Gertie Golden Girl Pt. 10

Chapter 10: MARRIAGE AND MORE

Johnnie and Gertie marry

It turned out that Gertie's mother Dotty and Johnnie's mother Milly got on together like a house on fire and made all the arrangements for the marriage, very much following the traditions of the Standhope family. Apparently they both shared a love of music hall songs and would spark each other off with snippets of tunes that they loved to elaborate on or even make up as they sang along in harmony. Their meetings to discuss the wedding at either Standhope Manor or the Thornton's tiny Limehouse flat were often filled with music and laughter and on more than one occasion they ended up leading a riotous sing-song upon the old "Joanna" in the "Five Bells and Blade Bone" public house at No 27 Three Colts Street, often leading to a "lock-in" that the local Bobbies turned a blind eye to; nobody wanted to incur the wrath of the Chief Constable by arresting Lady Standhope for drinking after hours!

The tiny All Saints Church in the village of Standhope may have had early Norman stonework laid over early Saxon foundations, but the Standhopes had completely rebuilt the church in the 18th century in an Italianate style design that looked absolutely perfect as a setting for the wedding of the handsome Honourable John Jacob Winter, the eldest son of an Earl, and his beautiful blushing bride Miss Gertrude Elizabeth Thornton, although her being the only daughter of a boilermaker wasn't necessarily drawn to anyone's attention, the wedding day in June 1950 was a glorious summer day and the ceremony and celebrations were enjoyed by all who retired to the larger of the three ballrooms at the Standhope Manor after the ceremony.

They spent their first night as a married couple in a small but comfortable family-run hotel, on the outskirts of Southampton, that Collins had researched and booked for them. They arrived in Southampton by train with a small suitcase each fot for an overnight stay and were delivered to the hotel by cab.

We will leave their first night together as private as they had intended but it was a very happy couple that arrived at the docks in plenty of time to board the "Capetown Castle" liner ready to sail at 4pm on a perfectly sunny Thursday afternoon. The luxury liner set sail heading south, carrying almost 800 passengers, with some 240 in first class. Their trunks for the honeymoon had already been loaded in their first class cabin. The ship was over 27,000 tons, less than a third of the size of the "Queen Mary", but the trip to and from South Africa was nothing like the transatlantic trade and was very comfortable. The ship had an interesting history, having been built in 1936 it played a part in Operation Bolero ferrying US troops to Britain for D-Day, during which task it sailed almost half-a million miles and carried a total of 164,000 troops across the Atlantic to fight the Nazis. It had been completely refitted in 1949 and was one of the finest vessels among the 15 that the Union-Castle Line used for the Britain to South Africa route.

Johnnie and Gertie travelled unaccompanied and behaved as quiet anonymous passengers and plain "Mr and Mrs", which as a newly married couple was all the titles they wanted to be known by on this trip. With several stops along the way at memorable Colonial ports, it took 10 days to get to Cape Town where they disembarked and were carried by cab to a private refurbished early 18th century Cape Dutch farmhouse with stunning views of the African countryside.

The couple honeymooned in Cape Town for some six weeks and enjoyed magnificent sunsets and excursions on safari as well as a short cruise to Durban, coming home on the "Carnavon Castle", one of the Union-Castle Line's smaller ships carrying just 600 passengers.

In early August, after an eight-week honeymoon, they returned home to Standhope Manor, finding their apartments there completely revamped and secured for them at the Manor and Johnnie's bachelor apartment in London replaced by quarters more flexible for their future married and family life.

***

It was in the Spring of 1951 that Johnnie received notice that he would be recalled to continue his military service due to the escalation of the Korean War and that he had to report to the 1st Royal Tank Regiment.

"Sorry, old girl," Johnnie said, as he opened the letter at the breakfast table of their London apartments, "But when I resigned my commission in 1948, I had signed up after the original hostilities for seven years in 1946, with a commitment to seven more years on Reserve, so I am still committed to recall until 1955."

