Serial part two: After the War is Over by Elizabeth Dale

With the Great War still raging and her beloved Will gone, Elsie isn’t prepared to lose Alfie, too…

The sTory so far: As the inhabitants of Fortescue House continue to suffer the misery and deprivations of the Great War, only alfie – a baby abandoned on the doorstep – has brought joy into all their lives. Even Lord Fortescue’s injured and traumatised brother David has been cheered by his presence, and Lady Fortescue’s maid elsie, mourning the death of her beloved fiancé Will, has found new hope in caring for Alfie. But one night, Elsie returns from visiting her sister, who works in a munitions factory, to find the house in turmoil. Alfie has woken up and no-one can console him. Elsie rushes to soothe him, but the wailing has left David terrified, reminding him of the screaming shells of battle. His shell shock, always close to the surface, has returned with a vengeance. His over-protective mother olivia is horrified, and, to Elsie’s consternation, has insisted that Alfie must go. The story continues…

Elsie lay awake all night. She’d dragged Alfie’s cot into her room so that she’d be able to jump up and hush the baby, should he make even the tiniest whimper. She watched his every move, the way he wriggled and stretched, imprinting them on her memory, just in case – Heaven forfend – it was the last night they had together.

He was so tiny, so beautiful, so vulnerable…far more vulnerable than Mr David.

She felt sorry for Lady Rose’s brother-in-law – of course she did. To receive such terrible physical injuries was awful, and the mental scars seemed to be even worse. She’d never forget his terror-filled face as he’d hobbled into the drawing room last night, convinced that Alfie’s cries were the shrieking shells coming anew.

But even worse had been the look on Lady Olivia’s face when she’d followed Elsie as she’d hurriedly carried Archie out of the room; the worry lines etched on her forehead, the anger in her eyes as she’d declared that the baby had to go because he was terrifying her son. Elsie had begged her to reconsider, assuring her over and over that it would never happen again, but her pleas had been rejected.

Alfie flung his arms around in his sleep, frowning. Elsie frowned, too. What bad dreams could possibly be filling his little head? What did he know of life except drinking his milk and being changed and cuddled? What could there be to alarm him – as long as he stayed there with her and Cook and

Lady Rose? But if he was sent away to the over-crowded orphanage, away from everyone he knew…

Elsie shuddered, blinking back tears. She couldn’t bear it. Maybe if Alfie had a good night – if Cook went with her to see Lady Olivia, if they told her how quiet Alfie had been

– she’d change her mind. Hopefully, Lady Rose would support her, too. She wasn’t scared of standing up to her mother-in-law.

It was a long night. Dear Alfie was worn out, and only stirred when he was hungry, but Elsie knew she had to keep watch over him. When he woke, she quickly fed and changed him, gazing into his big, blue eyes that looked back into hers, so trusting and earnest. How she hoped she wouldn’t betray that trust.

She must have drifted off after that, but it seemed only five minutes later that Alfie was stirring again. Elsie woke in an instant. The sun streamed through her thin curtains as she wearily climbed out of bed and lifted up the beautiful baby boy.

‘My, you look terrible!’ Cook cried as Elsie carried Alfie into the kitchen. ‘Didn’t you sleep?’

Elsie shook her head, unable to speak.

‘What’s wrong?’ Cook asked, as a bell rang. Elsie looked up at the board. It was from Lady Rose’s room.

‘Tell me later,’ said Cook. ‘Here, give the wee man to me while you take up Her Ladyship’s tray.’

Elsie nodded and did as she was told, fighting back the tears. It was mercifully dark in Rose’s room. She put down the tray and hurriedly pulled back the curtains, as she always did.

‘What a beautiful morning!’ Lady Rose called from her bed, as she sat up.

‘Yes ma’am,’ said Elsie, avoiding her eyes as she gave her the tray. But, as she poured the tea, her hands were shaking.

‘Elsie? What on earth’s the matter?’ asked Rose.

Elsie sighed. ‘It’s Alfie.’ ‘Alfie? Is he ill? Have you had a bad night?’

‘Lady Olivia says he has to go!’ sobbed Elsie.

‘Go? Go where?’

‘To the orphanage!’

‘But he can’t!’ Rose cried. ‘Her Ladyship doesn’t want him upsetting Mr David,’ said Elsie. ‘She says they can’t both live in the same house!’

‘Oh, yes they can!’ said Rose. ‘She can’t do this!’ Pushing the tray to one side, she climbed out of bed flung on a dressing gown and rushed out the door.

‘For goodness sake, Rose!’ cried Lady Olivia, who was coming along the corridor. ‘What is it? Is there a fire?’

