Sweet Surrender (The Dysarts)

by Catherine George

  ‘You may ply me with champagne later,’ she assured him.

  ‘Mother says you’re to go up and change, Dad,’ warned Kate.

  ‘Shouldn’t I be doing the carving?’

  ‘All taken care of while you were touring the countryside,’ she assured him.

  ‘Thanks, Dad,’ said Adam gratefully. ‘Gabriel and I slept like logs for a couple of hours.’

  ‘Which was the object of the exercise,’ said his father, on his way to the door. ‘Go on, get your lad dressed in his best bib and tucker. People will be arriving soon.’

  ‘Don’t forget, Kate, leave your hair down,’ ordered Fenny as they went upstairs, then bit her lip. ‘Sorry! I’m bossy, but I mean well.’

  ‘I know. I tried the hat on, by the way. It looks rather good.’

  ‘Which, translated from Kate-speak, means it’s a knockout!’

  Later, in a clinging amber knit dress bought with her Christmas present money, Kate eyed herself critically in the mirror. Her hair, brushed back to reveal her ears, left the emphasis on the eyes she thought of as her best feature. The dark-rimmed irises were translucent hazel shot with gold, and made up today with a drama she normally never bothered with. And probably wouldn’t have bothered with now, she admitted sheepishly, if Alasdair Drummond hadn’t been invited. The sound of cars drawing up outside sent her to the window to see her sister Leonie and her husband, Jonah Savage, greeting Gabriel’s parents, and Kate yanked on tall-heeled brown suede boots and hurried from the room to bang on Fenny’s door.

  ‘Get a move on. Leo’s arrived.’

  After a flurry of hugs and kisses everyone was soon crowded into the kitchen as usual, catching up with each others news as they drank coffee. Gabriel handed her son over to her mother, so that Laura Brett could indulge in extravagant baby-worship as she told her grandson how beautiful he was, and, after contributing her own share, Leo drew Kate aside.

  ‘You look good, love. Great to see that hair down for once. All set to carry out your duties?’

  Kate flicked a hand at Leonie’s violet wool suit. ‘You look pretty gorgeous yourself, Mrs Savage. But I’m a tad nervous about the godmother bit. I just hope I don’t drop my nephew in the font.’

  Jonah Savage hugged Kate and Fenny in turn. ‘Hi there, you gorgeous creatures. Invited anyone along today?’

  ‘If you mean anyone male, no,’ said Kate. ‘Fenny wouldn’t know which one to choose, for a start.’

  ‘I’m not the only one,’ said Fenny, and batted her eyelashes at Jonah. ‘Adam says Kate has two admirers. Two that he knows about, anyway.’

  Kate shot her a startled look, then choked back a laugh. Fenny meant the accountant and the teacher, not the pharmaceutical star and the builder.

  ‘She’s got an older flame than that coming today,’ said Adam, joining them. ‘Remember Alasdair Drummond? He’s back from the States, so I asked him along.’

  Leonie gave her sister a sharp look. ‘You two still in touch, then?’

  Kate shrugged. ‘Not really. I hadn’t heard from him for ages until a couple of days ago.’

  ‘Is he the one you were up at Cambridge with?’ asked Fenny.

  ‘For a while. He was a lofty research fellow and I was a humble first-year when we met.’

  ‘Then how on earth did you manage to get friendly?’ Fenny pulled a face. ‘It wouldn’t happen at my Alma Mater.’

  Kate shrugged. ‘He just happened to be on hand the day I arrived, helped carry my gear, and sort of looked out for me from then on.’

  ‘Her minder. He kept the wolves from her door,’ said Adam with satisfaction.

  Kate made a face at him and went off to talk to Gabriel’s parents, leaving Leonie to gaze after her with troubled eyes.

  ‘I hope that’s not starting up again,’ she murmured.

  ‘What?’ said Fenny curiously.

  Leonie sighed. ‘Kate had a huge crush on Alasdair Drummond in those days.’

  ‘Reciprocated?’

  ‘No. Which worries me.’

  ‘Kate doesn’t look worried.’ Jonah comforted his wife. ‘Besides, that was years ago. She’ll have got over it by this time.’

  Fenny’s eyes gleamed. ‘Or is she still carrying a torch for this Alasdair?’

  ‘I hope not.’ Leonie fixed her brother with an accusing eye. ‘What gave you the bright idea of asking him here today?’

