‘You’re late,’ he said, rudely tapping his watch as if they misunderstood what his curt words had meant.
‘I know,’ Izzy said, as they both hurriedly got out of the car and went to join him. ‘I’m terribly sorry, but …’
‘When my groundsman turns up I’ll explain things, to save me doing it twice.’ he indicated over his shoulder towards the manor house where neither of them could see anyone waiting for them. ‘He’ll show you where I’ve agreed for the marquee to be erected, as well as the only places anyone will be allowed to park. Do you understand?’
‘Yes,’ Izzy said, only just refraining from telling him she wasn’t stupid.
Before they had a chance to thank him, he marched off towards a shiny black Mercedes and mouthed something at the driver who was waiting for him.
‘He’s a scary bloke.’ Jess said, grimacing, ‘No wonder Catherine is like she is, she obviously takes after her father.’
‘I’m not surprised he’s cross,’ Izzy said. ‘I think he’s been pretty much coerced into this by Ed, my mother, and Francesca.’ Izzy leaned closer to Jess and whispered. ‘I’ve heard rumours that Francesca and he had a bit of a thing back in the seventies.’
Jess laughed and linked arms with Izzy. ‘He sounds like he was a bit of a lad in his time.’ She giggled. ‘Hey, he said the groundsman was going to show us around. I thought that …’
‘Yes, me too,’ Izzy said, the same thought dawning on her at that moment. ‘But Ed’s still cruising with the others …’
‘No he isn’t,’ said a deep voice from behind them.
Chapter Twelve
‘What are you doing back here?’ Jess asked, squeezing Izzy’s elbow so hard she was sure it would bruise.
Izzy couldn’t think of a single thing to say. ‘When did you get back?’ she eventually asked.
He shrugged, one of those slow, lazy, French shrugs that made Izzy’s stomach contract. ‘You don’t seriously think I’d let you two sort out a wedding at this place without any help, do you?’
The girls exchanged surprised glances. ‘Um, yes, actually,’ Izzy said. ‘We thought you …’
‘… and Catherine.’ Jess said, stopping suddenly and grimacing at Izzy.
He frowned. ‘Me and Catherine, what?’
‘Um,’ Jess pulled a face. ‘Well, you and she seemed very, um …’
‘What? I’ve told the two of you that there’s nothing between us. Why won’t you believe me?’ His cheerful mood seemed to have dissipated rather rapidly, Izzy thought.
‘I think what Jess is trying to say,’ Izzy turned to face Jess, ‘badly,’ then addressed Ed once again, ‘is that we just assumed you’d both be with the others on holiday still.’
‘I see.’ He shook his head and glared at Jess.
Damn, thought Izzy, he wasn’t going to let this rest. She pulled Jess away and they began walking towards the manor house. ‘We have so much to do, Ed,’ she said over her shoulder. ‘but we’d be grateful for any help you can give us.’ She spotted the Seigneur coming out of the front door and glaring at his watch. ‘Now you’re here your godfather can explain his thoughts about the wedding arrangements.’
Ed’s long legs made quick work of beating them to the front steps. He folded his arms and glared down at Izzy. Izzy couldn’t help thinking how much his stance resembled the Seigneur’s as she looked from one to the other. By the look on Ed’s face he wasn’t going to let them pass until they’d answered his question.
‘You’re late,’ his godfather said.
‘Sorry, Uncle,’ Ed said, ‘There’s something I need to clear up with these two.’ He focused back on Izzy and Jess. ‘Can we have a quick chat?’
‘For pity’s sake,’ his godfather scowled. ‘Hurry up.’
‘Thank you.’ Ed motioned for Jess and Izzy to follow him away from the house where they could speak without being overheard.
Izzy swallowed. ‘Jess was saying how close you were and, well.’ Izzy hesitated, not sure what to say next.
‘I thought we went through this the other day?’ he said keeping his voice low. He reached out, resting a hand on Izzy’s shoulder. She hated to see him look so hurt. ‘You obviously don’t believe me.’
‘I know what you said, Ed,’ Izzy whispered, clearing her throat and willing Jess not to interrupt. ‘But you must agree it did look a little odd.’
‘Do hurry up, Ed,’ the Seigneur called impatiently.
