More Than You Know (35 page)

“Maddy, you don’t know anyone, do you?”

“Anyone what? Who’s had an abortion? I do, but I wouldn’t recommend it. She’s lucky to be alive.”

“You don’t know anyone who’s had the expensive, nice sort?”

“I’ll think. But Eliza, please, please, won’t you tell Matt? He might be OK about it.”

“He won’t be. He’s hardly likely to say, ‘Darling, that’s fantastic.’ He’s not Jeremy. Not that I’d want to be having a baby with Jeremy, obviously,” she added hastily.

“No,” said Maddy. “No, of course not.”

Maddy did come up with someone. A makeup artist she had worked with quite often, who had just had a “frightfully expensive operation; you know what I mean—worth every penny, though, I have to say: in for just one night, all over next day. You don’t feel a thing. Tell your friend to say Margaret Blake-Smith recommended her. That’s the code. So they know she’s not the police or something. It’ll cost her.”

“He’ll do it!” said Eliza. “Soon as he’s had my test confirmed. They need to be sure it’s genuine, of course. So … towards the end of next week. He’s got some clinic in Surrey, out Dorking way. Oh, Maddy, thank you so much. I just don’t know what I would have done otherwise.”

“I just hope it’s the right advice,” said Maddy gloomily. “How … how do you feel about it now?”

“Oh … just terrifically happy and relieved,” said Eliza.

She certainly wasn’t going to tell Maddy she was having horrible dreams and waking up crying almost every night.

“Louise, have you got any good flats I can look at? Round Pimlico way. Or even Battersea, if it’s right on the river?”

“I’ll have a look. Thinking of moving, are you?”

“No, no,” said Matt hastily, “I wouldn’t give up my pad for anything. No, I’ve got a friend who’s moving to London. But it needs to be really nice, two bedrooms at least, maybe three, and a decent kitchen.”

“Oh, right. Well, I’ll let you know. And you’ll be looking at them for him, will you?”

“Yes. He lives up in the north; he can’t keep coming down here.”

“No, course not.”

Pull the other one, Matt
. But it was nice; he must really care about her if he was prepared to move. He loved that place of his.

Well, so far he’d managed to pull the wool over Eliza’s eyes, Matt reflected. God, she must think he was one hell of a shit, believing that rubbish about taking it slowly. It had shaken him a bit; he’d be losing her if he wasn’t careful. And moved fast. He had felt a bit cautious at the very beginning, of course; but now … now he just wanted to be with her. He really loved her. No other word for it. Just … love.

“Mrs. Clark? Yes, we have your result and it is positive. So Dr. Melrose has asked me to book you in for next Friday. First thing. Please don’t
have anything to eat or drink after midnight, and come just with overnight things and a packet of large sanitary napkins. You’ll be leaving the following morning. Please arrange for someone to collect you; you won’t be able to drive. And please bring the fee in cash. We don’t take cheques.”

Absurdly, the thought of the sanitary napkins was the most upsetting thing.

“Matt, I’ve got to go down to see Mummy and Daddy next weekend. It’s their … their wedding anniversary. I’m going down on Friday night.”

“Oh, OK, fine. I’m not invited then?”

“No … not this time. Sorry.”

“This is great, Louise. He’ll like this. Yes, I’ll take it. Well, what I mean is, I’ll tell him he should take it.”

“Right, fine, OK.”

It was a great flat in one of the big mansion blocks, right near the river, opposite Battersea Park. A big sunny sitting room, which would take a dining table easily as well, a large kitchen that needed modernizing, of course, and two large bedrooms and one tiny one that would do for a study. Eliza would love it.

He’d hoped to show it to her that weekend, but she was away. Well, Monday would do. She could go on thinking he was a shit for a couple more days. It would be all the nicer a surprise when she found he wasn’t. He might even do something really romantic, like get some flowers in, put them in a big vase on the sitting room windowsill, and put some champagne in the antique fridge. That was the sort of thing she’d really appreciate.

“Eliza, I still think you ought to tell Matt.”

“Maddy, for God’s sake, shut up about it.”

“But he might surprise you.”

“Matt couldn’t surprise me, Maddy. Not if he tried for all eternity. I know him too well. Much too well.”

“I think that flat’s for him, Miss Mullen. Him and Miss Clark.”

“Now, what makes you think that, Jenny?”

“I heard him asking her if she was free on Monday evening and then ordering some flowers to be delivered to it. He wouldn’t do that for some man from Yorkshire, would he?”

“Probably not. Nor from anywhere else. Anyway, it’s to be a complete surprise, Jenny, and even I’m not supposed to know or have guessed, so don’t say anything about it at all, will you?”

“Of course not, Miss Mullen.”

OK, this time tomorrow it would be over. Just twenty-four hours more to go. It helped that she still felt completely normal. Not sick at all, not even especially tired. She was obviously a natural at it. At pregnancy.
Oh, God
. She wished she didn’t keep crying …