The Woman From Paris (48 page)

“Roberta, do tell us about the dance you’re going to. Sounds frightfully grand,” said Margaret.

“Oh, it is, very grand. We went last year, and everyone who is anyone will be there!” she said excitedly.

“Then I can’t imagine why I haven’t been invited,” said Tom.

“That’s because you’re not anyone,” Joshua joked, not unkindly.

“There’s a lot of talk of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge attending, but no one knows for sure. It’s very hush-hush,” Roberta informed them.

“Sounds very jolly,” Margaret enthused. “In my day I went to all the best parties, and my dance card was always full.”

“Grandma, we don’t have dance cards nowadays,” Tom laughed.

“Girls don’t play hard to get and men don’t open doors, either,” Margaret sighed. “I wouldn’t think I was so clever if I were you.”

Tom rolled his eyes melodramatically. “I hate girls who play hard to get.”

“The girl who wins you in the end will be the one you always felt was out of your reach, mark my words, Those are the girls with quality,” Margaret told him firmly. “Play around with sluts by all means, but marry a girl of quality, wouldn’t you agree, Antoinette?”

“Of course,” she replied, distracted suddenly by the sound of the front door.

A moment later David stood in the doorway with Rufus. “David!” Antoinette exclaimed in surprise. “I wasn’t expecting you for dinner.”

“I’m not staying,” he replied. He looked awkward. In his hands he held a red box. Roberta recognized it immediately, and her heart gave a little skip.

“Oh, do,” his mother pleaded. “It’s been so long since we’ve all been together.”

“Your mother’s right. Do stay,” Rosamunde echoed.

Margaret interrupted in a tone that demanded to be obeyed. “You’re not going anywhere before you’ve had a good dinner, David. You look like a lean and hungry wolf. Joshua, bring one of those chairs to the table.” She waved her hand in the direction of the spare Chippendale chairs, resting tidily against the wall.

“I’ve come to give Roberta the Frampton Sapphires for her party,” David said.

Roberta’s face shone with excitement. “Oh, David, I don’t know what to say.” But she knew what to do. Propelled by gratitude and over five months of self-reproach, she pushed out her chair and rushed round the table to thank him. David was astonished when she threw her arms around his neck and pressed her lips to his bristly cheek. “Thank you!” she said earnestly. “This means a great deal to me.”

Her genuine appreciation warmed David’s frozen heart, and the stern expression on his face softened. The beginnings of a small smile twitched the corners of his mouth. He handed her the box. “Come and join us,” she said. “Please.” The meaningful look in her eyes told him that she wanted his forgiveness.

“All right, I’ll stay,” he replied with a resigned sigh, but Antoinette could tell that he was pleased to have been persuaded.

He helped himself to a large plate of dinner and sat down between Rosamunde and his grandmother. Roberta watched him from across the table. She knew he was devastated about Phaedra, but she hadn’t realized how badly broken he was. It was as if he had stopped caring about himself. He was unshaven, purple around the eyes, and sullen—a shadow of the witty, charismatic man he had once been. It was as if Phaedra had sucked the life out of him and left a dark husk in his place. Her heart buckled at the sight, and even though she knew she wasn’t to blame for Phaedra’s lies, she had played a big part in hunting her down. What if she could play a part in putting it right?

31

T
hree days later Margaret collapsed. She managed to get to the telephone and call David, who happened to be at home having his breakfast. “David, thank the Lord, I’ve taken a turn. You have to come over right now. It might be a heart attack!” David thought she sounded a little too lively for someone suffering a heart attack, but he hurried to his Land Rover and drove over at once.

He found Margaret lying on the sofa with her eyes closed, hands folded across her body as if she were already dead. He tiptoed in fearfully, but as soon as his foot touched the carpet she opened her eyes with a start. “Oh, it’s you,” she said in a feeble voice. “You gave me a fright.”

“Sorry, Grandma.” He approached the sofa, relieved. “How are you feeling?”

“Weak.” She took a labored breath. “Very weak.”

“I’ll call Dr. Heyworth.”

“No, don’t call anyone. I need to talk to you quickly. If I’m going to die, I want to be given time to say my piece.”

David looked appalled. “You’re not going to die.”

“We’re all going to go sometime. Now listen.” He sat down beside her on the armchair and shuffled it closer. “It’s about Phaedra.”

