The character of Bill Compton belongs to Charliane Harris and Alan Ball - all other characters originate in my warped imagination.
"TO REMEMBER HER BY"
I was curled up on the sofa in Bill's lounge, in my usual book-reading position just waiting for him to wake at dusk. I had got up an hour or so ago and made myself something to eat. We were going out tonight to a party to celebrate Bill's success on the TV chat show. I had brought everything I thought I would need to Bill's place and we had our own celebration the previous evening. Bill had insisted on giving me more of his blood. He had been made more nervous than ever for my safety by the publicity following the show. It had been a great success so far as we were concerned, although it had certainly stirred up some controversy. People were at least talking about the subject and quite a large majority appeared to have been won over by Bill's charm and evident sincerity.
In general, it appeared that even people who feared vampires disapproved of the hate groups' attitude to humans, and the fact that I had almost been shot simply for being with Bill had aroused universal condemnation. Charles had been delighted with the positive publicity but had been sufficiently wary to increase security for all of his sheriffs.
As I sat reading quietly I suddenly felt a difference in me, a heightened sensitivity and a slight unease. After a moment I realised that Bill had woken and I was feeling his consciousness within me, his unease at the fact that I was no longer there, lying beside him. We had drifted off to sleep with his body wrapped around me like a python, holding me in his arms as if to protect me from any harm during his sleep. I smiled at the thought and was about to get up and go downstairs to reassure him when I realised that if I could feel him, then he could also feel me. Sure enough, after a few seconds the uneasiness faded as he realised that I was safe.
I put down my book and headed downstairs anyway, tapping in the code to open the security door. I could hear running water as I entered the room and realised that Bill was in the shower in the adjoining bathroom. I poked my head around the door and stood for a moment admiring the clean, sculpted lines of his back and thighs. He turned his head and saw me watching him.
"See anything you fancy?" he asked archly.
"Not from this angle" I replied.
He laughed and switched off the shower, getting out and pulling a large fluffy towel off the rail. He stood for a moment dripping on the bathroom floor and narrowed his eyes as he regarded me suspiciously.
"Should I search you for honey before letting you in?" he asked.
I giggled "Oh come on, you enjoyed it!"
"I think I'd better search you anyway, just in case." He dropped the towel and before I had a chance to move he had me pinned down on the bed. "Hmm...nothing in the pockets. How about in here?" He pulled out the neck of my T shirt and peered suspiciously down my cleavage.
"Get out of there!" I laughed, wriggling free.
"What...no honey?" he said in a disappointed tone. "Oh wait...I know where to find some..." He slid his hands under my skirt and up my thighs, pulling me back up the bed into his embrace.
"I thought we were going to a party tonight?" I asked a little breathlessly.
"We have some time. Gerry's coming to pick us up at eight."
I looked at him, kneeling naked on the bed, and leaned towards him for a kiss. In response he picked me up and placed me on his lap, pushing up my skirt and hooking his fingers over the top of my panties. Before I could stop him he gave a jerk of his hand. Damn! That was another pair gone. I should start buying them by the dozen!
I put my hands on his muscular shoulders and held on as he eased himself gently into me and began rocking me on top of him. As usual I could feel his arousal through the bond but this time I also felt a deep, quiet contentment which poured into me as we kissed passionately, our bodies locked together. As different as we were, through the bond we had created we felt like two halves of the same creature, only made whole when we were joined.
An hour or so later we decided we really should be getting ready for the party!
"You decided not to drive tonight?" I asked.
"Gerry offered." said Bill "so he's coming here to give us a lift."
"He's an old friend of yours, is that right?" I asked "How long have you known him?"
Bill's eyes took on a faraway look for a moment. "I met him in London in the nineteen thirties" he said. "Perhaps I'll tell you about it one day. But we don't have time now, you need to go and get ready."
So I headed off upstairs leaving Bill gazing out of the window lost in thought.
London 1935
I opened my eyes to darkness. My body was curled up inside my travelling trunk and all my muscles appeared to have stiffened up. I unfastened the locking mechanism, carefully lifted the lid and looked out. I was in a small hotel room, empty but for my trunk and the rest of my belongings in several more trunks.
