Page 56 of The Winter Bride

Chapter Twenty-Eight

The minute the cab pulled up outside the shop in London, Annie knew that something was wrong. It was just after lunchtime but the sign on the door said ‘Closed’. She hastily paid the cab driver before ushering Adam and Nancy out and rapping smartly on the door. Marie opened it, wrapped in a pinny and looking slightly dishevelled.

She let them in then locked the door, explaining, ‘I am so sorry but during the night someone smashed the kitchen window and got in. I found glass everywhere when I arrived to open up this morning. John ’as got a man in fitting a new window but be careful where you tread, I ’aven’t managed to get all of it up yet. I am so sorry.’

‘It’s not your fault,’ Annie said grim-faced. ‘Did they take anything?’

Marie lowered her eyes. ‘No . . . I am afraid it is worse than that.’ She waved towards the half-empty rails. ‘They did a lot of damage. Many of the gowns are slashed to pieces. I can’t understand why anyone would do such a thing. They went up to your rooms too and trashed them. My maid is up there now cleaning and tidying.’

Annie plonked down onto one of the small gilt-legged chairs and sighed. ‘But how did they manage to get into the garden with all the barbed wire around it? It’s like a little fortress out there.’

‘They some’ow managed to kick the gate in.’ Marie was clearly deeply upset. ‘I was ’oping to have everywhere back to normal for when you got back but you are a little earlier than I expected.’

‘I don’t understand it,’ Annie said. ‘Why would anyone do something like? I could understand if they’d taken things.’

Marie nodded in agreement just as John appeared from the kitchen. ‘Ah, Annie, I’m so sorry you’ve had to come back to this,’ he told her. ‘I have a chap out the back fitting a metal gate. No one will be able to kick that in, I promise you.’

She gave him a grateful smile. ‘Thank you. You must let me know what I owe you.’

‘Oh, don’t worry about that.’ He lifted Adam and gave him a hug. ‘Let me get Nancy and this little chap upstairs. The maid should be almost finished now, and then I’ll put the kettle on and make us all a nice cup of tea. I dare say you’re ready for one after the journey.’

Once they’d gone, Marie fetched the ruined gowns to show her. It looked as if someone had slashed them with a knife.

Annie shuddered. ‘Thank goodness we weren’t here when they broke in,’ she said. ‘I don’t know how Nancy would have coped so soon after being hit over the head.’ She bit her lip. ‘I’m wondering if someone is out to get us. Two incidents so close together just seems a little strange, don’t you think?’

‘It could just be pure coincidence,’ Marie pointed out. ‘You are not thinking of selling up and going home, are you? I would miss you so much.’

Annie shook her head. ‘No, that isn’t an option. I couldn’t face going back with my tail between my legs. But I am wondering if it’s such a good idea for us to live above the shop. Perhaps I should look around for somewhere else to live. I could travel into work then, and at least know that Nancy and Adam were safe.’

‘The trouble is, as you know property to rent in London is very expensive,’ Marie said. They could hear her maid in the kitchen sweeping up the remnants of the broken glass and she could understand Annie’s concern. ‘Let me ask around for you.’

‘That would be very helpful.’ Once again Annie didn’t know what she would have done without her. It would have been dreadful for Nancy and Adam if they’d come back to find all the damage. She smiled then as she noticed the smut on Marie’s cheek and her dishevelled hair. She was usually so immaculate, but she’d clearly been very involved with the clean-up operation.

‘How much damage has been done to the gowns?’ Marie asked next.

Annie sighed. ‘Unfortunately, some of the most expensive gowns are beyond saving so it’s going to take quite a bit to replace the stock,’ Annie said regretfully. ‘And just when we were beginning to make a little profit too. Still, it could have been worse. At least no one was here and no one was hurt.’

‘I will come in and watch the shop tomorrow while you go to buy replacement stock,’ Marie offered.

Tears sprang to Annie’s eyes. She knew how lucky she was to have such a good friend.

It was only when Nancy and Adam were fast asleep that night, that Annie allowed her tears to fall. Simon had called round late in the afternoon after John had told him what had happened to see if there was anything he could do to help. He’d also offered to start looking around for somewhere suitable for her to rent and she was grateful, although she had no idea how she was going to afford it.

‘Seems to me you need someone to take care of you,’ he said softly.

Annie bristled. He was a truly lovely man, but he wasn’t Alex. The thought of him made her tears run faster. Considering John and Alex used to work together, she’d been half hoping to catch sight of him since she’d moved here. But there had been no sign of him and she didn’t like to ask Marie about his whereabouts. Luckily, after the heartbreak of having her family killed during the war, Marie had managed to find her happy ever after, but Annie doubted she ever would. Still, she had Adam and Nancy and she was determined to make their lives as good as they could be.

This is just another setback, I’ve got through far worse, she told herself sternly, and drying her tears she went to bed where she finally slept through sheer exhaustion.

The following week, when everything seemed to have settled back into some sort of normality, Annie finally agreed to have dinner with Simon. Everything had been quiet and she was beginning to hope that the two incidents may have been coincidence as Marie had suggested.

The stock had been replaced and trade was continuing to grow, so Annie allowed herself the luxury of wearing one of the gowns from the shop to go out with Simon. It was a pale-blue satin sheath style dress with a floaty chiffon overlay that emphasised her slim figure, and she wore a blue satin stole about her slender shoulders.

‘Eeh, yer look just like a princess,’ Nancy declared when she came out of her room. She’d washed and brushed her hair until it shone like a raven’s wing and her only adornment was the topaz necklace that Monty had bought her.

‘Thank you, but are you quite sure you don’t mind being left alone?’

‘I’ve got the telephone now, ain’t I? If I’m worried about anythin’ I shall ring Marie an’ John.’