After the revelations of the last couple of hours I felt quite exhausted. The grandfather clock in the corner chimed the half hour and Lady Helen and myself both looked at it.

“Good heavens!” she exclaimed. “Is that the time already?”

I looked over at the now cold teapot and the still untouched toast on the table beside me.

She saw where my attention was focused.

“I think this would be a good time to break from our chat, Victoria,” she said, getting to her feet. “I arranged for Sergeant Morgan to come over this afternoon to take statements and I must arrange a new carpet and tableware for the dining room. Do you mind terribly?”

“Not at all,” I replied, also standing and stretching up. “To be totally honest, my head is quite spinning. So much to take in.”

“Victoria...” Lady Helen appeared a little nervous as she spoke. “You are all right are you not? I realise this must have been a terrible shock to you.”

I smiled and thought about recent events.

“I have had a quite a few shocks in the last few weeks,” I said, “But yes, what does not kill you makes you stronger, my mother...” my voice trailed off as I said her name.

Lady Helen put her arm around me.

“She will always be your mother, you know. She earned that right and I will never take that from her.”

“I will be all right, Aunt... Oh gosh, this is all so confusing.” I put my hands to my face.

“Do not worry, my darling, You have as long as you need but, for now, I think we should eat, yes?”

I smiled at her.

“Yes, please.”

Going over to the rope by the desk, Lady Helen tugged it once and returned to my side.

Not many minutes passed before there was a knock and the study door swung open. It was Melissa.

“Is everything all right Ma'am?”

I didn't wait for a reply but ran over to her and threw my arms around her and kissed her cheek.

“My, my, Miss Victoria! That was an unexpected pleasure and no mistake!” she exclaimed. “I assume then, that your...” she stopped.

“Yes, Melissa, my mother has told me everything.” I became serious. “I owe you an apology...”

“Nooo... I don't believe you do, Miss,” she replied. “It was rude of me to spy on you and the punishment you administered was just and appropriate. I said, if you remember, that your mother would have been proud of you.”

“Hmm, yes, you did and now I know who you meant!” I turned to Lady Helen.

She looked different now. Happy, contented. I could see that the burden she had carried for the past eighteen years was lifted. She came over and the three of us stood together, arms around each other, a family.

“I wish Mama and Papa could have been here now. I know I shall miss them.”

Melissa bid us to follow her and, as she went along the hall towards the dining-room, Lady Helen stopped her.

“We cannot use the dining room, Melissa. Had you forgotten?”

“No, Ma'am,” she replied, "I haven't but if you would indulge me for a minute.” She turned the handle on the big oak door.

It swung inwards and we both gasped in amazement. The table had been cleared and re-covered with fresh linen. The carpet had also been scrubbed clean.

“How on earth..who..?” the words stumbled and fell as she tried to take in the scene.

“Bethany and Sally,” Melissa replied. They have been at it all morning. The carpet is still wet mind, but there is hardly a need to replace it now.”

“I do not know what to say.” Lady Helen was dumbfounded.

“Then say nothing,” I told her. “Don't you see? They love you. You have no need to blame yourself for anything.”

And so, time passed. The war dragged on for another three years. Many more terribly frightened and shocked men passed through the hospital. That had only been possible due to the generosity of my mother, Lady Helen Fortesque-Brown and with the untiring and selfless work of Philomena Watson and Doctor and Mrs. William Harris and their dedicated staff. Most of those poor men were able to return to a life as close to normal as they possibly could. Sadly though, it wasn't until many years later that their work was accepted and the blot of cowardice and desertion could finally be removed from the records of those poor souls who had been summarily executed. Too late for them perhaps, but at least it could never happen again.

My Mother and I grew very close in the years that followed. The 'other thing' she told me was that I had inherited all my parents estate, but it was to be held in trust until my twenty-first birthday with an allowance until then. It did not matter much though as I kept busy helping her to run the house and assisting Phil with care duties. She said I would have made a good nurse but it was not really something I wanted to do.

I never saw Thomas again. I received a telegram from his parents around two weeks after he left saying that he had passed away during an operation to repair the damage in his head. They told me he never regained his eyesight and therefore, the last thing he ever saw or, indeed, was concious of, was me, helping him on that sad day in the garden.

Charlie Manston never forgave himself for knocking him over although I told him time and time again that it was an accident and that I didn't blame him for what happened. After all, he had much to be afraid of that day. Had Marjory Wallace not spoken up over her husband it was quite likely that he would have been executed for Maggie's murder. He was very grateful to me but I never convinced him. Sir Michael pulled a few strings and Charlie was able to remain at Woolverstone until the end of the war but he was a changed man. He never touched another drink and he dedicated his free time to helping the orderlies make the wounded men's lives as comfortable as possible.

