Читать книгу Everything to Gain - Barbara Taylor Bradford - Страница 12

After Nora had left for the day, I toured the house as I generally do on Fridays, checking that everything was in order in all of the rooms.

I was happy with the way things looked; even though I say so myself, the house is beautiful. I stood in the doorway of each room, admiring what I saw, taking the most intense pleasure and gratification from our home.

In the sitting room, the antiques I had so lovingly waxed and polished that morning gleamed in the soft, early-evening light, the smooth wood surfaces darkly ripe and mellow with age. The pieces of old silver on display in the small dining room glittered brightly on the sideboard, and everywhere there was the sparkle of mirrors, the shine of newly-cleaned windows.

The many flowering plants and vases of cut flowers, which I had placed in various strategic spots in the different rooms, added splashes of intense colour against the cool, pale backgrounds and their mingled fragrances filled the air with sweetness.

There was a lovely feeling of well-being about the house tonight. It was completely ready for the holiday weekend, comfortable, warm and welcoming, truly a real home. All that was missing was my family. But they would be with me tomorrow morning, to enjoy the house and everything in it, and to fill it with their happy voices and laughter. I could hardly wait for Andrew, the twins, Diana and Jenny to arrive. Andrew was going to drive them out very early, at least so he had said before leaving for Chicago at the beginning of the week.

After a few more moments of wandering around and scrutinizing everything, I ran upstairs to our bedroom. Stripping off my clothes, I took a quick shower, towelled myself dry, put on a pair of white cotton trousers and a clean white T-shirt, then tied my hair in a pony tail with a red ribbon.

Later I would make myself a bowl of spaghetti and a green salad, but right now I wanted to relax after my hard day’s work. I would call Diana to check on her and the twins and then settle down with a book.

There is a long, low room opening off one end of our bedroom, and I went into it now. I had made it mine right from the beginning when we first bought the house. It is such a peculiar shape and size, I can’t imagine what it was ever used for before, but I have turned it into a comfortable sitting room, my private inner sanctum, where I sit and think, listen to music, watch television or read.

Because of its odd shape and size, I painted it white with just the merest hint of green in the paint mix. The pale, apple-green carpeting I chose matches the green-and-white plaid I found for floor-length draperies, the sofa and armchairs. There are floor-to-ceiling bookshelves along one wall; pretty porcelain lamps grace two tables, skirted in pale green silk, which stand on either side of the sofa. Some of my watercolours line the walls, and above the sofa hangs the portrait in oils of the twins, which I painted two years ago. Another oil, this one of Andrew, takes pride of place above the mantelpiece, and so my husband and children keep me company here the entire time, smiling out at me from their gilded frames.

All in all, it’s a charming room, pleasant and inviting, with its wash of white and pale greens, a room which benefits from a great deal of sunshine in the afternoons because of its southern exposure. Yet it has a restful feeling to it, and especially at this hour of the day when the sun has set and twilight begins to descend. It is one of my favourite corners of Indian Meadows, and, as with the rest of the house, decorating it was a labour of love on my part.

Sitting down at the country French bureau plat, I pulled the phone towards me and dialled our apartment in New York. After speaking briefly to Diana, I wished my children a loving goodnight, told them I would see them tomorrow morning and hung up.

Rising, I crossed to the sofa, stretched out on it and picked up the book I was reading. This was two novels in one volume, Chéri and The Last of Chéri by Colette; I had always had a love of her books and lately I had begun to read her again. And so quickly I found my place, looking forward to becoming a captive of this author’s imagination once more.

I had only read a couple of pages when I heard the sound of a car in the driveway. Putting the book down, I got up and hurried to the window, glancing at the carriage clock on the mantelpiece as I did, asking myself who it could be. Very few people came calling on me unannounced, especially at night.

Although the bright summer sky had dimmed considerably, it was still light, and, much to my surprise, I saw Andrew alighting from the back of the car, his briefcase in his hand. I dropped the lace curtain, flew out of the room and tore down the staircase at breakneck speed.

We met, he and I, in the long entrance gallery, stood staring at each other.

He had his luggage with him, and I exclaimed, ‘You came straight from the airport!’ My surprise at his sudden unexpected arrival was quite evident.

‘That’s right, I did,’ he answered, eyeing me carefully.

I gazed back at him, searching his face, trying to determine his frame of mind; I wondered if he was still angry with me. I saw nothing else but love and warmth reflected there and I knew instantly that everything was all right between us.

My eyes still remained fixed on his face, as I asked, ‘But what about Jamie and Lissa, and your mother and Jenny? How are they going to get out here?’

‘I’ve arranged for a car and driver to pick them up tomorrow morning, very early,’ he explained and, moving towards me, he took hold of me, drew me into his arms and embraced me tightly. ‘You see, I fancied an evening alone with my wife.’

