A Regimental Affair (26 page)

‘We don’t know that.’

‘And the press are going to be so much more lenient if they can call us liars too,’ said Ginny, her voice heavy with sarcasm.

‘You’re right.’

‘Have you told Alice yet?’

‘No.’

Ginny was silent. She didn’t know what to say. She might have been hurt by Bob but she was recovering and she would move on eventually. Bob’s life was about to come crashing round his ears. He had a wife and daughter to consider – to say nothing of his career. If Ginny lost her job she could find another; she didn’t have a family to think about housing, or a daughter to educate at an expensive school. If she thought things were going to be difficult for her, they would be hell for him.

‘Bob? I’m sorry.’

Bob looked at her and shrugged. ‘Yeah, well. You weren’t to know, I suppose. What’s done is done.’

‘If I’d known, I wouldn’t have breathed a word.’

‘You told Debbie.’

‘How did you know that?’

‘Richard came to see me this afternoon. Oh don’t worry,’ he added, seeing the look of horror on her face. ‘She didn’t tell him anything except that you’d been unlucky in love. Richard came to try to persuade me to wheedle the details out of you so we could post the cause of your unhappiness instead and persuade you to stay on as admin officer.’ He gave a tight laugh. ‘If only he knew.’

‘He will soon.’

‘Won’t they all. I suppose I’d better go to Brigade and come clean before the
Mercury
goes to press. Thank God it doesn’t come out on a Sunday. At least it gives us twenty-four hours.’

‘Do you want me to come to Brigade with you?’

‘I don’t think that’ll be necessary. It’s
my
guts they’ll want, not yours.’

‘Bob, I’m so, so sorry.’

‘I know you are, Ginny, But in many respects it’s my fault too. What happened in Kosovo never should have taken place. I don’t know what I was thinking. I knew in my heart it would end up with me hurting someone, but I never guessed to what degree, or how many. You, Alice, Megan. And Alice and Megan are the innocents in all this.’

‘I know. What can I say?’

‘I don’t think there’s anything either of us can say.’

‘So what are you going to tell her? I don’t mind if you want to make me out to be the scarlet woman in all this. Couldn’t you tell her that I seduced you, that I got you drunk and took advantage of you?’

‘I’ll tell her the truth. That we were two frightened, lonely people who clung together for comfort and then animal instincts took over. I’m going to tell her that it was barely more than a one-night stand, that it doesn’t mean that I love her any less and that I want her to forgive me.’

‘Yes, that sounds good.’ Ginny tried to keep the hurt out of her voice but inside part of her felt as though she was being destroyed. She was glad of the dark. She was dangerously close to tears and she didn’t want to show any weakness. Bob had enough to worry about without her entering the equation too. She cleared her throat. ‘Once the story gets out it’s going to be horrible around here. All the press will descend. Remember when they all wanted to interview Colonel Car Crash?’

‘Don’t. This is going to be a nightmare.’ He thought for a second or two. ‘In fact, I think it might be better if we got you out of this. You’d better go away on leave.’

‘I can’t. Not just like that.’

‘You can and you will. Your assistant can cover and the chief clerk can help.’

‘Well …’

‘Is there somewhere you can go that’s out of the way?’

‘I’ve a sister in the Isles of Scilly.’

‘Perfect. I doubt if the press will find you there. Especially if you keep your head down.’

‘OK, I’ll go.’ Ginny reached up and put a hand on Bob’s shoulder. He leaned his head over so his cheek rested on it and then drew her towards him.

‘If it had been under any other circumstances; if I had met you before I met Alice; perhaps if I didn’t have a kid to think about, it might have been different.’

Ginny rested her head on his chest and felt the warm comforting wave of love sweep through her. She wondered what it would be like to feel like this all the time, to be wanted and cared about, to be held and cared for. She screwed her eyes shut to stop the tears escaping and nodded. ‘If only,’ she said quietly into the lapel of his coat.

After a few minutes Bob drew away from her. ‘I think we had better go and see Richard. He needs to know what is going on. And then I’ll go and tell Alice.’

Ginny nodded. ‘You go ahead. I’ll follow in a couple of minutes. We don’t want anyone to get the wrong idea about us, do we?’ she said, trying to make a brave attempt at humour.

Bob kissed her on the forehead. ‘That would never do.’ He turned and walked back towards the wicket gate.

