‘Honestly, Harriet!’ Michael, for one reason or another, seemed to be a bit impatient. ‘For goodness’ sake!’ His voice was getting louder. ‘Harriet!’ Now he had her by the shoulder and was shaking her. ‘Harriet! Wake up!’
‘What? What is it?’ Harriet woke to find Michael bending over her. She clasped his arm convulsively. ‘Oh, Michael, where are the babies?’
‘Babies?’ Michael stood upright. ‘Only one baby, I hope. And that’s where it was when we went to bed last night. I think I’d have noticed if you’d had it in the night. What are you talking about? If you’ve been keeping it from me that you’re about to drop twins, Harriet, I shall be very upset.’
‘Oh, Michael.’ Harriet, struggling into a sitting position, began to laugh. ‘I dreamed that Max had had puppies. You should have seen his face!’
‘I can imagine it only too well. Poor old Max. And at his great age, too! I woke you because Polly’s been on the telephone. Apparently she’s staying with Cass.’
‘With Cass? What’s she doing with Cass? They hardly know each other.’
Michael shrugged. ‘I’ve no idea. She didn’t confide in me. She’s there for the party tonight and she phoned to see if you were going to be up to it. She said that the house is in an uproar and Cass suggested that she pop over to see you. That’s why I woke you up. I said that you’d phone back.’
‘Oh.’ Harriet looked puzzled. ‘How strange. I didn’t realise that she was so friendly with Cass. Well, it’ll be lovely to see her. I think we’ll go tonight, don’t you?’
‘If you feel up to it.’ Michael helped to haul her into a standing position. ‘But not for too long.’
‘It’ll be good.’ Harriet gave him a kiss. ‘1 11 get dressed and be right down. Good grief! It’s nearly ten o’clock!’
‘Well, you’ve been sleeping so badly I thought a lie-in would do you good. Everything’s under control. I shall pop into the office later on but there’s no hurry. I’ve even given Hugh his breakfast. Need any help?’
‘No, I’ll manage. Bless you, darling. I’ll be down in a sec.’
Michael returned to the kitchen where Hugh had arranged assorted toys under the table and was kneeling amongst them, talking to them in a low monotone. Max lay stretched out before the Aga. Ozzy was asleep in the utility room but, in his old age, Max had begun to appreciate the warmth and comfort of the kitchen. Michael bent to stroke him and he opened one eye and sighed deeply.
‘I hate to tell you this, old chap,’ murmured Michael, ‘but you’ve just become a mother.’
AS POLLY, CLOSELY FOLLOWING Cass’s instructions, set out across the moor to Harriet, fitful gleams of sunshine lit up the craggy landscape. At the end of several weeks of nearly continuous rain, Dartmoor was looking exactly what it was: a giant sponge. Things dripped and squelched and even the sheep looked deeply depressed. They stood in clumps looking like so many sheepskin rugs that had been left out in the rain for weeks.
Poor old things, thought Polly, steering her way carefully between several who had taken up positions in the middle of the road and showed no disposition to move. It looks as if it would be a kindness to put them out of their misery and have them for lunch!
She reached the Princetown road and looked with awe upon the gloomy aspect of the prison, grey and forbidding. A working party moved to and fro in one of the fields and Polly shivered and set her foot more firmly on the accelerator. She turned left out of Prince-town and headed towards Tavistock. Once through Merrivale, she kept her eyes open for the turning off on to the narrow road across the open moorland which led to Lower Barton and on to a farm.
Minutes later she was driving up the track to Harriet and Michael’s cottage. It was, in fact, a converted barn standing in an isolated position at the side of the track which wound on past the little garden to another open-fronted barn which Michael used as a garage and wood store. As Polly parked by the gate into the garden, the front door opened and Harriet was hurrying out to meet her.
Polly sprang from the car and hugged as much of Harriet as she could get her arms round. ‘Goodness, Harriet!’ she cried. ‘It looks as if it could be at any moment. Are you sure you ought to come tonight?’
‘Another week yet,’ said Harriet comfortably, kissing her old friend. ‘You’ve had your hair cut! Looks great! And what on earth are you doing with Cass? Come and tell me all and say hello to your godson.’
