Chapter 31
The dress was purple and strapless, and unlike anything Ruby had worn before in her life.
When she’d first opened up the dry-cleaning bag, the shiny fabric made her recoil.
And so instead she spent an hour doing her makeup, heavy on the black kohl and the plum eyeshadow.
She finally tried the dress on with every intention of ripping it straight off her body again in disgust.
But as she zipped up the garment, and the ruffles settled themselves across her collarbones, she couldn’t help but acknowledge the feeling of excitement.
She looked glamorous, and she liked it. Pulling the accompanying sheer black stockings that Opal had left up her freshly shaved legs, she understood for the first time why women might wear lingerie.
She felt like a present, ready to be admired and then unwrapped.
Out the window Ruby could see the guests milling around the garden. They were mostly dressed in deep jewel tones: reds, greens, purples and pinks. Ruby found herself wondering if that was Opal’s doing, and then smiled at the idea that such a theme would be in both their honour.
Officially the ‘gala’ had begun a couple of hours ago, but Ruby couldn’t bear the thought of being anything other than fashionably late. Everyone in her line of sight was white, and she was partly dreading the curious-come-suspicious looks she would have to contend with all evening.
Now that she could faintly hear some music wafting from the ballroom, music she recognised no less, she downed the last of the glass of wine she’d been nursing and headed downstairs.
She walked through the house and in the ballroom she spotted Noah and Adam laughing together. She wondered if they were as aware of their sore-thumb status as she was.
As she crossed the room, though, she felt a pair of arms encircle her waist from behind. She swung around angrily to find Johan, his breath already heavy with the smell of alcohol. He smiled at her dopily.
‘I almost didn’t recognise you,’ he teased.
Ruby was annoyed. Since when did he think they had crossed over into the realm of public displays of affection?
She grabbed at his wrists and unchained herself from his grip. It irritated her even further to see the flash of disappointment on his face as he straightened himself back up.
‘You scrub up pretty well,’ he continued. Ruby rolled her eyes. Even if she did feel a little flattered, she was never going to let him pick up on it.
‘You’re surprised, are you? Think I’ve never been to a party before?’
‘Not one like this … Surely?’ Johan was trying to provoke her, she knew that, and yet it was still working. She eyed him from head to toe. It was galling to admit that he looked right at home. Somehow the tail coat that looked a tad ridiculous on Noah made sense on Johan.
‘Oh and you have? Go to balls every weekend in Hackney do you?’ Ruby retorted.
To her surprise Johan blushed. ‘No, of course not,’ he said quickly, his eyes not meeting hers. She had that distinct feeling again that he was hiding something but just as she opened her mouth to try and probe further, Gareth appeared beside her, a glass of champagne in each hand.
‘Have I interrupted something?’ he asked Johan, who didn’t respond, but reached instead for a flute. ‘Uh-uh, this is for the lady. Where are your manners, Johan!’
Gareth passed the glass to Ruby, who in that moment decided that maybe she could come around to Gareth after all. She smiled at him.
‘Might I say, darling, that you look quite stunning. When Opal described the dress she’d picked out for you I wasn’t sure, but I see now that she was quite right; the colour is magnificent on you.’ Gareth was definitely a little tipsy already, but Ruby was still touched by his effusiveness.
It was nice to have her suspicions confirmed: that she did in fact look great.
‘Thanks, Gareth, you don’t look too bad yourself.’ They cheersed. Only then did Ruby notice that Johan had slunk away.
They stood side by side as they observed the room around them.
‘Good Lord, I really didn’t think she’d have the nerve to show up,’ Gareth exclaimed, not so surreptitiously, under his breath.
Ruby followed his gaze and landed on a young woman who had just walked into the ballroom. She was arm in arm with that friend of Opal’s who had been at dinner the previous week.
She was slim and tall. Her limbs seemed to make up most of her frame and if there was a colour scheme dress code, she had ignored it.
The dress was silver, extremely short, high necked and tied in a halter, leaving most of her back exposed.
The golden waves of her hair flowed over her shoulders in a voluminous cascade.
Her long pale legs tapered into strikingly hot-pink stilettos.
The patent leather glinting under the spray of the chandeliers’ light.
Suffice to say, she had dressed to be noticed.
‘Who is that?’ Ruby and Gareth were far from the only ones whose eyes had drifted in the women’s direction.
‘That … is Agnes,’ Gareth said pointedly with a single eyebrow raised. Ruby understood from his tone that she was, for some reason or another, a persona non grata. It took Ruby only another few seconds to realise why.