“Grandma, are you sure I shouldn’t call Dr. Heyworth? If it’s a heart attack—”

“It’s not a heart attack. I don’t know what it is. Death, probably. Now listen. It’s important. I have a dying wish. Indulge me!”

“Okay, what is it?”

“You must go to Paris and bring Phaedra back.” David opened his
mouth to object, but Margaret closed her eyes again, and for a terrifying moment she seemed to be drifting away.

“Go on,” he urged her softly.

She inhaled and opened her eyes. “It is my dying wish that Phaedra is brought back into the family so that we can all be happy again.”

“But, Grandma, I wouldn’t know where to find her.” Then he frowned. “Did you just say Paris?”

“Yes, Paris. I have her address.”

“How on earth do you have her address?”

“Don’t ask, long story, I don’t have time.” She took his hand and gripped it hard. “It’s written on a piece of paper on my desk. You have to be quick. I might not last . . .”

David strode over to the desk and found the paper lying on the blotter. He stared at the words, heart racing. So Phaedra was in Paris, after all. But what if she had moved on and no longer wished to see him? Margaret read his thoughts. “This isn’t about you, David,” she continued from the sofa. “This is about me and my dying wish. I want to forgive her before I meet my Maker.”

“Grandma!”

“You have to do it for
me
.”

“Why don’t you send someone else?”

“Who else could I send, David? Really, you’re being very difficult. I’m dying!”

David wasn’t so sure. “How do you know she’s there?”

“I don’t. It’s a gamble, but it’s all I have.”

“What do I say to her? She’s not going to be very happy to see me after—”

“Goodness, David, if you don’t get going, I’ll be dead before you leave the country!”

“Okay, I’ll go, but I’m calling Mother and Dr. Heyworth, whether you like it or not.”

“Fine, I suppose you can’t leave me here to peg out on my own.”

David waited for his mother to arrive then left in a hurry to make arrangements to set off immediately. He wondered how his
grandmother had got the address and how long she’d had it. The whole thing was very perplexing. He wasn’t sure Phaedra would be there: after all, she seemed to spend a lot of time traveling. She could be up a mountain for all he knew, the other side of the world. But his grandmother had insisted, so he had no choice. If she really
was
dying, he had to do his duty and bring Phaedra back. He suddenly felt sick with nerves. What was he going to say to her? So much time had passed, they’d be strangers.

Antoinette was distraught to find Margaret languishing on the sofa. She rushed to her side and took her hand tearfully. “Oh, Margaret, don’t leave me now we’ve just become friends.”

Margaret opened her hooded eyes like a wily iguana. “Where’s Dr. Heyworth?”

“He’s on his way. David called him, too. He shouldn’t be long. Can I get you anything?”

“No, I’ll just stay here where I’m comfortable.” She knitted her fingers and sighed contentedly.

“How are you feeling?”

“Numb.”

Antoinette was seized with panic. “Numb? Where?”

“Everywhere. I feel like I’m slipping away.”

“Please don’t. Hang in there: William will be here any minute.”

Margaret raised an eyebrow. “You like Dr. Heyworth, don’t you?”

“Yes, I do.”

“He might not be top drawer, but he’d be good for you.”

“Oh, Margaret, how can you think of something like that at a time like this!”

The old lady scrutinized her daughter-in-law and detected two pink stains on the balls of her cheeks. “Because if I’m going to pop off, I’d like to feel everyone was settled.”

“You’re not going to pop off.”

“Well, I’m very old.”

“You’re very strong.”

“I’m rather looking forward to seeing Arthur, you know.”

“He can wait.”

Margaret smiled. “So what are you going to do about Dr. Heyworth? You said you liked him.”

“Not in that way!”

“Why not in that way? What’s wrong with him?”

“Nothing. It’s just that George—”

“George is gone, my dear, and he’s not coming back. You have the rest of your life to live, and it’s not so much fun being on your own. Trust me, I know. William, as you call him, likes you very much—any fool can see that. Give him a little encouragement, Antoinette.”

“I’m not sure how.”

Margaret sighed impatiently. “Really, no one seems very capable of doing anything by themselves in the love department.”

Suddenly, they heard the hall door open and close with a bang. Heavy footsteps could be heard striding towards them. A moment later Dr. Heyworth appeared in the sitting room, and just behind him a very grim-faced Reverend Morley. “Oh good, you’re
both
here,” Margaret exclaimed. “Reverend, you can give me the last rites.”