I climbed out a little stiffly and stretched my aching muscles. The cramped position in which I was required to travel was awkward but a bigger trunk, in which I could stretch out, would appear too much like a coffin and attract unwanted attention. Fortunately the stiffness vanished almost immediately. Nothing lasted long now, pain, discomfort, pleasure, nothing. Since I had left Lorena in Los Angeles I had simply felt numb. My first instinct had been to get as far away from her as I could and so I had booked a passage to England landing in Southampton a few nights ago. All the arrangements had been made in advance and my luggage had been delivered safely to a small hotel, very much like this one. After slipping out of the window of the room where my trunks had been placed and re-entering the Hotel by the front door to check in, I had walked the dark streets around the docks almost dizzy with hunger since I had not fed since I had left Los Angeles.
It was the first time that I had ever had to hunt alone, Lorena and I had always worked as a team. I walked slowly along the dockside through the groups of stevedores working to unload the ships by the light of the few street lamps and passed a long dark alleyway. I looked around casually but there appeared to be no-one watching me and so I headed down the alley. It seemed the sort of place where I might find what I was looking for. Lorena had not given much thought to who her victims were, only that they were easy to catch and would not be easily missed, but even in my extreme hunger I was reluctant to kill an entirely innocent person. I was halfway along the alley when I sensed someone standing quietly in a dark doorway, waiting. At last!
As I strolled past the doorway an arm slipped around my neck and I felt the tip of a knife begin to slide up between my ribs. Oh yes, this man was an expert! Although I was weakened by hunger, he was no match for me and I slammed him up against the wall of the alley and sank my fangs into his dirty neck. Moments later he slid out of my grasp and fell to the ground. I stood over him, panting and licking my lips. Then I bent down and placed my hand on his chest. He was dead.
His blood had tasted harsh and sour but it would sustain me until I could find something better. I crouched down by his side, took the knife from his hand and cut his throat, carefully obscuring the marks of my fangs. Hopefully the authorities would assume he had been killed elsewhere in an argument with another thief and then dumped in the alley, if they cared at all. He was, after all, one less problem for them. I wiped my mouth on my handkerchief and walked out of the other end of the alleyway.
I had drained the thief, but I realised that my hunger was not yet satisfied and so I carried on walking, heading this time away from the docks and into the town itself. The streets were still quite busy with people either heading home for the evening or out to the bars and theatres and before long I spotted two women standing on a street corner. I watched them for a while and was soon sure what they were as I saw them speak to several passing gentlemen, always men on their own. They were a pair of whores. One of them would do.
I headed down the street, crossed over and casually strolled towards them. Sure enough, the blond one stepped out in front of me and put her hand on my arm.
"Evenin' sir" she said "lookin' for a good time?"
I paused and examined her thoughtfully, as if trying to decide what to do.
"How much?" I asked suspiciously.
She named a sum, which was not too outrageous and I gave her a smile.
"Do you have a room?" I asked.
"Oh no sir!" she laughed. "But there's a doorway down here" she pointed to an alleyway behind her "and Maisie here'll keep a lookout for us!"
That could be awkward, it would mean that the body would be found quickly but I was confident that I could get well away, and I was still very hungry.
I gave her another smile. "Fine." I said "Let's go."
I took her arm and directed her down the alley, careful not to let the other girl, Maisie, get a good look at my face. I pulled the girl into the doorway, clapped a hand over her mouth and bit down into her throat. Her blood was hot and sweet, so much better than that of the thief I had fed on earlier and I pulled back for a moment to savour the taste. The girl was struggling weakly in my arms and I looked down for a moment into her terrified eyes. Lorena had always killed her prey, and she had taught me to do the same, but now I found myself wondering why it was necessary. This poor girl had a hard enough life as it was, she didn't deserve to die just to provide me with a meal and I suddenly realised that she didn't have to.
