C'est La Vie

Megan clamped onto my right arm again, and surprised me by kissing me on the cheek.

Tamsin, sat in silence and stared at me. It felt like she was attempting to see right into my brain.

Then suddenly she shifted her stare to Albert.

"You know what really happened, don't you Uncle Albert? Mother told you didn't she?"

Then instantly Tamsin switched that penetrating stare to Father Conner.

"She told you, as well!"

"That she did my child, but like your Uncle Albert... our hands were tied!" Father Conner replied. "We cannot disclose, anything that has been told to us in the strictest confidence. In my case it's the confessional, in Albert's..."

"Attorney privilege!" Tasmain's new husband added. That was the first time I realised that the lad sounded American. His mother and father quite definitely had not.

"We use a different term for it in the British legal system, young man. But essentially it boils down to the same restriction of action." Albert assured him.

"Tamsin, I'm sure that your mother wouldn't have lied to you." The Witch ventured.

Tamsin, jumped to her feet and then subjected her grandmother to a hostile stare. She'd moved so that she could look her grandmother directly in the eyes.

"So am I grandmother. But in fact my mother never did explain to me what happened back then. What knowledge I do have; I picked-up elsewhere! Whenever I asked my mother about it, she'd always change the subject or prevaricate in some other way."

Suddenly Tamsin spun on her heel and strode across the room to where the three strangers were sitting and addressed the man I'd found familiar.

"I recognise you, don't I?" she demanded.

"Yes young lady, you possibly do." The man replied.

"Uncle Albert implied that he'd had someone keeping an eye on me, I can recall seeing you more than once at my school. I'm also sure that I saw you in Bristol a few times, when I was at university."

"That is possible, Miss!" The man conceded.

"So, taking into account the fact that my Uncle implied that he's had someone watching over my father as well - and I know that Reginald and Shirley here both work in my Uncle Albert's London office - I suspect that it was you who has been watching my father as well as me. Am I right?"

"As required, yes Miss, you are correct!" The man replied.

"So, what are you, a private detective?"

"I'm a retired police officer, Miss. Whom your Uncle calls upon when he requires my specialised services."

Tamsin turned, looked me right in the eye and grinned. Then she turned back to the man.

"I would imagine that you've looked very closely into the events of that evening, at sometime in the past?"

The man concurred that he had with a nod of his head.

"Then would you mind telling me, do you believe that my father is an honest man? Has he lied to us today?"

"Not to my knowledge, no Miss!" The man replied.

"Thank you officer. I'm sorry you didn't tell me your name."

"Sergeant White retired, Miss. Chalky to my friends."

"Thank you, Chalky. Why, Uncle Bertie didn't just send you to tell me the truth, I don't understand.

"I only do as I'm requested, Miss."

"And could you throw any light on why it was necessary for my Uncle Albert to remain silent for so long, Chalky?"

"I can only hazard a guess, Miss. But I would imagine that your Uncle has been protecting some unnamed personage from being charged with perjury."

"But why would she feel the need to commit perjury in the first place?"

"That, I really cannot tell you miss.

"However I could point out, that a film producer could not possibly promote a young actress, if he himself was locked-up in a prison cell with a Grievous Bodily Harm conviction... or whatever the American equivalent is."

"Suddenly it all makes sense!" Tamsin exclaimed. "How long have you known father?" She called out, turning to look at me.

"I didn't, Tamsin, but I suspected as much." I replied. "I don't know how badly your mother was injured that evening, but right from the start I had never been convinced she recalled events as clearly as she had claimed in court. Possibly Shona repeated to the police, a story that Parker had fed her."

Tamsin turned back to Chalky.

May I invite you and your associates, to be my husband and my honoured guests for the rest of the evening?" she asked.

All three of them thanked Tamsin and then she quite literally shooed them out into the main function room. Then she slowly walked back across the room toward us, all the time staring right into my eyes.

"Tamsin I..." The Witch began again as she got close.

"Please don't speak to me now, Grandmother. I'm much too angry and I might say something I'll later regret! Grandfather, would you mind taking your wife out and attend to the guests; Paul and I will be out shortly."

Without a word George hauled The Witch to her feet and steered her on their way.

Tamsin then went over and hugged Father Conner followed by her Uncle Albert. She didn't speak to them, she just hugged them.

Then she turned to Megan and myself.

"Can I shoehorn you off of my father for a little while, Aunt Megan? I'd like to have a word with him in private." Then she turned to her husband. "Paul, Aunt Megan loves dancing."

The lad got the message and so did Megan. As they went out into the main function room, Tamsin and I - Tamsin steering me much as Megan had doing all day - headed out into the hotel's gardens.

For a very long time Tamsin didn't actually speak, she just hung on to my left arm very tightly. But eventually she asked.

"How can I ever start to apologise to you, father?"

Slightly confused, I asked "What for, Kiddo?"

She stopped walking and I turned to look her in the face.

"Well the way I spoke to you earlier I suppose. But I feel I have so much to apologise to you for. If I could only figure-out exactly what, I'd feel a lot happier."

