Unexpected Blessings

Toby also laughed and said, ‘I’ll punch him in the face a few times myself and I’ll be relieved when I know Adele is actually with Tessa at the house. Only then will I relax, I don’t trust that bugger.’

‘I agree with you. But I promised to let you know as soon as I had some news, and I just hung up on Jack. Evan had called me a few minutes before, to pass the word for him. But then Jack called himself, wanted to talk to me about security. Not only at Pennistone Royal, which is very vulnerable, as we now know, but all of our homes, and I think he’s right. They should have more protection.’

‘Agreed. And Jack’s the right chap to set everything up. By the way, do Paula and Shane know anything yet, Gid?’

‘God, no! And don’t get involved. Don’t tell our parents, because you know our mother will pass it on to Paula. They’re as thick as thieves.’

‘Well, all of them are. Mother and Dad. Shane and Paula, Sally and Anthony Standish, Amanda. And Sarah, now she’s back in the fold. They grew up together, for God’s sake,’ Toby reminded his brother. ‘We all know about Heron’s Nest, the summers they spent there, now don’t we!’

‘Listen to this. Jack told me that one of his operatives found out that a man with a small child was registered at the Spa Hotel in Ripon – your old hunting ground, if you recall. Anyway, the man had registered under the name of William Stone. It meant nothing to Jack’s chap, but the minute Jack heard it he knew it had to be Mark. William Stone equals Jonathan Ainsley. That’s his pseudonym.’

‘Oh Christ, you’re right! Was Jonathan involved, do you think?’ Toby wondered out loud.

‘I’ve no idea,’ Gideon answered, ‘but it’s crossed Tessa’s mind and Linnet’s, not to mention Jack’s as well, so Evan told me.’

‘I see. Paula will have to be told eventually, you know, something like this can’t be shoved under the rug.’

‘It couldn’t be anyway, because Tessa’s promised Mark Longden the earth to bring Adele back to her, and she’s going to have to discuss all that with her mother and Shane. It could involve millions, according to Linnet. I guess right now Longden is harping on about joint custody, so Tessa is trying to buy him off. Everybody has a price, according to our great-grandmother. Emma’s rule.’

‘Emma was right. And that joint custody bit won’t sit well with Tessa. Thank God Adrianna and I don’t have any kids, it certainly makes things easier.’

‘Are you and Adrianna definitely getting the divorce, then, Toby?’ Gideon asked.

‘We are, but at least it’s amicable. We both want it, Gid. She’s decided she prefers to live and work in Hollywood, and I want to be in London. Have to be, as a matter of fact, when you consider my responsibilities. The marriage was a big mistake, in all truthfulness. But she’s being decent, believe it or not … she’s not a gold-digger, far from it. Adrianna doesn’t want alimony. She’d like me to buy her a small flat in London, so she can have a base: you know, one foot each side of the Atlantic, and I agreed. Actually, though, I’m thinking of letting her have our flat. I’ve never really liked it, and she has always loved it.’

‘I felt you wanted a divorce, so am glad for you, Toby. And Dad will be, too. He’s looking for grandchildren from you, Toby, and he never thought Adrianna was the motherly type.’

Toby began to chuckle. ‘Never a truer word spoken by our dear dad. The old man’s right on the ball.’ There was a moment’s hesitation before Toby went on. ‘Do you think I can call Tessa? I’ve been so terribly worried about her, and I do want her to know I’m here for her, whatever she needs.’

‘Why shouldn’t you phone her, Toby? You and she have been joined at the hip all of your lives. And she knows you’re there for her. Of course, give her a ring, for God’s sake.’

‘I wouldn’t want to call her just when she was getting Adele back, I wouldn’t want to interrupt that. Knowing Tessa the way I do, she’s suffered horribly today, not knowing where Adele was.’

‘You’ve got a few minutes before Mark arrives at the house. So call her now and give her my love.’

‘I will. Everything’s all right between you and Evan, isn’t it, Gid?’

‘Absolutely. Never been better. Talk to you later.’

‘Sure thing, Gideon.’

Gideon leaned back in his chair, after hanging up on his brother, propped his feet on the desk again and closed his eyes. He began to think about Evan Hughes.

Things were better between them, even though she was constantly worrying about her father and his impending trip to England. But she’s really worrying about what he’ll think of me, and of Robin Ainsley, Gideon suddenly decided, and wished then that she wouldn’t wrestle with those sort of things, inventing problems when they didn’t exist. The problem was Evan herself, Gideon decided. She needed everybody to like the people she liked, and that wasn’t the way the world was.

He knew he wanted to make a life with Evan, wanted her on a permanent basis. And ever since the beginning of their relationship he had felt she wanted to make a life with him. But he had come to the conclusion she couldn’t make that commitment to him because of her father and his peculiar attitude towards the Hartes.

Gideon sighed. He would be delighted when her father finally did arrive from New York. Then everything would be out in the open.

In the meantime, he had a national daily to get out. With his father away, The Daily Gazette was under his aegis. Opening his eyes and swinging his feet to the carpet, he stood up, retrieved his mobile from the desk and left his office, heading for the newsroom, one of the places he always loved to be.

Tessa could hardly sit still and finally, in her agitation, she stood up and exclaimed to Jack, ‘I just can’t stand it! I’ve got to go to the front door, wait for Adele there.’

