Tales from the Finchbottom Vale – (11) The Highfinch Summer Ball

 

George Vineyard lived in a 19th Century cottage in the Hamlet of Lily Green but it was about to be relegated in status to his weekend home as his clock restoration business was moving from Purplemere to Mornington Field.

“Time and Time Again”, as it was now called, was the latest manifestation of the family business that had been at the same premises in Purplemere for over a hundred years and the Vineyards had been in Purplemere since before the Civil War, almost as long as the St Georges had been at Mornington Manor.

But things were changing in the county and the only place left in Downshire that had any respect or deference to tradition was Mornington and that was thanks to the St George family.

 

When the Old RAF Base became defunct and the land returned to the stewardship of the Mornington Estate plans were set in motion to convert the old Ministry of Defence buildings into commercial or residential properties.

Time and Time Again was moving into the former and the Vineyard Family were moving into one of the latter.

 

His home would remain in the Hamlet of Lily Green, which he would return to on the weekends, but Monday to Friday he would live with his sister Rebecca and her family, who had moved into one of the Military Row Houses in Mornington.  

He planned to spend weekends in Lily Green for two reasons firstly to give Rebecca family time without a lodger under her feet and secondly in order to indulge his passion for Golf.

Situated in Mornington he was actually closer to Forest Ridge in Forestdean and it was an ok course but it wasn’t Lily Green Hollows.

His other great passion besides Golf was Tallulah St George.

Tallulah was among other things the property manager for the Morning Estate, a role that had got increasingly busier with the reacquisition of the Mornington Field.

Her elder brother Gabriel was the Lord of the Manor but she and her three sisters, Elspeth, Cordelia and Corliss all played a part in the Estates running along with Philomena Cruickshank better known as Aunty Phil.

 

They met during the previous summer when she was staying at her brother’s house in Highfinch for a week in August.

Tally also had a passion for Golf and although neither of them were looking for it they fell in love on the Lily Green Hollows Golf Course.

 

However the following few months had been quite tricky for the couple and their burgeoning relationship, living in different villages and only seeing each other every other weekend.

The maxim that absence made the heart grow fonder was certainly wearing thin.

Her days at Mornington were long and busy, with new tenants moving in almost every week and the new business units were filling up fast.

Georges life consisted of maintaining normal service during business hours and then spending seemingly endless additional hours sorting through over a hundred years’ worth of clutter.

 

One of the families to move into Mornington effected both Tally and George as his sister in law Rebecca Vineyard and her family moved into number 17 Military Row in December.

Their lodger, George moved in to Rebecca’s at the end of January when he moved his business, “Time and Time Again”, into what used to be the old West Guard House.

 

“Time and Time Again” opened for business at Mornington Field on the 2nd of February, not that the majority of their customers would have even been aware that they had moved.

At least the timepiece owners anyway, most of their work came from Jeweler’s shops all over Downshire and even beyond.

Although an increasing amount of work was coming their way via the internet.

George Vineyard employed two full time staff, Dennis Thorpe,  who was approaching retirement, although nobody expected him to ever retire, and Brian Brushwood who was twenty years his junior.

In addition he also employed his niece Erica as an apprentice, she was a natural and would fill the position that would be left if Dennis ever did hang up his tools and Erica’s younger sister, Donna, also worked for him during her free time from University.

 

If George and Tally thought that finally living in the same village would give them more time to spend together, they were sadly mistaken.

George and his staff were inundated with a sudden influx of new business and they had to pull out all the stops just to keep up.

What he didn’t realize was that Lord of the Manor Gabriel St George, elder brother of Tallulah, had made some calls to drum up some extra business, meaning well but unaware that it would have adverse effect it had on his sister’s relationship.

It wasn’t solely born out of nepotism he did it for all the businesses that began trading from Mornington Field.

 

When the properties in Mornington first became available Gabriel instructed Lyndon-Sanders Properties of Shallowfield to find tenants, within his strict guidelines stating that priority was to be given to local people or to people with ties to the area.