Izzy tensed and gave Jess a pointed shut-the-hell-up look. She didn’t need Jess being overheard by Catherine’s father talking about what they’d seen his daughter doing. She forced a smile.
‘Firstly,’ Ed said looking, Izzy thought, more furious than she would have expected. It was a little disconcerting to see someone so enraged, especially when the rage was directed at her. ‘I don’t know where you two were when that happened, but you didn’t see what you thought you saw.’
‘What on earth is going on here?’ his godfather asked.
Izzy stared at Ed; surely he wasn’t going to admit what Catherine had tried to do to him?
‘Nothing exciting, I can assure you.’
‘What is all the intrigue about?’ the Seigneur asked.
‘We met a little earlier,’ he stared at Izzy. ‘Interesting name. You have a look of your mother about you,’ he said. ‘She’s a forceful lady.’
Izzy took that as a compliment. She refrained from mentioning that Cherry would probably say the same about him. ‘She is.’
He took the pipe out of his mouth and stared at it for a few seconds before placing it back into his pocket. ‘I’ve been outnumbered by Cherry, and of course Ed here.’ For the first time Izzy saw softness in his face, it made him appear far more attractive. ‘They insisted I allow you to hold this wedding reception in my grounds.’
‘And we are very grateful,’ Izzy said when he hesitated. She could see he wasn’t convinced it was such a good idea. ‘We’ll be on hand to make sure no one wanders off into the gardens and that every scrap of refuse is removed by the following afternoon.’
‘Good. Good.’ He kicked a stray leaf with the toe of his shiny brogue and nodded. ‘Ed, I’ll leave it up to you to show these young women where everything should go and my expectations of the event.’ He looked over their heads at the grounds. ‘Yes, well, it can’t be helped.’
Izzy didn’t like to assume what he must mean so stood silently, not daring to catch Jess’s eye.
‘Thank you, Uncle.’
‘Drink at six thirty sharp,’ he said without waiting for Ed to reply before turning on his heels and returning back inside his home. The invitation was directed solely at Ed and Izzy was more than happy not to have been included in the summons.
Ed watched his godfather close the heavy wooden door behind him and then looked at Izzy. His expression changed to one of sadness. ‘I like you, Izzy, I thought you knew that. I’m not about to mess about with one girl when I like another.’
‘I …’ He looked so disappointed in her that for a second she forgot how it had felt to be the one to witness them together.
‘I thought you’d worked that out about me.’
Izzy cringed inwardly. ‘We’re only telling you what we saw.’
‘Yes, but you believed what you thought you saw, didn’t you?’ Ed continued.
She couldn’t lie to him. ‘Yes.’
‘Oh come on,’ Jess said. ‘It wasn’t as if we knew you well, was it? How was she to know that you and,’ she looked towards the closed front door, ‘Catherine weren’t secretly getting it on?’
Ed stared at Izzy, not taking his eyes from hers. ‘Because I thought she knew me a little bit better than that, Jess. Don’t you trust your instincts, Izzy?’
He sounded so convincing she desperately wanted to believe him. ‘Most of the time.’
‘And what did they tell you when you saw me with her?’
Izzy thought back. ‘I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. It was a shock,’ she admitted.
&n
bsp; ‘You see, you’ve just said you didn’t believe it.’
She was getting confused and it annoyed her. ‘No, I said I didn’t believe what I was seeing, there’s a marked difference in the two.’ She sighed. ‘I did think there was something between us, but whether you like it or not, I don’t know you all that well and so, when I saw you and her together, I didn’t really know what to think.’
‘Then I’m very sorry,’ he hesitated. ‘For both of us.’ He turned away and began walking. ‘Come on, we’d better get a move on. You’ve only got a couple of days to get this wedding set up. We don’t have any time to waste.
‘Ed, I –’ Izzy started, not sure what she was going to say next.
He turned around to face her. ‘It’s fine. These things happen. I’m just sad it happened between the two of us, that’s all.’ He started to walk off.
So was she. She stood silently wishing things had been different.
‘I wish I’d never suggested we snooped on them now,’ Jess murmured.
‘I didn’t have to look,’ Izzy said. ‘Come on, we’d better follow him.’