She led the way through to the kitchen where Hugh was kneeling beside the recumbent Max with a row of toy animals perched on Max’s furry side. A large teddy bear, wearing a fetching tinsel scarf, sat astride his neck.
‘They’re all on an outing to see Father Christmas,’ explained Harriet. ‘Max is the coach and teddy’s the driver.’
Polly crouched to give Hugh a hug and Max a pat. ‘Don’t get up,’ she said quickly to Max, who had shown no signs of expending such a vast amount of energy, ‘or there’ll be a dreadful accident. Hello, Huge.’
Hugh gave her a sidelong glance. ‘Sing!’ he commanded and Polly looked taken aback.
‘We were having a singsong on the coach,’ explained Harriet. ‘We went up to Exeter to see Father Christmas with the playschool and everyone sang songs. So now it’s the in-thing. Tell you what, Hugh, I think the coach has stopped so that everyone can stretch their legs and have some coffee. Why don’t we have something, too, and then Polly can sing afterwards when she’s wet her whistle?’
Hugh looked doubtfully at the passengers and then at Polly, who smiled at him. ‘Shall we do “row, row, row your boat” while Mummy gets the kettle on?’ she suggested. ‘And then we’ll all stop and have a coffee break. The coach must be getting pretty exhausted, too.’
Hugh’s face cleared. ‘Sing!’ he shouted.
They sang. When, or so it seemed to Polly, they had rowed the full length of the Thames, Harriet announced that coffee was ready and the passengers were allowed off the coach to stretch their legs. Max pulled himself into a sitting position and rolled an eye towards the biscuit tin.
‘Looks like the coach needs some petrol,’ said Harriet, giving Max a biscuit. She sat Hugh in an armchair near the Aga, piled in the passengers and gave him his feeding mug and a small bowl with some biscuit and a few nuts and raisins in it. ‘There you are. Share them round,’ she told him. ‘And now,’ she said, subsiding at the table, ‘tell me how you come to be staying with Cass.’
‘Oh, Harriet,’ Polly sighed. ‘You simply won’t believe this.’
Harriet stared at her aghast, as the recital proceeded. ‘Gone off with Fiona? Left a note?’
Polly looked at her in alarm. Harriet was beginning to sound Suzyish. If she suggested she bought a dog or offered her raspberry tea Polly felt that she might hit her with a blunt instrument, pregnant or not.
‘I don’t know what to do,’ she said and drank some coffee, smelling at it cautiously first.
‘I’m not surprised!’ Harriet sounded indignant. ‘What a perfectly foul thing to do. Thank goodness you met up with Cass. She’s just what you need in this sort of crisis. But do you really mean that you had no suspicion at all?’
‘Well, I didn’t. But you must remember, Harriet, that our married life isn’t like most people’s. Paul is often stuck in the laboratory or in his study and he’s not terribly social. I’m not complaining. I’m very happy doing my own thing and I’d hate always to be gadding about to parties and things. I’m useless, domestically, you know that. I like pottering about, reading and listening to music and going out for walks. We’re both very boring people, which is why we suit each other. We’re not what you’d call madly passionate but I hadn’t noticed any change in that respect or in anything else.’ Polly shook her head. ‘All I can assume is that, as he’s been working so closely with Fiona, they’ve fallen madly in love and it’s sort of sent him off his head. He’s probably gone off to assimilate the facts, examine the data and write a short treatise on it,’ she added morosely. ‘Then he’ll decide how to react. Meanwhile, I have
to sit and wait for the results.’ Harriet stared at her across the table and then burst into an uncontrollable fit of mirth. ‘I’m sorry,’ she moaned. ‘I’m truly sorry. It was just the way you said it. Oh, God. Sorry, Polly.’ She mopped her eyes on a tea towel.
‘Don’t mind me.’ Polly finished her coffee. ‘I like to give people a good laugh.’
‘No, no.’ Harriet showed signs of breaking out again but controlled herself. ‘It’s not at all funny. And I’m really glad you’re here. But look, you mustn’t go home after the party. Come and stay with us for a bit. I certainly don’t think you should be sitting at home alone, waiting at the end of the telephone.’