Lyndon-Sanders managed properties for the Estate all over the Vale but those in close proximity to the village were managed directly by the Estate, namely Tallulah. 

Her contact with the agents was Michele Johnson Higham who had done a sterling job finding tenants for the commercial properties as well as some of the accommodation but as property manager for the Estate, Tallulah formally took over the administration from January 1st but Vicki continued to work closely with Tally for the rest of January for continuity and then she was on her own.

 

So with their combined workloads February was a wash out romantically speaking.

There was no point in trying to catch a moment together at the Manor because there were always people coming and going and there was a houseful at Rebecca’s.

They did manage to squeeze in a round of Golf at Forest Ridge, an inferior course compared to Lily Green but the company was of the highest quality, but that was as good as it got.

 

And that was what they had to settle for, quality rather than quantity, which they reluctantly had to accept but they knew it was only a matter of time before things would change and they were right because by the time March came around they were able to get back to the Cottage almost every weekend and on occasion they even left it to play Golf.

 

March also brought good news for Rebecca Vineyard, it was a big step for her moving the whole family to Mornington but she understood it was for the best.

George greatly admired his sister in law and he couldn’t have loved her more if she were his own flesh and blood.

Her husband, Bill, his older brother, dismayed the whole family when he went off to find himself before their third child was born and he hadn’t been heard from for the 17 years since.

Being abandoned with two children under four and the arrival of a third imminent, would have broken a lesser mortal, but Rebecca was made of sterner stuff.

Fortunately Rebecca controlled the purse strings so when Bill went all hippy on her to find himself he had to do so without her financial contribution.

That isn’t to say that it wasn’t a struggle she had to work for a living.

George was only 14 when Bill did a runner but as soon as he was able he helped her out financially, but she was not a charity case so he couldn’t do it with her knowledge, he had to help her by getting her paid work.

But that was in Purplemere, where he knew people, in Mornington he was the new kid on the block.

 

However his girlfriend wasn’t and she was able to get her temp work at one of the new businesses, Paige Turner’s.

And as many of her temp jobs had in the past it soon became permanent because of her hard work.

 

In April, Tallulah and George manage even more time together with extended trips to Lily Green, especially over the Easter Holiday and with two bank holiday weekends in May the trend continued and their relationship was going from strength to strength and the love between them was deepening.

 

Which was what made the events of the 10th of June a few days before the Summer Ball all the more baffling.

They were due to meet for lunch at the Old Mill Inn as they did every day, which was the highlight of the day for both of them, an oasis in a desert of longing.

But instead of him receiving the usual text message to say she was on her way his phone rang instead.

“Hey Hon” he said “I’m just about to leave”

“I can’t make it” she said flatly

“How come?” he asked. 

“I need to go up to Michael’s this afternoon” she replied

“Is everything ok?”

“Yes everything’s fine it’s just some family business” she lied

“Can’t we have lunch before you go?” he asked

“No I need to leave straight away”

“I could take the afternoon off and come with you if you like” he offered

“No there’s no need” she said forcefully

“Oh ok” he said “When will you be back?”

“I won’t be, I’ll just stay up there until after the Ball” she replied

“Oh” he said with surprise “I’ll see you at the cottage on Friday then”

“I’m not staying at the cottage, I’ll be staying at Michael’s” Tally said matter of factly

“I’ll see you on Saturday”

And with that she hung up.

 

The countryside of the Vale was very beautiful but as he got closer to the Pepperstock Hills it got even more so.

Unfortunately it was all wasted on George Vineyard.

He had made that trip to the Hamlet of Lily Green on the edge of the Pepperstock Hills many times before, but on that Friday afternoon in June his mind was otherwise occupied.

He wasn’t expected in Highfinch until Saturday but he was anxious to see Tallulah and couldn’t wait.

 

The Highfinch Summer Ball at the Lily Green Hollows Golf Club was one of the “jewels in the crown” of Downshire events, second only to the Lord Lieutenant’s Ball but it paled into insignificance compared to seeing the love of his life.

