We'll Meet Again (5 page)

His fingers felt strong and cool, and she was vaguely disappointed when he released his hold and strolled off to assist David, who had selected a suitable place for their picnic in the shade of a willow tree. Frank had gallantly lifted Adele onto dry land, and taking off his blazer he laid it on the ground for her. Like a modern-day Sir Walter Raleigh, Meg thought, sighing. How terribly romantic.

Walter was attending to the practicality of unpacking the hamper. He brought out several packets of sandwiches wrapped in greaseproof paper, a fruit-cake and two bottles of champagne.

The food was consumed rapidly and the second bottle of champagne was opened and drunk with the same speed as the first. Adele said she would like to walk along the towpath and Frank scrambled to his feet saying that he also would like to stretch his legs. Walter had fallen asleep leaning against the trunk of the willow, snoring gently with his chin resting on his chest. David and Rayner sat smoking cigarettes and chatting about the flying club, which precluded Meg from the conversation. Bored and feeling slightly light-headed after the champagne, she scrambled to her feet. ‘I’d like to have a go at punting, David.’

‘Not now, Meg. Sit down like a good girl or go for a walk. We’re busy.’

‘David, you promised.’

‘I’ll show you.’ Rayner tossed his cigarette butt into the river and stood up, brushing the grass from his cream flannels.

Meg stared at him in surprise. ‘Are you sure?’

‘Come along. There’s nothing to it.’

‘If she falls in you can save her,’ David said, leaning back against the cushions and closing his eyes.

Meg soon found out that it was not as easy as it looked. Rayner gave her a brief demonstration and then they changed places. To her intense embarrassment the first thing she did was get the pole stuck in the mud. She wobbled dangerously but with Rayner’s calm guidance she managed to right her mistake. ‘This is lovely,’ she said gleefully as the punt moved out into midstream. ‘I can do it. Look at me, David. I can do it.’

‘Mind the overhanging bough.’

Rayner’s warning came too late. The branch caught her head a glancing blow and she leaned too hard on the pole. Once again it stuck in the mud but this time she could not regain her balance. She teetered for a few seconds but the punt had gained momentum and it continued downstream leaving her clinging to the slippery pole. Slowly and inexorably she slid into the turgid green water. The last thing she heard as the river engulfed her was Rayner’s voice shouting to David. The shock of icy cold water numbed her brain and she forgot everything as panic overtook her. She struggled to reach the surface but she was hampered by her wet clothes. The current was strong and the undertow was dragging her down. She thrashed about with her
arms but the weeds on the river bed clutched at her ankles. Water filled her ears and was trying to force its way up her nose and into her mouth. She could see the sunlight above the ripples but she could not surface. She could not breathe. She was going to die.

Suddenly a figure sliced though the water and came up beside her. Strong arms held her in a close embrace. She could feel the warmth of his body through the thin cotton of his shirt. Entwined, they twirled for a brief moment like partners in a macabre dance of death, and then with a powerful kick of his legs Rayner thrust upwards and they surfaced together.

Coughing and spluttering, Meg gulped air into her lungs.

‘It’s all right. You’re safe now. Relax.’

Rayner’s voice in her ear was the most welcome sound she had ever heard. She clung to him, dazed and shivering from cold and shock as he swam her to the bank where helping hands dragged her from the water.

That evening they were all assembled in the Shelmerdines’ drawing room for pre-dinner drinks. Paul had come home early from the office for once, and was dispensing champagne while Josie sat close to Meg on the sofa.

‘You should have seen her, Aunt Josie,’ David said, leaning back in his chair and stretching his long limbs. ‘We pulled Meg out of the river looking like a
mermaid. She had water weed in her hair and green slime all over her face.’

Josie frowned. ‘That’s not funny, David.’ She squeezed Meg’s hand. ‘But she’s safe and sound now, that’s all that matters.’

Meg smiled wearily. She had never thought to see Aunt Josie’s drawing room again, and she could still taste the muddy water of the River Thames. She could still feel the pressure on her lungs as she sank into its murky depths. ‘I really thought I was going to drown.’

Paul topped up Rayner’s glass with champagne. ‘If it hadn’t been for your prompt action, the outcome could have been very serious indeed. Meg could have died today but for you.’

Rayner accepted the accolade with a nod of his head. ‘It was nothing, sir. We were very close to the bank.’

‘You saved my life,’ Meg said, smiling shyly. ‘I can never thank you enough.’

