On Christmas Day Read online

  Now, Anna stood back, her hands on her hips. Poor Lexi! What on earth was the poor girl making of all that! Mr McCann had almost shouted just then.

  ‘Well, Mr McCann,’ Anna said stoutly, ‘I am sure that Lexi would very much appreciate a lesson or two on how to make her money increase. Perhaps you could give her a word of advice – if you could spare the time!’

  Reynard didn’t even look at Anna as she’d spoken. He was used to his housekeeper’s occasional remonstrations, and he knew she was telling him off. One of the things he never minded.

  Scooping the money back into the bag, Reynard pushed back his chair and stood up. ‘First, let us see how you get on each Friday collecting the rents by yourself,’ he said. ‘And, let us say, on the third week in July I will arrange to see you here at 8 o’ clock for an hour … bring your savings along and we will go through it all.’ He half-smiled. He didn’t think it would take long to count the girl’s cash.

  ‘Oh – thank you, Mr McCann,’ Lexi said faintly. What would he have to say to her – and would she understand a word of it? But after he had gone back upstairs, Johnny grinned at her reassuringly.

  ‘Don’t look so worried, Lexi. My father won’t bite, I promise you – I’m only sorry that I shan’t be here to listen in at the interview!’

  Lexi stood up. ‘I’d better go. Mama asked me not to be late tonight.’

  ‘I’ll see you back,’ Johnny said, and after the two had left the house Anna started clearing the tea cups. That was the last thing she would have expected – Mr McCann responding to her rather sharp suggestion that he help Lexi and actually showing, or appearing to show, some interest in the girl’s little life.

  But even that didn’t ease Anna’s disappointment that by this time tomorrow Johnny would have been taken to Salisbury – and she wouldn’t see him, or Alfred, for two whole months. The longest time they would ever have both been away from her. And as she’d packed everything Johnny might need to take with him tomorrow she’d had difficulty in holding back a tear.

  It was still light as Johnny and Lexi, hand in hand walked slowly back to the cottage, and Lexi said softly – ‘Promise you’ll write and tell me everything, Johnny.’

  He gazed down at her, his dark eyes full of intensity. ‘Of course I will – and you’ll write back, won’t you?’ And without waiting for a reply, he had his arms right around her and placed his lips on hers and Lexi didn’t stop him – she wanted it to go on forever. But just then she saw some walkers approaching and she moved away quickly.

  ‘Don’t push me off,’ he murmured in her ear, ‘I’ve got to make this last for a very long time …’

  ‘Sorry,’ Lexi said, ‘but I’d rather that anyone, well, my mother, didn’t know that we … you and I …’

  Johnny interrupted quickly. ‘Why? Why might she object? Mrs Martin likes me, doesn’t she?’

  ‘Of course she does, she’s always liked you, Johnny,’ Lexi said at once. ‘It’s just that I’m sure my mother doesn’t want me to grow up … she thinks I should still be at school and not going out to work and talking about earning money and I certainly shouldn’t be kissing boys – even boys like Johnny McCann!’ Lexi looked up ruefully. ‘She can’t help it – it’s just the way she is.’

  There was silence between them after that, and after a moment Lexi said quietly – ‘Do you mind if I ask you something, Johnny?’ She hesitated. ‘About your mother, I mean?’

  ‘Course not,’ Johnny said, ‘though I may not know the answer because I don’t remember her. She died when I was a baby.’

  Lexi already knew that, and she squeezed Johnny’s hand tightly. ‘But – do you know what she looked like? Have you ever seen a photograph of her?’

  ‘Johnny shrugged. ‘We don’t have many photographs in our house, but a long time ago there used to be a small snapshot of someone – a pretty lady, a young lady – on my father’s bedside table and when Alfred and I asked him who she was. He said it was our mother but that he didn’t want to talk about it because she was gone and it made him sad. So it was never mentioned again and the photo isn’t there anymore – it’s in Dad’s wallet now. I saw it fall out the other day when he was looking for something.’

