Lovers and Liars (36 page)

t too many reporters do. When he’s actually in the building, ch isn’t that often, he stays up there on Olympus - the fifteenth r.,

awthorne returned her smile. ‘So, meet the man elsewhere. reasily arranged. You’d like him. Henry Melrose is a very okart man. He’s intelligent - which is more than you can say for Wst newspaper proprietors these days - and he actually takes an merest in what people write in his newspapers. He’s not blind p ability, even if Jenkins is. And he happens to own more than pe paper. Here and back home. In fact, if you’re dissatisfied,

y work in London at all? Why not go back to Washington, w York?’

il’ve nc%,er worked there,’ Gini replied. ‘Except as a freelance. ‘ve worked in England ever since I left school.’

Oso make a change. Strike out. Sam could help, surely? He Just ha%-e contacts to spare.’

‘That’s exactly the reason I don’t want to work there. I don’t

0ant to hitch a ride on my father’s reputation. That doesn’t apply pre.,

‘l apologize.’

,She had spoken with some sharpness, and she could feel him psessing her again. She sensed that having fallen in his regard a kw minutes before - perhaps simply because she did not know etrose, perhaps for timidity - she was now being restored to race. Certainly his manner warmed.

1`1 can understand that/ he began. ‘Sam can be goddamn imussible — we all know that. Maybe all fathers can. My own, for Lstance … ‘ He paused. ‘I had a pretty difficult time with him Fhen I was younger, and still do, from time to time. Too much !nbition on my behalf.’ He broke off. ‘However, I was fortunate. ;earned how to deal with him. And there was Lise, of course.’ He smiled, and took her arm. As he did so, and Gini felt the )uch of his hand, just above her elbow, against her bare arm,

she saw him give the dress she was wearing a quick assessing glance.

‘That’s a beautiful dress, incidentally/ he said. ‘Was that the famous Christmas present from Mary? She mentioned it to me.’ ‘Yes. It was.’

‘She chose very well. It sets off your hair. Now, you must come meet Lise. I know she’s longing to talk to you. Has Mary told you that story of hers - how she persuaded me to proposeT He made a rueful face. ‘Nonsense, of course. My father claims the same thing. Actually, I made up my own mind but I never tell Mary that. It’s more fun to indulge her.’ He smiled. ‘I’m very fond of your stepmother. Did you know that when I first met her, I was ten years old? She’s been teasing me unmercifully ever since. That makes it nearly forty years … I

He began steering her gently in his wife’s direction, still with his hand on her arm. His face was now turned away from her, as he looked across the room towards his wife. Lise was seated on the sofa, still talking with great animation to Pascal. Gini glanced towards Hawthorne, who like most of the men present, was wearing a dinner jacket and black tie. He looked blond, tanned, handsome and unreadable - exactly as he had looked when she entered the room, or when she had met him all those years before, as a child. She thought: I have made no progress; I’ve discovered nothing at all.

Then she realized Hawthorne was frowning, and followed his gaze. Seated next to one another, Lise and Pascal were deep in conversation. Pascal looked relaxed and at ease, more so than Gini had seen him look in days. His eyes were fixed on Lise’s face, and his expression was unmistakably attentive.

‘No/ Gini heard him say, in response to some breathy remark from Lise. ‘No. C’est impossible. Women like to make these claims. And maybe some of them believe them. But not you … I

Lise laughed. She leaned forward, and began speaking again. Hawthorne had come to a halt. He stood for a moment watching his wife, then turned back to Gini.

‘Maybe now is not the moment to interrupt. Lise is well launched on one of her favourite subjects, by the look of it .

‘And that is?’

‘Oh, astrology. Tarot cards. Destiny. Fate . He gave her an amused glance. ‘All that mumbo-jumbo. If your friend isn’t careful

- and he doesn’t look as if he’s being too careful - then in about, let’s see … ‘He checked his watch. ‘In about three minutes’ time, Lise will offer to read his palm.’

,She often does thatT

ini looked at him uncertainly. Hawthorne seemed neither barrassed nor annoyed. He had released her arm, and was looking at her in a different, more intent way. She saw his move to the neckline of her dress, then to her hair, then mouth, her eyes. He gave her a dazzling smile, and it was f he had decided to throw some switch, suddenly releasing n her the full power of that legendary charisma and charm. that is his technique, Gini thought, when his wife flirts, he flirts as

h sure, very often,’ he replied. ‘Lise genuinely believes it all, afraid. She and I share a birthday in January. When I first t her, she told me it was a sign … We were both children at time.’ He paused. ‘And speaking of birthdays - it’s mine in a le of weeks. We’re having a party at our place in Oxfordshire. Is coming. Henry Melrose will be there. You must come, Gini. that I’ve met you properly at last, we should make up for lost e. Ah, you see? Three minutes exactly … I

He gestured across the room. Lise was now holding Pascal’s Im in her hand. She held it between them in a delicate and a] way and began to indicate lines. Pascal appeared to be ing it s,riously. Gini averted her eyes.

