In any case, why would Lucy need friends now that she had Richard? Hadn’t he said something like that himself, taking her hand in his: ‘Friends come and go, Lucy, but once your heart is set on someone, it’s there forever.’
After that first night of passion, he’d called her a taxi in the early hours, and as it sped beneath the lights of London, elation exploded inside her, marred only by a clingy unease that refused to be shaken off. Desperate to cement their relationship, she’d let him seduce her. Once he had her clothes off, it seemed inevitable, as if it would be her fault if she pulled away, her prissiness and naïveté ruining everything he’d done for her.
Not to mention everything he could do for her in the future.
At home, she washed and then coiled herself up in bed, sleep evading her as her mind churned. Something about the act, the intimacy, the deeper connection, had brought them closer, but tears welled in her eyes as she murmured, ‘What have I done?’ into her damp pillow.
Would he want to see her again? Had she given away her virginity for him to toss her into the gutter?
For the following week, she checked Guest Room 33 several times a day, often risking her job to do so.
But where was he?
She couldn’t help but think he was avoiding her. Maybe he’d taken a different room or even decided not to stay in the palace at all.
A dread she had never felt before scrambled her head. No matter how many times she told herself that her virginity was nothing, that this was a new modern era and she was free to have sex with any man she wanted, inside she felt exposed.
When at last she saw him, walking down a corridor with Morris, she felt her legs give way and stepped to the wall to rebalance herself.
And when he stopped, uttering the words, ‘My Sleeping Beauty,’ her heart slid back into place, thumping hard as if she could finally carry on. How easy it was to forget her worries, laugh at her doubts.
At his suggestion, she popped into his guest room that afternoon, where they made love under the covers, as if it were a secret only they shared.
Of course he loved her. Why did she ever doubt him?
After that, they began spending more time together. It was as if he’d opened up a new, more adult side of her, and she felt ever more devoted to him, ever more determined for him to want her, too. If only he could stay in London more often, but his father was always calling him to their country estate. Today he had to miss Shirley’s wedding for a funeral there. It was hard to think about him being so far away, grieving on his own. That’s how close they’d become.
Only a few days ago, he’d told her about meeting his agent friend, Metty Metcalf. He’d arranged a lunch in Wheelers, a West End restaurant, the following Thursday, which meant she’d have to take the day off work.
‘But it’ll be well worth it,’ he said, and her heart lit with anticipation.
Settling herself into the pew, Lucy took in the church, filled with garish yellow and pink flowers, the expectant groom standing at the altar. How ecstatic she would be to see Richard there on their wedding day! How joyous if this wereherday,hermoment.
She turned to Betty and said, ‘I wonder how Shirley must be feeling. All nerves, I bet.’
‘She’ll be delighted. With a house in the suburbs, she’ll be busy with children before you know it.’ Betty smiled at Lucy. ‘I know you’ll miss her, but she’ll be happy as a rabbit in a brand-new burrow.’
But Lucy was too busy imagining Richard’s country estate, how many steps above her old neighbour she could be if she played her cards right. She saw how Richard looked at her. All she needed was to draw him in, keep him entranced.
The organ began, those first repeated notes proclaiming, ‘Here Comes the Bride’.
At the door, Shirley stood radiant in full white, and as she walked down the aisle, a great smile beamed from her as if she couldn’t help it. She had reached her goal, and this was her walk of victory.
‘I, Shirley Anne Wood, take thee, Vernon Albert Bateson...’ The service droned on, eventually coming to, ‘I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss the bride.’
With lips pursed outward like a fish, Vernon made a lunge for Shirley, who demurely pulled back before leaning in to give him a quick peck.
‘No wonder Shirley wanted to keep her virginity for the wedding night,’ Miranda murmured.
‘It’s so old-fashioned to save yourself for marriage,’ Lucy replied, feeling grown-up.
But Miranda only threw her an odd look, as if with a question.
Betty whispered loudly, ‘If you give a man what he wants before you’re married, why would he marry you? To men, we’re just a conquest – once he’s got you, he won’t need to propose.’
‘But everyone’s doing it before marriage these days.’ Lucy tried to keep her tone casual. ‘The magazines say that’s how a man gets to know you.’
But Betty replied pointedly, ‘It’s not all about sex.’