Lorena had also taught me to glamour humans and we very soon discovered that I was much better at it than she was. I looked down into the girl's eyes and felt that connection...felt myself empty and cold. Her struggles grew weaker as I pulled her mind into mine and began to manipulate it, removing the memory of what I had done to her and replacing it with a false memory of a rather more...traditional... encounter.
I bit my thumb and smeared the blood over the fang marks on her neck, healing them almost instantly, and released her. She slumped against me and gave a little gasp.
"Oh sir, I feel quite faint!" she said.
I reached into my pocket and handed her the sum she had asked for.
"Here," I added a few more coins to the amount "you look quite pale my dear...get yourself something to eat." I gave her a last smile and walked briskly out of the alley, leaving her leaning against the doorway looking after me in amazement.
I thought about this as I sat on the bed in the London Hotel, wondering why I had done it and realised that, for the first time since I had entered that cottage in the woods in the days after the war, I felt that I could live with what I had done, what I had to do to survive. Perhaps, now that I was free of Lorena's influence, I could finally come to terms with my existence after all.
A few nights later I was sitting in the corner of a rather sleazy bar, with a glass of whisky on the bar counter next to me for camouflage, watching the customers with a lazy interest. I was no longer so desperately hungry but, well you never knew. Some humans appeared to be drawn to us, without knowing why exactly, perhaps I would find one. A woman would be nice, one who might satisfy a different hunger. I smiled to myself, thinking of the little blond whore in Southampton. Her life might well be cut short by a customer one day, but for once I would not be to blame. Her death, at least, would not burden my conscience.
A sudden burst of laughter from further along the bar caught my attention and I looked around to see a pair of young women, one a cheerful looking redhead and the other slight and dark, chatting to a man standing at the bar. He had evidently said something outrageous and the redhead gave him a little push, giggling. He laughed along with everyone else but soon left the bar and the two girls were gradually edged along in my direction. Soon the dark girl took a step back and bumped into me.
"Oh! I'm so sorry sir!" she said, backing away.
"That's all right" I said smiling down at her "I quite enjoyed it actually."
Her friend giggled but she looked slightly shocked and lowered her eyes. She was evidently not quite as forward as her friend and I imagined that she had been persuaded to come in here against her better judgement. I was just about to invite them to have a drink with me when the redhead turned towards the door and said "Oh look Edith! It's Gerry!" I turned to see who she was looking at and found myself gazing into a pair of sharp dark eyes which appeared to be trying to bore into my head. I knew immediately that it was another vampire.
He was staring at me with equal surprise. He came over and greeted the two girls with a charming smile. "Well hello ladies!" he said "Off for a night out on the town are we?"
"We're off to the Picture House to see the latest movie" said the redhead "Edith here has a terrible crush on Errol Flynn!"
Edith blushed a charming pink and said "Oh Daisy, that's not true!"
"I hear he's not to be trusted with ladies like yourselves!" I said demurely.
"Oh, and how would you know that?" asked Daisy.
"As a matter of fact I've just arrived from Los Angeles." I said smiling at her.
"Oooo...is that why you have that delicious accent?" she asked.
At this point Gerry broke in and tapped her on the shoulder. "You ladies had better be off if you're to catch "Captain Blood"." he said, shooing the girls towards the door.
They both gave a few little squeals and scurried out, waving to me as they went. Gerry looked me over carefully, "Los Angeles huh?" he said "I thought I hadn't seen you around before. Would you care to take a little walk with me?" He glanced around the crowded bar and then back to me.
"Certainly – if you wish." I said, and we left the bar together and began to stroll down the street outside.
"You have the advantage of me sir" he said. "I heard the ladies call my name, but not yours?"
"My name is Compton, William Compton." I said
"Hopkins, Gerald Hopkins, known to my friends as Gerry." I noticed that he put a particular emphasis on "friends". I smiled at him.
"My friends call me Bill" I said.
He grinned at me. "Well I'll call you Bill and you can call me Gerry. How long have you been in England?"
"Six days." I admitted.
"Well, I imagine that you could probably use a friend then!"