"Oh, Johnnie, all the way to Korea?" Gertie asked.

"Not necessarily, they may be short handed in Germany, which is where the 1st Tanks are garrisoned and my commission would probably only be until the Korean War ends. Do you fancy a couple of years learning German and being an officer's wife abroad?"

"Well, anywhere with you, will be fine, Johnnie. When are you due to go?"

"First of March, apparently, and I've been promoted to Major."

It turned out that the appointment wasn't in Germany, but he was shipped to Korea via Australia and Gertie waved him off at Croydon Airport on the 27th of February. It turned out that the tanks didn't really need him and within three months Johnnie, who had always been active in mind and body was bored and when he came back to their London home on leave over Christmas 1951 he told Gertie that he was transferring to the 1st Battalion The Duke of Wellington's Regiment on his return to Korea in mid-January 1952. When he returned to England on leave in March 1953, he wasn't able to get Christmas off two years running, he told Gertie that they were having fun training and exercising, going out on patrol and it was interesting work. As for the war itself, he said, it was more like the First World War with the troops on both sides bedded down, lots of ineffective shelling on both sides and this type of warfare could go on for years.

In early June 1953, only about three weeks after sending Johnnie a letter confirming her pregnancy, Gertie received notification that Johnnie had died on 30 May of wounds received in Korea. Through connections she was able to speak to his commanding officer and found out that during the short Battle of the Hook, Johnnie had led his Company into hand-to-hand fighting with the retreating enemy and was among twenty that were killed and a further forty that were wounded.

Johnnie's body was repatriated in July 1953 and he was buried in a joint ceremony with his grandmother Maudie who died on 12 June and her funeral was held up to bury them together in the Standhope family vault as part of the small chapel attached to the Manor. Maudie had been in hospital for a month and was never aware of Johnnie's death.

Gertie was devastated by the loss of her husband so soon into her pregnancy. During Johnnie's absences in Korea, Gertie had increased her work commitments with the bank and hospital to keep herself busy. When she heard of Johnnie's death, in person from an officer of the home battalion of his regiment and a Constable from the local police station, she called her mother first, as she was nearest, and then Milly.

The womenfolk of her family rallied round. Firstly, Milly made sure she had bed-rest to ensure the babies were fine. By then the presence of twins had been confirmed. Milly met both the boards of bank and hospital, with Collins and Barrington to get her up to speed; she appointed a senior member of the bank management to be chair and managing director pro tem until Gertie was able to take up her duties again. As for the hospital, Gertie was not directly managing anything viral to the operation, only involved in the sub committees handling the planning of future improvements and fundraising as well as providing grants from her own pocket and these could continue without her. Collins volunteered to attend the sub committees and bring any funding issues to both Barrington and Milly's attention of necessary.

Mildred and Evie also rallied round. Mildred had by then fully recovered for her failed attempts on climbing Everest in 1950, where she lost four toes to frostbite in one of the worst summers in Everest's recorded history; and then her single-person sailing ship, "Hope of Derbyshire" was de-masted smashed to pieces in the Pacific and she drifted in the wreckage for a fortnight before being rescued.. Evie had a baby in tow, the two-year-old Toby Dorset, but she cheerfully moved the two of them into Gertie's house to keep her in constant company.

By now Maisie had been Gertie's lady's maid for getting on for five years and she was devoted to her mistress, through the happiest times and now the worst time. She was constantly by her side during the pregnancy and the birth of the twins. Maisie served Gertie for 15 years before leaving her service to get married in 1963.

***

In May 1954, Johnnie was posthumously awarded a medal, a silver Military Cross for bravery, and Gertie went to Gibraltar with Johnnie's mother Milly to receive the medal from Her Majesty the Queen. Despite the honour to her late husband, it was still a loss too much to bear.

