Faith - Lesley Pearse [71]
‘I suppose I have,’ he said, and as she sat down on one chair he took the other. ‘But money’s a funny thing – the more you get, the more you seem to need. I haven’t got enough yet to retire to the Caribbean.’
‘Still as handsome as ever though,’ Lena smiled. ‘Are you married yet?’
Stuart shook his head. ‘Never met the right girl,’ he said. ‘And you were spoken for.’
He talked a little about his work and then went on to say how he’d been to Scotland to see Belle.
‘She didn’t tell me,’ Lena said indignantly. ‘I dare say she’ll insist she did tell me when I reproach her, and that I’d forgotten, but she didn’t. She seems to think I’m senile.’
Stuart thought it odd Belle had implied that to him too. ‘Maybe she had a lot on her mind,’ he said. ‘But tell me why you moved in here. You don’t look like you need to be in a nursing home.’
‘I don’t, not any more, but I was doolally after Frank died. I don’t remember much about it now, but apparently I wasn’t eating, acting strangely and wasn’t looking after myself. My doctor recommended I came here. When I began to recover, we discussed the possibility of sheltered housing because the house in Duke’s Avenue was far too big for me to live in alone. But I’d got to like it here by then, I had the nurses to have a chat and a laugh with, I’ve got lots of friends and old neighbours around here, so it’s easy for them to drop in. They offered me this nice big room – they call it the VIP suite – and said I could bring my own stuff here to make it like my own home. So here I am, bowed but not beaten.’
‘But isn’t it far more expensive than living in your own place?’ Stuart knew she must have got a small fortune from the sale of Duke’s Avenue, but as he understood it, nursing-home fees could quickly eat that up.
‘I made quite a good deal with the owners,’ Lena smirked. ‘You see, I don’t need nursing, and they like having a few able-bodied people around as it’s more cost effective for them. It’s a bit like living in a hotel really, except I know I won’t be kicked out if my health deteriorates.’
‘Does that mean you are allowed out then?’
‘Of course! It isn’t a prison,’ she said indignantly. ‘I go up to the shops, to the library, and sometimes have a night or two away with a friend. I help in the garden, go out to dinner sometimes with friends. It’s a bit depressing going down to the lounge or the dining room, mind you. Most of the other residents are gaga.’
‘Well, I’m very glad you aren’t,’ he said, wondering why on earth Belle had told him that Lena probably wouldn’t know him.
‘How did Belle seem to you?’ she asked, as if she’d picked up on his thoughts.
‘Very bitter and angry about Laura! That’s perfectly understandable, but I hadn’t expected it. You see, when I read up on the trial, it seemed to me that Belle didn’t believe Laura had done it.’
‘And now she’s rabid about her?’ Lena raised one eyebrow quizzically.
‘Well, yes,’ Stuart agreed.
‘I find that odd too,’ Lena said thoughtfully. ‘Frank, Toby and I went up to Scotland immediately we got the terrible news. We were all distraught of course, something like that is beyond anyone’s comprehension, but Belle was hysterical, she kept being sick, and over and over again she insisted that Laura couldn’t have done it.
‘As it turned out, with Frank dying and me being in such a state, there was no question of my going to the trial. But Toby was there, and as I understand it Belle still believed totally in Laura’s innocence and expected her to be acquitted. It was only later, when she came down here to sort me out, that she appeared to have completely changed her mind.’
‘The weight of the evidence, I suppose,’ Stuart said cautiously. ‘What was Toby’s opinion of the verdict?’
Lena frowned. ‘He was very confused. It didn’t help when he discovered that Laura lied to us all about her family. He said that she clearly wasn’t the person he believed her to be. As I expect Belle told you, he went off working abroad soon after – he’s in Australia now.’
‘I’m sorry, you must miss him a great deal,’ Stuart said.