The Darkest Hour

As she was tidying up, switching off the lights, she heard the sound of footsteps on the path outside. She paused, holding her breath, looking towards the door. The studio was silent. From somewhere in the distance she heard a blackbird’s harsh alarm note echoing through the garden. On tiptoe she moved towards the door and took hold of the handle. She waited for a few seconds, listening, then she pulled open the door. There was no one there. Behind her, a jar of brushes, caught by the sudden draught, rocked for a moment and fell to the floor with a crash.

September 6th 1940

Ralph was standing in the kitchen looking from his father to his mother and back. ‘We need to tell her. Eddie is cheating her out of a lot of money.’

He pulled up a chair and sitting down at the scrubbed deal table leaned forward earnestly on his elbows.

Dudley sat down opposite him. The dogs, Jez and Sal, threw themselves down at his feet. ‘And how exactly do you know that, son?’

Ralph felt a quick surge of his old antagonism towards his father. Always the need to doubt him, to disbelieve. ‘I was in Chi. I walked down Westgate and I saw a couple of her pictures in the window of a little gallery there. The price on them was astronomic. Far more than he is giving her.’

Rachel was leaning with her back to the sink. ‘How do we know what he is giving her?’

‘She told me. She was so pleased. He gave her two quid for her picture of the barn with the roses growing over it. It is there, in the window priced at five guineas.’

Dudley snorted. ‘I always thought he was sharp enough to cut himself, that one.’ He sighed.

‘He has to make a turn on them, and so does the shop,’ Rachel put in.

‘That much?’ Ralph looked at his mother in indignation. ‘I would have gone in and talked to them about it but the place was closed. I will go though, another time, and find out just what is going on with Eddie. I don’t want my baby sister being made a fool of. Where is she, anyway?’

‘She biked down to the airfield. Eddie was complaining that she wasn’t producing enough for her portfolio for the War Artists Committee. You know how much she wants to be recognised by them.’ Rachel paused thoughtfully. ‘There weren’t any pictures of the airfield in the shop, were there?’

Ralph shook his head. ‘Just farm scenes. Chocolate box stuff.’

‘Well, that’s something I suppose.’

‘I don’t think she would be allowed to sell pictures of the airfield,’ Ralph said thoughtfully. ‘She’s not even supposed to be there. Eddie seems convinced it’s OK, and that he can convince the WAAC that she would be a credible witness, but they are not keen at all on women doing this sort of thing. They are supposed to be painting other women, not dogfights in the sky.’

Rachel sighed. ‘She has set her sights on this. I don’t think we can stop her. And she won’t argue with Eddie. She doesn’t want to put her chances of being accepted at risk. He does seem to have influence in a lot of places. I wish he didn’t, but I don’t think we should interfere. She’ll sort it out.’

Ralph pushed back his chair and stood up. ‘I’ll speak to her when I have had the chance to go back and talk to them. Don’t worry,’ he added as his mother opened her mouth to argue. ‘I will be tactful. Besides, I don’t think Eddie is quite as high in favour as he once was. Our Evie has her eye on a new beau.’ He smiled.

Dudley let out a guffaw of laughter. ‘That blond Scots boy? I saw her ogling him the other day.‘

‘I’m not surprised,’ Rachel said with a smile. ‘He’s a real charmer.’ She went over and lifted the kettle off the hob. Carrying it back to the tap she half filled it and returned it to the stove. ‘I wouldn’t be sorry to see her distance herself a bit from Eddie but at the same time she needs to be careful. He could destroy her chances of a career in art with a snap of his fingers. He’s only got to say something detrimental to the War Artists Advisory Committee, or in one of those reviews of his, or even to the local galleries, and it would all be over for her. I know she is talented, and one day I am sure she would make her way in the art world, but at the moment she is young and inexperienced and she doesn’t know people, at least not the way he does. As long as he thinks she respects him and is fond of him he will be a good friend to her.’

‘Do you know what you are saying, Rachel!’ Dudley burst out. ‘Listen to yourself! Give her credit for a little pride. You seem to be telling her to sell herself to the man.’

