Ronnie and Jakob duly obliged and when they’d gone, Nina said, ‘Ronnie was right when he said you’re the belle of the ball, Cassie, you look absolutely beautiful.’
‘Radiantly beautiful,’ agreed Venetia.
‘You both look lovely too,’ Cassie said. ‘And how sensible the two of you were to opt for trouser suits and trainers.’
Nina laughed. ‘We discussed it together and decided comfort was what we wanted.’
‘And we didn’t want to outshine the bride, did we?’
‘Oh, Venetia,’ Cassie said, ‘how disingenuous of you, you will always outshine us all. You’re the epitome of elegance. I just hope I look half as gorgeous when I’m your age.’
At the mention of age, Cassie exchanged a furtive look with Nina. In a few weeks it would be Venetia’s eightieth birthday and with Ronnie’s help, Cassie and Nina had planned a surprise party for her. As far as they knew, Venetia didn’t have a clue what they were up to.
In the days after the evening of the gallery exhibition in December, Venetia had been overwhelmed with melancholy, almost as bad as when Bon-Bon had died. They had all tried to comfort her, but it was Ronnie who had really been the one to help her the most. He was such a dear friend. When Venetia had told them how nasty Lucien had been to her in the restaurant, none of them could believe or understand why he had been so needlessly cruel. But then he’d given Venetia a painting – a stunning portrait of her as a child – and seeing how much pleasure it gave Venetia, they’d all found themselves feeling less angry with him.
Of course, Nina had had to deal with Lucien about the sale of his paintings, but at Venetia’s express wish, Nina had kept matters strictly on a business footing, there were to be no questions, nointerrogation of him. In contrast Ronnie had wanted to give the swine a damned good talking to,mano a mano.Instead, Venetia had given Ronnie a damned good talking to and made it clear that he was to keep well out of it, that everything was resolved, and that was the end of it.
‘Now tell me, you two,’ Cassie said, leaning forwards and planting her elbows firmly on the table, ‘where is Ben taking me for our honeymoon?’
Nina smiled. ‘Nice try, Cassie, but you won’t get it out of either of us. Our lips are firmly sealed. We promised Ben.’
‘And there was I thinking you were my besties,’ Cassie said with a pout.
‘We are, dear girl,’ said Venetia, ‘and that is why we are not going to spoil the surprise Ben has put so much thought into for you.’
‘Can’t you give me a clue, then? Just a small one.Pleeease!’
Laughing, both Nina and Venetia shook their heads.
The surprise, when it came, had everyone staring up at the sky in amazement and then they were all holding onto hats, fascinators and hair as the helicopter came closer and closer and then landed on the grass a safe distance from the marquee.
When the rotating blades had come to a stop and all was quiet and the pilot appeared, Ben turned to Cassie. ‘Mrs Henshaw-Pearson, your carriage awaits.’
Nina had been so looking forward to this moment and seeing the expression on her friend’s face. It didn’t disappoint.
Open-mouthed, Cassie gaped at Ben. ‘You’re joking!’ she cried.
‘No. It’s really happening.’
‘But where are we going?’
‘I’ll tell you when we’re up and away.’
‘But … ’ Cassie looked at everyone who had now gathered around them, including Nina and Jakob. ‘But we can’t just leave our guests.’
‘Oh, yes you can,’ said her father. ‘It’s all arranged.’
Cassie spun round to look at him. ‘You knew about this, Dad? Why on earth didn’t you tell me?’
‘Because it was a secret!’ chorused her mother and sister together.
A secret that had been miraculously kept by those who had been in on it, thought Nina. Whether Cassie had sensed that Nina knew something, she had tried repeatedly to get some grain of information out of her, but not a word did Nina say. She hadn’t even told Jakob. Which had been the hardest part as she’d longed to tell him about it, but she’d been worried that Cassie might be sneaky and somehow get it out of Jakob or get him accidentally to drop some hint or other.
After hugging his parents goodbye and exchanging matey back-slapping and fist-bumping with friends, Ben rejoined Cassie. ‘We’d better not keep the pilot waiting,’ he said. Then: ‘And right on time, here’s our luggage.’
Cassie turned to see Emily and Franco coming towards them, each of them with a medium-sized case and a suit carrier.
‘I helped Ben pack your outfits,’ Emily told her mother, ‘so blame me not him if I’ve got anything wrong.’