"The truth is, Kiddo; that it's you who's owed the apologies. You and I are the victims. All we've got to do now, is make up for lost time." I replied.

"You don't seem very angry father."

"I've had many years to realise that getting angry doesn't do anything to improve the situation, Tamsin. And what it can do is lead you into some really deep doo-doo. Trust me, been there, done that!"

"But grandmother..."

Your grandmother never did like me Tamsin, right from when your mother and I first started courting.

"But why, what did you ever do to upset her?"

"I was born on what you grandmother considers the wrong side of the tracks, Tamsin. And I was courting her daughter. Snobbery, plain and simple."

"Am I going to like having a father looking over my shoulder?"

"I hope so Kiddo. But I wont be about all of the time, remember most of my work is down around Antarctica. I'm down there for a large proportion of the year."

"Somehow I don't think my Aunt Megan is going to like that. She appears to have a bit of a crush on you."

"What happened to her husband, I seem to recall that she got married?" I asked.

Okay an untruth. Megan had implied that she'd been married. I just wanted to get a little background without actually asking her.

Tamsin giggled.

"Oh yes she did, handsome bloke he was too. But a little too handy with his fists!"

"What do you mean by that?"

"They had an argument about something and he hit Megan!"

"Christ, what did she do?"

"Father, do you recall Aunt Megan telling you when she was being bullied at school?"

"Yes distinctly, I took her to the gym and taught her how to defend herself."

"Well, Megan's ex-husband felt the consequence of your instruction. They carted him off in an ambulance."

"Bugger, did Megan suffer any fallout?"

"With Uncle Bertie on the case. Her ex got two years probation!"

"Well that's a relief. I would hate to have been the cause of any strife in Megan's life. She was a good kid."

"Are you attracted to my Aunt Megan, father? It is plain to see that she's got a soft spot for you."

"I've always liked Megan, Tamsin. But she was your mother's, who was my fiancée and then wife remember, little sister. One has to control ones emotions in such circumstances."

"Said all very Uncle Bertie-ish father... bugger, dad! There I've said it, and it wasn't as hard as I thought it was going to be. From now on you're my dad, okay?"

"Fine with me, kiddo!"

Tamsin threw her arms around my neck, pulled me close and kissed me on the cheek.

"I'm going to enjoy hearing my nickname Kiddo, every time you say it, dad! But as I was saying... or rather trying to say. My mother is dead dad and Aunt Megan. Well, I've always liked my Aunt Megan."

"Do I assume that that's some kind of a seal of approval, Tamsin?" I asked.

"You bet dad, you go get her man!"

"Don't go jumping the gun, Tamsin. Megan is recalling a big brother character, not a lover. The two species aren't necessarily interchangeable."

"Uncle Bertie speaks again! Come on lets go back inside! I want to show my dad off to all my friends."

"What about your new husband?"

"Paul's got me all to himself on a cruise ship for two weeks, he's got nothing to complain about."

We went back inside and I found myself being introduced to seemingly hundreds of young people. I didn't catch sight of Megan whom I was hoping would rescue me, but eventually Bertie appeared at my side.

Tamsin seemed a little reluctant, but eventually agreed that I could go outside with Bertie for a walk.

In truth, I gathered Bertie required a cover-story while he slipped outside to smoke a cigar. Bertie's apparently very quiet wife, does not approve of his smoking.

We stepped out on the patio and Bertie fired-up his cigar.

"You do realise that I would have never made Shona sit through that, don't you William?" He said.

"Bertie, daft I might be; stupid I'm not! She was really something, wasn't she?"

"Yes she was, and she was terrified of going to prison, especially an American one."

"I wonder... would she have been sent to prison for perjury. She had to have taken a really nasty bump on the head to break her cheekbone like that."

"In an English court, I doubt it. But in an American one, I really do have no idea. Hyacinth had Shona terrified that she would be sent to prison anyway. And Shona had witnessed your railroad of a trial. I've read the transcripts William. It was small town justice that left a lot to be desired. A decent appeal wouldn't have done you any harm!"

"Bertie, by the time I had everything straight in my own head, I was due out anyway. An appeal then might have seen Shona going in the opposite direction. Especially considering that Larry Parker was dead. You know better than anyone how... some legal wallies look at things when they discover that they've been taken for a ride; "Some bugger's got to pay!"

"You're a sentimental fool, William!"

"Hark, who's talking?" I replied.

Albert took a last draw on his cigar and crushed it out against a balustrade.

"Don't mention that to the memsahib William, or you'll get me castrated. Now we'd better get back inside before Megan starts getting fractious again. That girl's got designs on you, young man."

I have noticed Bertie, I have noticed."

"Capital, capital." He replied as we walked back in the function room.

-

It was only when Tamsin and Paul slipped away for their first night together in the hotel's honeymoon suite, that I realised that I had no accommodation booked for myself that evening. My original plan had been to return to the rented cottage on the south coast, that I called home.

"Have no fear, I have a bed going spare in my room you can use."

