true. A decision had to be made, and she would hurt someone, sooner or later. “Show me how to do that?” she pleaded, breaking the intimacy of the moment.
“For you, Esther, I will reveal my secrets,” he said with a mock bow. “First you have to find your pebble. As flat and smooth as you can.”
“Okay.” She cast around the shoreline but could see nothing but shells, bleached white by the sun.
“The best ones are over there,” he said, indicating a spot farther away from the beach, where the dunes met the path.
“How about these?” she asked as she returned, clutching a handful of shale.
He examined them carefully. “They’ll do. Now, it’s all in the wrist. Here, like this.” He covered her hand with his and snapped it toward the water. Esther, however, forgot to let go until too late and the stone sank into the water with a loud splash.
“Have another go. You can’t expect to get the hang of it on your first attempt.”
Esther selected another stone and did her best to copy the action she’d seen. This time the stone gave one skip before disappearing into the sea.
She gave a small whoop of excitement and noticed George turn back at the sound.
“That’s better. Don’t give up; you’ll soon get the knack,” said Robbie.
“We can’t give up, can we?” she asked, suddenly serious. “Even if it takes more courage than we think we possess.”
“I suppose not,” replied Robbie.
She gave him a squeeze. “It’ll be all right, Robbie, it’ll be all right, you’ll see.”
She said it to reassure herself as much as him.
* * *
Jean, however, used Richard’s absence to confront Esther, rounding upon her one day when Esther was digging up carrots from the vegetable garden.
“Mrs. Durrant, I think we need to have a talk,” she said.
“We do?” Esther was confused. Was this about her treatment?
“I know all about you. Your little secret. Think you’re Mrs. Perfect, don’t you? Well, you might have fooled Dr. Creswell, but you can’t fool me.”
“I’m sorry?” Esther stood up, the trowel hanging loosely from one hand.
“How dare you take another man when you’ve one of your own waiting for you at home? They’re thin enough on the ground as it is. God help your greedy little soul.” She shook with the force of her anger and Esther noticed a stray bead of spittle at the corner of her carmine-lipsticked mouth.
Somehow, Esther had known something like this was coming. “I don’t suppose you’ve ever been in love,” she replied calmly, facing her down. She would not be bullied or made to feel ashamed.
“Love? Love? I lost a man who died fighting for his country. What would you know about that? You’ve led a sheltered existence, haven’t you? A princess in your grand house, I bet. Never having to lift a finger.”
Esther’s mouth hung open. The ferocity of the woman’s attack stunned her.
“And what about your little boy?” Jean seethed. “What about him? Call yourself a mother? You’re not fit for it. Not fit at all.”
Esther could summon no defense against Jean’s accusations.
“It’s not right,” she continued. “I hope you rot in hell for what you’re doing. Dr. Creswell deserves so much better than you.” Her piece said, the nurse stormed off back to the house.
Jean is in love with Richard. The thought hit her with the ferocity of a speeding bullet. That explained her animosity, her digs about Esther’s responsibilities at home. It suddenly all made sense. Esther went, in that moment, from being irked by Jean to feeling compassion for the woman. She understood what hopeless love felt like.
Esther might have denied it, but she knew some of what Jean had said was true. What she and Richard had done was wrong, even if it amounted to little more than a few stolen kisses. Her place was at Frogmore, with Teddy . . . and John. For better . . . or for worse.
She worried about what Jean might do—if she wanted, she could ruin both of them with a few well-chosen words. She could only hope that Jean’s regard for Richard would persuade her to remain silent, but there was no guarantee of that.
As she lay awake in the small hours, she formulated a plan. She had to convince Richard of the need for her to return home as soon as she could. To persuade him that theirs had been a joyous, but brief, friendship, nothing more. No matter what her heart desired, what her body cried out for, she had