‘Cass has told me I can stay as long as I like and, to be honest, Harriet, you don’t look as if you’re in a fit state to have guests. It’s not as if I’m wonderfully practical and could cook terrific meals and be helpful to you. I’d probably be a pain in the neck. I’m sure Michael would think so. Where is he, by the way?’
‘At the office. Ozzy’s gone with him. And that’s all rubbish and you know it. It would be lovely to have you. After all, Michael’s cousin Jon is supposed to be arriving at any moment. He’s in the Foreign Office and he’s been abroad so much I’ve never even met him. If I can cope with him I can cope with you. It might even be a help. Anyway, see how you feel after the weekend.’
‘Thanks. Huge has gone to sleep. What do you do with him when you go into hospital? Can I be of any help with that?’
‘Well, everything’s very well organised at the moment. Michael will simply take some time off from the office. He’s fantastic at a time like this. Not at all the helpless male and he’s super with Hugh. If there’s a problem I’ll shout. You’ll stay and have some lunch?’
Oh. Yes, please. Cass said that the longer I was out of the way the better. She’s nice. And Tom . . . ’ Polly paused. ‘You had a thing about Tom once, didn’t you?’
‘Oh, God. Don’t talk about it. It’s not a time that I’m particularly proud about. Yes, I did. I had an affair with him in the end. You probably remember. Why do you ask?’
‘Well, it’s just that they seem very well suited. Very easy-going and happy with each other. Didn’t they have a child that died?’
‘Don’t talk about it.’ Harriet stood up and went to the sleeping Hugh. ‘I still feel so guilty. Tom and I were having an affair and Cass was running around with a married man and nobody really knows whether Charlotte—that was the little girl—found out and killed herself. It was awful. I’ve never forgiven myself.’ She looked down at her sleeping son. ‘How terrible to lose a child.’
‘Well, at least it seems to have brought them back together.’
‘It was quite a few years ago.’ Harriet sighed and shook her head. ‘What a terrible price to pay. Tom adored Charlotte and she absolutely worshipped him. Gemma isn’t the same sort of child at all, very self-contained and aware of herself, and, of course, the boys are growing up and pushing out the boundaries, which is never easy for a father. He loves all his children and he’s very proud of them but he must miss Charlotte dreadfully. Oh, Polly! I’ve come over all melancholy. Get us a drink, there’s a love. You know where it is.’
‘Jesus,’ said Polly, getting up and going into the larder. ‘I can tell that it’s going to be one of those days. Thank goodness we’ve got a party to look forward to!’
Twenty-three
IN THE SURROUNDING COUNTRYSIDE, people were getting ready for the party.
As Kate got older she found herself becoming less and less sociable. She could see no advantages in leaving her fireside to venture out in totally unsuitable clothing into a cold January night to mouth banalities at people she saw regularly. Cass’s twenty-fifth anniversary was obviously a special event but the thought of it had rather depressed her. The remembrance of those twenty-five years—Charlotte’s death, her own divorce and her affair with Alex and now, more recently, Felicity’s tragic accident—lowered her spirits. The legacy that Kate had received from Felicity had made an enormous difference to her life. She no longer had to scrape by, grateful to her brother Chris for his generous contributions, but was able to indulge herself a little and to feel more independent. Nevertheless, the lean years had made their mark and she found it difficult to be extravagant.
She had missed Cass terribly whilst she had been in America and was delighted to have her back but the thought of this evening’s celebration gave her very mixed feelings. Chris, back in the country for a few weeks’ holiday, watched her sympathetically. He was pleased that Felicity’s legacy had given her much more security but he knew that now the twins had left home she was finding the middle years rather a struggle against loneliness and a tendency to brood.
‘It’s incredible to think that I’ve been going to Cass’s parties for twenty-five years,’ she said as they sat by the fire willing themselves to make a move. ‘Unbelievable.’ She gave herself a mental shake and smiled at him. ‘Well. I suppose we’d better go and change. We haven’t actually got to dress up though. I know it’s a special occasion but Cass said that we can be casual.’
‘Just as well,’ said Chris as he climbed the stairs behind her. ‘Everyone knows us far too well to expect us to be smart.’