 

It was the Summer Ball the next day and he still had no idea what he had done to upset Tallulah or why she had decided to stay at Michaels.

But as he crossed the 3rd fairway he caught sight of Tally standing alone by the trees that separated Michael’s House and the course and she was wearing a thoughtful expression.

He quickened his stride and as luck would have it, or so he thought, he caught her eye and gave her a wave, but instead of waving back she ignored him and hurried away.

“That’s very odd” he thought and quickened his pace even more but when he got to Michael’s there was no sign of her.

 

He went inside and spoke to Michael but he told George he hadn’t seen her, but he invited George inside and went to check upstairs.

It was half an hour later when he stepped back out into the sun and he spotted Tallulah again this time by the 3rd green.

So he approached her on her blindside so she couldn’t run off again before he reached her.

When he was a few feet away he said

“I think you’ve been avoiding me”

Tallulah jumped and immediately became flustered

“No, no not at all” she corrected him

“I think you have,” he repeated “why?”

Tally didn’t say anything for about a minute

“Please tell me Tally,” he entreated

“You’re imagining it,” She snapped

“But I’m not” he said “And I don’t understand, have I done something wrong? If I have, then tell me what it is”

“How like a man” She shouted and hurried away but stopped and turned after a few paces and said

“Believe it or not, not everything is about you, George”

And then she was gone, he thought for a moment before he hurried after her

“Tally?” he called after her but she kept going so he pressed on after her instead.

When he caught up to her Tallulah was stood by the trees at the end of Michael’s garden.

“What on earth is going on?” he asked and took hold of her hand

“Why can’t you tell me what’s wrong?”

“Because I need to think” she replied and squeezed his hand

“Just give me some time to think”

“Ok” he said reluctantly

“But you can’t avoid me Tally, or exclude me”

“I won’t” she said, “and I promise we’ll talk after the Ball”

Then she kissed him and turned away and a black cloud followed him as he walked back to his cottage.

 

On Saturday he spent the whole day on the course taking his frustrations out on the ball and after 36 holes he had carded his worst scores ever on the Lily Green Hollows course.

 

George was very anxious to get to the club and more importantly he was very anxious to see Tallulah so he arrived at 7.15pm.

In his dinner suit, complete with cummerbund and bow tie, although he was so nervous about the evening that he had to wear a clip on bow tie.

He was greeted by the sight of an array of stunningly turned out women, not one of whom was Tallulah St George.

So while killing time he mingled with the assembled group. 

The guest list for the Ball was very exclusive, and was by invitation only, so subsequently every one made the best of the opportunity to dress up to the nines.

He bumped into one stunner after another, beginning with Willow, the pretty young daughter of the family who lived next to him in Lily Green, and her best friend Karen.

They were both stunningly beautiful and wearing the expensive designer evening dresses.

“Hello Willow” he said, “you look beautiful”

She blushed terribly and he turned his attention to her friend

“You’re also looking stunning Karen”

Next he ran into the Braithwaite’s, the Callan’s, and the Drake’s which was when Jo Hazelton joined him, she was the next-door neighbour of William St George, and was a hugely popular character in fact she was the original all round good egg and she was looking very shapely, in an expensive gown, but he suspected a body shaper was being manfully employed but none the less she looked very nice.

“Hello George” she said “You look lost”

“I was looking for Tally” He said

“I haven’t seen her yet” she confessed and then they moved onto the small talk which ebbed and flowed until he spotted Tally in a dark blue dress heading towards the ladies so he made his excuses and left the group he was chatting with and positioned himself on the side of the room nearest to the ladies room that Tallulah had frequented and drifted around on the fringes of growing groups of guests, not really following the conversation until she reappeared and when she did he intercepted her.

“Tallulah!” he called

“Hello darling” she said unconvincingly and there was an awkward kiss.

“So have you done your thinking?”

