Lucia Triumphant (10 page)

‘
Extraordinary,' said Diva, who had heard all this as she bought her vegetables. ‘Can't account for it. Must ask Elizabeth what she makes of it all. Though I don't suppose she'll tell me.'

‘
You make it sound as if Lucia and Elizabeth were deadly enemies,' said Georgie. ‘I think they really like each other, deep down. It's just that little things come between them occasionally and they quarrel.'

The Padre muttered something under his breath about the Ninth Commandment, but Georgie chose to ignore him.

‘
Why else,' Georgie continued, ‘should Lucia want me to turn the Tapestry into a pair of curtains for the garden-room? It means she's finished with it once and for all. She said that she'd made a mistake and taken us all too much for granted, and she's terribly sorry for being such a nuisance.'

Outside the shelter of the awnings the elements raged to mark this shattering tale. Armed men clashed in the skies and lions were seen in the streets on the night before Caesar's murder; a heavy shower was the least that Nature could do to counterpoint such an announcement.

‘
No!' said Evie. ‘How brave of her.'

‘
She's up to something,' muttered Diva. ‘Look forward to seeing what it turns out to be.'

Elizabeth herself, feet galoshed and basket covered from the rain, now joined the little assembly. It was not a Monopoly day today, but yesterday's excitements would no doubt be supplying the topic of this conversation.

‘
Good morning, Evie, Diva, Mr. Georgie—is that a new tie?—how-de-do, Padre. May I scriggle through? Nice warming vegetable soup for my Benjy and me today, I think.'

There was a silence and a slightly uncomfortable atmosphere such as one experiences when one is about to be told some bad news. Diva nudged Georgie and he spoke.

‘
Good morning, Elizabeth. Such a good idea, and very tasty too. I've got a message for you from Lucia.'

‘
And where is our dear friend today?' said Elizabeth gaily. ‘So unlike her to stuff indoors in the morning. Not unwell, I hope?'

‘
Oh no, quite well. But she insists that she has the house to herself this morning so that I won't hear her practising the pianoforte. She says she's much too much out of practice, and she'll have to get the man from the piano shop in Hastings to come over and tune
her
.'

There was another silence, and Elizabeth cast a surreptitious eye over the sheepish faces of her friends. Georgie took a deep breath and continued.

‘
And she wants me to ask you if you could come to tea and play Monopoly at Mallards one day. She—she apologises'—the word seemed as big as a turnip and Georgie could hardly force it through his lips—‘for being so stand-offish and turning down all the invitations you so kindly sent her before, when you started Monopoly, but she says she was all wrapped up in her Tapestry.'

This astounding image quite rounded off the surreal speech, and Elizabeth almost felt sorry that quaint Irene was not present. What a picture that would have made!

‘
But what could there possibly be to apologise for? It is we who should
apologise'
—Elizabeth evidently liked repeating the word—‘to dear Lucia for deserting our posts. Do please tell her that I will be only too delighted to bring my little
divertissement
to tea tomorrow. And how fares the dear Tapestry? We must get back to work soon, before Her Worship despairs of us altogether.'

‘
I'm turning it into a pair of curtains,' Georgie muttered. ‘It's her idea. She said she was sorry for boring us all with it, and how kind it was of everyone to bear with her so long.'

Had Elizabeth not managed to steady herself in time she would have fallen clean through Twistevant's broad plate-glass window. As it was, she was bereft of speech and staggered without a word into the shop. The scene dissolved, and Georgie was left alone. It was all too much for him, and he must find out the truth or burst. Yet Lucia's attitude made direct questioning impossible. He had, by his own delinquency, been put in the position of being a hostile power in Mallards; inviolate and treated with almost exaggerated respect and consideration, but wholly excluded from the deliberations of the house. Even Grosvenor had taken to giving him suspicious glances as she served the soup, as if accusing him of planning to steal the spoons. And he had an idea that Foljambe didn't approve at all ....

‘
I shall ask her to her face,' he declared to the dripping canvas, and set off resolutely for home. For once his straight question received a straight answer.

