Country Plot (21 page)

Back in the stable yard, Xander dismounted quickly and gave Caroline Victor's rein so he could come and help Jenna down. ‘You'll be very stiff tomorrow, if you haven't ridden for years,' he said quietly, untying Tabitha's rope. ‘Have a good, hot bath as soon as you can, and ask Kitty for some liniment. She's got a really good one for sore muscles.'

‘Thanks,' she said. He was being kind, and she invested her voice with real gratitude. ‘And thank you for such a lovely ride. I've enjoyed it very much.'

He didn't smile, but searched her face a moment as if making sure she really had enjoyed it. ‘We must do it again,' he said. He hesitated. ‘I'm sorry—'

She waited.
Surely
he wasn't going to apologize for Caroline?

But he didn't. ‘I'm sorry you'll be leaving so soon. There are a lot of good rides round here. And I'd have liked to show you Carbury Sands.'

‘Is that “sands” as in “by the sea”? I've never ridden on a beach,' she said, as encouragingly as she dared.

‘Yes. But it's too far for a normal hack. You have to make it an all-day ride, or box the horses over. I usually box over. It's good for the horses' legs to sea-bathe. I suppose—?'

Caroline coughed meaningfully. He abandoned this line of thought and said briskly, ‘Tell Kitty I got you back in one piece,' and turned away.

Jenna watched while he took back Victor's reins, and managed to mount neatly while holding Tabitha's rope as well. He nodded farewell, Caroline gave her a tight kind of smile, and the three horses clattered out of the yard.

Almost instantly, Bill was beside her. ‘So she found you?'

‘Caroline?' Jenna said in surprise. ‘How did you know about her?'

‘She came here looking for you. I guessed he'd take the tracks to Chidding, because it's a safe ride and he didn't know if you were any good.'

‘The minx! She pretended it was coincidence, meeting us,' Jenna said.

He looked down at her. ‘Don't get in between them,' he said seriously. ‘She's not one to be taken lightly.'

‘I don't want to take her any way,' Jenna said. ‘And I've no interest in Xander. Don't worry.'

He nodded, patted her shoulder, and then smiled. ‘You'll be stiff as a board tomorrow,' he said.

‘Turpitude has its own reward,' she said, smiling back, and started for the house. Even standing still those few moments had stiffened her up. Bloody hell! Never mind tomorrow, she'd be lucky to get up the stairs tonight.

Kitty wanted to know all about it.

‘Do you ride?' Jenna asked.

‘Oh, I used to. I used to love it. I had my own horse in Kenya. And I used to exercise racehorses when we were in Hong Kong. But I'm too old now. Still, I love to see them, and talk about them. I want every detail. How did you like Tabitha?'

They ate in the conservatory and had the shepherd's pie with peas and baby carrots – ‘Thinnings,' Kitty said – and Jenna told her about the ride in as much detail as she wanted, and the pub stop in Chidding.

‘Oh, I'm glad he took you there. The Hart In Hand is a nice little place. I haven't been there for a while, but they used to do good pub grub. Xander lives just nearby.'

‘Yes, he told me that. In a horrid little cottage, apparently.'

‘Not horrid, really, just rather basic and, well, comfortless. It's a simple one-up-one-down labourer's cottage – quite picturesque in its way, stone, with a thatched roof, and roses climbing over it – but it strikes me as cold and damp and too dark inside – those little windows! I'm not a cottage person, really. I like high ceilings and big windows. And the bathroom's in a lean-to at the back and the kitchen in another. Rather primitive. It could be nice – or nice-ish, anyway – with some money spent on it, but he won't put a penny into it.'

‘He said he doesn't care about comfort,' Jenna said.

‘Oh dear, did he? I'm afraid he's been rather stern and self-punishing since he broke up with Stephanie. They'd been saving for ages for a house, and when they split up he insisted on dividing the money evenly, though I'm sure he'd put in much more than her. All he could afford after that was Ford Cottage. Can you reach the wine? Do refill our glasses, won't you?'

‘Perhaps he really doesn't mind, though,' Jenna said hopefully. ‘Men can be amazingly indifferent to the place they live in. I was rather spoiled, living with an architect, but other boyfriends I've had – well, they might notice if a wall fell out, but nothing much less drastic would impinge on them.'