We strolled on talking quietly. He told me that he lived with his maker, an ancient vampire by the name of Lazlo Petrovic but who called himself Laurence Peterson now as it fitted better with his current position. He had accumulated considerable wealth over the years and lived in a sizeable house in Belgravia. He used the house almost like a Gentleman's Club for a specific type of "Gentleman". Edith and Daisy were, it appeared, housemaids but, although they all considered him somewhat eccentric, none of the staff had any idea of the true nature of their employer.
He asked me where I was staying and assured me that Lazlo would be very pleased to have me come and visit, even stay for a while. This seemed to me to be a good idea, better and safer than the Hotel, certainly and so I agreed to meet him at his maker's house the next night.
The following night I approached the house with some care, not sure that I had found the correct address. It was a substantial property on the end of a Georgian Terrace on Cliveden Place and must have been worth a small fortune. I had acquired a fair amount of money of my own through judicious investment of my share of Lorena's "ill-gotten gains". Much as I may have disapproved of her methods, she was certainly successful, but nothing like this!
I walked up the three steps to the front door and knocked a little tentatively. To my surprise the door was opened by a uniformed butler.
"Mr Compton?" he asked politely.
"Yes." I replied, somewhat surprised.
"Please come this way sir." he said "Mr Peterson is expecting you."
He showed me into a large reception room and went out. In a few moments the door burst open and Gerry came in.
"Bill!" he exclaimed ."You've arrived, good. Lazlo's on his way down now. Just remember to show him the respect due to his age and you'll be fine."
There was a slight noise and I turned to the door. After Gerry's reference to his age I was expecting someone who appeared older than me, but the man who entered could not have been more than twenty years old when he was turned. He was slightly built with short blond hair and startling grey eyes. He gave me a brilliant smile and held out his hands.
"You must be Bill!" he said "welcome to London!"
I soon discovered that Lazlo, or Laurence as I learned to call him in company, was an extraordinarily generous host. He provided me with a light tight room and a key, although this was never necessary since the staff appeared to work around the clock. The two housemaids Edith and Daisy appeared delighted to see me although they did not often get the opportunity as the housekeeper kept them hard at work.
I was just beginning to think that my life was getting quite comfortable when Gerry asked me if I would care to join Lazlo and a few friends in his rooms one night.
What for, exactly?" I asked rather suspiciously.
"Oh just a relaxing evening among friends." Gerry replied evasively. "There will be a few ladies there..."
I was distinctly uncomfortable with this but really didn't think I could turn down my host and still remain as a guest in his house, so I reluctantly agreed. When I arrived in Lazlo's rooms I found that the party had already begun. Lazlo and Gerry were there with two other male vampires who were introduced as Elliott and Samir. Also present were three young women including, to my surprise, Daisy, the red headed housemaid who was lying on a sofa with her lace blouse half unfastened, and who waved lazily at me as I entered. She patted the sofa invitingly and took a swig from what appeared to be a large glass of brandy.
"Come and sit with me Bill!" she called.
Well, I might as well enjoy myself, I thought as I went over to the sofa and sat down next to her. She immediately relaxed against me and put her head on my shoulder. Her eyes appeared slightly glazed, which I assumed was the effect of the brandy. Before I could say anything she put her head back across my shoulder, baring her throat and asked, "Hungry sweetie?"
I stiffened in shock and glanced over at Gerry and Lazlo, each of whom by now, I noticed, had a half naked girl on their laps. Gerry grinned at me and said "Go ahead, she's right, you do look hungry!"
I looked down at Daisy who put down her brandy and slipped her hand behind my head, pulling my face towards her. I kissed her throat gently and, as I did so, I noticed that she was wearing an unusual necklace. A thin gold chain on which was hung a round opal. A further thin chain hung from the round stone and on the end of this was a larger opal in the shape of a teardrop. It was a beautiful piece and, I thought vaguely, somewhat out of place. It seemed too expensive for a housemaid, but then she began to press her body against me and I dismissed it from my mind as I sank my fangs into her pale throat.
Gerry had been right, I was hungry and I took a deep draught of her sweet blood. For a moment everything seemed normal and then I began to feel a slight dizziness. At first I put it down to the brandy, I had fed on humans who were drunk before and knew that it would pass in a moment. But it didn't. Instead the feeling intensified and as I looked back into her glazed eyes I realised with horror that she had been drugged, obviously to make her more compliant. I looked up at Lazlo who was watching me with a smile.
