‘Yes,’ she half laughed whilst a tear ran down her cheek. Perry took out the ring and placed it firmly onto her finger.
‘Now then,’ he smiled. ‘It’s finally where it belongs.’
Bunty’s arms flew around his neck. Holding him tight, she never wanted to let go.
‘Bon appetit!’ cheered Madeleine, raising her glass of wine.
‘Bon appetit!’ chorused Felix and Emma in unison.
‘This looks fabulous,’ Emma gushed, mouth watering at the mountain of food Madeleine had prepared for them.
‘Mum always cooks a great roast dinner,’ said Felix.
Madeleine nodded with a smile, glad to be of help. She was sticking to her promise to Emma, instead of letting her do all the cooking. Laughable, really, when she was in fact the housekeeper. But her mother’s intuition had clocked Emma as the lady of this house in every aspect. She knew her son and it was blatantly obvious where his feelings lay. That was mainly the reason why she’d now decided to return to France, to give the two of them space. Madeleine was no fool; she would rather get out of the way and let nature take its course. Soon the filming crew would be back, so time was precious. As a farewell meal she had pulled out all the stops and made a real effort in the kitchen.
After a splendid dinner with all the trimmings followed with cheesecake, then cheese and crackers, they all retired into the drawing room for coffee. Instead of watching TV, Madeleine insisted on playing charades.
‘Really?’ laughed Emma, surprised at her request.
‘Absolutely, it’s fun!’ she exclaimed.
Felix went first and had them all in stitches, as he tried (after several glasses of wine) to act out Grease, by imitating John Travolta combing back his quiff and pulling up his jacket collar. Eventually Madeleine got it, but only because he’d done the same before.
‘He does it every time,’ she groaned, rolling her eyes.
‘I’ve got one!’ Emma blurted out, getting into the spirit. Then she too, somewhat tipsily, tried to act like Polly by going over to the bow window, looking out to sea and then, turning dramatically with a gasp, she placed the back of her hand on her forehead.
Felix smiled lazily, instantly getting it. She was mimicking Lady Scarlett but he kept silent, enjoying her performance. He glanced at his mum and suspected she was doing the same.
Emma looked from one to the other in exasperation, then tried again, this time she went to the glass drinks cabinet and pretended to pour herself a drink. She raised her cocktail glass with a theatrical stage wink. Still, nothing from either of them. Oh, for goodness’ sake, she thought. Then she broke the rules and spoke.
‘By Jove, I’ve solved the case,’ she chirped in the best Lady Scarlett accent ever.
Felix burst into hysterics, while Madeleine leant over in giggles.
‘You knew!’ Emma exclaimed as indignantly as she could, whilst trying not to laugh too. Her phone bleeped in her pocket, diverting her attention. It was a text from her dad.
Big news, Emma, was the caption under the photograph of Bunty’s hand wearing her engagement ring.
‘OMG!’ trilled Emma. ‘Dad and Bunty are getting hitched!’