‘I know what you mean. And perhaps he really doesn't mind. But he was always so tidy and meticulous as a child, and even as a young man. He used to do beautiful watercolours. I have some somewhere – I must get them out and show you.'

‘Watercolours?' Jenna was surprised. ‘We didn't talk about art. We discussed books and films, but we didn't get on to paintings.'

‘I don't think he does it any more,' Kitty said, sipping her claret. ‘This is rather good, isn't it? I'm quite pleased – I chose it myself, and bought two dozen, so it's a good job it turned out all right. Where was I?'

‘Xander doesn't paint any more?'

‘I don't think so. Well, one doesn't do those sorts of things, does one, when one grows up and goes out to work. And he did rather have the – shall we say, lyricism? – knocked out of him.'

‘By Stephanie?'

‘Oh no, before that – by his parents divorcing. He took it rather hard. He was an only child, and they treated him very much like a grown-up, so he was devoted to both of them. But I suppose particularly to his mother. He looks very like her, you know. Well, in fact, there's her portrait in the sitting room, so you can judge for yourself.'

They got up and Kitty led her to a painting on the wall, among many others, of a woman with thick dark wavy hair hanging loose over her shoulders, and a fine, high-cheekboned face that did have a certain look of Xander about it – though her eyes were not blue but very dark. ‘She's lovely,' Jenna said. ‘I can see where he got his good looks.'

‘Well, Geoffrey was handsome, too. But he does look more like Xenia. She was Russian, you know. Well, Russian blood – she was born in England. I sometimes wonder if that's where he gets his melancholy streak. Not that she was melancholy – well, not without cause – but Russians are supposed to be that way, aren't they?'

They went back to their supper. ‘So what happened?' Jenna asked. ‘Why did they divorce?'

‘Oh, the usual thing,' Kitty said sadly. ‘Another woman. I must say I was astonished at the time because they were a devoted couple, and Geoffrey adored her. He was the last person I could imagine wanting anyone else. I think he had one of these moments of madness with a young girl – male menopause they call it nowadays. It didn't last, but it broke Xenia's heart when she found out about it, and even though he apologized and begged her to forgive him, she never could. For years he tried to get back together with her, but she wouldn't have him. That was the Russian temperament coming out, perhaps.'

‘And what happened to Xander?'

‘He stayed with her, of course. Well, he was at school much of the time, but he went to her in school holidays. And I imagine she tried to keep him away from Geoffrey when she could. She was very vengeful. In fact,' she pondered, ‘he didn't really see much of his father until after Xenia's funeral.'

‘She died?'

‘Yes, of cancer. Tragically young.'

‘How very sad,' Jenna said. ‘Poor Xander!' She wondered if it didn't explain a lot.

‘Yes, poor indeed. Fifteen, sixteen is a bad time in a boy's life for an upheaval like that. He ended up losing both parents. He coped remarkably well, but one can see that he must have pushed a lot of things inward.' She stared into the depth of her glass for a moment, and then said briskly, ‘But he wouldn't thank you for pity. He picks himself up and gets on with things, and doesn't feel sorry for himself, so he doesn't want anyone else to feel sorry for him either. But I think, in a way, that's why he's fond of me – as a sort of substitute mother. Well, not that I can be a substitute for poor Xenia, but you know what I mean. I'm the same generation, and I was always
there
. It counts a lot to a child to have someone
there
.'

Jenna nodded. ‘And then,' she added, thinking about it, ‘to have the Stephanie thing on top of that.' Moody, difficult and damaged: however handsome he was, she was glad he was someone else's problem.

‘Yes,' Kitty said. ‘It couldn't have happened more unfortunately. But perhaps he had invested too much in it, you know. It would have been a big responsibility for Stephanie, to live up to expectations of that order. Perhaps in the end she couldn't take it. She was a lovely girl, but – rather ordinary, when it came to it. I think he saw more in her than perhaps was there; and in the end, maybe she realized that too. She ran off with a very ordinary man, so I expect she'll be happy. Of course, that only made it worse for Xander. If he could have seen that his rival was superior to him, he might not have minded so much. He's not,' she added, looking up at Jenna, ‘a man to bear humiliation.'

