‘Glass of wine, Lizzie?’ asked Ben, who had pulled up a chair to be near Vanessa.
‘It has been a super party,’ said Vanessa. ‘And it’s not over yet.’
‘We have got some records,’ said Lizzie, wondering if they were the right records. ‘We could put them on and dance.’
‘I haven’t the energy to dance,’ said Meg. ‘But don’t let me stop the rest of you.’
‘I really prefer live music to records,’ said Ben.
‘Do you know that pub?’ said Vanessa. ‘The Earl of Sandwich? They always have live music there.’ Then she appeared to remember something. ‘Oh, sorry, Lizzie. I let you down that night, didn’t I? Ted changed his mind at the last minute.’
‘I don’t want to hear any more about this Ted, Vanessa,’ said Ben firmly. ‘He was obviously NSIT—’
‘Not Safe in Taxis?’ Vanessa hooted with laughter. ‘He certainly wasn’t. Not safe anywhere, frankly.’
Hugo came up. ‘I’m going to take Electra back now, Ness, but I’ll come back and pick you up.’
‘No need, Hughie!’ said Vanessa. ‘Ben said he’d take me home.’
‘In a taxi,’ said Ben. He got up. ‘I don’t know if we were properly introduced. Ben Saunders. I’m at the Royal Academy of Music.’ He held out his hand.
Hugo took the hand. ‘All right, if that’s OK with you, Ness?’
‘Fine with me. More than fine,’ said Vanessa.
Lizzie realised that she and Meg should get up and say goodbye to their guests.
‘Don’t get up!’ said Hugo firmly as Meg and Lizzie began to struggle upright. ‘Thank you so much for having us. We’ve had a wonderful time. The food was superb,’ he said to Meg. ‘You could go into business.’
‘I fully intend to,’ said Meg, smiling. ‘But not just at this minute.’
As she watched Hugo stride away Lizzie noticed that his hair was a little bit longer than it had been when she first met him.
‘Good that Hugo trusts you to get me home safely, Ben,’ said Vanessa. ‘Electra is quite demanding.’
‘Have they known each other long?’ Lizzie was delighted to have a chance to find out more about this relationship. She hoped she didn’t sound as bitchy as she felt.
‘Ages. He’s mad about her,’ said Vanessa.
Lizzie’s mood plummeted. Why wouldn’t he be mad about Electra? ‘Do you get on well with her?’ she asked, trying to give the impression she wanted Vanessa to say how lovely Electra was when you got to know her.
Vanessa shrugged. ‘I don’t know her well, but if she asks me to be a bridesmaid at least I know she has good dress sense.’
Lizzie now felt as if someone had punched her in the stomach, although she knew it was ridiculous. She’d always known that Hugo and Electra were a couple, if not yet a married one.
‘Are they engaged?’ asked Meg.
Vanessa shook her head. ‘Not yet. I think Hugo is having a ring made. The family are expecting it to be announced any minute.’ She laughed. ‘Electra will have the best organised wedding list on record! That’s one of the many things she and my big bro have in common: organisation. And ambition. Hugowants to be a high court judge like our father and grandfather and, incidentally, Electra’s father. So she knows the ropes and will be the perfect wife for him.’
‘Does anyone want to dance?’ said Lizzie, not wanting to hear any more about how well suited Hugo and Electra were. She thought about the collection they had hastily acquired for the evening, which included an LP contributed by Luigi that proved to have a lot of sweeping strings and passionate, incomprehensible lyrics. Lizzie had left all her records at her parental home, as had Meg. Alexandra’s taste seemed influenced by a French nanny she had once, and so all she could come up with was Françoise Hardy and Johnny Hallyday. Still, thought Lizzie, just because people didn’t understand the words, it didn’t mean you couldn’t dance to it.
‘I prefer a band to dance to,’ said Vanessa.
‘Oh, so do I,’ said Ben. ‘But then I would. I’m a musician.’
‘What do you play, Ben?’ asked Vanessa. ‘I’d love to hear you.’
Ben got up and took her hand. ‘Violin and piano.’