THEA AND GEORGE, HAVING farther to drive, were already dressed. They were looking forward to the evening. The last year had been a happy, fulfilling one for both of them and the year-old Amelia had set the seal on their happiness. George had been made up to Captain, scraping in by the skin of his teeth, but now there was talk of a posting to NATO, probably Brussels. Thea was finding it difficult to come to terms with this. She couldn’t bear the idea of leaving Jessie and Percy, not to mention the Old Station House, for two years but nor did she want to be apart from George. The conflicting interests and emotions of naval life had come late to her and she didn’t know how to handle them. She thought of Cass, letting the Rectory, arranging for her children to be flown out to America during holidays, passing Gus over to Abby Hope-Latymer, and felt ashamed at her own dilatoriness. Added to these anxieties was the knowledge that she was pregnant again. She hadn’t told George yet but the thought of going through the pregnancy in a foreign country with foreign doctors was a dreadful one. Despite her physique and vouth, the birth of her daughter had been long and painful and Thea felt that she could only cope with this second pregnancy in the surroundings she loved.
She hoped that the party would take her mind off her worries. Polly had telephoned her from Harriet’s that morning to tell her that Paul had gone off with Fiona and that she was coming to the party that evening. Thea was upset by the news but not terribly surprised. During the last year, she had had plenty of opportunity to observe Paul and Polly’s relationship and it was not difficult to see that they were drifting further and further apart. She had been anxious that Polly might turn to Freddie for more than the easy-going, lighthearted companionship that they shared but Freddie seemed reluctant to break up the marriage and was content to bide his time. Thea, who assumed that Polly was staying with Harriet, decided to ask her to stay for a few days. Harriet was about to have the baby and Polly would need someone to talk to. At least it would distract Thea from her own problems even if there wasn’t much that she could do for Polly.
George went to get the car out whilst Thea, having settled Amelia, was talking to the babysitter. Percy watched the proceedings with approval and crooned the ‘Skye Boat Song’ to himself. He liked the babysitter who fed him grapes and, unbeknownst to George, let him out of his cage to explore the kitchen. ‘Speed bonny boat,’ he whistled, hintingly, and Thea said that she must be going.
‘Don’t hurry back,’ said the babysitter, who couldn’t stand children but loved parrots. ‘We’ll be fine. Enjoy yourselves.’
HARRIET, HAVING SETTLED HUGH and wearing what appeared at first sight to be a navy-blue tent, talked to the babysitter whilst Michael went to fetch the car. Ozzy, propped against the bookcase, and Max, stretched before the fire, watched approvingly. They liked th
e babysitter who spoiled them with treats and let Max hog the fire. They looked meaningly at the door and sighed. Harriet took the hint and said she must be going.
‘Don’t hurry back,’ said the babysitter, who couldn’t stand children but adored dogs. ‘We’ll be fine. Enjoy yourselves.’
MEANWHILE, SOME MILES AWAY at Tiverton, Oliver was stopping off on his journey down from Cambridge, where he was at the university.
He pulled up outside the Victorian brick boarding houses of Blun-dell’s School and went up the path to the side door of Petergate. As he reached it, it opened and his younger brother Saul nearly fell into his arms.
‘This is great, Ollie,’ he said. ‘Do they know we’re coming?’
‘No.’ Oliver took Saul’s bag and Hung it into the back of his old and rather battered Fiat Panda. ‘I thought we’d be a nice surprise. Come on. We’ve got to get a move on. How’s it going?’
Oh. All right.’ Saul’s initial enthusiasm seemed to wane a little. He sighed.
‘Spit it out,’ said Oliver encouragingly. ‘Still got a crush on what’s-her-name? Got anywhere?’
‘No chance. She likes really cool men. Thinks I’m too young. She’s only a couple of months older than I am, too. Makes me sound as if I’m a kid. After all, I’ve passed my driving test. I may just give it all up.’
‘Faint heart never won fair lady,’ said Oliver as they fled towards Exeter. ‘Your turn will come, never fear. Cheer up, old son!’
ANNABEL AND WILLIAM HOPE LATYMER, up at the Manor, were both looking forward to the party. Land-rich they might be but, with two boys at preparatory school and a fourteen-vear-old daughter at Sherborne School for Girls, they were, just at present, extremely cash-poor. They knew that the food and drink would be of the highest quality and even Abby, who hated dressing up, went up to change quite willingly.
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