***

Back in June 1953, still wearing the dark clothing as befits a recent widow, she was informed by the maternity unit at her East End Hospital, that she was expecting twins. Mary Muriel Dorothy Elizabeth Maud Winter and John Jacob Charles Daniel Henry Winter were born in 31 December 1953 and 1 January 1954 at home in Standhope Manor with the family physician and local midwives in attendance, with "Jonty" as he was nicknamed, designated Lord Standhope, even though Lady Mary was born half-an-hour earlier in an earlier year.

Milly insisted that Gertie leave the London house and move up to Standhope

It had been a tradition that for several generations that the Winter boys were schooled at Charterhouse School in Godalming and that the Winter girls were educated at Roedean near Brighton, from the ages of 13 and 11 respectively, and Milly insisted on this and Gertie, who was permitted to have the children at home for their first 11 years, even though there was some supplementary home schooling included, was considered by Gertie to be a reasonable compromise.

Once the Winter family, with Gertie retaining the title of Lady Standhope, Milly the honorific title of Dowager Lady Standhope, moved back to London, Gertie was keen to work again. Gertie initially spent her working week at the Standhope Memorial Hospital in the East End, having over the previous ten years spent most of her spare share dividends on improving the fabric of the building, while the National Health Service took care of most of the internal fixtures and fittings, although Milly wanted her to take a more active role in the Standhope Winter Bank, which had been run by a succession of Standhope uncles and a cousin and was no longer the powerhouse that it had been under Charles Standhope, Johnnie's father, and Johnnie himself.

Again, compromise came into play, with Gertie working at the bank for three days a week and at the hospital for two. The days were necessarily short, to fit in with the school day, but was intense. Through Gertie's efforts, she was able to increase the number of patrons for the hospital, to help improve the conditions for the staff and patients.

Where the Bank was concerned, she originally intended to support Archie Standhope, one of Johnnie's cousins who managed the bank in the late 1950s, but the board elected her to be managing chairman in early 1964, giving her a much bigger say in the direction of the bank to take a larger slice of the increasing number of small companies that were starting up to take advantage of the rapid changes in technology and manufacture and the bank moved away from the traditional commodities which had been the bank's mainstay in the previous century.

With the move back to London and returning to work, although she still had the children at home as her main occupation, she did find herself interacting with more adults than she had for some years. In early 1964, when she assumed control of the management of Standhope Winter, she was a 34-year-old widow, extremely wealthy, still very attractive, highly regarded in the fields of business and raising money for charity and a real force to be reckoned with within the City of London.

Powerful women attract powerful men and she was openly courted by a number of eligible bachelors. One of these was a highly respected barrister who was expected to become one of the new High Court Judges that would be appointed to the House of Lords over the next few years. The Queens Counsel Albert Jowett Alverthorpe.

"Joe" Alverthorpe, as he preferred to be called, was a widower aged 54, some twenty years older than Gertie, with a grown up family, but he was also an excellent debater, orator and had won a number of difficult but high profile cases defending clients that had been hounded by powerful businesses. He was also very wealthy, with family money from 19th century textile manufacturers in the same way as the Standhopes had been. There were already a number of strong social links between the two families, so Gertie had often met Joe Alverthorpe several times a year from the time she entered the Winter family, either at Standhope or the Alverthorpe estate at Sandicote. He presented an imposing figure, as tall as Johnnie had been but built a lot bulkier, still had a full head of dark brown hair greying rather distinguishably at the temples, and he was generally regarded as being blessed with a face of handsome proportions.

Gertie was concerned about her children at the time that although her daughter Mary was a strong and determined girl, accomplished at school and sports and likely to be a success when she was able to start at Roedean two years before her twin brother could start at his, while Jonty was not doing so well at his prep school.

Gertie wondered if the differences in relative success between her two almost identical children, was that while she as the single female parent provided an excellent role model for Mary, Jonty seemed to miss having the guidance that a strong father figure could have provided, were his father Johnnie still with them.

