‘You don’t worry about things being romantic, do you, Justin?’ Meg said, surprised.
‘I’ve changed,’ he said. ‘People can.’
‘I’ll get the pudding,’ said Alexandra. ‘No, stay there, Justin. I can manage.’
‘I’ll give you a hand,’ said Antoine, getting to his feet.
‘I’m going to help too,’ said Stéphie.
‘Well, Meg,’ said David. ‘It seems you have some hard decisions to make. England or France. I chose France, but I lived in London, which doesn’t seem so far away.’ He looked at Maxime who was sitting opposite him. ‘And there were other reasons.’
‘Dorset seems a very long way away,’ Justin agreed. ‘France is such an enormous country.’
‘You had a very long journey,’ said Meg with a rush of guilt.
‘All because of you,’ said Justin, smiling. ‘It shows how devoted I am to Nightingale Woods. I want the best for it.’
‘Are you sure that’s all you’re devoted to, old man?’ said David.
Colour rushed to Meg’s cheeks and she could have happily killed David at that moment.
She was spared having to think how to do this when Stéphie rushed out. ‘There’s a telephone call from England. For you, Justin!’
‘Have another glass of wine,’ said David, filling Meg’s glass as Justin went into the chateau. ‘Sweetie, he’s obviously in love with you. You need to decide if you want him or not.’
‘Don’t be so pragmatic, David,’ said Maxime. ‘It’s not an easy decision. She might want him but also want to stay in France.’
To Meg’s huge relief, Henri and Félicité and their friends decided they wanted to go and play recordsand dance in the orangery and the attention was no longer on her. Permission had to be sought from Antoine, who was helping Alexandra with the pudding. Félicité went in, and soon came out again, smiling. The young things all left the table.
‘I think I just want to enjoy this lovely evening and not make any big decisions,’ said Meg, who’d thought of this while there was to-ing and fro-ing with the young people.
Maxime smiled at her. ‘Well said, Meg.’
Alexandra and Antoine came out carrying trays of desserts. ‘Chérie,’ said Antoine to Stéphie, ‘could you be very kind and go and tell your brother and sister and their friends that dessert is here? If they wish to collect it and take it back to the orangery, that is permitted.’
‘Who called?’ Meg asked Alexandra, while various tarts and gateaux, all bought from thepâtisseriein town, were put on the table and cut into.
‘I think it was Justin’s father but annoyingly you can’t eavesdrop from the kitchen.’
‘What on earth can it be about?’ said Meg.
‘I’m sure we’ll find out soon enough,’ said Alexandra. ‘Look at all these puddings. I think maybe I bought too many. They just look so tempting.’
‘Don’t worry,chérie,’ said Antoine, ‘the young people will eat everything we leave, I assure you.’
‘We had better make our decision as to what we would all like quickly,’ said Maxime. He looked at Meg and smiled. ‘You don’t have to be quick withyourdecision.’
Meg had eaten half a portion of a delicious raspberry mousse and spread the other half about her plate when, finally, Justin appeared. He came straight over to her.
‘Meggy? It’s Ambrosine. She’s had an accident. She’s broken her hip. But – No, don’t worry, she hasn’t died. But she is in hospital and she’s asking for you.’
‘Then I must go to her!’ Meg stood up, flustered, her knees suddenly weak.
‘Well, if you’re sure about that,’ said Justin. ‘It’s a very long journey; we can set off really early tomorrow morning and get as far as we can. I’d already booked the car on to the ferry but I can change the booking. We’ll be in England the day after tomorrow. Ambrosine is doing well, I’m told.’ He paused. ‘We probably don’t need to rush—’
‘No.’ For once Meg was certain. ‘We must get there as soon as we can.’ She turned to Antoine. ‘Can you explain to Pierre what has happened? And how sorry I am to be leaving the restaurant?’
The discussion quickly became about the best route across France. Maxime took Meg aside. ‘It looks as if you now know what you’re doing. The toughest decisions often do make themselves, in a strange way.’
