Part 47 (1/2)

Daisy could feel his breath on the back of her neck, as gently, a.s.suredly, his fingering continued.

'All right, Violet?' gasped Daisy a minute later. 'Fine, thanks.'

Drew propped the drawing-room door shut with his back as, with trembling hands, Daisy unzipped his flies and slid her mouth over the rampant red fireman's helmet. It was over in ten seconds.

'Oh, goodness, your c.o.c.k'll smell of firelighters,' said Daisy collapsing on to the sofa.

'Come on baby, light my fire,' said Drew, handing her her gla.s.s.

'That was crazy,' mumbled Daisy as the apple logs sprung into merry flame.

'But incredibly nice,' said Drew, sitting down close to her. 'Very Rupert sort of behaviour.'

'Is he OK?'

'Not at all. Crucified he's let Venturer down and worried sick about the effect the memoirs are going to have on the children. Worst of all he's now decided he's madly in love with Declan's daughter, Taggie, and there's no way now Declan'll ever let him marry her.' He put a hand on Daisy's thigh. 'When's Violet going?'

'Tomorrow early.'

'I'll pop back mid-morning. Sukey's not back till the afternoon. Christ, that fish pie smells good. I didn't have any lunch.' He kicked open the door slightly. 'You OK, Violet?'

Violet came in hanging her head.

'Oh, Mum, I was so busy reading about Rupert I've eaten all the mashed potato and all the scallops out of the fish pie.'

'Oh, darling,' wailed Daisy. 'Never mind, there's a packet of Smash in the cupboard.'

'There was,' admitted Violet, 'but two moths and a bluebottle flew out so I threw it away.'

Drew fortunately thought it was funny. 'I'll take you both out to dinner.'

I love him, thought Daisy, in pa.s.sionate grat.i.tude, imagining the scene Hamish would have made. She knew Drew had said he couldn't leave Sukey, but she could still hope.

Contrary to every expectation Venturer won the franchise.

'And you'll never guess what,' said Drew when he rang to tell Daisy. 'Rupert's getting married to Taggie O'Hara. I'm going to be an usher and I've persuaded her to commission you to paint Rupert's old Olympic horse Rocky as a wedding present. Can you do it in a week?'

'I'll try,' said Daisy. 'You are are wonderful.' wonderful.'

'I'll smuggle you into the house while Rupert's in London and there are ma.s.ses of photographs. And I've got you an invite to the wedding. It'll be the thrash of the century. Cotchester Cathedral first, then back to Rupert's. He'll pay for everything because Declan's flat broke, but he's so happy he'd buy Taggie the sun and the moon.'

'D'you like her?'

'Adorable and virtually untouched by human hand. She must be nearly twenty years younger than Rupert, lucky sod.'

Then, realizing what he'd said, 'And you look about twelve, my darling. Anyway I've always been attracted to older women.'

'I love you,' sighed Daisy gratefully. 'Can I really come to the wedding? What ought I to wear?'

'I'll take you into Bath and buy you something. The crumpet will be astonis.h.i.+ng so you've got to look stunning.'

As Sukey had been nagging him about over-spending all week, he would take perverse pleasure in blueing her money on Daisy.

42.

Not since the Civil War when it had been a Royalist stronghold, which only yielded to the Roundheads after a long and b.l.o.o.d.y battle, had the sleepy market town of Cotchester witnessed such scenes of mayhem. Police had been bused in from all over the West of England to control the crowds who, despite driving snow and bitter East winds, had turned up to catch a glimpse of Rupert and his bride. The media, who almost outnumbered the crowd, were going berserk because Rupert had banned them from the cathedral and refused, to the rage of his mother and his mother-in-law, even to allow the wedding service to be privately videoed. 'We are not f.u.c.king film stars and the only record we need of this marriage is Tag's wedding ring.'

Dusk had fallen and the snow turned to sleet as Daisy arrived. There were such traffic jams in the High Street that she was frightened she might be late. She was also slightly apprehensive about the clothes Drew had bought her which consisted of a black velvet blazer printed with big pale pink roses, black velvet knickerbockers, a white frilled s.h.i.+rt and black buckled shoes. She had added a bright pink c.u.mmerbund and tied her hair back with a black satin bow.

But all her nerves disappeared when the first person she saw was Drew holding a vast blue-and-green umbrella over the Tory Leader and her husband as they progressed to loud cheers and the popping of hundreds of flashbulbs through the great doors of the cathedral. Next minute Basil Baddingham, a wonderfully elongated figure with his red-and-yellow umbrella bucking in the wind like a spinnaker sail, dived forward to s.h.i.+eld Daisy from the blizzard. 'Darling, you look so s.e.xy, just like d.i.c.k Turpin. Bags I be Black Bess.'

Daisy giggled. The flash bulbs popped.