So, at a time when a number of her male acquaintances were appearing to press their suit upon the attractive widow, Gertie was beginning to reconsider her original wish to remain loyal to the memory of her late husband and, partly for the benefit of her son, who had two more years of Prep School to complete before taking on the challenge of attending one of the best public schools in the country, began to entertain the idea of a second marriage and, if she decided to take that route, the best candidate for that role appeared to be the eminent QC Albert Jowett Alverthorpe.

However, it was actually her mother-in-law Milly that called the conference that drew Mildred, Evie, Milly and Gertie together at Standhope one weekend for a conference in Milly's drawing room.

It was Saturday morning and Jonty was out for the whole morning with one of the gamekeepers, learning more about his latest hobby of bird watching, while Mary was hacking around the estate with the private riding school set up for the staff children at the Standhope stables.

Milly poured everyone's tea and they all relaxed comfortably around the table once they'd all set their cups and saucers in their place and helped themselves from the selection of dunking biscuits provided.

"I've asked you here this morning Gertie, dear," Milly began, "because we've all become a little concerned about his young lordship."

"Well, he is going through a phase at the moment which is less than positive," Gertie agreed, "Mary had always protected him at primary school, but now they are going to different Preps, I fear that Jonty is feeling abandoned and directionless."

"While Mary is developing into a strong character with bags of personality," Milde threw in, "his little lordship seems to have given up and is rapidly falling behind in virtually all subjects except, apparently, English, where he is excelling at poetry."

"You know more than I've been told by the Head Master!" Gertie lifted her eyebrows in surprise, "And you know this because?"

"I know his form teacher, slightly and obviously I'm Jonty's favourite godmother," Milde smiled in return, "his teacher was persuaded that it was in his best interests to let me take a sneaky look at his records and some of his work. I personally thought Jonty's poetry work was sloppy and trite, but Geoffrey thought that he showed promise, and he does appreciate poetry much more than I."

"Whether the boy's good at poetry or not, Gert," Evie said, "Jonty is definitely not a happy boy at the moment, nor has he been since you moved back to London and started working at the bank. Maybe you're working too hard or he misses the countryside. What are we going to do about it?"

"I only work school hours, Evie, and I am home by 3.30 every day, I don't ever take work home and they cannot be affected by my absence because I am never absent," Gertie said, "I was wondering if Jonty needed a man's influence, I mean, most of the household staff in London are female, we don't have the grounds to maintain nor do we need a butler in the house as we never do any entertaining, and my driver lives in the mews and tends to keep to himself when he's not working."

"I don't think you need a man, Gertie," Mildred insisted and everyone else gave her a look. She turned to Evie. "Well, Evie, Gertie's got by for a whole decade without a man in her life and she's become a very successful bank manager, besides there's hardly a decent man available at the moment, all the best ones have been snapped up, or getting past it."

Her mother Milly laughed, "Oh, Milde, you're far too precious for words. You've had your marital opportunities and you've wantonly scorned them all. You've left it far too late, but I think Gertie has a real chance if she wants to get back into the marriage game."

"I do agree with you, Mother dear," Mildred smiled back at her mother, "Marriage is really for women who want children or already have children and need to spread the burden of care. I'm 54 and that boat of motherhood has sailed, been breached occasionally, and sunk to the bottom with all hands, leaving me perfectly free to have my deservèd cake and eat it. But young Gertie here is an extraordinarily attractive woman, still in her prime, and could still even manage to pop out another babe or two if she wanted to. A man who takes on another man's family takes on quite an undertaking, so he would have to be someone pretty special for our Gertie."

"What do you all think of Joe Alverthorpe?" Gertie asked quietly.

"Well!" Evie said explosively, "I must say, that came out of the blue! Does this mean, Gertie dear, that the thought of courting again has already crossed your mind? And why Joe in particular?"