Rachel tightened her lips. ‘I am saying nothing of the sort. I am just worrying that she might spoil her chances of real success.’ She turned to her son, a touch of heightened colour in her cheeks. ‘How long have you got, Ralph? Do you want some tea?’

‘Go on then.’ He smiled at her affectionately. ‘I have to be back soon enough. A cuppa with my mum and dad gets priority over Jerry and his attacks any day.’ He pretended not to see when Rachel turned away to hide her face. ‘They are giving Portsmouth a walloping at the moment but I am sure the boys can manage without me for a bit.’ He saw his father’s raised eyebrow. ‘OK, I’ve been given a few hours off. We are getting leave in short bursts at the moment. Don’t worry. I’m not playing hooky.’ He paused. He would have to leave time for another visit though, a visit to a pretty young WAAF called Sylvie who he had met at a dance in Bognor. But time enough for Sylvie once he had drunk his cup of tea. He knew enough about his mother to realise if he mentioned a girlfriend he wouldn’t get out of the door without the third degree. He sighed. ‘You do realise I might get posted to another station one of these days, don’t you?’ he said to her gently. ‘It was incredibly lucky my squadron getting posted to Tangmere. It could just as easily have been to any other station in England.’

Rachel nodded. ‘We’ll make the most of it while you’re here,’ she whispered. She cleared her throat and, turning away, walked stiffly across the kitchen. ‘I’ve some fruit cake here in the pantry. I think you deserve a bit as it’s tea-time.’ There was a moment’s silence as she clattered about out of sight. When she reappeared with a plate in her hand, her eyes were suspiciously bright.

Evie had spent the morning sketching the Nissen huts and the ground crew. The squadron had taken off before she arrived and, touching down swiftly to refuel and rearm, had taken off again without her having the chance to see Tony. She had concentrated on her job, sketching furiously, making notes, planning a series of paintings which she could work on in her studio at home. The flight commander of B flight had invited her into the Officers’ Mess for a snack lunch and the chance to admire the new china someone had given them to add to the furniture which had been donated to make life more comfortable. She had accepted in the hope that Tony would appear at some point, but he had, she was told at last, landed at Tangmere with a leak in a fuel line after catching some shrapnel in the fuselage of his plane.

She didn’t see him until late that afternoon when he arrived at the farm with a bandage on his arm.

‘It’s nothing,’ he said cheerily when Evie flew out to meet him in the yard. ‘A splinter, that’s all.’

She flung her arms round his neck and he let out a yell. ‘Ow! Careful!’

‘Sorry, sorry!’ She backed away horrified. ‘Did I hurt you? Oh, Tony, I’m sorry.’

His face was white. ‘No, I’m fine.’ He managed a grin. ‘Patched up by a local body snatcher. I’m healing already. But I’m not allowed to fly for a couple of days in case I prang the old bus. So, I am all yours.’

Evie gazed at him. ‘My parents are up in the top field stooking the last of the barley. They won’t be home till dark. I should be going up there too.’ She smiled at him then she took his hand. ‘Let’s go inside and I’ll find you some beer. Then we could go upstairs if you like.’

He caught her hand. ‘Can we go for a walk first? Just stroll about. Do you mind?’

She gazed at him, taken aback. ‘You don’t want a beer?’

He smiled, his eyes lighting up with a mischievous twinkle. ‘Of course I do. And I want to be alone with you. You know I do. I just want to walk and talk first. It’s all been a bit too exciting, the last few days.’ He drew breath as though to say something else and changed his mind. ‘If we were to –’ he waved his good arm in the air as though unable to find the words to describe what was in his mind, ‘you know, make love,’ he paused again, then took a deep breath. ‘I respect your parents, Evie. And you. I don’t want us to, you know, do anything which would upset things. It’s too important we get this right.’

She grinned. ‘You old romantic! Nothing we do is going to upset things, Tony. I know I am young, but I was an art student,’ she said gently. ‘I was living in London before the war.’

For a moment he looked taken aback, then his face creased into its usual irrepressible grin. ‘That was then,’ he said. He leaned across and kissed her cheek. ‘Come on.’ He took her hand and pulled her towards the door.

