‘So he should,’ Georgie said, trying to look the enchanted lover through gritted teeth and refraining from mentioning that he had precious little else on which to spend the vast amounts of money at his disposal.
‘I know,’ Didi agreed wistfully, ‘but he never has. Not unless it’s been a special occasion. Oh, yes, he’s never forgotten a birthday or a Mother’s Day, but this is the first time he’s ever spontaneously bought something for me. I can’t begin to tell you what that means. Must be love.’
‘Of course he loves you.’
‘No, darling, it must be because he’s in love.’
Georgie was spared having to meet that statement with something suitably obscure by Pierre’s return. A fair few of the diners had cancelled their reservations because of the weather, and they were shown to the best table in the house, nestled in an intimate corner where the black and white signed photographs on the walls reminded them that the restaurant had been visited by a host of celebrities down the years.
Georgie, especially when she managed to keep her eyes firmly focused on Didi rather than on the man sitting to the right of her, looked forward to an evening of relative relaxation.
At least with Didi on the scene, the conversation wouldn’t get too personal. Nothing, at any rate, that she couldn’t handle and because the circular table was big Pierre was, thankfully, too far away for any of those loving gestures he seemed to think were of vital importance.
And tomorrow he would be gone. Back to London where they could conduct their love affair with the safety of several hundred miles between them. Conduct it and also work out how to jettison it before Didi got it into her head that the sound of church bells would be the next logical step in the scenario.
Her relief was short-lived. No sooner than pleasantries had been made about the menu, the choice of food and the wine selection, Pierre sat back in his chair and said, a little too carelessly for Georgie’s liking, ‘A man could get used to the open spaces. Quite a change from London…’
Georgie’s antennae were immediately on full alert even though the observation was innocuous enough.
‘I never thought I’d hear you say that, Pierre,’ Didi told him, surprised.
‘And I never thought I would,’ he confessed. ‘Maybe age is beginning to take its toll.’ He gave Georgie a lazy half-smile. ‘What do you think?’
‘Oh, you’re a city gent through and through!’ She smiled ruefully at Didi and began to formulate the foundations for their eventual break-up. ‘You know you’ve always wanted to live in London! You said so yourself! All that stuff about the cut and thrust of city life. I guess it’s the excitement, the challenges…quite an addiction, I would say. So, you might think you like the peace of rural life but really, you’d be lost without London. Lots of people find that. They sell up and move to the country because they’ve been there a couple of times and they imagine that there couldn’t be anything better than waking up to the sound of birds and farm animals. Then they get here and realise that there’s no café lattes and baguettes within walking distance and no nightclubs to speak of and no sprawling choice of stage musicals on a Saturday evening…funny the things you get used to without even realising.’ She looked ruefully at Didi. ‘This is one of the many drawbacks of a long distance relationship.’
‘You hardly live on opposite ends of the earth!’ Didi exclaimed.
‘I know, but, well, it’s more than that, isn’t it, Pierre?’ She looked to Pierre for support, but he was frowning slightly, which made Georgie wonder whether she wasn’t laying it on a bit thick. The last thing she wanted to do was alarm Didi, make her retreat back to that dark place from which she had just emerged.#p#分页标题#e##p#分页标题#e#
‘Is it?’ Pierre asked mildly.
‘Well, yes…of course it is!’ She heard herself beginning to splutter and drew in a deep, steadying breath. Why on earth wasn’t he supporting her? He had been dragged kicking and screaming into this situation and here she was, giving him the golden opportunity to begin opening his exit door, and what was he doing? Relaxing indolently back in his chair, head politely tilted to one side, looking at her as though she had suddenly begun speaking in tongues. Did he really not follow what she was trying to do? Or maybe, and this seemed a lot more likely, he was happy to let her flounder in her own confused, tentative outpourings, thereby allowing himself the privilege of being able to turn around at a later date and say to Didi, Well, I was willing to give it a go, but Georgie…