And All That Jazz Episode 04
Dora couldn’t imagine what she’d been thinking when she’d agreed to the meeting.
She laid the fault squarely at Lizzy’s door.
If Dora hadn’t opened that letter after their argument, she would have sent a polite refusal and that would have been the end of it.
But Dora had been left feeling rather bruised by the earlier encounter.
Saying yes to the meeting had felt like an opportunity to do something that she wouldn’t ordinarily do.
She wanted to prove to herself and to Lizzy that she was her own person and that she didn’t need to ask Mother’s advice on every issue.
But now the time had come and she was about to welcome a strange man into her home.
She couldn’t help but think how foolish she was being.
Dora knew nothing about the man who claimed to be from Walter’s regiment.
He might be a confidence man who had come to persuade her to invest in some fanciful scheme.
Worse still, he might be telling the truth.
Did Dora want to hear about Walter’s life in the trenches?
Did she want to hear about the rats and the mud and how those poor boys suffered?
The mantel clock struck three. It was too late to send a note to cancel.
Once an engagement had been accepted, it did not befit a lady to cancel.
She could almost hear Mother intoning the words. Dora would rather spend the afternoon knitting those blasted socks.
The doorbell rang. The man was half an hour early.
Mother always said being early showed a lack of breeding, though Dora suspected it had more to do with the timing of the trains.
She pressed her hands to her chest, willing her heart to slow down.
Fortunately, Mrs Knox had agreed – albeit grudgingly – to stay until six o’clock.
It was one thing to answer one’s own door to family, quite another to a gentleman caller.
The door opened, there was a muffled conversation, and the door closed again.
A man’s voice grew louder and closer, and with it came a light tapping sound – something knocking against the skirting boards.
She could hear Mrs Knox leading the way.
“Just in here, sir,” she instructed the guest.
Then the door opened and she stepped inside.
“Mr Jakeman to see you, madam,” she announced.
“Thank you,” Dora replied.
Mrs Knox stood to one side and a man entered the room.
He was over six feet tall and his dark hair was parted neatly on the left.
His suit was smart, his shirt neatly pressed, and his shoes were so highly polished they reflected the light.
He smiled. It was a kind, easy smile that softened his face, revealing something boyish and charming about his eyes.
He put out his hand.
“Mrs Vale. So very good of you to see me,” he stated.
She fleetingly saw the cane and the scar down his left cheek, but all she could do was stare.
“Mrs Vale?” he called.
Mrs Knox gave her a sharp look and Dora remembered herself.
“Mr Jakeman. Thank you for coming all this way,” she muttered.
It was only when she held out her hand and he didn’t reach to meet her that she realised he’d lost his sight.
“It’s so nice to meet you,” he said, smiling again.
“Yes, quite. Won’t you sit down?” she offered.
She’d been the recipient of that kind smile before, years ago.
Dora remembered their first encounter very well.
To be continued…