Page 56 of The House at Hope Corner
‘I can’t thank you enough, Kate,’ she said. ‘But I must let you get on, I’ve taken more than enough of your time.’ She thrust out her hand. ‘It’s been lovely meeting you.’
‘It’s been lovely meeting you too. I wasn’t expecting this, I’ll be honest, but I’m so glad you came by. And I’m so pleased to see that Ned has finally managed to evade Caroline’s clutches. Do you know, she even came waltzing in here one time demanding to see me and pretty much telling me she expected to get their wedding reception for next to nothing because of our family connection. I can’t tell you how happy I was when Ned called things off with her. I’m sorry, that makes me sound awful, doesn’t it, but I’m so glad he’s finally found someone like you.’
Chapter Twenty
Flora wasn’t quite sure how she made it through reception and out of the door, but somehow she managed to nod and smile and say goodbye to Kate, holding her head high and promising to be in touch soon.
Now, though, she was safe in the privacy of her car, staring out of the windscreen at nothing with her heart beating wildly. She felt sick.
How had she not known that Ned and Caroline had once been engaged? Why had no one told her? More to the point, why hadn’t Ned told her?
She felt utterly stupid. No wonder Caroline had been laughing at her behind her back. She tried to think rationally – after all, she’d had relationships in the past, it would have been perfectly normal for Ned to do the same. In fact, when Hannah had mentioned a previous girlfriend the day she told Flora about moving into the cottage, Flora had thought nothing of it. So why hadn’t Ned told her? Unless…
No – she tried to cast the thought from her mind, but it was already there, worming its way in, burrowing deeper and deeper into her brain until she could think of nothing else. What if the reason Ned hadn’t told her was because there was still something between them? He might have called off their engagement, but perhaps they still had feelings for one another. After all, every time she turned around it seemed as if Caroline appeared…
Moments ago, she had been ecstatic, hope soaring, filled with determination for her new venture and all that it could bring them as a family… but now… now, she didn’t know what she was. The minutes stretched out as Flora gulped in lungfuls of air trying to calm herself. She fished in her pocket for a tissue and gave her nose a good blow, sifting back through the conversations of the last day or so.
Ned had been utterly distraught as he revealed the circumstances of the debt the farm was in. He had been ashamed, worried about his father, angry at Caroline’s actions, but perhaps, more than anything, upset because he thought he had failed Flora. That didn’t seem to be the behaviour of someone who had set out to mislead her, or – worse – was telling her outright lies, but even a virtual stranger had assumed that she would know about Caroline and Ned, and yet she didn’t. So who was the stranger now?
No, Ned loved her, Flora knew he did, but there was no way she could go back to the farm, not straight away. She needed some time to put distance between how she was feeling and everything that would be waiting for her back home. Because she had plans to make, costings to prepare, forecasts; the list was endless. And she couldn’t attempt any of it in her current frame of mind. She needed to regain the feelings she’d had only moments before Kate inadvertently let slip about Ned and Caroline, because that was what she needed to hang onto. It had still been a wonderful meeting, one in which she’d suddenly seen the possibility of everything she dreamed coming true. And then it came to her. She knew exactly who would be able to help.
* * *
‘I’ll put the kettle on,’ Grace said, as soon as she opened the door and saw Flora standing there. Flora followed her straight into the kitchen. ‘I’ve got some brilliant news for you about the paintings,’ she continued, filling the kettle at the sink. ‘And some not so brilliant news, but I think you’d better go first. You look fit to burst.’
Flora plonked herself down on a seat at Grace’s breakfast bar. ‘I’m sorry, Grace. I shouldn’t even be here but…’
‘Explanations are not necessary, Flora. I gave you an open invitation, and I meant it. Now, biscuits… yes?’
‘Why did no one tell me that Ned and Caroline were engaged before?’
Grace stopped dead, her hand halfway to a cupboard above her head. She turned around, but the look on her face told Flora all she needed to know.
‘So you knew I hadn’t been told… I thought as much. Am I the only person around here thatdoesn’tknow?’
‘Before I answer that,’ replied Grace softly, ‘may I ask where you heard this information from? And before you protest that it doesn’t matter, it does, and you will hear why in a moment.’
Her expression was sympathetic but quite firm, and Flora realised that this was why she was here. Grace was as straightforward as they came.
‘I’ve been up to Ravenswick Hall this morning,’ she explained. ‘And I met with a lovely woman called Kate, who, it turns out, is Caroline’s cousin. But I expect you know that too?’
Grace nodded.
‘And she only mentioned it in passing, without realising that she’d put her foot in it because, of course, she expected me to know, which is why I’m wondering how come I don’t.’
‘I see,’ said Grace, quietly. ‘Well that was unfortunate, yes, but actually doesn’t change anything, at least not from where I’m standing.’ She took down the biscuit tin and slid it across to Flora. ‘Jammie Dodgers,’ she said. ‘Take several.’ She busied herself with the tea things before continuing. ‘I sincerely hope you’re going to tell me in a minute what you were doing up at The Castle and why you were talking to Kate. But the reason why I asked who had told you about the engagement was that I had Ned up here a couple of days ago, agonising over the fact that he hadn’t told you about it straight away, but that now, in his words, telling you would just look “really dodgy”?’
Flora gave a wistful smile. That was so like Ned, exactly the way he would put it.
She thought back to their conversation yesterday, trying to recall the detail as shame coloured her cheeks. Now that she thought about it, Ned had looked immediately alarmed as soon as Caroline’s name was mentioned, but then she had demanded to know about the invoices and things had snowballed from there…
Grace nodded at the expression on her face. ‘Obviously I advised him to talk to you as soon as possible, and am I right in thinking he might have tried to tell you?’
Flora groaned. ‘Yes, I think he might have, but I… well, I changed the subject and, well, we never really got back to talking about Caroline and him. Oh, now I feel dreadful.’
‘Well, you shouldn’t. I can only imagine how much of a shock it was hearing that little gem from someone else. You need to talk to Ned, Flora, but I can honestly tell you that it was never his intention to deceive you. More a matter of trying to protect you, coupled with appallingly bad timing.’
And Flora could see precisely how this had happened, because hadn’t she tried to tell Ned yesterday about her own situation, and got sidetracked? It was easily done when everyone was so busy and there were always more important things to attend to.
