Page 82 of The Winter Bride

‘Very sensible,’ Miriam agreed. She could see that the room would be very attractive when the decorators were finished, but then she wouldn’t have expected anything else from Marie. She had taste.

When they made their way back downstairs, Miriam excused herself to visit the ladies’ room and Marie turned to Annie. ‘Is everything all right, ma chèrie? You ’ave been a little quiet this evening.’

‘Everything’s fine,’ Annie assured her as they took a seat. ‘I suppose I’m just a little tired.’

‘And it was nice to see Monsieur Alex again, oui?’

‘Er . . . yes.’

Seeing the flush that rose in Annie’s cheeks, Marie frowned. She had a feeling she was missing something here, but she had no idea what it might be. Even so, she would make it her business to find out. Smiling she topped up Annie’s glass once more.

‘Would you like a lift home, Annie?’ Alex asked when the evening was drawing to a close.

‘Thank you, but I believe John has already ordered a car to take me home,’ Annie answered.

He looked disappointed. ‘Oh, in that case I hope to see you again at some point. Look after yourself.’

‘You too.’ She hurried away to fetch her coat, then she kissed Marie and John goodbye, nodded to the other guests, and left.

On the way home her head was spinning. So much had happened recently. Peggy and Levi deciding to get married. Discovering who her birth parents were, and then the terrible attack on Nancy. And now seeing the man who still owned her heart this evening. It was no wonder her emotions were all over the place.

Thankfully when she got back, Nancy had gone to bed leaving Jamie to sit by the fire and read the newspaper in case Adam woke and needed anything. He really was such a thoughtful young man and she knew Nancy would be in good hands when they did get married.

‘Did you have a good evening?’ he asked.

She nodded. ‘It was lovely. Thank you for stopping to keep an ear out for Adam.’ Nancy was so much better, but she still tired easily.

‘I’ll get off now then.’ He stifled a yawn. ‘I’ve got an early start tomorrow so I’m ready fer me bed. Night, Annie.’

She followed him downstairs and made sure that all the doors and windows were securely locked behind him. With a quick glance across the road to ensure no one was there, she went back upstairs to get ready for bed. Half of her had loved seeing Alex again but the other half was sad that she had. It had awakened feelings that she had been trying to bury. She wondered why Alex’s wife hadn’t accompanied him to the dinner party, but perhaps they were still on bad terms. He had told her long ago that he only stayed for the sake of Lucy, his little girl.

With a sigh she slipped between the cold sheets, but the dawn was rising before she eventually fell into a restless sleep where her dreams were full of Alex.

Chapter Forty-One

Back in Nuneaton, Mrs Taylor-Lloyd was also tossing and turning. She’d dismissed the nurse she had employed to look after her husband some days ago, along with the housekeeper. She’d had no choice. Now that her husband was confined to bed there was no money coming into the house and their savings were diminishing at a frighteningly rapid rate. And so the care of her spouse now fell solely on her shoulders, and she hated having to look after him.

She’d long since moved out of the bed they had once shared and into her own bedroom. She had never enjoyed the physical side of marriage and after Monty’s birth she had considered that she’d done her duty. Things weren’t helped by the fact that Reggie was constantly coming to her for handouts. Since being injured in the war, he’d refused to work, although his mother was sure there were lots of jobs he could have done had he a mind to. It was only his face that was disfigured, after all. But then Reggie had never been keen on hard work.

As dawn streaked the sky, she heard guttural noises coming from her husband in the next room and, sighing, she swung her legs out of bed. He’d probably soiled himself again, which would mean yet another bed bath and another lot of clean bedding. The maid wouldn’t even be up yet, so it would be down to her to see to him again. Not that the maid was much help when it came to him. She was so small and slight that one good puff of wind would have blown her away and she couldn’t even roll him over, let alone lift him. That left only the cook, and she flatly refused to help.

With another sigh, she slipped into her dressing robe and pushed her feet into her slippers before making her way along the landing.

As she opened the door the stale smell of vomit and urine met her and she wrinkled her nose in disgust.

Her husband’s eyes found hers, staring and afraid, but she had no sympathy for him.

‘Have you soiled yourself again, Henry?’ she snapped.

He tried to raise his hand as he lay drooling and she shivered with a mixture of cold and revulsion. It was too early for the maid to have made up the fire and the room was like an ice box.

And then the tears came. She was exhausted and at the end of her tether. ‘I can’t do this any more,’ she sobbed, and suddenly, without thinking, her hand reached out and she pulled one of the pillows from beneath him and pressed it against his nose and face.

He began to thrash from side to side and his breathing became laboured, but he was weak and completely at her mercy and soon he fell still.

She stood looking down on him as tears coursed down her cheeks, but she felt no regret. He could never hurt her, or anyone else, again now.

‘You really thought I was unaware of what you’d been up to all these years, didn’t you?’ she muttered, although she knew he could no longer hear her. ‘About little Emma and Eve, the maids you got pregnant, and all the other women you’ve had.’ She shook her head sadly. ‘But believe me, I knew about every single one. I only stayed silent because I liked living in this house and the lifestyle you gave me. But what use are you to me now? Now at least I can sell this house, and I’m still young enough to catch myself another wealthy husband. And so, my darling husband, I’ve simply put you out of your misery and helped you to move on to a better place.’