this mean what I think?’ he said, aware of the signals after so many years of marriage.
She silenced him with a kiss, and for a while they took pleasure in each other’s bodies, tenderly at first, but then with growing passion, until at last, pink with pleasure, Pearl lay satiated.
‘I suppose you want me to make you a cup of tea now?’ Derek said, smiling.
‘That sounds nice, but I think I’ll get up.’
They took it in turns to scoot up to the bathroom and when dressed they walked into the kitchen. Pearl wasn’t surprised to see her mother. She was always an early riser and for the next hour they sat over a leisurely breakfast, and the morning newspapers.
‘Pearl, I’m going out to look for a pair of shoes,’ Emily said. ‘Do you fancy coming with me?’
‘’Yes, all right, but before we go out I want to ring Lucy to see how Bessie is this morning.’
‘Fine, darling,’ Emily said, smiling, ‘and in the meantime I’ll get ready.’
‘Emily, didn’t you buy a new pair of shoes a few weeks ago?’ Derek asked.
‘Yes, but they were brown. I need black ones this time.’
‘What is it with women and shoes?’
‘What is it with men and wood?’ Pearl countered. ‘The shed’s full of odd bits and pieces.’
‘You never know when they might come in handy.’
Emily chuckled as she left the room, saying, ‘You can’t win, Pearl.’
‘I’ll just clear up before calling Lucy,’ Pearl told Derek as she took their cups and plates to the sink. ‘I doubt John will surface before we leave.’
‘I’ll sort his breakfast out when he does,’ Derek offered.
‘Thanks, love,’ Pearl said, her hands immersed in water when the telephone rang.
‘I’ll get it,’ Derek said.
Pearl turned to look at Derek when he returned, and something in his expression stilled her. ‘What is it? What’s wrong?’
‘Pearl, you’d better sit down.’
‘Derek, just tell me.’
‘It’s Bessie, love. She … she’s passed away.’
‘No! Oh no!’ Pearl cried, her knees giving way. She sank onto a chair then. ‘How? When?’
‘She died during the night. Lucy found her this morning.’
Pearl stared up at Derek in dismay. She couldn’t take it in. Bessie! Bessie dead! No, it couldn’t be true.
Derek knelt in front of her, his urgent tone penetrating her foggy mind. ‘I know you’re upset, but Lucy needs you. Nora’s in a dreadful state and she can’t cope with her.’
As Pearl stood up she was struggling to put her thoughts into coherent order and as her mother returned to the kitchen, she cried, ‘Mum, Bessie’s dead and I’ve got to go, but there’s John and …’
‘I’m here and he’ll be fine,’ Emily said reassuringly.
Derek’s tone was urgent. ‘Come on, Pearl. It’ll take us well over an hour to get there and Lucy sounded a bit frantic.’
Pearl was still feeling utterly dazed and dejected when they arrived at the shop.
‘Thank goodness you’re here,’ Lucy cried as soon as she saw them, holding her son close. ‘Nora’s howling has upset Clive and I … I want to take him home.’
‘Where is she now?’
‘All that wailing must have worn her out and a short while ago she fell asleep in her room.’
‘Lucy, what happened?’ Pearl asked.
‘I don’t know!’ she cried, but then as Clive flung his arms around her legs, Lucy took a deep breath as though to calm her emotions. Quietly, she continued, ‘As I told you on the telephone yesterday, the doctor didn’t seem worried about Bessie, but when … when I arrived this morning she … she was dead. Oh, Pearl, I can’t believe it. I’m so sorry.’
‘Lucy, it’s all right. You have nothing to be sorry for.’
‘I … I panicked when I found her. I called the doctor, but of course it was too late. He … he was very kind, and as I didn’t know what to do, he suggested an undertaker.’
‘Kind!’ Pearl cried. ‘He should have shown more concern when he saw Bessie yesterday. He should have had her hospitalised.’
‘I don’t think it would have made any difference. The doctor said that Bessie’s heart had failed.’
‘So it wasn’t the bronchitis?’
‘Not according to the doctor, and as Nora was in such a state, refusing to leave Bessie, he was good enough to ring the undertakers for me while I tried to comfort her. They came to take Bessie’s body away. That’s their address,’ Lucy said, handing Pearl a card. ‘I hope that’s all right.’
Pearl had managed to hold herself together, but now guilt swamped her. She groaned loudly, ‘Oh, Derek, I should have listened to Nora. She knew this was going to happen.’
‘Leave it out, love,’ Derek said gently. ‘Bessie was no spring chicken and she had a good innings.’
‘We’re talking about someone’s life, Bessie’s life, not a game of cricket!’
‘Mummy, I want to go home,’ Clive wailed.
The plaintive cry stilled Pearl. Here she was, yelling in front of Lucy’s son and the boy was already upset. ‘Lucy, I’m sorry.’
‘It’s all right, it’s been a shock for you, for all of us, but I’d best take Clive home,’ she said, though before ushering him out of the door, Lucy whispered to Pearl: ‘Nora went hysterical when the undertaker took Bessie away and I was really worried about her. She might start up again when she wakes up.’
‘Don’t worry, we’ll see to her,’ Derek assured her.
Lucy nodded and seeing Lucy’s small, sad wave as she left, Pearl blinked several times, yet nothing could stem the tide of tears as grief overwhelmed her. She sobbed, and as Derek’s arms wrapped around her, she gave vent to her feelings.
Derek continued to hold Pearl until she was able to pull herself together, then, with a juddering sob, she said, ‘I’d best wake Nora. We’ll need to take her back to Winchester with us and sort out somewhere for her to sleep. I suppose it’ll have to be a camp bed in the conservatory, but it’s hardly ideal.’
‘Pearl, what are you talking about? Nora isn’t our responsibility.’
‘There
