Past Imperfect (56 page)

I stared at the body. It was dressed, as are all dictators in death apparently, in a rather nasty, lightweight suit that looked as if it had come from Burton Tailoring. 'What I can never get over,' I whispered, 'is the way the moment people are dead, they look as if they've been dead for a thousand years. As if they were never alive.'

Serena nodded. 'It's enough to make you believe in God,' she said. Once outside again the plan was made. The Claremonts, the Beltons and the Summersbys would go home now to change, and they would all join us for dinner in a couple of hours back at the villa. Full of this pleasant scenario, we climbed into the waiting vehicles.

I now think I must share a little of the blame for what happened later as, for some reason which in retrospect seems completely inexplicable, I never mentioned to Damian that we had run into Serena. In my defence, I knew very little, if anything, of what I have since learned had gone on between them. I knew they'd kissed once and I genuinely thought that was about it, but even so it does seem odd. I did not consciously conceal it, because when we got back Damian was nowhere to be seen. He had not, we heard from Lucy, slept well the previous night and he'd retired to catch up so as to be on form for dinner. 'Don't let's wake him,' said Dagmar firmly and we didn't. Clearly, I should have gone to his room, propped his eyes open and told him what I knew, but I was not aware of the urgency and I suppose I imagined I would catch him before the others arrived. Then, a little later, Lucy volunteered to go and tell him, and before we could discuss it she'd vanished, leaving Dagmar biting her lip. At the time I did suspect Lucy's ultimate purpose in going to Damian's bedroom, but not that she would make no mention of the meeting at the cathedral, the dinner that was planned for that evening, or Serena. Which proved to be the case.

There was one more surprise in store, on this most surprising of all days - before the Big Surprise later that is - which John greeted us with when we got back. 'There was a call from a friend of yours,' he said as we walked out on to the terrace. Naturally I, and presumably the rest, thought this would be from Serena, making some change to the evening's schedule. John disabused us: 'Joanna de Yong? Is that the name?'

Candida was astonished. 'Joanna de Yong?' she said. 'Where was she ringing from?'

'She's here. She's staying with her husband and her parents quite nearby. They arrived today.' He was smiling as if he were bringing us glad tidings, but the response was not what he'd anticipated.

We all looked at each other in silence. Wasn't this too mad? Was Estoril the only holiday destination of choice? It was developing into a Russian play. I do vividly remember the oddness of all this, which later got buried beneath the horror. Dagmar commented at the time that it seemed as if we had arranged a modest reunion, and Fate had decided to get in on the act and bring everyone of significance from that period on to the stage at once. In other words she was as innocent as I was about what was taking place behind the scenes. At last Lucy spoke. 'What did she want?' She was always less a fan of Joanna than some, as I remembered well.

John was clearly a little undermined by the response to his news. 'Only to see you all. I've invited her and her husband over for dinner. I hope that's all right. She asked who was staying and she seemed to know every name, so I thought you'd be pleased.' He stopped, hesitant, afraid he'd made a boo-boo.

'Of course we're pleased,' said Candida. But she wasn't very, and now I know why. The planned, and morally dubious, dinner for Serena to re-meet Damian already had to absorb Serena's parents and in-laws, which was less than ideal. Now it was beginning to expand into a state banquet.

'She's bringing her parents,' said John.

Which put the tin lid on it. 'Jesus,' said Lucy and she spoke for most of the company.

Naturally, as you will have surmised, the de Yong arrival had nothing to do with chance either, and I learned about this strange turn of events much sooner than I did the other. I was still changing when there was a knock on the door and without waiting for permission from me Joanna came in. Without a hello, in fact without a word, she lay down on the bed with a loud sigh. 'I don't know what we're all doing here,' she said.

'Having a lovely time?' I had not seen her since the end of 1968's festivities but she was still a miracle to look at.

'You wish.' She stared up at me, rolling her eyes, as I waited for her to explain herself. 'My mother fixed the whole thing without any reference to me, you know.'

'Obviously, I don't know. What are you talking about?'

'I'd rung Serena--'

'Do you keep up with her?'

She caught my surprise and smiled. 'Not everyone's dropped me.'

'I'm sure not.'