"It has crossed my mind, Evie," Gertie admitted. "It's not just that I have also noticed Jonty struggling with life at present, I mean, he has been disinterested in everything lately, but he's happily gone out with two of the gamekeepers this morning, as keen as mustard and happy as Larry, which was both a surprise to me and also made me think of possibly introducing him to more males around him, rather than father figures, like joining the scouts for example."

"So, not thinking of Joe for yourself, than, sweetheart?" Milly asked.

"Not exactly," Gertie squirmed with embarrassment and was sure that her face was turning bright red. "It's just as I was considering having Jonty have more male company I realised that I haven't had much adult company at all for ages, let alone male company, which, in its turn, led me to run through a number of images of the few single men I know and Joe was the only one I came up with."

"Joe's fun to have at a gathering, I suppose," Mildred mused, "but he's about my age, more of a vintage jalopy with rusty running boards than a spanking sports car with the top down; wouldn't you want someone with a bigger piston and a bit more gas in the tank?"

"Mildred Winter!" Milly scolded her eldest daughter, "please have a bit more decorum in my personal drawing room, we're not in the public bar of the 'Duck and Dog', you know, this is tea we're drinking, not a boilermaker's how to do, no offence, Gertie, it's just an expression."

"None taken, Mama, dear," Gertie said, and then laughed, "I remember in Dad's favourite boozer, my great aunt Rosie once got a couple of beefy blokes to drag the old piano out onto the street one hot mid summer night, so everyone could have more room to dance. It was hot and sticky indoors and was still light outdoors even close to closing time. Her old man was a boilermaker, just like my Dad and my brothers, so locomotive engineering was in the family blood. Well, she slept it off at our flat for the night, was the first one up in the morning, fresh as a daisy and she pinched the kippers that were for my Dad's breakfast and took them home to feed great Uncle Pat a nice kipper breakfast!"

"Salt of the Earth your father," Milly laughed back, "My Charles and your Dad got on like a house on fire and became firm friends during the planning between your mother and I for your wedding. Your Dad showed Charlie how to coarse fish in the lake for perch, and Charlie tried to teach him how to fly fish in the hill stream. Even one-handed, and using his left hand and arm, Charlie had such a deft touch, and they both caught fish every time they wanted to escape the wedding planning. Mind you I stuck to eating the trout, some of those other fish were too earthy unless they could be diluted with some halibut or cod in a fish pie. Honestly, some of the yarns in oneupmanship they told each other over a brandy, would keep me smiling all evening."

"That's all very well, Mama," Evie said, butting in as Milly paused, "What Milde and I want to know, is our Gertie hankering after Joe Alverthorpe and, if she is, do we encourage her or put her off?"

"Hey, I'm in the room here," Gertie protested, "if I am considering ... we'll call it ..."

"Sex, dear, sex," Mildred said, "we all want it, we all do it, and we all need it."

"Speak of yourself, child," Milly said, "I will remain loyal to the memory of my Charlie, mind you, I'm not 34. If I was, well, I personally would give Joe a shot. He's got plenty of money so we know he's not after yours, he had two daughters and a son, all grown up now, but he must've picked up a wrinkle or too with handling boys, mind you, his Archie was a right little ..."

"Sod?" Evie suggested.

"Yes, a right little sod," Milly agreed, "but he's turned out quite well for himself, got into Parliament after a close call with that nice Labour chap and does quite well for his constituents I hear. But his pater is highly thought of, earned his silk under King George and has kept his nose clean, even being considered as a future judge. Married to Marjorie Forcett that was for twenty-five years before she died two years ago. Breast cancer it was, went quite quickly, poor dear, which was a blessing for her, a blessing for both of them I suppose."

"So," Evie said, "if Gertie was even thinking about Joe, then we need to invite him over, check him out personally and make some discrete enquiries about his morals, etc, and meanwhile Gertie can get to know him better with just family around."

"What are you three trying to get me into?" Gertie asked.

