Read Online I'll Be Seeing You by Margaret Mayhew - Free Book Online Page A

his place in Provence, he told me, when we had moved on to the fruit stage – a bowl of luscious black grapes placed strategically between us. I had stayed there several times and loved the old farmhouse which he had restored from a ruin. It was hidden away up in the hills, unpretentious and sublimely peaceful.
    â€˜That seems an awful pity.’
    He shrugged. ‘Eric and I worked on the place together for years, as you know – the house, the terrace, the olive grove, everything. It’s simply not the same without him. Life changes. One has to move on and not cling to the past.’
    I said, ‘Well, life’s certainly changed for me.’
    He poured more wine. ‘Looking at you, darling, I’d say it was for the worst. Is that why you’re here? To talk about it? I’m a wonderful sounding board, and the absolute soul of discretion, as you know. What has changed your life so dramatically?’
    I knew that I could, indeed, trust him and I needed to talk to someone other than Drew – someone who could be utterly objective. ‘My mother died recently.’
    â€˜I’m sorry, I didn’t know. You have my sympathy, Juliet. Mine died many years ago but I still grieve for her.’
    â€˜She had cancer . . . well, you know what that’s like. Thank God, her illness was fairly short.’
    â€˜But it’s not just that which has affected you so badly, is it?’
    â€˜She left me a letter. She’d written it a few days before she died – I found it in her writing desk, sealed in an envelope addressed to me.’
    â€˜And what did it say?’
    I told him briefly.
    He raised an eyebrow. ‘No wonder you’re so upset, darling. It must have been a most ghastly shock. Have you said anything to anyone else?’
    â€˜Only my brother.’
    â€˜And what does
he
think?’
    â€˜That I should tear up the letter and forget all about it. So did I – at first. I was convinced that my mother must have been affected by the drugs she was taking.’
    â€˜Very possible. Eric had the most extraordinary hallucinations towards the end. He imagined all kinds of strange things.’
    â€˜But I don’t believe that any more. I’m sure the letter told the truth. For one thing, the students living in her house said she was perfectly rational, not a bit muddled. And then I found her marriage certificate and unearthed the interesting fact that I was born five months after the date, which fits exactly with what she said in the letter – that I was already on the way.’
    â€˜And she thought this American pilot – your natural father – was dead. Which left her in a very sad and frightening situation in those puritanical days.’
    â€˜There was a photo with the letter as well.’
    â€˜Of what?’
    â€˜An American bomber crew. No names, or any clues, but this man is obviously one of them. Whichever one is the pilot.’
    â€˜Do you have it with you?’
    I took it from my bag and handed it over, pointing with my finger. ‘My brother thinks he’s probably the one in the middle at the back.’
    He studied it in silence for a long moment before returning it. ‘Well, he looks a very decent sort of chap. Clean-cut. A regular guy, as the Americans say. But I wonder why your mother decided to tell you about him at that late stage.’
    â€˜She said he was a wonderful man and that it was only fair to him to put the record straight.’
    â€˜Well, that should console you a little.’
    â€˜That she thought he was wonderful? So was my other father.’
    â€˜Of course, and you were extremely fond of him, as he was of you. More grapes? No?’ He snipped at the bunch of grapes with elegant little silver shears. ‘Does it bother you to think of yourself as half American?’
    â€˜I hadn’t thought about it. I can’t get used to the idea of having a different father,