For The Love Of Sara

“You’ve — what!”

“I — I’ve seen her. Oh, for God’s sake, Joel, stop looking at me like that! It’s not my — f—fault.”

“Go on. Where did you see her?”

“L—last night. With — with Father! It — it’s true!” This as Joel threw his cheroot to the floor and ground it under his heel. “They — they were — d—dining together.”

“Where?” Joel took a step towards him, and Francis took a step backward.

“At — at — Peruccios. I — I saw them, I tell you.”

Joel moved his head disbelievingly from side to side. “Start at the beginning.”

Francis drew heavily on his cigarette, and blew the smoke into the air above their heads. “Well — well, I’ve — I’ve known for some time that — that there was a woman … oh, yes, I have. Since — since my mother left — I’ve always been able to tell.”

“For the Lord’s sake, get to the point!”

“Well — well, about — about a week ago, Father told me that — that there was someone —”

“But you didn’t choose to tell me that!”

“Not immediately, no!” Francis was defensive. “Joel, as you’ve just pointed out, he’s sixty-three! I assumed — who wouldn’t have? — that — that this women, whoever she might be, would be a contemporary of his! After all, you have to admit, both your mother and mine were near his own age at the time he married them.”

“All right, all right. Go on.”

“Well, I didn’t say much, I didn’t ask much. He told me—oh, how he must have laughed when he told me — that her name was Mrs. Gilmour, Mrs. Rachel Gilmour. Rachel’s not such an uncommon name, is it?”

“And that was all?”

“No. No, he said — she came from Yorkshire. That — that she worked in a village called — Langth — whistle, Langthwaite — something like that — as — as a housekeeper to a retired colonel.”

“A housekeeper to a retired colonel!” Joel repeated the words sceptically.

“Yes. Yes, that’s what he said!”

“You must have made a mistake —”

“I tell you, I saw her —”

“Not about that. About — what she’s doing.” Joel’s fists clenched. “Francis, you know Rachel was at college — when — when —”

“When she walked out on you? I know. But how do you know she finished her training? That — that was six years ago. She — she’s been married. She — she’s got a child!”

“A child?” Joel’s tanned face was pale. “Did Father tell you this too?”

“Y — yes.” Francis stubbed out his cigarette in an onyx ashtray. Then he looked up. “Th—that might account for the fact that she’s someone’s housekeeper, mightn’t it? I mean, it’s not easy to get jobs with — with children.”

“And — her husband?” Joel’s eyes were narrowed beneath heavy lids.

Francis shrugged. “How should I know? Dead, I suppose. Father said she was a — a widow!”

“A widow?” Joel paced restlessly across the room. “I don’t believe it!” He swung round on his half-brother. “Are you sure this isn’t all some malicious trick to get his own way?”

“Wh—what do you mean?”

Joel shook his head. “I don’t know, I don’t know. Father always hated me for thwarting him —”

“I don’t think he hates you, Joel —”

“Don’t you? I do. I think he’d marry Rachel just for that reason.”

“You’re crazy!”

“Am I?” Joel’s expression was broodingly malevolent. “If I thought…” He broke off. “Is that all?”

“What — what more can I tell you?”

“What did Father say when he told you?”

“I’ve told you everything I know.”

“Except how you came to see them together last night.”

Francis sighed. “That was accidental. Father doesn’t know I saw them.”

“So?”

“I was going to Freddi’s,” he named a gambling establishment with which Joel was not unfamiliar, “but I was short on funds —”

“—as usual—”

“— and I suddenly remembered Perry Simons.” Perry Simons owned Peruccios. Joel knew this, too. “I went round there, I was going to ask him for a loan. Then I saw them.”

“And you left?”

“Yes.”

“What time was that?”

Francis glanced at his watch. “Around eleven.”

“And it’s eight-thirty now. What have you been doing for nine and a half hours?”

Francis shook his head. “I — I didn’t know wh—what to do. I — I didn’t kn—know wh—whether to t—tell you or not.”

“Why not?”

Francis shook his head. “I w—walked for m—miles. I ended up b—back at the fl—flat at about four. I would have r—rung you then, but I th—thought you m—might be — other — otherwise engaged.”