A Winter Affair (12 page)

‘No,' he said, ‘just three of them, two men and a young woman.' He didn't add that he wondered why that beautiful woman was engaged to such a morose man. He had written their names down and memorized them. Some secretary had made the booking for Mr and Mrs Collins, their son and daughter-in-law; another relative whom he guessed was Jerry, and Travis the colleague. The young woman added at the last minute was the mysterious Gaby Jenson.

‘The others will be here with Theo soon and I expect they'd like tea' He regarded Eloise's mince pies with dismay. They probably tasted delicious but their rather battered appearance was off-putting and they would probably need to be eaten with a spoon. He turned to Vera, ‘That's tea for seven, please, Vera.'

‘Something to eat?' Eloise asked, her face anxious.

He eyed the mince pies doubtfully, ‘Let's send in those biscuits and the cake.'

‘I know these look a bit messy,' Eloise said sadly, ‘I think I put too much fruit in and it sort of exploded while they was cooking.'

‘They taste good though,' Vera said, ‘and they are home-made, much better than bought pies.'

‘I'm sure they are, but we'll have them later,' Lawrence said, Aurelia's warning of the amateurism of home-cooked food compared to the sophisticated, well-presented dishes this sort of guest expected, nudging painfully at him. He picked up the tray of plates, the cake and biscuits and made for the door, telling Vera to bring enough cups and plates for the rest of the party and a pot of tea.

Vera had just brought in the tea and was pouring it out when the rest of the party arrived with Theo; she stayed in the room, fussing round with cake and biscuits, surreptitiously inspecting everyone. He hadn't confided his fears to her, but he knew how loyal Vera was and how she would fight for Jacaranda's future with all she had, not only to keep her own job but also because she was so grateful to him for rescuing her from a life of virtual slavery and paying her a decent wage which restored her dignity.

Debra Collins was also clad in furs, an elegant woman he guessed to be in her sixties. She glanced contemptuously towards Gaby who barely acknowledged her. Her husband, Ken, was friendlier and threw Gaby a warm, rather lecherous look, causing his wife to glare at him before she sat down on the sofa and began to talk earnestly to Jerry. Their son, Radley, was a rather effeminate-looking man, though he had his mother's good looks, his hair still glossy black while his mother's, though obviously tinted, was now a paler brown. His wife, Pippa, with pretty doll-like features and a cloud of chestnut hair, hovered uncertainly on the threshold, causing her mother-in-law to say brusquely. ‘Do sit down, dear, and stop hovering. It's getting on my nerves.'

Lawrence watched Vera assessing them as she handed round cups of tea and the cake and biscuits. Theo having done his duty in delivering the guests had disappeared. He hoped he was taking their luggage upstairs but suspected he had gone to the kitchen to see if there was anything to eat as he'd missed lunch. He'd go there himself in a minute and see that Theo took the luggage upstairs, and when the guests went to their rooms, he must help him move the tree in to the corner of the living room.

He surveyed the party. It was obvious that Debra was the dominant person here. He wondered if she worked, was responsible for their wealth or was just another wife, perhaps once a trophy one, keeping her worker husband in order and spending his money.

He thought it would be prudent to introduce Eloise now, she could tell them what she planned for dinner and ask if there were any special requests. He put the idea to them and Debra said that would be a good idea. Ken, her husband, asked to see the wine list.

Vera went back to the kitchen to refill the teapot and after a few minutes Lawrence followed her. He could hear the soft drone of their voices, but the minute he entered, Vera stopped talking.

Theo, not caring what the mince pies looked like, was busily eating them. He looked up when Lawrence came in. ‘They're delicious, and I haven't had any lunch,' he said as if to explain his hunger.

‘You need to take their luggage to their rooms and then we must get the tree in the living room, it can't stay in the hall.'

‘I will in a sec when I've finished this pie,' Theo said. He lowered his voice, ‘Vera says one of the women is a prostitute… a sex worker.'

‘Vera, what do you mean?' Lawrence turned to her in horror, not only was he in danger of getting a black mark at the agency if these clients complained about the chalet not being up to scratch, but Vera was now insulting them.

Vera, guessing his thoughts, protested, ‘I won't say it to them, but I know. That young woman she is high-class, I have seen it before, these men, they bring this kind of girl with them.'

