The Plantation - Di Morrissey [152]
‘At the beginning of 1946 Margaret and Philip sailed for Malaya to join him and to pick up the pieces of their life on the plantation. It was difficult for Margaret as the house had been occupied by the Japanese. Eugene was tragically gone and life was not the long party that it’d been before the war. But Roland refused to leave the plantation that his father had worked so hard to establish and a lot of the loyal staff had remained and so they battled on to rebuild it.
‘And then you came along, Caroline, and then, when you were about three, Margaret wrote and asked me to come up and visit again. I was in two minds. I was enjoying my life and had an interesting job and a nice circle of friends, but Roland wrote to me privately to say it would be helpful if I could come and he offered to pay my fare. He said that Margaret was lonely and, reading between the lines, I suspected that she was unhappy. So I agreed and I returned to Malaya.’
As she said this, Suzie appeared. ‘Suzie, could you clear away the tea things, please? I think we’re done.’ Stiffly Bette stood up. ‘If you both don’t mind I have to go out for a while. Cyndi wants to talk to me about the sales of my paintings.’
‘I hope we haven’t been pests,’ said Caroline quickly.
‘Not at all. You’ve opened a floodgate of memories I haven’t thought about for a long time.’
‘You mentioned the good times after the war. It sounds like you had a wonderful life. We’d love to hear about those, as well,’ said Julie, taking Bette’s thin but strong hand in hers.
‘Jules, please, I don’t think that we should ask Bette too many questions about her personal life.’
Bette smiled at Julie. ‘Nonsense, Caroline, I’d be delighted to tell you both, if you’re interested. Perhaps tomorrow. You’ve been to Rose Mansion, Julie, and you’ve met one of my granddaughters and you’ve visited the Iban, so we seem to have a lot in common. I think I’d enjoy telling you more about my life.’
‘I’d love that. From the little I know about you, it sounds really interesting,’ said Julie smiling.
‘Tomorrow then.’ Bette lifted her cheek for Julie to kiss and they embraced warmly as Caroline did the same.
Back at their hotel Caroline and Julie recounted Bette’s story to Paul who shook his head and stood up. ‘What a remarkable person. I need a stiff drink after what you’ve told me. Anyone else like one? What’s on the agenda for tomorrow?’
‘We thought we’d ask Bette if she’d like to go somewhere nice, just a social thing, no draining conversations,’ said Caroline.
‘You might find that once you open a door to old memories she might want to keep talking,’ said Paul. ‘It’s probably quite cathartic. And I’ve heard that old people like to pass on their story, so that it’s known, and their life with all its triumphs and tragedies doesn’t disappear when they do.’
‘That could be true,’ agreed Caroline. ‘It’s also important for me. Look how little I know about my parents.’
‘Margaret always seemed to be holding something inside her,’ said Paul. ‘When I first met her I thought she was a very straight-laced lady. I thought she disapproved of me.’
‘Never! She loved you,’ exclaimed Caroline. ‘Especially after we moved in with her and she could boss you around.’ Caroline smiled and gave her husband an affectionate kiss. ‘You were so patient, so kind and easygoing all those years.’
‘Shame you’ve turned into a grumpy old man, Dad,’ joked Julie affectionately.
That night after Caroline and Paul had gone to sleep Julie sent an email to Chris, telling him that they’d met Bette and how amazing she was, not just because she was nearly ninety, but because she was an artist and a warm and vibrant woman.
She told us how she and Margaret became separated and how she ended up in a POW camp with Philip. She also told us that the man she loved and was probably