The Sweetness of Liberty James (67 page)

After Deirdre had concluded her alcohol- and exhaustion-fuelled
diatribe, Alain calmed her, and Jonathan and Paloma discreetly left them to it. Alain sat next to Deirdre and said, ‘A thousand apologies, but my darling, we are who we are. Liberty isn't doing so badly, is she?' And he gently wiped away the tears coursing down her face, the years of guilt finally finding an outlet.

Claude and Evangeline, having persuaded the CRs to come and stay in St Tropez if they were ever passing through, bade their goodnights, as they were pooped. Everyone understood, and waved and kissed them goodnight in a haze of cigar smoke and post-party tiredness. The long day, and emotionally exhausting evening, had got to everyone.

Savannah and Khalid were sitting cosily together, his hand on her tummy, while they encouraged Cecil and Isabelle to visit as many places as they could. ‘Think of the travelling you will do now that you are well,' said Savannah to a charmed Cecil. ‘And we won't hear of you being in France without staying with us, either in Paris or on the coast. It's lovely for the children to have as much family as possible, as Khalid's dear parents died so young.'

The CRs were feeling as though they had been welcomed out of an empty home into a gregarious, funny, if slightly crazy, family, and they were truly happy for the first time in months. They had always loved their daughter-in-law, and now saw why she was the person they knew. With so much love and friendship around, it was impossible to be selfish or unkind. They, too, were exhausted, though feeling better and less isolated than before, but the threat of Percy throwing them out of their home still hovered like a black cloud over a tiny sail boat in the middle of the ocean.

Bob and J-T were restless to get back to Duck End; they wanted to regale Liberty with ideas of looking for a suitable property to turn into a bed and breakfast business.

Neither couple wanted to retire until the elusive Liberty and Edmund returned. Therefore, the room fell silent as the door
opened slowly. A hand appeared, a left hand. Suddenly, the flickering firelight drew flames from the diamond on the hand's ring finger.

‘Darling!' screamed Deirdre and Savannah in unison, leaping out of their seats, Deirdre as quickly as she could in an alcoholic fug, and Savannah as quickly as she could release herself from Khalid. By the time the two had reached the doorway, Liberty's whole body had entered sheepishly, followed by Edmund, who was also feeling hopeful that Jonathan would approve of his removal of his mother's engagement ring from the safe. They had spoken of it and Jonathan had wished it to him, but Edmund hadn't wanted to wait, and took Liberty to his office to claim her for his own. The ring fitted perfectly, and suited her; elegant, understated, but of the finest quality.

As the women hugged, Jonathan strode over and shook Edmund by the hand before embracing him warmly. ‘About time, and bloody well done!' he exclaimed. Alain was next in line, unable to get close to his daughter, who was being grilled by Paloma, Savannah, J-T and her mother, as to how the proposal took place, so he settled for giving the surprised Edmund a great kiss on both cheeks.

‘I couldn't be more thrilled to welcome you to my family, dear boy,' he said, as he held Edmund's shoulders tightly. ‘Thank you for making my daughter so happy.' And he started to weep.

Oh, Christ!
thought Edmund, never able to stand visible displays of emotion, but he was surprised to find he didn't mind; in fact, he was feeling rather wonderful about it. Since Liberty had accepted his hand in marriage, he seemed to be floating, and didn't think he would mind if the sky fell in, which was lucky, as Cecil and Isabelle had now appeared in front of him, both crying and telling him that he and Liberty deserved every happiness. Jonathan was opening more champagne, and handing round glasses, J-T was asking if he could be bridesmaid this time and Savannah was laughing as she responded, ‘As long as I get to be maid of honour when heavily pregnant, my dear friend will be
depicting the perfect twenty-first-century wedding – although she should probably be a single mum as well!' Glancing at Liberty's suddenly blanched face, Savannah took her hand and whispered, ‘You never know, with Ed it may all work out.'

After the mantel clock chimed two, the party decided that all good things had to come to an end. Liberty and Edmund, who was now becoming accustomed to being embraced, were hugged and kissed over and over, and even Claude and Evangeline had been back down to congratulate them. As the house went to bed and Bob made his way to the car, having offered Deirdre and Alain a lift, Edmund turned to Liberty and said, ‘See you for breakfast, my love.'

Liberty's mouth opened and then shut again quickly. She could see the humour in his eyes. Having been nose to nose with each other all evening, stealing kisses only when sure no one was looking, which of course they were, they had mutually decided to meet tomorrow, rather than have their first night together with everyone aware of what they were up to.

‘Oh, yes, see you tomorrow, unless of course . . .' A wicked gleam appeared in her eye and she quickly ran to the staircase. ‘Bob!' she called ‘Make sure to let Teal out and lock the back door. Sleep well!' And with a giggle she leapt up the stairs two at a time and raced into Edmund's bedroom, which, thankfully, she knew her way to. She had been dreaming of this moment for so many months, and she wasn't going to wait any longer!