He'd heard the stories, there was even a place here called Cocaine Castle where all sorts was said to go on, but so far he'd never had anything like that here, not that he knew of anyway.

‘You must not talk about such things, Vera. She is Mr Simpson's fiancée.' But even as he said it, he felt cold. What if Vera was right, would he have to turn a blind eye? No, that would be too much, and yet what was he to do? If he questioned these guests about it, they would no doubt complain to the agency, even leave and demand their money back, and yet nor did he want Theo to be exposed to such behaviour, or set such a precedent for Jacaranda's future. These mega-rich people could buy anything – or anyone – they chose, but Theo, he didn't want him to be among such people, people who bought and sold others for their greedy pleasure.

Theo appeared to be unperturbed, shoving another mince pie into his mouth before going to collect the luggage and taking it upstairs.

‘You are not to mention such a thing again, Vera,' he repeated sharply. ‘Now, Eloise, please come and let me introduce you to the guests and bring with you the menus in case there are any allergies or whatever, though I did ask them to let me know if there was anything when they booked. I'll introduce you and then I'll go and fetch the wine list.'

‘OK,' Eloise said reluctantly, going to the sink to rinse her hands.

He wanted to say something to boost her morale, but he felt as nervous as she did, worried that these people would demand culinary skills from her she did not possess. They walked down the passage in silence, Eloise following slowly behind him to the living room. They could hear the chatter of the guests, describing their journey out here, each one trying to outdo the other.

He waited at the door for Eloise to join him, turned and put his hand gently on her shoulder to guide her into the room before him, to give her courage. There was a sudden silence as they all saw her and he introduced her, ‘This is Eloise Brandon our… chef, who will be…'

Before he could finish, Gaby shrieked, ‘Oh, Mrs B, what a laugh, are you here doing the cooking? Are Kit and Lizzie here too?'

Eloise stared at Gaby, Vera's words drilling into her. Gaby, a prostitute, surely not, she must be mistaken. It must be a language mix-up; there were many words that described a young and beautiful girlfriend of a rich, and not very attractive man, who was sitting close to her, his hand on her leg.

Gaby was a year or so older than her twins and used to live in the same street as they did until her father died and she, her mother and her three younger brothers had moved away, struggling to make ends meet in London. Gaby, Kit and Lizzie often went on the bus to school together, and later, Eloise heard that Gaby had got into Oxford, or was it Cambridge, she couldn't remember, but she was a bright girl and surely destined for greater things than being a rich man's plaything. Vera must have got it wrong.

‘Lovely to see you, Gaby,' she said, as Vera whisked past her with a fresh pot of tea and an inscrutable expression.

How pretty Gaby was, fresh-faced and shining eyes, her lips now clamped together to hold back laughter. She almost felt like laughing at the realization that one of the terrifying guests that could make or break Jacaranda's future was this young woman, one-time friend of her twins. Perhaps they wouldn't be so demanding to cook for after all.

‘So you know each other?' The older woman threw Eloise a look of contempt.as if by knowing her she was somehow complicit with Gaby's relationship with her nephew. She was swathed in a lilac cashmere shawl and seated on the edge of the sofa as though something nasty might be hidden in the depth of it and could spring out and bite her.

Eloise held her gaze. She'd known Gaby since she was eight. ‘Yes we do. What a wonderful surprise that you're here, Gaby. I hope we have time to catch up.' Eloise was amazed to see her, then catching Lawrence's stern eye, she went on, ‘I've come with the menu for tonight's dinner to make sure it suits everyone.'

‘I'll get the wine list,' Lawrence escaped.

Apart from Debra saying she never touched fat or white sugar – though she had just eaten a large slice of cake with vanilla butter cream icing with relish – there were, to her surprise, no complaints about the dinner menu and Eloise thankfully went back to the kitchen.

Soon she heard the guests clump up to their rooms. Lawrence remained out of sight, and Vera, who'd also been out of the room, now appeared with the tea things and began to wash them up. Neither woman spoke for a while, then Eloise, not wanting to offend Vera if she'd inadvertently used the wrong word to describe Gaby, said quietly, hoping no one would overhear them, ‘What did you mean, Vera… about… prostitutes?'

