Josephine Cox Sunday Times Bestsellers Collection. Josephine Cox
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did know that Leonard Maitland was in love with Vicky?’ the doctor said.
Lucy smiled. ‘I think most people knew that – even Barney. He would tease Vicky about it. But it made no difference to either of them, because they had eyes only for each other.’
She imparted a secret she had kept for too long. ‘One day, soon after Mary was born, Barney and I were sitting outside on the swing, when he spoke of Leonard. He told me how he had always known Leonard was a good man, that he had confided in Leonard and made him swear never to tell anyone the truth. He also said that he had asked Leonard to take care of Vicky, and marry her when he was dead, because he knew how much in love with her he was.’
Adam nodded. ‘Knowing that Leonard had promised to take care of Vicky would have given Barney some peace of mind.’
During the course of the conversation, they touched on most things. There was talk of Lucy writing to Vicky, and she said it was something she had to do, and very soon.
‘One thing at a time though,’ she said. ‘Coming here has taken up all my energy. But I have it in mind to contact Vicky.’ She looked at the old doctor. ‘I haven’t been able to write before, because I had no way of knowing where they were. But I have a sneaking feeling that you have their address. Am I right, Doctor Lucas?’
A shy little smile crept over his features. ‘You’ve caught me out,’ he admitted. ‘I do have the address of Leonard’s office in Boston. On the day he sailed for America, he said if there was anything that Barney needed, I was to let him know straightaway.’
He gave a long, drawn-out sigh. ‘Of course, I never asked him for anything. Firstly because Barney would not have wanted me to, and secondly, because there was absolutely nothing that Leonard could have done for him. When all was said and done, I thought it best to cut away from them, for the family’s sake, and because Barney had gone to such horrendous lengths to make sure they would not come back.’
‘Would you mind giving me the address?’
‘Not at all. I know exactly where I have it.’ He struggled out of his chair and picked up his stick. ‘In fact, I may as well find it now, and then we can simply enjoy our evening together.’
As he went from the room, Mary crossed to the window and peered out. ‘Such an interesting garden,’ she observed. ‘I do love the conservatory.’ Stroking her chin with the tips of her fingers, she mused aloud, ‘I wonder if there might be space for us to have one built at home?’
When she beckoned for the others to come and see, Lucy and Ben made their way over to join her. Adam, however, had other ideas. Leaving the room, he stood a while in the hallway, listening intently. When he heard the doctor muttering and moaning, he followed the sound down the passage towards the old man’s study, and tapped on the open door. ‘Do you think we could have a word?’ he asked as the doctor swung round to face him.
‘But of course. Come in!’
Adam thought he had never seen such a chaotic room.
The study was piled high with boxes of old files and documents; boxes on the desk, boxes against the wall, and more boxes on top of the filing cabinets. ‘I’m always meaning to set about tidying this place up,’ the old man explained, ‘but somehow, I never seem to get round to it. Lizzie kindly offered to sort it all out, but I can’t let her loose on this little lot. The poor darling would not know what goes where, or how to decipher half of it. Besides, most of these are patients’ private records. They need to be carefully gone through and meticulously filed, and that’s my job.’
He carried on muttering as he threw boxes out of the way. Then: ‘There it is!’ Digging into one of the half-open desk-drawers, he waved a piece of paper in the air. ‘I knew it wouldn’t be far away.’
‘I just need a minute of your time, if that’s all right?’ Adam thought that Raymond Lucas was more like an absent-minded professor than a doctor.
‘Sorry!’ He sat on the edge of the desk. ‘You have my full attention now, so please fire away. What’s on your mind?’
‘May I close the door?’
Dr Lucas frowned. ‘If you must, yes … close it.’
Adam quietly did so. ‘It’s just that I wouldn’t want Lucy to overhear this.’
‘Well, go on then, man! What is it?’
‘It’s just that, well, as you have the contact address for Leonard, I wondered if you might also have information regarding another ghost from the past.’ He lowered his voice. ‘Edward Trent … the man who caused little Jamie’s drowning. Lucy still has nightmares about that. She doesn’t know whether he’s alive or dead, or even if he might turn up at any minute. So, if it turned out that somebody had finished him off, it would give us all some peace of mind.’
The old man understood immediately. ‘That was a terrible thing and no mistake,’ he said sombrely.
‘So, have you any idea what happened to him?’
‘No,’ the doctor apologised. ‘None whatsoever. It’s a mystery to me why they never caught him, but then we knew him to be a cunning fox. Either he had an argument with some other lowlife and was left for dead in some dark, God-forsaken place, or he managed to get far enough away to escape the law.’
‘So, God forbid, he could still be on the loose somewhere?’ Adam was bitterly disappointed, because even though many years had passed, Edward Trent still cast a dark shadow over their lives.
Though Adam would never mention it to Lucy, not a day went by when he didn’t fear for her safety. ‘When Lucy rejected him that night, he seemed to lose his sanity. I would feel much safer if I knew where he was today. Somehow, I don’t believe he’s a man who would easily forget being rejected by a woman.’ A thought occurred to him. ‘I hope you never give out Lucy’s address?’
The older man was wounded. ‘Good God, man, what do you take me for? Haven’t I kept her address safe these many years?’
Adam apologised. ‘I’m sorry. It’s just that I do worry about her. There’s always the chance that he might come back and look for her.’
‘I doubt that. He may be dangerous, but he’s not mad. Even if he is still alive, why would he take a chance like that now?’
All the same, he understood Adam’s concern. ‘Let’s hope we’ll never see hide nor hair of him again, and Lucy can learn to forget.’
But Adam was unconvinced. ‘She will never forget,’ he murmured. ‘And neither will I.’
LUCY HAD RETURNED home to Salford with the intention of writing to Vicky at the earliest opportunity.
Unsure of how to start, she took a moment to reflect.
Looking out across the garden of Knudsden House, her mind was alive with memories of her incredibly eventful life. Where had they gone, all those years? How did they fly away, without her even noticing?
Tears of regret burned her eyes. Fate was so cruel. She brought you joy, filled your heart with love and hope, then just when you were beginning to feel safe and content, you turned around and it had all been taken away from you.
Releasing a great sigh that seemed to move her very soul, she stood before the desk in the sitting room, her gaze falling to the blank page awaiting her, her voice whisper-soft as she spoke her thoughts aloud. ‘Oh Vicky, I’m so sorry!’
Slowly shaking her head, she let her gaze momentarily drift to Barney’s photograph. For a long, agonising moment she soaked the contours of his familiar features into her senses, the bright eyes, the winning smile, the wonderful energy in his face. Such a man, she thought. Such a joy.
She