A Valentine for Daisy

‘No, no, of course it isn’t; put it down to idle curiosity.’

Josh, for nearly four years old, was very bright. ‘You’re not married either, Uncle Val; I know ’cos Mummy said it was high time and it was time you thought about it.’

His uncle ate a last sandwich. ‘Mummy’s quite right; I must think about it.’

Daisy began to collect up the remains of their meal. ‘Everyone carry something,’ ordered the doctor, ‘and no dropping it on the way to the kitchen. What happens next?’ He looked at Daisy.

‘They rest for an hour—I read to them.’

‘Oh, good. I could do with a nap myself. We can all fit into the hammock easily enough—not you, of course, Daisy. What gem of literature are you reading at the moment?’

‘Grimm’s fairy-tales; they choose a different story each day.’

She wasn’t sure how to reply to the doctor’s remarks; she suspected that he was making fun of her, not unkindly but perhaps to amuse himself. Well, she had no intention of letting him annoy her. ‘Perhaps you would like to choose?’ she asked him as, the picnic cleared away, they crossed the lawn to where the hammock stood under the shade of the trees.

He arranged a padded chair for her before lying back in the hammock with the twins crushed on either side of him. ‘“Faithful John”,’ he told her promptly.

She opened the book. ‘It’s rather long,’ she said doubtfully.

‘I dare say we shall all be asleep long before you’ve finished.’

He closed his eyes and the children lay quietly; there was nothing for it but to begin.

He had been right; Josh dropped off first and then Katie, and since he hadn’t opened his eyes she supposed that the doctor had gone to sleep too. She closed the book on its bookmark, kicked off her sandals and sat back against the cushions. They might sleep for half an hour and she had plenty to occupy her thoughts.

Dr Seymour opened one eye. He said very softly, ‘You don’t like me very much, do you, Daisy?’

She was taken by surprise, but Daisy being Daisy she gave his remark thoughtful consideration. Presently she said, ‘I don’t know anything about you, Dr Seymour.’

‘An indisputable fact. You haven’t answered my question.’

‘Yes, I have—I don’t know you well enough to know, do I?’

‘No? Personally, I know if I like or dislike someone the moment I set eyes on them.’

He would have disliked her on sight, she reflected, remembering the cold stare at the traffic-lights in Wilton and the short shrift he had given her, almost knocking her off her bike. She said primly, ‘Well, we’re all different, aren’t we?’

The mocking look he gave her sent the colour into her cheeks. The doctor, watching her lazily, decided that she wasn’t as plain as he had thought.

The twins woke up presently and they played ball until their mother came back. The twins fell upon her with shrieks of delight, both talking at once. ‘Val—how lovely to see you—I wanted to talk to you…’ Seeing Daisy, she turned to her. ‘Do go home, dear, you must be exhausted—I know I am after several hours of these two.’ She unwound her children’s arms from around her neck. ‘Take Daisy to the gate, darlings, and then go to the kitchen and ask Mrs Betts if she would make a pot of tea for me.’

Daisy got to her feet, reflecting that Lady Thorley’s airy dismissal had been both friendly and expected; she was the daily mother’s help and was treated with more consideration than she had ever had with Mrs Gower-Jones. All the same, she wished that Dr Seymour hadn’t been there.

Her goodnight was quietly said. ‘I’ll be here at half-past eight, Lady Thorley,’ and she left them without further ado, taking the twins with her.

The doctor watched her go. ‘What do you want to tell me, Meg?’ he asked.

‘Hugh phoned—such news—the man at the Hague is ill—jaundice or something—and he’s to replace him until he’s fit again. Hugh says there’s a lovely flat we can have and he wants us to go there with him—he’ll be home this evening but I wanted to ask your advice about the twins. I’ll go with Hugh, of course, but what about them? I did wonder if they had better stay here with Daisy—that is if she would agree to come…’

‘Why not take the children with you and Daisy as well?’

‘Well, that would be marvellous—she’s so good with them and they like her, but she might not want to come…’

‘Why not ask her and find out? What does Hugh say?’

‘He told me I could do whatever I thought was best as long as it won’t upset the twins—going to live somewhere else—foreign too…’

‘My dear girl, Holland is hardly darkest Africa, and it’s only an hour away by plane.’ He stood up. ‘I must go back to town. You’re quite satisfied with Daisy?’

