The Cinderella Moment (33 page)

Chapter Thirty-Five

The minute the cab door closed, Lily called her dad.

“Fingers crossed he’s not in some remote bit of jungle,” she said, using the speaker phone so Angel could hear.

To their surprise Philip picked up after only one ring. “Hello?”

“Dad, it’s me,” squeaked Lily.

“Lily! I was about to call and see if you were home.”

“Home?” said Lily, frowning. “But you know I’m not in New York.”

“Not in New York?” Angel heard the surprise in his voice. “Where are you?”

“In Paris.”

“Paris! What the devil are you doing in Paris?”

“Visiting Grandmama, like you wanted.”

“I wanted?” Philip asked. “Lily, my darling daughter, what are you talking about? I never said I wanted you to go to Paris.”

“But Margot told me that you—” Lily stopped and stared at Angel as the truth burst upon them.

Margot had lied that day in Philip’s study. Philip hadn’t rung her from an airport in South America—Margot hadn’t even spoken to him. She’d received the Comtesse’s invitation and, wanting Lily to accept it, had made up the whole story about Philip insisting she go to Paris. Margot had used Lily, just as she’d used Angel and Simone and Lily’s dad in her march up the social ladder.

“Lily? Are you there?” Philip’s voice came down the phone and Angel nudged her.

“Yes, Dad.”

“Right, now tell me exactly where you are, because I’m coming to get you.”

“What do you mean you’re coming to get me? Where are you?”

“I’m in Paris, too.”

“What? But I thought you weren’t coming to Paris for another two weeks!”

“I wasn’t, but the Brazilians brought the merger forward. I flew up this morning to meet the partners.”

“Oh. Where are you?”

“At the Hotel Versailles,” replied Philip, “on the Boulevard Haussmann.”

Lily laughed. “The Versailles. Oh, that’s perfect, Dad—it’s almost as if you knew.”

“Knew what?”

“We’ll tell you everything when we see you,” said Lily firmly.

“What do you mean ‘we’?” demanded Philip. “It’s two-thirty in the morning! Who are you with, Lily?”

“It’s okay, Dad, we’ll be there in five.” She hung up.

When the taxi stopped outside the Hotel Versailles, Philip was already outside, pacing the pavement.

Angel saw the relief on his face as Lily got out of the cab. He bounded forward, pulled her into a fierce embrace and said, “Okay, young lady, start talking—” He broke off as Angel emerged from the cab.

“Angel!” cried Philip. “What on earth?” He looked at her damp evening dress and bedraggled hair and said abruptly, “Okay, I need to hear the whole story, but first let’s get you somewhere warm.” He thrust a fifty-euro note at the cab driver and ushered the girls into the hotel.

Somewhere warm turned out to be the Hotel Versailles penthouse.

It was an enormous apartment and Lily made straight for the plushest sofa, dropped onto it and pulled Angel down beside her.

Philip sat in the armchair opposite. “Right, confession time. You first, daughter of mine.”

Angel felt Lily hesitate and seized the moment. “It’s my fault.”

Lily interrupted, “No, it isn’t.” She took Angel’s hand. “It’s nice of you, Angel, but we both know that this whole stupid plan was my idea.” She met Philip’s gaze. “The truth is that two weeks ago I convinced Angel to come to Paris in my place so that I could go to the London Drama Academy summer school.” She saw her father frown and rushed on. “I know how you feel about me and acting and I know I shouldn’t have done it and I’m sorry I deceived you.” She pulled a face. “It’s just that, ever since Christmas, things haven’t been that great between us. So when Margot told me I had to accept Grandmama’s invitation, I thought—”

“Margot did
what
?”

“Margot told me you wanted me to visit Grandmama so she could introduce me to Paris society and take me to the Versailles Ball,” explained Lily. “I didn’t want to go because it meant missing the London Academy and—” Lily eyed her father uncertainly. “And there were other reasons, too.”

“What reasons?”

Angel could see Lily eyeing him doubtfully. “Tell him, Lily,” she whispered. “It’ll be okay.”