They walked across the yard, down past the duck pond and then up the track towards the hillside where their flock of Southdown sheep were quietly grazing in the sunshine. Beyond, the South Downs stretched out from the farm east and west, whilst to the south the flat lands of Sussex spread out towards the English Channel. The farm lay in a fold of gentle hills and wooded slopes, the soft grasses spangled with wild flowers, the stubble of the fields lying gold in the afternoon sun. It was an idyllic setting, the setting Evie painted with such love in her pictures of England in happier times, England before the war. The England she no longer wanted to show.

‘Right.’ Tony stopped, faced her and put out his hand. ‘Let’s start from the beginning again. If we are going to marry, we have to be introduced properly, as if our parents were here. Pleased to meet you, Miss Lucas. Can I tell you something about myself?’

She giggled. Holding out her hand, she shook his. ‘Pleased to meet you too. Tell me everything.’

‘I am twenty-one years old, three-quarters of the way through my law degree at Edinburgh University. If I get out of this war alive,’ he took a deep breath and went on, ‘I want to go back and finish it. It was my dream, to be a lawyer. It still is.’ He was silent for a moment. Evie said nothing. She was studying his face.

‘I am the only child of Alistair and Betty Anderson who live near Wigtown in the south-west of Scotland. They are farmers a bit like your parents except they own mountainous land instead of downs. We have a lovely stone farmhouse which has been in our family for several generations,’ he went on slowly, ‘and they are heartbroken that I didn’t want to be a farmer, but they have encouraged me to follow my heart.’ He paused and took another deep breath. ‘If I am going to be a lawyer I would have to go back to Scotland after the war, so you would have to come and live with me in Edinburgh.’ He paused again. ‘But you would love my parents, I know you would, and they would love you. We will go and see them often.’

‘Tony, wait.’ She put her finger against his lips to silence him. ‘This is all getting a bit serious.’

‘I am serious.’ They reached a gate in the hedge and turned through it onto the grassy shoulder of the Down, skirting a hanger of hazel trees clinging to the steeper slopes and following a sheep track towards the summit, sewn with harebells and cat’s-ears. He reached out for her hand so he could pull her behind him. ‘Come on. I want to see the view from the top.’

They made love in a shallow hollow, sheltered from the wind, serenaded by the song of a skylark far overhead. Afterwards Evie lay on her back, her arm across her eyes, sleepy and content, inhaling the smell of the soft grass while Tony sat up staring into the distance. The sound of the binder, carried on the wind from the distance, where her parents were working in the barley field far below them, was clattery but monotonous, lulling them both in the gentle warmth. They kissed long and gently then they made love again, and it was only the sound of the distant throb of aircraft engines high in the south which made them draw apart and sit up. Evie reached for her blouse and pulled it on with a shiver. ‘The first raid this afternoon.’

Tony dressed hurriedly and shaking his head sat down again beside her. ‘I wish I was down at the airfield. I hate not being part of it all.’

‘They’ll manage without you, just this once.’ She put her arm round his shoulders, avoiding his injured arm. ‘I think I’ve fallen in love with you, Tony Anderson.’

He laughed. ‘I should hope so after what we’ve been doing.’

He picked a small blue flower out of the grass and threaded it into her hair. ‘I shall buy you a ring.’

‘A flower will do.’ She reached across and kissed his lips. ‘Do you know what it is? It’s called milkwort. It is an emblem of eternal love.’

‘Not really?’

She smiled. ‘No, not really. But it is for me. I shall press it and treasure it forever.’ She fell silent as the planes approached, the specks in the sky growing larger in tight formation.

‘Stukas and Messerschmitts. Where are our boys? What are they waiting for?’ He rose to his knees.

Evie pulled him down. ‘Careful. They might see us!’

He gave a humourless laugh. ‘I think they have their eye on rather larger targets than a couple of small people in a field. Like Southampton. Ah,’ he gave a satisfied exclamation as a formation of planes appeared high in the east. ‘At last.’ He narrowed his eyes in the glare. ‘Is that our boys or are they from Tangmere? Both probably. There. More of them. At last!’

The squadrons peeling off high over the wood had split, one section taking on the bombers heading west, and the others cutting in amongst the escorting fighters. In seconds the sky was a mass of diving and wheeling planes, the sound of engines screaming through the silence of the afternoon.