She received this with a quizzical expression, suited to humouring the slow witted. 'Anyway, she told me she was going to Portugal with her parents. And that Candida would be here at the same time with some friends, including you and Damian.'

'Really?' This didn't quite square with the scene we had just enacted in Lisbon outside the cathedral, but before I had time to investigate it Joanna ran on. The silly thing is I recall her remark now, clearly, but I forgot it at the time, so I still failed to add two and two and get to four.

'For some unexplained and foolish reason I relayed all this to my mother and, lo and behold, a week ago she informed me that she'd planned a surprise for me and she'd taken a villa in Estoril. Obviously, I told her it was quite impossible.'

'But?'

'But she blubbed and blubbed, and sighed and fell about, and asked why I hated her, and hadn't she tried to help me since the marriage, and now they'd paid a fortune for the villa because they'd jumped the queue and all the rest of it, and I gave in.' She was holding a bottle of Coca-Cola, the old, rather pretty, glass type, and she took a long, lazy swig.

'I'm glad you did. It's nice to see you.'

She shrugged. 'She thinks I'm bored with Kieran. She thinks she can wean me off him with all of you as bait. You're here to remind me of the fun I'm missing. That's why she's brought us. She even asked if I would be glad to see Damian again.' She threw back her head and laughed out loud. 'Damian. Two years ago she wanted to commit suicide when she thought I was serious about him.'

And still I didn't put the information together: Serena knew Damian was coming all along. What was the matter with me? 'Poor Kieran,' I said. I had in fact met Kieran de Yong by that stage, as some weeks after the sensational elopement there was a cocktail party at the Dorchester for the newly-weds in an attempt by Valerie Langley to normalise the situation. I admit I didn't quite get the point of him then. But I was young and anyway I don't remember thinking any the worse of Joanna for her choice. There is, after all, no accounting for taste. 'How is marriage?'

'It's OK,' she said. But then, after a pause, 'It does go on a bit.' Which sounded uncomfortably eloquent. I said nothing.

'Have you seen Damian yet?'

She shook her head. 'He's still in his room. We were far too early. My mother's impatience wouldn't let us wait. This is the world she always wanted for me and she thinks Kieran is the reason I've dropped out of it. According to her I'm drowning. Socially. She wants to pull me back to the shore. She wants a divorce as soon as it can be arranged.'

'You can't be serious.' It's hard to explain how outlandish this seemed in 1970. Even ten years later it would have been perfectly believable.

'Oh, but I am. She thinks if I dump Kieran now, everyone will forget about him. We've had no kids, despite going at it like rabbits.' She paused to register that I was a little shocked. It's odd to think one could be by such references when they came from a woman, but lots of us were. Having registered my blushes with a blush of her own, she continued, 'The point is, if she can prise me free now, there'll be no baggage that can't be safely hidden inside the identity of my second husband, whoever he may be.'

'And she'd be happy with Damian?'

'After Kieran, she'd be happy with a passing Chinese laundryman.'

I smiled. Although, to be honest, in a way I was rather impressed with Valerie Langley's commitment. I knew that in similar circumstances my own parents would just have shrugged and sighed, and occasionally allowed only
very
old friends to commiserate, but it would never have occurred to either of them actually to
do
anything about it. It wasn't that I approved of the plan. Joanna had, after all, taken her vows and in those days that meant rather more than it does in these. But still, it certainly didn't make me dislike her parents. 'What does your father feel about it?'

'He quite likes Kieran, but he wasn't consulted.'

'And Kieran is here?'

She nodded. 'And he knows exactly what she's trying to do.'

'Yikes.' Of course, we hadn't touched on the nub of the matter. 'Are you going to allow yourself to give him up?'

She thought about my question, but I don't think there was any real doubt in her mind. 'No,' she said. 'I wouldn't give her the satisfaction.'

Kieran de Yong was the first person I spotted when I finally emerged to join the thrash. It would have been hard to miss him. His hair was dyed a particularly virulent shade of pinkish blond and he was wearing tight jeans under a kind of military jacket, which looked as if it had once graced an officer in the Guards, but the cuffs were now turned back to reveal a pink satin lining. His densely patterned shirt was wide open at the neck, to reveal two or three thick chains. The overall effect was not so much hideous as pathetic and, given what I had just heard, I felt very sorry for him. 'Do you know Portugal at all?' I asked, trying to make it sound as if I were interested in the answer.

