The Forget-Me-Not Sonata(37)
‘I’m old.’
‘So am I.’
‘Too old for romance.’
‘You don’t believe that.’
‘I should.’
Colonel Blythe chewed on the end of his cigarette for a moment, chuckling at his inability to coax this woman into submission. ‘You’re a fine mare, Charlotte Osborne. I’ll have you in the end.’
Charlo’s handsome face stung with pleasure. ‘The end may be closer than you think for both of us.’
‘Quite, my dear, that is why I do not wish to waste any more time with the chase.’
‘I’ve always found the chase the most exhilarating part of it all,’ she said tartly, clipping the word ‘exhilarating’ with relish.
Colonel Blythe removed his cigarette from between his twitching lips and narrowed his eyes.
‘At this stage in our lives there’s little point in playing games. Good God, old girl, you should anticipate the exhilaration that follows the chase and allow yourself to be caught.’
‘I’ve been caught three times, Colonel, and I’ve been disappointed each time. I’m too old now to withstand another disappointment.’
Colonel Blythe replaced the cigarette and sat back in his chair, temporarily defeated. ‘So, young Cecil Forrester, eh? No disappointment there,’ chortled the Colonel.
‘Not yet,’ Charlo replied sourly. ‘But there will be. There’s always a degree of disappointment in affairs of the heart. The higher the heart flies the further there is to fall.’
‘Young people.’ He sighed. ‘Naïvety is a great blessing, as is ignorance.’
‘Quite. One grows cynical with age.’
‘Only if one allows oneself to, old girl.’
It wasn’t long before the whole Club was talking of Cecil’s courtship of Audrey. The girls praised her choice in patronizing tones, infuriated that he had chosen her above all of them. ‘So typical of Audrey to lose her heart to Cecil,’ commented Agatha and Nelly, masking their jealousy behind saccharine sweetness, ‘she’s so sensible. They make the most delightful couple.’ The Crocodiles discussed it over bridge and found to their disappointment that they had little to criticize. Only Aunt Hilda exposed her bitterness in the thin line of her mouth that seemed more sourly pursed together than usual. She would have liked Cecil for one of her daughters.
Audrey was mortified that everyone knew and avoided the Club. Rose, oblivious that it had been she who had started the tirade of gossip, was appalled by everyone’s interest in something that had nothing whatsoever to do with them and did her best to comfort her daughter. By the time the evening of the dinner arrived Audrey felt so distressed she almost called it off due to a genuine headache brought on by anxiety. But Isla massaged her temples with lavender oil and reminded her of the reason she had accepted his invitation in the first place. ‘You’ll be back in Louis’ arms tomorrow and if you’re clever you can stall Cecil for a little longer,’ she assured her.
‘I don’t think I’ll have the strength,’ Audrey protested. ‘I’m going to speak to Louis tomorrow, I simply can’t go on with this charade. I think we should just tell Mummy and Daddy the truth and face up to it. After all, how bad can it be?’
‘Bad,’ Isla replied bluntly. ‘Mind you,’ she added, ‘if it were me, I wouldn’t think twice, in fact, I wouldn’t have hidden it in the first place. But you’re too decent and too worried about upsetting them. You’re too sweet natured for your own good. If it were me I would have run off into the sunset long ago. You’ve always been a coward, Audrey, that’s why we all love you and that’s why I’ll suffer the wrath of the entire community some day, I just know it.’
Isla was right. Audrey was a coward, she always had been. She was incapable of wounding her mother. She wished she were more like her sister. But, however much she fired herself up in preparation to drop such an unpleasant revelation she knew in her heart that there wasn’t much point. Her parents’ happiness would always come before her own.
When the fated evening arrived, Cecil appeared at the door crisp and polished as an officer on parade. The scent of his aftershave was so pervasive Audrey forgot her headache and suffered a giddy wave of nausea. Cecil was so nervous his hands were clammy with sweat and his expression so grave he may just as well have been going to a funeral. He knew he had overdone the cologne and the knowledge that it was too late to remove it made him stammer with anxiety. He complimented Audrey on her long lilac dress and wondered why the smooth, debonair Cecil Forrester had deserted him just when he needed him most. Isla sat on the stairs biting her nails while her mother and Aunt Edna spied on their parting from behind the curtains in the living room. ‘He’s terribly handsome,’ Rose gushed as she watched them get into the car.