The Cavendon Luck by Barbara Taylor Bradford

Author:Barbara Taylor Bradford
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
ISBN: 9781250091291
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Thirty-four

Ever since she was a small child, Cecily had been brought up to understand the rules. The Inghams came first, and then the Swanns and their entire family. Everything else was secondary. Now, early on Tuesday morning, walking up to the office annex, she thought of the Inghams or, more precisely, of Lady Gwendolyn Ingham Baildon, the family matriarch, affectionately known as Great-Aunt Gwen.

Cecily had always known that she was an unusual woman, unique, in fact, and as Miles often said, “They threw the mold away after they’d made her.” And he was right. She was a mixture of things: independent, strong, highly intelligent, tolerant, loving, and compassionate. Also, these traits aside, she was outspoken, had a clarity of speech that left no one in any doubt about what she meant. And she told everything the way it was, as she saw it anyway.

For all these reasons, Cecily believed that Great-Aunt Gwendolyn would react appropriately when Charlotte told her about Margaret Howell Johnson. In other words, she would want to see the daughter she had given away at birth, and she would be happy about it. Of course there would be tears, but they would be tears of joy … and surprise, perhaps. It was bound to be a bit of a shock.

Yesterday, on the way back from Harrogate, Aunt Charlotte had worried aloud about Great-Aunt Gwen and her nervousness about Gwen’s reaction to the news.

Fortunately, Cecily had managed to convince Charlotte they should go together to see Great-Aunt Gwen, thus giving each other support.

“But then she’ll know I’ve broken my vow to keep her secret a secret,” Charlotte had protested. Cecily had to explain that this didn’t matter. “She’ll understand that you did not want to make decisions about the matter alone, and, anyway, I’m a Swann, and took the oath, and she’ll be perfectly comfortable with that.”

Eventually, Charlotte had accepted this, and had agreed with Cecily that they should tell Great-Aunt Gwen about her daughter immediately, adding, “Let’s not forget how old she is. I always think I’ll be awakened one morning by Mrs. Jasper, to be told she expired in her sleep.”

This had been said in a light tone; Charlotte had half smiled, and Cecily herself had laughed out loud. “That’s the way I want to go when I’m an old woman … in my sleep,” she had said.

Last night, after dinner, they’d had a moment to talk quietly, and had made the decision to visit Lady Gwendolyn this morning.

After unlocking the door of the annex, Cecily went inside, turned on all of the lights, and hurried into her own office.

The contracts for the sale of the five factories were on top of her desk, and she looked at these once again, studied a couple of added clauses; she initialed these, then signed each contract.

The deal was closed, and that made her feel comfortable; they were a safety net if war came. When it comes, she muttered to herself, dreading it.

And then she thought of Greta. Her heart ached for her.

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