“Not really” she replied and then added

“I’ll see you at the table”

And with that she disappeared into the melee.

That was not what he was hoping to hear and it seemed as if his worst fears were being realized.  

George wandered over to the seating plan to find out what table he was on and who his dining companions were and when he got there he found a familiar face standing there, Jo Hazelton

“Hello Jo we’re going to have to stop meeting like this you know”

“No chance of that I’m afraid” she said laughing “we’re on the same table”

“Really?” he said “how funny”

“Who else have we got?”

“Well there’s Laura and Geoffrey Hunt, Shirley and Mick Collins, me and Phil, Michele and Victor Braithwaite, and you and Tally” she said

“Well that’s probably the best table in the room” George said

“I agree” Jo said proudly

Then she stuck her arm through his and said

“You may escort me to my table good sir”

“My pleasure madam” he responded

 

Tallulah didn’t arrive at the table until a few moments before service began and sat silently next to him.

It turned out to be a very lively table with the exception of George and Tallulah who barely said a word.

Though as the evening wore on, under the table she was being very tactile, every opportunity she got she was squeezing his thigh or brushing his leg with hers even holding his hand under the table.

 

The only people from on their table who didn’t seem to enjoy it were Michele’s husband Victor and Phil Hazelton who seemed totally bored with the whole affair.

Victor complained about everything and Phil refused to join in and communicated in monosyllables.

Jo was not at all pleased with Phil and made no secret of it and he soon deserted Jo to go and celebrate with Victor with their cronies in the member’s bar.

As a result Jo got shit-faced drunk, quite untypical behaviour and Michele, in order to give moral support got ratted as well.

So by 12.15am Jo was in trouble, she had gone to the loo sometime earlier and was found in the ladies and could barely walk.

Word was sent to the member’s bar for Phil to come but he just brushed it off and continued drinking in the same vein.

So it was decided that she should be taken home, Michele volunteered but could hardly stand herself so Tally suggested to George that as they were both relatively sober and Michele and Jo’s houses both backed on to the 18th Fairway they could take them home on a Golf buggy.

So as discreetly as possible and with the aid of one of the waitress’s they sneaked the casualties out the back door nearest to where the buggies were parked.

They put Michele in the front passenger seat and Tallulah got in the driver’s seat then he put Jo behind her and he sat behind Michele so he was in the best position to prevent either of them from falling off.

“Ok let’s go,” George said

“George? I’ve never actually driven one of these before”

“Why did you get behind the wheel then?” he asked

“I don’t know” she said “I didn’t think”

“Ok well you’re there now so turn the key” he instructed

“Check” Tally said in a deep simulated pilot’s voice

“Now select forward”

“Check”

“Hand brake off”

“Check”

“Depress accelerator”

“Cheeeeeck” she shouted and the buggy shot forward

“Wow this is great,” she said while George was so concentrated on preventing the ladies from falling off that he was nearly ejected himself.

“Steady Jensen” He said

“Sorry” she said “but this is fun”

About half way along that part of the 18th fairway there was a wide opening that allowed egress through the woods, which eventually arrived at the end of an old cart lane.

This in turn led between two cottages; one of them being Jo’s.

We had to go that way because the woods were too thick to fit the buggy through anywhere else.

“Head towards the lane Tal” he said “and put your lights on”

“I have lights?” Tally asked, “Cool”

“Where’s the switch?”

“Next to the key” he said

“Got it”

It was a bright moonlit night so out on the open fairway they could manage without lights, but once amongst the trees it would be a different story.

Tallulah drove through the trees and stopped in the lane at the back of the Hazelton’s home.

 

“You hold onto Michele and I’ll take Jo in,” he told Tallulah

“Ok”

He didn’t want to take her to the front door in case any of the neighbours saw her in that condition as it was such untypical behaviour for her.

Now Jo wasn’t a big woman but she didn’t make life easy for him, she kept going limp so he had to keep grappling with her all of which took him longer than he anticipated getting her to the back door so in the end he picked her up and carried her.

