Mr. Darcy Forever (13 page)

Lloyd laughed and Sarah smiled. She liked the way his eyes twinkled when he laughed.

‘
I just want to get a few shots of that person cutting the silhouettes. Have you seen them? They’re amazing.’

Sarah nodded. ‘They’re wonderful, aren’t they?’

‘
Do you want to have yours done?’

‘
Oh, no,’ Sarah said. ‘I think I’ll just browse the books on this stall.’

‘
Okay,’ he said. ‘And then maybe we could get a cup of tea or something?’

Sarah paused for a moment, thinking back to what the palm reader had told her about her future partner.
You might have already met him.
Could it be Lloyd?

‘
A cup of tea would be lovely,’ she told him with a smile, wondering if she was tempting fate even though she didn’t really believe in it.

Mia and Shelley would have loved to have been photographed for
Vive!
magazine but they’d already left the Guildhall by the time Lloyd had walked across the room with his camera. They'd both been delighted with their silhouettes and had placed them carefully in their purses.

‘
What next?’ Mia asked.

‘
I didn't book anything else for today but I thought we could do bit of shopping whilst we’re in costume. Oh, and Lorna Warwick is doing a book signing. I thought we could go to that. I'm desperate to read her latest.’

‘
His
latest, don't you mean? Lorna’s a man - didn't you hear?’

Shelley frowned. ‘A man? You're kidding.’

‘
No,’ Mia said. ‘And a rather gorgeous man too. Wait until you see!’

After the surprise meeting with Alec Burrows, Sarah and Mia had enjoyed a full English breakfast before taking a walk to the private beach on the estate. The May sunshine was gloriously warm and Mia wore a white dress covered in scarlet poppies and a sun hat which Sarah had forced onto her head before leaving. Ever-practical, Sarah was wearing a pair of light beige trousers and a sky-blue shirt with pockets full of tissues.

Mia had led the way through the wood she’d jogged through earlier, pointing out the place where she’d collided with Alec.

They soon found the track to the beach and ambled along together, taking in deep lungfuls of pure air.

‘
I won’t want to go back to London,’ Mia said.

‘
Yes you will. You’ve got all those auditions lined up, haven’t you?’

‘
I suppose,’ Mia said. And then she thought of another reason to look forward to going back to London – Alec. ‘What do you suppose he does?’ she asked.

‘
Who?’

‘
Alec!’

‘
I thought we came here to escape men. I seem to remember that was the bargain.’

‘
Really? I don’t remember that at all,’ Mia said, thinking of his bright grey eyes and the cute smile she’d drawn from him.

The rest of the day passed peacefully and with very little happening which was just how Sarah had envisaged it when she’d booked Barton Cottage. If only Mia hadn't run into that man. Trust her sister to be knocked over by the only man in Devon. And now, she wouldn't stop talking about him. There was only one thing for it in such situations and that was Jane Austen. So, that evening, after Mia cooked a light student-inspired supper of spaghetti, they settled down to watch the Emma Thompson version of
Sense and Sensibility
, screaming in delight every time they saw Barton Cottage.

Mia should have been out like a light that evening but she wasn’t. Instead, she walked across to her window and drew back the curtains. The night was inky black but, as her eyes adjusted, they were soon dazzled by stars.

Being the kind of person who always wanted to share her thoughts and feelings with the entire world, Mia knew that she'd have to wake Sarah up immediately so, leaving her bedroom, she crept across the landing to her sister’s bedroom and opened the door.

‘
Sarah? Are you awake?’

A muffled noise came from the bed in the corner of the room.

‘
Come on – wake up! You've got to see this!’

‘
See what? It's the middle of the night.’

‘
Wow!’ Mia said. She was at the window now and had drawn back the curtains. ‘Look out of the window. You can’t see anything. Come and see! Sarah – come and
see
.’

‘
Why would I want to look out of a window if I can’t see anything?’

‘
It’s so dark,’ Mia said. ‘I can’t see a single house. We’re the only people in the world,’ Mia said.

‘
I’m afraid not.’

‘
But you could believe it in a place like this. It’s just us and the stars. Look how bright they are! Come on, Sarah – look!’

Sarah obviously realized that she was going to get no peace until she joined her sister at the window. She pushed the duvet away from her, carefully placed her feet in her slippers so that they didn’t touch the floor and, bleary-eyed with sleep, shuffled in the direction she hoped was the window.

‘
Can you see them?’ Mia asked.

‘
Not yet,’ Sarah said.

‘
Let your eyes adjust.’

Sarah kept on looking. It was an odd experience and almost impossible to tell whether her eyes were really open for she could see nothing.

But then …

‘
Oh!’ she exclaimed.

