Saturday. Of course, I accepted. He came to pick me up in his car, and I introduced him to Aunt Ellie and Uncle Bill. Strangely though, I didn’t meet Albert’s father until months later, shortly before we were engaged.
Dan gave a low whistle. “Wow, that’s a long time to keep a girlfriend under wraps!”
“I’ll say,” Elizabeth agreed. “Especially in those days. I thought it odd as well. That is, until I actually met his father. Then I realized that Albert might have been afraid he might scare me away.”
Garnet laughed. “Do you think he would have?”
“There was a good chance of it. When we became engaged, my aunt and uncle were thrilled. Reginald only mumbled a brief congratulation and eyed me a little more closely, but that was all. He always seemed distracted somehow. It could have been partially due to his hearing loss, but all the same, I did take it personally at first. I thought that maybe he didn’t like me. Anyway, when Albert and I married, I came to live at this house. But it was only after Albert left for the war that Reginald seemed to become even more strange and I first noticed his ramblings.”
“So, what did you do?” Dan asked, reaching for a brownie and shoving the entire piece into his mouth.
“What could I do? I kept busy and stayed out of the house as much as possible. I taught school through the week and offered music lessons in private homes on Saturdays. I volunteered with the Red Cross. On Sundays, I went to church and visited Aunt Ellie and Uncle Bill. When I was home, Reginald and I rarely spoke except to acknowledge one another if we did happen to meet, which wasn’t often. We ate our meals separately and he usually just sat alone in the library with the door closed. From time to time in the first year, he met with businessmen, but those visits eventually stopped.”
Garnet tugged at a grape from the stem. “Why didn’t you go back to live with your aunt and uncle?”
“I thought about it, especially when I visited with them, but I worried what Albert might think. After all, we didn’t think the war would last as long as it did, and, of course, I wanted to believe that Albert would come back. As it turned out, Reginald died in the spring of 1942. Then later that year, in August, I received the telegram that Albert was missing in action after air operations in Dieppe. He was an RCAF sergeant and bomber navigator.” Elizabeth sighed. “When I first received the telegram, I refused to believe he was dead. I kept hoping he’d be found, that he’d only been hiding from the enemy, or was injured, perhaps suffering from temporary amnesia, or maybe was even a prisoner of war — anything but dead. I waited here for years, hoping against hope that someday he would walk in through that front door. But my Albert never did come home.”
They ate in silence for a few moments, then Dan asked, “Did you ever think of marrying again, Mrs. Tate?”
Elizabeth shook her head. “No one else was ever quite like Albert. There was something about him — that sparkle in his eyes, his sense of humour, that certain energy. He took life by the horns, living for the moment, wanting to help the cause and not worrying about the consequences. Whatever did he see in a schoolteacher like me? We were so different.” She smiled faintly at the memory. “I went out with a few men from time to time over the years but I never met anyone again whom I wished to marry. And I certainly didn’t need to marry anyone to keep me. Money was no worry. What was to become Albert’s inheritance became mine, and that, along with the widow’s pension and my salary, was more than enough. And as for children, every one of my students became a son or daughter to me. My only regret in all these years is that I’ve never been able to find the missing jewels. It would be a shame for them to be lost forever.”
As if on cue, the sapphire in Elizabeth’s ring caught the light and Garnet was reminded of what Elizabeth had told her the day before. But until Elizabeth mentioned the jewels in front of Dan, it hadn’t occurred to her that he might also know about them. Garnet glanced over at him now and noticed his eyebrows were knitted together. She gave a slight shrug, then asked, “Elizabeth, did Reginald have a safe or anything where he might have kept them?”
Elizabeth cocked her head to one side. “He did. Behind some books in the library. Reginald’s housekeeper, Ethel, told me about it. Poor Ethel. She had been like a mother to Albert and became a dear friend of mine as we waited for him to return. Anyway, I had a locksmith come to crack the lock for me. The safe contained information on stocks and private documents about some of the businesses Reginald was involved with. There was also a copy of the will, but not the jewels. In fact, the will didn’t even mention any jewels.”
Dan cleared his throat and his eyes narrowed. “What jewels are you talking about, Mrs. Tate?”
“I’m sorry, Danny. Of course, you don’t know. I’ve carried this secret with me for so many years and didn’t tell a soul. Until I saw Garnet.” Elizabeth’s eyes rested on her before she continued. “She reminded me so much of the portrait of Albert’s mother, I ... well, I just couldn’t help myself. The story just started to spill out. Albert’s family had some valuable jewels. I don’t know where they are or whatever happened to them, but I’ve been searching for them for years. Now after all this time, I’m finally going to admit that I’m going to need some help to find them if I am ever to have a hope of seeing them.”
“Oh, and I will try to help you, Elizabeth,” Garnet reassured her.
“I would be so pleased if you did,” Elizabeth replied.
Dan said nothing and drank the rest of his milk.
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