Page 75 of Wild Swimming at Croftwood Lake
‘I’ll send you a couple of pairs from the place Caspar gets his from. Now you’ve finally got a girlfriend, you don’t want to frighten her off with your terrible fashion sense.’
‘Thank you. I wouldn’t want that either. So are we all happy?’
‘Archie I’m sorry. Caspar told me not to ask you for any money. He says we don’t need it, but I want things to be nice for Florence, like they were for me.’
Archie knew she was looking back with rose-tinted glasses, as he did himself. Their childhood memories, particularly from the time before their father died, were idyllic. But Archie knew that his father had been fighting the same battles back then around how to make ends meet. If anything it had been worse, because of the pressure of keeping the family name and reputation intact. Any sniff of money struggles would have been scandalous in a way it wouldn’t be now. And that must have added a whole lot of extra anxiety to their parents that they’d never been aware of.
‘You know Florence will have a wonderful childhood with you and Caspar whether it’s the same as ours or not. The privilege we grew up with wasn’t about where we lived. All of that is superficial. We had loving parents who did the best for us, always. And that is all Florence needs.’
Betsy threw her arms around Archie and hugged him. He couldn’t remember the last time that had happened and it brought a lump to his throat.
‘You’re the best big brother in the world,’ she said, squeezing him tightly. ‘Nora is a lucky woman.’
‘You like her?’ Archie asked, slightly afraid of the answer.
‘I do,’ Betsy said. ‘She’s strong and you need that. If I’d come here six months ago asking for some of that vase money, you’d have given in. You’ve got a confidence I haven’t seen before and I can only assume that’s come from your relationship with her.’
Archie nodded. ‘She’s the most wonderful thing that’s ever happened to me.’
‘It’s a shame you didn’t meet earlier in life. Things could have been so different.’
It was strange that she assumed it was too late now for things to be different. Things were going to be different. It felt like the start of everything.
‘I think things have turned out for the best. Neither Nora nor I might have been ready for each other if we’d met earlier. It seems now is the right time for both of us.’
‘I’m thrilled you’re happy. Come on, let’s take Florence out for a walk, wear her out before dinner then we can eat in peace. Is Nora feeling better today?’
‘I think so. She’s heading back over.’
Archie was in the bedroom when Nora arrived back at the Court.
‘Gosh, you still don’t look very well, my love,’ he said when she came into the bedroom. If anything she looked worse than she had on Thursday. ‘You should have stayed at home. I’ve had a chat with Betsy and we’ve cleared the air.’
‘Oh, that’s great,’ she said, fussing Tatty and then sitting down on the sofa by the window. ‘I need to tell you something, Archie. This bug I have, it’s a baby.’
‘A baby?’ It slowly dawned on him what she was telling him. ‘You’re pregnant?’
28
A BABY. AS soon as she’d seen the positive result on the test, Nora realised that she really hadn’t been expecting that result. Whether or not she wanted a baby seemed beside the point. She was a grown woman with years of experience of not getting pregnant and now – at what felt like the last minute – she’d failed.
So as she sat there, waiting for Archie’s reaction, she still hadn’t equated the test result with any of the consequences of what it was going to mean to have an actual baby.
‘Oh my god, that’s incredible,’ he said, pacing in front of her, running his hands through his hair. He had a stupid grin on his face. At least that was something. He was thrilled, and that made Nora feel better about it.
‘I’m so sorry. I don’t know what happened. I’m so careful about taking my pill.’
‘It’s a surprise, an unexpected marvellous surprise, but nothing to be sorry for at all. Christ, Nora. We’re having a baby.’
‘At our age.’
‘That doesn’t matter, does it?’
‘I don’t know. I feel too old to have a baby. It’s like the last-chance saloon.’
‘That makes it all the more special. It’s a gift. I never thought I’d be a father. I let the idea that I might be go a long time ago. There is so much pressure to produce an heir and for a long time I felt like I’d failed my family.’
‘Well, not any more,’ said Nora. ‘Although Betsy probably won’t be very pleased about Florence being usurped.’