'There's that Koo Stark,' yelled a fat flushed woman, pointing at Daisy.

'Well done getting the franchise,' said Daisy, breathing in the heady scent of Givenchy for Men and Bas's gardenia.

'Marvellous, isn't it. About time my awful brother got his come-uppance. When can I come and see your etchings?' Gazing down, Bas ma.s.saged the inside of her rose-patterned arm with his thumb.

'Any time.' Daisy was anxious to spin out the conversation as long as possible so she might grab a word with Drew on his return journey.

'How was Rupert's stag party?'

'h.e.l.l.' Bas put down his umbrella as they entered the cathedral. 'Rupert wouldn't drink, wouldn't chat up any of the stunning crumpet we'd provided, just banged on and on that he wasn't good enough for Taggie, with which I entirely agree, and how he wasn't going to see her until this evening and how he was suffering from the mostG.o.dawful withdrawal symptoms, which is not something that'll happen in their nuptial bed this evening.'

Inside the cathedral to the smell of musk, incense and antiquity were added wafts of a hundred scents and aftershaves and of huge banks of white roses, lilies and freesias. The women's jewellery, much of it paid for in the past by Rupert, and their excited painted faces were lit up by thousands of white flickering candles. And the clothes they wore were also in jewel colours, sapphire, ruby, garnet-pink, emerald and amethyst; satins, silks and taffetas all rustling and gleaming. Daisy thanked G.o.d she'd taken so much trouble with her appearance.

'We could fill the bridegroom's side alone with Rupert's step-parents and his exes,' murmured Bas. 'Now, where can we find a s.p.a.ce to squeeze you in?'

'For Christ's sake stop ga.s.sing, Bas,' snapped Drew. 'h.e.l.lo, Daisy, you look pretty.'

'Just finding a glamorous, unattached man for her to sit next to,' said Bas maliciously, 'No, let's make it two,' and he swept Daisy off to a pew ten rows in front, which was already noisily inhabited by the Carlisle twins, mahogany-tanned from playing in the Mexican and Argentine Opens, and Janey Lloyd-Foxe, an incredibly glamorous journalist, married to Billy Lloyd-Foxe, Rupert's best man and old show-jumping crony.

'They'll tell you who everyone is,' said Bas, ma.s.saging Janey's collarbone, and sliding his hand down the front of her bright blue suit.

'Mrs Macleod, you look stunning,' said Seb, patting the s.p.a.ce between him and Dommie. 'How's that s.e.xy, toffee-nosed daughter of yours? Janey's just telling us how furious the Bishop is.'

'The Bishop's got a thumping crush on Taggie,' Janey smiled wickedly at Daisy, 'so he agreed to marry her in Christmas week, which is quite unprecedented, before he realized she was marrying his bte noire, bte noire, or rather bteCampbell-Black. And Declan told the Bishop it was going to be the tiniest wedding, and now look at this circus.' She waved a gold-braceleted hand at the packed pews who were yelling away like a vast drinks party. 'And someone's lit all the candles which were meant for Midnight Ma.s.s. G.o.d, look at that.' Janey paused in her lecture as a Brazilian or rather bteCampbell-Black. And Declan told the Bishop it was going to be the tiniest wedding, and now look at this circus.' She waved a gold-braceleted hand at the packed pews who were yelling away like a vast drinks party. 'And someone's lit all the candles which were meant for Midnight Ma.s.s. G.o.d, look at that.' Janey paused in her lecture as a Brazilian polo player with blackcurrant ripple hair and an amazing brunette on his arm, s.h.i.+mmered past. 'And the Bishop's even more miffed because Rupert's mother - that's her up the front with her fifth husband and roulette chips rattling round in the bottom of her bag - insisted on inviting an outside priest to help. That's him in the red ca.s.sock. I'm sure he's got breeches and boots underneath like Richard Chamberlain in The Thorn Birds.' The Thorn Birds.'

'Here comes the bride's mother,' said Dommie, as Declan O'Hara's wife Maud swept by in a fuschia-pink suit, clas.h.i.+ng dazzlingly with her piled-up red hair.

'That suit cost more than the wedding put together,' said Janey scribbling frantically. 'Balmain, I think. She's determined to upstage the bride.'

'And that's Rupert's immediate ex-mistress, Cameron Cook, even more determined to upstage the bride,' said Seb, as a furious-looking girl in a clinging, leopard-skin dress and no hat on her short, sleeked-back hair stalked by. 'Cameron's taken up with Declan's son, Patrick,' explained Janey to Daisy. 'He's the beauty following her. Isn't he amazing looking? But it must be h.e.l.l for Cameron handing the torch over to Taggie so publicly. My G.o.d, there's Victor and Sharon Kaputnik. How the h.e.l.l did they get invited?'

'Victor paid me 5,000,' said Seb simply, 'half of which I split with Rupert.'