Chapter 30 #2
I tuck inside the bathroom and draw the door closed, watching Miranda walk away.
When I’m sure the coast is clear, I tiptoe across the wood floor, back in search of the muffled voices, until I come across a billiard room with the door ajar.
I can just make out Gregory’s navy chinos and grey, wool jumper pacing back and forth.
‘Show me,’ he snaps.
Squinting through one eye, I see Gregory accept a small box, which he opens, examining the contents.
‘You’re sure this is yours?’ he asks.
‘For God’s sake, Gregory, I know my own wedding ring. The last time I saw the pig, I threw the damn thing at him.’
‘How did he get to the house, Jackson?’ Gregory is snarling through gritted teeth.
‘He didn’t,’ Lara pleads. ‘It was in the postbox this morning. Mack found it. It was wrapped in brown paper with a note.’
‘A note saying what?’
Lara turns her back to Gregory and paces the floor by the billiard table, one hand on her hip.
‘Saying what, mother?’
The fear in her voice is audible. ‘It said?—’
‘It said, “Something I should have done a long time ago”,’ Jackson cuts in.
Gregory moves back into my field of vision, holding Lara’s wedding ring up to the light.
Miranda’s footsteps in the corridor startle me.
‘The lounge is this way, Scarlett,’ she says.
‘Oops, so it is. I lost my bearings for a second there.’
In the lounge, I take my glass of champagne back from Sandy. She’s returned to her spot on the sofa and is talking to Lawrence.
Pearson. Lara’s wedding ring. Another note. He’s been here. I feel sick and light-headed. I wash away the feeling with a gulp of champagne. For now.
Jackson, Gregory and Lara return to the room and are followed shortly by an apologetic Williams.
‘Argh, sorry we’re late, Lara,’ he says.
‘Amanda!’ Her name leaves my mouth a little overzealously as I bound towards her.
‘Hey, you!’ she says, pulling me into a tight cuddle.
‘I didn’t know you’d be here.’ Then, lowering my voice. ‘Does this mean you two are…?’
‘Oh Lord, no!’
Williams is staring; he’s definitely heard us. We exchange an awkward smile. My fondness of Williams, I realise, never disappeared.
‘We were out together last night, that’s all.’ Motioning to her knee-length, black skirt and Mary Janes, she adds, ‘I’ve only been out of my sloggies for an hour.’
Lara deals with the introductions and Gregory subtly pats a hand onto Williams’ shoulder with a laugh.
Lunch is announced and Lara ushers us all towards the dining room.
‘Hold on a sec,’ I say, gently grabbing Williams by the arm and pulling him back into the lounge. ‘I just want to say I’m sorry about the other day. I know you were looking out for your friend and I don’t want things to be awkward between us.’
‘I’m sorry too.’ His voice is gentle and warm. ‘None of my business and I shouldn’t have said anything. I just didn’t want to see you two mess things up. I’m sure you’ve realised that relationships aren’t really Greg’s thing, and you’re both pretty bull-headed, if you don’t mind me saying.’
‘It would be too late now if I did.’ I nudge him gently and he wraps an arm around me.
Tony’s homemade duck paté is already waiting on each of our place mats. Miranda opens two bottles of wine on an oak side table then wraps a white cloth around one of the bottles.
‘Red or white?’ she asks as she makes her way around the large, oval table.
‘So, Amanda, please enlighten me,’ Lawrence says. ‘What are sloggies?’
She places her napkin across her lap. ‘Sloggy clothes, like leggings and a big jumper or joggers and a tee: lounge clothes.’
‘Ahh, I see. These onesies I hear people talk about, they’d be sloggies?’
‘Oh no, I think you’ve got the wrong end of the stick.
White for me, please,’ she says, sliding her glass towards Miranda.
‘You see, the onesie can generally fall into two categories: nightwear, which is entirely acceptable but realistically far too warm to wear in bed and probably best left to the under tens, or cool cats trying too hard. The other type is people who actually wear onesies in public and walk as if one leg is two or three inches shorter than the other. This category is really never acceptable.’
Amanda takes a sip of wine, giving Lawrence a chance to scratch his head, bemused.
Then she quickly chirps up again. ‘There’s a distinction between the sloggy and nightwear. Sloggies can be worn at any time of the day without feeling like a bum.’
‘Feeling like a bum?’ Lawrence asks.
‘Mmm-hmm, yep. But nightwear can only be worn around a two to three hour window before or after sleep. Well, unless it’s one of few days a year when a person decides to have a duvet day – a normal person, not a try-hard.’
