Free Promise Made by Linda Sole Page A

wish Henry had come with us this evening,’ Mary confided to Emily as they drove back to the farm. ‘That was a lovely meal, and it was nice having the family all together. Except for Cley, of course, and we don’t count him as family anymore. I sometimes feel so sorry for Dorothy. Cley never takes her anywhere.’
    â€˜She is a fool to let him get away with it,’ Emily said. ‘But I don’t have time for Cley. He isn’t like any of the others.’ She sighed as her thoughts drifted back to the time before her father married for the second time. ‘What Cley did to Margaret was disgusting. She was our stepmother after all – but he has never treated Dorothy as he ought. I have no idea why she married him.’
    â€˜No . . .’ Mary was thoughtful, then: ‘Henry has always been good to me, Emily. I know he isn’t as clever as Daniel, and perhaps it is his fault that the farm is in trouble – but he’s a good man.’
    â€˜Yes, of course he is,’ Emily said warmly. She was very fond of her eldest brother, Mary too. ‘It wasn’t all Henry’s fault. The war made things difficult for him – and Cley didn’t exactly play fair. If he hadn’t insisted on taking his share of the estate out when Margaret did, forcing us to borrow so heavily, it might not have gone so badly.’
    â€˜You’ve helped him all you could,’ Mary said. ‘But he needed Daniel to put him right on things. If Dan had been here . . .’ She sighed as they drew up outside the house. ‘That’s odd, there are no lights. I know the boys are staying with friends, and your Robert is with Alice’s parents, but Henry said he would be working at home.’
    â€˜Perhaps he was tired and went to bed. You said he had admitted to feeling not quite right earlier.’
    â€˜He half promised to go to the doctor tomorrow,’ Mary said. Her voice was breathy and Emily sensed that she was anxious. She locked the car and followed her sister-in-law up to the back door. It was odd that the kitchen was in darkness and she had an uneasy feeling that something was wrong. She was almost expecting it when Mary switched on the light and gave a cry of alarm. ‘Henry!’
    Henry was sitting at the kitchen table, slumped forward, his head on his arms. There was something odd about the way he was positioned, somehow stiff and unnatural. Emily’s heart jerked with fear as she went to him. She felt for a pulse but his skin was cold and she knew even before Mary lifted his head and looked at his face.
    â€˜Oh, Henry,’ Mary said on a sob, cradling his head against her ample breasts for a moment. ‘Not tonight, love. Not when I’d left you alone. I’ve never left you alone before . . .’ She looked at Emily, her face working with grief. ‘He made me come with you, said I should go and enjoy myself – and now look what he’s done. I just wish I’d been with him.’
    â€˜You probably couldn’t have done anything. Henry has been ill for a long time, Mary. He ought to have seen a doctor ages ago.’
    â€˜He always said he was too busy, told me not to fuss so much,’ Mary said, tears sliding down her cheeks. ‘Oh, Emily. He was such a good man. He didn’t deserve this . . .’ She caught back a sob of despair. ‘He felt he had let you all down.’
    â€˜Of course he didn’t,’ Emily said, her throat tight with emotion, because she had been so very fond of her brother. He was slow and inclined to get things in a muddle at times, but kind and dear. She put her arms about Henry’s wife, letting Mary cry, stroking her shoulder. She had done something similar many times in the past with relatives of dying patients, but this struck home because Henry was her brother and she loved him very much. ‘Henry was a dear and he did his best. It