The Woman From Paris (37 page)

Phaedra stared at David, Joshua, and Tom and grinned. “I really don’t need rescuing,” she laughed.

“We’ve come recruiting, actually,” said Tom, leading the way in. He kissed her cheek then took the chair beside her. “Croissants, Grandma, do you mind? Phaedra won’t eat them, will you, Phaedra?”

“I bought extra,” said Margaret. “You don’t think I didn’t anticipate your visit? Mind you, I didn’t expect all
three
of you. What have you done with Roberta and Amber?”

“They’re having breakfast,” Joshua replied. He, too, kissed Phaedra. “We thought you’d like to come and help Mum at the folly. We could do with an extra pair of hands.”

“Lucky I asked you to come for dinner last night,” said Margaret. “I knew the boys wouldn’t leave us alone for long.” But she didn’t look put out. The sourpuss was finding it hard to sustain her tang. Joshua sat beside his grandmother and helped himself to a piece of toast. “You might as well sit down and join us,” she added. “I suppose everybody wants coffee and cooked breakfast?”

“You read my mind, Grandma,” said Tom.

“Don’t they feed you up at the big house?”

“Never enough,” Tom added, shaking his head dolefully. “I’m
always
hungry!”

David caught Phaedra’s eye and smiled. “I have a penchant for homemade pancakes,” he said, and Phaedra smiled back.

“I’m not a restaurant,” Margaret snapped. “Eggs and bacon, take it or leave it.”

“I’ll take it,” said David. He sat on Phaedra’s other side.

“Did you take Rufus for a walk around the lake?” she asked quietly.

“Yes, how did you guess?”

“I wondered. Did you hear the owl?”

“Yes, but it wasn’t Boris. Boris screeches.”

She laughed. “Do you think they’re friends?”

“I don’t think they share dinner, if that’s what you mean.”

She lowered her voice further. “I know who built the folly and why. I’ll tell you later.”

He glanced at his grandmother. She was in conversation with Joshua and Tom. “When we’re alone,” he replied.

Margaret did not want to go up to the folly, but she was happy to let Phaedra go. She reminded them that they were all invited for dinner. She had arranged treacle pudding especially for Tom, knowing it was one of his favorites.

Phaedra collected her camera from her car, and then the four of them set off in David’s Land Rover. Rufus sat in the well of the passenger seat with his head on Phaedra’s knee. David noticed that his dog was growing as fond of her as he was. She seemed to electrify them all, for Joshua and Tom bantered in the back as Phaedra laughed at their double act. They seemed to rise to their attractive new audience, and even David was unable to resist and laughed along with them.

They arrived at the folly to find Dr. Heyworth, Rosamunde, Antoinette, Roberta, and little Amber in her pram, watched over by the stout nanny, Kathy. They were greeted cheerfully by all except Roberta, who said a cold hello to Phaedra, then proceeded to watch her suspiciously from the top of the ladder without uttering another word. The boys helped Dr. Heyworth lift all the furniture out onto the grass, while Phaedra removed the rest of the ivy from the far side of the folly, and Antoinette and Rosamunde, who was now much more mobile, swept and dusted where the furniture had been. They then scrubbed the floor and walls and cleaned the windows until they gleamed. It was more like a party than a chore. The air was filled
with mirth as they chatted and joked while the sun rose in the sky and beat down upon them.

David and Phaedra simply enjoyed being together. They locked eyes when the others were too occupied with their tasks to see, and shared secret jokes and asides that only they understood. Antoinette was too absorbed in her jobs to worry about her son and stepdaughter, and Rosamunde was so busy watching the doctor that a family of ducks could have flown in through the window and she wouldn’t have noticed.

Roberta was in a merry mood in spite of her doubts about Phaedra, or perhaps
because
of them. Her quest gave her a secret thrill, one that only she and Joshua knew about. This weekend she was determined to sneak into Phaedra’s bedroom and extract some hair from her brush. She wasn’t sure how to go about conducting a DNA test, but she knew people she could ask. It gave her pleasure to watch Phaedra as a hunter watches an ignorant stag. The girl had no idea that she was onto her. As far as Phaedra was concerned, she had gotten away with it.

As Roberta was scrubbing the wall, Joshua came up behind her and kissed her neck where the skin was exposed because she had put her hair up in a band. She smiled and turned to him, surprised. “Hello there,” she said softly. “What was that for?”