  Lexi felt a huge lump starting to form her throat. How dreadful for Mr McCann to have lost his young wife so soon. No wonder he sometimes seemed cross and unhappy. And how dreadful for Alfred and Johnny never to have known their mother, even if they had Anna who they loved dearly, and who loved them.

  ‘Anyway, as far as my mother is concerned,’ Lexi said, ‘she doesn’t know about us, and what she doesn’t know can’t hurt her, can it.’ Lexi looked up. ‘But we know about it – and that’s all that matters, Johnny, isn’t it?’

  Those words were all that he needed, and now, with the walkers well out of sight, Johnny stopped and drew her close to him again.

  ‘I love you, Lexi,’ he said softly. ‘And I want to love you for the rest of my life.’

  Letting herself into the shop the following Monday, Lexi felt happier than she could possibly ever have hoped – given that she and Johnny weren’t going to see each other again for such a long time. But she was earning good, regular wages, and for some reason she couldn’t fathom Mr McCann wanted to help her increase what she already had – though how he was going to do that was a mystery but soon she was to have an interview with him so that he could explain what he meant.

  But the incredible thing which was filling her with almost delirious excitement was what Johnny had said on Friday night as they’d held each other and kissed again, properly.

  He had whispered those three magical words. ‘I love you.’

  When Lexi got home later in the day – Miss Lewis having asked her to work an extra hour or two – Phoebe and Joe came running towards her.

  ‘Did you bring us any sweets?’ Joe said hopefully, and Lexi smiled down, taking them both by the hand. She didn’t see so much of her brother and sister as she used to, but one day, when they all moved into their big house, they would understand why she’d had to be away from them so much.

  The three went inside where Cecilia was working, her sewing machine whirring away as she treadled. She glanced up. ‘I’ve been asked to alter yet another new jacket for Mr McCann,’ she said. ‘I should think he’s got enough to last him his lifetime.’

  ‘Well, he always does look very smart,’ Lexi said, dropping a kiss on her mother’s forehead. ‘You always make everything look so beautiful, Mama – and I’m really forward to wearing my new dress when I sing.’

  Cecilia stopped for a moment. ‘Yes – and I’ve been thinking, Lexi – you are going to need more than one, aren’t you? You can’t be seen wearing the same thing every day because some guests go to the Pump Room on a regular basis. You will have to ring the changes.’

  ‘Oh – will I?’ Lexi hadn’t thought of that.

  Cecilia nodded. ‘I’ve been doing my sums and I’m sure we can afford more material – I popped into the market the other day and some really pretty cloth has come in.’

  ‘But I will pay for it!’ Lexi said at once. She reached into her pocket for the lollipops she’d bought for the children – plus the chocolate bars Miss Lewis had insisted she take home for them as well. Then, yawning, Lexi said, ‘I’ll start the ironing in a minute, Mama.’

  The children ran outside to play, taking their treats with them, and Cecilia got up and went into the kitchen. ‘The ironing can wait, Lexi,’ she said, ‘you must have something to eat first.’

  Later, Lexi called Phoebe and Joe in for bed, and Cecilia, about to leave for her night shift, watched her children as they jostled and teased each other on the stairs. She smiled contentedly. Although Lexi was so much older than the other two, they’d always got on so well together, the three of them, and Phoebe and Joe seldom quarreled or told tales on each other. And Lexi, of course, was like another mother to them. Theirs had always been such a happy household, Cecilia thought wistfully, and surely this is how her family was me
ant to be, a complete unit against the rest of the world …

  But all these comforts failed to appease Cecilia’s growing concern – a concern which was starting to give her sleepless nights.

  Last Friday, she’d been looking out of the window when Johnny and Lexi were coming back from Grey Gables, and had watched them from behind the net curtain as they’d strolled towards the cottage.

  They hadn’t appeared to be saying much to each other, which was not like them, they were just walking more and more slowly. And then Cecilia had seen Johnny pause and bring Lexi’s hand to his lips, tenderly, slowly. And the way they’d looked at each other had made Cecilia shrink back a little … as if she was trespassing. She’d tried to look away but had been riveted to the picture of those two gazing at each other – a picture perfect cameo of Romeo and Juliet. And then, when Lexi had come in she hadn’t stayed up for a chat and a cup of tea as she usually did, but had gone straight to bed, saying she was tired.

