could hear the Davidsons’ old phonograph belting out some Dixieland jazz, and through the window as he drove off, he saw Barney take Vicky into his arms and wing her across the room. He smiled for them, the smile fading as he thought ahead to his meeting with his fiancée. Would it ever be like that with him and Patricia? In subdued mood, he answered his own question: no. He couldn’t see it somehow.
Screeching the car to a halt, he did a three-point turn and took the lane that would lead him home.
When he arrived at The Manse, he was surprised to find Patricia already there, emerging from a taxi. Once inside the house, she turned to him and said, ‘Look here, Lenny. I’ve decided I can’t come with you to America, so if you want me for your wife, you will just have to forget your foolhardy plan.’
‘And is your mind absolutely made up?’ he asked quietly.
‘It is.’
‘Then you don’t give me any choice, Patricia.’
‘What’s that supposed to mean?’
‘It means our engagement is over. I know now that we can never make a future together.’
‘You can’t say that! You’re not thinking straight.’
When he continued to stand his ground, even when she nuzzled him and tried her usual wiles, she took a step back and eyed him with suspicion. ‘There’s another woman, isn’t there?’ Her eyeballs stood out like two glittering marbles. ‘You’ve been cheating on me. American, is she? Met her over there, did you?’ With every accusation her voice rose until now it was at screaming pitch.
‘There is no other woman,’ he answered steadily. ‘Like I said, I can no longer see us in a future together. We want different things, Pat. That’s the truth of it.’
In a swift and spiteful move that caught him unawares, she brought her hand across his face, leaving her fingernail marks down the side of his cheek. ‘YOU BASTARD!’ Still spitting obscenities, she stormed down the steps and marched off at breakneck speed towards the village.
Breathing a deep sigh of relief, Leonard felt as though a great burden was lifted from his shoulders. ‘I’m truly sorry it turned out this way,’ he muttered after her; and he really was.
Softly, he repeated her angry words. ‘There’s another woman, isn’t there?’ He smiled. ‘Yes, Patricia, there is another woman. But she isn’t American. In fact, she’s only an arm’s reach from here.’
He knew now, without any doubt, that he was head over heels in love with Vicky. However, just as the relationship between himself and Patricia could never evolve, nor could the one between himself and Vicky – but for very different reasons.
AFTER THEIR PARENTS’ euphoria, the Davidson children reacted to Leonard’s offer in different ways.
‘I’d rather stay here,’ Susie said, in confrontational mood.
‘Look, love, I’ve already told you. We can’t stay here,’ Barney explained for the third time. ‘Mr Maitland has been forced to sell this farm to help pay off his grandfather’s debts.’
‘Listen to your father, sweetheart.’ Vicky despaired. ‘Whether we like it or not, this farm is being sold. It isn’t Mr Maitland’s fault, and it isn’t our fault. It’s the circumstances we all find ourselves in. We would all love to stay here, but we can’t, and so we have to accept things the way they are.’
Unlike Susie, Thomas was thrilled at the news. ‘You’re being right selfish,’ he told his younger sister now. ‘The fact is, we’re left with three choices. Either we take work in the Liverpool area, or we move away and hope something turns up that will suit everybody. Or we accept Mr Maitland’s generous offer and be thankful. Think about it, Susie! AMERICA! There are many girls your age who would give their right arm for the chance we’ve been offered!’
‘They can have it then!’ Kicking the rug at her feet, Susie folded her arms and slumped into a chair. ‘Because I don’t want to go.’
Gesturing for the others to leave the room, Barney went and sat on the arm of her chair. ‘What is it that worries you?’ he asked gently. ‘Is it because you’ll be leaving your friends behind? If it is, you can always keep in touch. You can write to each other and later, maybe, they can even come and visit.’
‘How can they?’ Now the tears were falling. ‘America is the other side of the world!’
‘Naw … you’ve got that wrong, pet.’ Sliding his arm round her shoulders, he drew her close. ‘I won’t deny it is a long way,’ he coaxed, ‘but it’s not the end of the world. Look at Mr Maitland – he’s gone over and come back twice this year, hasn’t he?’
Susie looked up, her eyes swimming with tears. ‘I’m frightened, Daddy.’
It cut him to the quick to see his daughter upset like this. ‘There’s nothing to be frightened of.’ Barney put his hand under her chin and raised her face to his. ‘Do you think me and your mammy would want to take you, if we thought you’d come to any harm?’ He smiled his reassurance. ‘Trust me, we’ll take good care of you, my darling.’
Kissing the top of her head, he drew her closer. ‘When you’ve seen the ships going away, how many times have you said to me that you’d love to be on one of them? Well, now you can!’
Looking up, she gave a shaky smile. ‘I didn’t think it could ever really happen.’
‘Well, now it has. Look, we can sail off to America and try to make a new life, and if it doesn’t work out, Mr Maitland has promised to pay our fare back. But we have to give it a chance, because everybody is so excited to be going, and like Thomas said, it’s a wonderful, once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. And later, when we’ve saved enough money, we can come back for a visit. Would you like that?’ With the tip of his finger he wiped away the tears that quivered on the end of her lashes.
‘I think so.’ At last a brighter smile. ‘Yes, Daddy, I’d like that.’
Barney nodded. ‘Then that’s what we’ll aim for – saving enough money between us to come back for a visit.’
‘Do you promise?’
He hesitated, that small grain of dark instinct holding him back. ‘I promise I’ll do my very best.’
‘So will I,’ she said eagerly. ‘You said Mr Maitland told you I could get work with one of the hat-shops, and they would teach me the trade?’
‘Yes. That’s what the man said all right.’ Barney was relieved to see a glimmer of enthusiasm. It would break his heart to force her into something that made her desperately unhappy.
‘Maybe one day, I might have my own shop in Boston?’
Barney laughed. ‘You might at that,’ he said. ‘Work hard and save, and who knows what the future holds?’ For all of us, he added silently. He only hoped his health would hold up through the trials and thrills that lay ahead.
Having placed herself where they could not see her, Vicky watched from the doorway. Deeply moved by Barney’s understanding of his daughter’s fears she had wiped away a tear or two, but now that she could see how Barney had somehow managed to dispel Susie’s fears, she crept quietly away.
Once Susie had run off to tell Vicky how she meant to have her own shop in America, Barney let himself slide down into the chair, where for a time he sat, lost in thought and deeply disturbed. Giving a long, shivering sigh, he instinctively placed a hand on his heart. ‘No, Susie lass, none