‘You’re not sending Alfie away!’ said Rose. ‘He’s happy here. He belongs here.’

‘Oh no, he doesn’t!’ said Olivia. ‘We should never have taken him in. He belongs in an orphanage.’

‘Where he’ll be bundled into a cot with countless other babies?’ Rose challenged.

‘She wants us to keep the awful baby

that upset you so much last night’

‘Where he’ll be left to cry, hungry and dirty because they haven’t enough staff? No!’

‘You saw how he affected David last night,’ said Olivia. ‘My poor son has already been through so much. I won’t have him upset again!’

‘Excuse me!’ called a voice from a nearby room.

Rose froze. It was David. ‘See!’ Olivia hissed. ‘You’re disturbing him, even now. Can the poor man never get any peace?’ And she thrust open David’s bedroom door.

‘It’s you, Mother, who is disturbing my peace,’ said David, sitting up in bed. ‘All that shouting. What on earth’s going on?’

‘It’s Rose’s fault, darling,’ said Olivia. ‘She wants us to keep the awful baby that upset you so much last night.’

‘We’ll keep him away from you at night in future,’ said Rose. ‘I’m so sorry, David, it will never happen again.’

‘No, it won’t,’ said Olivia. ‘The baby’s leaving today.’

‘No, he isn’t,’ said David. ‘It’s good to have a baby around. And Alfie’s adorable.’ ‘But, darling…’

‘If you really want what’s best for me, you’ll keep Alfie,’ said David. ‘He brings me laughter and happiness, and I’ve had so little of that in the past four years.’

‘If… If you’re sure?’

‘Yes!’

And then, from down the corridor where Elsie had been listening with bated breath, came a loud squeal of joy.

So life resumed. Lady Rose, Cook and Elsie all shared in the care of Alfie, who he grew in strength and energy daily. As Cook put it, they baby had the best pair of lungs in Knightsbridge!

Everyone was anxious to hear how the War was progressing, and Rose, who shared news with her riding and shopping friends, and who read the newspaper each day, kept them informed. One day, she announced excitedly that the tide was turning, the French had begun an attack on the Germans and Britain had joined them.

‘The newspapers are really positive now,’ she said with enthusiasm. ‘There’s a sense of optimism in the air. I feel it every time I go out.’

‘How wonderful!’ said Cook, as Elsie rushed out to soothe Alfie, who was crying.

‘I don’t like to say this in front of poor Elsie,’ Cook told Rose, ‘but I am so excited that my George may be back soon. Oh, to have him home safe! I can’t wait to have a great big hug and kiss, if you’ll excuse me, my Lady!’

‘Of course!’ laughed Rose. ‘And it’ll be good to have the other servants back,’

Cook added.

‘That will be wonderful,’ agreed Rose.

Just at that moment, Elsie came back in with Alfie and the post.

‘A letter’s just come for you, Your Ladyship,’ she said, smiling. ‘From France.’

‘Oh, thank goodness!’ said Rose, recognising her husband’s handwriting. ‘It’s been such a long time. Excuse me. I must go and read it.’

Cook smiled after her. ‘Let’s hope Lord Fortescue is well,’ she said. And then her smile grew as she turned to Alfie. ‘Hello, my big boy! How are you today?’

Alfie gurgled happily, reaching out to her. When Elsie went upstairs to make the beds, she was surprised to enter Lady Rose’s room and find her still there.

‘I’m sorry, Your Ladyship,’ she said, turning to leave, but seeing that Rose looked upset, she stopped.

‘Are you all right? I’m sorry, I don’t want to interfere – but His Lordship isn’t injured?’

‘No, no,’ said Rose. ‘Don’t worry. He’s fine.’

‘Oh?’ Elsie waited for her to say more. She’d been Rose’s personal maid for many years and they’d formed a very close bond. She was sure something was wrong.

But Rose smiled. ‘Tell me, were there any more letters this morning?’ she asked.

‘One from Lord Fortescue to his mother?’

‘No,’ said Elsie, ‘Just yours.’ ‘Well, now that I’ve heard, I expect she’ll get a letter soon,’ Rose said. ‘How’s Alfie?’

‘Oh, happy as ever!’ Elsie said. ‘Especially now Cook is giving him a big cuddle.’

‘How lovely,’ Rose smiled. ‘I wonder, can you ask Cook to drag herself away from him for a few minutes? We didn’t finish discussing the menus.’ ‘Yes, ma’am,’ said Elsie.