‘I expect someone would have fished you out further downstream,’ David said casually. ‘It was your fault you fell in anyway. You should have been paying attention to Rayner’s instructions.’

Meg opened her mouth to argue but Josie, seeming to sense an impending squabble, turned to Rayner. ‘I think you were terribly brave, and I’m so pleased you were able to come to dinner this evening.’

His serious expression melted into a smile. ‘It was
kind of you to invite me, Mrs Shelmerdine. Not everyone in Oxford is so broad-minded about Germans these days.’

‘Oh, surely not?’ Josie’s eyes widened. ‘I can’t believe that anyone would hold someone like you responsible for the political situation.’

‘Most people think that war is inevitable,’ Paul said, pouring a large measure of whisky into his glass and adding just a dash of soda. ‘What is your opinion, Rayner?’

‘I wish it was not so, but I think you may be right, sir.’

‘Don’t spoil the evening by talking about war,’ Josie said hastily. ‘I’d like to know more about Rayner’s home in Dresden, and his family.’

‘Stop interrogating the boy, Josie,’ Paul said sharply.

Meg looked up, startled. She had never heard him speak so harshly to Josie. She glanced at Adele, who had been sitting on the window seat with Frank and had shown little interest in the general conversation so far, but now she too was staring at their uncle in astonishment.

Walter, who so far had taken little part in the proceedings, cleared his throat noisily. ‘This is very good champagne, Mr Shelmerdine. It was kind of you to include us all in your invitation to dine tonight.’

‘You have my wife to thank for that, Walter. I leave everything to her.’ Paul raised his glass to Josie, but
Meg was quick to note the mocking gleam in his dark eyes. Momentarily forgetting her traumatic experience, she wondered if all was well with the Shelmerdines’ marriage. They had always seemed the perfect couple, ideally suited, and it was hard to believe that anything could have come between them.

She cast a sideways glance at Rayner, and as their eyes met she was certain that he too had sensed the tension between husband and wife. He turned to Josie with a smile. ‘I’m happy to tell you anything you want to know, Mrs Shelmerdine.’

The warmth in his voice was a sharp contrast to Paul’s cutting tone and Meg felt a surge of gratitude. It was the second time that day he had come to the rescue. She could have kissed him, but she managed to restrain herself. That was the sort of thing she would have done when she was thirteen or fourteen, but not now.

‘Thank you, Rayner,’ Josie said gently. She looked up as Freda entered the room. ‘Perhaps we’ll continue our conversation after dinner.’

‘Dinner is served, ma’am.’

Josie rose to her feet. ‘I’m sure you’re all starving.’ She held her hand out to Walter. ‘We’ll lead the way, shall we, Walter?’

Frank had already tucked Adele’s hand through the crook of his arm and David strolled out of the room with his hands in his pockets.

‘May I?’ Rayner proffered his arm to Meg.

She smiled up at him. ‘I think I read that in some
cultures if you save a person’s life then that life belongs to you.’

Paul downed the last of his drink. ‘I’d say that was utter nonsense, Meg.’ He ushered them out of the room.

Rayner’s eyes were warm as they met Meg’s anxious glance. ‘I think it is an idea that has some merit. You have my word, that if you are in danger at any time I will do my best to save you.’

Unusually for her, Meg could think of nothing to say.

It was almost time to leave for the May Ball. The bedroom had all but disappeared beneath piles of undies and discarded clothes. The dressing table was littered with makeup, curlers, combs and bottles of nail polish. Meg took one last look in the mirror surveying the work of Josie’s hairdresser who had performed a minor miracle on her thick, straight hair. She had cut it and styled it so that it hung in a shining honey-blonde pageboy. Josie had supervised her makeup and the result was a stranger staring back at her from the triple mirrors. Meg blinked and looked again. I look almost pretty, she thought. She twirled around several times, admiring the way the bias-cut skirt flared out in a swirl of gold and rose shot silk. She knew that Mother would not approve of the colour and she would say that the low-cut gown was too grown-up, but then Mother was not here and she would never know. Meg had already decided that
the golden gown might be best left in Oxford when she returned home. She could always wear it again when they came on holiday.

‘You look super,’ Adele conceded, blowing on her freshly varnished fingernails.

‘You look smashing, Addie. You’ll knock Frank’s socks off.’

‘Don’t be vulgar, Meg.’

‘If he doesn’t propose to you after the ball, I’m a monkey’s uncle.’

‘Where do you get these dreadful sayings?’

