A Regimental Affair (37 page)

‘Sure thing.’ There was a pause. Ginny got the feeling that Chris wanted to chat but she didn’t feel like encouraging him. He was nice enough and he was good with the kids, and Netta and Petroc obviously adored him, but Ginny had had enough of people for the day. She had not had a chance to be on her own – apart from her walk into Hugh Town – since she had got up. Now all she really wanted was to go to her room, shut the door and think about recent events. Not that that was an option until the kids had been bathed and put to bed and she had helped with supper for the grown-ups. The silence continued. Chris got the hint. ‘Right, bye,’ he said eventually.

Ginny replaced the receiver.

Netta, sitting on the battered sofa cradling the baby who was sound asleep, looked at her sister askance. ‘What was that about the press?’ she asked.

Ginny plumped herself down beside her. ‘Chris thinks he’s got a journalist booked into his hotel. Apparently he wants to know where you live.’

‘Me, why me?’

‘Presumably because whoever tipped him off knows I am your sister. Find you, find me.’

‘Sorry, I swear I get stupider every time I have a baby.’

‘Impossible.’

‘Cow,’ said Netta with a smile. ‘So what are you going to do?’

‘Nothing. Keep my head down, stay on the farm, that sort of thing.’

‘It’s going to get pretty boring for them if you won’t talk or even make an appearance.’

‘That’s what I’m banking on. It should make them all go away. Which’ll be great until the court martial. Then they’ll all swarm out from under their stones again.’

‘Will it come to a court martial?’ asked Netta, shocked.

‘I expect so.’

‘But you told me what happened was just one of those things. It isn’t as if he raped you or anything, or you are blackmailing him over what he did. I just can’t see why on earth it’ll have to go that far.’

‘Because officers are forbidden from having sex with their subordinates.’

‘So, let me get this straight, it’s what
he
did that was wrong, not what y
ou
did. Colonel Bob is going to be court-martialled, not you.’

‘Probably.’

‘But regardless of which of you is senior, you are just as much to blame as he is. And you were the one who told a reporter, which is what has really caused the trouble,’ said Netta indignantly. The baby stirred and Netta rocked it in her arms automatically.

Ginny didn’t want to hear this argument. She knew what Netta was implying, that the outcome of her indiscretion was that Colonel Bob’s career was going to be destroyed and nothing would happen to her. Well, not officially anyway. But she would hardly get away scot-free. At the very least, there would probably be a number of social repercussions; she would be pretty unpopular until memories faded, but she would be able to soldier on while Bob would, in all likelihood, be thrown out.

‘Thanks for the sisterly support,’ she sniped. ‘Things aren’t a picnic for me, you know.’

‘It’s still worse for him.’

‘Huh.’

‘Look, I know the story in the
Mercury
was horrid, and I appreciate it must be hateful having to hide from the press, but don’t you think you’re being just a bit selfish in your attitude to Bob?’

‘Oh, and he’s just brimming with altruism? There am I, thinking I’m in the middle of a dream come true, that I am the love of his life, and then out of the blue he hauls me into his office and tells me that he’s made a mistake. He’s terribly sorry but everything that had happened had been a complete aberration and would I please forget about it.’

‘Yes, I read your side of the story in the paper, remember? I think you waxed even more eloquently to Tabitha.’

‘But the thing is that I feel so rejected. It wasn’t just an opportunistic affair. I know he really wanted me, he told me that he had done for years. I know he has real feelings for me. It wasn’t one of those affairs that start because both parties have had too much to drink. We were stone cold sober, for heaven’s sake. And
I
was the one who tried to resist. I was just as aware as anyone that he was married and that it wasn’t a good idea, but he … he made it impossible for me to stand firm. I couldn’t. You see, I love him,’ said Ginny hopelessly. ‘I have done since I first met him.’

Netta looked at her sister sadly. ‘Poor Gin.’

‘I thought I’d died and gone to heaven when I found I was posted to his unit. I thought that being around him every day might make him realise that he’d made a dreadful mistake in marrying Alice and that he would ditch her and marry me.’

‘You mean you wanted to wreck his marriage?’

