New Beginnings by New Beginnings (retail) (epub)

Author:New Beginnings (retail) (epub)
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781788639699
Publisher: Canelo
Published: 2020-02-28T00:00:00+00:00

* * *

The following day, Bessie’s gloom was enlivened by a call from Bermuda.

‘It’s lovely to hear your voice,’ she told Marianne.

‘That’s nice to know.’

‘Finished writing your new book, yet?’ Bessie inquired.

‘Not quite. And after Ann rang to tell me about her chat with you, I couldn’t concentrate.’

‘I wouldn’t call it a chat!’

‘And what’s all this about you wanting to find your father?’ Marianne asked in her direct fashion.

Bessie’s response was, ‘I’m amazed you hadn’t already heard about it from my grandma, who nearly had a fit when I mentioned it while she was here visiting me.’

‘Shirley wouldn’t confide in me except in a crisis,’ Marianne replied, ‘and let’s hope this won’t turn into one, Bessie, for you or for her.’

Bessie said after pausing, ‘You were very close to my mother, weren’t you?’

‘Which didn’t help my relationship with your gran,’ Marianne said dryly, ‘but if you’re now going to ask if Laura told me her secret, she didn’t and that’s the truth, love.’

‘But did my mother ever talk to you about him? Even though she didn’t mention his name?’

‘Only once, Bessie.’

‘It’d mean a lot to me to know what she told you, however little it was, Marianne.’

‘And I’m sitting on my verandah gazing down at Elbow Beach and wondering if I have the right to tell you.’

‘To break Mummy’s confidence, you mean? But she’s dead and I’m still alive.’

Marianne replied, ‘That’s exactly what my husband said, when I discussed my dilemma with him. He hasn’t finished writing his new book, either. Nowadays, we spend so much time talking about family matters, I ask myself why I was under the illusion that coming to live in Bermuda would allow me to get on with my work!’

‘I’m sorry to be one of the family matters that’s stopping you from working,’ said Bessie contritely.

‘And how’re you getting on with your work at school?’ Marianne asked.

‘I still have trouble with maths.’

‘So did your mum,’ Marianne recalled. ‘Laura wasn’t in the least academic.’

‘A brilliant photographer like her didn’t need to be,’ Bessie answered, ‘and if I thought I could be one, I’d—’

‘What you have to be is yourself,’ Marianne cut her short. ‘Trying to follow in one’s parents’ footsteps can be a big mistake.’

‘And I couldn’t with the one I know nothing about,’ Bessie returned to the topic from which they had strayed. ‘Was he someone dreadful, Marianne? I don’t mind admitting to you that that’s my worst fear—’

‘Then set your mind at rest, love.’

Bessie had absently removed some wilted leaves from a plant on the hall table and found herself crushing them, while she awaited Marianne’s next words.

‘From the little your mum told me, I gathered he was a decent man.’

‘Then why didn’t he marry her?’ Bessie demanded.

‘For two excellent reasons,’ Marianne said gently. ‘He already had a wife and children, and your mother didn’t bother telling him she had conceived.’

‘What you’ve told me isn’t my idea of a decent man!’

‘And may Laura forgive me for doing what I think best,’ said Marianne. ‘But

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