Chapter Two
Isobel led the way into the house, and right on cue Mr Stokes appeared.
"Here's everything I thought we might need. If anything is missing, can you start a list? I need to fill his lordship in on what has happened this morning." Isobel motioned to the box Dickie was carrying.
Mr Stokes stepped forward to take the box "Of course m'lady. Welcome home m'lord. I trust you had a good trip? Can I send anything in?"
"No thanks, Stokes. I must admit I'm intrigued as to what you've all been up to in my absence!" Dickie said with a chuckle.
"Oh, nothing scandalous m'lord." Mr Stokes shot a glance at Isobel "Luncheon will be served in half an hour." And with that he hurried back to the kitchen.
Dickie followed Isobel into the Drawing Room, growing concerned. He noticed a letter on the occasional table next to Isobel's favourite seat, and could feel the anxiety radiating off her like the sun.
"What is it? Has someone died? Has something happened to George?" He reached to take her into his arms, concerned he hadn't been there when the bad news arrived. But no, she'd been bringing supplies back from the hospital….
Before his mind could start running away with all the things that could possibly have gone wrong, Isobel spoke.
"I think we'd better sit down" She led him to the sofa and sat beside him, holding his hands in hers. "As I said, a nursemaid called Emma arrived with an infant as I was arriving home from Cousin Violet's. She seemed to think we were expecting her, at least that's what she'd been told. Dickie, there's no easy way to tell you this, so I'm just going to come out with it. You're a Grandfather. Larry and Amelia have a son named John, and Emma brought him to us today as they have gone abroad. Amelia wrote me a note." At this Isobel let go of one of his hands so she could turn around to collect the note and gave it to him.
Dickie was shell shocked. A Grandfather! He was a Grandfather! How wonderful! But what was a newborn doing in Yorkshire when his parents had travelled overseas? Confused, Dickie read Amelia's short note.
Isobel watched his face light up briefly, before it was replaced with a look of confusion and concern.
"She expects us to raise their child while they go gallivanting off around the world? Am I reading this right?!" By the time he finished the sentence he was angry. Were there no depths too low for Larry to sink to. How dare he! How dare they! He knew Isobel would take in the child and protect him as if her life depended on it. Hell, he would too! But to impose on them so, after the way they had treated them both in the last few years. It was just beyond decency!
He stood up and took a few paces away from Isobel, facing the wall. He ran his hand over his face. "My family, once again, has proved itself despicable."
Isobel sighed. "The adults possibly, yes. But John is beautiful. He has your eyes" Dickie turned around to look at her, unsure if he wanted to know. "That same clear blue that I see every morning when I wake. If they've managed to feed him and change him, would you like to meet him? Your own grandson?" Isobel watched the emotion flitter across Dickie's face, and smiled. "I won't be a moment"
The kitchen looked like a bomb had hit it. Not the usual neat and tidy order that Mrs Field required to work her daily magic. The 4 members of staff were all gathered around John in various guises. He had them eating out of his chubby little fist, and looked delighted. Isobel chuckled, and Mr Stokes turned around, morphing into the professional butler he was as he did so. "Can I help m'lady?"
"I was hoping to steal the young master away in order to introduce him to his Grandfather, if none of you mind?" Isobel replied with a grin. Everyone looked a little flustered, but Emma rose to hand John to her. "If you could come and fetch him as Luncheon is served, please Emma? Thank you." Emma gave a quick bob as Isobel left.
Back in the Drawing Room, Dickie waited nervously. He didn't consider himself particularly good with children. What if the child cried immediately upon seeing him? Before he had too long to worry, Isobel was back carrying a child much older than he had expected. His heart swelled as he saw her carrying a child. If only briefly passed through his head as he smiled as the sight.
"Lord Merton, may I present Master John Grey. Master John, your Grandfather, the dashingly handsome Lord Merton" Isobel gave Dickie one of her most heart-stopping smiles, and he couldn't help but grin in response. Before he realised what was happening, she was handing the child over. He held him and looked into those clear blue eyes that where so like his dear Mother's… and fell in love again.
"Hello young man." He whispered. John's little mouth made a little O shape, then he yawned the biggest yawn, and settled down to sleep. Gingerly, Dickie sat on the sofa behind him, scared to wake the sleeping babe. "He's older than I imagined when you first told me. I imagined him to be a newborn, but he must be a few months old. Do you think they would ever have told us, if they hadn't needed us?" He tore his eyes away from John to look at Isobel, pain in his eyes.
"I don't know. Maybe." Isobel reached over to squeeze his hand reassuringly. "He's here now though, and we should cherish every moment."
