Part 20 (1/2)

I wasnt going to answer that one. Even to myself I wasnt going to answer that one.

Eventually I heard footsteps and Russell appeared. He sat beside me and draped an old jacket over my shoulders. I hadnt realised how cold I was.

'I have good news and I have bad news.

I didnt care.

'The good news is that relations are completely severed. Apparently they will never darken any of our doors again and we certainly wont be darkening theirs.

I said nothing.

'The bad news is that Im worried my wife will never speak again. Can you say something, please, if only to put my mind at rest.

Painfully, I dragged the words out.

'I want a ... divorce.

'Those are not the words to put my mind at rest.

I hit him on the arm.

'Hat-trick, said Thomas.

'Ow! he said, rubbing his arm. 'What ?

'Enough. I want a divorce.

'Jenny ...

I tried to get up. He pulled me down. I hit him again.

'Well, thats you ahead of the others now, on points.

'Ow!

I tried again to get up and he pulled me down again. 'Stop. Stop. No, Jenny, just listen.

No. I wasnt going to listen any more. No more stuff about looking after me, about how I wouldnt regret it. I was done with all that. I know it was my own fault. Id made a big mistake but at least I could minimise the damage.

He was staring at me. 'Youre serious, arent you? You really want this?

'Exactly how ... much ... must I endure ... before you see this is not working?

He was silent a long time.

'I have an idea.

'... Better or worse than the last one?

'No, listen. Im sorry about back there. I behaved badly. Everyone did. Except you. Believe me, Francesca will never come here again. Or Julia. But you need to think this through. We both do. We rushed into this. Lets not rush out again. Youre cold. Come inside and have something to eat. Well talk then. Come on.

He pulled me up and we went inside. It was completely dark by now. Kevin had brought in Boxer and everything was locked up. I followed him into the house.

'Well eat in the kitchen, Russell told Mrs Crisp. She nodded and retired to her room.

Im obviously not heroine material and far from picking at my food in the approved manner, I ate everything put in front of me.

'Thats my girl, said Thomas.

Finally, he made coffee and pulled his chair closer.

'OK, this is what I think. Im not a monster and if you really want to go then of course you can. Im not happy about it, but I certainly wont get in your way. But, and its a big but, I dont think you should go immediately. Weve barely been married a fortnight. There would be huge gossip. Half of them would say there must be something really wrong with you and the other half would say I treated you so badly you couldnt even stick it out for the first month. We neither of us want that. Lets wait twelve months and then well get a quiet divorce. We wont tell anyone, well just do it. Im prepared to let your money go in return for your half of the house back, so we would both take away what we brought to the marriage. No more no less. During the twelve months Ill help you find somewhere to live. You can rely on me to do everything I can to keep you away from your aunt. And we can part friends. That would be important to me. What do you think?

Id sat in this very kitchen, on this very chair in fact, when hed proposed marriage, and now we were discussing divorce. How could everything go so wrong so quickly?

I nodded. It seemed a good plan. Better than his last one, anyway.

He plonked my coffee down in front of me.

'Right, thats settled then. Dont look so downcast, we can make this work. In the meantime, lets do something normal. He reached across and pulled out a large sheet of paper.

'I understand you wont want to go las.h.i.+ng large amounts of money on the house now, but if you want to tackle the garden, Id be very pleased. Its good for you and its good for Kevin. Good thinking there, by the way. I thought Id do a quick sketch of the garden as I remember it and draw you up a plan. Now, theres a terrace along the back of the house, with steps opposite the French windows. Two paths run diagonally from corner to corner. But and this is exciting theres a fountain in the middle. The basins about twelve feet across I think, with a statue of one of those hussies who cant keep her clothes on properly. Shes clutching her robe with one hand and pouring water from a jug with the other. Finest pair of t.i.ts Ive ever seen. In fact, until I was about fifteen, the only pair of t.i.ts Id ever seen.

I choked on my coffee.

'Thats better, he said approvingly. 'Its not so bad, Jenny. Youll see. Shall we go and watch some TV?

I nodded and got up. It had been a long day.

So was the next day. I could hardly remember the time when one day was exactly the same as the rest.

The first thing that happened was that Sharon turned up and shortly afterwards Kevin was apparently struck by paralysis. And yes, the two events were connected.

Russell and I stood in the yard watching Marilyn hobble around, sticking her little head into everything.

Mrs Crisp was hanging out the was.h.i.+ng and keeping a wary eye on the potentially tea-towel scoffing Marilyn.

Thomas was standing in the sun, resting a hip.

Kevin was wheeling the barrow across the yard, whistling.

So we were all there and we all saw.

Sharon opened the gate and slipped through, carefully fastening it behind her.

We all looked up. Marilyn skittered over to see if she was edible.

Sharon saw her aunt and smiled her blinding smile.

Kevin, not looking where he was going at all, pushed the barrow straight into the water trough.