‘I don’t know. I think Cary Grant said it in a film, or it might have been the Marx Brothers. Anyway, I meant it, Addie, you look beautiful. If Frank’s got any sense he’ll snap you up before someone else does.’

Adele leaned back against the quilted satin pillow shams. ‘I’ve always dreamed of being engaged before I was twenty. And Frank’s father is terribly well off, not that that means anything of course. But the Bartons have got a flat in Mayfair and a country house in Hampshire.’

‘And a rich husband is preferable to a poor one, as Mother would say,’ Meg said, chuckling. ‘And a handsome one is better still.’

‘You’re dreadful, Meg. But Frank is good-looking, isn’t he? And he’s so nice to talk to. I feel as if I’ve known him for years instead of a few days.’

The sound of car wheels grinding to a halt on the gravel drive and a loud honking of a motor horn
made Meg rush to the window. A white Rolls-Royce was parked in front of the house. Meg flung the window open, leaning dangerously over the sill as she watched David climb out of the car, followed by Walter and Frank.

‘Hello, there.’ She waved to attract their attention.

‘Meg, for goodness’ sake behave like a young lady,’ Adele said plaintively. ‘Shut the window too. The breeze is ruining my hair-do.’

‘The boys look splendid in their dress suits, Addie.’ Meg closed the casement. ‘I’m going downstairs to join them. Are you ready?’

‘I’ll be down in a moment. I don’t want to smudge my nail polish.’

‘Okay. I’ll make them wait in the hall so that you can make a grand entrance.’

As Meg rounded the curve of the staircase she saw Josie in the hall talking animatedly to David, Walter and Frank.

Walter was the first to spot her. He stared at her open-mouthed. ‘By golly, you look marvellous.’

‘Don’t look so surprised, Walter,’ Meg said, negotiating the stairs with care. Long skirts might look splendid, but she did not intend to spoil the effect by tripping over the hem.

‘I can’t believe it.’ David gave her a brotherly hug. ‘Who is this gorgeous creature? What have you done with my scruffy little sister?’

Josie clapped her hands. ‘Darling, you look a picture.’

‘Wait until you see Addie. She looks like a film star.’

‘I claim the first dance, Meg,’ Walter said, stepping forward and handing her a corsage of clove-scented pink carnations tied with a silver ribbon.

‘Thank you, Walter. No one has ever given me flowers before. They’re lovely.’

He grinned shyly and his face reddened. Josie hurried forward to pin the flowers to Meg’s shoulder strap. ‘There, darling, you look like a princess.’

Meg was about to respond when she realised that Frank was gazing over her shoulder as if he had seen a heavenly vision. She knew without looking that Adele was making her way down the stairs. He leapt forward to present her with a delicate spray of orchids.

‘Are you sure you won’t come with us, Mrs Shelmerdine?’ Walter asked tentatively. ‘It seems unfair to leave you here on your own.’

‘I’m going to curl up with a book,’ Josie said, smiling wistfully. ‘Now off you go and have a wonderful evening. I trust you to keep an eye on your sisters, David.’

‘Don’t worry, Aunt Josie. We’ll have them back safe and sound before dawn.’ He kissed her on the cheek. ‘You could come, you know. I suppose Uncle Paul is working late as usual?’

‘He’s a busy man these days, darling. You can tell me all about it in the morning.’ She opened the front door and held it while they filed past her.

Meg hesitated on the threshold. ‘Is everything all
right, Aunt Josie?’ She thought she saw a shadow of doubt in her aunt’s almond-shaped eyes but it was gone in a second. ‘Are you okay?’

‘Of course I am. Whatever put such thoughts into your head?’ Josie patted her on the shoulder. ‘Off you go. Your handsome German is waiting to drive you in style.’

Meg felt the blood rush to her face. ‘He’s not my escort. We’re going as a party.’

Josie smiled. ‘Yes, darling. I understand.’

Despite her denial, Meg’s heart did a little flip when she saw Rayner leaning against the bonnet of the Rolls.

‘Hop in, girls, and let’s get going,’ David said, opening the rear door. ‘We want to arrive at the ball before midnight.’

Frank handed Adele into the back seat. She smiled up at him. ‘Sit beside me, Frank.’

Walter helped Meg to arrange her full skirts as she climbed in beside Frank, and Walter squeezed in after her. David sat in the front seat next to Rayner, who had elected to drive. The engine purred into life and the Rolls moved forward.