Before too long, Stokes arrived to announce Luncheon. Dickie reluctantly passed John to Emma and followed Isobel into the Dining Room.
"We need to discuss where John is going to sleep. We don't have a nursery here or any of the usual items a household would have. I haven't looked through the luggage yet, but I doubt there is enough there to furnish a nursery. Any ideas?" Isobel asked as they began to eat.
"It's all such a shock. I wouldn't even know where to begin. At Cavenham it all just.. happened. Maybe we could borrow some things from the Abbey? Now some of the younger children are growing, would they have the necessary items to lend us?" Dickie wondered.
"That is an excellent thought! I will ring Cora after lunch. I was hoping to go up at tea time to see George anyway, so we could arrange to bring some things back then. You're not just a pretty face, are you?" Isobel teased. Dickie blushed.
"John aside, I'm not impressed with Larry and Amelia. What on earth can have been so urgent that they sent John to us? I would think Larry would rather have resigned than request our assistance" Dickie mused.
"To be fair, they didn't request our assistance. They demanded it by presenting us with a fait accompli. And I know he's your son, but both of them are exceedingly selfish. In some ways, maybe John is better off with us" Isobel took a deep breath. "And I know you'll probably say we're too old to raise him, or some other such nonsense, but I don't believe that. If he stays with us for a long time, maybe we should look at guardianship of him, so that he can't be used as a pawn in whatever games they may choose to play!"
"Now hang on, he's only just arrived and doesn't even have a bed to sleep in yet! Don't go getting yourself in a twist about things that may never happen. Let's deal with the immediate, and once we can get ourselves settled we can see what happens next." Dickie looked at Isobel with a mixture of amusement and concern. He hoped she wasn't getting too attached so soon. "I know Amelia implied their departure was imminent, but I will try and get hold of them in London and find out what on earth is going on. Tim is still overseas himself I think, but he may have some idea too."
"I suppose we should make the attempt, but I don't hold out much hope. From what Amelia wrote I got the impression they were almost stepping out the door." Isobel rose. "I'll telephone Cora now and see what she says."
-TW- -TW- -TW-
"I don't believe Crawley House has ever had a nursery. I'm sure Robert said it has only ever been used for extended family. It would be quite a feat to get a nursery set up in such a short time" Cora mused.
"I know, but I just don't know what else we can do. We don't even have a Moses basket for him here. If you could just lend us the bare minimum for the next few days, I'm sure we can sort something out" Isobel played with the telephone wire absent-mindedly while she chatted to Cora.
" I have a better idea. Why don't you bring John and - Emma was it? - why don't you bring them up here at tea time. They can stay in the nursery here while we come up with a plan. Emma will be another pair of hands and there will be other children around. I'm sure Nanny wouldn't mind and we have everything you might need." Cora suggested.
"I'm not sure. I'll see what Dickie thinks. It feels a little like we'd be abandoning him all over again, and he's already been abandoned once today." Isobel bit her bottom lip in thought "although it does sound sensible. I'll talk to Dickie and call you back."
"Great. And if it would make you feel better, you could always stay tonight? You're coming for dinner anyway…"
-TW- -TW- -TW-
While Dickie used the telephone, Isobel pondered. It would make sense for John to stay in the Nursery at the Abbey, and would be less disruptive for the staff at Crawley House. She remembered the days when she would get up early and walk up to see George as a baby…
Before she could get too morose, Dickie entered the Drawing Room with a heavy frown.
"Well, that was a waste of time. The butler at Merton House won't answer any of my questions, nor the butler at Cavenham - although I got the distinct impression he had no idea of anything going on. Larry's office just said he was on holiday. Tim is still overseas, and neither his landlady or his office could give me any information about where he might be or when he might be back. You would think they were strangers!" Dickie collapsed on the sofa in frustration.
"Cora did have a suggestion, but I said I would see what you thought" Isobel hesitated. Dickie looked up "She suggested that John could stay in the nursery at the Abbey with the other children. She said Nanny wouldn't mind and Emma could lend a hand with the children. She even suggested that, as we're due to go for dinner tonight, we might like to stay over so that we're with him. What do you think?"
Dickie sighed "It does make sense. Stokes, Mrs Field and Nancy were looking forward to the night off, rather than being woken by a baby." He sat up. "We could all go up at tea time, spend some time with the children and discuss the situation with the family. Many heads are better than 2, after all. I'll go and find Stokes if you could ring Cora back?"
"Of course" Isobel watched him leave with worriedly. She wanted him to embrace this unknown Grandson, not accept him being raised elsewhere by other people. But it did make sense in the short term. She rose to go and telephone Cora and ask Nancy to pack a bag.