Bess’s mouth fell open. ‘How do you know?’
‘I went to see Lord Foxden’s solicitor in Lowarth. He showed me Foxden Hall’s original plans.’
‘When?’
‘After we’d talked about adopting. There are all sorts of hidden passageways and tunnels. Some are centuries old.’
‘Never mind passageways and tunnels.’ Bess kissed Frank full on the lips. ‘Thank you.’
‘I’m doing this for me too,’ he said, kissing Bess back, hungrily.
‘I don’t want to go,’ Bess whispered, responding to Frank’s ardour, ‘but I should get back to Katherine. If she wakes…’ Frank lifted her hair and kissed her neck. ‘I do love you,’ Bess said, breathlessly. Easing herself out of Frank’s arms, she stood back and searched his face for signs of doubt. ‘You are sure adoption is what you want, Frank?’
‘I’ve never been more sure about anything.’
Bess turned the key in the lock of Ena’s room and slowly opened the door. Locking it behind her she crept across the room and looked at Katherine. She was still asleep. With a broad grin on her face and butterflies flying around in her stomach, Bess took off her shoes and laid on the adjacent bed. Too excited to sleep, she lay awake thinking about what being a mother would entail. When she did eventually drop off, she was woken by a gentle tapping.
Bess slipped quietly from the bed and opened the door. Ena was in the corridor with a woman who looked so like Katherine she could only have been her mother.
‘Bess, this is Mrs Hawksley.’
‘Dorothy, please.’
‘You don’t know how pleased I am to see you,’ Bess said, pumping the woman’s hand. ‘But, would you mind if I had a quick word with my sister before she takes you in to see Katherine? I won’t keep her a minute.’ Opening the bathroom door opposite Ena’s room, Bess ushered Ena in. ‘You know Katherine blames herself for David Sutherland’s death?’ Ena nodded. ‘Well she confessed today.’
‘What?’
‘So did Maeve, to Inspector Masters.’ Ena’s mouth fell open. ‘But don’t worry about either of them. They are both fine. I’ll tell you all about it later. I just wanted you to know that the inspector is writing Sutherland’s death up as an accident. The case is closed. The facts can’t be made public yet.’ Ena looked anxious. ‘Again, don’t worry, the reason is nothing to do with Katherine or Maeve, he has to wait until McGann has gone, at the end of the month.’
‘Sorry about that, Dorothy,’ Bess said, when she and Ena were back in the corridor.
‘So,’ Ena said, ‘are you ready to see your daughter?’ Katherine’s mother put her hands together as if in prayer, and nodded. ‘Right. I’ll go in and wake her, get her dressed, and break the news to her that you’re here.’
Dorothy picked up a leather holdall. ‘For Katherine,’ she said with a sad smile. ‘When the policemen raided Gerald’s house they found this bag. It contains the letters I wrote to Katherine after he took her away, including the note I left in the house when his people evicted me telling her how much I loved her.’ She hugged the bag, holding it tightly as if she would never let it go again. ‘All the letters I sent over the years… He didn’t give my daughter one of them.’
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
Among the letters and cards wishing, Mr and Mrs Donnelly and family a Merry Christmas was a letter from Maeve.
“My dear friends, Bess and Frank.
I hope this letter finds you both well. Since my mother’s passing, I have become a Friend of the Sisters of Mercy Convent. It’s a grand old place on the outskirts of a small town called Killern in County Galway. I began working there as a volunteer, helping out in the office a couple of days a week. At first it was just keeping the books straight and doing the occasional stock-take. I’m now working pretty much full time. I teach the little ones in the orphanage two days a week, which I found heart-breaking at first. There are so many children in need of a family. I thank the Lord every day that my darling niece is loved and looked after by you.
This morning I was in the kitchen cooking, and later I was on lunch duty. We have forty guests for lunch and tea most days. Nearly all are men who haven’t been able to settle down to civilian life after being demobbed. They come from far and wide. Some have taken to the drink, others feel they have been let down by the government and are angry. Some feel they have no purpose now they are not fighting in a war - and some are simply lost.
‘I find the work fulfilling. I hope I am giving something back for the good life that I have had. And, yes, I am still paying penance; still trying to make amends for the mortal sin of ignoring David Sutherland’s cries for help and watching him drown. I know as far as the law is concerned it was an accident, but in my heart I know it was the hate I felt for the man that stopped me from trying to save him. Working with the nuns is helping me to forgive him for what he did to Goldie. And you never know, one day I may even be able to forgive myself.
I have sent a letter and a Christmas gift to Nancy. I think of her often and I am counting the days until I see her, and both of you, next summer.
Wishing you and your family a happy and peaceful Christmas. God bless you.
Your grateful friend, Maeve.”
Bess felt a lump in her throat and she put the letter back in its envelope. Laying it on Frank’s desk for him to read later, she left the office and went out