  ‘I’ve been doing some business with him. Besides, I like him.’ Adam shrugged ruefully. ‘And I thought, in my infinite wisdom, that Kate would be pleased. But Gabriel says I’m wrong.’

  Leonie sighed. ‘Oh, well, it’s only for an hour or two. Kate can hardly come to harm with us around.’

  ‘How can she come to any harm?’ said Fenny, mystified. ‘It’s a christening, not an orgy!’

  “‘Out of the mouth of very babes…’” teased Jonah. ‘Your mother’s signalling, Leo. Time to put on your hat.’

  Fenny pulled a face. ‘I’ll be the only one with naked hair.’

  ‘Good thing St Paul can’t be here, then,’ said Jonah. ‘Women’s hair was his weakness. Mine too.’ He leered at his wife. ‘One of them, anyway.’

  ‘Don’t be rude,’ said Fenny, sticking her tongue out at him. ‘If Kate heard you she’d start scraping her hair back in a bun again, so keep your weaknesses to yourself, Jonah Savage.’

  A few minutes later the newest addition to the family was swathed in the shawl that served all Dysart christenings, and his various female relatives were ready and hatted when Fenny dashed to join them, wearing a man’s navy coat and clumpy, platform-soled shoes, her hand held up for attention.

  ‘For pity’s sake tell her she looks great,’ she hissed, then stood aside nonchalantly when Kate appeared in her long, fitted coat of bronze wool, hair rippling in a shining dark cascade down her back, the fake-fur hat set straight over eyes that looked around in question.

  ‘What do you think? Will I do?’

  ‘You look amazing, Kate!’ said Gabriel, handing her son to Adam. ‘Straight out of Doctor Zhivago.’

  ‘The hat looks wonderful on you, darling,’ said Tom Dysart, and exchanged a smile with his wife. ‘I remember my mother in it.’

  ‘You put us all in the shade,’ Leonie assured her sister warmly.

  Adam grinned at Kate over his son’s head. ‘Prepare yourself for a photo call after the ceremony, godmother.’

  ‘When are the godfathers arriving?’ she asked, as everyone made a move.

  ‘Hopefully they’re at the church right now, along with everyone else.’ Adam looked at his watch. ‘At least Jeremy Blyth will be. But punctuality was never one of Charlie’s strong suits.’

  ‘I thought you had a row with Charlie Hawkins,’ said Leonie, as they went out to the cars.

  ‘All in the past,’ Adam told her, smiling at Gabriel.

  ‘Life’s too short to be at odds with old friends,’ agreed his wife. ‘The other godfather is my old friend.’

  ‘The famous Jeremy Blyth, art dealer extraordinaire,’ said Harry Brett, grinning at his daughter. ‘What’s he giving Hal for a present, Gabriel? A Picasso?’

  ‘We should be so lucky!’

  When the family party arrived at the church a small crowd of people were gathered outside in the icy sunshine. Towering above the rest, Alasdair Drummond, superbly dark-suited, was deep in conversation with a similarly formal Charles Hawkins, who had been friends with Adam Dysart since their first day at school. But Jeremy Blyth, a slender man with sleek fair hair, was exquisite and unmistakable in a pearl-grey suit, with bow tie and waistcoat in lilac silk.

  Kate saw Alasdair stop mid-sentence as he caught sight of her, and gave him a brilliant smile as Gabriel hurried to kiss Jeremy Blyth and Charlie before moving on to smile at the man next in line.

  ‘By a process of elimination,’ said Gabriel, ‘you must be Alasdair Drummond. I’m Gabriel Dysart.’

  ‘Then Adam’s a lucky man,’ he assured her. ‘It was good of him to invite me here today.’ />
  ‘Hospitable bloke,’ said Charlie, clapping Adam on the shoulder. ‘May I say you look stunning, Mrs Dysart?’

  ‘As many times as you like,’ Gabriel assured him. ‘Come and meet your godson.’

  After a round of greetings and kisses with friends and neighbours, everyone moved inside for the service. Kate received Henry Thomas Dysart into her arms, and looked up to meet grey eyes regarding her from the background with a heat which brought her lashes down to hide the triumph in her own. Alasdair Drummond might have thought of her in a brotherly way in the past, but that, Kate knew without doubt, was no longer the case. Ignoring a rush of excitement totally unsuitable to her surroundings, she kept her attention firmly on the stirring bundle in her arms and, in unison with Jeremy Blyth and Charlie Hawkins, made the necessary affirmations about her part in young Hal’s future welfare.