"Get you a male influence for Jonty and he can also use a big stick to beat off the suitors that Mary will attract like wasps to sugar syrup in three or four years' time," Milly said.

"And to keep you warm at nights, Gertie," Evie smiled, "it's supposed to be a cold one this winter. And get laid regular as clockwork! I remember Marje saying that Joe was never late for a Monday morning court date."

Then Milde threw in, "So long as he doesn't come too early...."

"Mildred!" her name echoed through the drawing room, this time in three-part harmony.

***

The courtship between Gertie and Joe went quite well, she found him charming and amusing and so, after a short engagement as widow and widower they married in a simple ceremony without much fuss at the Stanhope parish church. Joe had a bachelor flat close to the Inns of Court, but the Standhope family residence in Mayfair was close enough for him to manage and so he moved in with Gertie and her young family.

On her second wedding night, 1 April 1965, Gertie had only made love to one man before and was a little nervous. Johnnie had been sweet, loving and gentle. Joe, however, was much more of a brute. He was a lot bigger in build and overweight on top of it. He was a heavy smoker and drinker and Gertie felt bruised and used after the event, which was all about Joe taking his pleasure as he pleased. And Joe snored all night too.

It was common among the upper classes, which Gertie had now been a member for sixteen years, to have separate bedrooms for spouses, although Johnnie and Gertie did share a bed together by preference during their short blissful marriage, which they found mutually comforting. From the time Johnnie set out for Korea for his second four of duty and never came back, Gertie had slept alone, except when one or both of the twins wanted to sleep with her on unwell or upset nights, but that hadn't happened in a long time.

So in the morning after her second wedding night, she feigned that she hadn't slept well because she had become too used to sleeping alone for twelve years that she simply hadn't got a wink and "would you mind awfully, Joe?"

"Of course not, m'dear, Marje'n'I always had separate bedrooms, y'know, so point one in the right direction for one's new billet and I'll be off."

Gertie's housekeeper, a Mrs Lander, soon rehoused the QC at the other end of the house. "It's cooler in summer, in this room, sir," she told him quite sincerely, "And when you comes in late from yer meetin's with clients, you won't be disturbin' no-one, cos, her Ladyship normally retires early so she does."

Mrs Lander, who had been under housekeeper with particular duties to Gertie's own apartments at Standhope, had always been resourceful and, between the engagement and marriage of her Lady Gertie, had sought out the staff of both the Alverthorpe residences in town and country and got all the lowdown on her new Master in the house and had seen the lie of the land. Thus she had got the QC's separate bedroom furnished and ready for when she anticipated it was needed.

By this time, Gertie's long-time lady's maid Maisie had married, at the age of 30, to a jobbing carpenter, Jackson Greaves, who lived in a village about five miles from Standhope, and in the four years of her marriage Maisie already had two adorable children with a third one on the way. Gertie had been very generous setting them up in a cottage in Standhope, and was godmother to both children.

Gertie's present lady's maid was a chubby girl, Alison Watts, who was daughter of the Standhope village pork butcher, a cheerful girl, not at all shy coming forward and, though scolded often by Mrs Lander, would hum her favourite tunes to herself while she worked. Rather than be offended by this, Gertie warmed to the girl, who had a good heart and irrepressibly happy disposition and, when Alison's favourite band was in town, Gertie bought her the best tickets for Alison, Gertie's daughter Mary and another young housemaid, Virginia "Ginny" Goldthorpe, and accompanied them with her driver to the concert hall. It was bedlam when they got there, the street of the theatre was packed with young girls, police horses were trying to control the crowds and all the girls were screaming at the tops of their voices.

This was the first time that Gertie had come across "Beatlemania", apparently Ally's favourite band, The Beatles, attracted huge crowds of girls, many more than would fit in the hall, simply to catch a glimpse of their heroes as they came and went!

Jonty had been adamant, he had heard about the furore over the band, and insisted on sitting this one out at home.