‘No, not wreck. But I just thought that having me around would make him see sense. He can’t possibly love her. She’s such a cold fish. No one likes her. All the wives think she’s a complete joke. Her attitudes are antediluvian, she disapproves of women working, she’s the most appalling snob … He can’t be happy with her.’ Ginny looked at Netta defiantly, daring her to say she was wrong.

Netta shook her head. ‘But you can’t go after someone else’s husband, even if you don’t do it actively. You’d have split up a family.’

‘I wasn’t going to do anything active. I wasn’t going to act like some bunny boiler. I was just going to be there. You’ve never met his wife. You have no idea how awful she is. I could have given him so much more than she ever did. She’s so unbelievably icy. And she has no emotion, no spirit, she spends her life clearing up from one dinner party and arranging the next. There can’t be any fun in their life, she wouldn’t allow that. They’ve got a teenage daughter who thinks the height of rebellion is to read Cosmo …’

‘Now you’re exaggerating.’

‘I’m not,’ said Ginny earnestly. ‘Alice is a total control freak. Everything in her house has to be perfect. There’s no clutter, there’s nothing personal, there are no pictures stuck up on the kitchen units, she keeps a record of the food and guests for each dinner party, she doesn’t drink …’

‘She isn’t normal,’ Netta butted in. ‘But presumably she suits him or he wouldn’t have married her in the first place.’

‘I don’t know, but it doesn’t seem very likely. And he’s such a live wire. He has done all sorts of way-out things; he’s led expeditions up the Amazon, he’s done a jungle survival course, he climbs, he sails, he skis …’

‘And opposites attract.’

Ginny looked defeated. ‘Perhaps that’s it.’

‘Do you think Alice will stick by him if he gets chucked out?’

Ginny thought for a minute. ‘I don’t know. She’s incredibly old-fashioned and I don’t know whether that would make her more or less likely to go. She’ll be horrified that he even dreamed of being unfaithful, but I think she will forgive him eventually. She is so army-barmy, I can’t see her giving up the lifestyle.’

‘But you’d like her to. If she left Bob, the way would be clear for you, wouldn’t it?’

Ginny didn’t have to say anything. Netta could tell that was exactly what she hoped for. There didn’t seem much point in commenting, so Netta got up from the sofa and prepared to put the baby in her Moses basket by the Aga.

‘Come on lazy bones,’ she said to her big sister. ‘It’s time I got supper on the go. You have a choice; either you can bathe the kids or you can cook a stroganoff for the grown-ups.’

‘I’ll do bathtime,’ said Ginny. ‘I know my limitations.’

‘You’ll have to get Chris to teach you how to cook while you’re here.’

‘No chance. I’m a lost cause in that department.’

Towards the end of the week, Chris phoned to report that the press had given up. He’d checked at the other hotels and boarding houses on the islands to make sure there weren’t any other journalists hanging around.

‘Thank goodness for that,’ said Ginny. ‘Did you find out how he knew I was on the island?’

‘Simple. One of the nurses in the hospital recognised you. Of course, she knew who Netta was and got the address and phone number from Netta’s records.’

‘What a cow.’

‘I don’t think she thought about any consequences. She probably just needed some cash. Anyway, no harm done. The story is history now.’

‘And a good thing too. I’m going stir-crazy up here on the farm.’

‘It can’t be so bad. The kids went back to school today.’

Ginny presumed that that meant his kids had too. For some reason, she wanted to know more about the family he supported with the hotel. She made a mental note to ask Netta about them. ‘Yeah the kids are at school, or at least, the big ones are, but I want to get out, go for a walk, stroll on the beach, go for a drink.’

‘How about you come down to my hotel and have a drink with me this evening?’

Ginny was surprised by the invitation. She hadn’t felt they had seen eye to eye enough at their last meeting to merit such an offer. ‘You just want me to drink in your place so I don’t spend my money anywhere else,’ she said.

‘You guessed,’ said Chris with a laugh. ‘Oh well. I’ll take it that’s a no then.’

‘No!’ It almost came out like a yelp. God, it sounded eager, desperate even. She tried to sound more casual. ‘Er, no. It would be lovely to get out for an hour or so. And, apart from the family and Granny Flo, I don’t know a soul hereabouts.’

‘You know me.’ He sounded almost affronted to have been left out.

‘Well, yes. Where’s your hotel?’

‘It’s the Trelisk and it’s near the museum. Netta’ll tell you how to find it.’