‘I know, I know. Go ahead, Tessa. Mark should be arriving at any moment now. Come to think of it, I’d better accompany you.’ Jack joined her, took hold of her arm and led her to the Stone Hall.

After taking only one step into the Stone Hall, Tessa stopped dead in her tracks and stared at Jack. ‘The rag doll! The first thing she’ll ask for is her Reggi. Hang on a minute, Jack, whilst I go and get it. I left it in the library.’

He nodded, his eyes following her as she retraced their steps. She had hugged that doll to her for half the day, saying time and again to them all that Adele was undoubtedly heartbroken because she’d lost it. He sighed to himself. This was one hell of a mess, a bitter separation that would only become more and more acrimonious as time passed.

When Paula had brought him in a few weeks ago to investigate Mark Longden, he had realized at once how troubled she was about her daughter’s husband. Paula was not the type of person to pry into people’s lives, have them checked out, rather she had great respect for everyone’s privacy. Once he had begun to dig, Jack was glad she had taken the steps she had; he hadn’t liked what he had discovered about Mark Longden and he had lost no time in bringing the information to Paula.

Longden was very entangled with Paula’s cousin, Jonathan Ainsley, her great enemy and the enemy of the entire Harte family. Ainsley had hired Longden as the architect of his new mansion in Thirsk, and Longden had soon fallen under Jonathan’s bad influence. Booze and drugs and other women were the perks Mark was being offered. He had indulged and become addicted. Paula had been as appalled as he was, and worried for Tessa because of Mark’s violence towards her in the past. Even though they had already separated there was no telling what Mark Longden might do to her. Witness today. Snatching Adele was both cruel and dangerous, and yet Mark hadn’t hesitated. It’s blackmail, Jack thought, he set out to blackmail her and he succeeded. He’s after money, big money, as well as joint custody. He won’t get that, not with the evidence I have about his private life. But Paula will give him the money just to get rid of him. And good riddance to bad rubbish.

‘Here I am!’ Tessa exclaimed, hurrying into the Stone Hall, the rag doll in her hand. ‘You don’t know how she loves this bit of nothing. To her it’s the most precious thing in the world …’ Tessa paused, looked at Jack and said softly, ‘As she is the most precious thing to me. Thank you again, Jack, for getting her back. She’s the most important part of my life.’

‘I know that, Tess. And you ought to know by now that I’ll always help you any way I can. Why, I’ve known you since you were Adele’s age, and you looked just like she looks now.’

‘Mummy always says she’s the spitting image of me.’

They crossed the small entrance hall and Jack unlocked the front door and opened it; they both stepped out onto the top step. The sky was pale blue and bright, the light crystalline on this August evening, and it was warm. Yet despite the mugginess he noticed that Tessa shivered slightly as she stared towards the drive, and he saw the strain settling on her face once more, picked up on her sudden tension. She had relaxed for only a brief moment and he knew she could barely contain herself as she waited for Adele.

They glanced at each other as they suddenly heard wheels on the gravel drive, and within seconds a black Mercedes was turning the bend. Tessa started to move but Jack restrained her.

‘I know you long to hold her in your arms, but let us wait for a moment, Tessa. I need to see how Adele behaves when he takes her out of the car. I need to know if she’s frightened or upset, and, most importantly, if she’s afraid of her father. Those things are important for the divorce, you see.’

‘I understand,’ Tessa mumbled, but her agitation was growing and she was trembling excessively, could not keep a limb still.

The car finally came to a standstill in the area near the privet hedge which was always used for parking. She wished he’d driven up to the front door, so anxious was she for her daughter’s return.

Mark alighted, glanced across at Tessa and Jack in the doorway, then went around and lifted Adele out of the car.

For a moment it seemed as though he was going to carry her over, but Adele began to struggle in his arms, and he had no option but to put her down on the ground.

The child shot away from him, running to her mother, shouting, ‘Mumma! Mumma!’, moving as fast as her little legs would carry her. ‘I lost Reggi,’ she shouted and began to sob loudly.

Tessa ran to meet her, afraid that the three-year-old was going to stumble and hurt herself, and as she drew close Tessa noticed how dishevelled Adele looked; her silver-gilt hair was a tangled mess, her face had black smudges on it and what looked like raspberry jam around her mouth, and her pale blue shirt and shorts were grubby.

A split-second later Tessa was showing Adele the rag doll, exclaiming, ‘Look, here’s Reggi, I found her for you, darling.’

‘Oh Mumma. It’s my Reggi!’ Adele’s sobbing instantly stopped, and she lifted her tear-stained face to her mother, gave her a huge smile as she clutched the rag doll to her.

Tessa, who was kneeling, pushed away her tears, smiled back and took Adele in her arms, hugged her close, filled with love for her small, defenceless little girl. And mingling with that love was enormous relief that she was now safely home. Out of the corner of her eye Tessa saw Mark approaching, coming to join them. Instantly, she let go of Adele and stood up. Then she scooped the child into her arms and took a step backwards, wanting to put distance between herself and Mark.

When he drew to a standstill he glanced at Jack, and then addressed Tessa. ‘Shall we have our little talk?’

‘Let’s do it later. Please. Adele must be awfully tired, and perhaps even hungry. Have you fed her today?’

‘Of course I’ve fed her, you stupid fool! I love my child, why wouldn’t I feed her!’ he cried, glaring at Tessa, his face flushing.