Martin couldn’t seem to help himself. Ruby watched as he craned his neck to watch the woman, even as he pretended to listen to whatever boring conversation he was currently standing in.
Soon enough he had made his excuses and strode over to her, his hand lingering a moment too long on her lower back as he greeted her with a kiss on the cheek.
‘So she’s who he’s fucking then …’ Ruby said flatly, taking another sip.
Next to her Gareth choked on his mouthful of fizz. ‘Christ, yes well you’ve hit the nail on the head there. I can only hope it’s not that obvious to everyone else in the room. Poor Opal.’
‘And does the mother know?’ Ruby gestured towards Deborah. The family resemblance was striking now she thought about it. Apart from their colouring, their doll-like features were almost identical.
‘I have no idea,’ Gareth mused. ‘I don’t know Debbie well, but I’d be surprised if she was OK with the arrangement. She’s quite … straitlaced shall we say?’
Ruby’s eyes drifted over to Deborah, whose gaze was in turn trained on her daughter. Ruby watched as Deborah brought a perfectly manicured fingernail to her teeth and began to gnaw at it.
At a certain moment Martin began to laugh too loudly and Deborah suddenly turned and scurried from the ballroom.
Agnes seemed none the wiser to the fallout of her entrance.
Perhaps she was simply used to it, accustomed to walking into any space and immediately being the centre of the room’s attention.
At that moment Ruby felt sorry for Opal.
‘If she didn’t know, I would wager that she does now,’ Ruby observed, and Gareth nodded in agreement. They looked on.
‘And might I ask you a personal question?’ Gareth didn’t turn to her as he spoke. Ruby braced herself, but it seemed only fair that she not immediately shut Gareth down.
‘And what’s that?’
‘What’s going on with you and Johan? He seems desperately smitten, which I might say is very unusual for him.’
Ruby smiled. It was validating above all else to know that she was his exception, while he was her rule.
‘Unusual? How so?’ she couldn’t help but dig.
Gareth shot her a sideways glance. ‘Johan has a bit of prolific history when it comes to … beautiful women, but he’s rarely the one who’s pining or pursuing.’
‘That sounds like a one-way ticket to an obnoxiously large ego.’
‘Indeed, but in Johan’s case, I, for one, think it’s justified.’
Ruby turned to Gareth. ‘I think that’s your answer then. I do not think it’s justified, and I suspect that’s exactly what’s getting his knickers in a twist. He’s a good fuck – don’t get me wrong – but that’s about it.’
Gareth looked taken aback, and Ruby had to remind herself of where she was, not in a house party in South London anymore, but in a fucking ballroom, surrounded by people who had probably spent more money on a single outfit for tonight than she’d ever had in her bank account in her life.
‘Excuse the profanity,’ Ruby muttered.
‘Consider yourself excused. I have to admit that I’m quite enjoying your particular brand of outrageous honesty. It reminds me of someone.’ Gareth was looking at her fondly, which Ruby found disconcerting.
‘And who’s that?’
‘Opal.’
Ruby snorted in disbelief.
‘No it’s true, back when we first met, in our university years, before she met Martin and after she’d finally come out from her mother’s shadow, she was a little bit like you: dry, funny, knew her own mind …’ Gareth sounded wistful.
‘What happened?’
Gareth seemed to suddenly realise he’d said too much. ‘Oh you know, life, marriage, expectations. Guess she had to grow out of all that … contrarianism.’
Ruby shrugged. As far as she was concerned she had never met anyone less contrarian than Opal Fairfax, but Gareth was entitled to his opinion – even if it was a drunken one.
‘I’m going to find another drink.’ Ruby had had enough of this particular interaction. She was hoping to find some familiar faces, but Noah and Adam had disappeared from view. After getting another drink she wandered aimlessly, scanning the crowd.
‘And who might you be?’
Ruby ignored the voice at first, assuming it was directed at someone else. And then a hand landed on her elbow. ‘I’m talking to you.’
Ruby spun round, at an unwanted touch for the second time that evening. She came face to face with a man she didn’t recognise. ‘I’m sorry, do I know you?’
‘You most certainly can if you’d wish to.’ The man smiled and Ruby was struck by how stained his teeth were. He was standing slightly too close to her.
‘Um, I’m Ruby,’ she said, almost on autopilot, and she searched ever more frantically for someone she knew.
