Wicked Pleasures (30 page)

She went for a walk on her own, into the woods, savouring the happiness, the relief, the certainty of pleasure that lay ahead. Cambridge! Freedom, adulthood, endless endless fun; and at the end of that, her heritage, at Praegers: it was almost too much, she thought, she was too blessed. She didn’t deserve it. Something had to go wrong.

It certainly didn’t go wrong on Nantucket. She went determined to accomplish the one thing that still seemed to her outstanding: the loss of her virginity; and she accomplished it in the bottom of a sailing boat a mile out to sea one afternoon, with the enthusiastic cooperation of her sailing instructor. She had heard so often that the first time was painful and disappointing; for Charlotte it was neither. She lay there, afterwards, her body almost surprised with pleasure, and laughed for joy; the sailing instructor, whose name was Beau Fraser and who wasn’t really a sailing instructor but a law student at Pittsburgh, looked down at her and smiled and asked her if it really had been the first time, he would never have believed it, and most people didn’t come once the first time, never mind twice. He was just about to try to accomplish what he called (rather wittily, Charlotte thought) a third coming, when the wind suddenly got up, and he had to see to the boat; sitting on the tiny foredeck, struggling to put on her bikini, she slipped and fell into the water. Beau Fraser hauled her back in, but the bikini was lost; she arrived back at the landing stage of the sailing club with nothing on but her life jacket. Fortunately the only person around was Baby, who cast his eyes over her slightly eccentric dress and without saying a word gave her a huge grin, removed his linen jacket and put it round her.

‘Sir Walter Raleigh lives on, you see,’ he said, ‘better come inside quickly and borrow something, your grandfather’s coming along to pick you up and give you tea.’

Charlotte had always been very fond of Baby; from then on, she would have died for him.

She would also from then on, or certainly until she left Nantucket, have died
for Beau Fraser; every day they went sailing and every day he made love to her. She could not have enough of him; it was as if she had been starved all her life and now at last she was able to eat. She couldn’t think of anything else, in those weeks; she woke up, her body already excited, anticipating the pleasures that lay ahead of it; she spent the mornings trying to concentrate on golf with Fred or tennis with Baby, or trying to crack Freddy’s icy reserve, chattering determinedly to him through breakfast, while all she could think of was Beau Fraser’s infinitely skilled mouth and hands, working on her body, the growth and heat of her hunger for him, and the infinitely variable, infinitely reliable pleasure as he entered her, moved within her, and her body welcomed him, and rose and fell and shook with passion. She lived in terror of their afternoons being disturbed, interrupted in some way; she would sit at lunch, uncharacteristically silent, ignoring the family discussions and plans about picnics, riding, barbecues.

The last week they were there Alexander and Virginia arrived. They were clearly not very happy and seemed to be determined to annoy one another as much as possible. Alexander as usual spent a lot of time on his own, went to bed early and refused to join in all the family games; the only person he would do anything with at all was Georgina, whom he took cycling and swimming a great deal, so that she was removed from the family group as well. He called her Georgie a lot in front of Virginia, which always annoyed her, and which he never did at home; he also refused to take seriously Baby’s report that Max had been necking, as Baby put it, with Melissa in the summer house, and his demand that Alexander should chastise Max.

‘For God’s sake, Baby, they’re children. What do you think can happen?’

Baby said that wasn’t the point, and Alexander said he couldn’t see any other and walked out of the room; the subject was not raised again. Charlotte had a sneaking sympathy with Baby’s point of view; she felt her father was being insensitive. Which was extremely unlike him.

After four days, Virginia left again; she had a client to see in New York, who had asked her to do his beach house on Florida Key West; she had done his apartment at the Sherry Netherland, in what she described as French provincial style.

‘I cannot imagine how anything French provincial could sit in that brash heap of a hotel,’ said Alexander lightly. ‘Georgie, don’t eat so fast, anyone would think you hadn’t been fed for a year.’

‘Imagination was never your strong point,’ said Virginia. ‘And don’t call her Georgie.’

She was in particularly tetchy mood; even Max had to admit it was better without her.

