Part 6 (1/2)

I tore down the stairs. There were quite a few people in the bar, but I would have picked James out any time. He was as tall and as slim as Amy, his hair as curly, his face even longer and narrower. His eyes were restless and his forehead heavily lined. He looked as if he found life boring and as if he judged every man in terms of how much they were worth financially. I had seen him around once or twice in the old days, but he had never mixed with our set and never before acknowledged my existence. I seemed to remember that he spent most of his time sailing.

He recognised me. His eyes added up the cost of my lizard-skin shoes and matching handbag, Paris rigout, my engagement ring and emerald earrings. His bow as he introduced himself and ushered me to a seat indicated that he accorded me respect as a moneyed woman. I would never be his equal, because I had not been born to the purple, but I was worth a minimum of courtesy.

He switched on the charm. So sorry we'd never met before, better late than never, glad to have the opportunity before I left town again, and so on. Hoped I'd got the invitation from Amy, sorry about the short notice, hoped I'd spare the time to pop in on the party...

'Yes, but...!' I said.

'Amy said I must be sure to get you there early.' He looked at his watch. 'My father, the Alderman, is to show you around. He couldn't fetch you himself because he doesn't drive at the moment. Heart condition, you know. Time for one small drink. What would you like?'

'Mr Coulster, I have a train to catch...'

'Don't worry about that. Have your drink, change, we'll take your luggage with us, you spend a little time at the party and then we'll get you to the station in time to catch the ten o'clock train.'

'This is crazy! Why should you want me at your party?'

'Edward and Amy seem to think it would be a good idea if you dropped in for a little while-kill the scandal, and all that.' He lifted a finger at the barman, who produced a brandy and ginger for me. I needed the drink. I didn't like to think of Edward and Amy discussing me behind my back.

'Amy thought it would be best to show everybody that there was nothing in these stories that have been circulating today. Upset everybody properly, haven't you? Jack and Fred and poor old Con and, of course, Edward. Amy said if you came to White Wings for an hour, and father showed you round as if you were an ordinary friend on a visit, and that you then went off to London in our car, the gossip would die down.'

'But the gossip will die down as soon as I've gone, anyway.'

'I don't know anything about that. All I know is that Edward and Amy asked me to pick you up and explain the situation to you. If you'll drink up and change, I'll get the porter to bring down your bags, and we'll be off. I want to be back at White Wings before the rush.'

'Edward is back with Amy? Is that what you are trying to say?'

'Yes. I paid his bill and collected his baggage from the Dragon this afternoon. I don't know what story he's been telling you, but this isn't the first time he's had a tiff with my sister and gone off for a couple of days.'

I tried not to cry. I stared at my reflection in the mirror behind the bar and willed myself not to cry. I would not show him how much I'd been hurt. Then anger came, and it seemed to me that it would be an admirable thing to go to this party and show them all that I didn't care.

James was looking at his watch.

'Can you be ready in five minutes?'

'I don't know. I'd like to come in some ways, but I promised Con I'd leave without causing any more trouble. Suppose I phone him, and ask his advice?'

'I shouldn't bother. He'll be on his way there by now. You can see him at the party and explain. You'll be under our protection for the evening. We'll take care of you.'

'I don't doubt it, but...' I didn't really want to risk seeing Edward again, for my own sake. Knowing that he'd not even waited for me to leave town before he returned to his wife had left a sour taste in my mouth.

'Amy told me to tell you that she had come across something of yours that she would like to return to you. Something you lost last night, she said. Please, do come!'

Click. I knew who had attacked me last night and why they had taken the coat from the hotel.

Click. I knew why there had been no reply when I phoned White Wings later that evening.

Click. I knew who had intercepted my letter telling Edward I was pregnant, years ago.

I don't think I've ever been so angry in all my life.

'Give me ten minutes, and I'll be ready.'

I consider myself something of a connoisseur on parties and houses, having sampled the most luxurious entertainments the States can offer in the way of hospitality, and owning three beautiful houses of my own which had all, at one time or another, been featured in magazines devoted to interior decoration. Yet in all my years of party-going, I had to acknowledge that the party the Strakers threw at White Wings that night took an Oscar. The fine weather helped, of course; it was a beautiful evening and still warm enough at nine o'clock to stroll around without wondering where you'd left your coat. There was no wind, which meant that the fairy lights strung in the trees all around the lake and cl.u.s.tering over the rose garden were reflected in the waters. The setting was perfect; a bowl of trees declining to a natural lake, framing the white house and floodlit lawns.

If one were to search for a fault, it might be in the design of the house itself, which was of a period not much to my taste. It had been built, the Alderman told me, on the site of a much earlier house by a distinguished architect of the nineteen-twenties, and to my mind it suggested a s.h.i.+p, rather than a home. It was a two-storied affair, painted white, with single-storey extensions set in an arc to enclose a terrace which was paved with multi-coloured slabs. The princ.i.p.al bedrooms and the reception-rooms looked out over the terrace, down the smooth lawns to the lake, and you could drift into the long sitting-room from the terrace by the ranks of french windows.