‘Oh, yes. How clever of you to tell me about her, Val. She’s so sensible and kind—it’s hard to find girls like her. Plain, of course—such a pity for she’d make a splendid wife.’ She walked round the house to where his car was parked before the door. ‘I suppose you wouldn’t find the time to visit us while we’re at the Hague?’

‘Very likely—I’m lecturing at Leiden Medical School and there’s a seminar for paediatricians in Utrecht—I’m not sure of the dates.’ Lady Thorley tiptoed to kiss his cheek.

‘Lovely. I’ll talk to Daisy—better still I’ll get Hugh to do that.’

‘Why not? When does he go?’

‘Two weeks—at least, he’s to go as soon as possible; he thought it would take me two weeks to pack up and so on.’ She stopped suddenly. ‘Oh, what shall I do about Boots? We can’t leave him here just with Mrs Betts…’

‘I’ll have him.’ He glanced at his watch. ‘I must go, my dear—give me a ring when you have things settled.’

Daisy, unaware of the future being mapped out for her, cycled home and thought about Dr Seymour. She wasn’t sure if she liked him but she was fair enough to admit that that was because he was a difficult man to get to know. He was splendid with the children, probably he was an excellent paediatrician, but he was arrogant and, she suspected, used to having his own way. Moreover, he had this nasty habit of mocking her…

She was surprised to find Sir Hugh at home when she reached Steeple Langford the next morning. He was still young but he had a serious manner which made him seem older.

‘If we might talk?’ he suggested, coming to the nursery where the twins were running riot with the Plasticine under Daisy’s tolerant eye.

Daisy’s heart sank. He had come to tell her she was no longer needed, a governess had been found, and she was mentally putting her name down at several agencies in Salisbury when he went on. ‘I’m about to be posted to Den Haag for a time; we wondered if you would consider coming with us to look after the children? I’m not sure for how long; I’m to fill in for a colleague who’s on sick leave.’

‘Me?’ said Daisy.

‘If you would. We’re to take over an apartment in the residential part of the city, with a garden, I believe, and there are parks close by, so I’m told, and of course it is close to the sea.’

‘I don’t speak Dutch,’ said Daisy.

He smiled faintly. ‘Nor do I. I believe that almost everyone speaks English—there are certainly a good many English people living there—there would be other children for the twins to play with, and I’m sure there are young Englishwomen living there—you wouldn’t be lonely.’ When she hesitated he added, ‘I’m told it will be for a month or six weeks.’

‘If I might have time to talk to my mother? I could let you know in the morning if that would do?’

‘Certainly, I shall be here for a good part of tomorrow.’ He got up. ‘My wife and I do so hope that you’ll see your way to coming with us! You’ll let me know in the morning?’

‘Yes, Sir Hugh. For my part I should like to come, but I must tell my mother first.’

She thought about it a good deal during the day with mounting excitement; it would mean that she was sure of the job for at least another month besides the added pleasure of seeing something of another country. She would have to talk to Pam and make sure that she could cope with the various household demands. She wouldn’t be able to add to the housekeeping money each week while she was away, but there was enough in the bank to cover them and she could pay that back when she eventually returned. All in all she was sure that everything could be arranged with the minimum of trouble for her mother and sister.

Her news was received with pleased surprise; there was no doubt at all, declared her mother, that they could manage very well while she was away. ‘It’s a marvellous opportunity,’ said Mrs Pelham happily. ‘Who knows who you will meet while you are there?’ she added enthusiastically. ‘Sir Hugh is something to do with the Foreign Office, isn’t he? There must be clerks and people…’

Daisy said, ‘Yes, Mother, I’m sure there are.’ There was no harm in letting her mother daydream. Daisy, well aware of her commonplace features and retiring disposition, thought it unlikely that even the most lowly clerk would give her as much as a second glance.

Not a girl to give way to self-pity, she spent the evening combing through her wardrobe in search of suitable clothes. The result was meagre; it was Pamela who remembered the raspberry-red brocade curtains some aunt or other had bequeathed to their mother. They were almost new; they spread them out on the sitting-room floor and studied them. ‘A skirt,’ said Pamela. ‘We’ll get a good pattern, and Mother—there’s that white crêpe de Chine blouse with the wide collar you never wear.’