Vera came closer to her, watching her spread fruit cream between the baby macaroons she'd made in various soft colours to go with the fruit compote for supper – she left some plain as a token for Debra, who she suspected wouldn't be able to resist them.

‘I don't tell lies,' Vera said as though she'd been accused of a major crime. ‘You should see what I have seen in places I've worked. Some of these girls are very intelligent, far more intelligent than the men they go with. To train for a good job, you need university and it is expensive, and not always possible to pay for. If they are pretty like that girl, and find a rich man to pay, it is better than cleaning, working all hours like me… until Lawrence rescued me,' she said, making Eloise feel ashamed that she had never been so desperate that she'd been forced to sink to such depths. Gaby's father had died young, leaving them with little money – was Gaby giving out sex to pay her tuition fees? Could she really be engaged to that dreary-looking man? Her own children came to mind. It would be a struggle to get them both through uni but the thought they'd ever have to succumb to such things filled her with fear.

Vera said, ‘Those men in there look quite harmless and you know many are very lonely and all they want is someone to talk to, keep them company.' She laughed hoarsely, ‘I do not judge these girls, and that Gaby doesn't look kept down, there are worse things than having sex with someone who is kind. You do what you do to get what you need.'

‘I suppose so.' Eloise felt humbled with Vera's explanation. In many ways she'd been lucky. She may have lost the love of her life when Harvey had left her but she'd had a safe, comfortable life. She hoped she'd be able to have a heart-to-heart with Gaby, make sure she was happy and was not being used, though if Vera was right, Gaby could be the one who was using that morose young man to pay her university fees, though she hoped things were not that desperate for her.

When the guests had gone up to their rooms to unpack, Theo and Lawrence – with Bert, who'd escaped from his den downstairs, jumping around barking with excitement – hauled the tree into the living room, took it out of the netting and set it up on its stand in the corner of the room. It was a beautiful tree, the fresh scent of the pine filling the room, its branches stretching out, begging, Eloise thought fancifully, to be decorated, and she fetched the box she'd found in the wardrobe and showed the decorations to Lawrence and Theo.

‘I remember these when I stayed here once for Christmas, when I was about ten. They are so pretty. Have we time to put them on now?' She unwrapped a delicate angel and then a shining ball with a coloured pattern sunk into the centre of it, and a stunning egg covered in glowing beads like something by Fabergé. ‘I remember these, Maddy made them, she blew the eggs and painted and decorated them.' Eloise recalled Maddy telling her how she made them. She hung it carefully.

Theo exclaimed in delight, ‘They're fab, perhaps there are some more.' He dug his hands into the box.as if he was doing a lucky dip. ‘Look at this glittery tiger and this elephant, can't think what they have to do with Christmas, but hey… what's it matter?' He hung them both on the tree, his face flushed with delight like a small boy, enchanted, before delving into the box again to find more decorations and picking out another egg, which he hung reverently on a branch. Lawrence watched them in silence.

‘Don't you like them?' She turned to him, smiling, ‘Or are you worried about the dinner? It's all fine, I'll go back to it in a few minutes.'

‘No… it's not that… it's just…' He turned to Theo who was excitedly unwrapping more decorations from the box, exclaiming at each new treasure he found.

‘Mum bought this one, I remember that.' Theo took out a large opaque ball with a glittering snow scene inside. ‘Great to see it again, a little bit of her for Christmas.' He hung it carefully on the tree.

His mother? Eloise wondered where she was,
who
she was, but Theo seemed more happy than sad to be reminded of her and she felt glad he'd found a small memento of her for Christmas.

Lawrence said, ‘You were very young then, I'm surprised you remember it at all. But you know Aurelia does the decorations, Theo. She came to do it earlier but the tree hadn't arrived – she's coming to do it tomorrow.'

Eloise dropped the golden bell she was unwrapping back into the box. Of course, it would be Aurelia. She seemed to have far more than a foothold in Jacaranda. A whole leg, a shapely hip, her whole self. Aurelia was well on her way to getting her hands on Jacaranda and so too Lawrence. What could Eloise do? She was only here until after Christmas and then would go home and Aurelia could saunter in unchecked.