Chapter 15
‘Cup of tea?’ I ask Finn some time later.
Once again, I’ve been so firmly in the zone, making sure every detail of my murder scene is correct, that I’ve had to rely on my phone alarm to make me get to my feet and move.
Finn is still on his bench, but does at least have his eyes open and a notebook in his hand.
‘We might need to wait a little while,’ he tells me. ‘Gina’s on the terrace with Tess and it didn’t sound like it was going particularly well earlier.’
‘Hm. Well, if she doesn’t want to air her dirty linen in public, then there are plenty of more private places they could have their meeting. I don’t see why I should be denied a cup of tea simply because she’s there. Coming?’
Finn gets to his feet. ‘Sure. Why not?’
As we approach the terrace, I can hear what he means. Although I can’t make out the individual words, I can hear Gina’s voice sounding a bit agitated, interrupted occasionally by Tess’s more measured tones.
‘All I’m saying,’ Tess is telling her as we come into earshot, ‘is that sometimes less is more. Look at that sentence there. Read it out loud to me.’
‘“The dewy fragrance of the early-morning air eagerly snaked its way into Donald’s hungrily appreciative nostrils, stimulating his olfactory nerves and causing the synapses in his brain to fire like a fusillade of canons as they conjured up vivid images in his mind’s eye of other dawns breaking when he’d raced across these downs as a youngster, his hair flying in the breeze as boy and horse cantered together in perfect synchronicity. ” What’s wrong with that?’
‘Nothing, except you’ve basically taken a four-line sentence to say that Donald breathed deeply, and the scent of the air reminded him of early-morning rides when he was a teenager. It’s a little over-described, don’t you see?’
‘Yes, but this is art, Tess, not the kind of drivel that people like Laura write. I’m appealing to a highbrow audience, who expect more than just humdrum prose with a few bloodstains thrown in.’
OK, so this is awkward. They’re still oblivious to our presence, and part of me contemplates retreating to prevent an embarrassing scene, but I would actually like a cup of tea and there’s no way of getting one without alerting them. In the end I clear my throat, making them both start.
‘How long have you two been standing there, eavesdropping?’ Gina accuses as soon as she regains her composure, evidently deciding that attack is the best form of defence. Quelle surprise.
‘That doesn’t matter,’ I tell her coolly. ‘If you didn’t want to be overheard, you should have found somewhere private for your chat. Finn and I are only after a cup of tea, and then we’ll be out of your way.’
‘I suppose you think you’re better than me, don’t you,’ she continues, evidently spoiling for a fight. ‘I know your little secret, you know.’
‘What secret would that be?’
‘That you’re the supposedly great Larry Spalding.
’ My face obviously betrays me as she continues in a triumphant tone.
‘Oh, come on. You didn’t seriously think Lynette was going to keep something like that to herself for long, did you?
She’s leakier than a colander, that one.
So, what’s someone like you doing here, that’s what I want to know.
Come to spend time with the little people, to remind yourself how fabulous you are while you spew out the next instalment in your production line of gore? ’
I’m gobsmacked. Not only by her hostility, but the fact that she genuinely seems to believe that’s the way I think.
‘Of course not!’ I exclaim. ‘If I’ve given you that impression then all I can say is that I’m sorry. As far as I’m concerned, we’re both here for the same thing, which is to write something our audience will enjoy.’
She stares at me for a moment in silence. ‘Then why not be honest with us from the start, hm? Why conceal your identity if you didn’t think we’d all be fawning over you if we knew who you really were?’
‘Because I’m not in the habit of broadcasting who I am. Look, Gina. I’m not sure what your problem with me is, or why you seem to have taken so violently against me, but I really am just here to write, the same as you.’
She sniffs. ‘I’ll tell you why I have a problem with you. You lied about who you were. That doesn’t sit well with me.’
‘I didn’t lie, I just—’
‘Failed to tell the truth,’ she cuts me off. ‘Same thing. Well, if you’re the kind of person who can happily deceive others and sleep at night, then good luck to you. You’ll forgive me if I don’t wish to associate with you though.’
She gets to her feet and starts to stalk towards the garden, before her eyes fall on Finn and she stops in her tracks.
‘And what about you?’ she spits at him. ‘Are you secretly a bestselling author too?’
‘Hey, leave me out of this,’ Finn says, holding up his hands.
‘Why? You’re being just as evasive as Laura here. All that stuff at lunch about “I’d prefer to keep my project under wraps”. I’ll unmask you, be certain of that.’
We all stare after her as she sweeps regally down the path, and an uncomfortable silence descends.
‘Well,’ I say eventually. ‘That was…’
‘Intense,’ Finn offers when I run out of steam.
‘She’s not normally like that,’ Tess says. ‘I think she’s just feeling the heat at the moment.’
‘Oh, really?’ I retort. ‘She’s normally sweetness and light, is she?’
‘I wouldn’t go that far, no. But I think the reality of publishing her book, and other people actually reading it, is making her jittery.’
‘That wasn’t jittery. That was mean.’
‘Yes, fair enough. She wasn’t at her best, that’s for sure. But try to see things from her perspective for a moment.’
I sigh. ‘Which is?’
‘This book means everything to her. She’s been working on it for years, telling everyone who’ll listen what a masterpiece it is. But, until now, nobody apart from her and the people she’s submitted it to have actually read any of it.’
‘But Suzie and Grace must have done. The way they were talking about it…’
‘They haven’t, trust me. Gina is, to put it kindly, quite a forceful personality, so if she tells you something is good, your natural inclination is to believe her.
Suzie and Grace are in awe of her, and that’s part of the problem.
Suddenly, she’s worrying whether her magnificent statue actually has feet of clay, and she’s insecure.