Without referring to the matter further, Ed showed them a room next to the kitchen where he explained they could store their linens the night before the wedding. ‘My godfather has also agreed to give the bride and her party one of the spare bedrooms with an en-suite,’ he said, showing them to a pretty floral-pink room and bathroom at the top of the stairs. ‘The housekeeper has been asked to make sure that a few cool drinks are provided for them on a tray.’
Izzy could see it was going to be spectacular, maybe even bigger than Catherine’s wedding. They’d planned many weddings but none on such a grand scale as this one. ‘Thanks, Ed. This is going to be perfect. I’m sure the wedding party will be ecstatic when they realize how beautiful it’s going to be.’
He smiled, but she noticed it didn’t reach his eyes. She would have given anything to take back what she and Jess had told him.
‘I’ll be here until the wedding is over to help you put everything together,’ he said, his tone matter-of-fact. ‘The assistant gardeners will help carry anything you need to be moved. When do the furniture and marquee arrive?’
‘The marquee will get here on Wednesday,’ Jess said, ‘and you shouldn’t be needed to help erect it, but if you’re around to make sure that it’s put up in exactly the right place that would be brilliant.’
‘He nodded. ‘Of course.’
‘The chairs and tables, including a smaller one where the wedding cake is going to be displayed, will arrive on Thursday,’ Izzy added. ‘and we’ll come here and place everything where we want it to be on Friday.’
He walked over to the bedroom window and pointed to the lawn. ‘The marquee can go in the middle, and the parking will be to the left side of the manor house, but I’ll make sure there are a few signs put up there.’
Jess gazed out at the grounds. ‘We’ll start setting up the linen in the cupboard, so that the day before the wedding we can come and dress the tables and chairs and make sure the floral arrangements and chandeliers are where they are supposed to be.’
‘Right,’ Ed said, leading the way over to the door. ‘If you don’t need me for anything else, I’ll get on,’ He glanced at Izzy then out through the door as he turned to leave. ‘If you need me for anything and can’t find me, just ask the housekeeper, Marie; she’s pretty good at tracking me down.’
‘I’ll bet she is,’ Jess teased, coming back to stand next to Izzy, only to be greeted by a sullen glance from Ed and an elbow in the ribs.
‘What did you say that for?’ Izzy asked as Ed disappeared into the manor house. ‘He already thinks we’ve got him down as some sort of man-whore.’
Jess grimaced. ‘I don’t know why he’s so bothered what we think.’
‘I do.’
‘Sorry, I’m feeling a bit bad about the spying stuff.’
Izzy sighed, glad to have the wedding to focus on now that she’d messed up everything with Ed. ‘No, me and my big, insecure imagination. If it wasn’t for me peeking in that cabin and then assuming the worst, we wouldn’t have fallen out with him.’
‘At least you’ll get to see him here,’ Jess whispered as they walked back to the van. ‘Maybe you’ll get a chance to sort out your differences.’
Izzy doubted it very much. ‘You think so?’ she asked.
Jess thought for a moment. ‘Maybe. You’ll have the opportunity if we’re not too rushed.’
Later, when they’d spoken to Lacey about her new venue, she was over the moon. ‘You’re both so clever,’ she said when they arrived back at the manor later that day to show her around. ‘I was so scared that our day would be a disaster when the Encore couldn’t cater for us after their fire.’
Izzy and Jess barely managed to hide their relief as they talked her through the settings for the marquee and the large pond and wooded area where she could have her photos taken. Izzy left Jess to carry on while she went to find the kitchen and ask the housekeeper if they could quickly show Lacey upstairs.
She walked through to the kitchen and was greeted by gorgeous woman in a grey uniform, polishing a silver salver. She had an air about her that made Izzy think that she should be giving the orders rather than carrying them out. Izzy could see she had an enviable figure even though she was wearing an unflattering outfit. She looked up at Izzy, her dark, almost black eyes framed by the longest lashes Izzy thought she’d seen on anyone.
‘Hi, you must be Izzy or Jess,’ she said. ‘I’m Marie. Ed told me to expect you.’ She laughed at Izzy’s shocked silence. ‘You were expecting someone a little older perhaps, dowdy maybe?’
