Chapter 10

When her father abruptly disappeared into his study, I was left wondering what we were going to do about his attitude towards us. It certainly wasn't a very comfortable feeling to have when visiting your girlfriend's parents for the first time. Neither her mother nor her father had tried to make me feel warm and accepted. Indeed there was a cold insistence on observing the formalities of their position and not the slightest hint or suggestion that I should use their first names. I was nonplussed by this and wondered what to do next.

Her mother asked us to adjourn from the dining room to a comfortable sitting room and when we were comfortable she spoke to us but it was clear that in the first instance she was speaking mainly for my herself and what she had to say came as a surprise.

"I apologise for my husband's less than welcoming attitude to what you both probably feel should have been a happier occasion. While I was a surprised and a bit shocked by your unexpected announcement Kathleen, I am happy for you both. I know I should not say this, but things are not going well with your brother Harold in South Africa. As a result your father is very worried about the situation, this may have contributed to his attitude this afternoon."

"That may be true mother," Katy said, "But what is happening to make him so worried doesn't mean he should let his attitude spoil things for us. I know he blames me for having to send Harold away, but that had nothing to do with me. I was in my own room changing when he barged in and then tried to rape me."

"I am not going into details but what is causing the worry is not unrelated to what went on in your bedroom. Harold is using his position to have his way with some of his African field workers. Since he is a director and your father is the major shareholder in the agricultural business we run, people tend to turn a blind eye to his goings on. It can be a violent place though, and he is running the risk of a retaliation which will jeopardize the whole enterprise."

"I can understand how this must worry your husband, but just as Katy feels he should have done more to help her through her emotional trauma at the time, it seems to me that he should also have taken a different and more proactive role in getting help for your son. Hindsight of course gives you twenty, twenty vision and it is all too easy to see what could have been done in the light of that," I said.

"You are right of course, but my husband has always been concerned with maintaining the reputation of his family and he seeks to do so in the way his family has always done. The main thrust of this seems to be one of sweeping it under the carpet if you can. This means making sure no one learns of any skeletons which may be lurking in their cupboards. In the past, when women had little or no voice and were totally dependent on their men, that was much easier to do."

"So that's why he blames me for not locking my bedroom door while I was getting dressed and then almost being raped by my brother. Now he expects me to keep that a secret from my future husband whom I feel he has the right to know. That is especially true as it has had, until now, a devastating effect on my ability to relate to others, both men and women," Katy said indignantly.

"I accept my share of the blame for that," Her mother told her. "I should have overruled him and got you help, but our marriage was going through a sticky period at that time. I felt if I went against him we would end in the divorce court. "I'm sorry now I put my own interests too much to the fore. I didn't realise what the impact on you would be. Like your father, I told myself nothing had really happened."

Lady Sylvia had tears in her eyes as she made this confession. She was doing her best to try and apologise and finding it difficult to come right out and say so.

"It is still sometimes difficult for a wife to go against her husband, especially if this has implications for her son as well as her daughter," I said. "Had you done so and a divorce had resulted, it might have increased the likelihood of his behaviour being exposed. That could have been a disaster for the boy.

He was, after all, guilty of attempted rape and even taking him to have counselling could have had the same result. A counsellor might have felt impelled to reveal what had happened, though I am not sure of the law regarding situations like that. There is no doubt though Katy has suffered a great deal because of the decisions you both made at that time"

"I have known that for some time" her mother said, "Now it is also coming out that our refusal to take sterner action with her brother at the time, means other women may well be suffering now as a result of our son's behaviour. I'm so sorry Katy I realise now how much I have let you down."

Saying this she broke down in floods of tears.

This collapse by her mother had its effect on Katy, She got up from her seat went over to Sylvia and put her arms around her and she was crying too. I wasn't sure what to do so I let them cry it out. When they were in control of themselves once more Katy said,

"We can't really do much about that past mum, the only thing to do is put it behind us and start again. I am able to say that now because I have found someone who truly loves me and who has helped me to come to terms with things."

