There was a tap on the door. ‘Would you like some cheese on toast, dear?’ she heard her mother ask. ‘No thanks, I ate too much at the reception.’
‘Daddy and I are going to have a sherry. Would you like to join us?’
‘I’ll come out in a minute, I’m just changing.’ Jane sighed and got off the single bed she had slept on since she was a child. She looked around her bedroom with its Laura Ashley wallpaper and felt proud of the silver-framed photographs of her in uniform and the Met Police plaque on the dressing table. She lifted her dressing gown from the hook on the bedroom door, and feeling guilty about the crumpled bridesmaid dress on the floor picked it up and placed it on a hanger in her wardrobe.
Her parents were sitting on high stools at the breakfast bar listening to soft jazz music on the radio. They were both eating cheese on toast and sipping sherry from small crystal schooner glasses.
‘Hi, you must both be tired out,’ Jane remarked.
Her mother gave a little shrug and sighed. ‘We’ve been going over the entire day... it was so wonderful and everything went according to plan, didn’t it, dear?’ she said, looking at her husband for confirmation.
‘Fabulous day, apart from your Uncle Brian and his munchkin wife going on and on about their precious Barbara being an air hostess. Even though she’s allegedly lost weight I bet she still has to squeeze between the aisles.’
Jane laughed but her mother frowned and ignored his remark.
‘Pam looked so beautiful, so happy and radiant. Tony’s a very nice young man. At first I was worried they might have rushed things, but I think he will make a good husband and he’s a carpenter so he’s good with his hands — he’ll work wonders on their lovely little flat, won’t he, Daddy?’
Mr Tennison nodded, downed his sherry then slapped the base of the bottle of Lea & Perrins making sauce splash out over his toasted cheese. Jane noticed that her mother’s cheeks were flushed and she wondered if after the champagne at the reception, and now the sherry, she was a little drunk.
‘I’ve been thinking, the bridesmaid dresses cost so much that what you should do is get the dressmaker to cut down the neck, remove the puffs and shorten the length, then you’d have a beautiful cocktail frock. Pam was going to have her wedding gown made into one, but then she said she was going to keep it in the box so that when she has a baby it can be made into a lovely christening gown.’
Jane remembered Kath Morgan’s remark. ‘Oh my God, she’s pregnant!’ she exclaimed in surprise.
‘Good heavens, no she is not. Whatever made you think that?’ her shocked mother asked.
Jane shrugged and said nothing, though she wondered if it was true and Pam had kept quiet about it.
Her mother continued, ‘She wants to start a family right away and I for one think it’s a lovely idea. I never had a big white wedding.’
‘What?’ Jane interrupted, wondering what her mother was inferring.
‘It’s not what you think. My parents couldn’t afford a big do, and don’t forget the war wasn’t long over. Daddy and I have always saved in a special account for your and Pam’s weddings.’
‘She’ll have to get a boyfriend first, sweetheart. Am I right, Jane?’ he said with a wink.
Jane hesitated and drew one of the stools out from beneath the breakfast counter.
‘I need to discuss something with you,’ she said quietly and was about to explain about moving out when her father pointed to the radio.
‘Bloody hell, there’s more on the news about that Lord Lambton scandal.’
‘Dad, I really need to—’ Jane started to say but he wasn’t listening.
‘He’s a junior Defence minister. Apparently the News of the World somehow got hold of photographs of him in bed with two prostitutes whilst smoking marijuana,’ he said.
‘You’d think a Tory minister would behave better,’ his wife added as she turned up the volume slightly.
‘Blimey, he’s admitted it was him in the compromising photographs,’ Mr Tennison said as he moved closer to the radio.
Lord Lambton has admitted his indiscretions to the Prime Minister Edward Heath and stated he was not blackmailed — nor was there a threat to national security. However, in light of the criminal charges brought against him by the police for possession of drugs Lord Lambton has tendered his resignation, which Mr Heath accepted with immediate effect. In other breaking news George Jellicoe, Lord Privy Seal and Leader of the House of Lords, has admitted ‘some casual affairs’ with call girls and also resigned. The Prime Minister has ordered an inquiry by the Security Commission into the activities of both Lord Lambton and Jellicoe, which will be chaired by Lord Diplock.
Mr Tennison clapped his hands, applauding the actions of the Prime Minister. ‘Christ, it seems the only one in the government who wasn’t paying for sex was Ted Heath himself.’
‘What gets into those men: lovely wives, nice houses, and they go with prostitutes. It just beggars belief,’ Jane’s mother said, shaking her head. ‘I worry myself sick about you, Jane. Every time you leave the house in your uniform I am on pins until you come home. It’s all drugs nowadays, I mean if high society and our politicians are using drugs, whatever next? It’s a terrible world.’
‘I’ve applied for—’
‘I don’t care what you’ve applied for, Jane... What with you travelling on the Tube and bus every day, you only need one crazy person to see your uniform and you’re an easy target for God knows what.’
Jane stood up and lingered beside her father as he turned the radio off. Her mother put her plate and glass on the draining board saying she would do the washing up in the morning. She kissed Jane goodnight and went to her bedroom.
Mr Tennison, a tall angular man with fine artistic hands and a chiselled handsome face, put his arm around Jane. ‘Pay no attention, sweetheart, your mum’s just being over-protective. We’re both proud of you and I am damn sure you’d never take foolhardy risks. All she really wants is for you to find a nice fella, settle down and have kids.’
‘Dad, with the wedding preparations in full swing I didn’t tell you something and I wanted to wait until I knew for sure I had a place.’
He looked somewhat confused. ‘Are you leaving the police?’
‘No.’ She paused and took a deep breath. ‘I’m leaving home. I have made a decision to move into the section house. It’s Met accommodation for single officers. It’s in Hackney so it will be more convenient for work.’
He looked surprised but remained calm. ‘Well, you’ve always paid Mother a bit of rent, which she’s really appreciated, but this is a very big move on your part, isn’t it?’
‘It’s cost-effective, the rent’s cheap, they have a canteen. Rooms are quite small and the bathrooms are communal, but there’s a games room and two TV rooms. I think it will be good for me to mix more closely with other young single officers. The male and female residents are on different floors, there are strict rules and it’s run by a no-nonsense sergeant.’
‘You’ve thought it all out, haven’t you?’ he said bluntly, taking the last bite of his toasted cheese before dropping his plate in the sink.
‘Of course I have, Dad, it’s my life. I want to have a successful career and I need to stand on my own two feet.’