"Megan, aren't you rushing things a little? You know jumping the gun!"

"Hey look stud. I've seen you in action and I want some of the same this time?"

"What do you mean, you've seen me in action?"

"You said it yourself, Billy. I'm particularly good at sneaking around and I snuck up on some folks and watched more than once. Your little hideaway in the woods wasn't as big a secret as you and Shona thought it was."

"Blimey, you're perverted, Megan!"

"You wanna see perverted, I'll show you perverted! Lets go up to my room now!

-

I awoke to feel an unfamiliar weight upon my chest. Opening my eyes and looking down at my chest, I saw Megan's face smiling back at me.

"Recuperated yet?" She asked.

"Bloody-'ell girl, you don't do things by halves do you?"

"I only had one night I could be sure of, Billy. I had to make sure you understood what was on offer... on a permanent basis."

"Is that some kind of a proposition, Megan?" I asked.

"Sure is lover, and I can get Father Conner up here in two ticks to make it official, if you'd let me."

"Father Conner is Roman Catholic, Megan and we're both Church of England, aren't we?

"Details, details, I thought you were a sailor, Billy?"

"I am, but what has that got to do with the price of apples?"

"Any port in a storm, lover. I'd be married by a bleeding rabbi if you're asking. Besides I've got these!"

Megan held up and envelope so that I could see it.

"And, pray tell me, what is inside that envelope, Megan?"

"Two tickets for a cruise. A luxury suite no less, paid for by a grand old Uncle of mine. And it just happens to be the same cruise that a certain someone's daughter and her new husband are going to be enjoying their honeymoon on. Good-aye, you'll be able to get to know your daughter during the days and we can bonk every night away."

"Megan, just when did you and good old Bertie start planning this... shanghai exercise or whatever you like to call it?"

"To be completely honest with you, Billy. Bertie came up with the basic plan after Shona's funeral. Of course my Uncle Bertie hadn't vectored-in my seducing you: that was my idea completely and fell under the heading, preferable fallout. So, what do you reckon about this cruise, then?"

I looked down again and saw the wistful expression on Megan's face.

"I think I'm going to enjoy my busman's holiday, sweetheart. However, we wont be able to get a marriage licence before we the ship sails."

"No worries on that one, Billy - I've checked, she's Bermudan registered!"

"The significance of that, fact?"

"You'll find out soon enough, hubby; you'll find out! Now, how do you fancy another turn around the... deck, before breakfast?" she grinned

I grinned back at Megan.

We only just made the last sitting for breakfast, that morning.

Life goes on.

C'est la vie Epilogue.

Megan and I did not get married on board ship. Although she and I were keen on the idea, Bertie's wife would have none of it.

For such an apparently demure old lady, Beatrice can prove to be extremely... forceful when she chooses. Not surprising really, when you take into consideration exactly whom she's been married to, since time immemorial.

Beatrice arranged our nuptials. I'm sure that Bertie himself paid for everything. Okay it wasn't on the scale of Tamsin's blow-out wedding, but neither Megan nor I had wanted that.

Quite honestly we both would have preferred a private shipboard affair with just Tamsin and Paul as witnesses.

The Witch did not attend our wedding, but Megan's father gave her away. The bugger even quipped, "This is becoming a bit of habit, William!" as he passed me his daughter's hand.

Bertie capital'd his way through the day with an enormous grin on his face; even claiming during his speech, that he was responsible for bringing the bride and groom together. Which I suppose he was, in a round about way.

Although I do believe that Megan's determination would have brought us together some other way eventually, had I not sneaked into Tamsin's wedding!

My wife, when she knows what she wants, appears to be able to move mountains to get it. She can certainly bend her Uncle Bertie to her will, and that is no mean feat.

Her only problem appears to be that Megan takes up so much time thinking about things. Like "are we going to get up yet... or shall we take another little turn around the deck, first?"

Plays havoc with my work schedules, I can assure you!

Don't do much for my back either; I ain't as young as I used to be! No matter how much my wife chooses to believe otherwise!

Yeah well, I don't work in the South Seas anymore. Bertie knew someone, who was an acquaintance of somebody, who's brother is a commissioning producer (or something like that) in the BBC's wildlife department.

I suddenly found Megan's telephone, growing hot of offers of wildlife filming work. Mostly locations within the UK as well and all somewhat lucrative, in a moderate way. Right up my street, anyway!

Megan and I have decided that children are off the agenda. We feel that we're going to have our plate full with Tamsin's twins. That's assuming she and Paul don't go for a football team.

We've settled down in a quaint little bungalow just around the corner from Paul and Tamsin's place. Nice comfortable pram pushing distance anyway. And Bertie has elbowed both Paul and me into the local Golf club. Our Sunday morning foursome has become a regular thing.

The fourth member? Well George of course! Now that he and The Witch are no longer husband and wife, he's been elevated (or reinstated) to second grandfather position in my daughter's eyes. Bertie holding the superior perch of course. Well, being the family patriarch, what would you expect?

Life goes on