‘But will I need them?’ asked Daisy doubtfully.

‘Perhaps not, but you must have something, just in case you get asked out. There’s your good suit and we can get your raincoat cleaned…’

So when Daisy saw Sir Hugh in the morning she told him that she would go to Den Haag with the twins, and was rather touched by his relief. His wife’s relief was even more marked. ‘I hardly slept,’ she told Daisy, ‘wondering what we should do if you decided not to come with us; Josh and Katie will be so happy. I should warn you that I shall have to be out a good deal—there’s a lot of social life, Hugh tells me—you won’t mind, will you?’

Daisy assured her that she didn’t mind in the least and Lady Thorley gave a sigh of relief. ‘You’ll have a day off each week, of course, though I dare say it will have to be on different days, and an hour or two to yourself each day. Hugh wants us to go in ten days’ time. We’ll see to the travel arrangements, of course. There’s just your luggage and passport.’ She smiled widely. ‘I think it’s going to be great fun.’

Daisy agreed with her usual calm. Looking after the twins wasn’t exactly fun; she liked doing it but it was tiring and keeping the upper hand over two small children determined to be disobedient was taxing both to temper and patience. But she truly liked Lady Thorley, and the twins, naughty though they were, had stolen her affection.

It was impossible not to be excited as preparations got under way for their journey: clothes for the twins, their favourite toys carefully packed, and a good deal of over-time because their mother needed to go to London to shop for herself. Daisy assembled her own modest wardrobe, wrapped the crêpe de Chine blouse in tissue paper, dealt with the household bills and with Pamela’s help made quite a good job of the skirt. Trying it on finally and eyeing it critically, she decided that anyone not knowing that it had been a curtain would never guess…

It wanted two days to their departure when Dr Seymour turned up again. Lady Thorley was packing and Daisy and the twins, housebound by a sudden bout of heavy rain, were in the nursery. He came in so silently that none of them was aware of him until he spoke in Daisy’s ear.

‘An artist as well as a nanny?’ he wanted to know, studying the variety of drawings on the paper before her.

Her pencil faltered so that the rabbit’s ear that she had been sketching didn’t look in the least like an ear. She said evenly, ‘Good afternoon, Dr Seymour,’ and rubbed out the ear while Josh and Katie rushed at their uncle.

He pulled a chair up beside Daisy, picked up a pencil and added a moustache and beard to the rabbit.

‘Ready to go?’ he asked her.

‘Yes, thank you. Would you like me to fetch Lady Thorley?’

‘No. I came to see these two. Being good, are they? Not turning your mousy locks grey or causing you to lose weight?’

How could he know that she detested her soft brown hair and was shy about her slightly plump person? A good thing she wouldn’t see him for at least six weeks for she didn’t like him.

‘No,’ said Daisy, ‘they’re good children.’ Which wasn’t in the least true but Katie, hearing it, flung her arms round her neck.

‘We love Daisy; we think she is beautiful and kind like a princess in a fairy-tale waiting for the prince to come and rescue her.’

‘And why not?’ said her uncle idly, getting up from his chair. ‘I’m going to see your mother but I’ll say goodbye before I go.’

Josh climbed on to a chair beside her. ‘Draw a bear,’ he ordered. ‘I’m going to be just like Uncle Val when I grow up.’

‘So am I,’ said Katie, and was told not to be a silly little girl by her brother. Threatened tears were averted by Daisy’s embarking on a description of the party dress Katie, being a girl, would be able to wear when she was grown up.

Josh curled his small lip. ‘Girls,’ he said scornfully.

The doctor was still there when Daisy went home; she cycled past his car in the drive, unaware that he was watching her from the drawing-room window.

Two days later she said goodbye to her mother and Pamela, gave Razor a cuddle and went to the gate where Lady Thorley and the twins were waiting in their car. Her case was stowed in the boot and she got in the back with the children. They were strangely subdued and their mother said, ‘Val came for Boots last night and they miss him—he’s to stay with my brother while we’re away.’

So Daisy spent a good part of their journey explaining how very much Boots would enjoy a holiday. ‘And think of all the things you can tell him when we get back,’ she pointed out.

‘We wouldn’t let anyone else have him, only Uncle Val,’ said Katie tearfully.

