the fields lay the estuary, a deep wide turbulent highway carrying barges, ships and fishing boats, and a fleeting thought came to her that her father might be out there on one of them. The thought was followed by another: she did not care if he were alive or dead.
Then she heard the sound of someone sobbing. It was Jack, and she took a heaving breath and went to join them in the kitchen.
Peggy stood holding Jack wrapped in her arms and they were both crying; Aaron sat stony-faced in his chair with Jenny perched on the chair arm with her hand gently patting his shoulder.
As tears flooded Delia’s eyes, she realized that now wasn’t the time to ask if Robin could stay. His presence might cause even more conflict within the family; loyalties would be divided, and no matter that Jack had said he would make it up to her for the difficulties she had gone through, his commitment must be to his wife and children.
As she stood, uncertain of what to say or do, the scullery door opened and a voice asked, ‘Is anybody at home?’ Delia turned to see a woman who she guessed was Susan, who glanced at her and then at Jack, blowing his nose and obviously distressed, standing next to his mother.
Her lips turned down and she folded her arms in front of her. ‘Just what is going on? Is this something I should be privy to, or am I excluded?’
CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
Jack muttered to Susan that they had to go home and he would tell her there what had happened.
Susan glanced at Delia and nodded as they left; they hadn’t been introduced and it was clear that Susan had no idea who Delia was, although her gaze passed over her curiously as she asked Peggy to send the children home when she was fed up with them.
Jenny got up from the chair arm and went to the scullery to fill the kettle to make more tea.
Delia cleared her throat. ‘Should we catch the earlier train, Jenny?’ she ventured quietly as Jenny came back and hooked the kettle over the fire. ‘Perhaps enough has been said for one day.’
‘No!’ Peggy, sitting by the table with her fingers clasped tightly together, answered for her daughter. Her thick hair had become tangled and hung in unruly curls across her forehead and around her cheeks. ‘Let’s talk this through now.’ Her voice was hoarse. ‘No use leaving it for some other time; we need some sort of – idea of what to do next. A plan.’
‘Aye, we do.’ Aaron got up from his chair, his stupor receding and a look of determination forming in his expression. He went to Peggy and patted her cheek. ‘Come on now, honey; let’s get a grip on this situation.’ Then he turned to Delia, who still stood in the middle of the room, wondering what to do and whether or not to sit down. Was she going to be rejected for the second time in her life?
‘I’m going to speak for ’rest of my family,’ he said, ‘especially that blackguard who is my son.’
Delia’s blood ran cold and Peggy looked up at her husband in alarm.
‘It behoves me to apologize for what’s gone before,’ he said soberly. ‘We brought our Jack up to be a caring young man, to be kind to others, to do and be done by ’same as he would expect from other folk. Or so we thought. But it seems …’ He drew himself up straight and took a breath. ‘It seems that we didn’t mek a very good fist of it; we failed somehow to learn him. In fact we failed miserably.’
Delia hurried into speech. ‘Mr Robinson, it was a long time ago. He was young and impetuous; he didn’t kill anybody
