oodness knows we have enough of those where you’re concerned. One more isn’t going to make a great deal of difference.’
Callie had butterflies in her stomach, sure that something momentous was going to be revealed to her. ‘Could you—could you just tell me?’ she requested huskily.
‘But of course, my dear. It was what I came here for, after all. Twenty-five years ago, when my brother Jeffrey was just twenty, and your mother only eighteen, she was spurned by the family as a possible wife for Jeffrey.’
This information, so unexpected, hit Callie like a blow to the face. ‘You’re saying they knew each other before six years ago?’ she choked,
The other woman nodded. ‘Before you were even born.’
Callie sat down with a bump, very pale. ‘I—Could you tell me it all—please?’ she said jerkily.
‘Would you like me to get you some fresh tea?’ Mrs Carrington offered. ‘I’m afraid this has all been rather a shock for you.’
Only because her mother and Jeff had never even hinted at knowing each other in the past. But it could explain the youthfulness of the sculpture, the way Jeff had been so determined to marry her mother this time, despite her illness.
She accepted the cup of tea from Cicely Carrington, allowing her to fuss over her for several minutes before insisting she be told everything.
‘None of the Spencer family come out of this in a good light, I’m afraid,’ Mrs Carrington said regretfully. ‘Not even Jeffrey. But he was very young, and our father was even more dominating than Charles.’
That was hard to imagine, but Callie prompted Mrs Carrington to tell her the rest.
‘Your mother was a maid at my parents’ house. I was already married and had Logan at the time. He would have been about ten, I suppose. I remember how he hero-worshipped Jeffrey.’
‘He was the sort of man heroes are made of,’ Callie said woodenly.
‘Yes, he was.’ Tears glistened in the faded grey eyes. ‘I wish I’d known of his death in time to come to the funeral. Logan said he died very soon after your mother?’
‘Three months.’
‘How terrible for you!’
‘Yes. My mother was the maid…?’ Callie prompted.
‘Oh yes. I’m sorry, my dear, my mind’s not as active as it used to be. But I remember your mother well. She was a lot like you to look at, and always full of life and happiness. You may have realised that Jeffrey, Charles, and myself had a rather strict upbringing, with not too much love. Your mother brought sunshine into Jeffrey’s life. He loved her from the first moment, and she loved him too.’
‘What went wrong?’
‘My father interfered,’ Cicely sighed. ‘We weren’t so quick to defy our parents in those days, and Jeffrey was very young.’
‘So he gave my mother up under family pressure,’ Callie said disgustedly.
‘It wasn’t as simple as that.’
‘But he did give her up?’
‘Yes. You see, my father threatened him with disinheritance, with social ruin. A boy of twenty doesn’t quite have his priorities sorted out properly. Your mother left my father’s employ, and we never saw her again.’
‘And Jeff?’
‘He knew almost straight away that he’d made a mistake, but by that time your mother had disappeared.’
‘Disgusted, I should think,’ Callie derided bitterly. The whole thing sounded like some Victorian melodrama!
‘She has hurt, very hurt, so hurt that she married the first man who showed her kindness and love.’
‘I thought you said you never heard from her again?’ Callie frowned.
‘We didn’t, but Jeffrey finally traced her. By that time she was married to Norman Day, and was expecting his child. She admitted to still loving Jeffrey, but her loyalty was to her husband and the child she was to give him. This time Jeffrey was the one to leave, swearing he would never trouble her life again. He made a life for himself, a lonely life, and he never forgot your mother.’