Izzy realized she’d been gawping, and blushed. ‘I’m so sorry, I, well, yes, I was,’ she admitted. ‘I’m Izzy, by the way.’
‘I was surprised the Seigneur agreed for a wedding to be held here; he’s usually incredibly private.’
‘We were so pleased he said yes.’ She looked around the vast old-fashioned kitchen. Even this was full of character and beautiful in its own way.
‘Come, let’s go and find the bride, I’d love to meet her,’ Marie said.
Izzy felt as if she’d known her from somewhere before. Marie seemed so familiar somehow, but she couldn’t think why.
‘Ed tells me you and your partner were on the cruise in the south of France,’ she held a baize-covered door open for Izzy.
Izzy nodded her thanks and walked ahead. ‘Yes, we were sad to cut our trip short.’
‘This is Marie, the housekeeper,’ Izzy announced as she and Marie joined the others. ‘She’s going to show us the room that you and your party can use before the reception.’
‘The most important thing,’ Lacey told them as they walked up the grand, oak staircase with its carved bannister. ‘is that no one apart from those invited finds out where our wedding reception is to be held.’
Izzy waited for Marie to open the door to the room and walked in behind Lacey. ‘We never divulge any information about our clients,’ she assured the girl.
‘It’s Jack’s ex, you see,’ Lacey said going over to the window and looking out at the view. ‘He and Kate were engaged. She never got over him leaving her for me. She’s always promised to ruin our wedding if she ever discovered where and when it would be held.’ She turned to face them. ‘I wouldn’t be surprised if she’d had something to do with the fire at the Encore.’
Jack’s face reddened. ‘She’s worried, that’s all,’ he said. ‘I keep telling Lacey that she’s over-reacting.’
‘No, I’m not,’ she said, glaring at him.
He stroked Lacey’s arm. ‘Lace, you know as well as I do that she only said that to upset you. We both know she’s full of crap and always coming out with ridiculous things. Has she ever carried out any of her threats before?’
Lacey stared at him thoughtfully.
Marie laughed. ‘I doubt she’d go to those lengths,’ she narrowed her eyes. ‘Don’t you?’
Lacey shrugged. ‘Prob
ably not.’ She tilted her head to one side and pointed to the en-suite bathroom. Marie nodded for her to go inside and have a look. ‘I’ll be glad when we’re married and it’s all over,’ Lacey said, widening her eyes for emphasis.
‘I hope there isn’t going to be any drama here on Saturday,’ Marie whispered when Lacey and Jack were in the bathroom. ‘This is a respectable place and it will be the first and last wedding the Seigneur holds here if there’s any chaos.’
‘Jack?’ Lacey said, panic in her voice as she gave him a meaningful look.
‘No,’ he said. ‘Please don’t worry. My family are aware of her threats, she was just upset when she discovered we were getting married, that’s all. She’ll stay well away.’
‘Good,’ Jess said, no doubt relieved to hear that this was probably a case of Lacey getting pre-wedding nerves. ‘Come on, I’ll show you out.’
They all walked back downstairs, Izzy and Marie following behind at a slight distance.
‘And what did you think of Ed’s parents’ château?’ Before Izzy had a chance to answer her, Marie added. ‘It’s beautiful, isn’t it?’
‘Oh,’ she said, surprised Marie knew about her and Jess visiting the place. ‘Yes it’s magnificent.’ She giggled. ‘Jess and I kept getting lost, it’s so big,’ she grinned at the memory. ‘And so many corridors.’
Marie laughed. ‘I know. I got very disorientated when I stayed there, but it helped me get used to finding my way round this place.’
Izzy blinked, unsure what to make of the conversation as they walked out through the double-width front door and out into the strong sunlight. ‘Oh, you stayed there too? How was it?’ She hesitated. ‘Have you worked here long?’
‘Nearly ten years now. I came straight here the day I arrived in Jersey. Roman arranged this job for me with the Seigneur,’ Marie said just as they reached the edge of the lawn, joining Lacey and Jess. ‘I guess I never meant to stay here for so long, but I just fell in love with the island.’
‘Roman?’ Izzy was intrigued. ‘So, you lived in France before coming here?’
The Jersey Scene series box set Page 77