After he had gone Ginny let the tears roll down her cheeks. They were tears of self-pity because she had lost him for ever, and tears of anger at Taz’s betrayal, and tears of worry because she had no idea what the future would hold, but she was certain it wasn’t going to be pleasant. Then she made her mind up that crying wasn’t going to achieve anything. She sniffed and ran her hands over her cheeks to sweep the tears away. She dabbed her nose on the back of her sleeve and said, ‘Stuff you, Tabitha. I hope the money chokes you.’ Then she squared her shoulders and followed the colonel back to the barracks.

‘You don’t have to leave us, Debbie,’ said Bob as he took a seat in the Greenwoods’ sitting room. ‘This involves you too, in a manner of speak…’ He was interrupted by the sound of the doorbell. Debbie got out of her seat to answer it. Bob could hear a murmur of voices in the hall and then Debbie, looking concerned, showed Ginny into the sitting room.

‘Debbie, I think you probably know what this is about,’ began the colonel.

‘I’m glad someone does,’ said Richard, looking around at everyone. Ginny was pale, the colonel looked strained and Debbie looked deeply uncomfortable.

‘I have to tell you that Ginny and I have both been contacted by the press about an unfortunate incident which took place in Kosovo.’

Richard’s brow creased. ‘I’m sorry, Colonel, but nothing unfortunate happened. Apart from a couple of minor incidents, it was a completely uneventful tour. Oh, except your car crash, of course.’

The colonel gave Richard a long look and then said, ‘Richard, if you stop wittering just for a moment, I’ll tell you everything.’

‘Oh, right, yes, certainly.’

‘It’s all about the car crash. That night Ginny and I spent on the mountain – well, we didn’t just spend it trying to keep warm.’

Debbie looked at the carpet, pink with embarrassment, and it was almost possible to bear the penny drop in Richard’s brain.

‘You mean …? Oh God,’ he said to Debbie. ‘So
that’s
why you didn’t want me to go and see the colonel about this.’

‘Yes,’ said Debbie sadly. ‘But I couldn’t tell you, because I knew that the fewer people who knew, the safer the secret would be.’

‘Precisely,’ said Bob. ‘But now the press know.’

‘But how?’ asked Debbie.

‘You’re not to blame in any way, but you know your friend Taz?’ Debbie nodded. ‘Do you know what she does for a living?’

Debbie shook her head. ‘Not really. I got the impression she was some sort of consultant for a company up in London.’

It was Bob’s turn to shake his head. ‘No, she works for a London company all right – several of them, in fact. She’s a freelance reporter. She’s the one who has sold our souls for forty pieces of silver.’

‘Taz?’

‘Taz.’

‘So now you know why she was so friendly to all of us,’ said Ginny. ‘That’s why she wanted me to go over for lunch. I thought she was being nice and sympathetic, and all the time she was after a story. She must have got an inkling at her New Year’s do, when I got upset. All I did today was walk into a trap she’d set and answer a load of questions that I foolishly thought were quite innocent.’

Debbie shook her head in disbelief. ‘Now I understand,’ she groaned. ‘This wasn’t the first story she’s filed.’

‘There’ve been others?’ asked Richard.

‘“Colonel Car Crash” for one. I told her about the accident. I thought she was just a friend in the village, I had no idea she was connected to the press. And then there was a piece in the
Mercury
about a regiment somewhere in Britain. We all loved it because the wives that were described in it seemed so like us. I see now it
was
us.’

‘And now she’s got a
real
scoop,’ said Ginny bitterly. ‘Some friend she’s proved herself to be.’

‘Anyway,’ said Bob, ‘I’m sending Ginny away on leave for a while till this all dies down.’

Richard nodded. ‘But what about you, Colonel? What are
you
going to do?’

‘I’ll have to stay and face the music. I’m going to speak to the brigade commander later this evening and see what he has to say.’ He grinned ruefully. ‘Quite a lot, I should imagine. Especially considering some of the other high-profile cases that have been in the press in the last couple of years.’

Richard nodded again. ‘Do you think …?’ he began, but then he realised that what he was about to say sounded incredibly tactless. ‘No, forget it.’

‘Did you want to ask if I am likely to be court-martialled?’ Richard shrugged, embarrassed. Bob passed a hand wearily over his face. ‘To be honest, I don’t know. Obviously I hope not, but the brass may want to make an example of me. We’ll have to wait and see.’

Chapter Seventeen

Megan and Alice sat in stunned silence as Bob finished talking.