"Just a drop or two of laudanum in the brandy," he explained with that same lazy smile. "It helps to lower the inhibitions. Who knows, it may even help you to loosen up a little William!" He turned away with a laugh and I sat back against the cushioned sofa and gazed up at the crystal chandelier overhead. It looked like a shower of stars spinning into a vortex of light, dragging me in. I felt Daisy's hot hands running over my chest and down my stomach and suddenly a harsh lust flared up in me like a savage fire burning up from my loins.
I picked her up and turned her to face the back of the sofa, burying my face in the soft red curls at the back of her neck. My hands reached under her skirts and slid up her naked thighs ripping away the lace from beneath the skirts and kneeling on the edge of the sofa behind her. She laid her head back over my shoulder and gave a soft moan, pushing her buttocks back towards me, inviting me to take her.
Part of me knew that her wanton behaviour was caused at least partly by the drug she had been given but the part of me that didn't care was in control now. The part of me that only wanted to feel her soft warmth enveloping me as I thrust myself into her.
I plunged my fingers inside her, feeling the slick wetness I craved and with my other hand began to tear at the buttons on my trousers, struggling to free my rock hard, aching member. I felt a button break off and then I was free. I pulled up her skirts and dragged her back onto me jerking my hips as I drove myself into her with a sigh of relief. I held her to me with one arm around her waist and used the other hand to support myself on the back of the sofa. Daisy's cries began to penetrate my awareness, but whether they were cries of pleasure or pain I neither knew nor cared.
I was vaguely aware of eyes on me and I looked around to see Lazlo watching me with a curiously intent expression. Gerry was lying on the other sofa with one of the other girls on top of him and the vampire who had been introduced to me as Samir was lying flat on his back on he rug before the fire, his eyes closed, a thin trickle of blood running from his lips. I dragged my concentration back to Daisy with an effort, pulled her hips back towards my stomach and with a few more thrusts, drove myself to a shattering climax. As I pulled myself from her warm, wet flesh and sank down on the sofa I saw the other vampire, Elliott, approaching. He put a hand on Daisy's shoulder and tried to pull her away from me but I had an arm firmly around her waist. I hissed at him angrily and he backed off. She turned to me with what I thought, in my dazed state, might just have been relief and laid her head on my shoulder with a sigh. At this point I think I must have passed out.
I woke the next evening in my room with no idea of how I had got there. I sat up realising that I felt perfectly normal. The effect of the drug and the brandy was gone, as if it had never happened. This should not have surprised me, but somehow, it did. I remembered the time when I was sixteen years old and a group of us had found some of Jonas Stackhouse's moonshine in the back of the barn. A few hours later I was as sick as a dog and felt that my head was about to explode. I had staggered home, convinced that I was dying and my father had generously allowed me time to sober up before giving me a good thrashing.
I suddenly felt the need for some fresh air and got up from the bed and headed downstairs towards for the back door. As I made my way down the corridor a door opened and Daisy came out, half hidden by the pile of laundry in her arms. I stopped dead in my tracks and she turned and saw me, dropping a few pieces of laundry in the process.
"Evening Mr William." she said quietly, crouching to pick them up again.
"Good evening Daisy" I replied "are you well? You look a little pale."
"I'm sorry sir" she said looking down at her feet, "I was out late last night. It won't happen again!" She glanced up at me and I realised with a shock that she had absolutely no memory of what had happened the previous evening.
I forced myself to smile at her. "That's all right Daisy, take care now won't you."
The door opened again and Edith joined us in the narrow corridor with another armful of laundry.
"C'mon Daisy! Move!" she said. "Sorry sir, we'll just be going."
She moved across the corridor and tried to open another door but she had too much in her arms to reach the handle. I reached over and opened the door for her.
"Thank you sir." she said breathlessly "please don't tell Mr Laurence sir, she's just a little shaky this morning, that's all, she'll be fine" and hustled Daisy through the door, following her a moment later.
