More laughter. Champagne. Music. Dancing.
Some of the guests were journalists from fashion magazines, invited to inspect the new premises. She took them on a tour, proud of the cream and silver salon, the spacious dressing rooms, the fabulous collection behind securely locked doors. Along the centre of the main hall was a large catwalk, big enough to take five models walking side by side. Just now it was being used for dancing.
Meryl danced the night away, enjoying herself but beginning to realise nervously that her dress was even more outrageously daring than she’d guessed. Eventually she found herself dancing with Benedict, who eyed her décolletage with intense professional interest.
‘It’s not holding up as well as I thought,’ he observed, pointing to the offending part. ‘After all this dancing you’re showing more bosom than I meant you to.’
‘Now you tell me.’
At last she gave up, and stepped off the catwalk, breathless.
‘Meryl, wonderful to see you.’
Everett Hamlin was smiling at her. After the hugs and greetings she said, ‘Is Brenda here, too?’
‘’Course she is. Wouldn’t miss it for the world. We’ve got a friend of yours with us. Sarah Ashton.’
‘Of course, you met her at the wedding.’
‘That’s right. Terrific woman. Really knows her horses. Now where is she?’ He looked around.
‘Don’t worry,’ Meryl said quickly. ‘We’ll find each other. Tell me how you are…’
They drifted away together. In a few moments Meryl had forgotten Sarah. The party was a great success, the perfect rehearsal for the big one, the showing of the collection. As the dawn broke and the last guest had gone, she, Benedict and Amanda, were sitting with their heads together.
Jarvis met Sarah at the airport. ‘Good to have you back, my dear,’ he said, hugging her. ‘Let’s have some tea.’
When they were sitting in a café he observed, ‘You were supposed to be staying longer. Couldn’t live without us, I suppose?’
‘After what I saw I wanted to come home as soon as possible,’ she said in a low voice.
‘Sarah, what’s the matter. You look as if you’ve been crying.’
‘Oh, Jarvis, I don’t know how to tell you-it’s so terrible-’
‘What can be that terrible?’ he said, laughing. He was quite unsuspicious.
‘I went to a party in New York. It was given by Benedict Steen in that place she’s bought him. He and Meryl-’
‘Sarah, it’s all right. They’re just friends. She’s explained it all to me.’
In silence Sarah laid two pictures on the table.
The photographer who’d covered the party was good at his job. His work was sharp, with every detail in focus. It was a toss-up which shot was better, the one of Meryl dancing with Benedict, looking up into his face while he laughed down at her, his hand pointing towards her half-revealed breasts, or the one showing the two of them kissing.
‘I see,’ Jarvis said in a colourless voice. ‘I think we should get off home now.’
He rose and walked away. Sarah was a little disappointed that he left the pictures behind, but no matter. They’d served their purpose.
Another fifteen minutes and she would call Jarvis. Another ten minutes. Like a child postponing a treat Meryl watched the clock, counting the seconds until she could allow herself the pleasure.
Their phone calls always had an air of unreality. There was good-humoured banter and an undercurrent of tension, connected with the fierce kiss he’d given her. There had been another one when he saw her off at the airport, but that had been a restrained ‘married’ kiss, suitable for the eyes of strangers. The other had hinted at the passionate unrestraint of lovers, and that was the one she wanted to hurry back to.
Five minutes, four…
The phone rang.
‘Meryl?’
As soon as she heard Jarvis’s voice a smile spread all over her, and it was there in her own voice as she replied. ‘Yes, it’s me.’
But then everything went horribly wrong, as though the world had turned to ice around her, leaving her shivering and disbelieving.
Jarvis’s voice was more hostile than she’d ever heard it. ‘I trusted you. Fool that I was, I trusted you.’
‘Jarvis, what are you-?’
‘Not at first, mind you,’ he went on as though she hadn’t spoken. ‘At first I knew more or less what you were up to, and I wasn’t interested. That was what annoyed you, wasn’t it? A man who wasn’t interested. You can’t stand that. So you set yourself to bring me to heel, just for the pleasure of showing me who had the power.’
‘I don’t know what you’re talking about.’
‘Benedict Steen. A man you dance with half-naked and kiss in front of all the world. I’ve seen the pictures. Did you think they wouldn’t get back to me?’
‘Sarah,’ she breathed.
‘Yes, Sarah saw what you were up to.’
‘And made the worst of it.’
‘Is there any worst or best when my wife cavorts half-naked with her lover for anyone to see?’
‘He isn’t-’
‘Oh, please, I’ve heard that speech, and you were so convincing. But then you always were when you wanted to deceive me.’ She thought she heard a shuddering breath, and when he spoke again his voice wasn’t quite steady.
‘I was the last man in the world you could have persuaded, but that was the point, wasn’t it? The more I fought you, the greater your victory. You should be very proud of yourself, Meryl, because in the end you took me in completely. I was even falling in lo-’ Suddenly he couldn’t go on.
‘Jarvis, listen,’ she said urgently. ‘Benedict is back with his wife, and I made it happen. That party was to celebrate their reconciliation.’
‘Indeed! And I suppose his wife was watching while you kissed him.’
‘Yes, she was, and she was having the laugh of her life-’
‘Meryl, let it go.’ Jarvis sounded very tired. ‘You’ve won. I give in. Hang my scalp from your belt if it’s that important, just don’t come back to Larne. We made a deal and we’ve each kept our side. Leave it there.’
Meryl’s temper had been rising, and now it burst out. ‘No, damn you! I won’t leave it there. How dare you judge me without a hearing!’
‘Those pictures speak for themselves. What do I need to hear?’
‘Try listening to the truth, even if it doesn’t fit neatly into your preconceived ideas. I’ve always known you were a hard, judgmental man, but I thought we might find some love, and maybe it would be enough to make you ease up. But that’s not good enough for you, is it?
‘I haven’t been playing games, Jarvis. I love Larne. I could have loved you. But you don’t want to be loved. That’s what you can’t accept. Not just material things, but the love that goes with them. Love means taking risks, making mental leaps, and you find it safer to stay in your suspicious world. Everyone’s bad in there, and that’s how you like it, because that way you know what to think.
‘So stay in it. Never fear my coming back, because I won’t, ever. I haven’t played you false, and one day you’ll know that. But don’t bother trying to tell me because I’m finished! I’ve got better things to do with my life than spend it banging my head against a brick wall.’
Thousands of miles away Jarvis heard the click as she slammed down the phone. He had no way of hearing her storm of sobs.
Somehow life went on. Workmen arrived at Larne to start on the central heating. It was too late to cancel it now. That would invite too many questions, and Jarvis hadn’t the heart. A lassitude had descended on him. Everywhere he saw signs of new hope such as once he hadn’t dared dream of. And suddenly it all seemed so futile.
He tried to be logical. It was unreasonable to miss her so badly, except of course for estate matters where her presence would have been useful. But there were no estate matters in the middle of the night, and then the loss of her was a grinding misery that went on and on without relief.