They sat side by side watching in awed fascination at the battle being fought over their heads. ‘The Battle of Britain,’ Tony said at last, his voice full of awe. ‘Did you hear Churchill’s speech on the wireless when he said that? It is in full swing and I am missing it!’

‘You are not missing it, Tony. You have a ringside seat,’ Evie said at last. ‘Think of it as research. You are watching their manoeuvring and their tactics so that you will know how to react when you are up there too.’

They both felt the visceral excitement and the breathless tension of the encounter going on over their heads. And then as suddenly as it had started it was over. The German planes one by one turned and headed south, two trailing black smoke, one spinning at last out of sight in the far distance, presumably plunging into the sea. Two of the Spitfires followed the stragglers, harrying to the last, the others, probably out of ammunition and rapidly running out of fuel, were returning to base. For a long minute the sky was empty, then a pair of swallows swooped low over the field.

Evie turned to Tony and snuggled into his arms. ‘You will soon be back in action,’ she said reassuringly. Her whole spirit was crying out in denial. She didn’t want him to go, she wanted him to stay safe here with her on the ground, but she knew she couldn’t keep him with her; he was not the sort of man to be tamed. She stood up at last and held out her hand to pull him to his feet. ‘Let’s go back to the farmhouse,’ she whispered.

8

Tuesday 16th July

Dolly Davis was standing at her kitchen window at home, the drying up cloth in her hand, staring into space. In ten minutes she would need to leave her small terraced cottage in Midhurst to walk up to the bus stop at the end of the street, ready for the long tour of local villages which would at last drop her off near Rosebank Cottage.

She had been thinking hard all night and was still turning her dilemma over in her mind. Did she trust Lucy Standish? Obviously Mr Mike did. He had told her on the telephone that he had given Mrs Standish a key to the house and to the studio and had told her she could come any day she chose, every day if she wished. He had made it very plain that she, Dolly, was not to interfere or question anything the woman did and was to give her every bit of help she could. To that effect Dolly had written down some dates and facts for Lucy, sitting down the night before with an exercise book and carefully making a list in her best writing of all the dates she could remember, starting with the date Evie had bought Rosebank Cottage. She was to write down the names and addresses of anyone she thought could help with researching the book and any details of the family she knew. Mr Mike said he was going to do the same, but he knew she probably had the key to so much more knowledge about Evie than he did. She knew he was flattering her; she wasn’t born yesterday. But on the other hand he obviously genuinely wanted her co-operation.

She had written down the names of Evie’s parents and grandparents, the name of the street where she had lived in London before she came to Rosebank, she couldn’t remember the number, the names of several of Evie’s friends, the ones who used to come and visit her. She no longer knew their addresses, if she ever did, but it was something to put on the list. She omitted the address of Christopher Marston. It was up to Mr Mike if he wanted to tell her about that side of the family.

At last she had put aside the notebook and stood up. Painfully she made her way up the narrow staircase, cursing her rheumatism, and she walked into the small second bedroom at the top of the stairs. Since her husband, Ronald, had died she had gratefully expanded her life into this second room which had been his for so long. He had suffered privately, as he did everything, from the pain of his long illness and died quietly one night seven years ago. She had not found him, still and peaceful in his bed, till morning when he was already cold.

She had waited a year, that was only decent, then she had sorted all his belongings into bags for the charity shops or for the bin men and moved some of her own things into the room, taking time to lay it out as she liked it with a comfy chair, a table and her small electric sewing machine and cupboards and a light so she could sew in there in her own domain. In one of the cupboards was a large cardboard box. She hauled it out and sat down with it on her knee.

As soon as she had realised what Christopher Marston was up to, clearing all Evie’s personal stuff out of Rosebank, she had saved what she could. It hadn’t been much, the diaries, hidden in the chest of drawers in Evie’s bedroom, two small sketchbooks and the old log book which had lain under the diaries. She had glanced at the log book and frowned in disappointment. She had thought it would be Ralph’s but it belonged to some man she had never heard of. Nevertheless she tucked it into the box with the rest and that same night, quietly, after Christopher and his wife had left, their car stuffed with everything of value in the house, she carried it up the lane and lugged it home on the bus.