She curtseyed and left, reassured that all was well with Lady Rose. A letter from Lord Fortescue would be bittersweet – no doubt, she was missing him terribly.

When Cook went to see Rose, however, she had something far more important than menus to talk about.

‘Shut the door. Come and sit down,’ Rose told her. ‘I’ve had the most terrible news.’

‘Oh my goodness, what is it?’ asked Cook. ‘His Lordship, he isn’t…’

‘No,’ said Rose. ‘Nothing like that. But Lady Olivia has written to him about Alfie.

I hadn’t mentioned him in my letters, I didn’t want to bother his Lordship with such matters, but my mother-in-law has told Lord Fortescue all about him: how we found him, how I’m helping you and Elsie care for him, and how his cries reminded David of a shell attack that night.

‘Lord Fortescue is very angry. He says he’s sure the baby must be a “dirty bastard” and he’s not having him in his home. He insists that poor Alfie must be taken to the orphanage immediately.’

‘Oh no, never!’ cried Cook. ‘I agree,’ said Rose. ‘How could I possibly tell Elsie, after all she’s been through? It’d break her heart to think Alfie might be sent away. We must keep him here, at least while the War’s on. He brings such comfort to all the family.

And, let’s face it, while Lord Fortescue isn’t here, it isn’t affecting him, is it?’ ‘No…I suppose not.’

‘Then, when he does come home and he sees what an adorable baby Alfie is, I really hope his heart will soften and he’ll agree to keep him.’

‘Let’s hope so,’ said Cook, forcing a smile.

She didn’t share Rose’s optimism. Lord Fortescue was a hard-hearted man who liked everything to be ordered. She really couldn’t see him being at all happy having someone else’s baby in the house.

It was almost as though Rose could read her mind. ‘War changes people,’ she said. ‘An ordeal like that – serving in the trenches, facing death – must have a big effect on the men. Look at David, how he is with Alfie.’

Cook bit her lip. David was quite different from Lord Fortescue. But they had to keep Alfie for as long as they could.

‘But what are we going to do?’ she asked. ‘When Lady Olivia hears from her son, he’s bound to express the same views to her and ask if you’ve done as he ordered. Lady Olivia will demand that his wishes are carried out!’

‘We have to make sure she doesn’t get her next letter from him,’ said Rose. ‘We know what time the post arrives throughout the day. I’ll do my best to look out for it and intercept any letters. And, just in case I miss it, I’ll tell Elsie that I wish to see all the post before it’s given to anyone else in the house – and that if a letter comes for Lady Olivia, that I will pass it on personally.’

‘That sounds a good plan, ma’am,’ said Cook. ‘Let’s hope, for all our sakes that it works.’

Rose hoped so, too. She knew how Olivia listened out for the bell and often rushed to see if the post had arrived. If Rose wasn’t careful, Olivia could waylay Elsie before she had the chance to pass the post to her.

Rose sat down and wrote a quick letter back to Lord Fortescue, thanking him for his news and confirming that, naturally, his wishes would be observed – she just didn’t say when! Then she popped out to post it, passing newspaper placards proclaiming that the Allies were pushing forward.

When she got back, Rose went straight to find Lady Olivia, and told her she’d received a letter from her son.

‘Oh, thank goodness!’ Lady Olivia cried, bursting into tears and sinking into a chair. ‘It’s been so long since we heard, I was fearing the worst.’

Rose hugged her mother-inlaw, feeling guilty about not having told her immediately.

‘What does he say?’ Lady Olivia asked, wiping her eyes. ‘Is he well?’ ‘Yes,’ said Rose. ‘Very well.’ ‘Can I read it?’ asked her mother-in-law.

‘Yes, all right,’ said Rose, ‘I’ll just keep back this page, as, well...’ she blushed, ‘it’s a bit more personal.’

She took out the page which described some of the worst descriptions of trench life, as well as Bernard’s instructions about Alfie.

‘Of course,’ smiled Lady Olivia, thinking her son had been pouring out his loving feelings to his wife. She eagerly read the remaining pages over and over.

‘He does seem well!’ she cried, beaming up at Rose. ‘That’s such good news! I’m so happy!’

‘Yes, he seems so positive, I think it would probably be better if we only gave him happy news from home, don’t you?’ Rose replied. ‘We don’t want him to be worried about anything – David’s problems and food shortages, or how it’s a struggle with so few staff. So I don’t think we should mention Alfie any more, in case Bernard worries how we’re coping. When he comes home, he’ll see that all’s been fine.’

‘You’re right, darling,’ said Olivia, smiling and hugging her. ‘I’ll write him a lovely, cheery letter now.’

