In the last week of August, another event happened to me that could have come straight out of a True Heart Romance. I was visiting Isla when her mother and eldest brother were present. Isla recently had her ears pierced, and I complimented her on the small crystal studs in her ear lobes.
“You never wear jewellery, Lils,” she remarked. “I only ever see you wear that watch.”
“I don’t have anything else,” I told her truthfully. “I had a lot of plastic stuff and metal that had gone green. I got rid of it soon after moving to Dragonhill. I hadn’t worn any of it for years, and it was tarnished and scratched with missing parts. I once had a jewellery box with real jewellery in it, but my mother and stepfather sold it.”
Iago, Isla and Lissa were aghast, and I related my story, describing what I lost in detail whilst basking in their sympathy.
“Did you ever try to get the jewellery or the china back?” Iago asked. “Did Tim or Elspeth?”
I shook my head.
“No, the jewellery was sold last October, and I don’t know to whom. My mother told Uncle Tim they took it to a pawnbroker’s, and she gave him a name. She said she no longer had the ticket. He did go to the pawnbroker, but they said that they had very recently sold the box and jewellery, and they couldn’t say who bought it. Nobody was interested in the china, so my mother left it at a charity shop. She couldn’t remember which one. It is all lost forever.”
Three days later, Iago rang me. My heart flew to my mouth. Only Isla phoned me.
The purpose of the call was to establish exactly what the jewellery and the box looked like. A little taken aback, I repeated my description. Iago then ended the call.
The next day, the day on which Princess Diana died, Iago knocked on our door.
I greeted him.
“Have you heard the news? Isn’t it sad? She was so young.”
“It is sad, I agree. However, I have some good news for you.”
He came in, Uncle Tim and Aunt Elspeth were also present, and he presented me with a box in a carrier bag.
“Oh my God, my jewellery box! How did you manage to get it? Oh, look all the jewellery is still there. Iago, I don’t know what to say. Thank you. How did you find it?”
“My girlfriend is into vintage jewellery, and I went to a second-hand jeweller’s to buy her a present. I bought her a pair of earrings then I saw your box. The woman behind the counter explained she had bought it from a pawnbroker’s a few months’ ago. She was trying to sell the box and its contents. She had tried displaying it in various ways, she had tried grouping the contents in different ways, and she even tried selling everything as a job lot, but only the rings sold.
“This is why I am able to return most of your possessions to you. I remember your description of the rings. One gold with a horseshoe set with tiny diamonds, five little rubies set in a gold band and a twisted silver ring set with an aquamarine.
“I could not see any rings like them in that store or elsewhere in the town, so I bought this. I tried to find something that would combine all three of your stolen rings.”
He indicated a ring, nestled in the box that I had overlooked in my unexpected joy.
Gently, I pulled it out with shaking fingers. It was a yellow gold band set with three small rubies and two small aquamarines.
“I remember you telling me that your father used to call you his little ruby redhead. I know I could not get all of your jewellery back, and God knows what happened to your china, but I hope this helps.”
I put the ring on. It fitted the third finger of my right hand.
I turned to Iago with tears running down my cheeks and thanked him in a broken voice. He smiled, and my world became brighter.
I did not see the looks Aunt Elspeth and Uncle Tim were exchanging. He spoke in a tense voice.
“That was very kind of you to take the trouble to find Lily’s property and to return it to her. We will of course pay you back right now. How much were you charged? We will also pay for the ring if you cannot get a refund. No, Lily, you may not keep the ring. It was not part of your original jewellery collection, nor does it replace what was lost. This makes it a ring that a man of twenty-five has given to a girl of fourteen. Iago, I appreciate you are not proposing to Lily, but you must see how this is not appropriate.”
I froze and felt the blood drain from my face. This could not be happening.
Iago’s face fell, and he looked hurt.
“I promise I never meant anything like that,” he eventually muttered.
“No, I believe your intentions are good, but you must see…” Uncle Tim’s firm voice trailed off awkwardly.
“I’m sorry, I never meant to cause any problems. I meant for the best.” Iago blushed. “Here, let me find the receipts.”
What choice did I have but to remove the ring barely one minute after putting it on, avoiding eye contact and trying not to cry?
I may not be able to wear it, but he did get me a ring, and he only got her earrings. I bet he would never have gone to half as much time or expense for her. And I bet he doesn’t know what her father used to call her.
Once Iago left, I turned to my aunt and uncle with a resentful face. They had given him a cheque for the jewellery and the box, and he left his ring with its receipt with them.
My aunt spoke.
“Lily, you must see why you could not keep that ring.”
“No, I don’t,” I folded my arms mutinously. “Iago was not proposing to me, he even mentioned his girlfriend, he was just being kind. You didn’t object when he was kind to me before. When he risked his life to save mine, when he found you and told you what had been going on at home.”
“Those were entirely different incidents,” she replied. “Him finding your jewellery and returning it was also entirely different to buying you more jewellery, let alone a ring. It’s only right that we should pay him back. You should not be in a position to owe him anything. He is more than old enough to realise this and the implied significance of a man giving a girl a ring.”
“I already owe him everything! He risked death to save me, he took me to hospital then tracked you down. He didn’t have to do any of that. If he did not find you and tell you the truth, I dread to think what would have happened to me. I would have either tried again and now be dead or severely disabled or living like Cinderella with Mum and Ghastly Lionel for ever.”
“You say you owe him everything because of what he did. Would you say that if he were not a handsome, charming young man but a dull middle-aged woman? If he had saved a thirteen-year-old boy or a three-year-old girl, would they owe him everything? Even if he gave them rings? What do you mean by everything, in any case?”
I had no answer to Uncle Tim’s questions. I felt naked and riled, how could they take away what I loved best in my life as well as his present? They did not understand things and were twisting my words.
Uncle Tim continued.
“Lily, has Iago tried to contact you before now? Is he there when you go to see Isla? Does he try to get you alone?”
I could easily answer these questions.
“No, he rang me yesterday morning. You both know that because I told you. He has never phoned me before or since. I have never phoned him. I don’t even know his number. Sometimes he’s there when I see Isla but not always. Besides, their mum is always there. The only times I’ve been alone with him are the few times he’s answered the door when I’ve visited Isla. He greets me, asks how I am, asks how you both are, before he calls Isla. He says goodbye if he happens to be around when I leave. What is wrong with any of that?”
“Nothing,” my aunt stated calmly. “What would be wrong would be for him to form a romantic relationship with you or to try to manipulate you to sleep with him and keep it a secret. You are nearly two years under the age of consent and over a decade his junior. You are more vulnerable than most girls your age because of what you have been through. He knows this, and if he has any real respect for you, he will treat you like his youngest sister’s friend. A minor. He will treat you as the older brothers of Isla’s friends should treat her.
“I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt. I work with abused girls, and maybe it makes me see danger where there’s none. He is not to give you any more presents or spend time alone with you. I don’t want him to call you. It’s all very well him sometimes being at his mother’s when you see Isla, but it can go no further.”
“But aunt, he has never given me anything apart from what you saw, and there was a reason for that. He has been with his girlfriend for years, and I know he would never cheat on her. He only rang me yesterday because he wanted to return my property to me. He has never tried to get me on my own. He has only ever done what you say he must do.”