Into Temptation (Spoils of Time 03) (81 page)

‘I was never allowed to, she kept me well away from it.’

That had made them feel dreadful. Venetia asked him what else he would like, even at this late stage: he said he knew it was a little corny, but he would like St Paul’s Letter to the Corinthians. ‘I do think it is quite the most beautiful piece of writing in the English language.’

‘Would you like to read it yourself?’ asked Venetia.

He turned quite pink with pleasure and said that it would be marvellous if they really thought he should.

‘Oh, Bunny, of course. It’s just that you said before you didn’t want to play a very big role.’

‘Well, there are roles and roles. I certainly couldn’t speak off the cuff.’

‘In that case, please do read it. We can have a run-through in the church later.’

Jay then said he was sorry to suggest something else new at the last minute, but if there were changes being made, he and Tory had been at a funeral that weekend and the absolute highlight had been the singing of ‘Where E’er You Walk’; ‘I think Celia would like that, it’s so like her . . .’

And so it went on; a fourth version of the programme was run off by Lyttons own printers with only twenty-four hours to spare, and Giles said that if his mother came to him in a vision and requested a change now, he would have to tell her she couldn’t have it.

The twins gazed at him in blank and silent astonishment.

‘You wouldn’t dare,’ said Venetia.

‘No I wouldn’t,’ said Giles.

For the hundredth time he debated telling them about the diaries; for the hundredth time he decided not to. Not yet.

The Brewers and Jamie Elliott were staying at Claridges; Venetia had offered to have them, but they said no, there must be so much family to accommodate and indeed, it was true. Apart from the Warwicks themselves, the Millers were arriving at Berkeley Square the morning of the service, and would be staying that night, and Jack and Lily would be with them too.

A week before, there was a surprise call from Marcus Forrest; they had invited him but he had refused, to everyone’s relief. Suddenly, now he said he would like to come after all.

‘Celia and I had our differences, but I admired her so much and I would like to think that Lyttons New York would be represented.’

Since Lyttons New York was already being very well represented, because the entire board was attending, this was slightly surprising, but it was felt they could only express delight.

‘You can look after him,’ said Venetia to Elspeth, with a slightly cool smile. Elspeth, with a still cooller one, said it would be a pleasure.

She was very upset that Keir was not coming; partly because she had hoped he would on her account, but mainly because she felt it was an appalling slight on his part towards her entire family and the memory of her grandmother in particular. All right, he didn’t believe in an afterlife, nor did she. She didn’t think, as Lord Arden clearly did, that Celia would be sitting up on her cloud looking down at them – and probably, as Venetia said, noting what she didn’t like in order to complain about it later. But she would be there very much in spirit, everyone would be thinking about her, talking about her, remembering her, bringing her back to life; it was outrageous that he should sling this insult into what was above all a loving and respectful occasion.

She had told him so, several times, but it had done no good; she was so angry with him, she could hardly speak when he came to collect the children the Saturday before. By the time he returned with them, however, she found it hard to stop.

‘I hope it goes well,’ he said, ‘on Thursday.’

‘Oh really?’ she said. ‘If you wanted it to go well, you’d do your bit to support us, rather than turning your back and walking away from it. I think perhaps you’ve come to think of your publishing success as being entirely earned by your own hard work. The actual facts are rather different, as I recall. I don’t think Macmillans or John Murray invited you to join them when you left Oxford, did they? Or – who else was it you applied to – oh, yes, Heinemann, I think, and Michael Joseph. Goodness, it was a long list. Goodbye, Keir. I shall try not to think of you while it’s going on. It would completely spoil it for me, I’m afraid.’

In the event, she was able to think of very little else.

‘Do you think there’s something wrong with Dad?’ said Cathy.

‘Don’t know. Why?’

‘He seems so – edgy. All he does is snap at me. It’s unlike him. I’m worried.’