Rose smiled at her. She only hoped she remembered in all her future letters.

As excitement grew in Fortescue House about the end of the War and the possibility of loved ones returning, Elsie didn’t know how she would have coped without Alfie to love. Each time she went out on errands for the family, she always hurried her step to get back to him. She couldn’t wait to see his great big smile.

One day, Cook met her at the door on her way in.

‘It’s a good job you weren’t here 20 minutes ago,’ she said. ‘You had a visitor.’

‘Oh?’ asked Elsie. ‘Really? Who was that?’

‘A tramp,’ said Cook. ‘I’ve never quite seen anyone so rough-looking. He had a straggly beard, gaunt face and unwashed, messy, black hair. His clothes were in tatters.

‘He was obviously a beggar. He must’ve picked up your name from somewhere; I told him you didn’t live here any more and that I didn’t know where you’d gone – and then I shut the door on him fast!’

Elsie frowned. ‘A lot of people have fallen on hard times now. Maybe he was a friend of my father’s, and he

Continued overleaf

‘What have I to celebrate, with my

Will never coming back?’

can’t turn to him because he’s away in the War?’

‘He didn’t look like anyone you or your father would know or want to know,’ said Cook, shaking her head.

‘Which way did he go?’ asked Elsie.

‘I didn’t wait to see.’

‘What was he wearing?’ ‘Tatty brown trousers and a green shirt,’ said Cook. ‘He didn’t even have a hat.’

‘I’ll see if I can catch up with him,’ said Elsie, ‘I won’t be long.’ And she set off.

But there was no-one who matched Cook’s description.

Finally, knowing it was nearly lunchtime and Cook would need her to watch Alfie, she headed back.

That evening, Elsie visited Juliet, to see if the tramp had called there, but no.

‘Mind you, with the longer shifts, I’ve hardly been here,’ she said, as she led Elsie into the kitchen.

‘I can’t stay long,’ said Elsie, ‘but I brought you this.’ She handed over a fruitcake, wrapped in a cloth. ‘It’s a gift from Cook. She calls the munitions factory girls the “silent angels’’.’

Juliet laughed. ‘She wouldn’t say that if she heard us on our tea breaks!’ she said. And then her smile turned into a frown. ‘Sit down, sis.’

‘What?’ Elsie whispered, her heart in an icy grip. ‘It’s not Father, is it?’

‘Don’t worry,’ said Juliet. ‘He’s alive. He’s in a field hospital in France, injured. ‘ ‘How badly?’ asked Elsie Juliet shrugged. ‘You know Father, he won’t want to worry us. He did say he had all his limbs, though.’

Elsie frowned.

Juliet took her hand and squeezed it. ‘Don’t look so worried. At least he’s away from the trenches. With any luck, the War’ll be over before he’s well enough to go back.’

‘Oh, I hope so!’ said Elsie. ‘If anything happened to him…’

‘It won’t!’ said Juliet. ‘They say the War’s ending. Just think of that – peace! Come on, Else. Don’t look so sad.’

Elsie sighed. ‘What have

I to celebrate, with my Will never coming back? It’s when everyone else’s loved ones come home it’ll really hit me. Until then, I can pretend he’s just still away, fighting!’

‘Oh I know, love, I’m so sorry,’ said Juliet. ‘Life’ll never be the same, not for anyone. But it isn’t going to be all bad for you. Look what Lady Rose and I achieved with the suffragists. We won the vote! Women have independence, now. Look at me, earning money all of my own!’

‘But the munitions factories will close, surely?’

‘I hope so!’ said Juliet. ‘But there’ll be other jobs.’

‘For the men coming back from the War, yes.’

‘For us women, too. So many men have been killed, they’ll need us, Else!’ Juliet’s eyes shone. She was so sure.

Elsie thought of her sister’s words all the way home. As she hurried through the dark streets, she wondered what the end of the War would bring for her? For Alfie? Could she keep him? She dreaded to think how Lord Fortescue would react when he returned.

She was so deep in thought that she didn’t see the man lurking in the shadows. When he suddenly grabbed her arm as she walked past, her heart froze. She turned, terrified, to see a man with dark hair and a straggly beard – it was the man Cook had described.

‘Elsie!’ he cried. ‘Oh, Elsie! I’ve found you at last!’

Elsie stared at him…but then she stared some more, and she couldn’t believe her eyes. Despite the straggly hair, sunken cheeks and gaunt face…was it? Could it be..? Incredibly, amazingly, wonderfully – it was!

‘Will!’ she cried. ‘Oh, Will!’

To be continued Elizabeth Dale, 2018