I was happy to see that Thomas' parents wrote to him directly to say that they also did not hold him responsible. In their eyes he was another victim of that terrible war which claimed the lives of so many more young men.

He and Sally became married in 1917 and had two beautiful children, a boy and a girl. Mother and I gave them the use of a suite of rooms in the East wing.

When the war came to a close in 1918 and Charlie was demobbed, we offered him a position as driver for us. He refused it but promised he would indeed drive the car for us, as we required it. He also became a lay minister in the very church that Reverend Wallace had ministered before that awful event.

We loved having the the children in the house and were more than happy to look after and entertain them whilst Sally worked.

I was destined never to have children of my own. I never met another man who I wanted to be with as much as Thomas and, as a result, Bethany and I became inseparable. We became lovers in much the same way as Lady Helen and Melissa had. She remained a maid as that was the best for all of us to prevent anyone outside our household from knowing the truth and ostracising us but, in truth, we were as close as a man and his wife and we were to remain so until this day.

Reverend Wallace was never tried for his crime.

After he ran into the lorry, the surgeons at Ipswich Hospital tried in vain to save his leg. After they removed it, from half way down his upper thigh, he spent the next six months in hospital.

Once he was fit for trial he appeared before Ipswich magistrates court for the preliminary hearing where he pleaded 'Not Guilty'.

This came as a huge shock to all of us. The magistrate then remanded him in custody until his case could be heard by the higher authority of the Crown Court. As the court officer wheeled him down the tunnel to the cells I could hear him shouting:

“It was an accident. I am innocent...!”

Two days later, after being moved to Norwich Gaol, the warder checked on him but could not rouse him. He had managed to find some glass from somewhere, broken it up and swallowed it. He had bled to death internally during the night. The authorities decided he couldn't face the ignominy of the trial so took his own life.

He was buried in the prison graveyard at the wishes of his wife's family.

And my Mother? She and Melissa lived out the rest of their days at Woolverstone Hall. Melissa passed away in 1952 at the age of eighty-five. My mother was lost without her and quickly succumbed just three months later.

She always said that I had given her life back. She had been so alone since I was born and only Melissa had kept her alive, giving her hope that one day, we would be reunited. The circumstances were not as planned of course. Melissa always hoped that my Mama would tell me the truth when I was older and I would understand but sadly, that was not the way.

The night my Mother died, I was by her side.

“Victoria,” she said, holding my hand. “I am so sorry I gave you up. I wish I had been stronger.”

“You have no need to apologise to me, Mother,” I replied. “You have given me a wonderful life and, my parents too gave me a wonderful childhood. The important thing is that we were reunited.”

“Yes,” she said. “You are right. Your father and mother, for that is what she was, were very good people. I knew they would look after you well. They loved you.”

“I know they did,” I smiled. “And so did you.”

“Yes,” she whispered, “More than anything.”

Her eyes closed and her frail hand released its grip on mine and slipped down beside her onto the coverlet. I lay my head upon her chest and wept.

She was laid to rest in the small village churchyard in the same plot as Melissa. The headstone read simply, 'Together forever'.

Without her and Melissa, the house was too big so I sold it. It became a school, as it is to this day.

Bethany and I, along with Charlie, Sally and their two children, moved into the old Lodge, which we retained after the sale. It was big enough for all of us not to get under each others feet.

Bethany stayed with me until she too passed away but not until she reached the grand age of ninety-one in 1988. That was ten years ago and I too am the same age as I lie here in my own bed and write this memoir of how I came to meet the most wonderful, if not unconventional, family I could wish for.

There was much sadness but as time went on, those memories were replaced with such happy ones.

Charlie and Sally too are but a memory now. Their children both married conventionally and had children of their own and their daughter, Margaret, whom we called Maggie in her memory, still looks after me although, I fear, for not much longer.

They have been so good to me throughout their lives. Sally and Charlie brought them up well. They were both so afraid that something could happen if their children ever strayed from the right path. They were not harshly strict with them but they taught them respect and good manners along with compassion, making sure that no-one ever forgot what had happened to Maggie.

I have made sure that when my own time comes, they will receive everything for I know they will appreciate it.

Who knows, one day, perhaps, after I am gone, one of them will read my diaries and tell you more about my life since arriving at Woolverstone Hall.

The End.

I would like to take this opportunity to express my heartfelt gratitude to all those who have followed and enjoyed this story through to the end. The comments you have left have kept me inspired to complete what will now become my very first full length novel. I love you all, thank you

Anna. xxx