Chapter 29
Maggie had just served coffee when Tony arrived.
“Here you are, my darling.” Iris held out a hand to him. “Such a treat for an old lady to see a handsome young man about the place. I might have to hire you just to sit and talk to me and cheer me up.”
“That would not be a good idea, Iris,” Tony said, looking a little embarrassed. “We’d soon get heartily sick of each other. You need to get out more. You’ve become a recluse. If you went up to a show in London occasionally . . .”
“It’s so bloody difficult being famous, that’s the trouble.
I go to a restaurant and I’m about to take a bite of food and I hear the whispers.
‘It’s her, I’m sure. Go and ask for her autograph.
’ I can’t tell you how much it puts one off one’s dinner.
And London—my play is still running after fifteen years.
Isn’t everybody bored to tears with it by now? ”
“It does help to keep you in this rather luxurious lifestyle,” Tony said. “Why don’t you take a holiday abroad while you can still travel? I’ll make the arrangements for you. A cruise?”
“Same thing, darling. I’d be on the beach in Cannes and hear, ‘Ooh la la. C’est Iris!’”
“The trials of being an icon,” Tony said and winked at Emma. “Anyway, I’ve come at your command with the things you requested and to drive Emma to the station.”
“That’s right. You’ve got her money?”
“All here in this little pouch. And the train ticket will be waiting for her at the ticket office at Euston. Oh, and the hotel in Glasgow is booked for one night with a possible extension.”
“Such efficiency,” Iris exclaimed. “Sit down and have a cup of coffee. Cynthia!” she bawled out. “Bring another cup. Tony’s here.”
“Poor Cynthia, you do boss her around,” he said.
“She’s used to it. Perhaps she likes it.”
“I heard that.” Cynthia came in, carrying a teacup and saucer. “And I do not like it, Iris. It makes me feel like the dog. I only stay out of extreme devotion and because you can no longer handle things alone.”
“I certainly can.”
“Who flushed her toothbrush down the loo the other day?”
“Only because it fell in by accident. I wasn’t going to retrieve it.”
Emma watched them. In some ways they acted like a long-married couple, she thought. There was a fondness on both sides.
“Here you go, Emma.” Tony passed her the packet. “I’m ready to go when you are.”
“I brought my case over,” she said. “It’s in the front hall.”
“Right. Let’s be off then, shall we?”
“Are you sure you don’t want coffee?” Iris said.
“Sorry, but I’d rather get going, and I expect Emma would, too.”
Emma nodded. “Yes, I’ll have quite a lot to do if I’m to leave for Scotland on Sunday.”
“Very well then,” Iris said. “Off you go. Oh, and Tony . . . take good care of her.” She looked suddenly frail and scared. “I wish you were going with her.”
“She’s a big girl. She managed the trip from Australia alone. I think she can tackle Scotland,” Tony said. “And she won’t need me getting in her way when she’s trying to write.”
A brief image of Tony standing with her on a rocky hillside overlooking the sea flashed through her mind. Hastily she brushed it aside. “Well, goodbye then, Iris,” she said. “Thank you for everything.” She was tempted to kiss Iris’s cheek.
Iris grabbed her hands and held them for a long moment before she let go. “Stay safe and come home to me.”
As they drove off Tony turned to her. “Iris has really taken to you, hasn’t she?”
“She seems to have. I wonder if she’s missing Australia and I somehow remind her of her own youth?”
“Possibly. I can tell you who doesn’t adore you, and that’s the Morton woman. You should have seen her glowering when Iris said goodbye to you.”
“Poor Cynthia. Yes, she’s very possessive about Iris. I tried to tell her I’m not a threat.”
As they drove on Emma was just coming to terms with what had transpired over the past two days.
It had felt like living in some kind of fantasy, and now she was back in the real world again.
As they passed a village complete with village green and duck pond, a pair of ducks landed on the water and stirred a sharp memory. She glanced across at Tony.
“Could we stop for a moment, please?”
He brought the car to a halt. “What’s wrong? Did you leave something?”
“No. I just want to take a look at that water. It reminds me so much of the pond at home. I used to swim in it during the summer, even though I’m sure the water was full of bacteria.
And there were a pair of spoonbills . . .
Have you ever seen them? Such odd but beautiful birds. And egrets. It was so lovely.”
“You’re really homesick.”
“I must be . . . Everything here is so different. And I suppose I’m grieving that I don’t have a home to go back to.”
“You said your father died and your mother remarried?”
Emma nodded. “And the property went to a cousin. So I’ve actually nowhere to call home, which makes me very sad.”
“That must be hard for you. Maybe you should try to make a new home here.”
“But I miss Australia. All that sunshine and the animals. We had wallabies every evening and all sorts of lovely birds.”
“If you lived outside London you could have your share of foxes and pheasants, and Iris has swans. Of course Isobel likes to hunt the poor foxes. She’s quite bloodthirsty.”
“You don’t hunt then?”