‘Oh I’m so glad you did,’ I exclaimed, clinging to him harder.

We stood holding each other like this without speaking for a second or two. Eventually, I said quietly, ‘I’m sorry for being petty about Jack Underwood, or rather about his girlfriend. I don’t mind if they come for the fourth, really I don’t, Andrew.’

‘I was petty too, Mal. Anyway, as it turns out, Jack can’t come after all. He has to fly to Paris on business, and Gina wouldn’t dream of coming alone. Listen, I’m sorry we quarrelled. It was my fault entirely.’

‘No, it was mine,’ I protested, genuinely meaning this.

‘Mine,’ he insisted.

We pulled apart, and burst out laughing.

Bending towards me, Andrew kissed me lightly on the mouth, then taking hold of my arm, he said, ‘Let’s have a drink, shall we?’ And so saying he propelled me in the direction of the kitchen.

‘What a good idea,’ I agreed and looked up at him, smiling broadly, happy that all was as it should be between my husband and me and that he and I were about to spend an evening alone together for once.

When we got to the kitchen, Andrew slipped off his jacket, undid his tie, and threw both on a chair. I took ice out of the refrigerator and made two tall glasses of vodka and tonic with wedges of lime, and handed one to him.

‘Cheers, darling,’ he said, clinking his drink against mine.

‘Cheers,’ I answered, and I couldn’t resist ogling him over the rim of my glass. Then I winked.

He laughed, gave me a quick peck on the cheek and said, ‘Shall we sit on the terrace?’

‘It’s a bit hot out there,’ I answered, then seeing his face drop in disappointment, I added, ‘Oh but why not, the garden’s so pretty at this time of day.’

‘My grandmother used to call this hour the gloaming,’ he remarked as we walked through the sunroom heading for the terrace beyond the French windows. ‘It’s an old north-country word, I think. Or perhaps it’s a Scottish term. You know my mother’s mother was originally from Glasgow, before she went to live in Yorkshire, after her marriage to Grandfather Howard. That’s why she dressed my mother in so much tartan when she was little, and then me.’ He chuckled. ‘She loved me to wear a kilt and a sporran and a little black velvet jacket. She always chose the Seaforth Highlanders dress tartan. Her father, my great-grandfather, had been in the Seaforths, you see.’

‘Yes, you’ve told me all about your Scottish ancestry before,’ I said, glancing at him over my shoulder.

He grinned at me. ‘Oh sorry. I do seem to have a bad habit of repeating family history.’

‘It’s not a bad habit,’ I said, ‘just a habit, and I don’t mind.’

Once outside we settled down at the circular table with the big white canvas market umbrella, where we usually ate meals in the summer months. We sipped our drinks and were silent for a while, comfortable in this silence, as happily married people frequently are, content simply to be together. Words were not necessary. We communicated without them, as we always had. Andrew and I usually seemed to be on the same wavelength, and often he would say something I had been thinking only a few seconds before, or vice versa. I found that uncanny.

It was not as stiflingly hot outside as I’d expected it to be, now that the sun had gone down. Although the air was balmy, there was a soft breeze moving through the trees, rustling the leaves. Otherwise everything was absolutely quiet, and as tranquil as it always was up here atop our lovely Connecticut hill.

The lawn which flowed away from the terrace wall on this side of the house sloped down to a copse of trees; beyond were protected wetlands and a beaver dam. Soaring above the copse and the stretch of water were the foothills of the Berkshires, covered with trees densely massed, of a green so dark they were almost black tonight under that midsummer sky now completely faded. Its periwinkle blue had turned to smoky-grey, with wisps of pink and lilac, saffron and scarlet bleeding into each other along the rim of those distant hills.

Andrew lolled back in the chair and breathed deeply, letting out a long, contented sigh. ‘God, it’s so great here, Mallory. I couldn’t get back fast enough … to you and this place.’

‘I know.’ I looked at him through the corner of my eye, and said in the quietest of voices, ‘I thought you’d call me from Chicago …’ I let my voice trail off, feeling suddenly rather silly for even mentioning this.

A half smile flitted across Andrew’s mouth. He looked somewhat amused as he said, ‘And I thought you’d call me.’

‘Aren’t we a couple of stubborn idiots,’ I laughed and, lifting my glass, I took a sip of my drink.

He said, ‘I don’t know how my stubborn idiot feels about me, but I adore her.’

‘And I adore mine,’ I responded swiftly, smiling warmly at him.

There was another small silence.

After a short interval, I said suddenly, ‘Sarah’s broken up with the eastern seaboard’s greatest snob.’

Andrew chuckled. ‘Yes, he is that. And I know about it, be–’

‘How?’ I cut in peremptorily.

‘Sarah told me.’

‘She did! When!’