  But her rosy pink cheeks, and the dazzling ocean green sparkle in her eyes, had not been lost on Cecilia.

  She had tried to stem her anxieties, but this wasn’t the first time her suspicions had been aroused and the more she dwelt on it the more worried she became. If it really was brewing, a deeper relationship between Reynard McCann’s son and her daughter was destined for misery – if not disaster. Because their different worlds would never mix, Cecilia was convinced of it – and she should know …

  A long time ago, she had witnessed the tragedy which had overtaken a young girl who’d fallen in love with her employer’s son. He, too, had been smitten – until his father had reminded him that he would be cut off without a penny if he brought shame on the family by continuing with the liaison. Of course, the young man soon understood the error of his ways and the girl, two months pregnant, was dismissed as a shameful seductress, without even her meagre wages to take with her.

  As a maid of all work at the time, Cecilia had been there and had tried to offer some comfort to the poor girl. But no words were of any help, and as far as Cecilia knew, nothing more was ever heard of the young woman who seemed to have disappeared from the face of the earth. While her one-time lover survived without any shame attached to him at all.

  Now, heaving a massive sigh, Cecilia turned to go. At least Johnny was about as far away from home as he could possibly be for the next two months. But it was only putting off the evil day. Sooner or later …

  Chapter Ten

  One thing she’d always be grateful for, Lexi told herself, was that her busy working life prevented her from dwelling too much on being without Johnny. She’d wondered how she was going to bear it. But apart from her household chores and taking Mr Bakewell’s money to the bank for him and regularly doing an extra hour or two for Miss Lewis and now working for Mr McCann, there seemed hardly a moment to spare. But this was how she liked it. Though she had to admit that the first two Friday evenings collecting the rents had taken longer than when she and Johnny had done it together.

  But Mr McCann had seemed reasonably happy with her when she’d returned with his money. On both occasions he’d been sitting in the kitchen waiting for her and had paid her her wage at once – which was a little bit more than she’d expected – before he’d gone back upstairs. Anna had been there all the time as Mr McCann had stayed to have his few words with Lexi, the housekeeper obviously happy that her employer was treating Lexi with consideration.

  It had soon become obvious to Anna that Reynard actually looked forward to seeing Lexi – quite apart from the job she was doing for him – because Anna knew all the signs. Mr McCann’s impenetrable, dark moods after Thursday nights usually lightened the next day if younger company was around. Especially, of course, if Johnny was around. But now there was Lexi …

  On Friday, Lexi started the rounds slightly earlier than usual so that she could finish in time to return to Grey Gables by 8 o’clock. This was the day she’d been anticipating with some dread … the day on which Mr McCann was going to advise her on how to make her money work for her. Which seemed strange – surely you work for money, not the other way around?

  Earlier, without saying anything about this to her mother, Lexi had taken her bulging money box down to Grey Gables and Anna had put it safely away in the back of her kitchen cabinet, ready for tonight’s interview. And now, with all the rents in the bag, Lexi made her way back to the big house, to feeling very nervous. It would have been so different if Johnny had been there as well … even if it was true that she was not really afraid of Mr. McCann anymore, not really. Finding the courage to speak up for herself the other day, and actually asking him for a job, had seemed to steel her nerve. Lexi braced herself as she went down the steps, pausing for a second before tapping on the kitchen door – she hoped her new-found confidence would last …

  Sitting in the kitchen, Reynard drummed his fingers on the table as he waited for Lexi to return with the rents. Not that, for once, he was thinking of his own money. This time it was to be all about the girl’s savings. He smiled briefly to himself. She had inferred that she had a considerable amount in her money box, but Reynard doubted that. He was aware that she’d been employed for some time at the sweet shop, and presumably she had a little money saved from picking up a few little tips here and there from odd jobs she did – but none of that would amount to a fortune.