“I don’t know. I just felt like kissing you.”

She giggled. “That’s nice.”

“This is fun, isn’t it?” he said, putting an arm around her waist and squeezing her.

“Yes, we’re a secret team, like undercover policemen.”

“Are you going to be
very
disappointed when you’re wrong?” he laughed.

Roberta laughed with him. “No,
you’re
going to be very disappointed when I’m right!”

They picnicked in the shade. Phaedra retrieved her camera from the Land Rover and set about taking lots of photographs. She tried to disguise the fact that for every one she took of Dr. Heyworth and
David’s family, she took three of David. She shot the folly, too, from all directions, then checked the screen to examine her work.

Tom disappeared for a while, returning a little later with an old stereo he’d dug out of his bedroom cupboard. He put on a tape of eighties dance tunes, much to the amusement of his siblings. Then he grabbed Phaedra and pulled her to her feet. Ignoring her protests, he proceeded to dance with her. Joshua roared with laughter and took Roberta by the hand. The four of them danced exuberantly in the sunshine until Rufus began to bark in confusion. Dr. Heyworth, inspired by the young and encouraged by Antoinette’s obvious enjoyment, asked Rosamunde to dance. Rosamunde looked mortified and declined, blaming her ailing hip. Undeterred, he approached Antoinette. “Lady Frampton,” he began, “may I have this dance?” She smiled at him shyly, half pleased, half embarrassed. “I will be gentle with you,” he reassured her, and held out his hand.

Rosamunde looked on uneasily as the object of her desire put his arm around her sister’s waist and led her across the grass. While they danced, they laughed, locked their heads to be heard, and moved in sync to the beat. Rosamunde told herself that he had asked Antoinette only out of politeness. Had
she
not declined, he’d be pressing himself against
her
instead.

David poured himself another glass of wine. He lay back on the rug and commented loudly on the extraordinary spectacle before him, but his eyes never left Phaedra, not for a moment.

The festive mood carried them all through the rest of the afternoon. Roberta left at teatime to take Amber and Kathy back to the main house, but the others remained at the folly. “Tomorrow we paint,” Antoinette announced. “So no Sunday best, please.”

“Does anyone know yet who built it?” Dr. Heyworth asked.

Antoinette looked hopefully at Phaedra. “Did you get anything out of her?”

“Arthur built it soon after they married,” she replied lightly. “A romantic gift, don’t you think?”

“Very,” Antoinette replied, wondering why she had never been told.

Phaedra glanced at David. He knew she wasn’t telling the whole truth. She looked back at Antoinette. “She says she’d have told you had you ever asked.”

“Oh, so there’s no mystery?” Antoinette was disappointed.

“No mystery.”

“Why doesn’t she ever come up here, then?”

“You’ll have to ask her that yourself. I forgot.”

“Perhaps it’s too painful,” she mused.

“Perhaps,” Phaedra replied. Again she caught David’s eye. It wasn’t a story she’d relish telling him.

That evening they all dined at Margaret’s. She had gone to great trouble to choose a menu they all liked. Arthur’s cellar had been opened, and David had chosen the finest wine. It was as if they had something important to celebrate. After dinner they played charades, and even Margaret joined in, performing a very convincing Cruella De Vil to riotous applause from her astonished audience.

Antoinette watched her family unite in the most unlikely way, in the most unlikely place. Margaret’s house had always been a place of rigid formality and few laughs. Now it was the center of the revelry. She looked at Phaedra, in the middle of it all. She seemed to glow with a particularly golden light that drew everyone into her orbit, like a beautiful star—everyone except Roberta. Antoinette wished she’d make more of an effort to get to know her. She was sure Roberta would like her, if she gave the girl a chance.

Later, Tom went outside to smoke, taking Joshua with him. Rosamunde and Antoinette returned home, and Margaret retired to bed. David seized the opportunity to speak to Phaedra alone. They went into the drinks room under the pretense of replenishing their glasses. Roberta seized her opportunity and hurried up the stairs to the yellow room.

“So what’s the real story?” David asked. Phaedra was reluctant to tell him, but even Margaret had said Arthur’s affair was no secret, so she repeated what his grandmother had told her. He looked appalled. “That explains a lot,” he said finally. “Poor Grandma. I can’t believe Grandpa could have done that to her, so soon after they married, too.
He didn’t look the type. I remember him as a very decent, respectable man.”