‘Today. I called her this afternoon, just before I left Chicago. I asked her not to come out here tonight, if that was what she was planning to do. I explained that I wanted to get you alone, to have you all to myself for a change, that I was a bit sick of sharing you with the world at large.’

Leering at me wickedly, he then continued, ‘That’s when she said she wasn’t coming at all, because she had just finished with Tommy Preston. I’m afraid I couldn’t persuade her otherwise. She was quite adamant about staying in New York for the weekend.’

‘I got her to change her mind. She’s going to drive out tomorrow sometime.’

‘That’s good to hear, and I’m glad you had more success than I did. To tell you the honest truth, I’m not surprised in the least that she’s finished with Tommy. He never measured up, in my opinion.’

‘I wish …’

‘Wish what, darling?’ Andrew leaned closer to me, searching my face, no doubt picking up on my wistfulness as he observed my sad expression.

‘I wish that Sarah could find a really nice guy to fall in love with, so that she could get married and have babies, just as she wants to. I really do wish we knew somebody for her.’

‘So do I, Mal, but we don’t. In the meantime, I think she’s quite happy in her own way. She does love her job, you know, and that’s quite a career she’s carved out for herself as fashion director of Bergman’s.’

‘That’s true. Still, I do think she’d like to be married.’

‘I suppose she would.’ Andrew fell quiet. A thoughtful expression settled on his face; he put his glass on the table and turned to me. ‘Talking of careers and jobs, I’ve just had another offer.’

‘From the Gordon Agency again?’ I asked eagerly, knowing how much he admired this advertising group.

He shook his head. ‘No, from Marcus and Williamson.’

I sat up a bit straighter, staring at him. ‘That’s a fantastic agency. What’s the offer?’

‘A great one, as far as the money’s concerned. But they didn’t offer me a partnership. Unfortunately.’

‘Well they should have, you’re the best in the business,’ I shot back. ‘And I guess you didn’t take it, did you?’

‘No. I didn’t want to move just for the money. In all honesty, it would have only been worth considering if Marcus and Williamson had offered me a slice of the pie. Also, to tell you the truth, I did have rather a pang at the thought of leaving Babs.’

This was the name everyone on Madison Avenue used for Blau, Ames, Braddock and Suskind, and I did understand how Andrew felt. He had been with them for a number of years, and he was sentimentally attached. He also earned a big salary, had many privileges and benefits apart from being a partner in the firm. But I knew only too well that he thought the agency had begun to stagnate quite a lot of late, and he had grown increasingly restless this past year.

I voiced this now.

He listened quietly to everything I had to say. He respected my opinion. I was ambitious for him; I always have been. Now I enumerated some of the reasons why I thought he ought to consider leaving, not the least of which was his frustration with Joe Braddock, the senior partner.

When I finished, he nodded. ‘You’re right, you make a lot of sense. I agree that Joe is hardly the most visionary of men, and especially when it comes to the future of the agency. He’s in a time warp these days, living in the past, on past glories.’

After taking a sip of his drink, he went on, ‘Joe didn’t used to be like that, and certainly not when I started there twelve years ago. I guess he’s just getting too old.’ He gave me a long, rather thoughtful look. ‘Tell you what, I’m going to talk to him, mention the various offers I’ve had this past year. It can’t do any harm.’

‘No, it can’t,’ I agreed.

He hurried on, ‘Actually it might shake him up a bit. Perhaps he’ll come around to my way of thinking about certain aspects of the agency. I know Jack Underwood and Harvey Colton would like me to have a go at Joe. Actually, Mal, they deem it high time he retired, and I’m afraid I have to agree with them. On the other hand, he is the last of the original founding quartet, the only one still alive, and something of an industry giant. It’s going to be a tough situation to deal with.’

I reached over and squeezed his hand. ‘I’m glad you’ve decided to talk to Joe. I’ve wanted you to do that for the longest time, and it’ll work out, you’ll see. Now, do you want another drink or shall we go inside and I’ll make supper?’

He nodded. ‘I’m starving, what’s on the menu?’

‘I was going to prepare spaghetti and a green salad for myself, but if you prefer something else, I can defrost —’

‘No, no,’ he interrupted, ‘that sounds great. Come on, let’s go inside and I’ll help you.’

Much later, when we had finished dinner and were drinking the last of the wine, Andrew said, ‘You remember that time my mother talked to you about the only man she’d been seriously attracted to since my father’s death?’

‘Of course I do. She said he was separated but not divorced —’

‘And therefore verboten as far as she was concerned,’ Andrew interjected.

‘That’s right,’ I said. ‘But why are you bringing this up now?’

‘I think that man might be your father.’

I gaped at him. I was so taken aback I was momentarily speechless. Quickly I found my voice. ‘That’s the most preposterous thing I’ve ever heard, Andrew. What on earth makes you think such a thing all of a sudden?’ I knew there had to be a good reason for this comment, since my husband was not given to flights of fancy, and least of all where his mother was concerned.