The lights were still on downstairs so George put her down and pinned Jo between the wall and him while he knocked on the glass.

It was only a moment or two before the outside light went on and the door opened soon after.

It was one of her teenage sons, Callum,

“I’m sorry Callum she’s had a bit too much to drink”

“Who is it Cal?” Came another voice, this time it was David the oldest boy

“Its mum” Callum answered “come and help”

“Where’s my dad?” David asked

“We sent someone to find him…” George couldn’t think what else to say

“But he didn’t want to leave his cronies” David finished and George nodded

“Well thanks Mr. Vineyard we appreciate it,” said Callum

“Not a problem really” he said, “She’s one of the angels you know?”

He nodded proudly

“Thanks” said David and shook his hand

When he got back to the buggy Tallulah was struggling to restrain Michele.

“She keeps saying she wants to go in the woods to find her lover”

“Is that you Quentin?” Michele slurred

“Who’s Quentin?” George asked

“I have no idea” Tally replied

“Ok back in the buggy and I’ll take you home” George instructed

“Yes Quentin you can take me anywhere any time” she slurred again.

Tallulah steered the buggy along the wooded track and headed towards the back of Michele’s cottage.

Tally turned the lights off and George picked Michele up in a fireman’s lift, there was nothing of her as she was a small slim

Woman.

Tally opened the gate and led the way down the path.

Michele didn’t have children so they had to get her inside.

“Where does she keep the key?” Tally asked

“Look under the statue” he suggested

So Tally moved the statue and the key was indeed beneath it

“How did you know?” she asked

“That’s where I would have put it”

Tallulah unlocked the door, stepped in and turned the light on.

“Take her straight to the bedroom” Tally ordered

“Ok”

Once they found the right room he laid her on the bed and asked

“Should we take her dress off?”

“No pervy” she replied with a giggle “I think I’ve got it from here thank you”

“Ok” he said and left her to it and went down to the kitchen.

He was sweating a bit so he undid his bow tie and tucked it in his jacket pocked then he attended to the top buttons on his dress shirt.

When Tally returned downstairs she turned off the kitchen light and as he opened the back door Tally shivered so he chivalrously gave her his jacket, which reached down to her knees and as she stepped out into the garden she kissed him gently, just once but incredibly tenderly.

Afterwards she held his hand as they walked back to the buggy.

 

When George and Tally reached the buggy they kissed again before climbing on board and prepared to drive up the track with Tallulah in the driving seat again.

But before they set off she turned to him and smiled and then she kissed him once again.

They’d gone about a hundred yards before they realized she didn’t have the lights on.

“Put the lights on” he said

“I can see fine” she replied

“I’m like a cat” and then she made a little clawing gesture accompanied by a growl.

They emerged onto the fairway and she headed in entirely the wrong direction from the club.

“Where are we going?” he asked

“We’re going for a ride in the moonlight” Tally said

“Very romantic”

“Yes but where are we going?” George asked

“We’re going to the place where we had our near miss” Tally answered “We need to talk”

The previous year before they first got together they had a close encounter in the woods but neither of them had the courage of their convictions to take a chance. 

Which was why they finished up by the 17th green where she parked the buggy right on the tree line close to the entrance to the clearing where they almost had their first kiss.

“So why here?” he asked “Why not in the woods by the 18th fairway where we actually kissed?”

“Because this was the place I first knew that I loved you” she replied and squeezed his hand and then they kissed in the moonlight.

“But do you still love me?” he asked

“Yes, yes” she said urgently “Of course I do”

“So why have you been avoiding me then?”

“Because something has happened” she said falteringly

“Something?” he said “Something? Good or bad?”

“Something that might drive a wedge between us” she replied

“Why what’s happened?” he said with concern, fearing the worst, was it an old flame, an affair or something even worse.

