The Plantation - Di Morrissey [162]
‘You had him to yourself all those years. You put ideas into his head,’ shouted Margaret. ‘It should have been me with him.’
‘If it had been you, how do you know if both of you would have survived?’ asked Bette heatedly.
‘I insist that this argument stops, immediately,’ said Roland. ‘Bette, I must apologise for my wife’s uncalled-for remarks.’
At this Margaret turned on her heel and hurried from the room, slamming the door.
‘There’s no need to apologise, Roland,’ said Bette miserably. ‘I shouldn’t have come. I should have realised that Margaret still has a lot of anger and a lot of guilt about what happened in Singapore. In a way that’s also true for me. I lost the man I thought I would marry and my life was on hold for three and a half years. Every day I prayed we’d survive the POW camp so I could bring Philip home to his parents.’ Tears sprang to Bette’s eyes. ‘I thought Margaret would love me for doing that.’
Roland sighed. ‘Margaret is a very complicated woman.’
‘I’m sorry I’ve caused such … distress. I had no idea how deeply she’s been affected by what happened.’
‘Yes. I knew there was something troubling her, and I hoped your visit would help.’
‘I’m so sorry my being here is making things worse.’
‘Well, it’s certainly brought matters to a head,’ said Roland ruefully. ‘But at least I know now what the cause of her unhappiness is. She feels very guilty for having been separated from Philip. She’s full of remorse, although it obviously wasn’t her fault. Now she doesn’t want him to go away to boarding school either. I don’t believe that her attitude is doing him any favours, but it seems that she’s afraid to let him out of her sight.’
‘That’s not going to bring him closer,’ said Bette sadly. ‘I think the best thing is for me to leave. I just want to make sure Philip understands why I’m going and the reasons I think that it’s best if I don’t make any contact with him again, at least until things improve with Margaret. Maybe if I stay right out of the picture, relations between the two of them might get better.’
‘I’d hate to see you leave, Bette. I know how fond you are of Philip and I’d hoped you’d be able to enjoy staying with us. I’m not sure that your leaving will improve things for Margaret, because I know that the current situation with the communist terrorists, the curfews and the constant violence is not helping matters either, but I can’t take Margaret away from here because this place is our future, and our children’s.’
‘It’s not your fault, Roland. You’ve been wonderful. Perhaps I’ll travel a little, go where it’s safe. I’m not ready to go home just yet.’
‘Then let me help you. Go to KL for awhile, or to Penang. It’s far safer there than in the countryside. We have good friends there. I’m sure you’ll remember some of them and they would enjoy your company. Remember the good times we had there when you first visited? Or you could go to Malacca, it’s such an interesting old place. Use that artist’s eye of yours, see new things. Meet new people.’
‘Yes,’ she said. ‘I think that would be for the best. I hope Philip will understand the situation better and the reasons why I’ve decided to leave when he gets older.’
‘I’m sure that he will,’ said Roland firmly.
‘I’d like to speak to him and explain about this change of plan. I don’t want him to know about the problems between his mother and me.’
‘You’re a very loyal and kind person, Bette. I’ll give you our friends’ addresses in Penang and send them a note asking them to look after you.’
Before she left, Bette took Philip aside and spoke to him quietly.
‘Philip, I’m leaving early in the morning. I’m going to travel a bit and see some of your parents’ friends. Some of them I know from my first visit. I think that my being here has brought back memories of a painful time for your mother.’ Bette looked at Philip and smiled. ‘I know it was tough and horrible and awful at times for us in that POW camp, but I also remember laughter, friends and a lot of love and caring, and