Clearing his throat, he explained, ‘Last Tuesday morning, after you’d gone out, and just before I left for Chicago, I asked my mother if she could change a hundred-dollar bill for me. She told me to get her wallet out of her handbag in her bedroom. So I did, but there was an envelope caught in the flap and it fell to the floor. When I picked it up I couldn’t help noticing your father’s name on the back and his return address in Jerusalem. I thought it a bit odd that he was writing to my mother. Anyway, I put the envelope back in her bag and took the wallet to her. Obviously I didn’t say anything. How could I?’

I sat back in my chair, frowning. ‘It does seem strange,’ I murmured. ‘But it might be quite innocent.’

‘That’s true. I sort of dismissed it myself as being a trifle far-fetched, but the other night in Chicago I got to thinking about them, and all sorts of little things kept cropping up in my mind.’

‘Such as what?’ I asked, leaning over the table.

‘Edward’s behaviour for one thing. He’s very solicitous, gallant with her, and a bit flirtatious, I’d say.’

‘Oh come on, he isn’t! He’s actually quite distant with Diana. No, remote is a better word. And cool, almost cold even.’

‘He’s really only like that when your mother is present, on those family occasions when we’re all together for a short while. Then he is rather …’ Andrew paused and I could see him mentally groping for the right word. ‘Strained,’ he finished.

I pondered what he had said, staring down into my glass of red wine.

Andrew pressed on: ‘Listen, Mal, consider the times when he’s been in London with us and the twins and Diana. Really think about them. There’s a change in your father. A subtle change, I have to admit, and it’s not noticeable unless one is looking for it, but there is a change, nonetheless.’

I cast my mind back to those occasions in the past which Andrew was referring to, occasions when seemingly quite coincidentally my father had had archaeological business in London at the same time as we were there. Now I wondered how coincidental those visits of his had been. Perhaps they had been carefully planned so that we could all be together like one big happy family. Also, looking back, I realized how eager he always was to come to Yorkshire with us. I tried my best to recall my father’s demeanour, and as I did I began to see that there was some truth in what Andrew was saying. My father did treat Diana in the way an admirer would, and she, too, showed another side of herself when he was around.

As I mentally visualized them together I had a flash of comprehension, and I knew, suddenly, exactly how she was different. She didn’t flirt with him; nor did she display any signs of affection. It was nothing like that. Diana acted as if she was younger when she was in my father’s presence. It was as simple as that. And it was barely discernible, so I had not been conscious of it, had not recognized it until I had focused on them now. ‘That’s it,’ I said.

‘What is?’ Andrew asked, looking across at me in bafflement.

‘There is definitely a change in your mother when Daddy’s around. It’s ever so slight, but it’s there. She acts younger, she even looks younger. In fact, she’s almost girlish. Don’t you think so?’

‘Yes, you’re right, Mal! My mother does seem more … carefree when Edward is with us, and he appears much younger, too. Actually, that’s the difference in him, what I was striving to pinpoint before.’

I nodded. Then I asked slowly, ‘Do you think they’re having an affair?’

Andrew began to laugh. ‘Perhaps they are.’ His face changed instantly, became sober once more, and he gave a little non-committal shrug. ‘I honestly don’t know.’

‘My mother wouldn’t like it if they were.’

‘For God’s sake, Mal, your parents have been separated for donkey’s years. They can’t stand each other.’

‘Nevertheless, she wouldn’t like it. She’s always been terribly jealous of him, and I think she still is.’

‘Mmmmm. Perhaps that’s the reason why Mother isn’t having an affair with your father. It would be too close for comfort for her. She’d feel awkward, embarrassed.’

‘Yes, she would,’ I agreed. ‘And Diana did tell me that she didn’t see the special man because he was legally tied to his wife, and so the situation was untenable to her, she said. Well, I guess there’s nothing between my father and your mother after all. He was probably just dropping her a friendly note, the way parents-in-law do.’

‘Do they do that, darling?’

I laughed at the sceptical expression on his face. ‘How do I know?’ I lifted my hands in a small, helpless gesture. ‘Look, getting back to your original statement, Andrew, I’m certain there couldn’t be anything between them. You see, I’d know. I really would. I’m very close to Diana, and to my father, and I think I’d feel it in my bones.’ As I said these words, truly meaning them, I couldn’t help thinking that Andrew might well be correct in his initial assumption, and I quite wrong.

Apparently my husband decided the conversation was finished, for he rose suddenly and began to clear the kitchen table. I also got up and helped him to carry the dishes over to the sink.

But all the while I kept thinking about Diana and my father, and at one moment I had to turn my head away so Andrew would not see the sudden, pleased smile on my mouth. It gladdened my heart to think that these two people, whom I cared about so much, might be involved with each other. They both deserved a little happiness considering the bereftness of their years alone.