‘It’s no trouble,’ she sings, much too conspicuous for my liking.
We walk further down the long hallway. I hear Lara’s voice coming from a room opposite a grand staircase that veers off both left and right at the top.
‘Just here,’ Miranda says, directing me to a door under the stairs.
‘Thanks.’
I tuck inside the bathroom and draw the door closed, watching Miranda walk away. When I’m sure the coast is clear, I tiptoe across the wood floor, back in search of the muffled voices, until I come across a billiard room with the door ajar. I can just make out Gregory’s navy chinos and grey, wool jumper pacing back and forth.
‘Show me,’ he snaps.
Squinting through one eye, I see Gregory accept a small box, which he opens, examining the contents.
‘You’re sure this is yours?’ he asks.
‘For God’s sake, Gregory, I know my own wedding ring. The last time I saw the pig, I threw the damn thing at him.’
‘How did he get to the house, Jackson?’ Gregory is snarling through gritted teeth.
‘He didn’t,’ Lara pleads. ‘It was in the postbox this morning. Mack found it. It was wrapped in brown paper with a note.’
‘A note saying what?’
Lara turns her back to Gregory and paces the floor by the billiard table, one hand on her hip.
‘Saying what, mother?’
The fear in her voice is audible. ‘It said?—’
‘It said, “Something I should have done a long time ago”,’ Jackson cuts in.
Gregory moves back into my field of vision, holding Lara’s wedding ring up to the light.
Miranda’s footsteps in the corridor startle me.
‘The lounge is this way, Scarlett,’ she says.
‘Oops, so it is. I lost my bearings for a second there.’
In the lounge, I take my glass of champagne back from Sandy. She’s returned to her spot on the sofa and is talking to Lawrence.
Pearson. Lara’s wedding ring. Another note. He’s been here. I feel sick and light-headed. I wash away the feeling with a gulp of champagne. For now.
Jackson, Gregory and Lara return to the room and are followed shortly by an apologetic Williams.
‘Argh, sorry we’re late, Lara,’ he says.
‘Amanda!’ Her name leaves my mouth a little overzealously as I bound towards her.
‘Hey, you!’ she says, pulling me into a tight cuddle.
‘I didn’t know you’d be here.’ Then, lowering my voice. ‘Does this mean you two are…?’
‘Oh Lord, no!’
Williams is staring; he’s definitely heard us. We exchange an awkward smile. My fondness of Williams, I realise, never disappeared.
‘We were out together last night, that’s all.’ Motioning to her knee-length, black skirt and Mary Janes, she adds, ‘I’ve only been out of my sloggies for an hour.’