Wy father’s coming over for it/ Hawthorne was continuing. d mv brother Prescott, my sisters. A great gathering of the wo

n. Sovou must come. I’ll mention it to Lise. It uld do her you know, to have some younger friends in London touched her arm again, and began to steer her forward. ‘All official partying and hobnobbing isn’t really her style. Or e. Unfortunately, I have to put up with it, and I don’t have too ch free time. Too many meetings, too many damn speeches. At

e moment, of course, with all this Middle East business—2 ‘Don’t Vou find that a strainT Gini put in quickly. ‘The security? u musit feel you can never be alone … I

‘On the contrary. It reminds you just how alone you are

Pe spoke, suddenly, with genuine feeling, in a very different e. The next second his manner was as before: forceful, neutral, ane.

‘In any case, you get used to it. It comes with the territory.’ ey ha reached Pascal and Lise at last. Pascal rose. Mary repeared. Lise Hawthorne also rose; she greeted Gini warmly. e pressed her hand tightly, and gazed at her in a way Gini nd disconcerting, even strange.

‘Oh, I’m so glad to meet you properly at last/ she said in her soft breathy voice. ‘I’ve heard so much about you from Mary, of course. And from John.’

Hawthorne smiled. ‘Good Lord, Gini won’t even remember that/ he said. ‘It was a very long time ago. But we did meet once, Gini, in Kent, at Mary’s house. One Easter. You were just going back to school .

‘I remember/ Gini said.

Lise let go of her hand. just to the side of them, Mary was attempting to introduce John Hawthorne to Pascal. When she finally succeeded in gaining the ambassador’s attention, he gave Pascal a hard look and a cursory handshake.

‘Lamartine?‘He frowned. ‘Don’t I know the name? Ah yes. Sure. From this morning’s newspapers. Excuse me, will youT

He was already turning away. Mary’s face bore an odd, almost guilty expression. Lise was clutching her tiny evening bag, her knuckles white with strain.

‘Lise,’ her husband said over his shoulder, ‘five minutes only, I’m afraid, and then we must go. I’ll just speak to Malone .

And with this, with an abruptness that was knowingly rude, he turned on his heel.

Exactly five minutes later, the Hawthornes moved out to the hall. For Mary’s sake, Gini might have stayed longer, but Pascal shook his head. He took her arm.

‘No. Now,’ he said in a low voice. ‘I want to leave at the same time as they do.’

There was a crush of guests in the hallway. Mary was there, the Hawthornes were there, the two actors were also leaving; by the door was a huge, crew-cut security man. From outside came the crackle of radio static.

‘Malone?’ Hawthorne said.

The man nodded. He opened the door, said something inaudible, and closed it again.

Hawthorne was helping his wife into her coat. Gini froze and almost exclaimed, but Pascal tightened his warning grip on her arm. Lise stroked the coat, and turned back to Mary with a smile.

‘Isn’t it heavenly? It was John’s birthday present. And the necklace, too.’ She reached up, and gave her husband an affectionate kiss. ‘I’m so spoiled.’

‘Nonsense, darling.’ He smiled down at her, then put his arm around her shoulders. ‘It’s no more than you deserve.f

e Hawthornes said their thanks and goodbyes to Mary. They hands with the two actors. There was a flurry of move—

t, then Malone opened the door and moved out fast. On the beyond two shadows moved. There was another crackle tic. Gini and Pascal waited and watched the Hawthornes,

by two of those shadows, descend the portico steps and their long black limousine. Malone remained at the top e steps, his eyes scanning the street. As the car pulled Malone lifted his wrist, and spoke inaudibly into his wristThe limousine disappeared. A second car followed it, the tion twenty yards back. Malone ran down the steps with sing agility for a man of his size. A third car had already d forward. Malone jumped into it, and it too pulled away,

n’t say anything,’ Pascal bent closely to her ear. ‘Nothing, Wait until we’re outside

s the), left, Pascal took her arm. They walked at a fast pace in opposite direction from the street where Gini had parked her When Pascal was certain there was no-one following them, he w her into a deserted cul-de-sac. There he stopped. He turned Cini, his face alert and pale in the lamplight.

