An Ocean Apart (62 page)

“What are
you
all doing here?” Benji asked. “I thought you were at school in Scotland!”

“We are, but Granny took us off for two days and brought us down here, 'cos she thought we would like to see Dad talk in the House of Lords.”

Benji looked past him to see a tall old lady come down the stairs holding on to Harriet's hand. Charlie ran up the first two steps to meet them.

“Granny, this is Benji, my friend from America. He's here—in London!”

His grandmother smiled at Benji as she approached him, her hand outstretched. “Yes, I can see that, darling. How do you do, Benji? How very nice it is to meet you.”

Benji shook her hand and turned to find that his mother and Sophie had come to stand behind him.

“Granny,” Sophie said excitedly. “This is Jennifer.”

Alicia smiled warmly at Jennifer and stepped forward and kissed her on both cheeks. “My dear, I am so delighted to meet you. I have heard so much about you, both from Sophie and from David.” She stood back, shaking her head in astonishment. “I cannot believe you're here! What an extraordinary thing!”

Benji walked up to his mother and tugged at her hand. “Mom, can Charlie and I go and see David now?
He
knows where to go.”

Jennifer looked down at him. “In a minute, darling. There are still people coming down the stairs.”

Alicia looked around. “Oh, I'll see if we can't pull a few strings.”

She walked over to the usher at the head of the queue and talked quietly with him. He nodded and accompanied Alicia back to where they stood.

“This very kind gentleman will take you two up to the Public Gallery. But remember, Charlie, you have to be very quiet.”

“All right, Granny!” Charlie exclaimed and both he and Benji began running up the stairs, squeezing past the oncoming traffic, followed as briskly as he was able by the elderly usher.

Being between intakes, the Public Gallery was completely empty, and all was silent except for the single low voice that droned from the chamber below. The usher showed the two boys to the seats at the very front, and stood beside them as Charlie pointed out his father to Benji. He craned forward in his seat, desperately trying to catch David's eye, then turned to Charlie.

“Can't we call him?” he whispered.

“No, it's against the law,” Charlie replied sombrely, pressing his mouth against Benji's ear. “Granny says you're not even allowed to wave.”

“How can we get his attention then?”

“We can't. We have to wait until he looks up.”

Benji gazed down on the house, looking at each of the lords in turn. “He looks as if he's the youngest person there!”

Charlie put his hand to his mouth to stop himself from giggling. “Granny says that some of them have been sitting there so long that they have cobwebs stretching from their heads to the backs of their seats.”

Benji too clamped his hand to his mouth, but not before letting out an involuntary snort of laughter. He turned guiltily around to the usher, who put his finger to his lips.

At no time did David make any effort to look up at the gallery. Benji moved his head fractionally from side to side to try to attract his attention, but it was all to no avail. David didn't know they were there. It was all too much. He had to let him know. He stood up.

“
DAVID
!”

Charlie grabbed at him and dived below the level of the balcony in embarrassment. Every face turned up to the gallery, each issuing loud murmurs of “Order! Order!” The usher gave Benji a hard pat on the back and pointed to the door. But it was all too late. Benji's call had had the desired effect. David started in his seat, and looked up at the gallery in time to see the beaming-faced boy waving at him as he was ushered out. God, it was Benji! What the hell was he…? Charlie's face suddenly appeared from below the balcony, and as he too got up to leave, he gestured with his hand for his father to come out. David shook his head in disbelief, then turned to look around the chamber. All eyes were on him. He handed his papers to the peer directly in front of him, then stood up and walked as fast as he felt was permissible towards the double doors.

Once outside the Debating Chamber, he hurried across the Lords Lobby, pushed hard at the large swinging doors and entered the Central Lobby, arriving just as Benji and Charlie reached the bottom of the stairs.

Benji picked him out immediately from the crowd. “
DAVID
!” he yelled and ran up to him, throwing his arms around his waist.