“He must have learned his lesson.”

“The folly is one hell of an apology. He must have felt really bad.”

“It’s no surprise that she never goes up there. I don’t suppose she ever got over the hurt.”

“You’d never have guessed, seeing them together.” He looked down at her solemnly. “Are you going to tell Mother?”

“It’s not for me to tell her.”

“I will,” said David after a moment’s thought. “It explains a great deal about Margaret.”

“We are all the sum of our experience,” said Phaedra gravely.

“Don’t look so sad. What’s your experience?” He grinned playfully.

She shook her head. “Not for now.”

He frowned. “Are you ever going to tell me?”

“There’s little to tell.”

But he didn’t believe her. “I get the feeling you’re keeping things from me.”

“We’re all allowed a few skeletons.”

“I can’t imagine you have many.”

“One or two.” She gazed up at him. For a fleeting moment she thought he was about to kiss her. He grew suddenly very serious and bent his head slightly. She caught her breath. She wanted him to so much. The moment seemed to last for an age, giving her time to see the last eighteen months flashing before her eyes. Just as his lips were about to brush hers, Tom shouted from behind the door.

“What’s going on in there?”

He opened it and burst in. “What are you two plotting?”

“The truth about the folly,” said David. “Come in and we’ll tell you.”

“Oh good, I love a scandal,” he exclaimed, rubbing his hands.

“I’ll leave you to it,” Phaedra said. “I think I’m going to go to bed.” And she left, ignoring the silent plea in David’s eyes.

She escaped to her room and closed the door. Her heart was beating wildly, throwing itself against her rib cage like a frustrated parrot. She closed her eyes and took a deep, relieved breath. That had been
close. If Tom hadn’t disturbed them, David would most certainly have kissed her, and then what? “Oh, God!” she sighed out loud, retreating into the bathroom to change for bed.

She washed her face and stared at her reflection in the mirror. What was she thinking? She should just walk away, but she was in far too deep now to turn her back on the Framptons—and she liked them too much.

She pulled on her pajamas and climbed into bed. She took a swig of water then switched off the light. The sound of creaking floorboards alerted her to the possibility that David might come up to find her. She stiffened, but all she could hear was her breathing—and the loud ticktock of the clock.

She gasped in horror. Who had put it back? Margaret? Jenny? She slid beneath the sheet, wanting the mattress to swallow her up. Would they have thought she intended to steal it?

*   *   *

“I’ve got it!” Roberta hissed to Joshua, finding him in the sitting room.

“That was quick,” he replied.

“Doesn’t take long. Her hairbrush was in the bathroom. I just pulled a bit out.” She patted her trouser pocket. “Safe in here.”

“Lucky she didn’t catch you in her room.”

“I’m far too clever for that. I saw her in the hall and dived into the next-door bedroom. Once she’d gone into her room, I ran downstairs. Simple.”

“You’d make such a good detective,” he flattered her.

“I know. I’m rather loving it, actually. I’m closing in. Soon it will all be over. You wait and see.”

24

T
he following morning Margaret and Phaedra breakfasted together again in the conservatory. Gray clouds gathered in the sky. It looked as if it might rain. But Margaret was in an exuberant mood, sitting in her best dress and pearls ready for church. She took great pleasure reviewing the evening before and pronounced it an unprecedented success. “It’s been a very long time since the whole family got together like that. I’m not sure we’ve ever had such fun, even at Christmas,” she gushed, buttering a piece of whole-wheat toast. Phaedra could not share her enthusiasm. She felt heavy-hearted; David had almost kissed her—and she had wanted him to. She poured herself a strong coffee and tried to look animated.

Margaret didn’t mention the clock, so Phaedra didn’t bring it up. Perhaps Jenny had found it and replaced it on the mantelpiece. Surely she would have worked out why Phaedra had hidden it. There was no reason for the guilty conscience—but right now, Phaedra felt guilty about everything.

After breakfast Margaret went to church with Joshua and Roberta, leaving Kathy in the house with Amber. Phaedra had made sure she was dressed in jeans and T-shirt in anticipation of spending the day painting, and waited nervously in the hall for David. She was disappointed when Tom arrived instead. She knew then that an invisible line had been crossed in the drinks room the night before.