Lily took a deep breath. “I didn’t want to go to Paris because I thought it meant that
… ”

The frown faded from Philip’s face. He leaned forward and took her hands in his. “Meant what, sweetheart?”

“That you’d discussed it all with Margot. I thought you’d rung her from South America instead of me—like she was my mother—and so I figured that you’d finally decided to marry her!”

“But I hadn’t spoken to Margot,” said Philip.

“No,” agreed Lily, “but I didn’t know that and
… ”
She looked imploringly at Philip. “You
can’t
marry her, Dad! Margot’s not who you think she is, she’s—”

“Not the right person for me,” cut in Philip. He smiled ruefully at the two girls who were staring at him open-mouthed. “I know what I said last Christmas, Lily, but I’ve had time to think while I’ve been in the Amazon.”

“About Margot?” asked Lily.

Philip nodded. “And about our future together.”

“And?”

“And I realize we want different things. She’s someone who could give me a certain kind of life and she’d be very good at it, but
… ”

“But it’s not what you want,” said Angel suddenly.

Philip stared at her, then shook his head. “No, it isn’t.”

“So what are you going to do, Dad?” demanded Lily.

He rubbed his chin thoughtfully. “I’ll need to talk to Margot about a lot of things—including this business of sending you to Paris—but I’m not going to marry her, so you can stop worrying about that. As for the rest, I’ll admit there’s part of me that would like to be married and you certainly need someone to keep an eye on you.” He looked at her sternly. “But for now, at least, I think that someone had better be me.”

Lily made a sound that was somewhere between a laugh and a sob. “I promise to behave better,” she cried, throwing her arms around his neck. “And I never meant to hurt anyone, not Grandmama or Angel or—”

“Which brings me to my next question,” said Philip, disentangling himself from Lily’s embrace. “If your grandmother thinks Angel is you, then what the devil is she doing letting Angel run round Paris by herself in the middle of the night?”

The two girls looked at each other and then Angel said firmly, “Clarissa stole my designs for the Teen Couture, so I agreed to take Lily’s place at her grandmother’s because that was the only way I could get into Vidal’s and swap the entries without anyone knowing. I was going to tell Nick and the Comtesse the truth, only—”

“Only Margot and Clarissa showed up at Nick’s party tonight,” Lily interrupted, “and told everyone that Angel was our housekeeper’s daughter and a thief. Grandmama wouldn’t listen when she tried to tell her the truth so Angel ran away. Elizabeth Montague had rung me in London to tell me that Margot and Clarissa were in Paris so I flew straight from London, only I got here too late and—”

“We never meant it to get so complicated,” interjected Angel. “And we didn’t mean to hurt anyone.”

“And what about Simone?” demanded Philip suddenly. “What did you tell her you were doing?”

Angel and Lily looked at each other.

“She thinks Angel's at summer camp,” said Lily.

“So you lied to her too?” Philip frowned.

“We had to Dad,” insisted Lily. “The whole identity swap was a total secret and Angel only agreed to it because Margot threatened not to pay Simone’s medical bills unless Angel let Clarissa get away with stealing her Teen Couture designs.”

"But I'd pay Simone's medical bills," interrupted Philip. "She must have known that."

Angel shook her head. "She didn't want you to." She hesitated. “I came to Paris to stop Clarissa from cheating but I never meant—”

Philip held up his hand. “Explanations can wait. Right now we have to let Simone know what’s going on.”

“I guess,” said Lily.

“I suppose,” conceded Angel.

“We must,” said Philip. “You two have a lot of explaining to do but it'll have to wait until tomorrow. It’s past three and high time you were in bed.”

“I can’t go to bed until I’ve told you my plan, Dad,” insisted Lily.

Philip raised an eyebrow. “The only plan you need to be making, Lily, is how you’re going to apologize to your grandmother when we visit her tomorrow.” He sighed. “I always thought that one day I’d take you to meet your grandmother, but I never imagined this scenario.”

“Well, I’m sorry about that, Dad,” said Lily abruptly. “But right now, Grandmama is the least of our priorities. It’s Angel we have to think of, because it’s Angel who’s going to suffer if we don’t fix things. If you can tell me what the time is in New York, I can tell you what I need you to do.”