‘
Yes,’ Mia said. ‘So many stars. I wonder if Alec is looking at them too.’

Sarah sighed. ‘You mustn’t keep going on about him.’

‘
Why not?’

‘
Because we don’t know that much about him.’

‘
We know enough to know that he's wonderful.’

‘
We don't know that at all,’ Sarah said. ‘And I thought we agreed, Mia - no men this week!’

‘
Yes but that was before we met any men!’ Mia said with her usual warped logic.

‘
You really are incorrigible. Goodness knows what he thinks of you. You were so forward!’

‘
He probably thinks I'm a very approachable young woman which is just what I am and I really don't mind him knowing that. How else are we to meet men? We don’t get introduced to them by our families anymore or a master of ceremonies. You have to do it yourself when you can. You don't bump into them every day of the week,’ she said, giggling at the aptness of her wording. ‘I just got lucky today.’

‘
I’m going back to bed and you should too.’

Mia groaned. ‘All right then, grumpy!’ She returned to her own room, her bare limbs chilly now, eager to snuggle back under her duvet.

Honestly, she thought, Sarah really could be a spoil sport. Mia knew she was just being protective – it was a role she’d been playing as long as Mia could remember. After all, she hadn’t had a mother to guide her through the perils of love. But what possible harm could there be in a little holiday romance, she thought? It was probably just what she needed.

Sarah and Lloyd found a tea room away from the centre of Bath. It was small and pretty with pale pink tablecloths and white china cups.

Lloyd pulled out a chair for Sarah and placed his heavy camera bag underneath the table.

‘
It must be cumbersome carrying that around with you everywhere,’ Sarah said.

‘
I don't really notice it now,’ he said. ‘It’s like part of me, I guess. I’d feel naked without it.’

They ordered a pot of tea and couldn't resist a slice of cake each. Sarah opted for lemon sponge and Lloyd ordered a slice of ginger cake.

‘
I always worry about eating out,’ Lloyd said, picking up his cup and examining it. ‘But it looks clean enough in here, doesn't it?’

‘
I think so,’ Sarah said, giving a slight smile. ‘You have it too, don't you?’

‘
What’s that?’

‘
OCD.’

Lloyd laughed loudly. ‘Is it that obvious?’

‘
Only to another sufferer,’ Sarah said.

They smiled at one another.

‘
How long have you had it?’ he asked.

‘
All my life, I think. There's always been something vaguely odd about me,’ she said with a laugh and then realised that that was probably not the best thing to say to promote oneself.

‘
I know what you mean,’ he said.

‘
You mean, you think I’m odd?’

‘
No!’ he said with a laugh. ‘I mean,
I’ve
always felt odd too!’

‘
Oh!’ Sarah said with relief.

The tea and cake arrived and Lloyd took a mouthful of ginger cake as Sarah poured the tea.

‘
I used to get endlessly teased at school,’ Lloyd said. ‘Everything had to be neat and tidy. Science apparatus for experiments, the books in the library, the sports equipment in the store cupboard. Everyone thought I was teacher’s pet but it was the OCD. I had no interest in pleasing anyone other than myself. Things had to be in order.’

Sarah nodded in recognition.

‘
But not many people knew about OCD back then,’ he continued. ‘You were just branded as strange or effeminate.’

‘
That must have been difficult. At least girls can disguise it some of the time. We’re meant to be neat and tidy so it can often go unnoticed. I must say, I didn’t have much trouble at school. It was home that was the problem for me. My mother had real trouble understanding what was happening. I think she thought I did things just to annoy her like the time I took down all the washing from the line and hung it up again properly.’ She took a sip of tea.

‘
There are certainly more people around who understand now. There isn’t such a stigma attached to it, is there?’

‘
I suppose not,’ Sarah said, ‘but it still takes some understanding. I’ve never really met anyone who’s understood it properly. Well, apart from one person.’

‘
Who’s that?’

‘
My sister. She’s the only one in the world who doesn’t judge me for it. Except that-’

‘
What?’ Lloyd asked.

‘
We’re not really speaking at the moment.’ Sarah bit her lip. She hadn’t meant to divulge so much to this man. After all, he was a relative stranger.

‘
Why aren’t you speaking?’ he asked in a gentle voice. ‘What happened?’

What happened? Sarah closed her eyes for a moment, knowing that she couldn’t tell him. ‘We … we had an argument. Over a man.’

‘
That will usually do it,’ Lloyd said.

‘
Yes,’ Sarah said, finishing her tea before pouring a second cup. ‘I’m afraid it will.’

The weather was more like the middle of summer than the middle of May and, when Alec called for them late morning, they were ready to hit the beach.