Echoes of the Dance (28 page)

‘We're on the move too.' It was clear that he found it difficult to talk with his usual ease of manner with Ellie watching them both so carefully. ‘The house is ready at last.'

‘I'm going to have a swing in the garden.' Suddenly Tom let go of Ellie's leg. The moment of danger had passed and his fear had evaporated. ‘My shoes have got footballs on them.'

He stretched out his foot, pointing his toe, reminding Daisy of the children in the dancing class yesterday. She crouched down, taking his leg in one hand and examining the shoe, whilst Paul and Ellie exchanged a glance that was compounded of relief and a compassionate understanding.

‘Here.' Tom twisted his foot, knee bent, showing her the football engraved on the sole of his shoe and clutching on to her shoulder so as to keep his balance.

‘Wow!' She was suitably impressed, looking into his glowing little face, sharing his pleasure. His eyes were Paul's eyes: bright, interested, alert. ‘Aren't you lucky? I wish I had footballs on
my
shoes.' She stood up again, smiling at them all. ‘Have fun,' she said again and turned away.

Daisy didn't see Ellie's involuntary gesture, a hand stretched towards her in friendship, nor Paul's very slight shake of the head. She was already climbing the stairs.

CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

Roly had just arrived back from Launceston late on Monday morning when Mim telephoned.

‘Such a relief, Roly. Daisy has accepted my offer. I can't tell you how thrilled I am. Only, the thing is, I don't want her to be sitting in Bath brooding. Do you think that you could go and get her? Much better for her to be with you and the dogs.'

‘She's not coming to London, then?'

‘No, no. There's absolutely no point in her being here at the moment. We're just about to plunge into end-of-term exams and it's far too late for her to be involved in the summer show. That would be counterproductive, anyway. No, I need her to be concentrating on the concert and getting herself fit. Lots of work to do. I don't want her being morbid over this wretched man.'

‘ Do I gather things have come to a head?'

‘They've come to three heads. His wife's and two children's. Daisy didn't know anything about the children, poor darling, so it was a terrible shock. Wifie has clearly had second thoughts about separation and simply turned up in Bath with her young, unannounced. Daisy came face to face with them unexpectedly in the hall. The man – Paul, is it? – managed to keep his cool but indicated that they were all moving into the school house very soon.'

‘Ah.'

‘What does “Ah” mean? I hope you're not having malignant thoughts about him?'

‘Not?'

‘Certainly not! If you start telling Daisy that he's a cad and a bounder then she'll feel the need to defend him. We don't want any of that nonsense. We need to let her have a good rant and get him out of her system. Your role is simply to listen. Don't get protective. Be rational; see his point of view.'

‘Well, to be honest, I
do
feel slightly sorry for him. He was rather between a rock and a hard place. In his situation, with my wife threatening to leave me and Daisy living in the flat above and in love with me, I'd have been terribly tempted to try not to rock the boat until the final decision was made.'

‘There you are, then. The vital thing is to make him unimportant in the scheme of things. Daisy needs to concentrate on her work. Jane and Andy are going to take a lot of convincing. Luckily, Jane knows Daisy's work – and Andy was very impressed when he met her – but she's going to have to come up with a lot of good ideas by the beginning of next term. I've put my neck on the block by giving her a chance at choreographing the ballet for the Charity Matinée. She's got to concentrate her mind.'

‘Poor Daisy. Is that fair under the circumstances?'

‘Fair? I'm not running a counselling service for people who've had their cars broken into, Roly. This is a stage school operating in a very competitive world and she's on the payroll from the end of this month. Make sure she listens to lots of music and uses her eyes. Anything that will trigger off inspiration. Goodness, Roly! You were an artist and then a photographer; you know what I'm talking about. All sorts of things will inspire her. She needs to get into the mood of it, that's all. The other thing I was going to ask you to do is to get hold of Bethany Millar. Do you remember the massage therapist who treated poor Kate when she slipped over on the ice last winter? Kate was full of praise for her and Daisy will continue to need treatment. And
do
telephone and offer to fetch her. The stable flat's all ready. Must dash.'

Daisy answered at the second ring.

‘Congratulations!' Roly said. ‘Mim's told me the great news. She's thrilled. So does that mean you can give your notice at the flat and come down here for a good rest?'

‘That sounds terribly tempting. I was just trying to decide what to do next. I've paid the rent up until the end of the month and Suzy and Jill will be back at the end of next week. I've written to them and to Tony. I expect he'll be relieved that he doesn't have to worry about what to do with me but it'll be a bit of a shock for the girls. I know someone in the company who will be very glad to take over my room so they won't be out of pocket.'

‘Splendid. So if I were to drive up with the dogs to fetch you . . . ?'

‘Would you really? That would be . . .'

‘We'd love it.' He feared that she was crying and was seized by a sense of helplessness. ‘When could you be ready? Teatime?'

She gave a rather watery chuckle. ‘It sounds great but I think tomorrow might be more sensible. It'll give me time to pack and clean up. I'll have to take the key round to a friend of mine and sort things out properly. I haven't much in the way of worldly goods but, honestly, Roly, are you sure you can put me up until I go to London?'

‘Mim's instructions. I gather that you're on the payroll from the end of the month and she says you have lots of work to do before next term. Getting yourself better and finding inspiration for the Matinée and so on.'

Daisy's laugh, this time, was more natural. ‘Sounds like Mim. She's so tough, thank goodness. Just what I need at the moment.'

‘If you say so. We'll be with you by late morning. Don't overdo things.'

‘Thanks, Roly. I can't tell you how grateful I am.'

‘Rubbish. Now I shall need some directions . . .'

The third call was from Kate.