Alexander took the children back to England alone; Virginia had gone to Key West. She had called Nantucket to say she would be anything up to two weeks.

‘It won’t matter, will it?’ she said to Charlotte. ‘Max and Georgina will be at school, and you’ll be off to university. I won’t be missed.’

‘You will,’ said Charlotte, ‘but we’re used to it.’ She put the phone down without even saying goodbye.

Left on her own, with a month to kill before she went up to Cambridge, Charlotte was bored and lonely. She did some reading, and she rode a lot, but she missed Beau unbearably, and she missed her brother and sister as well. Alexander was busy with the estate, distracted; she sought other friends, but found them unsatisfactory. She was just thinking of going back to the States to see her mother and do some groundwork on the bank when Toby Lavenham rang.

‘Charlotte! Hi, how was your summer?’

‘Oh it was fine. How was yours?’

‘Excellent.’

She saw him almost every holidays, but they had never resumed their relationship; the opportunity had not presented itself at first and then he had had a relationship at Oxford which Joanna had said was serious. ‘But he still does hold a bit of a torch for you, Charlotte. I wouldn’t be surprised if he comes back to you after all. Don’t despair!’

Charlotte didn’t say she was extremely far from despair; Joanna adored her brother.

He sounded pompous and stiff after Beau; she could hardly bear to talk to him. ‘Charlotte, I’m down this weekend, with my parents. Could I come over and see you?’

‘Of course. Any time.’ She sounded bored, uninterested.

‘Well – I wondered if you’d like to have dinner on Saturday? In Marlborough somewhere? Would that amuse you?’

‘Oh – yes. Yes, that’d be really nice.’ Come on, Charlotte, she thought, make an effort. He can’t help not being Beau.

‘OK. I’ll call for you about six thirty. Then we can have a drive and a drink first.’

‘Fine. Bye, Toby.’

Oh well, it would be better than dinner with Nanny.

Somewhat perversely, Charlotte went to considerable trouble to look nice for Toby. She wanted to show him that she was now a grown, fully mature woman. Not a schoolgirl.

She wore a black jersey dress that clung to her body, buttoned right through from neck to hem; she left several of the top buttons undone, and most of the bottom ones, so that when she sat down a great deal of leg was revealed. Charlotte’s legs could not compete with Georgina’s but they were shapely nonetheless. She had lost quite a lot of weight, she thought happily; her summer with Beau had done more for her than show her the delights of sex. She had had a lot of difficulty eating dinner at night, after her rapturous afternoons, and she had been so strung up at lunchtime anticipating them, she hadn’t been able to eat then either. It would probably all go back on now, she thought ruefully.

She put on a lot of eye make-up, brushed her dark hair rather wildly back
from her face, sprayed herself liberally with Rive Gauche, and went down to meet Toby feeling rather pleased with herself. He came towards her smiling, his hands stretched out to take hers. She found herself surprisingly pleased to see him; she had forgotten how good-looking he was, and leant forward and kissed him lightly on the lips.

‘Charlotte! You look gorgeous. I love the hair. Is that how they wear it in Massachusetts?’

‘It’s how I wore it in Massachusetts.’

‘Well I wish I’d been there. Was it fun?’

‘Great fun.’ An image of Beau, stark naked, kneeling above her in the sailing boat, swam suddenly in front of Charlotte’s eyes; she smiled rather weakly at Toby.

‘Good. Well, shall we go? Or is your father about? I’d like to say hallo to him.’

‘No, he’s out on the estate somewhere,’ said Charlotte hastily. Alexander didn’t like Toby.

‘Right. Look, like my new wheels?’

The new wheels were an Aston Martin convertible, dark green with whitewall tyres. Charlotte whistled admiringly.

‘It’s gorgeous, Toby. Is that the fruits of your new job in the City?’

‘Well – Father thought I should have a decent car. It’s important, you know. To give a good impression.’

‘I’m sure.’ She smiled at him. Pompous idiot, she thought.

Toby drove her very fast into Marlborough; they stopped halfway at a pub and had a drink. Or several drinks. By the time they reached the restaurant, Charlotte’s head was spinning agreeably.