“No, Lily—”

“
Please
, Dad,” begged Lily. “I know I’ve messed up but I can make things right if you’ll just trust me.”

Philip looked at her, then Angel and then his watch. “New York time is nine yesterday evening.”

Lily clapped her hands. “That means there’s still time for someone to go to our house, collect Angel’s ball gown and courier it to Paris.”

“My gown?” exclaimed Angel. “But what are you going to do with it?”

“
I’m
not going to do anything with it,” said Lily, her eyes sparkling. “You are.”

She pulled Angel to her feet. “If Dad can get it onto tonight’s eleven o’clock plane, it should be here by lunchtime. Which means
… ”

Angel’s eyes gleamed. “Which means I can finish it and you can take it and show the Comtesse or even Monsieur Vidal.”

“Even better,” said Lily, grinning. “Tomorrow night, you can wear it to the Versailles Ball!”
 

Chapter Thirty-Six

Angel stared at her. “Wear my gown? I can’t! How can I? They wouldn’t let me in the door.”

“They’ll let you in, all right,” said Lily, “because Dad will escort you.” She looked questioningly at Philip, who nodded.

“But even if I dared to go, no one will listen to me. They’ll—”

“They won’t have to
listen
. They just have to
see
. Think about it, Angel: you in your ball gown, Clarissa in hers
… ”

“Oh,” breathed Angel, a sudden vision taking hold in her mind. “Oh.”

“All we need is for someone in New York to collect your dress and get it to Paris.”

“What about Simone?” asked Philip. “If Angel calls her mother, I can have a car pick her up. She can bring the dress to Paris herself—” He broke off as both girls swung round to stare at him.

“You don’t know
… ”
began Angel.

“Oh, Dad,” said Lily.

“What?” asked Philip. “What is it?”

“Maman’s not there.” Angel stopped, suddenly unsure of how to explain and wishing she knew whether Philip still cared for her mother in that way.

“What do you mean she isn’t there?” demanded Philip. “Where is she?” A sudden thought seemed to strike him. “Has something happened to Simone?”

“She’s been ill,” said Angel gently.

“She nearly died,” added Lily bluntly.

Both girls watched in dismay as the color drained from Philip’s face. He put his head in his hands and groaned.

Lily stared at Angel in confusion but she shook her head. After a minute Philip raised a face so lined with fear that Angel's heart beat faster. Suddenly, he didn't look like an employer worried about his housekeeper, he looked like a man afraid of losing someone he loved.

He ran his hand through his hair. “Is she
…
Will she be all right?”

“Yes,” said Angel, anxious to reassure him. “She had to have surgery and she’s been convalescing in Florida, but she’s coming home on Tuesday.”

“Tuesday?” repeated Philip.

 “Yes,” Angel nodded. “I spoke to her today and she was planning to have a friend drive her up to see me at summer camp.”

“And you're sure she's okay?”

“She said she was feeling fine,” Angel assured him.

“Right,” said Philip, standing up. “Go to bed both of you. No—” He silenced Lily’s protests with a look. “You’ve done more than enough; it’s my turn to make things happen.” He turned to Angel. “Write a list of what you need from New York and I’ll have it here by lunchtime. Lily?”

“Yes, Dad.”

“We’ve got a lot to talk about and not all of it will be pleasant,” said Philip sternly.

“No, Dad,” replied Lily in a subdued voice.

“But right now it can wait.” Philip’s eyes glittered. “I’ve got some calls to make.”

***

When Angel awoke it took her several minutes to work out where she was. There was no grinning faun on the ceiling and her bedroom at home didn’t have a chandelier. Then she remembered.

She was in the penthouse at the Hotel Versailles and tonight was the Versailles Ball.

Angel scrambled out of bed and pulled on the satin robe supplied by the hotel. She wondered if Lily would be able to collect her clothes when she visited the Comtesse today and remembered the grubby jeans and T-shirt she’d brought to the airport two weeks earlier. It seemed like a year ago.