David held hard to the boy and bent down and kissed the top of his head. “Benji,” he said, laughing, “what
on earth
are you doing here?”

Benji pushed himself away from him, just as Charlie came to join them.

“We saw you on TV. We're staying in the Ritz, and I turned on the TV and saw you. I didn't recognize your name. You changed it!”

“Yes, you're right. I have. Who's ‘we,' Benji?”

“Mom, Jasmine and me.”

“All of you? You're all here in London?”

“Yup. Jasmine is still in the hotel, but Mom is here somewhere.” He turned and looked around the crowded hall.

“There they are!” shouted Charlie, and he and Benji turned and began running over to the entrance door, where Jennifer stood talking to Sophie and her grandmother.

David walked slowly towards them, his eyes fixed firmly on Jennifer. As the boys reached them, she looked around and saw him approach, and her face broke into a wide grin.

He stopped in front of her and thrust his hands into his pockets of his jacket.

“Hi.”

Jennifer held her handbag with both hands in front of her, self-consciously swinging it from side to side. “Hi,” she replied quietly.

As they stood in silence looking at each other, Alicia put her arm around Sophie's shoulders and, giving her a knowing wink, they followed on after the two boys and Harriet, who had already run out through the doors into the sunlight of the afternoon.

“How are things?” David asked, his face still fixed in the widest of grins.

Jennifer shrugged. “So-so.”

“Did, er, everything work out between you and…?”

Jennifer shook her head. “No, it's finished. I did try, David, but he walked out on us in November.”

“What a bloody fool,” he murmured, staring down at his feet in an attempt to disguise his look of sheer relief. He looked up at her and laughed.

“So … how long are you over here for?”

“I don't know.”

David acknowledged someone who passed by. “You, er, wouldn't consider coming up to Scotland, would you? I mean, all of you?”

Jennifer contemplated this for a minute, before nodding her head slowly. “You know, I think we might. Nothing else is planned.”

They continued looking at each other without either making a move. Jennifer took in a long breath and let it out again. “So, you've changed profession? From a gardener to a lord?”

David nodded and raised his eyebrows.

“Wow!” She gave a little laugh at the incredulity of it all. “That really
is
one for the books!” She pulled a face. “I've never met a lord before. What am I supposed to do? Give a little curtsy?”

David shook his head and moved towards her, putting his arms around her waist and pulling her towards him. “I don't think there's any written law on the subject. So I suppose that we could just make do with a very long and passionate kiss.”

And the elderly usher, who had been making his way slowly up the staircase, stopped and cast his eyes around the Central Lobby, wondering why such a profound silence had suddenly descended upon the place.

St. Martin's Paperbacks Titles
by Robin Pilcher

An Ocean Apart

Starting Over

A Risk Worth Taking

 

“Warm and readable.”

—
Chicago Sun-Times

“A warm, welcome tale of believable people and places, told by a born storyteller … AN OCEAN APART is full of beautifully painted characters … Though Robin Pilcher has his own literary voice, it is obvious that inheritance has brightened this first long, full tale.”

—
The Anniston Star

“[Pilcher] shares with his mother a warmth that seems quite genuine, [and] a real fondness for his characters.”

—
The Orlando Sentinel

 

“The Tracks of My Tears.” Words and music by William “Smokey” Robinson, Warren Moore, and Marvin Tarplin. © 1965, 1967 (renewed 1993, 1995) by JOBETE MUSIC CO., INC. All rights controlled and administered by EMI APRIL MUSIC, INC. All rights reserved. International copyright secured. Used by permission.

AN OCEAN APART

Copyright © 1999 by Robin Pilcher.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews. For information address St. Martin's Press, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010.

Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 98-11664

ISBN: 0-312-97184-2

EAN: 80312-97184-7

St. Martin's Press hardcover edition / January 1999

St. Martin's Paperbacks edition / November 1999

St. Martin's Paperbacks are published by St. Martin's Press, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010.

eISBN 9781466862166

First eBook edition: December 2013