ONCE IN A LIFETIME LOVE
On the day of Marys funeral, Edward didnt shed a single tear.
See, just as I told you, he never truly loved Mary, whispered Doris into her neighbours ear.
Hush now. What does it matter anyway? The children are orphans now, left with a father like that.
Youll see, he’ll end up marrying Catherine, Doris assured Lillian.
What, Catherine? She wouldn’t go for him. Glorias always been his real love, have you forgotten their escapades in the hayloft? Catherines got a familyshes long moved on.
Oh, you know so much, do you?
Of course. Catherines husband is upstanding, one of the best in the company. Why would she bother with Edward and his brood? But Gloria, shes had nothing but grief with that Michael of hers. Youll see, sparks will fly again, said Lillian.
They laid Mary to rest, the children clasping hands tightly.
James and Alice had just turned eight. Mary had married Edward for love, though she was never quite sure he loved her backnor did the villagers know.
They said shed gotten pregnant, and thats why Edward had to marry her. The baby, Clara, arrived early and didnt live long. After that, years passed before Mary and Edward finally had children again.
Edward was always silent and brooding, a shadow in every room, so reserved they called him Lone Wolf. Stingy with words and even worse with affectionnobody knew this more than Mary.
Yet Heaven finally took pity on her. How many nights shed prayed, only she and the angels would ever know. And, lo and behold, Mary was blessed with twins.
Alice and James. James was all his motherkind, gentle, always ready for a cuddle. Alice took after her fathergetting a word from her was like drawing water from a rock. She’d lock the world out and just listen, never revealing what happened in her mind. She was closer to her father, perhaps because their temperaments matched.
Edward would often be in the shed, planing a board or fixing a chair, and Alice would wind round his ankles, soaking up his gruff stories. Meanwhile, James was his mothers darlingsweeping up, carrying little buckets of water, always eager to help, tiny but determined.
Mary loved both her children, but it was James who captured her heart entirely. Alice remained a mystery.
On her deathbed, Mary pulled James close:
Son, I shan’t be long for this world. Youll have to watch over your sister. Dont ever let her come to harm. Youre the man now. Shes a girlshell need your help and protection.
And Dad?
What?” Mary was puzzled.
“Will Dad protect us?
I dont know, love. Only life will tell.
Then dont go, Mum. What will we do without you? sobbed James.
Oh, darling, if only that were up to me, Mary murmured dreamily. By morning, she was gone.
Edward sat by her side, clutching Marys hand, hunched and hollow, black-clad and silent. Not a word, not a tear. Just a man collapsed in grief. That was all.
Life fell into a strange rhythm. Alice declared herself Lady of the House, tried her hand at stews and housework, but she was much too young. Edwards sister, Aunt Natalie, would visit, offering guidance, steering Alices timid hands.
Aunt Natalie, piped Alice one day, will Dad marry again, then?
Ah, sweetheart, who knows whats in your fathers mind? He wont tell me, thats certain.
Natalie had her own laughter-filled house, her husband Charles and a crew of little ones.
If something happens, will you take us in? Alice asked.
Dont be daft. Your father loves you two, wouldnt let anyone hurt you, Natalie assured her.
Meanwhile, rumours fluttered through the village that Edward and Glorias old flame had rekindled.
Shes lost her marbles, Gloria has, Doris gossiped over the bakery counter. Started up with Edward again and forgotten her own family entirely.
Shes a foolish woman, that Gloria, the women clucked, loitering around the off-licence.
“Move along, ladies,” sternly ordered Maxwell Leonard, the village committee chair, Always poking around in peoples business and none the wiser for it. You dont truly know your neighbours.
And it was trueold Edward and Gloria had a romance once, explosive enough to write novels about. Then, just as quickly, Edward had been sent off to help on a distant farm, away for two months as the government loans went bad. While he was gone, Gloria started seeing Michael. When Edward returned and found out, he fought Michael, then fell utterly silent to Gloria. She married Michael in the enda flighty man, always fond of the bottle, never home, while Gloria regretted losing a solid man like Edward, even if he was a man of few words.
Afterwards, the villagers noticed Edwards growing affection for Mary, and Mary seemed to bloom under his rare gaze, like a bluebell in rapturous spring.
Love does queer things to folk, said the village women. Mary had always loved Edward, hers a silent, private hopeshe hardly dared to rival Gloria.
But, as in dreams, there they were: courting, then suddenly married at the village hall. The wedding was modestEdwards family just Natalie, Marys only her elderly mother. People whispered about Marys late arrival, guessing the village chair himself was her father. Her mum, once the belle of the village, had never married, floated from man to man, always joyful, never respectable. Mary, though, was nothing like her, and after alla daughter isnt responsible for her mothers ways.
So the villagers pitied Mary, especially when she married Edward.
Not right, that, sighed Nora Perivale. Hell never love her, mark my words. Shell spend her life in misery.
But, odd as it seemed, Edward was utterly faithful. In the village, nothing can be hidden, after all!
Fifteen years together, and never a cross word between them. Even the neighbours accepted their quiet peace, until Marys illness last winter. It came hard, and soon everyone knew there was no hope of recovery.
One day, Edward tramped home from work.
“Eddie, shall I pop round for a cuppa? Baked the children a batch of jam tarts,” called Gloria, catching him near the allotment, basket in hand.
“No, Gloria, thank you. Natalie baked plenty yesterday.”
“But I made them just for you all.”
“And so did my sister, Gloria.”
“Meet me by the old windmill this evening?” Gloria pressed on.
“Whatever for?”
“Dont you remember everything, Edward? Everything between us?”
“All thats over and gone. I love my children. I loved Mary,” he said.
But Marys gone now,” whispered Gloria.
“Love doesnt die,” Edward told her softly.
“You never loved her. You married her to spite me.”
“Go home, Gloria, murmured Edward.
He strode away, never looking back, children waiting for him under the dreaming trees. Gloria was left standing alone, lost mid-village, turning round with the billow of her skirt.
Years went by. The children grew. Aunt Natalie visited faithfully but now knew one thing besure: her brother had only one love in his heart.
“Alice, is it true youve been walking out with Gregory Farringdon?” Aunt Natalie said, marching right in one afternoon.
“Yes. Why?”
Natalie thought, What a beauty shes become.
“Just asking, darling. Be careful with him.”
“Careful, why?”
You know why. Youre not a child now, Natalie scolded gently.
“Aunt Nat, I love him. I mean for life.”
“Well, well. Youth always thinks thats forever.”
“It is! I know it.”
“Maybe you do, but what about Gregory?”
“If he ever betrayed me, Id never love another.”
“I believe that,” Natalie said softly.
That evening, James and Alice waited for their father, growing anxious.
Hes late, James remarked.
Its Friday, Alice replied.
So?
He always visits Mums grave on Wednesday, Friday, and weekends.
How dyou know? James blinked, surprised.
Youre daft if you cant feel your fathers heart.”
Together, they slipped out, Alice guiding him by ghostly shortcut through back gardens to the graveyard.
“Look,” she whispered, pointing at Edwards hunched figure.
James listened. He could hear his father speaking.
“Well, Mary, thats how things stand. Alice will soon be married. Ive gathered her dowry; Natalie helped. We’re getting on. Forgive me, love, that I never said sweet words when you lived. I spoke with my heart, never tongue,” Edward rasped, ambling towards the gates.
Alice looked at her brother. Tears, held too long, at last glistened in his eyes.
