Chapter Thirteen
CHAPTER
THIRTEEN
Felicity knocked on Violet’s door a couple of hours after their coffee. ‘I’ve been in touch with David. We’re meeting him at a restaurant for dinner.’ She paused. ‘Oliver is coming too.’
‘Oh?’ Violet smiled encouragingly. Felicity still seemed to be glowing from within, as Violet had spotted earlier.
Felicity nodded. ‘Oliver came round this afternoon saying I’d left my scarf behind. He produced a scarf I’d never seen before in my life, and luckily, Maman didn’t ask where I’d left it.’
‘Convenient.’
Felicity nodded. ‘Very. But he’d brought my mother a box of violet creams, which apparently she loves. I didn’t know that.’
‘He’s a bright boy.’ Violet smiled. ‘People are always giving me violet creams. They think I must like them because of my name but actually I don’t.’
‘Nor do I: they taste of scent.’
There was a brief silence and then Violet said, ‘Would you like to come in?’
‘Yes, please,’ said Felicity.
A few minutes later, when she was sitting on the sofa with a glass of wine and a bowl of Violet’s favourite cheesy biscuits, she said, ‘I know I shouldn’t be feeling so happy when you must be so worried …’
‘But?’ Violet asked, and Felicity hesitated. ‘I’m less worried about Jenny now I feel we’re going to do something, and you might tell me something cheering.’
Felicity smiled and produced something from her pocket. It was a handkerchief. ‘Oliver gave me this.’
Violet went to sit by Felicity so she could see what was hidden in the hanky. ‘Oh, Felicity! That’s …’ She saw the little bent silver coin and realised it must mean something as Felicity seemed so happy.
‘It’s a love token. Oliver found it when he was mudlarking.’ She laughed happily. ‘He’d hoped we’d find one when we were together but we didn’t, so he gave me this one which is from his collection.’
‘A love token? Oh, Felicity! That’s wonderful! How romantic. What a super boy he is.’
‘Isn’t he? And he kissed me. He’s never kissed me before. He said he didn’t want to rush me.’
‘And was it – did you like it?’ Violet remembered the first time she was kissed at a Christmas party and she’d found it disgusting. It was only later, when she met the boy who had let her down, did she come to enjoy kissing.
Felicity nodded enthusiastically. ‘I’ve been kissed before, of course, by boys in France, but it’s better when you really like the person.’
Felicity’s in love, Violet realised, and sent up a little prayer that handsome, dashing Oliver who gave love tokens and violet creams wouldn’t break Felicity’s heart.
‘I’ll join you in a glass of wine,’ said Violet, ‘to celebrate.’
Felicity laughed ruefully. ‘I’m not engaged to be married.’
‘I know. You’re far too young!’
Felicity shrugged. ‘My stepmother was only twenty when she married my father.’
‘But he was older, and I bet everyone told her she was too young, too.’
‘Really?’ Felicity’s expression was very French. ‘I don’t know. I say, I do love these little biscuits. I didn’t think I was hungry at all but here I am, crunching away.’
Not too deeply in love yet, thought Violet, remembering how she couldn’t eat when she knew Giles. Although she really liked Oliver, she feared for Felicity.
‘What time should we leave for the restaurant?’ Violet asked. ‘And is Oliver coming here or will he meet us there?’
‘He’ll meet us there. He said he knew where it was.’ Felicity paused. ‘It’s awkward. I don’t want him to pay for our taxi back, but he doesn’t like me to pay.’
‘On the way home perhaps I could pay. As the mother figure.’
This made Felicity giggle. ‘Silly! But maybe he wouldn’t mind you paying so much.’
‘And what should I wear?’ said Violet.
‘David won’t mind what you wear really, but it’s always nice to look pretty. Oh! Do I sound like my mother?’
‘That’s not necessarily a bad thing,’ said Violet. ‘Help me choose something.’
A few hours later, before Violet and Felicity left the house to find a taxi, Lucinda regarded Violet. ‘You look quite elegant tonight. And how sensible to wear a scarf. After thirty no woman’s neck is perfect.’
‘Don’t listen to her!’ hissed Felicity as they went down the steps to the pavement. ‘The scarf is for fashion, not to hide your neck – which is absolutely fine!’
‘Did you check?’ asked Violet, teasing.
‘Of course. I wanted you to look lovely.’
David had chosen an Italian restaurant near South Kensington underground station. Oliver arrived just as Felicity and Violet were going inside. Felicity’s heart flipped over as she saw him, and she clutched his hand in greeting. In return, Oliver stole a quick kiss and squeezed her fingers back. She felt overwhelmed with happiness as they followed Violet through the door.
David was there, waving to them as they gave his name to the friendly man who greeted them. It turned out to be a bustling, family-run restaurant that David appeared to know well.
Felicity was nervous as they crossed the room. She so wanted David to approve of Oliver. While they weren’t related, David was very protective of her, as he was of her stepmother, Alexandra, and of her brother and little sister. She wasn’t worried about Oliver liking David; she knew he would say all the right things and behave perfectly.
She was also fairly sure that Violet and David would get on but couldn’t be certain.
The introductions were made and soon everyone was seated, eating the breadsticks which appeared along with the menus. It transpired that Violet wasn’t very familiar with Italian food and was urged by David to try the lasagne al forno . ‘You don’t want to order spaghetti unless you’re very confident you can keep it on the fork,’ he told her. ‘And the lasagne here is always delicious.’
Felicity was pleased to see that David was treating Violet with the same avuncular kindness with which he treated her family. Violet responded with warmth and friendliness. Felicity gave a silent sigh of relief.