"I hope we can do that darling," Her mother said, "but we still have your father to cope with. I don't see him changing his views."

"In the light of what you are saying, that is not of immediate importance. He has agreed that if we proceed and come up with a date for the wedding he will go along with things." I told them. "Concerning our future relationships with him, that is something we will have to work out in the longer term. We will just have wait and see how things develop."

"Calum is right mum. If you are agreeable we can arrange things with you then you can set things up and help arrange the wedding. This might be easier than you think since I would like to be married in the university Chapel in St Andrews rather than from home"

"Since it is your big day I agree that your wishes should be paramount. In view of your Father's attitude to the matter, I think it might be best all round if it happens on your territory rather than ours," Lady Sylvia replied.

"If you want to come up earlier than the date for the wedding and help with the arrangements at the Saint Andrew's end we can easily put you up," I told her. "We have plenty of room at our house, but if you would prefer it, you can book into a hotel."

"If, as I now assume, Katy is staying with you then it might be best if I stayed at her flat, especially if your father decided to come along for the ride."

"I'm sorry mum, but we have let the flat out to friends. They are paying us a reasonable rent and it has all been done properly and legally. Sadly this means it would not be available for your use."

"I am sorry to hear that since I'm not sure given his current attitude that he would want to stay at your place. If he insists on coming this may mean the time I can spend with you would be much more limited."

"Surely if you are helping to prepare things for the wedding you could come up by yourself to help with the arrangements. His lordship only needs to come up a few days before the wedding and you could then move to a hotel for that short time. This would have another advantage for Katy in that situation since the night before the wedding she could spend the night with you and then leave from there to the Chapel for the wedding ceremony." I suggested.

"That would probably be the best thing mum and you would be there to help me and the bridesmaids get ready."

"You have bridesmaids in mind?" her mother asked.

"Yes!" Katy replied, "One of them is the friend who has moved into my flat and another is a friend who is also the first bridesmaid's best friend. The three of us and our boyfriends go out together fairly regularly."

"That is good to hear," her mother said, "You never seemed able to make friends before."

"Since Calum came into my life mum I have gained a lot in confidence and I am a good deal more outgoing."

After that, with her mum at least, things were much improved in her relationship with Katy and me was much warmer. With Lord Harry things remained stilted and formal and we only had any real dealings or conversation with him at meal times. I was glad that things had thawed between Sylvia and and me to the extent that she insisted that I should use her first name when addressing her. This was a big step forward and enabled me to become more relaxed in her presence.

She also acknowledged the state of our relationship and suggested I should move my things into Katy's bedroom.

She said with a wry smile, "Because of the way my husband and I carried on in the final months of our courtship I don't think he can be too critical about the fact that you are living together. I don't think we will mention the change in sleeping arrangements to him though. I am certain if he does notice this will give him the opportunity to maintain a diplomatic silence."

When I had moved my things to Katy's room and we were finally alone, I went into my case and fished out a little box which contained a quite expensive diamond ring. I had purchased it a few weeks before and I had hoped to give it to her this weekend. Under the happier circumstances I had expected to be able to give it to her having received her parents blessing on our proposed marriage. This had not turned out quite as I expected but I decided to go ahead with my plan anyway. I slipped it out of its box and knelt before her as she sat on the bed.

"In the light of all that has happened today my darling, I think we should formalize the nature of our relationship. Katy Winslet will you accept my proposal of marriage? Will you agree to be my wife because I am certain you are the woman with whom I want to share the rest of my life?"

"You know I will you goof. We have been talking about little else all evening."

Once she had said that I pulled her left hand towards me and slipped the ring onto her finger. She looked at it and let out a squeal of delight as she surveyed the large diamond which nestled between two sapphires.

I think that my proposal had taken her completely by surprise. After all that had happened today it was probably the last thing she expected. I hoped that this would take away some of the pain that her father had caused by his attitude toward us. Once she got over her surprise though she took a longer look at the ring as it nestled on her finger, then slipped off the bed to kneel beside me. She then put her arms around me and gave me a scorching kiss.