Part 25 (1/2)

It was Lady Rose, corseted in pale brown lace and silk, looking exactly like Queen Mary, a cool smile on her face. She caught sight of her place card next to Laura's; Laura saw the look on her face. Laura looked back at the table and concentrated on the huge bowl of flowers in front of her, trying not to eavesdrop.

”Nick,” Rose said softly to her brother. ”I wasn't supposed to be sitting here.”

Nick smiled. ”h.e.l.lo, Rose. Well, you are now,” he said. ”I moved things around a little, hope that's okay. Malcolm's next to Lavinia, he's fine. You're next to Laura.”

”But-” said Rose. Her voice grew louder. ”I always sit next to you.”

”Rose,” said Nick firmly. ”Sit down, please.”

Laura, unable to avoid listening to this exchange, was torn between wanting to stand up and offer Rose her seat back and wanting to slide gently under the table and crawl out of the room.

There was a pause; the tension was palpable. And then Rose sat down next to her, and smiled graciously.

The doors closed behind them, and Nick stood up, and waited for the babble to subside. Down the long room, the noise fell, and fifty or so faces turned to look at him expectantly. The only movement was the glint of diamonds in the light of the chandeliers.

”Just a minute, please. Thank you. Hey!” Laura jumped as Nick banged his hand on the table. He called down the room to two old men who were still talking, ”Alec! Geoffrey! This won't take long. I just want to welcome you all. All of you.”

He paused infinitessimally. His voice was softer, and she did not dare look up at him, but she felt as if he was talking to her.

”We're all family, aren't we? And it's rare that we are all together. So perhaps we should drink to that. To this evening. I'm so glad you're all here tonight. To the Needham family.”

There was a shuffling of chairs as the a.s.sembled company stood up. ”The Needham family,” they chorused.

Laura looked around the room. If my friends could see me now, she thought. Imagine if I called Jo and told her where I was. Or Yorky. They'd never believe it. She looked at the offending Geoffrey and Alec, stout and bespectacled; at Great-aunt Teresa, leaning heavily on a stick, staring beadily into s.p.a.ce; at Charles, Lavinia, and Malcolm Balmore, who was short and squat and looked very disgruntled about something. At the ma.s.sed ranks of Needhams, scanning along the row until her eye rested on Rose, stately and gracious, nodding at someone opposite her; and then she turned to Nick, her Nick, so tall and grave in his dinner jacket, and felt overwhelmed. She didn't know what she was doing there at all.

chapter thirty-one.

D inner was not a nine-course gourmet affair; it was a huge roast dinner for all, with the toast to Sir Guillibert Danvers scheduled to happen halfway through the evening, followed by more wine and pudding. Laura smiled inanely at no one as the roast beef was served, as if she were having a simply fantastic time. Around her the Clan Needham talked amongst itself, and Rose inclined her head graciously toward her from time to time. And, of course, Nick was next to her, chatting politely to some ancient aunt and uncle opposite him, occasionally turning to her to see if she was okay, and looking so pleased when she would smile and simply say, ”Yes, I'm having a great time, thank you.”

As seconds were being served, Rose swiveled her attention around to Laura. She leaned forward and reached for her gla.s.s. ”So, Laura. I hope you're enjoying yourself tonight?” she asked in polite tones.

”Oh, yes, thank you,” said Laura. ”I'm very glad to be here.”

Rose said nothing, but inclined her head graciously.

”It's beautiful here,” said Laura, knowing this was a pathetic thing to say, but not sure how else to break the silence.

”Yes. Yes, it is,” said Rose. ”Tell me something, Laura.” Laura nodded. ”How did you meet my brother? I'm so curious.”

”Er, well,” said Laura. She toyed with the idea of saying ”At the Sandy Lane Resort in Barbados” or ”St. Tropez last year.” What did it matter how she'd met him? Why was it important?

”I was here on Wednesday with my parents, for the day,” she said. ”I b.u.mped into him then-we got talking, and we ended up going out for a drink in the evening.”

Rose's expression was undefinable. ”Your parents?”

”Yes,” Laura said carefully. ”We're here on holiday. We were going round the house.” She took a deep breath.

”How nice,” Rose said eventually.

”Yes,” Laura said. ”I go back to London tomorrow, so Nick was kind enough to ask me tonight.”

Rose nodded. ”I see.” And then she was silent.

Laura found herself gabbling. ”Which is rather weird, because I know it's a family night, and I'm a complete stranger! But I'm incredibly touched to be asked.” She knew she sounded like a fourteen-year-old, that she wasn't saying the right thing, but with no idea of what that might be, she thought she'd better keep talking.

Rose raised her gla.s.s. ”Well, so here you are, then.” She paused, then smiled brightly. ”Forgive me. It's rather a surprise, that's all. My little brother is rather useless, isn't he?”

”Yes,” said Laura, blindly agreeing. ”Well,” she amended hurriedly, ”no, I don't think-”

”You see,” Rose said, unheeding, ”I rather thought he had a girlfriend. That's why I'm surprised. He was seeing a girl called Cecilia.”

”Yes, he told me,” said Laura, refusing to be ruffled.

”Oh, you know? Of course,” said Rose. 'She's terribly nice. I don't know if you know her. Her father's a very good friend of Sir Malcolm's. We've known the family for ages. The Thorsons.”

”Right,” said Laura.

”They were terribly kind when...my father died.” Rose cleared her throat. ”You see, there were debts, when Nick inherited two years ago. And the Thorsons have been so helpful, advising him, all of that. So kind. We thought he and Cecilia would get on. It was going rather well, I'd heard.”

”They're not seeing each other anymore,” said Laura. ”We talked about it.”

She sounded rather gauche, schoolgirlish, she realized. Rose looked pleased, like a cat.

”Oh you did, did you? Well,” she said, and her tongue darted out of her mouth; she looked like her sister, Lavinia, for a fleeting second. ”I'm sure if that's what he told you...”

”Yes, it is,” said Laura. She felt she ought to distance herself a little from this. She didn't want to sound like a stalker. ”But, of course, I have only known him for a very short time, so...”

”Yes,” said Rose, almost purring. ”You're quite right. So.” She smiled and waved at someone farther down the table. ”Ah, there's Emily. Dear thing. I must say h.e.l.lo to her afterward.” She cleared her throat, as if drawing the line under the conversation, now her point was made. ”Well, I'm glad you're enjoying your time here.”

”Thank you,” Laura said.

”We're all family here tonight,” Rose said. She ran a short, plump finger around the rim of her gla.s.s. ”Except you, of course.”

”I'm very lucky.”

”Yes,” said Rose. ”I'd say you were.”

And with that, she turned back to her neighbor, leaving Laura staring down at her plate, not knowing what to say.

It's almost impossible to have a relaxed conversation with someone when you know everyone else is looking at you, appraising you, judging you. And, in Rose's case, wis.h.i.+ng you weren't there. After this, Laura felt even more exposed, and when Nick turned to ask her how it was all going, she found herself making small talk with him, as if he were one of Mum and Dad's neighbors at a barbecue in Harrow. She didn't know what to say to him, all of a sudden, how to talk to him. She wanted to be alone with him on the beach, or in his room. As if it were last night, or the night before, or before that. Before real life got in the way-and what a reality it was.

Because it was different now, all different. Among Laura's opening salvos to Nick were: ”Do you have job-share schemes on the estate?”

”Is the soil good for growing potatoes, then?”

”Who handles the insurance for the paintings?”