The table falls silent for a second or two until Lara bursts into uproarious laughter.
‘Would you look at his face!’ She presses a hand to her ribs. ‘He’s so confused.’
The merriment continues as anecdotes are shared. Camilla regales us with a tale from Lara’s bonfire party last year. For some reason, I find myself wondering whether she really did share jokes will Bill Nighy and Sebastian Faulkes. Call it a hunch.
‘We’ll have to introduce Scarlett around this year, Lara.’ Camilla winks at her friend.
I turn to Gregory, who shrugs.
‘Oh, yes of course. Scarlett, you’ll have so much fun,’ Lara offers.
Gregory tries again. ‘Mother, we might not?—’
‘We need to go shopping. I have my dress but we can get you something new, Scarlett.’
‘Mother!’ Gregory snaps. ‘Scarlett knows nothing about the party yet. She might not be ready.’
Lara is visibly wounded but manages to compose herself. ‘Of course not, I’m sorry.’
‘It’s okay,’ I say, resting a hand onto Gregory’s knee. ‘A party might be a good distraction.’
Lara smiles at me and as much as I really don’t want to, I tell her, ‘I could do with a new dress.’
‘Actually, I need a new dress for the party too,’ Amanda quickly cuts in. ‘Why don’t the two of us go shopping one night this week since Lara already has her dress and probably has an awful lot to do here?’
‘That sounds like a great idea to me,’ Gregory adds before Lara can protest.
Camilla moves on to the next topic of conversation and I’m grateful to be relieved from the centre of attention.
Tony wheels the infamous honey-glazed ham to the side of the table on a trolley and carves two slices for each person.
Miranda serves the ham and vegetables onto our plates.
Sandy sits awkwardly in her chair and fiddles with the stem of her glass, which she refused to have filled with wine, I suspect because Jackson isn’t drinking either.
I mouth to her, You okay? and she nods back to me unconvincingly.
Two men walk past the dining-room window, doing a lap of the house outside. They’re almost a mirror image of each other, both in black trousers, knee-length, black, wool coats and black, leather gloves. My body shudders in response. Extra security.
He’s still out there.
Gregory puts down his folk and drops a hand to my thigh. ‘They’re a precaution, that’s all.’ His warm breath on the bare skin of my neck instantly comforts me. He finishes lunch with his right hand, his left entwined with mine.
After our meal, Charles and Camilla leave to visit her daughter and the rest of us retire to the lounge with coffee.
There’s a noticeable shift in Lara’s attitude once Camilla has gone, as if her pretence is no longer necessary.
I much prefer this version of her. Sandy seems to have relaxed too.
She’s stopped fiddling and is talking happily with Jackson.
I cast my eyes around the room and find Gregory watching me, one hand resting a coffee cup on his crossed leg.
We stay locked in that gaze for a moment before my face breaks into a dizzy-in-love smile.
He smiles back then leans forwards and places his cup onto the coffee table. ‘All right, gents, ready?’
Jackson is first to stand and explains that he’s going to check in with Ken and Marshall, who I suspect are the black-clothed precaution walking the perimeter of the house. Williams and Lawrence are next up and they, with Gregory, leave the room to talk business.
‘I’m glad there’s just us, ladies,’ Lara says when the men have vacated. ‘I wanted to talk to you about an idea I’ve had.’
Miranda has taken the movement in the room as an opportunity to offer fresh tea and coffee but Lara tells her she should consider herself off duty now and relax with Tony and Mack.
She takes an unfinished bottle of champagne from an ice bucket and gives it to Miranda, telling her to finish it if she likes, and that Tony and Mack should help themselves to spare beers in the fridge.
I much prefer this Lara.
‘Right, my idea,’ Lara says, sitting back onto the sofa with her self-poured fresh cup of tea. ‘Gregory told me that you’ve moved in with him, Scarlett.’
‘Have you?’ Amanda shouts, almost leaping from her chair.
‘No, no, not exactly. It’s just for a week. I just didn’t, couldn’t, I didn’t really want to stay in the house,’ I confess, glancing at Sandy apologetically.
‘Well, I was thinking,’ Lara continues, ‘if you do move in with Gregory, there’ll be a lot done for you. I mean shopping, cleaning, that sort of thing. And I don’t mean to bring it up and I realise she spent a lot of time caring for your dad, but I know that Sandy did those things for you too.’
Mild irritation murmurs under my tongue.
‘To get to the point, Miranda has an awful lot to do around here and I’ve been thinking lately that she could perhaps use someone to share her workload.’
Finally, the point is starting to take shape.