Page 36 of A Scottish Love Story
When she refused to answer, Tommy frowned. ‘Perhaps we should get the police here and tell them you have sold some rare antiques that did not belong to you?’ he said, his voice ominously quiet. He saw Gilda turn pale and her eyes widen in shock. Her father had been to prison. It was the reason they had moved down here.
‘You wouldn’t do that! I’m — I’m still your wife.. .’
Tommy bit back a sharp retort, remembering the solicitor’s advice not to antagonise her until they decided how to proceed. He pulled the car door wide and took her arm in a firm grip.
‘Let me go! All right, he did have a white van. It belonged to Mr Jacobs, the antique dealer in town. He said it was a sin to leave them in a house where nobody appreciated them and I was doing the right thing to sell them.’
‘I appreciated them!’ Roxie said. ‘Anyone would appreciate the beautifully inlaid design on the top of my little sewing table, not to mention the Devonport desk.’
‘Well, I didn’t!’
‘You should not have been in that room!’ Tommy knew Gilda had resented Roxanne from the beginning, and more so since Mr Robson, their solicitor, had read his father’s will, leaving Roxie with money of her own. ‘The solicitor! Of course! He will know what to do, Roxie. Mr Robson and Jacobs are both in the Rotary Club, I think, or the Round Table, one of the men’s clubs in town anyway. They are bound to know each other. Jacobs will not want to be known for handling stolen property — and that’s what it is, Gilda.’ He glared with contempt at the girl he had married. ‘He can’t have disposed of your things yet, Roxie. I promise I will do my best to get them back for you.’ He looked at Gilda. ‘You understand he will want his money back.’
‘I hope you’re right, Tommy,’ Roxie said wearily. ‘I know Mr Robson will help if he can. He was a good friend of our father.’
‘His son has joined him in the law firm now and he is very on the ball.’ Tommy’s expression was grim. ‘He often works late at the office. I’ll telephone him right away and see if I can catch him.’
* * *
As soon as Tommy went into the house, Roxie watched as Gilda ran in for her own keys and back to her car. She drove away fast, scattering pebbles as she went.
‘I’m so sorry you had to witness all that aggro, Lucy,’ Roxie said tiredly. ‘I don’t know what I have done to cause so much — so much resentment.’
‘You look exhausted,’ Lucy said gently. ‘Forget her. Gilda is simply one of those people who is jealous of her own shadow, and everyone who possesses anything worthwhile.’
‘It’s the tension. I feel so depressed to think I have lost the things I cherished, things my grandmother, and my mother, treasured. I am glad Gilda will not be here for the sale. I can’t understand why she should envy anyone. It doesn’t sound as though things are happy between her and Tommy either. Did you hear him say she was stealing things? She is his wife.’
‘Even happily married couples disagree sometimes,’ Lucy said. ‘But you’re right. I believe trouble appears to be brewing big time and I feel sorry for Tommy. I know he rushed into things, and maybe he has himself to blame in a way. I suppose the old saying may be true, marry in haste repent at leisure.’
When Lucy had driven away, Tommy told Roxie that Mr Robson, the son, had promised to look into the missing furniture urgently, maybe even this evening.
‘Will you take a walk with me, going round the cows in the field? They have been milked. They’re grazing in the field near the house.’ Tommy looked thoroughly dejected and weary, but Roxie heard the pleading in his voice.
Although she was tired, Roxie knew the walk and fresh air would probably help her sleep, and seeing the cows again was like seeing old friends to her.
‘I could never have kept the herd up to the standard you and Dad kept it, Roxie,’ Tommy said. ‘You have to be dedicated to make a first-class job.’
‘I think Dad would understand, Tommy, and at least you are having the sale now, and not waiting until the herd has deteriorated. Most of the breeders will remember Dad and the Caldbrook herd. I am sure there will be a good attendance, and if we can present the cows and heifers at their best, it will help the prices.’
‘Er... yes. Did Lucy have much to say? Well... I mean, did she tell you anything about the baby?’
‘Your baby?’ She turned to look at her brother. ‘No, she didn’t. Is there something wrong with him? Is he ill?’
‘Nothing like that. The poor wee soul.’ Tommy scuffed the grass with his boot and looked even more miserable. ‘I’m surprised Lucy didn’t tell you. There are plenty of rumours going round. Everybody must think I was a stupid sucker to be taken in so easily. I was so unsettled when I came back from Australia, but I was a conceited fool to be taken in so easily by her looks and her flattery.’
‘Gilda is a very attractive girl.’
‘Maybe on the outside she is,’ Tommy said bitterly. ‘She is as sly and greedy as her father when you get to know the real person. If only I had listened to Dad, but it’s too late for me to tell him now.’ His voice sounded choked. ‘When the Davies twins come, they’ll give you the gossip.’
‘What about?’ Roxie asked with a puzzled frown.
‘I’m not the baby’s father, Roxie,’ he said bitterly. ‘He was not premature. Both the doctor and the nurse in charge said he was full term. Gilda still tries to deny it and worm her way out. She still insists she is not to blame,’ he added derisively. ‘I got a real shock when I saw him. I told the staff nurse she had shown me the wrong baby.’
‘What do you mean?’ Roxie asked tensely.
‘Liam was born with a lot of jet-black hair, and his skin is yellowish. His eyes are not at all like Gilda’s or mine. Gilda and her father are still trying to bluff their way out and insist he is my child, but I asked for a DNA test and Mr Robson Junior has arranged it.’
‘I see,’ Roxie said slowly.