I stood in the corridor for a moment stunned by the realisation that not only had Lazlo drugged his housemaid and given her to his guests as a plaything, but he also expected her to do a full day's work afterwards! As if it was not enough to glamour away the memory of what had happened to her, he had even given her a memory which made her believe that what she felt afterwards was her fault! The fact that she had felt the need to apologise, to me, who had bitten and brutalised her made me feel physically sick.
I staggered to the back door and went out into the cool air heading across the road into a small park and sitting down on a bench. I put my head in my hands feeling thoroughly ashamed of myself. I had thought I was better than this! Was my veneer of civilization really so thin that it could be torn away so easily? What had happened to the conscience I had been so proud of?
I decided that I would have to leave, but where could I go? A copy of the London Times lay on the bench beside me and I glanced down at it. I was folded open to a story from the US. A report of the trial of Bruno Hauptmann for the Lindberg kidnapping. But no, bad as my situation was, crawling back to Lorena would be worse.
Suddenly I sensed someone coming up behind me and I turned my head. Gerry put his hand on my shoulder and asked "Are you all right?"
"No!" I said "I am very far from being all right!"
Gerry sat down next to me on the copy of the Times and asked "What's wrong?"
"You don't know?" I said amazed "last night's party, that's what was wrong!"
He chuckled "You and Daisy seemed to be having a good time!"
I glared at him angrily "She was drugged Gerry!" I hissed "and so was I! How dare he do that to me!"
Gerry heaved a sigh and leaned back on the bench. "Lazlo is very old and very powerful" he said "he is used to using humans for his own purposes, he thinks nothing of it. Believe me, he isn't going to change."
I stood up. "I'm going to pack. I'll leave tonight."
"You're leaving" Gerry seemed surprised "Why? More to the point, where will you go?"
"I have no idea, but I can't stay here. I could never attend another of Lazlo's soirées."
"Then don't, he won't mind really. He was just being hospitable." Gerry got up and put a hand on my arm to restrain me. "Please, stay." He looked down for a moment "I have to admit, I don't like it any more than you do, but he is my maker, I have no choice."
Well, that I could understand. I began to realise why Gerry wanted me to stay so badly. He needed someone who understood how he felt. Someone he could talk to.
"You're sure he won't mind?" I asked.
"I'll talk to him" said Gerry.
"Make sure that he understands that I will never again attend one of his parties, or feed from anyone he offers to me!"
"It'll be fine, don't worry. He has said that he is happy for me to have some company." He smiled at me hopefully.
So, somewhat against my better judgement, I carried on living at Lazlo's house in Belgravia. I had as little to do with him as I could, although I was polite and respectful when we met, I tried to avoid him if possible. He didn't seem to mind this and it looked as if Gerry was right. Lazlo was happy for him to have some company. Gerry and I became good friends, attending Theatres and Picture Houses together, going out to bars and arguing about the relative merits of Stanley Baldwin and Clement Atlee and their respective chances in the coming General Election. Then came the night a few months later when Gerry burst into my room one evening looking horribly shocked and sat down on my bed.
"Bill" he said. "I need you to help me and not ask too many questions. You're not going to like this."
"What's happened?" I asked.
"Just come with me please." He led me through the house and up to Lazlo's rooms and ushered me into the chamber which I remembered from the party. There had evidently been some celebrating going on that evening for some reason as the chamber was a mess. One of the curtains was hanging off the rail and several burst cushions lay on the floor with feathers trailing out of them, but my eyes were unable to leave the sofa in the corner of the room.
Daisy lay sprawled across the sofa, her head over the edge and her red curls trailing on the floor. Her thin dress had been half torn off her body and blood was dripping slowly from a vicious bite wound in her neck. Her trailing arm also had several bites visible on it. Her eyes were open and glazed and it was obvious that she was dead.
I stood silently, staring at her for a moment and turned to Gerry who was standing against the wall holding his head in his hands.
"What happened?" I whispered.
"I don't know" he said "I wasn't here. Lazlo just called me and told me to clear up!"
