one of the teachers from school, but I may have been wrong. She was such a pretty girl. Do you remember?’
‘Not really,’ Leo answered. ‘She was your friend and I saw her at school, but I never actually thought about how she looked.’
‘A lot of men found her very attractive - and I say ‘men’ for a reason. She had the sort of looks that appealed to grown men rather than teenage boys, and she had some of the teachers twisted round her little finger.’
‘So she got pregnant and was sent away?’
Tom had a terrible feeling that he knew what was going to happen. The truth was racing towards them like a freight train, and he couldn’t for the life of him think how to stop it.
‘Oh no. She was never pregnant. That was just village speculation - and wrong. No, it was much worse than that.’ Elle paused. ‘It’s best if you don’t mention it to her, but actually she was raped.’
Tom felt every muscle in Leo’s body tighten, and he gripped her shoulder, pulling her gently towards him and willing her to keep calm.
‘Who, Ellie? Who raped her?’ Tom could hear the strain in Leo’s voice.
‘She wouldn’t say. Her parents didn’t believe her and told her she’d brought it on herself with the clothes she wore and the way she flaunted her body - none of which was true. Or at least, no more true than the rest of us. She told me because I found her sobbing her young heart out in our garden, of all places.’
‘Did she say what had happened?’ Max said. It was clear that this was news to him too, and Tom kept a firm grip on Leo’s taut shoulders.
‘She was incoherent. I tried to get her into the house, but she wouldn’t come. Probably afraid of The Old Witch, and who could blame her? So I took her home. All I could get out of her was that she’d thought he loved her. She’d gone to meet him in the woods as usual, and he just wouldn’t stop. She wasn’t ready, so she’d fought him and even screamed, but he’d laughed at her and told her to stop teasing him. In the end, he forced her and she was completely devastated. Anyway, I made her tell her parents thinking they would support her and call the police, but they packed her off to her aunt’s in London. That was it. She flatly refused to say who it was - not even to me - but I never went near those woods again. I didn’t hear from her after that until she turned up in the village a few years ago. And she never told Charles anything about it until this week.’
Leo was silent. She turned tragic eyes towards Tom, and he knew she was willing him to get her out of there. His arm tightened even more.
‘A sad story,’ he said. ‘But fortunately it seems things have turned out okay for them now.’
He leant towards Leo and brushed his lips against her hair, speaking softly.
‘Come on. I think we’ll have a night in. I’ve got a bottle of vodka in the freezer, and a huge biriani ready for the oven. Let’s go, shall we?’
Knowing that Leo’s stiffness would be interpreted as a typical reaction to such an overt display of affection, Tom raised his eyes to the sky and gave a slight shake of the head as if to signify how hopeless she was. Max and Ellie grinned at him as he raised his hand in farewell and guided Leo gently towards the garden gate.
As they made their way to the cobbled drive, Tom could hear Max and Ellie’s laughter and was glad Leo had said nothing. They would have to learn the truth sooner or later, but for now they deserved to enjoy their holiday and make peace with all that had happened. It was bad enough that Leo had to bear it, but at least he’d been there for her.
Still with his arm around her, Tom felt the pressure of Leo’s head lighten and he knew she was pulling away. Her moment of weakness gone, she would retreat behind her wall of indifference again. And he had no idea how to help her.
She stopped about half way down the drive and turned back to face the house, oblivious to the happy sounds from the garden, the hum of bees in the lavender or the cool evening breeze that gently stirred