‘This is delicious!’ said Violet, a few forkfuls in. ‘Why haven’t I had this before? I suppose it’s because coming from the country we tend to eat the same things year in, year out.’
‘Nothing wrong with good English cooking,’ said David. ‘Think of what Meggy is producing in Dorset. Excellent ingredients, perfectly cooked.’
‘Meg is one of my stepmother’s friends. She and her husband have a hotel in Dorset,’ explained Felicity. ‘If you spend any time with my family – and David is definitely family – you will discover that the cookery course Alexandra, Meg and Lizzie, their other friend, all took together was a formative part of their lives. They will talk about it at any opportunity.’
‘Darling,’ said David. ‘Could it be that you’re just a little bored with hearing about Lexi’s raffish youth and her best friends?’
Felicity laughed. ‘I wouldn’t be bored if it was raffish. I think they sound terribly well behaved.’
‘Then you haven’t been told everything,’ said David firmly. ‘And talking of friends, we’re here to hear about one of Violet’s.’
Felicity saw Violet’s expression change. She was obviously worried. ‘Yes. It’s Jenny. She went off to France to live with a man who said if she stayed with him, worked the land with him, he would leave her everything when he died. He’s quite old, apparently.’
‘That sounds very unlikely,’ said David.
‘He wrote a book, mostly about soil and how peasant farmers – the true sons of the soil – respected it and so everything grew well. Jenny is interested in soil, too, so she wrote to him. He invited her to stay, and off she went! I was astonished, I must say. She is usually remarkably sensible.’
‘But it turns out he has a daughter,’ said Felicity. ‘And in French law you can’t leave your property to anyone but your children, if you have any. Not all of it, anyway.’
‘He must have known that, surely,’ said Oliver.
Violet shrugged. ‘Whether he did or not is almost beside the point,’ she said. ‘I had a letter from Jenny. She hates it there and wants to come home, but he made her spend all her money on animals for the farm so that she can’t leave.’ She took a sip of her wine. ‘I must find out how I can send her money.’
David pursed his lips. ‘It might not be easy. If you sent it to a bank she’d have to get to the bank to draw it out.’
‘Could I send her cash?’ suggested Violet.
‘Not a good idea,’ said David. ‘And even if it didn’t get lost en route, she’d still have to get to a town to be able to catch a bus to escape.’
‘Then what can I do?’ said Violet. She sounded desperate.
David patted her hand. ‘We won’t despair for a start. And then, we’ll find out exactly where she is. Then maybe stage a rescue!’
Felicity gave a huge sigh of relief. ‘I knew David would know what to do,’ she said. ‘He always does.’
David brushed away this praise, but Violet did begin to feel less worried as he examined the letter and studied the address. ‘Well, she’s in Provence, which is a good start.’ He smiled at Violet. ‘But Provence is huge!’
‘So, you may not be able to help?’ Violet’s heart plummeted.
‘Not at all! I didn’t say that. I just happen to have a map of Provence in my car – I’ll go and get it. Shall we order pudding first?’
‘We’ll go and get it,’ said Felicity. ‘Where is your car?’
‘Pelham Crescent,’ said David. ‘Do you know where that is?’
‘I do,’ said Oliver. He got up and held out his hand for Felicity. ‘It’s not far.’ Felicity didn’t hesitate.
‘They seem very keen on each other,’ said David the moment he and Violet were alone. ‘What do you know about Oliver?’
‘Not an awful lot,’ said Violet. ‘Felicity and I met him at more or less the same time. But he’s very kind, has lovely manners and obviously works hard.’
‘What does he do, exactly?’ asked David.
‘He has all sorts of jobs,’ said Violet. ‘His hobby is mudlarking, but I think he wants to be a jeweller.’
‘Hmm,’ said David.
‘I understand how you feel,’ said Violet. ‘But he hasn’t put a foot wrong so far. Now, about Jenny …’
It seemed to take Felicity and Oliver a long time to find David’s car and bring back the map, but soon they were all together at the table once more.
‘What’s the name of the place again?’ David asked, having spread the map out on the table. Glasses of grappa had been distributed and Violet thought it tasted of fuel oil.
The letter was inspected and the hunt was on for the tiny farm on the huge map.
‘If you think this is just Provence,’ said Violet, ‘it gives you an idea of how enormous France is.’ She suddenly had the feeling that extracting Jenny from a very obscure corner would be akin to using a toy magnet to get a needle from a haystack.
‘Don’t despair,’ said David. ‘Once we know where she is exactly, we can make a plan.’
‘Ah! There’s the place!’ said Oliver. ‘If it’s the right one?’
David put his reading glasses on and peered intently at the map. ‘I think that must be it. The good thing is, it’s not too far from where we live, Felicity, so not a long trek to find out. I’m going home next weekend and will get on to it.’
Violet took a few sips of water. Although she’d stopped herself from showing it, she’d been getting steadily more anxious. David, obviously sensing this, put his hand on her shoulder.
‘It’s terribly kind of you to offer to go off into the wilds of France to find Jenny,’ Violet said to him.
‘Nonsense! I’ve been further to find obscure antiques. I love a trip out.’
‘It’s true, he and his friend Maxime go on long treks together,’ said Felicity. ‘They like it.’
Violet wondered if Felicity was avoiding saying that David was homosexual. It was illegal in England of course, but David lived in France. Things might be different there.
‘It’s so kind of you to do this for someone you don’t know, David.’ She gave him a warm smile which she hoped reflected her gratitude.
‘Think nothing of it, m’dear,’ said David warmly. ‘Any friend of Felicity’s is a friend of mine.’