‘Well, of course not. He’s family, isn’t he? And Boots knows that he belongs to all the family as well as you two. You might send him a postcard from Holland…’

A suggestion which did much to cheer the children up.

Sir Hugh had made sure that his family need have no worries on their journey. They were met at Gatwick, the car was garaged and they were guided through the business of checking tickets, baggage and Customs and seen safely aboard the plane. The children were a little peevish by now and Daisy was relieved to see lemonade and biscuits and, for herself, coffee.

Lady Thorley was on the other side of the aisle and the first-class compartment was only half-full; Daisy drank her coffee while the twins munched and swallowed, grateful for the short respite. Afterwards there were comics to be looked at and the excitement of visiting the toilets, small enough at the best of times but needing a good deal of side-stepping and squeezing, much to the delight of the children.

By then the plane was coming in to land, something the twins weren’t quite sure if they liked or not. Daisy wasn’t sure if she liked it or not herself.

They were met by a well turned-out chauffeur at Schiphol and shepherded through Customs and into a gleaming, rather old-fashioned car and driven away. A little over an hour’s drive, the chauffeur told them, joining the stream of traffic.

The twins, one on each side of their mother, on the back seat, stared out of the windows and had little to say beyond excited ‘oh’s and ‘ah’s. Daisy, sitting beside the chauffeur, gazed her fill too; she mustn’t miss anything for she had promised to write every detail to her mother.

Presently the car left the busy streets around the airport and picked up speed along the motorway. There wasn’t much to see here—occasional patches of quiet meadows, but it seemed to her that there were a great many factories lining the road and she felt vague disappointment. Not for long, however; soon the factories dwindled and died away to be replaced by trees and charming houses, set well back from the road which in turn gave way to the outskirts of the city.

The streets were busy here and the chauffeur had to slow down, so that she had a chance to look around her. It looked delightful—old gabled houses, canals, imposing buildings, a splendid place to explore on her free days… They left the heart of the city, driving down a straight road with parks on either side and then large, solid houses, set well apart from each other, before they turned off into a side-road, wide and tree-lined. There were blocks of modern flats on either side and here and there town mansions in their own grounds. Halfway down they stopped before the wide entrance of a solid red-brick block of flats and the chauffeur got out, opened their doors and led the way across the pavement as a concierge came hurrying to meet them.

‘I do hope,’ said Lady Thorley, ‘that someone has put the kettle on; we need a cup of tea.’ She smiled at Daisy, ‘You must be tired; I know I am.’

Daisy had the twins by the hand, dancing with excitement. She thought it unlikely that she would have time to be tired until they were given their tea and put to bed, but that didn’t worry her. ‘I’d love one,’ she said cheerfully.

CHAPTER THREE

THE concierge led them inside, across a wide hall to an ornate lift. She was a tall, bony woman with a hooked nose and a cast in one eye and the twins stared at her with growing delight. ‘Is—is she a—?’ began Josh.

‘No, dear,’ began Daisy before he could utter the word, ‘this is the lady who looks after these flats…’

‘Juffrouw Smit.’ She ushered them into the lift which took them to the first floor. The landing was as wide as the hall below with a door on either side, one of which she now opened. ‘The apartment,’ she announced, and ushered them inside.

The flat was large, with lofty ceilings, large windows and a balcony overlooking a sizeable garden. There was a staircase at one end of it leading to the garden and Juffrouw Smit waved a generous arm. ‘It is yours, the garden.’

‘Oh, how nice,’ said Lady Thorley uncertainly. ‘The people in the flat below?’

Juffrouw Smit shrugged. ‘A very small apartment; he is but a clerk.’

Daisy peered over the balcony balustrade. There were iron railings separating the flat from the garden; it seemed hard on its occupant.

It was obvious that Juffrouw Smit was preparing another speech in her very basic English. ‘The cook and the serving maid wait in the kitchen.’

She led the way through two handsome reception-rooms, a small sitting-room and down a short passage and opened a door.

The kitchen was a good size and, as far as Daisy could see at a glance, well equipped. There were two women there, stoutly built and well past their first youth, with pleasant round faces and white aprons over dark dresses. They smiled and nodded, shook hands and said, ‘Welcome,’ several times. The elder of them pointed to herself. ‘Mien,’ she said and then pointed to her companion and said, ‘Corrie—we speak English a little and understand.’

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