  The baby objected so volubly to the holy water there was a ripple of delighted laugher, and Kate, not without trepidation, took him into her arms again and rocked him against her shoulder. Gabriel handed over a pacifier, Kate slid it into the protesting mouth, and instantly there was peace to finish the service and for the photographs outside before the short drive back to Friars Wood.

  Mrs Briggs, with the help of her daughter, had been busy in their absence. When the guests were shown straight into the large, south-facing dining room the table looked magnificent, with the flowers Kate had arranged as centrepiece, and an array of food, hot and cold, flanked by glasses which glittered in the rays from the setting sun, waiting for the champagne Charlie Hawkins, successful wine merchant, had provided as part of his gift to his godson.

  Master Dysart was changed into something more comfortable, then provided with milk administered by Laura Brett, who persuaded Frances Dysart to keep her company on a sofa while the daughters of the house served guests with the celebration meal.

  It was some time before Kate, now minus the hat, had time to talk to Alasdair, but at last she felt obliged to join him on his perch on the ledge in the big square bay window.

  ‘Have you been introduced to everyone?’ she asked.

  ‘Adam saw to that.’ He gave her a look which brought heat to her face. ‘You looked breathtaking in that hat, Kate—straight from a Russian fairy tale.’

  ‘Why, thank you, kind sir,’ she said lightly.

  ‘You should always wear that glorious hair down.’

  ‘Don’t you start! It was OK when I was eighteen, but I’m a big girl now, Alasdair.’

  His soft laughter raised hairs on her spine.

  ‘Not really, Kate. More a pocket Venus!’

  ‘What are you saying to make this delightful creature blush?’ asked Jeremy Blyth, joining them.

  ‘Do sit down,’ said Kate, patting the broad ledge beside her. ‘Alasdair was just paying me a compliment. I think.’

  ‘As well he might, my dear.’ Jeremy shook his head. ‘I wonder if my darling Gabriel had any idea what she had to compete with when she met Adam? You Dysarts are a handsome lot.’

  ‘Including the baby of the family,’ agreed Alasdair, looking across the room to Fenny, who was chattering to Harry Brett and Jonah. ‘That charmer was a gawky little kid when I saw her last.’

  ‘But little girls get bigger every day, dear boy,’ said Jeremy, and turned to Kate. ‘Now then, fellow godparent, at what point should we converge, like the Magi, to present our gifts to the infant?’

  ‘After the cake is cut and everyone is refilled with champagne for the toasts,’ she said promptly.

  ‘Talking of which,’ said Alasdair, getting up, ‘your glass is empty, Kate. Let me get you a refill.’

  ‘Just lemonade, please.’

  ‘Oh, come on, Kate, you must have champagne in honour of your godson,’ he protested.

  ‘Not for me, thanks,’ she said with finality.

  ‘Is your aversion to alcohol in general, my dear?’ asked Jeremy gently after Alasdair left them.

  ‘Not at all. Just champagne—or any kind of wine, really.’ Kate smiled at him, then beckoned to Charlie Hawkins. ‘We hand over the presents after the cake is cut, Charlie. Not that mine will be a surprise. Adam found it for me.’

  ‘Do tell,’ said Jeremy promptly.

  ‘Crystal claret jug—silver-mounted, but empty.’ Kate grinned at Charlie. ‘I’ll come to you for the claret when Hal’s eighteen.’

  ‘I’ll keep you to that, my lovely,’ he promised, and thrust a hand through his red hair. ‘I was over the moon when Adam asked me to be godfather, I can tell you. Never expected it in the circumstances.’

  ‘A more tactful person wouldn’t ask, but I’m famed for my lack of finesse,’ said Jeremy, eyes gleaming. ‘What circumstances, dear boy?’

  ‘Adam and I fell out over a woman a while back—before he met Gabriel,’ confessed Charlie. ‘Stupid mistake on my part. All over now, thankfully. Gabriel persuaded him to let bygones be bygones.’

  ‘Adam didn’t take much persuading—he was only too glad to mend the rift,’ said Kate, and looked up with a smile as Alasdair returned with her glass. ‘Thank you.’

  ‘Unadulterated, I swear,’ he promised her.

  ‘Good,’ Kate got up in response to Leonie’s beckoning hand. ‘If you’ll excuse me, gentlemen, duty calls.’

  ‘Gabriel and Adam are about to cut the cake while Dad and Jonah top up the champagne glasses,’ said Leonie when Kate joined her. She gave her sister a keen look. ‘So. How are things with Alasdair?’