Lynette doesn’t help, of course, but I suspect having you walk up and hear what you did is going to have sent her spiralling inside.
She doesn’t take criticism well at the best of times, but criticism in front of someone like you is just humiliating. ’
‘Tell me,’ Finn asks before I have a chance to respond, ‘is her whole book like that?’
Tess smiles enigmatically. ‘I couldn’t possibly comment. What I will say is that the basic story and structure is good. She’s done her research too but, like any draft, it needs refinement. That’s what editing is for. Do you know what the real tragedy here is?’
Finn shakes his head.
‘That if she and Lynette could get over themselves and work together, they’d have a winning formula. Who doesn’t love a Tudor romp, eh?’
I’m up early again the next morning. I didn’t get any work done after Finn’s and my chat with Tess, as my mind was busy replaying the conversation with both her and Gina.
My initial outrage at Lynette’s indiscretion and the things Gina said has faded a little and, although I’m still not particularly sympathetic to either of them, I do understand where Tess was coming from.
By the time dinner came around last night, I’d semi-resolved to try to build some bridges with Gina at least, but it had quickly become apparent that the timing wasn’t right.
Finn’s summary of the atmosphere between the two sisters as ‘colder than a nuclear winter’ was pretty much bang on, and we ate in a tetchy silence that was only broken by the occasional request for someone to pass something.
Even Cara’s amazing cooking and the carafes of wine that Hugh had topped up as soon as they were half-empty had failed to lighten the mood, and everyone had retired to their rooms as soon as the meal was over.
However, today is a new day and I’ve decided to walk into Saint-Antonin-Noble-Val again before breakfast, taking my notebook so I can write down any ideas as they occur to me.
I’m reasonably confident that my murder scene is as it should be, so now I need to start thinking in detail about the next part of the story.
Gina, Lynette and the weird dynamics are quickly pushed to one side as I allow myself to become immersed in Claire’s predicament.
It therefore takes me a moment to realise that I’m not alone as I step into the early-morning sunshine.
‘Oh, hello,’ Finn says, straightening up from tying the laces on his walking boots. ‘I thought I’d be the only one up at this time. I’d forgotten you were an early bird too.’
‘I’m not, usually,’ I tell him. ‘There’s just something about this place that makes me not want to waste an hour of the day. I thought I’d walk into town again to build up an appetite for breakfast.’
He smiles. ‘That was my plan too. I don’t want to crowd you though. Would you prefer it if I went the other way?’
I study him for a moment. Part of me would prefer to be on my own, but he’s easy company and I don’t want to seem rude. One enemy is more than enough to be going along with, thank you.
‘No,’ I tell him. ‘Unless you’d rather be alone?’
‘I think, given the atmosphere last night, us sane ones should stick together,’ he says, smiling again as he pulls a pair of sunglasses out of his pocket and puts them on. ‘Shall we?’
Although we don’t speak for the first part of the journey, having Finn striding along beside me is surprisingly comfortable.
‘Tell me more about you,’ I say after a while.
‘Oh, no,’ he replies, and I can practically feel his eyes twinkling with amusement behind his dark glasses. ‘I’m still trying to make up ground for talking so much about myself yesterday. Your turn.’
‘I’m not very interesting. I live in Margate with my best friend and my dog. You already know I’m a writer. Your go.’
‘Uh-uh. Why Margate? What sort of dog? How old?’
‘You’re not going to let this go, are you?’
‘Nope. In my experience, the people who think they’re fascinating are usually monumentally dull and vice versa. I’m therefore betting you’re much more interesting than you let on.’
‘Fine.’
I don’t know whether it’s because he’s determined to make up for his perceived selfishness yesterday, but Finn turns out to be an attentive listener and, by the time we reach the outskirts of the town, I’ve told him all about the implosion of Angus’s and my relationship, shown him far too many pictures of Meg and given him the lowdown on Liv.
‘She sounds nearly as frightening as Gina,’ he observes as we reach the bridge and pause to look out over the water.
‘She’s a force of nature but, unlike Gina and the Double-Doubles, she has a heart of gold. She’s been my rock since Angus left.’
‘Everyone should have a best friend like that,’ he says wistfully, and I sense this might be my opening.
‘Don’t you?’ I ask.
‘I did. Or at least I thought I did.’ He takes off the sunglasses and I can see the sadness in his eyes.
‘Do you want to tell me what happened?’
He sighs. ‘Adam and I have been friends since primary school and we’ve always had each other’s backs. We both moved to London after university so it seemed entirely natural that we’d share a flat, and it was a lot of fun, to begin with, anyway. We had the typical bachelor lifestyle, you know?’
‘Umm, not having ever been a bachelor, I can’t say I do.’
‘Work hard all week, play even harder at the weekend. I don’t think I’d be boasting if I said we used to have the best parties.’
‘Sounds fun.’
‘It was. Things did calm down a bit as we got older and, after a while, Adam started going out with Holly, and I met Roisin. The parties stopped and were replaced by the four of us enjoying long Sunday brunches and walks in the park instead.’
‘Still sounds pretty good.’
‘It was, until Adam and Holly split up. Suddenly, he resented me spending time with Roisin. He wanted to resurrect the party lifestyle and got pissed off with me because that wasn’t what I wanted any more. He blamed Roisin, of course, and started being really snappy with her too.’
‘He was jealous of your relationship.’
‘That’s the weird thing. I’m not actually sure he was. What he wanted was us to split up so he and I could go back to the old days.’
‘That’s not how the world works.’
‘I know that, but Adam didn’t seem to. Anyway, he made it some kind of personal quest to break us up, by fair means or foul. In the end it turned out to be foul.’
‘What did he do?’
‘He slept with Roisin.’