âDONâT LEAVE ME. Please, please donât leave me!â
Varushkaâs voice rose to a desperate cry. She reached out frantically, seeking someone who wasnât there, who hadnât been there for many years, who would never be there.
âWhere are you? Come back! Donât leave me!â
She cried out again and again, then gasped as she felt a pair of loving arms enfold her.
âIâm here, Mamma. I havenât gone anywhere.â
The young manâs voice was affectionate and comforting, but it hardly seemed to reach the middle-aged woman sitting on the garden seat. Her eyes were closed, seeming to lock her into the prison of her private misery.
âDonât go,â she whispered. âStay with me. I beg you.â
âMamma, wake up, please.â The young man sounded distraught. âItâs me, Leonid, your son. Iâm not ⦠anyone else. Open your eyes. Look at me.â
He moved closer beside her on the garden seat, touching her face with gentle fingers to brush away the tears.
âOpen your eyes,â he begged again.
She did so, but stared in bewilderment, as though unable to recognise him. His heart sank, and for a moment he too was on the verge of weeping. Determinedly he controlled the weakness.
âMamma,â he murmured. âPlease. â
At last the vacant look died out of her eyes, and she managed a feeble smile as she finally recognised her son.
âForgive me,â she murmured. âI fell asleep, and in my dreams he was there with me. I felt his hands taking hold of meââ
âThey were my hands, Mamma,â Leonid said gently. âI came out to find you here in the garden to say goodbye. Iâm off to attend Marcelâs wedding in Paris. Didnât you remember that I said I was leaving today?â
âYes,â she sighed. âOf course I remembered.â
But they both knew it wasnât his departure that had made her cry out in terrible anguish, but another departure long ago; and the memory of a man whoâd vowed to return, but who had done so only rarely over thirty years, and never for long.
âNaturally you must go now,â she said. âYour father will be waiting for you in Paris. Oh, how heâll be longing to see you!â
If he was there at all, Leonid thought. With another man it could be taken for granted that he would attend the wedding of one of his sons, but with Amos Falcon nothing could be taken for granted.
âYouâve got my letter?â Varushka urged. âYouâll give it to him?â
âOf course I will, Mamma.â
âAnd youâll bring his letter back to me?â
âI promise.â
Even if I have to twist his arm to make him write something, he brooded. But she must not be allowed to suspect his thoughts.
âPerhaps he might even come back with you,â she murmured. âOh yes, say that youâll bring him here to see me. Promise me.â
âI canât promise, Mamma,â he said. âHe has so many demands on his time, and Marcelâs wedding cropped up so suddenly that he couldnât make any plans.â
âBut you will try? Tell him how much I long to see him, and I know that will make him decide.â
âIâll do my best,â he said, speaking with difficulty. âPerhaps you should come into the house now. Itâs getting chilly.â
âLet me stay here. I love looking at this so much.â She made a gesture towards the lawn that sloped down and away, giving them a splendid view of the Don River. âItâs where we were together, where we will one day be together again. I know that. I must simply be patient. Goodbye, my dear boy. Iâll wait to hear from you.â
He drew her close in a hug, kissed her lovingly then walked away with a heavy heart.
As he neared the house he saw an elderly woman watching him through a window. She was Nina, who looked after his mother, and who now came to the door.
âHow is she managing?â
âNot well,â he sighed. âSheâs given me a letter for my father. Itâs sad that she still believes he loves her after all these years.â
âWhereas Amos Falcon used her, abandoned her, broke every promise he ever made to her,â Nina said scathingly. Although, strictly speaking, she was Leonidâs employee, she knew she could risk talking like this of his father. He treasured her for his motherâs sake, and it was only because he trusted Nina to care for her that he was able to leave this country house and return to Moscow, where he had to live for the sake of his extensive business interests.