  Kate thought it over. ‘Friendly, I suppose.’

  ‘On your part maybe!’ Leonie’s dark eyes lit with a triumphant gleam. ‘But unless I’m mistaken—which I never am—now you’ve met up again Alasdair feels a whole lot more than friendly towards you, little sister.’

  CHAPTER FOUR

  ADAM made a speech, toasts were drunk to Henry Thomas Dysart, and once the champagne had gone round again, accompanied by slices of the frosted christening cake made by Laura Brett, the baby was put down to kick on a blanket and receive his tributes.

  Kate smiled as everyone gathered round to look on. ‘Adam found the jug for me, so it’s no surprise, but at least I know I’ve got the genuine article.’

  Her father patted her shoulder. ‘Good choice, darling.’

  Charlie Hawkins sighed regretfully. ‘I did not buy these through Dysart’s; it seemed too much of a cheek. But I wish I had now, in case they’re not up to scratch.’

  Adam assured his friend that the set of antique silver wine labels was of impeccable quality. ‘But I bet you paid over the odds for them.’

  ‘No matter,’ said Charlie with dignity, and gave way to Jeremy Blyth, who kissed Gabriel’s hand as he presented her with a large box.

  ‘Such a trial, dear heart,’ he said, ‘buying a present for a Dysart child. I toyed with the idea of a modest little painting, but in the face of his parents’ combined expertise I hadn’t the courage. So I played safe.’ He touched a manicured finger to the sleeping baby’s face. ‘Have fun with it, Henry Thomas Dysart. And may you grow up to be as handsome as your mother.’

  Gabriel’s eyes widened as she took a battered teddy bear from the box. Some of the guests looked taken aback, but Adam shot Jeremy a respectful look as he felt for the button embedded in the bear’s ear.

  ‘A Steiff, no less, and a pretty old one, too.’

  ‘But not frightfully valuable,’ Jeremy assured him. ‘I lusted after one of the limited-edition black bears manufactured when the Titanic went down, but the funds wouldn’t stretch. And if they had you couldn’t have allowed him to play with it.’

  ‘He’ll certainly play with this one,’ Gabriel assured him, and kissed Jeremy’s cheek with affection. ‘Thank you.’

  Alasdair waited until the other guests had handed over their gifts before presenting his, and received an appreciative smile from Adam when Gabriel unwrapped a shallow silver drinking bowl with double handles.

  ‘A Scottish quaich! Very appropriate. Many thanks, Alasdair.’

 
At last, when guests were beginning to leave, the moment arrived that Kate had known all along was unavoidable.

  ‘I want a word in private before I go,’ said Alasdair, drawing her aside.

  It was the last thing Kate wanted, with several interested pairs of eyes turned in their direction, and she made no attempt to hide her reluctance as she led the way to the study. ‘Only for a moment, then. I should be seeing people off.’

  ‘I’m not leaving until you promise to see me again,’ he announced, and stood with his shoulders against the closed door.

  ‘How very masterful. Are you barring my way until I agree?’ she said lightly.

  ‘Yes,’ he returned, not lightly at all.

  ‘Oh, very well. What did you have in mind?’

  ‘Just dinner, and a talk over old times.’

  ‘This week?’

  ‘No, next year,’ he said irritably. ‘Are you always so hard to pin down, Kate Dysart?’

  She shrugged, resigned. ‘All right, Alasdair. Thursday, then. If that suits you.’

  His jaw tightened. ‘I’ll make it suit me. Otherwise you’d probably refuse altogether. I’ll come for you at seven. Where shall we go?’

  ‘Somewhere local, please. I’ll consult Adam.’

  Alasdair moved away from the door. ‘I’ll ring you to see if I need to book. And to make sure you don’t change your mind.’ He shook his head ruefully. ‘You were a lot easier to deal with in the old days, Katharine Dysart.’

  ‘You whistled and I danced,’ she agreed, and went to the door he held open for her. She gave him a cool little smile as she brushed past. ‘But I’ve grown up a bit since then.’

  Kate was in bed that night before she had any peace to reflect on Alasdair’s part in the day. Once the Bretts had gone, and Leonie and Jonah had been waved off shortly afterwards, the rest of the family had talked over the day with satisfaction as they ate a supper of leftovers. But it had been left to Fenny to demand why Alasdair had talked with Kate in private.

  ‘Fenny!’ said Frances in disapproval.

  ‘She only asked what we’re all panting to know,’ said Adam, and eyed Kate expectantly. ‘Are you seeing him again?’