Simon laughed. ‘Of course, but I wouldn’t be in bed with you now, I’d be googling how to make a shower in a pantry and doing it myself for you and Diana.’
Amanda laughed. ‘I love you,’ she said.
Simon pulled her to him. ‘I love you more.’
*
The bathroom was renovated with the knowledge and advice from the occupational therapist at the rehabilitation centre so Diana could move freely and safely and today was the day they brought all of Diana’s things to the manor.
Simon had hired some removalists to clear the living room and to bring the heavy items from the gatehouse.
‘I had new curtains installed,’ said Amanda to Janet who was helping her for the day. ‘You press the button and they open or close.’
‘Diana is going to hate it but then she will use it and start telling everyone that she has these cool new curtains and they should get them,’ Janet said.
Amanda laughed because Janet was right.
The old silk wallpaper had been stripped as it was sun-faded and pulling away in the corners, and the room had been painted a pale cream that looked beautiful with Diana’s furniture. Blue and white Chinese lamps on either side of the bed with new pretty Liberty bedding created a lovely ambiance in the room, and some Chinese screens sectioned off the living area where Janet and Amanda had arranged her sofa and chairs, the television, and books and small sentimental items.
The vase that Diana had had the dahlias in now sat on the mantelpiece with the last of the summer roses, their scent filling the room, while Amanda took out an old photo album from a box of books and opened it.
‘God, look at Diana as a baby,’ she said to Janet who came to her side. ‘My great-grandfather looked stern,’ she said, touching the photo of him and his wife standing together with Diana sitting on a small pony. ‘Diana, aged six,’ Amanda read the caption below the photo.
All of the photos were cold, posed, devoid of personality, and Amanda thought about the warmth in her own childhood photos that she had shown Diana.
‘Jeesh, it really doesn’t look like it was a fun place to grow up,’ Amanda said.
Janet turned the page. ‘Different times,’ she said as they flicked through. ‘Diana was from a well-to-do family. There were expectations from the moment she was born.’
As Amanda closed the book and picked it up, a photo fell from the pages. It was small, flimsy and worn, as though it had been looked at many times.
‘That’s my mom,’ she said, picking it up from the floor. ‘And her adoptive parents.’
‘Speaking of cold,’ said Janet with a raised eyebrow.
‘Yes, they were pretty strict, Mom said, super religious and unforgiving.’
‘That’s sad,’ said Janet, as she arranged the needlepoint cushions on Diana’s sofa. ‘You would hope that whoever took on the responsibility of your baby would give extra love.’
‘Perhaps they thought it was love,’ said Amanda, ‘if they were ruled by the church in their personal lives.’
‘Good point,’ said Janet.
Amanda left the room and came back with a framed picture and leaned it against the mantel. ‘I need to hang this,’ she said.
Janet looked at the artwork. ‘Is that one of yours?’ she asked.
Amanda smiled, ‘Yes, it’s a goldfinch. Diana reminds me of one, very hard to pin down but still beautiful.’
‘You know, they say when you see a goldfinch, it means someone is coming back from the dead to visit you.’
‘I haven’t ever seen one in the wild,’ Amanda said, ‘but I know them from the Carel Fabritius painting. You know it?’
Janet nodded. ‘I do. But you should join the Foxfield ornithology club. We go birdwatching when we can and also log the sightings on our website.’
‘You’re in a birdwatching club too?’ Amanda asked. ‘Wow. Who else is in the club?’
‘The gardening and historical club members.’