‘Stop fretting,’ she told him. ‘We’ll just have to be patient. It may take a long time to happen.’
But it happened before anyone could have expected, and in a way that nobody could have foreseen in a million years.
Preparations for the wedding started at once, with Harriet moving out of her tiny apartment and into Giant’s Beacon, where she could take immediate charge of the renovations.
‘Is Phantom pleased with his accommodation?’ Darius enquired after the first day.
‘Yes, he’s asked me to express his approval of your efforts on his behalf. Putting him in the room next door to ours was pure genius.’
‘Next thing, he’ll have to meet the family. We’ll start this afternoon.’
‘What?’
‘It’s simple. We go into the computer room, switch on the video link-’ he was doing so as he spoke ‘-and the family will appear.’
It was her first encounter with video link and it took her breath away. Jackson connected from his computer in London, and Marcel appeared from Paris. Then there was Mary and Ken, raising their glasses to her, and Frankie and Mark, bouncing with happiness.
Like Darius, she was discovering the joys of new experiences and they were exhilarating.
‘It’s all working out,’ she told Phantom, stroking him as he settled for the night. ‘We’re going to have such a wonderful life, my darling-Phantom-are you all right? Darius.’
In a moment he was there, dropping to his knees beside the dog, who was heaving violently.
‘Call the vet quickly,’ he said.
The vet lived nearby. He was soon there, listened to Phantom’s heart and shook his head.
‘He’s very old, and his heart’s worn out,’ he said. ‘This was bound to happen soon. I think you should prepare yourself for the worst. Would you like me to put him to sleep now?’
‘No,’ Harriet said fiercely. ‘I want him until the last possible moment.’ She scooped Phantom up in her arms. ‘There, darling, we’ll stay together and you’ll feel my arms around you all the time.’
Darius watched her wretchedly, torn apart by her grief.
‘We’ll stay with him together,’ he said, touching her face gently.
But then the worst thing possible happened. A sound split the air, making them both start up in horror.
‘My pager,’ she gasped. ‘No-no-I can’t. I can’t leave him to die alone.’
‘Harriet, you’ve got to go,’ Darius said urgently. ‘Not for their sake but for your own. You swore to do your duty and put it above all personal considerations. If you fail now, you’ll never forgive yourself as long as you live.’
Her wild eyes showed that she knew he was right, and tears streamed down her face as she fought between her duty and her feelings for her beloved dog.
‘How can I leave him alone?’ she whispered.
‘He won’t be alone. I’ll stay with him until the last minute. He’ll be in my arms, just as he would have been in yours. He’ll know that he’s loved, I promise you. Trust me, Harriet. Trust me!’
‘Yes-’ she gasped. ‘Yes-’ She caressed Phantom’s head. ‘Goodbye, my darling-goodbye-’
Darius never forgot the look on her face as she backed out of the room. Or the look on Phantom’s face as he took the dog into his arms.
‘She’d have stayed if she could,’ he told him. ‘We both know that, because she loves you more than anyone in the world. And I’m not even jealous.’
Incredibly, he felt the great furry body in his arms relax. Phantom’s eyes closed, but he was still alive for a moment later they opened again.
‘It’s time we had a good long talk,’ Darius murmured. ‘We both love her so much, we had to get together sooner or later.’
He talked on, only faintly aware of the passage of time. He wondered where Harriet was now. Had she reached the station yet? He knew she was suffering, thinking of Phantom dying without her. But he had made her a promise, and he would keep it at all costs.
The hours passed. Daylight faded. He knew he was repeating himself, but that didn’t matter. What counted was the love in his voice, reaching out to the dog as Harriet herself would have reached out to him.
At first he listened for her step on the stairs, but gradually he ceased to be aware of anything but the living animal dying softly in his arms. It might be madness but he had no doubt that Phantom could understand every word, just as he would have done from Harriet.
And then the truth came to him as a revelation. This was the sign he’d longed for, the proof that he and Harriet were one. Phantom’s eyes on him were full of trust.
Harriet, slipping into the house downstairs, listened to the silence, knowing what it meant. Phantom had died when she wasn’t there to care for him. And however much she tried to believe that Darius had helped him, he would know that she herself had abandoned him when he needed her most. Tears streamed down her face as she climbed the stairs.
And then, halfway up, she stopped, holding herself tense against the incredible sound that reached her. Surely that was Darius’s voice? He was talking to someone, that meant-?
Hardly daring to believe it, she sped up the rest of the way, pausing outside the door, then moving quietly into the room. There she stood just outside of Darius’s vision, listening, entranced, to his words.
‘I’m not sure she really understands even now how much I love her,’ he was saying. ‘I’ve tried to show it but I’m clumsy. I never knew anyone like her existed and I’m afraid that she’ll leave me. That’s why I’m hurrying her into our marriage before she has a chance to think. But she’s turning me into someone else. This other guy, he doesn’t do any of the things I’m used to, so I’m having to get to know him from scratch.
‘I wish I could be more like you. You were never lost for what to do next, were you? Toss them to the ground and jump up and down on them, that’s your way.
‘I used to be jealous of you. How about that? I thought she loved you because she still loved Brad, but it’s got nothing to do with him. I know that now. You’re lovable and precious, and you’ve got to be here for us a while yet.
‘Hey, you’re restless. That’s good. Hold on there, boy. Don’t give up now. She’ll be home soon-just a little longer. Harriet!’
She dropped down beside him, her hands caressing Phantom, but her eyes turned up to him in a passion of love and gratitude.
‘You did it,’ she whispered. ‘You kept him alive for me. Thank you, thank you-oh, if only you knew-’
‘I think perhaps I do,’ he murmured, his eyes meeting hers in a moment of total understanding that was normal with them now.
‘I reckon he’s got a little longer yet,’ Darius said.
As if to prove it, Phantom shifted in his arms and leaned forward to lick Harriet’s face.
‘You’ve got to live a bit longer, you hear that?’ she said. ‘I want you there at our wedding. Promise me.’
Woof!
They were married three weeks later, on the beach. Of Darius’s family, only Amos and his wife were missing; but his brothers and Freya all said they wouldn’t miss it for the world. Mary and Ken said the same thing, watching with satisfaction as Darius laid claim to the most valuable property of his life.
Frankie walked behind the bride, pretty in frills and flowers. And beside her walked Mark, his hand on Phantom’s collar, guiding him to a place at the front where he could curl up and watch the ceremony.
The vet had expressed astonishment at his survival, but Harriet wasn’t surprised. Darius had done what he longed to do-given her something so precious that it was like a jewel. If she had doubted his love before, she could doubt it no longer. She knew now that the jewel would shine for ever.
Lucy Gordon