David and Alexandra were thoughtful for a few moments. ‘I can give you work restoring antique linen,’ said David.
‘And you can do waitressing. And then you can help Meg with the canapés, when you’re too big to carry trays,’ said Alexandra. Her eyes widened. ‘Talking of which, I was working at a cocktail party last night and I saw Vanessa.’
‘Oh?’ Lizzie almost asked Alexandra if she’d told Vanessa she was pregnant, but knew the answer: of course she hadn’t.
‘Yes! I was there in my black dress and white apron, of course, so we had one of those conversations without moving our lips. I didn’t want to embarrass Vanessa by treating her as my friend. Anyway, I gather she’s a bit fed up at the moment so I asked her to come round this evening.’
‘It’s funny about Vanessa, isn’t it?’ said Lizzie. ‘I was terrified of her when I first saw her and now she’s just a jolly friend.’
‘She likes coming over here, I think. She doesn’t feel judged,’ Alexandra agreed.
Some hours later, everyone was in the kitchen. Meg, who’d done a pre-dinner drinks party, was sitting with her shoes off, her waitress’s outfit askew,drinking a glass of wine that David had given her. She was tired. Lizzie felt glad to be back in London and was darning David’s favourite cardigan that the moths had got to, and Alexandra was making a ragu for the spaghetti she planned to serve later. She had declared that living with brilliant cooks meant she didn’t get enough practice and she needed some.
David answered the door when Vanessa arrived. She had a bunch of flowers and a bottle of wine. When they had both got down to the kitchen she put the bottle on the table. ‘I stole it from Daddy’s cellar. I’ve no idea what it is!’
David had a look at the label and choked. ‘I hope he doesn’t call the police on you, darling, it’s a very good vintage.’
‘There were dozens like it, he won’t notice,’ said Vanessa, pulling up a chair. ‘But I’ve got news!’
Lizzie was arranging the flowers. ‘What?’
‘It’s Hugo and Electra! The engagement’s off!’
‘Oh my God,’ said Alexandra, looking at Lizzie, who put down the freesia she was holding.
‘Do you know why?’ asked Meg, apparently re-energised by this news. She got up. ‘I’ll finish those for you, Lizzie. Find yourself a glass of water.’
‘Water?’ said Vanessa. ‘Let’s have the wine! If David’s right it’ll be rather marvellous.’
‘Water’s good!’ said Lizzie, knowing that London tap wasn’t famous for its flavour.
‘Let’s not waste this on Lizzie if she doesn’t feel like it,’ said David. ‘I’ll get clean glasses.’
‘Are you OK, Lizzie?’ asked Vanessa.
She seemed so concerned, Lizzie hurried to reassure her. ‘Oh, I’m fine. I just seem to have gone off alcohol a bit since …’ She felt silent. Meg and Alexandra were looking at her, their mouths open, willing her to say something neutral. David’s lips were pursed in stifled amusement but Vanessa just looked worried. ‘Since …’ There didn’t seem to be a single word in the language she could utter.
‘You sit down, darling,’ said David to her. ‘Maybe you’ve got a touch of flu.’
Lizzie sat and let David fuss round her. But Vanessa was still staring. ‘Lizzie,’ she said. ‘Are you … pregnant?’
Lizzie exhaled. ‘Yes, I am.’ It seemed a relief to say it. She couldn’t think of a convincing lie anyway.
‘Oh God, Lizzie!’ said Vanessa. ‘Who – oh my God! It’s not Hugo, is it?’
‘Yes,’ said Lizzie. ‘But you’re not to tell him. He’s not to find out.’
‘Is that why the engagement was broken off?’ asked Vanessa. ‘I mean – I thought it was Electra, but maybe it was Hugo—’
‘No,’ said Lizzie, firm now. ‘It can’t have had anything to do with me. Hugo doesn’t know and I haven’t seen him since your dance.’ Although she didn’t look at them she was aware of Meg andAlexandra fiddling with things; they of course, had seen him.
‘Well, I don’t know what to say!’ said Vanessa. ‘If you were responsible for him calling off his engagement I’ll be grateful forever. Electra is such hard work and can be so nasty sometimes – and she’s so relentlessly thin! She’s always making snarky remarks about me being plump when I’m not.’ She paused. ‘But why don’t you want to tell Hugo? I know he’s my brother and everything, but he’s a nice man. He’d take care of you.’
‘Really, Nessa, I don’t want him to know,’ said Lizzie quickly while the others drew breath to agree with Vanessa. ‘It was terribly unfortunate that I got pregnant, but we don’t know each other really. After I nearly drowned and he saved me, we got carried away. We were both so grateful not to be dead, I suppose. I don’t want him to ruin his life. He saved mine. It wouldn’t be fair to him.’
There was a silence during which no one knew what to say and then Alexandra said, ‘OK. Time to put the spaghetti on. Does anyone know how much I should cook?’
Chapter Twenty-four