If the weather had turned inclement, the Alderman said, there had been plans to erect a marquee on the terrace, but since this had proved unnecessary, a simple striped awning had been hung over it to provide a focal point for the party. Two bands, or rather one conventional dance band and one rock group, played alternately on the terrace, where couples danced, Drinks and a good-looking buffet were being dispensed from stalls which were set on the lawn in rows to resemble an old-fas.h.i.+oned market place; cold meats here, fish next to it, soup further on, etc. Log tables and benches were grouped under the ancient cedars for those who wished to sit and eat in civilised fas.h.i.+on.

The swimming pool was also floodlit, and in the changing-rooms beyond there were shelves of swim-wear and towels, waiting to be borrowed by the energetic. A hot-dog stall drew a crowd beside the pool, and beyond it there were tennis courts-now empty vegetable gardens and greenhouses. A path led round the edge of the lake, and guests sauntered along it, whispering, giggling, playing hide and seek in a fairy-tale wood strung with lanterns. The brilliant clothes of the guests contributed to the beauty of the scene; even I, in my outrageously expensive lace, was only one bright star among many. On the lake a flotilla of brightly painted punts and row-boats, each equipped with its own lantern, scattered laughter and drops of water on each other. Down by the boat-house a lifeguard paraded, in front of the barbecue. White-hatted chefs carved enormous joints, sucking-pigs turned on spits, there were rumours that a famous rock star would perform...

'The fireworks are scheduled for a quarter-past twelve,' said the Alderman, 'after the cabaret, or whatever they call it nowadays. Yowling and howling, if you ask me, but that's what Piers wants. Everyone should be gathered over on the house side of the lake by that time. We ask everyone to douse the lights on the lake at midnight. The fireworks have been set up on the opposite side, so that we will get a good reflection in the lake. Edward and Amy have been months planning this party.'

'I can imagine. Isn't it time I was leaving?'

'I'll get you a drink first. Not on the terrace, it's too crowded. Come this way.'

There must have been five hundred people in the grounds already, but more were still arriving. The reception line was outside the front door, below the gardener's cottage. James Coulster had avoided the front door, and taken me into the house the back way, so that I had not yet had a chance to meet either my host or hostess. I hadn't complained, because as soon as I'd arrived I knew I didn't really want to see Edward again. The Alderman had been waiting to greet me, and had taken me over the house and grounds, talking in such a courteous fas.h.i.+on that I was unable to disentangle myself.

A man of sixty or so, with compressed lips over a decided chin, he held my arm throughout, even when we met people I knew. So I had merely exchanged a couple of words with a surprised Con, and nodded at Jack. I was pleased to see that he had his brown-haired Hazel on his arm, and that neither of them cared that she topped him by a good inch. I saw Morton and nodded at him; Paul and Joan...I identified Piers by his likeness to his father; he was dancing on the terrace and too busy to stop to talk to us.

'This is Amy's sanctum.' The Alderman showed me down a short pa.s.sage at the back of the house into a dark little room fitted out as an office. A tray of drinks was set on the desk, together with a plate of tiny sandwiches. 'What would you like? Amy will be popping in here soon to say h.e.l.lo. She said you might like a drink and a bite to eat before you went off.'

'Brandy, please. I am looking forward to having a chat with Amy; especially as I think she has appropriated something of mine.'

'As you had appropriated something of hers.' His tone was so gentle that I wondered if I had understood him correctly. He nodded, handing me my drink. 'The Coulsters know how to hold on to their own.'

'As you did when Edward tried to break free of Amy before they were married?'

'Just so. We had a considerable financial investment in that young man, which he has repaid, as was only right. Apart from his fixation about you, he has justified Amy's decision to marry him. The dividends from the Mills have never been so high. A great pity that he has to go-we shall find it extremely difficult to replace him.'

'Surely, the question doesn't arise?' I gulped down the brandy and took a couple of sandwiches, to take the taste away. The Coulsters may have spent a small fortune on their party, but their brandy was not good. 'I'm leaving, and according to your son, Edward has already returned to Amy.'

'Another drink, while we're waiting for Amy?'

'Could you open a window? It's very hot in here.' My head felt strange...suffused...the ceiling was becoming darker and wavering at the corners...

The Alderman's face peered at me, close to, frightening me. I heard my gla.s.s drop on to the floor, but when I groped for it, I lost my balance and had to clutch at a chair to prevent myself from falling.

'Doped!' I enunciated the word with care. He caught me in his arms and helped me on to the chair.

'Why?' I asked. 'What harm have I done you?'

'Money, my dear. We can't possibly let Edward take all his money out of the family, apart from the insult to Amy.'

I screamed. At least, I tried to do so, but the sound I made was more like something produced from a tin whistle than the throat of a fully-grown woman. The door opened and through a thickening mist I saw Amy enter, followed by a thin, dark man. The man who had followed me in his blue Mini earlier in the day.

'But...why?' I asked. 'I'm leaving tonight.'