‘
Oh, I see!' he said. ‘How very clever.'

 

‘
How delightful this is,' warbled Lucia, teapot in hand. ‘What a lucky woman I am to have such forgiving friends.'

Behind her was an expanse of backed hessian, like a backdrop. She had taken her place in front of those fatal curtains, and the significance of it was wasted on no one. Lucia had turned her back on the Tapestry.

‘
Lucia dear, I fear I must be quite stern with you.' Elizabeth apparently triumphant but inwardly somewhat nervous, although she could not for the life of her think why, smiled her best smile. ‘You seem to imagine that you have offended us. It is we who have offended you. So no more apologies, you dear hypocrite. You heap coals of fire on our poor heads.'

The Padre smiled and took another sponge-finger. ‘I declare that 'tes all in the past the noo,' he said warmly, ‘whatever 'twas that divided us so before. Now we are all come together in the ane place, the Lord be thanked. We have beaten our swords into plough-shares, made each our own sacrifice and swallowed our pride. Now let us all partake of the guid cheer.'

This pretty speech, epitome of reconciliation, came from the heart, for the Padre had not himself been wholly untouched by suffering.
The Canterbury Tales
alone had yielded up a veritable treasury of picturesque phraseology, all of which he was prepared to forego in the interests of peace.

‘
Beautifully put, dear Padre,' said Lucia. ‘And now let us begin. I can't wait for my first game.'

Elizabeth reached for the Monopoly set, but before she could draw it from her shopping-basket Lucia had produced, apparently from nowhere, an identical red-and-white box, and was lifting the lid clear with a practised hand.

‘
Where did you get that from?' demanded Elizabeth hoarsely.

‘
I had to send away to London for it,' replied Lucia. ‘I tried to buy one at the stationer's, but, do you know, he was sold out. Apparently someone had gone in and bought four sets all at once. I wonder who on earth that could have been?'

‘
Mapp!' cried Irene joyfully. ‘It must have been Mapp.'

‘
Don't be so foolish, Irene dear,' Lucia rebuked her. ‘Now why on earth should Elizabeth want to have all the Monopoly sets in Tilling?'

Elizabeth flushed red and did not reply. There would be no point in answering the unspoken charge; to deny it would be fatuous, to accept it suicidal. Inside her, spreading like a cold, clammy fog, was the realisation of what Lucia's counter-stratagem was to be. She felt the urge to escape, but she could not. They had tied her to the stake, she could not fly.

As perfidious Stanley sided with the usurper at Bosworth Field, so Georgie took his place at Lucia's side, and to them, aptly enough, fell the token of the battleship. Irene was elected Banker (a rôle she heartily detested on moral grounds) and the Mapp-Flints, husband and trembling wife, were assigned the first move. In order to restrict the damage that the Major was capable of doing, Elizabeth had decided that they would act as a team, rather than making alternate moves, for this game was not being played for light or ludicrous prizes but for the social throne of Tilling. Grimly coy, she thrust one die into his hand and took the other herself.
‘Un, deux, trois, jettons-nous
!' she shrilled, and threw her die. Her husband did likewise but not quite simultaneously.

‘
You're not buying, dear?' cooed Lucia. ‘And so early? Such a daring tactic. I see I shall have to be ever so careful. Let me see. The space now goes to auction, does it not? Georgie, advise me. Should I bid? You think so? You're sure? Very well then.'

So shaken was Elizabeth by this praise of her daring that she joined in the auction, and finally managed to secure for £260 what she could have had for £200. Better safe, however, than sorry ....

In almost no time at all Lucia had secured all the yellow properties, and at once set about building houses. Her funds were almost exhausted, but behind her cries of childish delight Elizabeth could detect some awful strategy. In vain she struggled to divert it.

‘
Lucia darling, are you sure? You wouldn't like to reconsider that last move?' she said nervously as Lucia gobbled up Trafalgar Square. ‘I'm sure that, since it's your first game, we might let you take it back.'