***

However, Gertie's household wasn't as happy as she had hoped following the introduction of a new "father figure". Daughter Mary didn't like Joe, not at all. "He undresses me with his eyes all the time, Mama, he's creepy."

"He's a well-respected Queen's Counsel, sweetheart," Gertie tried to assuage her concerns, "he's used to staring at people, unsettling them a little so he can get them to open up to him."

"Well, I'm not opening up to him and I've been locking my bedroom door at night."

"Has he tried ... anything other than look at you?" Gertie demanded.

"No, no of course he hasn't, he'd be sporting a black eye and getting stitches on both sides of his face if he did! No, Mama, it's just looks, but I'm not going to be going anywhere on my own with him, Mama, you can take that to the bank and cash."

Reassured, Gertie also questioned Jonty about how he was getting on with his step-father.

"Not at all, Ma," he replied, always calling her 'Ma', "He is not interested in anything that I do and I'm not remotely interested in anything he wants me to do with him. He may have been a parent, but that was a long time ago and he doesn't seem to want to get back in the saddle any time soon or, it appears, any time at all."

At least, Gertie thought, Mary was doing very well at school and considering a future life as a teacher. Jonty was by now more involved in scouting and outdoor pursuits as well as competing in swimming races which was developing his growing body, already slim and athletic like his handsome father and he was turning into a lean-muscled athlete. Those hours spent in the Olympic sized pool at Standhope Manor, installed shortly after the birth of the twins, had certainly paid off.

During the summer months they returned to Derbyshire regularly, maintaining their family apartment at the Manor. Under the Clean Air Act of 1956 London's atmosphere was improving, the banning of coal fires and the increasing use of smokeless fuels like coke in the coal-fired power stations were helping with reducing the frequency and severity of the smogs, although damp fogs due to the closeness of the river and the surrounding reservoirs and water treatment areas on the outskirts continued to inflict suffering to Londoners but they were a lot cleaner and healthier than the killer smogs.

Joe rarely came with them to Standhope on the Friday nights, although sometimes her would drive up on Saturday or even Sunday, but he often phoned Gertie on the house phone and cited fatigue from his intensive workload for staying behind and resting. He never did become a judge, again saying that his legal work representing and defending clients was too rewarding to be given up.

Increasingly, the couple spent less and less time together and then, out of the blue, she received a phone call from Mrs Lander in the London house, saying that Mr Alverthorpe was in hospital with a massive heart attack and that she should return home immediately.

On this particular weekend, the Dorsets, Evie and George, along with two of their children were also staying at Standhope Manor and said they would take care of the children and bring them up to London on the Monday. Neither of the Dorsets were remotely interested in seeing Joe in hospital.

So Gertie rounded up Maurice the driver who drove her down to St Thomas's Hospital in West London. By the time they got there, however, Albert Jowett Alverthorpe had already passed away, he was only 62.

It was at his funeral, a week and a half later that some of Joe's other life began to leach out from the woodwork.

A young family turned up at the funeral, a younger woman wearing black and two young children, one of school age and one of pre-school age, Gertie surmised as she approached them. They had come to the church service, slipping unnoticed into the back of the church, and then at a distance followed the rest of the party out to see the actual interment. There were lots of older children there, all relatives that Gertie knew, but this little group stuck out like sore thumbs, because Gertie had informed both sides of the family, the Winters and the Alverthorpes, to keep all the younger children away.

The little family were keeping themselves to themselves, and looking so sad. One of Gertie's nephews approached them first and invited them back to the London house for refreshments afterwards, but they declined, so Gertie went over to apply a little more pressure.

Gertie assumed that this young woman knew her late husband from work or the woman's husband or father was perhaps a great friend of his.

"Excuse me, but you are clearly distressed, was my late husband Albert Alverthorpe a relative or perhaps defended your family in court? Whatever reason, we'd love you to come back and share some tea and sandwiches with us, we have plenty of room for you in the cars."

