Chapter 4: The Truth Comes Out

Lady Sheila Radcliffe was waiting for them at the station and was obviously particularly pleased to see Tony, but less pleased to see Kate although she was scrupulously polite and welcoming to her. Tony knew from the vision of the baby being placed on the doorstep that lady Sheila was almost certainly his mother of that he had no doubt. Lady Sheilas excuse of interest in him because he had served with, and been with the captain who was his father when he died was to cover her ingrained fears because she was concerned in case he should reject her. He detected her nervousness as they drove.

Lady Sheila chattered away nervously on the short drive to Frindley Park the country home of the Radcliffe family. As they drove through the park gates and into the grounds, Tony was astonished at the size and scope of the estate. He had never seen deer grazing in the wild before, and it seemed a long drive before they came to the house. As they neared the house Tony could see that much of the open land near the house was being ploughed and he assumed that the intention was to plant vegetables or grain to aid the war effort.

The house itself was absolutely magnificent, either he or Kate had never ever been near a house this large, and to be invited to stay for Tonys recuperation was something they had never dreamed about. They were greeted by Hammond the butler a man of about 30 years of age, and an elderly footman who grabbed their luggage and disappeared into the house. Tony quickly sensed through his extra sensory powers that Hammond had already taken an initial dislike to him. He obviously had picked up or overheard something about Tony and was very aware of Lady Sheila's interest in Tony, and in some way he had discovered her reason...

Lady Sheila escorted them into a lounge where she offered them a drink. Tony in his curiosity started asking questions about the estate, and the house. Lady Sheila told him that much of the house was now closed down and that the third and fourth floors were completely shut down. She was only keeping such rooms that were likely to be used open for the time being. She had offered the use of part of the house to the Ministry of Defence as a hospital or rehabilitation centre for wounded servicemen while they were recovering. But so far she had not had a positive response to her offer.

A large part of the estate itself was gradually being converted into arable land, with the rest being used for grazing for dairy and beef cattle, but it was taking more time than she liked for the conversion to take place, especially as there was a shortage of suitable skilled labour to manage the conversion. Kate was obviously becoming bored with this conversation, and asked if she could possible go to her room and freshens up.

Lady Sheila called for a maid to take Kate to her room, and Tony sensed that she relaxed quite visibly as soon as Kate had left the room. As soon as she had gone Lady Sheila turned to Tony.

"I expect you are wondering why I am taking such an interest in you."

Tony said. "Yes I did wonder initially my lady."

"Initially, you mean you know why I'm interested in you?"

"Yes I have an idea." Tony replied.

"Well Tony, I understand you are an orphan and that you were brought up in an orphanage for a large part of your life, and I expect that you are full of resentment for the mother that abandoned you?"

Tony replied. "No not really Lady Sheila you see, from all my searches and enquiries it seems that my mother must have had a damn good reason, or thought she had at the time"

"What would you say if I told you that I am fairly certain that I am your mother?"

"I would be absolutely gob smacked to put it bluntly and delighted." Tony replied no longer pretending that it was news to him.

"Well I am fairly sure that I am, and I am hoping that after all these years you don't hate me for abandoning you like I did."

Tony just sat looking at her; he could see that she was struggling to find the right words.

"You see it was on the 10th Sept 1918 that I gave birth to a baby boy, and we, that is your father and I left you on a doctor's doorstep in the city, we were frightened of the shame of our producing an illegitimate child out of wedlock, and we panicked.

We went back a couple of hours later to claim you, having changed our mind, willing to face the blame as we were ashamed of what we had done, but you had been found by then, so as it were, we decided to let sleeping dogs lie and, we decided to not to try and find you."

Tony sat silently looking at Lady Sheila. "But all this is supposition." He said quietly.

"How can you prove it?" "I can't" She replied.

"You left a naked new born baby on a doorstep?"

"Oh no, I left him wrapped in a shawl. A special shawl which I had knitted from odd lengths of wool and sewed together. A sort of patchwork effect."

"I was left in a shawl of that general description." Tony said. "But there was something very special about that shawl wasn't there?"

Lady Sheila thought for a minute. "Yes it had an attempt at an anchor knitted in one corner, but not very well I am afraid"

Tony smiled at her "Lady Sheila I have a shawl that fits that description in my bag upstairs."

Within a fraction of a second he found that lady Sheila had wrapped him in her arms and was kissing him, so much so that Tony had to ease himself away from her.

"I am as pleased as you are my Lady, but we are still strangers and it is going to take us a lot of time and patience to rebuild these lost years. I think that we have to take things easily, and it is going to take us quite some time to rebuild our relationship."

It was then that Kate returned to the room. It was obvious from her face that she sensed that something out of the normal had taken place in her absence. When she learned that lady Sheila was Tony's mother, she was as pleased as he was. It was over dinner that Hammond asked Her Ladyship. Will the young gentleman like a hand to assist him to his bedroom madam? Lady Sheila replied

"No thank you Hammond, his Lordship will be able to manage with my assistance thank you.

Tony looked askance at Lady Sheila. "His Lordship?"

"Yes Tony, as our son you have inherited the title from your late father. We have a few formalities we will have to go through, but I have already taken some steps in that direction as soon as I knew the truth."

Tony looked at Kate, then at Lady Sheila. "My Lady I never thought about that, and I am not sure I can live with a title?"

"Tony can you call me mother now we have broken the ice please, and we can ease into titles and things on another day?'

After dinner Tony fetched the shawl, and there was no doubt about it Sheila was absolutely convinced that the shawl was the one that she had knitted as she examined it minutely, and he had his birth certificate which he also handed to Sheila. said. "One of the first jobs is to get this birth certificate to my lawyer, and get it corrected; now we know who your parents are.

Kate joined Tony in bed that night despite being in lady Sheilas house. She started teasing Tony with "Does his Lordship want to fuck a poor lady publican like me."

Tony laughed quietly as he took her in his arms. "I know my mother does not really approve of you, but one thing I promise. I will not forget my friends, and I will try not to change too much. I am going to come back to the Feathers for a bit, as I have a job there and I owe the lovely landlady such a lot."

Lady Sheila was quite aware that Tony and Kate were sleeping together, she did not approve of Kate, but she resolved that now having found Tony she was not going to let any stupid prejudice get in the way of their relationship. If he eventually insisted on marrying her she was not going to try to stop him either. All that mattered now was that she had a chance to make amends for a stupid decision in abandoning him in her youth. She was not going to lose Tony now — no matter what.