Toby had ordered a bottle of champagne; it was waiting in an ice bucket by their table.

‘Toby!’ said Charlotte. ‘What largesse.’

‘Yes, well, it seemed a rather special evening to me. We’ve never managed to go out on our own together. And I – well, I was wondering if –’

He looked at her rather seriously; she laughed awkwardly and looked about her. ‘I love this place, don’t you? Oh look, there’s Sarah and Dominic. Let’s go and say hallo.’

They didn’t just say hallo to Sarah and Dominic, Charlotte suggested they joined them. ‘It’d be much more fun. Come on, just get the waiter to bring over two more chairs, and maybe another bottle of bubbly, Toby.’

‘Fine,’ said Toby. He was looking a trifle tight-lipped.

They were all four friends from childhood; Sarah was a plain, rather horsey girl, and Dominic was a hearty, rugger-bugger type who was struggling through his degree course in agriculture at Cirencester with some difficulty. He had always admired Charlotte; she was quite drunk by now and flirting outrageously with both men.

‘Come on, Sarah, now you sit in the corner, and Dom, you go there on the inside. Then Toby can order the waiter about more easily. Oh Dominic, it’s
heaven to see you, you look sort of weather-beaten and sexy – a sort of upper-crust Mellors. Is that what agricultural college does for you? Toby darling, maybe you should have done agriculture instead of going into the City. You wouldn’t be quite so pale and interesting-looking. Now what shall we all have to eat? They’ve got lobster. Oh, you should have seen the lobsters we had on Nantucket. Huge, with those enormous phallic claws. I used to have the most odd dreams afterwards. Now what have you two been doing all summer while I’ve been disporting myself with lobsters? Oh, I’m so glad we all found each other. I’ve been so bored, with everyone away, this is just the best fun in the world.’

By the end of dinner, Toby was in a serious sulk, Sarah was giggling and trying to behave as outrageously and sexily as Charlotte, and Dominic was nodding off over his port. Charlotte decided she wanted to go dancing. Toby could take her to Tramp.

Out in the car, Toby looked at her in silence. Then he started it and moved off at great speed down the main street.

‘Toby, this isn’t right. This isn’t towards London. Turn round.’

‘No, Charlotte. I’m not turning round. You’re in no fit state to go to Tramp. I’m taking you home.’

‘Toby! Are you implying I’m drunk?’

‘No. I’m telling you you’re drunk.’

‘I am not.’ She reached out and stroked the back of his neck. ‘How masterful you are, Toby. How wonderfully masterful. Wasn’t that a fun evening? Don’t you think?’

‘No,’ said Toby. ‘No, I don’t.’

‘Oh. Well that’s a shame.’ She looked at him in silence for a moment, then said, ‘You’re really very good-looking, Toby. Very good-looking.’

‘Thank you.’

‘Do stop the car a minute will you?’

He gave her a startled look and pulled over to the side of the road. Charlotte leant towards him and kissed him hard on the mouth.

‘Gorgeous,’ she said briefly. ‘Gorgeous. Goodness, sex is fun.’

Toby started the car again and drove it very hard out of town; then he swung left and took a turn that said Savernake Forest. Charlotte lay back, a smug expression on her face, half asleep.

She came to herself with a jolt when she felt the car stop. Toby had parked at the end of a rutted lane. He was looking at her with an odd expression.

‘Goodness,’ said Charlotte, sober suddenly, ‘what happened? Did we break down or something, Toby?’

‘No,’ he said. ‘No we didn’t break down. But I might in a minute. Come on, Charlotte, let’s get out.’

‘No. Oh all right. Just for a bit.’

She got out. Toby dragged a rug out of the boot and draped it on the grass verge. He sat down on it. ‘Come on,’ he said, ‘come on, Charlotte. We have a lot of unfinished business to pursue. Don’t we?’

‘Well, I –’

‘Oh, Charlotte, don’t go all coy on me. You know I’ve always fancied you.’

‘Toby! You’ve been having a wild old time, from what I’ve heard.’