‘He snapped at me the other night too. And I know he’s not sleeping, he was in his study about three this morning, when I got up to get a drink. That’s unlike him too. He does love his sleep.’

‘Maybe he’s just worried about this trip, meeting all your grand relatives.’

‘Maybe. Poor Charlie. He said right at the beginning, when the invitation came, he was excited about it.’

‘Or maybe he has money worries. He used to get like this when big bills came in.’

‘Poor Charlie,’ said Jenna again.

Charlie felt worse every day. There was no news from the trustees. It was a nightmare. A real nightmare. He couldn’t ever remember feeling so helpless. Every day he decided to instruct Wyley to approach the lawyers direct and every day he decided against it. He had to keep this low-key. He couldn’t risk Jenna getting wind of the fact he was making his own enquiries. If all went well, and they could proceed, he’d have to find some way of breaking the news to her. But he wasn’t having her needlessly upset at this stage. He just had to wait.

When he had been a small boy, the nuns had taken them to a funfair, as a great treat, and while the other boys were larking around on the carousel, Charlie had played doggedly with one of those Grab-a-Gift games. He had spent over an hour and all this money there, juggling with the hook, trying to pick up the trashy toys at the bottom of the case; every time, as he put his ten cents in, he thought this time, this time he would do it, and the hook would swoop down and he’d think he was in control and nearly, so nearly, grab something and then time would run out and the hook would stop moving and he’d be left with nothing yet again. He felt rather like that now. Only he had no control over the hook at all.

Jenna still didn’t like flying; but she had discovered the trick was to be terribly busy, to have lots and lots to do; with that in mind she had brought along the script of
Noah
which the school was doing for Christmas and in which she was Mrs Noah. She also had a huge stash of magazines and, of course, she had her speech to worry about. She was still fiddling with it.

She was very nervous; every time she thought of the huge church, filled with distinguished people, she felt sick.

‘Hey,’ said Cathy, looking up from one of the gossip pages, ‘hey look, it’s that guy, your half-brother, you know. Bart Elliott, they call him here. Says he’s going to be twenty-one next year and he’s giving a party for five hundred people on some island, and jetting himself there in his own plane. How about that? He’s quite cute looking, Jenna, think you could introduce me?’

‘I hope I never meet him myself. I think he must be absolutely dreadful,’ said Jenna.

‘Me too,’ said Charlie.

He smiled at her. And thought that, if he had his way, Mr Bart Elliott would have just a little more trouble financing his plane than he was expecting.

Charlie was feeling better; he wasn’t sure why. Maybe it was just getting out of New York, away from it all for a few days. Maybe with every day that passed, without the documentation turning up, he felt more confident.

Whatever the reason, he was going to enjoy London. He had a good feeling about it.

‘I hope you girls don’t mind being up here on the top floor,’ said Adele, apologetically, ‘but we’re getting rather full. Maud, Uncle Robert’s daughter, and her husband Nathaniel – sorry, Charlie, very confusing – have suddenly announced they’re not coming on their own but are bringing their two children. So I have to find room for them as well. Anyway, I’ve put you in the room that was your mother’s, Jenna, I thought you’d like that.’

She had actually visited the room before, high up, above the tree tops even, with a wonderful view of the river, had sat on the bed, thinking of her mother there as a small child, feeling lost and frightened, growing up there, doing her homework, reading. There was even Barty’s little desk, and her wardrobe and chest of drawers; it made her feel very close to her.

‘I would like it,’ she said, ‘thank you.’

‘You’ve met Maud, haven’t you?’ asked Adele.

Jenna said she had, a few times; ‘But she and my mother were never very close. Maud never seemed to quite approve of her.’

‘More fool her,’ said Adele lightly. ‘Now, I have a message for you, Jenna, from Lucas, he says he’s really looking forward to seeing you, and he’ll be here tomorrow afternoon.’

‘Really?’ Jenna flushed with pleasure.