Tallulah looked at him and took a deep breath and blurted out

“I’m pregnant”

“What?” he exclaimed

“I’m pregnant” she repeated

“You’re pregnant?” he asked

“Yes” she replied looking at her hands

“You’re pregnant?” he repeated

“She’s pregnant” he shouted to the moon and then he kissed her

“You’re pregnant” he whispered to her so tenderly “That’s fantastic”

“Is it?” she asked doubtfully

“Don’t you think so?” he asked

“Yes, I do” she confirmed “I wasn’t sure you would think so”

“But it’s the most amazing thing” he said

“So you’re not angry?” Tally asked

“Why would I be angry?”

“Because we never talked about children” she said

“Well I am a little angry” he admitted

“I knew it” she said sadly

“I’m angry that you kept it from me” he said and kissed her softly “We are a couple, we share everything good or bad, ok?”

“Ok” she agreed

“So you’re not going to keep anything from me again are you?”

“No, never again” she promised

“From now on we share everything” he said “Because that’s what married people do”

“Ok” she said and then when the penny dropped she added

“What did you say?”

Still holding her hand George got off the buggy and knelt down

“Lady Tallulah St George, will you marry me?”

“Yes, yes, yes” she squealed as she slid along the seat and jumped down from the buggy and landed on top of him.  

And they made love at the place she fell in love with him.

 

Tallulah was laying on the grass covered by Georges Dinner Jacket, he had just finished redressing himself and was sitting on the back seat looking upon the figure of his beautiful fiancé with adoring eyes and she lay there sighing beneath his jacket for about twenty minutes before she began to stir.

 

“Turn your back,” Tallulah said

“Why?” he asked

“So I can get dressed of course”

“But I’ve already seen everything”

“That was when we were making love” she corrected him

“This is different”

“Ok” he said and turned his back to her

“And no peeking”

“Ok”

George thought it was rather cute that even after what they had just done in the moonlight she was still acting shy.

“Now you can look,” she said

When he turned around she was wearing his Dinner Jacket over her blue dress again.

 

Tallulah had been staying at her Cousin Michaels who lived at the other end of the course where his rather grand house backed onto the 3rd green.

Whereas George’s cottage was in Lily Green which was on the opposite side of the Golf Course,

“So where to milady?” he asked as they trundled across the course in the buggy, George driving this time with Tallulah next to him with her arm through his, wearing his jacket again.

“Will it be the big ‘ouse with the gentry or roughing it with the peasants?”

“I think I will rough it” she replied “With my peasant fiancé”

 

He stopped the buggy right in the trees by the seventh green and he walked her through the woods to the path that led to Lily Green.

“What are we going to do about the buggy?” she asked

“We’ll take it back tomorrow” he replied “If you’re up early enough, I know what you posh birds are like”

“Oh you’ve had a lot of experience with posh birds have you?”

Tally asked

“Modesty forbids me from answering that question” he replied and they paused in the darkness and enjoyed a long sensual kiss.

“Come on then Mrs. Vineyard” he said “Let’s get you home”

“I’ve changed my mind” she said

“You want to go to Michaels after all?” he asked

“No I’ll come and rough it in the cottage” she said

“What then?” he asked

“It’s the engagement thing, Mrs. Vineyard sounds really common” Tallulah said and laughed

“Ok good night then” he said

“What? Don’t leave me” she said with panic in her voice and ran after him and when she caught him he just smiled at her

“You bastard” she said and slapped him playfully

“Do you really think I would just leave you here?”

“No” she said hugging him “But you’re still a bastard”

 

They weren’t up early enough for breakfast in fact they were barely in time for lunch.

So it was late on Sunday morning when Tallulah and George emerged through the front door of his cottage, Tally carrying her previous days outfit in a carrier bag.

Tallulah kept some clothes at his Cottage which meant she didn’t have to navigate her way across the course in the previous night’s clothes. 

Miraculously the buggy was still where they left it deep in the woods at the end of the path so they trundled their way to the 3rd green and walked excitedly up the garden of Michaels house to break both lots of happy news.