‘Just to thank you so much for Saturday, Roly. It was such fun, and Ben and Jules loved it. Don't forget you're coming to have lunch or supper, whatever suits you best, and to see the cottage.'

‘Can't wait. I long to see it after reading the details, but there's been a bit of a crisis. Daisy's love affair has crashed and she's giving up the flat in Bath.'

‘Oh, poor Daisy.'

‘I know. She sounds a bit deflated. Mim's offered her a job starting in the autumn so I'm going to pick her up tomorrow and she's going to spend the summer here.'

‘But that sounds wonderful. It will give her time to heal. Mentally and physically.'

‘I hope so. Though she's got to get some ideas together for Mim's Charity Matinée.'

‘Well, that's good too. It will take her mind off things.'

‘How ruthless you women are – but I'm sure you're right. Anyway, perhaps I can bring her with me later in the week and we can all see the cottage?'

‘Great. And I'll invite Nat, and Janna too, if she's still around.'

‘That sounds fun. I thought that Ben and Julian were rather taken with Floss.'

‘We're all rather taken with Floss. It's just . . . I think it would be silly to move her twice.'

‘So you've made up your mind about buying the cottage?'

‘Probably. Possibly. Oh, I don't know. I took Ben and Jules to see it yesterday and I don't think that they were fearfully impressed. It's rather small after this place; no paddock to play in and no space for a playroom. I've got enough bedrooms here to keep one completely dedicated to the grandchildren's toys. There's room for Giles and Guy's old rocking-horse and they can have the train set left
in situ
, and the fort. They love it, of course, and I was a bit downcast by their lack of enthusiasm for the cottage. But I can't let myself be influenced by two seven-year-olds, can I?'

‘No-oo . . .'

‘You don't sound terribly positive.'

‘There's so much to take into consideration. The upkeep of a house the size of yours, keeping it in good repair, heating it and so on. And you did tell me that you needed to boost your pension. You can't base your decision on your grandchildren's playroom when before too long they'll grow up and lose interest . . . Hello? Kate?'

‘Sorry. I was just thinking. Someone said something like that to me before, years ago, when Giles and Guy were young. My marriage had broken up and I was having an affair. The twins saw that it was getting serious and took fright, and in the end I had to choose between Alex and the twins. Damn. Every time I think I've made up my mind something upsets it and I start all over again.'

‘Kate, I am so sorry. Hell. Look, why don't you come over and have some lunch? It's so unsatisfactory having this kind of conversation on the telephone.'

‘No, no. It's sweet of you, Roly. I'm fine and you've got to get ready to go to Bath tomorrow. We'll speak again soon. My love to Daisy, and thanks again for Saturday. Bye.'

Roly continued to sit on the window seat for some moments, brooding on these conversations. He was glad that he'd made the decision to return to Cornwall. He was at peace this morning; the dogs stretched out asleep and the old barn lapped and folded in a soft light mist that rolled down from the moor and shrouded familiar landmarks. Foggy-fingered, it reached beneath the thorn trees, silvering the grass with a dewy bloom; it drifted above the stream, smoking and curling between the furze-lined banks, and trailed and folded itself over the stone bridge.

As he stared out of the window, thinking of the three women, Roly wondered if he might be beginning to achieve some measure of balance in his life. He loved to go to London, to visit an exhibition or see a new play and meet old friends, but it was good to return to this quiet place and be alone. He stretched contentedly but he was by no means complacent. Though he was no longer disabled by guilt, the past was not yet done with. He knew that his actions on the night of Mim's accident had had a very negative effect on the lives of Monica and Nat and he suspected that he needed to do much more than simply confess his part in it to Kate.

He still shrank from telling Monica, especially in her latest mood of discontent with Jonathan, but he was beginning to feel that he might make a clean breast of it to Nat. Roly thought of Daisy's words: ‘
It isn't good for the soul to hide one's true
feelings and especially with those we really love
.'

Confession might be good for the soul but it could sometimes have a devastating effect on the listener. He must be sure that the telling of his story was not simply for his own benefit. Was it possible that, by explaining to Nat just how things had gone so wrong all those years ago, he might be of some assistance to him now? Might it shed some light on Monica's overpossessive behaviour and Nat's own reactions to it? He would be risking the possibility of his son's contempt and resentment in an attempt to tell the truth about the breakup of their family. Part of him desperately wanted the assurance that it would be worth it.

CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE

Kate stood in the playroom, staring at the toys, hoping that Gemma would not be finding the drive across the moor too difficult in the thick mist.

‘Can I come and see you, Kate?' she'd asked, phoning on her mobile earlier that morning. ‘There's a bit of a problem. Well, you could see that for yourself when we fetched the twins yesterday, couldn't you? They're having tea with a friend after school so I don't have to be back till about six. Will half-past two-ish be OK? Don't worry about waiting lunch.'

Kate picked up a teddy bear and held it for a moment. It was odd that she hadn't wanted to mention Gemma's visit to Roly. Something had prevented her from disclosing her fears about Gemma and Guy when he'd suggested she should go down to lunch; the same instinct made it difficult to discuss Nat with him. Even to such a close friend as Roly, it was impossible to confide completely: a strong sense of loyalty forbade it.

She stroked the teddy's soft fur and straightened his knitted jacket; a nametape was still attached to the suede pad of his foot: G WEBSTER. Even now she could remember the discussion about which of the teddies should accompany the twins to prep school, although it was Giles who'd found it more difficult to decide which of his furry friends should be selected for the treat: at not quite eight years old he'd had a well-developed sense of loyalty. At length she'd persuaded him that they could take turns and he'd been content to agree with this compromise. Guy had always been tougher, more independent, though his sense of loyalty was just as strong, and his expectation of those same qualities in other people – especially those close to him – was high.