Jenna thought of Patrick and his blonde in her bed. ‘Which of us is?' she said lightly.

They had just about finished supper when the phone rang. Kitty went to answer it, and came back to say it was for Jenna. The phone was out in the hall, a wonderful old ivory Bakelite job from the 1970s, practically an antique; but if ever a house needed roamer handsets it was this one, Jenna thought as she went out to take the call.

It was – big surprise – Rock. ‘Darling, how are you? Settling in?'

‘The line's crystal clear,' Jenna said. ‘You don't have to shout.'

‘I'm in LA,' Rock said, very slightly lower. ‘Everyone shouts here. The person who gets heard is the person who shouts loudest.'

‘I'm betting you get heard,' Jenna said, grinning.

‘It's my job to. Actors' lives depend on me.'

‘It's so nice to hear from you. An unexpected honour.'

‘Oh, I know, I'm not the best at keeping in touch, but I do think often about all you little ones back home. Big nostalgia trip. Especially you. I played with you instead of a doll, you know.'

‘So what made you call suddenly?'

‘Olly told me about your mission, and I must say I think it's wonderful that you're doing this for Aunty Kitty. Was that her who answered the phone?'

‘Yes – why didn't you talk to her?'

‘I wasn't sure it was her. It might have been the housekeeper or the maid or someone, and that would have been embarrassing. Anyway, I haven't seen her since I was a kid. What would I say to her? But I remember liking her. She used to give me cookies. And Uncle Peter used to do that trick finding a coin behind your ear.'

‘Sure-fire stuff for kids.'

‘Especially when he gives you the coin,' Rock said.

‘So why did the Aged Ps drift apart from them?'

‘Oh, the usual, I expect. Too much to do and too little time. Also they never had any kids, and in my experience people with kids tend to stick with other people who have kids, and vice versa. If you're sprogless, it's a great big bore listening to nanny-horrors and school-horrors and all the rest of it. Greg and I hardly know anyone with kids – except one or two of the big names, who keep their rugrats completely separate. Margie and Anton even have a separate
house
for theirs.'

Jenna loved the way Rock called international movie stars casually by their first names. Oh, the glamour! ‘I thought you were toying with the idea of adopting?' she queried.

‘Did Olly tell you that? He was winding you up. He knows it was totally a publicity thing. Emilia Estragona was trying for one, and she wanted me to do it with her. We got some good column inches out of it, and then I quietly dropped out. Of course, Emilia didn't get one in the end. They're really clamping down over there now, God knows why. Too much shoving from Madge, blast her. Why did she have to go on this African gig? The East Europeans are much more accommodating. You can get all the nice little Romanian babies you want – though I suppose they're not
quite
as camera-cute as the black ones.'

‘Rock, you are a complete moral vacuum!'

‘Hey! If an abandoned kid gets a nice home and an adoring mom, who's the loser? But I'm amazed you believed I'd be into that shtick. You know Greg and I have all we can handle with the doggies. You wouldn't believe what dog walkers charge in LA these days, and vet bills are truly terrifying! Just getting the new one chipped – oh, did Olly tell you we'd got a schnoodle?'

‘Yes, he did mention.'

‘You never saw anything so cute! We called him Smitty – Billy Smith is gonna be his godfather. Did Olly tell you Greg's got him for his new movie, opposite Julia?'

‘You mean Billy Smith, now, not the dog?'

‘Of course not the dog! Though come to think of it . . .' she mused. ‘Julia and Smitty? I love that! I wonder if we could work it in?' She snapped back into brisk mode. ‘But it was a terrific coup getting the part for Billy – and everyone says he's just ready for a big, big break.'

‘I loved him in that political thing on the telly – what was it called?'

‘
Governing Party
? Darling, that's years old! Of course, I forget you don't get stuff over there until it's growing whiskers. You haven't seen
The Room
, I guess?'

‘The hospital drama? No, it's not over here yet, but I've read about it.'

‘It's topping all the charts here, and Billy's huge in it. They've just signed up for a second series, so Greg's thrilled to have got him for
Stay of Execution
. He's just about going to squeeze the movie in before filming starts on
The Room
this autumn.'