‘I’m sorry,’ he said.

Bob couldn’t judge what Alice was thinking because she was looking down at the carpet.

‘The slag,’ said Megan angrily. ‘The utter bloody slag.’

‘Don’t swear,’ said Alice, quietly and automatically.

‘That’s not fair on Ginny,’ said Bob, equally quietly. ‘She wasn’t the only person involved in this.’

‘But she was our friend. My friend,’ said Megan. ‘How could she? What a whore.’

‘That’s enough, Megan,’ said her father, with force.

Megan shot him a look and stormed out of the room. Silence followed.

‘So,’ said Alice with icy calm looking up at her husband. ‘I wouldn’t have known about your liaison,’ she said the word as though it was distasteful to pronounce, ‘if it hadn’t been for Tabitha Alabaster selling the story to the
Mercury
?’

‘No,’ said Bob, unable to meet her eye.

‘I see.’ There was a pause. ‘Why?’ she asked. ‘Why did you do it?’

‘I don’t know. We had just come through a fairly frightening ordeal, we were alone, it was dark and cold.’

‘And she was available.’

‘You make her sound cheap.’

Alice sniffed. ‘Well, isn’t she? I’ve always thought her fast. I’ve always thought she had the morals of an alley cat and now she’s proved it to everyone. The shame of it is that she has to drag us through the gutter too.’ Alice sounded close to tears. ‘Everything we’ve ever worked for and she has to come along and destroy it.’

‘We don’t know that.’

‘You think they’ll let you keep command of the regiment after this?’ Alice’s voice was shrill with anger and pain.

‘Well …’ But the thought had gone through Bob’s head too. He knew that with a scandal like this making the papers he would lose the respect of his men and the army wouldn’t countenance that. It was almost a certainty that he’d have to go.

‘I gave up everything to help your career and you have thrown everything away for a sordid little affair. How could you? How could you do it to me and Megan?’

‘There’s nothing you can say that’ll make me feel any worse about all this than I do already.’

‘So when is the story going to run?’

‘Monday, I believe.’

‘How many other people know?’

‘Ginny, obviously, and Richard and Debbie.’

‘You told them before you told me?’ Alice was aghast.

‘Debbie already knew. Ginny confided in her when she got back from Kosovo.’

‘Crowed about her conquest.’ The bitterness in Alice’s voice was almost tangible.

‘Ginny’s not like that.’ Bob regretted the words as soon as he’d uttered them.

‘Well, you would know. After all, you know her intimately, don’t you?’

Bob didn’t rise to the bait. Alice had every right to feel bitter. If she had transgressed he would have felt the same. ‘In a minute, I’m going to have to phone the brigadier.’

Alice sighed at the thought of yet more people being privy to what was, in reality, a personal matter. ‘Yes, I suppose you must.’

‘And I think I’m going to have to tell Alisdair and Sarah. If I’m relieved of command, they will be affected too.’

‘How long do you think we’ve got?’

‘I think we’ll know what action is going to be taken on Monday.’

‘So soon? Dear God.’ She leant back in her chair and shut her eyes.

‘Alice, I want you to know that I still love you. What I did was wrong and foolish, but it doesn’t change my feelings about you at all.’

Alice’s eyes snapped open. ‘Are you asking forgiveness, is that it?’

Of course he wanted to be forgiven but he felt it was too much to ask just yet.

‘I don’t think I can,’ she continued. ‘I’m not even sure I love you.’

Bob nodded. He had no right to expect her to love him any more. He’d betrayed his family, he’d broken his marriage vows, he’d delivered his career a mortal blow and destroyed Alice’s ambitions.

Megan lay on her bed and stared angrily at the ceiling. Over and over she asked herself how Ginny could have done that to them. How could she have slept with her father? The two people she loved best in the world had ruined her life. No wonder Ginny had been funny with her that day she’d gone to see her in the mess. It all made sense now. And was that why Ginny had made friends with her? Had she done it just to wheedle her way into her father’s affections?
Probably
, thought Megan bitterly.
What a cow
! And it was going to be in the papers, so everyone at school would know about it. How gross. The teachers would be all concerned and fuss about her and ask her if she wanted to talk about it. As if. And she knew some of the kids would snigger and whisper and some of the others would be snotty and not talk to her. Hot tears began to roll down her face. It was horrid at home and it was going to get worse at school. She felt she wanted to die.