‘Really. And I’m going to give a dinner tomorrow night, an American dinner, for all you lot, Uncle Robert and the Brewers and Jamie, of course—’

‘That sounds just great,’ said Charlie, ‘I think that’s really charming of you, Adele. Shall we sing the “Star-Spangled Banner”?’

‘Charlie, you’re so vulgar!’ said Jenna. But she was laughing at him and reached up to give him a kiss.

She’s so fond of him, Adele thought, and he obviously adores her. She couldn’t understand why so many people in the family didn’t like him. She felt a sense of sadness herself, that she would be very much on her own, haunted by the ghosts of her two husbands. Well, not even two husbands, one and a lover. She really didn’t seem to be very good at relationships. She had even, for a wild moment, considered sending Geordie an invitation, but rejected it almost at once; it would hurt too many people, including his own small daughter, and it would outrage too many more. It was just that once – so long ago it seemed – he had been very much part of the family, Celia had been very fond of him, and he of her. As fond as Geordie MacColl was of anyone except himself . . .

Cathy was in a strop over the Warwicks not coming to the dinner.

‘But Cathy, the whole point is it’s an American dinner,’ said Jenna, ‘and the Warwicks are English. It’s a lovely idea of Adele’s, I think.’

‘Yes, well, it’s all right for you, you’ve got Lucas to make eyes at. Who have I got? More elderly relations. I mean, like this old couple from California, how exciting, I don’t think.’

‘Oh Cathy, I don’t make eyes. And this old couple, as you call it, are really fascinating. Lily Lytton was an actress once, a showgirl in London and then in Hollywood, I think that would be quite exciting, actually.’

‘Well, you can talk to her, then. And I’ll chat to Lucas.’

‘Yes, all right,’ said Jenna with a sigh, ‘but anyway, he’s so grown up now, he’s twenty-one nearly, he’s not going to bother with us.’

‘Oh right! Well I’ll get through it somehow, I s’pose. I can’t wait to see Fergal, I thought we might go out to a nightclub maybe, after the dinner.’

Izzie and the boys were also invited to the American dinner; ‘You can come if you like,’ Adele said to Sebastian, ‘I don’t want you feeling left out, but—’

‘My darling, I shall revel in feeling left out. Thank you for thinking of me, but I shall enjoy a quiet evening. I have a great deal to do.’

Adele had only just come back from having her hair done, immediately after lunch next day, when she saw a taxi pulling up outside; Jamie Elliott got out.

She looked at him in horror. She liked Jamie very much but she still had an inordinate amount to do, including making arrangements for Maud’s children – every bit as dreadful as she had expected, real free-range American brats, as Boy had said. Maud expected them to be invited to the dinner, but Adele had politely refused: ‘It’s a grown-up dinner, Maud, they’ll just be bored.’

‘Not at all, they’re very used to adult company. Zara is, after all, nearly eleven, and a very good conversationalist. She has very strong views on all sorts of things and Nathaniel and I always include both the children in our social arrangements. So—’

‘Well, I’m sorry, but there just isn’t room,’ said Adele firmly. ‘Mrs Hardwicke will make them a really nice supper and they can watch TV. They’ll be much happier, don’t you think?’

Maud clearly didn’t, but she could see she was beaten. Increasingly, the twins seemed to her to resemble their mother.

‘Hallo, Jamie,’ Adele said now, ‘do come in. I’m afraid you’re a little early.’

‘I know that,’ he said, ‘but I thought maybe I could be useful.’

‘Well—’ The thought of a stranger to the house, trying to help, asking where everything was, was hideous.

‘I’m sure everything’s under control. But it struck me that there might be something I could do. And if not – well, I’ll go away again. Where is everyone, anyway? It seems very quiet.’

‘Yes, it is. Jenna and Cathy have gone shopping. Charlie’s out sightseeing. Maud and Nathaniel have taken their children—’

‘Their truly dreadful children,’ he said, meeting her eyes and smiling.