!:.‘Gini, you saw?’

:Thhe coat? Of course I saw the coat. You can’t exactly miss length sable.’

.And the necklace? You saw the pearls?’ “I “No.’

rlt’s because she was wearing the clasp at the back. You could only see it from behind. I noticed it earlier. The clasp was gold, lith a cabochon ruby. Both the pearls and the coat were a birthday kesent from her husband. Itfs her birthday today, Gini.’

-`l know. Mary mentioned it … ‘

i:‘Well now.’ Pascal took out a cigarette and lit it. He leaned back Igainst a garden wall and looked at her. ‘Isn’t her husband the inbassador a generous man? A pearl necklace. A sable coat. I ionder if lie mentioned who had worn them beforeT

i ‘Pascal, wait. You’re sure about the pearlsT

I-Of course. And what’s more, we were right when we listened

3 that phone-tape. She’s afraid, and she’s under strain. Even your iepmother noticed it. She came over twice to ask her if she still W unwell.’

‘She didn’t look unwell to me.’ Gini gave him a sharp glance. ihe looked perfectly fine when she was reading your palm.’

‘How could you teIlT His comeback was equally sharp. ‘You were so wrapped up in Hawthorne you wouldn’t have noticed a damn thing.’

‘Well, at least I wasn’t flirting with Hawthorne, which can’t be said of you and Lise-!

‘Oh really? You weren’t? You were listening to him pretty damn closely, hanging on his every word. I saw the way he looked at you. I saw the way he took your arm-2

‘Don’t be so bloody ridiculous! Of course I was listening to him. That’s why I was there. To get some kind of impression of the man.’

‘Fine. Excellent. And so what was that impressionT

‘I liked him, if you must know. On the whole. He’s autocratic, but you’d expect that. If you’d tried to talk to him yourself, instead of sitting there having your palm read, for God’s sake, you might have liked him too.’

‘Tried to talk to him? Jesus Christ, are you totally blind?’ Pascal gave a gesture of exasperation. ‘You saw what happened the second Mary introduced me. As soon as he heard my name, he was off, gone. And calling his wife to heel.’

‘I wonder he didn’t do that earlier/ Gini replied. ‘I’ve never seen anything so pathetic. Sitting on a sofa, whispering to you-‘

‘She was not whispering. She just has a low voice, that’s all.’ ‘Whispering. Taking your palm in front of a whole room of people. Well, I could see you were flattered, Pascal, and I hate to disillusion you, but apparently, she does that all the time-‘

‘Is that so?’ Pascal’s voice, angry a moment before became suddenly and dangerously cool.

‘Yes, she damn well does,’ Gini continued. ‘Hawthorne told me. He heard what she was saying - all that tripe about horoscopes and astrology or whatever it was. And he told me that in three minutes she’d be reading your palm. He was right to the second, what’s more.’

‘Was he? How very clever of her.’

‘Clever of her?’ Gini stared at him. ‘WhyT

‘Because she did something he expected her to do - and because of that, he stopped paying attention. Instead, he turned his attention to you.’

‘Will you stop this? He did no such thing. It was just a normal, ordinary conversation. We talked about work. About my father. He knew my father in Vietnam .

Pascal gave her an impatient glance. ‘But of course. He set out

Pcharrn you - that was obvious from the second we walked in. W he talked about your father. He was flattering you, Gini. Can’t jou see thatT

VNo, I can’t. I’m telling you, I liked him. He seemed honest. *aight. Sharp. I liked him. End of story. That’s it.’

lieYou’re biased in his favour now, is that it? But you can’t explain

1,.S! pearls, or that coat-2

lor No. I can’t. And neither can you. In themselves they prove ing … ‘

rh ‘They suggest quite a lot.’ n

k/ Gini sighed, ‘all I’m doing is giving him the benefit of

doubt. Innocent until proven guilty. Unlike you. You took one ur instant dislikes. It was just the same as when you met my er-!

don’t believe I’m hearing this!’ Pascal turned away and began krace up and down. ‘Fine. Right.’ He turned back to her. ‘Let me Ost make sure I’ve got this right. You associate Hawthorne with DUT father now, is that itT

CNo, I damn well don’t.’ Gini rounded on him angrily. ‘Did I Oy that? No. I said you made one of your instant decisions—2