He shook his head. 'No.'

Lucy had joined us and she tried next: 'Where are you and Joanna living now?'

'Pimlico.'

We were both rather flummoxed, since obviously we could not simply stand and ask him questions, receiving one-word answers, until the end of the evening. But then he said something that indicated he was a little less dense than we had all assumed: 'I know what this is all about. She thinks I don't, but I do. And I'm not leaving.'

Naturally, Lucy hadn't a clue as to the meaning of this, but I did and I rather handed it to him for agreeing to come at all. It was the decision of a brave man. I couldn't very well comment without getting myself into a mess, but I smiled and filled his glass and attempted to establish that I was not an enemy.

There was still no sign of Damian. I registered that his windows remained tightly shut, just as I heard a flurry of arriving cars, followed by voices and doors opening and shutting, and out on to the terrace issued the whole Claremont/Belton party. Serena had brought the baby girl and there was a certain amount of fussing attendant on her arrival. I suggested they put the cot in my room, since it opened directly on to the terrace where we would be eating, and this was generally reckoned a good idea. It saddened me to see that the infant, Mary, was still the living image of Andrew. Not only did this seem like thoroughly bad luck for her, but it also gave rise to painful images in my semi-conscious mind.

To mark his distance from all this 'women's business,' Lord Claremont hailed me in his vague and cheerful way. I think he was relieved to find a familiar face and also to have escaped from the exclusive company of his daughter's in-laws, since I could tell at once they weren't at all his type, however he may have urged the marriage. He started to walk towards me, but the temptations of Joanna and Lucy soon drew him in that direction for a little flirtation over his
Sangria
, or whatever the Portuguese equivalent is called. The Beltons clung together, staring out to sea, she too difficult and he too tired to talk to anyone else. Lady Claremont walked across. 'How are you?' She smiled. I told her. 'So you're forging off into an artistic life. How exciting.'

'My parents don't approve either.'

This made her laugh. 'It's not that. I rather like the idea. It just seems so terribly unpredictable. But if you don't mind a few years starving in a garret, I'm sure it's the right thing to do. One must always try to follow one's heart.'

'I quite agree. And there are worse things than starving in a garret.' By chance, as I said this my eyes were resting on Serena, who was talking to Candida by the balustrade. Now this was purely because I couldn't find anywhere more satisfactory to rest my eyes than on her, but I could see at once that Lady Claremont had taken my comment as a criticism of Serena's life choices, for which she no doubt felt extra responsible, as well she might. Her face hardened a little as she looked back at me and her smile became fractionally taut.

'You must go down and see Serena and Andrew. They've got the
most
marvellous set-up, a simply lovely farmhouse on the edge of the estate. Serena is all geared up to decorate it, which she loves, and the village is within walking distance. It's ideal. Do you know Dorset?'

'Not really. I used to go to Lulworth when I was a child.'

'It's
such
a beautiful place, really enchanting, and still almost a secret from the outside world. She's too lucky for any words.'

'I'm glad,' I said. It was somehow important for me that Lady Claremont should know I didn't want to make trouble. 'I'm very fond of Serena.'

She laughed again, more easily, relieved to have passed the sticky corner. 'Oh, my dear boy,' she said, 'we all know
that
.'

It was then that I heard the doors open behind me and I looked round to find Damian standing there, the darkened room behind him throwing him into a kind of high relief. He was completely motionless, but I did not need to be told where his gaze had fastened. Some of the others had registered him too. Not least Lord Claremont, whose brow visibly darkened. If he'd had any suspicions as to what this was all about, his worst ones were in this instant confirmed. He shot a glance at his wife and I noticed her give a tiny, almost indiscernible shake of her head. Damian's silent stillness was becoming a little embarrassing, so I walked over. 'Isn't it extraordinary?' I said. 'Serena's parents have taken more or less the next-door villa. We all ran into each other this afternoon outside the cathedral. Wasn't it weird? You should have come.'