Village Gossip (22 page)

Harriet broke the spell by walking towards her. Assuming the worst, she said, ‘Of course you did. We’re all so very, very sorry about Jeremy. Such a great loss for you … and for us. Look, come and sit down here.’

Venetia shook her head. Looking directly at Hugo she said quite steadily, given the circumstances, ‘From this day forward I shall not be the Venetia everyone’s always known. I regret deeply all the things I’ve done which have caused harm, and from now on things will be very different because, hopefully, I’ve been given a second chance. I may have been a … tart, like Don said, but not any more.

‘My Jeremy’s not dead, you know.’ An audible sigh of relief went round the room. ‘I proposed to him tonight. I don’t know if he realised what I was saying, I hope he did. I hope it gives him the strength to keep on fighting because I want him to live. It’s still touch and go, you see.’ Venetia half lifted her hand in a sad farewell. ‘Goodnight. God bless.’

No one spoke for a while after the door closed behind her. Peter’s first concern was Caroline. He looked down at her and knew he’d never seen her so distressed. She visibly trembled. Her eyes were closed. Sweat beaded her top lip. Her hands were clenched so tightly the knuckles were white. Peter didn’t know what to say or what to do. One wrong move and he could blow it for ever.

The noise caused Caroline to open her eyes. She looked up at Peter and said softly, ‘Please take me home in as dignified a manner as possible.’

‘There’s just one question I want to ask you. Did you know he was seeing Venetia?’

Peter shook his head. ‘Not until yesterday when something Venetia said at the hospital made me think he just might, you know …’

‘Because if you’d known and said nothing …’

‘I truly didn’t know.’

‘It wasn’t news to everyone else. They all knew, I could tell from their faces.’

‘Apparently so. Here, drink this.’ He handed her a small brandy. ‘You need it.’

Caroline placed the glass on the coffee table. ‘Not now, I need a clear head. I never thought it would be Don Wright who would cut me down to size.’

‘It’s been a night of surprises.’

‘You can say that again. What I can’t understand is why I never guessed, why a grown woman like me, well experienced in dealing with people from all walks of life, never realised. Not a glimmer. Not a hint.’

‘He’s a very complex character.’

‘I can’t believe he didn’t mean what he said to me. He can’t have done, can he?’

‘I think he did at the time he said it.’

She looked up hopefully. ‘You think he did?’

‘Oh yes.’

‘I see. Can I be honest?’

‘What else?’

‘I know.’

‘Every moment to be treasured. It was gloriously reckless. Miraculous. Enchanting. He cast a spell over me.’

Peter knelt on the hearthrug to put himself on a level with her.

‘Now, damn him, all that fine, uplifting love is smashed to smithereens. All those wonderful times ground under his heel, like the finest crystal, shattered and never to be, no more.’

She sat quite still for a moment just looking at Peter, remembering gratefully how, despite her crying need for him, she’d told Hugo she couldn’t in all conscience sleep with him until she’d definitely left Peter. At least she didn’t have that stumbling-block to face. Then she thought of Hugo and how he’d captivated her and she asked pleadingly, ‘It was true what Don said, was it? About Venetia? It wasn’t just him being drunk for the first time in his life?’

‘Judging by Hugo’s face it was true.’

‘Damn! Damn! Damn! How could he do it to me? How could he?’

‘I’m sure that when he was with you he did love you.’

‘If he did, how could he go from me to her?’

‘Because he’s several people all at once, and all of them crave adoration. It feeds his genius, you see.’

The door bell rang.

Caroline’s eyes were wide with pain as she begged, ‘Peter! Don’t answer it.’

‘I must. It could be someone in need of help.’

‘Not at this time of night.’

The bell rang again. Peter stood up.

‘Please don’t answer it.’

They heard Willie coming down the stairs, complaining.

‘Oh, you’re back, sir. Thought it was you forgotten your key. Will you see who it is?’

For the first time in his ministry Peter decided to ignore what might be a call for his help. ‘No. Ignore it. Go back to bed, it’s half past one. Whoever it is can wait till tomorrow. Thank you.’

Willie turned back and climbed the stairs. Peter went to the sitting room window and moved the curtain slightly so he could see clearly. He could just make out Hugo’s silhouette walking away down the road back to Jimbo’s. ‘Whoever it is has gone away.’

‘It would be him coming to apologise. Full of remorse. I can’t bear to take any more of his sweet talk. Never any more of it. I must have been the only one completely taken in by it. Perhaps I needed to be taken in, needed to believe he loved me. It was so … let’s face it, it was so flattering. It inflated my ego, boosted my morale, gave me such a kick. What a fool I’ve been!’

Peter shook his head. ‘Don’t, don’t. You’re being too hard on yourself.’

‘Not hard enough. To think I nearly threw everything away, everything … You. Alex. Beth. When I think of their distress if I’d gone, I can hardly believe I could even
think
of putting their happiness in such jeopardy.’ She was looking down at her hands, twisting them together back and forth in her lap when she said this, so she didn’t see the searing pain in Peter’s face.

She raised her eyes and looked straight at him. ‘Because of my job I thought I knew the human race, but I don’t. I’m an amateur, a complete amateur. You’re streets ahead of me in that. I’ve made an utter fool of myself. I wish he’d never come here. The damage he’s done!’

‘He’s done some good too, you know.’

‘He’s made Venetia, for one, think about herself and her lifestyle and made her put Jeremy first. He’s brought Mrs Jones to heel; she had far too much pride, far too much self-importance. Mr Fitch has been humbled and about time, too: he’s almost sick with worry about Jeremy. Vera’s struck out for a better life for herself all because of her disappointment over the costumes. Don has learned Vera’s value to him, to the extent that he is most probably going to do as she wants. People working on the estate have had a salutary lesson, which was sorely needed, about appropriating estate property. I’m also completely certain that Sylvia will be back. It might take a week or so, but she will. And when she is back, your regard for each other will be strengthened not diminished. And look at the cast of the play! Who would have thought that Rhett and Neville could act like they did? Superbly too! Their lives will never be the same again. So, in a way, the village is a better place for him having been here.’ He smiled at her, one of his gentle encouraging smiles: full of strength and support.

She was silent for a while, then raised her eyes to his, and with a voice clearly at breaking point, asked, ‘How can you ever want me back?’ Having dared to ask the question uppermost in her mind Caroline began to cry. It was like a storm breaking. Peter daren’t even touch her in case his embrace would be unwelcome, so he sat on the rug waiting. She howled like an injured animal caught in a trap, desperate with pain, and it cut his heart to pieces, but he knew he must wait for her; for her to show her need of him. Wait and wait for her.

He heard Willie creeping down the stairs. He came to stand in the doorway, clutching his clothes, and signalled he was going home for the rest of the night. Peter nodded. ‘Goodnight and thanks. See you in the morning.’

‘I know. I know.’

It was fully ten minutes before Caroline held out her arms and begged him to hold her. The time he’d sat waiting for her to ask for his help was the most tortured he had ever known.

‘Oh Peter! I’m so sorry! Can you ever forgive me for what I’ve done to you?’

‘There’s nothing to forgive.’

‘Where would I be without you?’

‘My darling! You won’t ever need to be without me.’