The vicar looked horrified. Dr. Heyworth grinned. “So the patient has recovered a little, I see.”

“William, you must see to her at once!” Antoinette commanded. “Reverend Morley and I will wait in the hall.” She stood up and rushed over. “You have to get her better, William,” she hissed. “It’s very important that she doesn’t die. I can’t cope without her.”

“I’ll do my best,” he replied.

Antoinette and the vicar sat in the hall while Dr. Heyworth closed the sitting room door and went over to examine the patient. After a brief inspection he sat in the armchair and gave her a stern look. “Well, as I suspected, Lady Frampton, you are in the very best of health.”

“Oh good,” she replied, sitting up and swinging her legs down. “What a relief.”

“Certainly for Lady Frampton.”

“Call her Antoinette,” said Margaret. “It’s confusing having two of us.”

“I’m very glad that Reverend Morley is no longer needed. He can go home without the grim prospect of another funeral.”

“I think I gave him quite a fright. Did you see his face? It was as white as a sheet!”

“You gave Antoinette a fright, too.”

“That wasn’t my intention,” she was quick to reply.

“Then if I may be so bold, what was?”

She smiled at him a little sheepishly. “I’m afraid I concocted the plan with Roberta. You see, David’s falling apart, and I can’t bear to watch it. His heart is broken and shows no signs of mending. Roberta remembered that Phaedra was house-sitting in London for a friend. So Roberta went round and asked for Phaedra’s address in Paris. It was really very simple. The girl was happy to give it.”

“Why the ‘heart attack’?”

“Because wild horses wouldn’t drag David to Paris. He thinks Phaedra has moved on and wants nothing more to do with him. So I thought that, if it’s my dying wish, he’d
have
to go.”

“Surely there was an easier way, without having to scare the living daylights out of everyone.”

“You tell me, Dr. Heyworth. Roberta and I couldn’t think of one.” She grinned wickedly. “I must say, it’s rather nice to know that people care.”

“More than you realize.”

“Don’t let me down, Doctor. Antoinette will be furious if she realizes I’ve lied.”

He sighed, reluctant to be involved in her plotting. “All right, just this once. But please don’t do it again.”

“I promise. You’d better go and tell them the good news.”

When Dr. Heyworth opened the sitting room door, Antoinette and Reverend Morley leapt to their feet. “How is she?” Antoinette asked.

“She’s going to be fine,” Dr. Heyworth replied. “She just needs to rest.”

Antoinette was so relieved she threw her arms around his neck. “Oh, thank you!” she breathed. “I knew you’d save her.”

Dr. Heyworth was caught off guard. “I had nothing to do with it,” he said, embarrassed. “She’s very robust.”

Antoinette pulled away, blushing. “I was so worried. I couldn’t bear to lose another person I love.”

“It’s all right—you’ve got her for a while yet.”

“That’s exceedingly good news,” said Reverend Morley, walking past them into the sitting room.

“I’m afraid you’ve come over for nothing,” said Margaret.

“To the contrary, I’ve discovered that you’re well. I shall return home full of joy.”

“I’m afraid I can’t offer you a cup of tea, I gave Jenny the day off.”

“What bad luck you had to fall ill on the one day Jenny wasn’t here.”

“I know, Sod’s law! But I can certainly pour you a sherry.”

“What would the doctor say?”

“I don’t think it really matters. He’s got other things on his mind,” she replied, a mischievous twinkle in her eyes.

Dr. Heyworth and Antoinette left the vicar and Margaret in the sitting room and walked outside to their cars. “You don’t think I should invite her to stay at my house for a while, just until she recovers?” Antoinette asked.

“She’s fine where she is, I assure you,” Dr. Heyworth replied.

“What if she takes another turn?”

“I don’t think she will. The sort of turn she took was a one-off.”

Antoinette smiled. “I’m so pleased. David told me she was dying. I was terribly worried.”

“
She
told David she was dying. Old people tend to think the worst.”

“I don’t know where David disappeared to in such a hurry.”

Dr. Heyworth decided not to enlighten her. If David had wanted his mother to know, he would have told her himself. “I’m not sure. But he’ll be relieved to know that his grandmother is alive and kicking!” He opened the back door of his Volvo and placed his doctor’s bag on the seat.