"Clear up!" I was horrified and it showed in my voice.
"Bill, Bill, listen..." he said "There's nothing we can do for her, we have to get rid of the body."
I stared at him in silence. "Listen Bill, if the body is found it will lead the Police straight here. We can't have that...you know this." He took my arm. "Please...help me Bill, I can't do this alone."
I took a deep breath. I knew he was right, there was nothing I could do for poor Daisy now. I could only help Gerry from suffering the consequences of his maker's actions. I helped him remove the remains of her clothes and place her naked body on the rug. As we began to roll it up I noticed the opal necklace was still around her neck.
"Better take that" said Gerry, "if she's found someone might recognise it."
I gently removed it and put it in my pocket. "Where did she get that anyway?" I asked as we rolled her up in the rug.
"Some guest of Lazlo's gave it to her." said Gerry. He thought for a moment. "I can't recall his name but I think he came from the US too. Tall, blond, arrogant, told her he was going to come back for her and take her to America with him."
We loaded the rug containing Daisy's body into Lazlo's car and drove out of London to his house in the countryside, fortunately it was not far out and it had the advantage of a lake in the grounds. We tied up the rug, weighted it with stones and rowed out to the centre of the lake. I watched sadly as poor Daisy sank through the dark water and vowed that I would not stay another night under Lazlo's roof.
The next evening I had loaded my bags into the car as Gerry had agreed to take me to a hotel. As I walked towards the front door for the last time Edith came out of the parlour and saw me.
"Oh, Mr William sir," she said "may I ask if you've seen Daisy?"
"Why would you think that Edith" I asked, surprised.
"She didn't come back last night sir and..." she paused, embarrassed. "I know she was very fond of you sir." I noticed a tear starting in her eye and I reached into my pocket for a handkerchief. As I pulled it out I felt something else tangled with it. It was Daisy's opal necklace. Edith's eyes widened as she spotted it. I don't think I'd ever had to think so fast before.
"Yes Edith," I said "I saw her last night. "You remember her friend from America, the one who gave her the necklace?"
"Oh yes sir, she always said he was going to come back for her." She put her hands up to her mouth "Ooh, did he sir? Did he come back?"
"Yes, that's right. She had to leave with him in a hurry, she was sorry not to be able to say goodbye to you Edith but she asked me to give you this," I handed her the necklace "to remember her by."
Edith, looked down at the necklace in her hands. "Why thank you sir. That's very kind of you."
She looked a little concerned and I asked "What's wrong?"
"Well sir, I hope Thomas doesn't think I did anything...I hope he understands, that's all"
"Who's Thomas?" I asked curiously.
She blushed furiously. "Why, he's my young man sir. He works as a chauffeur for the Andersons, just up the road. But they're leaving soon to move to the country. I was hoping he would ask me to marry him, but then I'd have to leave my position here..." she looked uncertain. I reached over and placed my hand on her cheek, looking directly into her eyes.
"If he should ask you Edith, I think you should accept him and leave with him. Get away from this place."
I took my hand away and she blinked "Very good sir." she said and turned away.
I walked out of the front door and got into the car with Gerry. I didn't look back.
I got out of the shower and dressed quickly. Gerry was coming to pick us up in half an hour. I had a new dress for the party, a pale moss green which looked good with my black hair. I opened my small jewellery case, wondering what would go best with it. I had nearly decided on a plain gold chain when I noticed the small velvet box in the corner. How could I have forgotten that! I opened the case and took out my grandmother's necklace.
I always referred to it as grandmother's but actually it had belonged to her mother. It was a delicate gold chain on which was suspended a round opal, with another opal, shaped like a teardrop hanging from it. Gran had told me the story when I was a child, of how it had been given to her mother as a gift by a friend when she worked as a housemaid in Belgravia in the thirties. The friend had gone to America to be married and had left the necklace as a parting gift "to remember her by."
The friend's name had been Daisy. Gran was insistent that I should always remember this. "That was the point" she always used to say "the whole purpose of the necklace was to remember her by."
As I fastened it around my neck and headed downstairs I wondered what Bill would think of it...