  Still, Reynard leaned back, glancing at the clock. He was ready to give the Martin girl the benefit of his advice on how to make the best of what she did have.

  Hearing the tap on the door, Anna immediately went across to answer it, smiling as Lexi came in and put the bag of coins in front of Reynard.

  ‘Everyone was at home, Mr. McCann,’ Lexi said happily, ‘And no late-payers so I won’t have to go back again tomorrow, like I had to last week.’

  Reynard nodded, pushing the rents to one side. He’d count all that later.

  Anna, who knew exactly what was happening tonight, opened her cabinet and drew out the money box. Then she took it over and placed it firmly on the table in front of Reynard. It was very heavy, and she admitted to being curious as to exactly how much Lexi’s money came to.

  Reynard cleared his throat, then – ‘Do sit down Miss … um … Lexi…’ he said, opening the money box. ‘And let us see what we have to play with here.’

  Lexi swallowed as she sat opposite him, suddenly wishing that she was safely back home. It had been Mr McCann’s suggestion that she let him count her savings, saying that she should ‘move it aroun’” whatever that meant. She hoped he didn’t ask her a question she didn’t know how to answer.

  Turning the key, Reynard opened the box and tipped all the money out on to the table. And to his great surprise there was far more there than he’d thought likely. Deftly, he sorted and counted all the coins, and with a flick of his experienced fingers separated the bundle of bank notes which Lexi had secured with an elastic band, making notes as he went. Then he looked across at her.

  ‘How have you managed to save all this?’ he asked, and Lexi smiled.

  ‘Because my mother lets me keep nearly all my earnings, Mr McCann – she will hardly take any of it because she knows it’s really for our big house.’

  ‘Yes, well quite,’ Reynard said. ‘But, as I said before, keeping cash in a box is a very short-sighted thing to do, and there comes a time when you must be prepared to do something more profitable with what you have.’ He stared down at the money again. ‘And I think that, for you, that time may have come.’

  Anna had been unashamedly listening to all this, and now she spoke up. ‘So – what must Lexi do, Mr McCann?’ she said. ‘I am sure she is anxious to have your opinion.’

  Then, as if addressing a public meeting, Reynard began the lecture. He explained the stock exchange and how it worked, told her that he studied the financial index every single day to see what company was doing well – were their shares rising or falling, and whether a take-over of one or another was likely. And as she listened, Lexi’s mind wa
s in a total whirl. This was hard to take in, hard to understand – but she understood the next bit of the lecture when Mr McCann said that she, Lexi Martin, should buy shares in a company which he would recommend. And that, in a reasonably short time, she might be able to sell those shares for much more than she’d paid for them.

  ‘That is called moving your money around, Miss Martin,’ Reynard said, pleased at the obvious effect his words were having on his young pupil. He warmed to his subject. ‘For example, let us just say that I have made £100 on some of my shares,’ he went on. ‘What do I do now? Do I put that money under my bed? I do not! I move it somewhere else! I make it work for me! I might possibly buy a couple of cottages, then increase the rents so that in due course I will get my £100 back and still have those buildings! They are still mine, either to go on renting, or to sell at a profit!’ Reynard smiled a satisfied little smile. ‘Housing is a very good investment, you see, because people will always need somewhere to live.’

  Lexi bit her lip at those words, remembering how hard it had been for them to find the rent for their new cottage.

  Sensing that Lexi was becoming a bit overwhelmed, Anna interrupted. ‘Now – shall I put the kettle on for a cup of tea, Mr McCann?’ But Reynard waved her away.

  ‘Later, perhaps,’ he said. He turned his attention to Lexi. ‘Now, regarding the purchase of shares,’ he glanced at Lexi, ‘I do have to point out that things do not always go as might be hoped. Sometimes things go wrong. It is very possible to lose your investment, rather than gain anything because share prices go up and they go down.’ He paused, his eyes glinting. There was nothing he liked more than to discuss money. Money talked. Money ruled the world.

  Lexi sat back, feeling uneasy at this latest bit of information. ‘Oh – I don’t think I could afford to lose any of my money, Mr. McCann’ she said.