“Me? I don’t ride. I tried it once and fell off. Not a happy memory.” He laughed and Emma smiled, too.
Then she took a deep breath before saying, “Tony, there’s one thing I want to ask you, and I don’t quite know how to put it.
” There was a long pause. “I’m worried about taking this assignment because I’m afraid of being let down again.
I don’t want to find that I go to Skye, I do the work and then Iris forgets who I am, or brushes me off and I wind up with nothing at the end. ”
Tony gave her a look of concern. “I suppose that is a risk you are taking, although it’s the same with any job, isn’t it? Some contracts work out and some don’t. Writers submit manuscripts and some are accepted and others rejected. I’m sure you’d be disappointed, but you’ve nothing really to lose.”
“You’re right,” she agreed. “But this means so much to me. My big chance. And I don’t want another letdown.”
“Another letdown?”
“I’ve had a couple of really hurtful letdowns in my life and they still haunt me.”
He was fully focused on her, his gaze understanding. “Your mother abandoned you, just like mine did?”
“Not only that, Tony. I gave up my chance at Oxford for her, because she was in such a delicate state. I got a job, I looked after her. I had no chance for a normal life, and then out of the blue she announced she was getting married again, and the worst thing was she said . . .” Emma broke off, afraid she was going to cry.
“She said it was about time I stopped depending on her and got on with my own life. After all I’d done, Tony. It hurt so much.”
He put his hand on hers. “Of course it did. She sounds as if she was wrapped up in herself, just like my mother was. Two horrible women. We’re better off without them.”
“Yes.” She managed a smile.
“And the other letdowns? Do you want to talk about it?”
Emma looked out of the car window, her gaze focused on those ducks.
“I had a boyfriend until recently. My first real boyfriend, actually. A really nice English bloke. The perfect choice, you’d have said.
Well educated, well dressed, funny, smart .
. . a lawyer like you. We went dancing and he took me to the cinema, but I never met his family and I wondered why.
He always went home at weekends and I thought, ‘What a devoted son.’ But then one day he said he’d have to stop dating me because of this other girl he’d been seeing .
. . at home. She was more suitable than me, it turns out.
Good for his career prospects. And he’d only been taking me dancing because she didn’t like to dance and he did. Can you imagine what that felt like?”
“Pretty rotten, I’d think,” Tony said. “But you mustn’t judge all Englishmen by one bad apple.”
“But I suppose you do all care about good families and good prospects and that kind of stuff?”
“Lots of people do. It’s always who you know here and what they can do for you.”
“Like Isobel’s family?”
“I’m sure that’s how my father thinks. But listen, Emma.
If I’m handling this current job for you, I’ll make sure you’re treated fairly to the best of my ability.
And I think I can say that Iris is a fair person, too.
She’d never want to trick you out of anything.
It will be a question of whether your name goes on a cover, but we’ll talk about that later.
Right now go and have fun in Scotland. You said you’re a country girl.
I gather there is an awful lot of empty countryside there, and grouse and stags and fish and all kinds of things to shoot and catch. ”
“I don’t like the idea of shooting and catching,” she said. “I’m not a violent person.”
“No, you’re quite sensitive, I can see that. And you’ve had a rotten deal, but now you’ve published a brilliant book and your future looks bright.”
“Did you actually read my book?” she asked.
He grinned. “I’m not much of a fiction reader, I confess. I haven’t even read Iris’s books properly, only don’t tell her. She’d sack me instantly.”
They laughed together as he let out the clutch and they drove on.
As they approached the station Tony said, “Look, you have my telephone number. If you do need anything in Scotland feel free to ring me. I don’t anticipate any problems, but just in case . . .”
“Thank you. You’ve been very kind.”
Now it was his turn to blush. “Just doing my job, ma’am,” he said in a mock police voice.
He insisted on carrying her case to the platform. “Well, goodbye then. And good luck. I think you’ll have a marvelous time.”
“Thank you. You’ve been there?”
“Skye? No, never. I went to Edinburgh once, for the Fringe. I was part of an acting troupe at university. We did these crazy short scenes—spoofs on modern kitchen-sink drama. A lot of fun.”
A new side of Tony was revealed. Tony the actor. Not always the well-behaved solicitor-in-training.
“I’ve looked at the map,” she said. “It seems very remote. Like the ends of the earth.”
“Yes. Pretty remote. But they still have telephones and fish and chips so you’ll be all right. Oh, and don’t stint on hotels or meals. Iris has given you a generous amount. Enjoy it.”
“Thanks. I will.” She turned at the sound of the approaching train. “Thank you again, Tony.”
“Hey, this got me out of a day of helping to draft an old colonel’s will,” he said. “See you when you get back. I’ll want lots of good stories. And you can bring me some whisky.”
“I will.”
She sensed for a moment that he was going to kiss her on the cheek, but he retreated and opened the carriage door for her, handing her up her suitcase.
As the countryside flashed past she found herself smiling. See you when you get back. She must not read too much into that.