‘Ruby, a jewel, that’s for certain.’
‘I’m here as part of Miss Fairfax’s artists’ initiative … the tournament,’ Ruby was trying to speak over him, to save either of them from having to hear whatever lame pick-up line he might happen upon next.
‘I’m certain you must mean Opal Fortescue? I wasn’t aware she had any sisters.’
Ruby found the whole name thing ridiculous.
If this was her damn manor why shouldn’t she call herself Fairfax?
She decided to buy herself some time as she planned an exit strategy.
They had somehow ended up almost alone in the small stretch of corridor between the back of the kitchen and the ballroom.
Ruby was beginning to feel claustrophobic.
‘And um, what’s your name?’ Ruby tried to shift her body away from him, but the wall behind her was closer than she’d thought.
‘My name’s Neil Montgomery. I’m a friend of Martin’s.’
‘Well, it’s nice to meet you, Neil.’
‘It is, is it?’ Neil leant in closer. Ruby could smell his breath now, a rancid combination of cigar smoke and rum. ‘You’re a very beautiful girl. You know that, don’t you?’
Ruby looked around and her stomach dropped as she realised that they were now completely alone in the small space.
‘Where are you from? Such an exotic mix.’ He leered, taking another gulp of the drink in his hand.
‘I’m from Brixton.’ Ruby’s voice was tight, strained, but she hoped that he couldn’t hear the fear in it. Men like him enjoyed that sort of thing, and she was loath to give him the satisfaction.
He laughed then, a wheezy sort of laugh, hollow and mocking. ‘No, you know what I mean, where are you really from?’
Ruby restrained herself from gobbing off. Usually she’d have told him to fuck off, but there was something about the mass of him, the smirk on his face, that warned her he was dangerous. He was restraining himself. She could feel it, like a cat playing with its food before devouring it.
‘My mother is from Jamaica,’ Ruby said quietly, wishing her dress wasn’t so short, as his eyes crawled over her skin.
‘An island girl, my favourite.’ His meaty fingers found their way to her knee and Ruby closed her eyes as they crept up her thigh. She couldn’t bear to see his face.
And then, the sound of approaching footsteps, and Ruby’s eyes flew open just in time to see Johan marching towards them.
He must have seen the panic in her eyes because he broke into a light jog.
Neil’s monstrous hands retreated and he stepped back, clearing his throat as he turned to face Johan with a smile hastily plastered onto his flushed face.
Johan ignored him and pulled Ruby to his side protectively. ‘Everything all right?’ His eyes were full of genuine concern. Ruby wanted to feel grateful, but instead she felt angry. Why had it taken another man claiming her as his to save her from this brute?
‘I’m fine.’ She shot a look at Neil, who now wouldn’t meet her gaze. She felt utter revulsion. ‘Neil here was just leaving.’
Neill was fiddling with his trousers, no doubt rearranging the evidence of his predatory predilections. ‘Um yes, we were just having a little chat, but now that I think of it, I must try and find Martin.’ He turned to leave and then paused.
‘Don’t I know you from somewhere?’ This time the comment was aimed at Johan, who quickly looked away.
‘I don’t think so, mate.’
‘You’re the Anker boy, are you not?’ Neil was insistent.
Johan looked flustered. He grabbed Ruby by the elbow and led her away. Once they were at a safe distance, Ruby wrenched her arm from his grip. She was tired of being manhandled.
‘Sorry.’ Johan sounded apologetic, as she rubbed at her elbow pointedly. But he also seemed distracted, throwing worried glances back in the direction of the letch.
‘What was that back there? What the fuck is an Anchor boy?’
‘Don’t worry about it; I just want to make sure you’re OK?
’ Johan tucked a loose curl behind her ear.
Ruby understood that this was supposed to be a tender moment, that he probably felt noble for having saved her.
She resented that her endangerment just felt like an opportunity for him to show off his chivalry.
She recoiled from his touch. ‘What is your problem, Ruby?’
‘Nothing, I just, want to get drunk and forget about it.’ She tried to smile, and although she was sure it was unconvincing, he didn’t press her.
‘Another glass of champagne for the lady?’
‘Sure, why not.’ They walked outside, to the bar that had been erected at the far side of the patio.
Johan seemed to implicitly understand that she had no desire to retrace her steps down that narrow corridor.
By the pool, now glowing in the late evening summer light, she spotted Noah, Adam and Heather.
Without waiting for Johan, she jogged over to them, relieved suddenly to be in their company.