A Mother’s Spirit. Anne Bennett

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СКАЧАТЬ ashen-faced people began to shriek and scream, and then the massed crying of wretched people settled to a loud hum of profound distress that filled the room and rebounded off the walls. There was pandemonium on the Exchange floor, and Brian saw some men grab frantically at their collars before collapsing beneath people’s feet. Brian didn’t blame them; it was only the people pressed all around him that were keeping him upright, for he knew he too was ruined. His major investments were in radio and steel, and when the value of them dropped so low they were worthless he knew his life was effectively over.

      Stumbling through the door and into the street, he began to lurch from one side of the sidewalk to the other as if he was in the throes of drink when really he was trying to come to terms with the anguish and wretchedness that he was going to inflict on those he loved best in all the world. He walked for miles and for hours, trying to ignore the sharp pains shooting across his chest, but when eventually the cold and darkness caused him to head for home he knew what he was going to do.

      There had been a little concern when there had been no sign of Brian when the house was astir that morning. When he hadn’t made an appearance or contacted anyone, either at the factory or the house, Joe had come home early, intending to take the car out and look for him.

      He was in the bedroom, changing from his suit when he heard the loud hammering on the front door.

      ‘Thank goodness, that must be Daddy now,’ said Gloria, who had followed Joe upstairs. And then, just a few minutes later, they heard Norah’s cry of distress.

      The knocking on the door had been so loud and insistent it had brought Norah from the drawing room, and so she was in the hall as Planchard crossed it and opened the door to see his master holding the evening paper in his hand, leaning heavily against the doorjamb. He looked as if he had had a skinful, although there was no smell of drink upon him at all.

      ‘Are you all right, sir?’ Planchard said, going forward to support him.

      Norah gave a little gasp of shock, seeing Brian brought into the light, leaning heavily against the butler. His face was grey, even his lips had no colour, and his rheumy eyes were red and bloodshot with huge fleshy bags beneath them.

      ‘Oh, Brian, my darling,’ she cried. ‘What in God’s name has happened to you?’

      She went forward, her arms outstretched, but before she reached him he said sharply, ‘Leave me be.’ Norah stopped, unsure what to do as Brian said to Planchard, ‘You leave me be, too.’ He pulled himself away from his butler’s arm, stood for a moment as if to regain his balance, and staggered off towards the study. Planchard and Norah looked at each other, worry etched on both their faces as Joe and Gloria came running down the stairs.

      ‘What is it, Mother?’ Gloria cried. ‘What’s happened?’

      ‘It’s your father, dear,’ Norah said. ‘There is something the matter with him. He is ill. I have never seen him like that.’

      Joe looked across at Planchard, who said, ‘The mistress is right, sir. There is certainly something very amiss.’

      ‘Where is he now?’

      ‘He went towards the study,’ Norah said.

      Joe was his making his way there when he heard the shot and it galvanised him into action. Norah gave a shriek and Planchard, who had been returning to the kitchen, was side by side with Joe as they reached the study door with Norah and Gloria behind them.

      It was locked and bolted, as Joe had expected, and he rattled it and shouted, but there was silence.

      ‘We will have to break it down, sir,’ Planchard said, and Joe nodded.

      The panel split the second time they hit it, and then Joe was able to get his hand in and open the door from the inside. They were too late, Joe saw that at a glance, and he felt his heart contract as he saw Brian at the desk, his head fallen forward in a pool of blood. There was a neat bullet hole in his skull and the gun that fired it had fallen from his hand on to the blood-splattered paper that read

      I’m sorry.

      Love you all.

      Brian

      It was so absolutely horrendous it was almost unbelievable. Joe steeled himself to put his fingers to the pulse on Brian’s neck, knowing it was useless, and then Gloria burst away from Planchard, who was trying to prevent her and her mother going too close. But they had seen enough. Gloria let out an almost primeval howl and sank to her knees, and Norah fell unconscious to the floor.

      Joe felt numb with shock, but his first duty was to his wife and then his mother-in-law. He lifted Gloria into his arms and held her shivering form as he said to Planchard, ‘Can you manage to get your mistress upstairs?’

      ‘I’ll see to her, sir,’ Planchard said. ‘And shall I phone the police after I have phoned the doctor?’

      ‘Police?’ Joe repeated. ‘I hadn’t thought of the police but I suppose they need to be informed, so if you would … And anyone else you think we might need to call. I can’t seem to be able to think straight at the moment.’

      Planchard looked at Joe’s drawn, ashen face. ‘Don’t worry, sir. Leave that side of things to me.’

      The servants, many in tears, were clustered in horrified confusion in the hall, unsure what to do. When Mary stepped forward to help Joe with Gloria he waved her away. ‘I will manage her,’ he said. ‘But your mistress might need your attention.’

      Gloria leaned against Joe as he carried her up the stairs. Laying her gently on the bed, he said, ‘Planchard is calling the doctor, darling. I’m sure he will be able to give you something to ease you.’

      ‘What good will the doctor do me, Joe?’ Gloria asked sadly. ‘He cannot bring Daddy back.’

      Joe sat down on the bed and tenderly stroked Gloria’s hair away from her forehead. ‘I really do understand how distraught and devastated you are feeling at the moment.’

      ‘I will never see him again,’ Gloria said, covering her face with her hands. ‘I’m not sure I can bear it.’

      Joe put his arms tight around her and murmured into her hair, ‘You will, my dearest, darling girl. It will take time, but I will be by your side always, helping you in any way I can.’

      ‘Oh, Joe!’ Gloria cried, and the tears came then, not the quiet, controlled weeping she had already done, but like an outpouring of her very soul. The sound of Gloria’s sobs rasping in her throat cut Joe to the quick, and he held her shuddering body in his arms.

      He remembered the doctor expressing surprise and concern that his mother hadn’t cried when his father had dropped dead of a heart attack. Whether tears would have helped a woman like his mother he wasn’t sure, but in Gloria he saw them as a good sign, and so he didn’t urge her to stop crying, but just held her trembling body close, rocking her slightly and feeling her tears dampen his jacket.

      Eventually, when she was calmer, he laid her head down on the pillow. Her face, he noticed, was as white as lint and her eyes looked larger than ever and puffed up from the tears.

      ‘Why did he do it, Joe?’ she asked. When Joe shook his head helplessly she added, ‘It’s something to do with those blessed shares, isn’t it?’

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