Once You Have Found Him
Page 20
“Don’t I know it!” Poppy put in. “That was exactly how I felt ... I couldn’t stop thinking of you. I even dreamt of you.”
“So did I of you—the most dreadful nightmares mostly. Trying to rescue you from dragons—that kind of thing.”
“Unfortunately my dreams of you were nearly always lovely, which made it all the harder to forget you afterwards.”
“Darling.” He took her hand across the table.
The food had been brought to them some time ago but neither of them had eaten anything. Excitement had completely taken away their appetites.
“Darling,” he said, “when I discovered that you weren’t the real Erika, and realized that you couldn’t be a rich girl because you had done it for money, one part of me rejoiced, and then I remembered how you had flirted with Arthur and what fools you had made of us all, and I hardened my heart against you, idiot that I was ... I shall never forget running into you at Brighton that day. I had been feeling so terribly depressed since you left. You had been so cold to me when I rang you up in London, so snubbing, and given no indication that you ever wanted to set eyes on me again, and then you’d written me such a conventional little note thanking me for those flowers I had sent you—so different from the wonderful, warm letter you had written Mother that I knew it wasn’t because you couldn’t express yourself on paper—and then I saw you and it was exactly as if the sun had broken out of heavy clouds. I was so tremendously happy all at once. It didn’t matter for the moment that you were in love with someone else. All that mattered was that we were together again ... We did have fun that day, didn’t we? Do you remember the bumper cars?”
“There’s nothing I don’t remember.”
“You looked so different that evening when we went up to London together. So much more what I wanted you to look like. That was because you were yourself—you weren’t flashy any more. The real Erika is a bit flashy, bless her, but we mustn’t say a word against her because it was she who brought us together.”
“I must tell you now the real reason why I did it,” Poppy said soberly. “You must know everything about me and my family before you think of marrying me. I have one sister, Mary. She is a good bit younger than me and since our parents died I have always looked after her. Even though she is now married I still feel that she is my responsibility...”
“Now she will be our responsibility,” he put in.
She smiled at him in gratitude. “Well, it was her husband, Jack,” and she told him frankly the trouble Jack had got himself into.
“I couldn’t understand more,” he said gently when she had finished. “I should have done exactly the same if I had been in your place. Poor Jack, I daresay it’s been a severe lesson to him.”
“It has. One can’t be sure of anything in this world, but I’m certain as I can be of anything that such a thing will never, never happen again. If you think you should tell your parents...”
“There is no need. I will tell them that you did it for family reasons which you have confided to me, but there is no need for it to go further ... I should very much like to meet him and Mary.”
“You shall. Whenever you like.”
“What about tomorrow?”
“Certainly, I’ll take you in there for a drink.”
“And we’ll dine together again afterwards. Perhaps we’ll be able to do more justice to the food by then ... Do you have to work tomorrow?”
“I’m afraid so.”
“What a shame. I’m on holiday till Monday. But I’ll come and take you out to lunch. I’m not going to waste an unnecessary moment of you after it’s taken me all this time to find you. We might even have breakfast together.”
She laughed.
“Why do you laugh? ... And you’ll come to Hanbridge for the weekend?”
“Hadn’t you better go there first without me?”
“No, I’d like to take you there myself as soon as possible. I’ll write to Mother tonight telling her all about it. I promise you you will get a warm welcome. I know them so well ... Shall we get married at the same time as Pip and Dennis? Would you like a joint wedding? Or shall we slip off somewhere quietly by ourselves without any fuss?”
“I’d like to slip off somewhere quietly by ourselves, but that isn’t so nice for everyone else, is it? Your mother will want you to have a proper wedding.”
“Yes, I suppose we must let it be a family affair, but it won’t worry us very much, will it? ... How do you feel about living in the Temple?”
“I did so love your flat.”
“And you really wouldn’t mind living there? It’s not too primitive and inconvenient for you?”
“I can’t imagine anywhere I would rather live.”
“Dennis is turning out anyway when he marries Pip so it won’t be inconveniencing him. And we’ll spend most of our weekends at Hanbridge. We’ll have to wait a while for our own little dream house in the country. Do you mind?”
“Do I mind? Do you really think I mind where we live so long as we can be together? Just a room of our own would be paradise, but to think of having that whole heavenly flat...”
“You are so wonderfully, deliciously unspoilt,” he said. “It is so exciting for me to realize that I shall be able to give you things. You are the kind of wife I have always dreamed of having but didn’t think existed. You have given me back my faith in the ideal ... Listen, they are playing our tune.” The band had just struck up “Some Enchanted Evening”. “Now I have found you I’ll never let you go ... There is no need now to dance in order to get close to each other. I’m going to take you on another taxi-ride.”
“But the expense!”
“Hang the expense! Tomorrow I’ll borrow Dennis’ car, but this evening it’s got to be a taxi!”
“Will the waiter be very hurt that we haven’t eaten anything?” she asked. “It isn’t the fault of the food.”
“No, we’ll tell him we are in love. I’m sure he’ll understand.”
“I still haven’t eaten Chinese food!”
“No, we’ll have to come here again when we are less enchanted.”
“Will that ever be?”
“I doubt it, my darling,” he said, taking her hands across the table and looking deep into her eyes. “For us it isn’t going to be just one enchanted evening but an enchanted lifetime.”
THE END