Then, in his anger and sorrow, one of the sons burst out that, "Joe Alverthorpe was my father!"

That was a shock to Gertie!

"What?" she spluttered to the young woman, "What's going on?"

With lowered head and the quietest voice, the woman moved closer to Gertie and whispered, "Joe was my ... er, common law husband. My children thought we were married, I thought we were married too but when I enquired about him at his chambers after not seeing him for a fortnight, I was told he had died and that 'his wife' was handling all the details."

"Stay here, do not move." Gertie said.

The woman didn't move from where she and the children stood some twenty-five feet away from the graveside.

The only thing Gertie could do was consult Barrington and Collins and the other family lawyers that were there. Barrington went back with Gertie and they spoke to the woman, persuading her to come back to the London house, where Evie dealt with the boys. Little was said at the house and the little family only stayed for long enough for a cup of tea. Maurice was directed to take them home to their little flat.

While at the London house Barrington quietly arranged a meeting at his offices the following week. Both Gertie and Barrington were aware of the contents of Alverthorpe's Last Will and Testament, it had been read and discussed between them several days before the funeral and everyone was well aware that the selfish bastard Joe had made absolutely no provision for his other family.

Rather than feel awful about not feeling any sense of loss or grief for her late husband, the fact that he had conducted a long-term affair cheered Gertie up no end. Joe and Gertie had been married for eight years but had long grown apart, they had separate bedrooms and she had actually felt guilty when she was given the news that he had died suddenly and all alone in hospital, with Gertie still en route to the hospital. It was immediately clear that she didn't love him as much as she thought she did.

Then, the discovery of his affair on the day of his interment took a huge weight off her mind and the wake afterward the young second family left turned into a party for her and the inner circle who had only just learned of Alverthorpe's secret.

The official meeting with the other woman in Barrington's office went as well as could be expected. She had been quite a young girl when she worked as a typist in Alverthorpe's chambers in Lincoln's Inn, in the late 1950s. After all, Alverthorpe was a successful, handsome and charming man and the impressionable girl was persuaded to fall in love with him. She was aware that he was married, although she didn't have a clue that Marjorie died during their relationship and he'd remarried to Lady Standhope. Alverthorpe had set her up in a small but very nice rented flat, where he visited her regularly when he wasn't with his official family, but he left no provision for them at all in his Will.

Shirley Alverthorpe, as she termed herself, had the rent book for the flat, in Alverthorpe's name and signature, and she brought the boys' birth certificates to the meeting. Alverthorpe had actually registered both the births himself while the mother was still in hospital recovering from the births. There were other bills and receipts, and even lots of holiday photos which proved his secret life.

As Barrington cleared his throat and told the meeting of the executors of Alverthorpe's Will after Shirley was asked to wait outside for a few moments before explaining the circumstances in which Alverthorpe had left his family and if it became general knowledge, then Alverthorpe's older children would suffer socially as a consequence.

Barrington summed up, saying, "Shirley Alverthorpe is the genuine article all right, and it appears that Alverthorpe was enjoying her charms right up until the day before he died suddenly, of a heart attack.

"Albert Jowett Alverthorpe was a wealthy man but clearly very selfish. Between his long-standing lawyers who represent the rest of his family, and we, the executors of his estate, we feel his estate should make more than adequate arrangements for the boys, for their comfort during childhood, their private schooling that Alverthorpe had indicated to Shirley that he was minded to pay, at least term-by-term for the eldest boy and this meeting of the costs of his schooling, care and comfort should continue through to completion of his further education, and that the exact same arrangement be made to the youngest boy, and that Shirley Alverthorpe herself is settled comfortably for the rest of her life. Are we all in agreement, My Lady, Gentlemen?"

"Aye!" they agreed unanimously. And so, Alverthorpe's second family were taken care of without a ripple of scandal reaching the press or the society in which the Alverthorpes thrived.

to be continued