Which, of course, made a vulture like Sasha only curious to know more.
“No, I want to know about Ari’s baby daddy.” Sasha smiled, tapping Sebastian’s fingers sharply, and Marnie — sharp-eyed — saw Sebastian stiffen. So, he hated her too, she thought.
“Well, we only have seven weeks, darling,” he wheedled her. “We should really—”
But Ari suddenly cleared her throat, patting Sebastian’s shoulder gently. “It’s okay. I don’t mind talking about him.”
“Ari, are you sure?”
But Sasha hushed him. “Let her talk.”
Ari gave a small shrug. “Honestly, Sasha, there really isn’t much to tell. I fell in love during my gap year.”
“Gap year?” Sasha frowned.
“A break between studying and work,” Ari explained. “I finished a foundation course in art and design, and then went off to do a European tour. I fell in love, and we had six months together. And then his father got sick, and he had to leave and...” Ari trailed off, and Marnie could see her trying to talk over what must be a lump in her throat. “Anyway, he had to go, but he promised one day he would come back for me, and then I found out about Reine and...” She trailed off again, falling silent at the table.
“But didn’t you try to find him? Once you knew about the baby?” Sasha asked.
Ari nodded. “Yes. But there was just no trace of him. Not anywhere. All I had was a phone number, which only ever led to a dial tone. It was like he just... disappeared.”
“He promised to come back, but left you with a fake phone number?” Sasha raised a disbelieving eyebrow. “That’s not a man who’s coming back. That’s a man who got what he wanted and took off, honey.”
“Sasha,” hissed Marnie under her breath.
But Ari, rather than looking bothered by Sasha’s cutting words, simply smiled. “He left me with something else.” There was a note of pride in her voice. “He left me with something he treasured.”
“A diamond? An emerald?” Sasha asked excitedly.
“No . . . A playing card.”
Sasha rapidly seemed to deflate, clearly losing interest in the conversation, but at Ari’s words, Marnie sat up.
“What do you mean, he left you with a playing card?”
“The queen of spades,” Ari said warmly, a smile on her lips as she spoke. “And not just any playing card, but one that came from a deck that once belonged to a queen of France.”
A shiver ran down Marnie’s spine, almost like premonition, or maybe superstition. She inexplicably thought of Corentin, of where he was and what he was doing, feeling a sudden, intense need to speak with him.
“A queen of France?” Sasha queried, furrowing her brow. “How did he get a playing card that belonged to a queen of France?”
“I don’t know,” Ari said. “I don’t know how he got the card, but—”
“Tea, ma’am,” a voice interrupted, and Marnie, taking deep, steadying breaths, watched as Mrs Hollis came towards them,laden down by a tray stacked with Julie’s hideous tea set. Marnie’s fingers remained clenched as the housekeeper set the tray down, ladling out cups and pouring out tea all the while making innocuous remarks about the dark weather. Abruptly, she seemed to notice the empty chair and remaining cup on her tray.
Mrs Hollis looked to Marnie questioningly. “Tom’s not here?”
Sasha pouted. “No,” she snapped. “He’s fucking late.”
Marnie unclenched her fingers, only to find them shaking slightly. She picked up her tea, taking a small sip, trying to mask the uncertainty in her hand.
“Get used to it,” she told Sasha. “You know what these pilots are like. Doug was the same. Once they get in the air, they lose track of time.”
“Well, I’ll be sorting that out first, no mistake about it,” Sasha said tetchily, drinking her own tea. “He promised he would be here, and I’m going to be his wife. I shouldalwayscome first.”
“Tom will be here, don’t worry,” Marnie reassured her, before turning back to Ari. “Did you know the groom was named Tom? Have you met him yet?”
“I did know his name, but we haven’t met him yet. To be honest, after this tea we might head over to our hotel and freshen up. We need to call Luis too, get him over here—”