But Lucia was made of sterner stuff. ‘So kind of you, Elizabeth,' she replied, ‘but I must abide by the rules. Only by experience can I hope to learn, after all. Pain is learning, as the dear poet said.'

The dear poet was right, for Lucia had given herself a headache committing to memory the advice of the South-Eastern Area champion, and he had been most insistent on securing Trafalgar Square. Meanwhile Elizabeth found herself entertaining quite unprecedented doubts about her own hitherto unbeatable strategy, and scarcely bought anything at all. So distracted was she by her worries that the Padre landed on one of her few properties without her noticing. He was about to mention it (for he was a man of God) when his wife nudged him firmly in the ribs, and he remained silent. As Diva threw the dice Elizabeth noticed her error.

‘
I'm so sorry,' she exclaimed. ‘Padre, you owe me some rent.'

The Padre began to count out the notes, but Lucia stopped him. ‘No need, Padre. The moment has passed. You are not liable.'

‘
Yes he is!' cried Elizabeth.

‘
Carissima,
I assure you that he isn't. Surely you recollect the ruling on this point? Let me see now, how does it go? Ah yes, I have it. “If the owner fails to ask for his rent before the next throw of the dice, no rent may be collected.” And Diva has thrown.
Ecco!
So harsh, don't you think? But we must abide by the rules, as I said earlier.'

‘
I don't remember that rule,' said Elizabeth uneasily.

‘
She's right, old girl,' said Major Benjy, who had the rule-book open in front of him. ‘Word for word, too, by Jove. Well remembered, Mrs. Pillson. You saved the Padre a tidy sum there, I fancy.'

Elizabeth gave Lucia such a ferocious stare that for a moment Lucia believed that her dear friend was about to strike her. Instead, she snatched the second die from her husband's hand and cast both together with the velocity of a Larwood. For all her force, the dice registered but three points; she advanced the shiny metal motor-car the required number of places and with difficulty found room for it on a square crowded with houses and hotels. Underneath the miniature tyres of the counter the space was a blaze of yellow.

The game moved remorselessly towards an inevitable conclusion. To yellow was added blue and green, and Diva was prised out of the Old Kent Road and Whitechapel (as always, her only possessions) to add brown to Lucia's kaleidoscopic empire. The moment came when the Mapp-Flints had no cash in hand, no properties to mortgage, and debts to the panchromatic Lucia of several thousand pounds. With utter disdain, Elizabeth rose from the table.

‘
Such a delightful game, dearest Lucia. How proficient you have become, and so quickly.'

‘
Beginner's luck,
carissima
, and you were most unfortunate. You always seemed to be landing on my squares.' Since Lucia had owned most of the board for most of the game, Fortune's malice was not entirely to blame.

‘
Nonsense, dear. Such hidden talent! I declare you'll be giving us all lessons shortly.'

This was irony, and irony was meat and drink to Lucia. ‘I should be delighted to share my preliminary conclusions with you at any time,' she said innocently, ‘but I'm sure you know just as much about the game as I do. I think you let me win, you kind darling.'

Elizabeth growled, and laid a hand on Major Benjy's shoulder.

‘
But you aren't thinking of leaving us already?' gasped Lucia. ‘The game is not yet concluded, and anything might happen. If you like, I will gladly loan you, say five thousand more ....'

‘
Time has flown by all too swiftly,' snarled Elizabeth, ‘as it always does when one is enjoying oneself so much. See, it is already seven-o'clock, and we must go home, or Withers will scold us. Let us call it a draw.'

Irene snorted at this, but Lucia ignored her. ‘A draw it shall be then, between you and me. And thank you so much, Elizabeth. I have learnt a lot simply by watching you.'

‘
Hang on, Liz,' said Benjy, ‘you ordered dinner for half-past nine. There's no need to stop just yet.'

‘
Benjy, you naughty one,' hissed Elizabeth, white with rage, ‘dinner is at half-past seven. Come along.'

‘
Would you like Cadman to drive you home?' asked Lucia gently. ‘I fear that we haven't seen the last of the rain, and since your motor is still being serviced ....'