‘Yes,’ said Florence. ‘I can see that would be a help to you.’
‘Charles and I shall miss him when he does go back to London, we’ve grown very fond of Ralph. But he’s found himself a job with a firm of stockbrokers. Now if you’ll excuse me, I ought to chat with my other guests. Do have plenty to eat and drink, won’t you?’
Florence watched Julia go over to chat with Max and Isabella, who had arrived yesterday at Island House for the weekend. Unfortunately, due to the awful weather, the play Isabella had been performing in had closed after a dramatic drop in audience numbers. Isabella didn’t seem at all bothered, she was too busy being in love, Florence supposed.
‘She’s become quite the mistress of Melstead Hall, hasn’t she?’ remarked Billy.
Switching her thoughts back to Julia, Florence agreed. ‘After what she had to put up with from that monster of a husband, I say good luck to her.’
Romily had told Florence in confidence all that she knew that had been going on here, but it was already common knowledge that Julia had been treated appallingly by Arthur Devereux. There was gossip too that he had run his own sister over and that he’d been carrying on with Miss Casey.
Seeing Stanley standing in the bay window on his own, his hands pushed deep into his trouser pockets as he stared out at the garden, Florence thought how glum he looked. Leaving Billy to chat with Reggie Potters from Holmewood Farm, she went over to Stanley.
‘Penny for your thoughts,’ she said.
‘You know me,’ he said despondently, ‘I’m not a great one for parties, and this one feels plain weird, don’t you think?’
‘I think it’s Julia’s way of telling the village that Arthur is as good as dead and she’s now carving out a new life for herself.’
‘I know the feeling,’ he said.
Concerned how morose he sounded, Florence said, ‘Stanley, you would say if there was anything wrong, wouldn’t you?’
‘Why do you think there might be?’
‘It’s just a feeling I can’t shake off. You don’t seem yourself.’
He contemplated her for a moment, then when Elvis singing ‘Can’t Help Falling in Love’ started up on the radiogram, he rolled his eyes and sighed. ‘What the heck?’ he said, ‘it’ll soon be widely known before too long anyway, so you might just as well hear it from me. I’m leaving the village.’
‘Why? You came back because you felt you couldn’t live anywhere else. You said this was your true home.’
‘It’s Annelise,’ he said quietly, his gaze moving from Florence to where Annelise was making Hope comfortable in an armchair by the fire. ‘I have to put as much distance between the two of us as I can,’ he murmured. ‘It’s too painful living under the same sky as her.’
Florence had always known that Stanley had a soft spot for Annelise, but she hadn’t realised just how strongly he felt. ‘Does she know how you feel?’
‘I made the mistake of telling her that I loved her, and it’s ruined everything. I never should have said anything. I always knew I could only ever be a friend to her, but somehow I dreamt . . . well . . . you know what dreams are like, some come true, and some are simply nightmares in disguise.’
‘Oh Stanley, I’m sorry. But surely it doesn’t mean you have to leave? Annelise is going away with Hope and Edmund and then when they’re home, she’ll return to Oxford, and you won’t have to see her so much.’
‘Assuming she does go back to Oxford,’ he muttered. He then clenched his jaw as if he was biting on something.
‘Why wouldn’t she go back?’ asked Florence.
‘Forget I said anything,’ he said tersely. ‘I told you I’m no good at parties, they make me say stupid things.’
She stared at him, puzzled. Then suddenly she remembered being out with Annelise and the girl falling over in the snow. Helping her to her feet, Florence had asked if she was all right. Annelise had said she was fine, but at the same time she had placed a gloved hand over her stomach. Not until now had Florence thought twice about that small, but what she now understood was a very instinctive gesture. Was this the real reason Annelise was going away with Hope and Edmund?
‘Stanley,’ she asked, her voice no more than a murmur, ‘is Annelise pregnant?’
He hesitated. ‘If she is, you didn’t hear it from me.’
‘And the father?’
‘A married man in Oxford who had no intention of leaving his wife. And that’s all I’m saying on the subject. Don’t press me for anything more. But perhaps you now understand why I have to leave.’
‘Where will you go, London?’
He shook his head. ‘No. I’m emigrating to Australia.’
‘Australia!’ she repeated.
Florence didn’t know what was more shocking, that Annelise was pregnant, or Stanley planning to emigrate. Many a time when he’d been a boy, Florence had taken Stanley in her arms and hugged him. She wished she could do the same now, especially if it would help make him change his mind. The thought of never seeing him again was just too awful to contemplate. As was knowing the pain he was suffering in loving Annelise and knowing he could never be with her.
‘When do you think you’ll go?’ she asked.
‘Just as soon as the necessary paperwork is completed.’
‘But what about Tucker? What will you do with him?’
‘I’m going to ask Kit and Evelyn to have him. Em seems to think they should have a dog.’
‘Well, if they say no, Billy and I will have him. If you’ll trust us.’
He almost smiled. ‘Of course I do.’
‘Does anyone else know what you’re planning to do?’ she asked. What she meant was, was there anybody else trying to put a stop to his plan?
‘Romily knows,’ he replied. ‘I told her before she flew to Canada for her speaking engagement tour.’
‘What did she think of what you’re doing?’
‘She said I had to follow my heart and do what felt right for me. Even if it was a terrifying leap into the unknown.’
That sounded exactly the kind of thing Romily would say. It was, after all, what she was doing right now. Except she wasn’t in Canada on a speaking engagement tour, that was what Romily had told people so they wouldn’t put two and two together. Only Florence knew where she really was and had been sworn to secrecy.
Secrets, she thought, there was no end to them.