The medieval Village of Withery, was located between Purplemere and Finchbottom, which was where once upon a time the Monks of St Vitus Abbey were the first to grow grapes in the county.
The Abbey
was long ago reduced to rubble and provided much of the fabric of the Village
cottages surviving from the 15th and 16th centuries.
Withery
Grange Nursing Home was the 21st century incarnation of the Manor
House, and it was from the Grange that Sir Clive and Lady Catherine Ravensdale,
departed in his Rolls Royce, along with Sophie Nolan, who was family friend,
family doctor and Clive’s lover.
Catherine
was suffering from a brain tumour and they were travelling to London from the
village of Withery to see an oncology specialist at a private and exclusive
clinic in Harley Street.
The Langham
Hotel was close by, but they chose a small and intimate Hotel which they thought
might offer a little more discretion, there would doubtless have been guests at
the Langham who were known to the Ravensdale’s, and neither he or his wife were
up to dealing with people they knew and the awkward conversations that would
accompany the meeting.
So, they
went to a place that a friend had recommended in the road adjacent to Harley
Street, called the Commonwealth, but their first port of call was to Harley
Street.
When they
finally reached the Hotel, Clive was in sombre mood because the news from the
Oncologist was not what he was hoping for, although for Sophie it merely
confirmed her suspicions.
Catherine
was quite sanguine about events as she had long since come to terms with the
fact that she was dying, and soon, she merely went along with Clive to humour
him.
At the Hotel,
Clive had booked a suite but, on their arrival, they found it had not been yet
been vacated, but rather than sit around in reception waiting for it to become
available he chose to accept two rooms instead, which were next to each other,
but not adjoining.
Despite the
negative prognosis and the travel, Catherine had a comfortable evening.
Clive
requested to have their food sent up to the room as his wife was ill, but the
manager wouldn’t accommodate them.
“This is a
Hotel” he announced “not a Hospital”
“Pompous
arse” he said as he left the Hotel and went out to find a Chinese takeaway,
where he ordered a broad selection of dishes and took the order back to the Hotel.
A kind
waitress called Elisa smuggled plates and cutlery upstairs to the room for them
and they ate their Chinese together.
When the
time came for Sophie to do her Doctor thing, Clive went across the hall to Sophie’s
room, as Catherine didn’t like him present for the clinical stuff, so he
repeated his trip to the other room several times.
It was on
the last occasion when Sophie was settling her down for the night, and when she
returned, he asked
“Is she ok?”
“Yes” she
replied, “she wants you to go and say goodnight”
“Ok” he said
“Don’t be
long though,” she ordered, “she’s very tired and she’s had her meds”
Clive
knocked lightly on the door and heard a faint
“Come in” so
he opened the door and entered
“Hey” he
said
“Hey
yourself” she replied “come and sit on the bed”
He obliged
her and sat next to her and she took hold of his hand.
“I’m sorry”
he said
“For what?”
she said weekly “for trying to keep me alive”
“I had to
try” Clive said
“I know” she
said, “but you’ve fair worn me out”
“Ok then, just
rest now” he said and kissed her forehead and continued to hold her hand while she
drifted off to sleep, then he kissed her again and said
“Goodnight darling”
He quietly
left the room and crossed the hall and opened the door to Sophie’s room.
She was in
bed lying on her side and he slipped in and snuggled up behind her and wrapped his
arms around her.
“I think we
did the right thing” she said, “didn’t we?”
“Yes, we
did,” he agreed and for the first time ever they went to sleep without making
love.
When morning
came, he awoke to find he and Sophie were still in each other’s arms in much
the same position as they were when they went to sleep.
It was a
unique experience for them to occupy the same bed and not to have made love but
it happened, nonetheless.
They didn’t
make love that morning either, but only because it was late and Sophie had to
get Catherine ready for the day and the journey back to the village, there was
certainly no lack of will or urge.
After they
had gotten Catherine settled comfortably in the car Clive and Sophie went back
to check out and the obnoxious manager announced loudly as they approached the
desk.
“I have to
say that the comings and goings between your rooms did not go unnoticed, and I
must further add that we do not entertain any of those shenanigans at the Commonwealth
Hotel”
Clive gave
Sophie a sideward glance and he could see she was close to tears as she turned
to walk out, but he wasn’t having any of that, so in a similar volume to the
one he had used, he said angrily.
“The lady in
the car is Lady Catherine Ravensdale, my wife, who is terminally ill and the
lady you have just reduced to tears is her Doctor, and the “comings and goings”
between the rooms was necessary as my wife requires constant nursing”
And to
finish he added “you pompous condescending little arse”
This was
greeted by a murmur of approval and even a ripple of applause from those in
earshot, then he took Sophie’s arm and walked her to the door, on the way he
spotted Elisa, the friendly waitress who smiled and he paused and tipped her
generously.
“Thank you
for your kindness Elisa” he said and escorted Sophie to the car.
The journey
back to Withery was uneventful and when they delivered her back to the Grange it
was for the final time.
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