Chapter Fifteen
Saturday afternoon, and back from a shopping trip in Cambridge, Venetia was climbing the stairs to her apartment when she was set upon by the Enforcers. It was almost as if they had been lying in wait to ambush her and she braced herself ready to take them on if this was about Bon-Bon. But she needn’t have worried because in breathless tones of scandalised horror, they informed her that that very afternoon Cassie and Ben had been seen having sex in the woods.
‘In daylight!’ Cheryl stressed in case there was any doubt of the depravity of the situation. ‘Actual broad daylight and for anyone to see. I saw them with my own eyes!’
‘Well, I never,’ Venetia said cheerfully. ‘But I can’t say I blame them as it is a beautiful day and in my experienceal frescorumpy-pumpy was always the best fun! And still would be,’ she added with a mischievous wink, ‘if I were given the chance. You should try it. Toodles for now, ladies.’
At the satisfyingly sharp intake of breath, she swept past the two women, all the while hoping Bon-Bon wouldn’t give the game away from inside her tote bag. As always, the zip was undone, and he could have poked his head up at any moment.
Inside her apartment, she lowered her bag to the carpeted floor and Bon-Bon immediately hopped out and gave himself a quick stretch and a shake. After receiving a kiss on the top ofhis head from her, he trotted off to his water bowl in the kitchen while Venetia dealt with the carrier bags of shopping, taking them through to her bedroom. She’d treated herself to a couple of nice things in a super dress shop in town.
Joining Bon-Bon in the kitchen, she thought of Cassie, hoping that whatever had been witnessed in the woods was a step in the right direction. The dear girl really needed to think more of her future and less of her past. One of the many things Venetia had learnt as a child was that no one should ever let the past define their present or their future. It had been a favourite mantra of Lady Constance.
‘Girls and boys,’ Lady Constance would say, ‘just because you haven’t experienced what is considered a conventional family life, you mustn’t ever let anyone tell you you’re not special and unique, you most certainly are! Each one of you has something only you can offer the world. Never forget that.’
Venetia felt that Cassie could do with a Lady Constance in her life and she rather fancied taking on the role herself, so that she could persuade her young friend that hanging on to an event from her past and nurturing it as a grudge would do her no good.
They had enjoyed another two chats in the woods this past week while walking Bon-Bon and it had revealed much to Venetia about Cassie’s insecurities beneath the delightfully bubbly exterior and flashes of humour. Venetia could see that she put on a good show of bravado, but scratch the surface and the fear that history could repeat itself with Ben was all too apparent.
Later that evening, when Venetia had poured herself a tumbler of whisky and was on the sofa with Bon-Bon, there was a knock at the door. She put a finger to her lips to make sure the dog didn’t bark, and after putting him in her bedroom, she went to answer the door, peering through the spy hole before opening it.
She was delighted to see that it was Cassie.
‘Are you receiving guests?’
‘Only those who have been caught in an indecent act in the woods,’ Venetia said, stepping aside to let her in.
Cassie rolled her eyes. ‘Oh God, word’s gone round, then?’
‘I’m afraid so. What a wonderfully naughty pair you are! Can I offer you a drink to help with the sparing of your blushes? Not that you have anything to be embarrassed about in my opinion.’
‘A drink would be great,’ said Cassie, ‘I’m not disturbing you, am I?’
‘Absolutely not. I’m having whisky but if you want wine, there’s a bottle of white in the fridge. Help yourself while I let Bon-Bon out of my bedroom. Glasses are in the cupboard to the left of the window.’
Once they were settled on the sofa, one at each end and with Bon-Bon on Cassie’s lap, Venetia said, ‘Am I to understand, based on your woodland shenanigans, that you’ve cleared things up with Ben?’
Cassie smiled coyly. ‘You could say that.’
‘And?’
‘Apparently he really had been planning something for my fortieth birthday.’
‘Oh, you silly girl, all that worry for nothing!’
‘No need to rub it in, I feel stupid enough as it is.’
‘And just to be sure, you believe Ben?’ Venetia asked. ‘Youtrusthim?’ She put a heavy emphasis on the word trust.
‘I’ll be honest,’ Cassie said after taking a sip of her wine, ‘there was a moment when I struggled to believe him.’
‘Was that because you still wanted to hang on to the comforting sense of righteous hurt?’
Cassie’s eyes widened. ‘Wow, you make me sound like a total grudge-bearing psycho!’
‘That’s not my intention, but we can all fall into the trap of victimhood, it’s a defence mechanism, it gives us an extra layerof protection. It also gives us the moral high ground, which invariably is as stable as shifting sands.’
With a faint smile, Cassie said, ‘I’m beginning to regret knocking on your door. I only came to say thank you for listening to me.’