‘What time?’

‘Nine-ish suit you?’

‘Great.’

Ginny put the phone down and felt inordinately pleased with the invitation. At least here she wasn’t a social pariah. Not like back at the regiment. She’d been on the phone to Debbie earlier that day to find out the reaction to the scandal in the barracks.

‘I wouldn’t make plans about coming back, even if you are allowed,’ Debbie had warned.

‘Why not?’

‘Colonel Bob was more popular with the troops than we knew. The lads are livid about him being suspended and there are a few unpleasant comments being made. You’re not flavour of the month at all. Even some of the wives are a bit anti. In fact,’ added Debbie, ‘I can’t say I’m thrilled about the outcome of what you’ve done either.’

‘What …?’ Ginny had started, shocked by Debbie’s tone of voice.

‘If only you had kept your trap shut, none of this would have happened. Richard might occasionally get home earlier than eight o’clock, the regiment might still have a proper commanding officer, the wives might be able to go shopping at the local supermarket without getting accosted by the press, other scurrilous stories about the regiment wouldn’t be popping up in the gutter press like toadstools on a rotten log – no doubt sold by disaffected ex-members, and none of them true of course, but hurtful all the same – and without you and your big mouth, life might still be quite normal.’ Debbie paused for breath after her outburst.

There was silence from Ginny. She felt completely stunned. She knew that she wouldn’t be popular with some people in the regiment, but Debbie was her friend. She had thought Debbie would have stood by her, seen her side of things. In fact, she had half thought that there would be just as much sympathy for her as for the colonel. She certainly hadn’t expected this. And what hurt almost as much as Debbie’s outburst was the revelation that the troops were against her as well. They were her troops too, not just Colonel Bob’s. She had worked her butt off to make sure their admin all got done – that they went on the right courses at the right time for the best chance of promotion; that their pay and allowances all got sorted out quickly; that any mistakes in their documentation got rectified immediately – and now they were repaying her by painting her as the scarlet woman. And she hadn’t been. She’d been the one saying sex was a lousy idea. How unfair was that? And how dare they! Well, fuck ’em, fuck the lot of ’em. She wouldn’t go back to the regiment now, even if they begged her to.

But the trouble was, if she didn’t go back there, where else could she go in the army? And would it be the same wherever she went? Would there always be a whispering campaign that would smear her name? For the first time in her life, Ginny knew what it was like to feel real regret. It seemed as if she had screwed up her life big time. She’d lost her job, her reputation, her friends, pretty much everything. If she could rerun that night on the mountain, undo what had been done, how different things would be now. But that wasn’t an option. Magic or time travel was great in theory but Ginny didn’t find either was much of a help in real life. It was very tempting to wallow in self-pity, but Ginny knew that it wasn’t an answer. It wouldn’t achieve anything. Her only course of action was to get over the past and look forward to the future. She would start with the very near future. She would look forward to the evening with Chris. At least he was still talking to her.

Megan sat silently in the car as Alice drove her back to school.

‘Do you want the radio on?’ Alice asked her.

‘Not really.’

‘And do you want me to come in with you to have a word with Miss Pink or are you going to be all right?’

‘I’ll be fine. Stop fussing, Mum.’

Alice glanced across at her daughter. She was very pale and Alice thought she had lost weight too. Not that that was surprising. Alice knew that she had herself. She had had a problem keeping her blouse tucked into her skirt the day before, a skirt that had fitted perfectly the previous week and which was now hanging off her. It was scary how anxiety, worry, anger and sadness had turned her from a size twelve, ordinary middle-aged woman into a skinny, frumpy crone. When she looked at herself in the mirror, she could see lines that had not been there previously, more grey hairs than she remembered, and a hardness and wariness in her eyes that she’d never seen before. She didn’t mind so much that her face bore physical witness to the anguish she had gone through since the weekend, but what really tore her apart was that her daughter was suffering too.

‘You mustn’t let the things people say get to you,’ she said ‘There are bound to be a couple of the girls there who will think it clever to be unpleasant.’

‘Mum,’ said Megan wearily, ‘I know. I’ve been through all this with Jen.’

‘I’m sorry, dear,’ said Alice tightly, hurt by her daughter’s tone of voice. ‘I only want to help.’