She chewed her lower lip thoughtfully. What to do? She didn’t want to ask Mr Mike. He would be furious with her for taking it all in the first place but she was unrepentant about that. She did it for Evie. Instinctively she had known that Evie would hate to have anyone, never mind her difficult and rude grandson, poring over her diaries.

She glanced at her watch and pulled off her apron. Time to go. She would think about what to do during the day and make a judgement then.

Lucy was already at work when Dolly arrived at the cottage at exactly nine a.m. The old lady frowned a little, but glancing quickly round she was satisfied that Lucy hadn’t touched anything or messed up the kitchen. She opened the door to the cupboard under the sink and pulled out her polish and dusters. At ten thirty she would go over to the studio and take her a cup of coffee. Until then it was up to Lucy. If she had the manners to come in and say good morning that would be a mark in her favour.

Lucy had pushed open the door of the studio with some trepidation when she arrived that morning after a sleepless night. She stood in the doorway and stared at the scattered brushes on the floor. When the jar fell she had not waited to pick them up. She had slammed the studio door and locked it. When she climbed into the car she was astonished to find that her hands were shaking.

Taking a deep breath she put down her bags and walked over to pick up the scattered contents of the jar. She put it back on the table and pushed it firmly to the centre, well away from the edge, then she glanced nervously round the room. Everything was as she had left it last night. Or was it? She looked at the pile of boxes against the wall. Had they been rearranged? She frowned. Perhaps Dolly had arrived early. Walking over to the wall she stooped and picked up the top box. She didn’t remember seeing it before. Her heart thumping she put it down on the table and pulled open the flaps at the top. Within moments she was completely absorbed. Amongst the shabby cardboard files she found two or three that contained flimsy carbon copies of Evie’s letters. They were smudged and faded and occasionally so faint as to be illegible. Obviously Evie went on using each sheet of carbon paper long after it was too worn to be of much use, but there was enough there to show that these were the letters she wrote to galleries and exhibition organisers about showing her work. Lucy felt a shot of adrenaline run through her as she saw the names of various paintings listed again and again, one or two of which she recognised, several which she did not. This must be an inventory of her basic exhibits, the ones she sent off round the country on tour. At the top of each letter was the name and address of the place to which they were going. She found a sequence of dates spanning some five years of Evie’s main exhibitions. Perhaps elsewhere in the studio she would find the catalogues themselves. Dolly was forgotten. This was like striking gold.

An hour later Dolly arrived with a tea tray. Today there was one cup. ‘I don’t want to interrupt or get in your way,’ the old lady said coolly.

Lucy looked up then she glanced at her watch. It was nearly ten o’clock. She should have gone over to the cottage to say good morning. Reluctantly she pushed the files to one side. ‘You are not interrupting, I promise. You haven’t brought a cup for yourself. Can I fetch one so we can have coffee together?’

Dolly looked at her suspiciously. ‘I assumed you hadn’t come in because you wanted to be left alone.’

Lucy shook her head. ‘I’m sorry. It was me, not wanting to get in your way. I thought you must be so used to having the place to yourself that I would be under your feet, but I would love to talk to you, when you have some time. I so much want to hear your reminiscences about Evie. You and Mike are the only people I’ve met who remember her, and you both knew her so well.’ She was cursing herself for putting Dolly’s back up again. She slipped off her stool and stood up with a smile. ‘Can I fetch that cup? There is enough in this cafetière for two and it smells so gorgeous.’

Dolly hesitated then she nodded. ‘No, you stay here. I’ll fetch it.’

When she came back she brought a plate of biscuits.

By the time she left that evening Lucy had filled several pages of her notebook with anecdotes and she was clutching Dolly’s exercise book, but she did not know about the box of diaries. The old woman was still hedging her bets.

September 9th 1940

On September 7th Churchill believed that invasion was imminent. High Command at last used the codeword, ‘Cromwell’ and service personnel were issued with side arms and live ammunition. Roads in the south were blocked and guards on the south coast were reinforced. All temporary leave had been stopped. Ralph telephoned home once or twice to reassure his mother, but patrols were constant and the pilots were becoming increasingly exhausted. There was no word from Tony.