She cast Phil a sly look. “She’s also been away from her lover for a whole two weeks, I’m sure your considerable powers of persuasion will be all that she needs to encourage her to make the right decision. That interview that you gave on the television the other night, that was just a smokescreen, wasn’t it?”
“You know the situation between me and Amanda, Saskia. You shouldn’t need to ask. I married her, and her millions, and gave her a respectable name. What she does in her own time is entirely her own affair. She just likes to have me on a bit of string to wheel out for her adoring public every once in a while. As America’s leading divorce lawyer and barrister to the stars, she can’t afford to wind up in the divorce courts herself, that just wouldn’t be good PR. So long as we are discreet, I’m sure I won’t have any more trouble from Amanda. I just need the opportunity to explain it all properly to Crystal, she wouldn’t listen in LA, she didn’t want to know. But she’ll listen now alright. I’ll kidnap her if I have to, until she’s heard my side of the story,” he added darkly.
Saskia shot him a swift cursory glance, from under her lashes. Was he serious?
His urban mask slipped back into place and he laughed, a smooth and agreeable chuckle. He shook his head, “She fires my blood, Saskia.”
He tapped his temple.“She’s in here, morning, noon and night. I can’t seem to shut her out.”He stamped his feet on the icy ground.
“I should have told her sooner, while we were living together in LA. I had plenty of chances, but every opportunity I got, the timing seemed wrong. I put it off and I procrastinated. I didn’t want to rock the boat, you know, upset the status quo. She shouldn’t have found out like she did though, from prime time TV.” By the time I found out what was going on, it was all outside of my control.” He sounded genuinely remorseful. Saskia frowned, she’d had never seen him so contrite before. She hoped he wasn’t going soft on her. She’d employed him for his balls and determination, she needed a pit bull not a lap dog.
This thing with Crystal had to be resolved quickly now, the fall out was having too much of an impact on everyone.
“I still don’t know where that journalist got her information. I took real care to make sure that no-one knew. Only people I trusted, within the organisation had any idea of what was going on. Amanda never rings me at the office, doesn’t care enough to even want to know where I am most of the time. I unlocked daddy’s fortune for her and I park my shoes under the Sunday dinner table when the family comes over. The rest of the time I can do as I please. What a sham.”
Saskia felt a small twinge of guilt, as she recalled the phone call that she’d made today, not two hours earlier. Then she squared her shoulders and tossed her head. If the latest gamble paid off Phil wouldn’t need a rich wife any more, he’d have enough money of his own, they’d all be rich, him, Crystal and herself. She’d show them, the world was waiting.
Crystal was feeling mentally and physically exhausted. The strain of peering out of a tiny gap cleared in the windscreen, at the bright white vista cast out before her and trying to avoid the worst of the snow which had drifted quite deeply in places, was taking its toll. The concentration needed just to keep the vehicle on the road was immense. As the Land Rover finally made it up over the last hill and chugged along the gravelled drive to the farmhouse, Lolly was waiting for her, outside in the middle of the lawn. It looked like she was putting the finishing touches to a giant six foot high snowman. As the sound of the vehicle drew her attention, she dusted the snow off of her gloves and ran over to meet the car, pushing her hair back out of her face in a purely childish gesture. So much for the elocution lessons and the diet and the posh new clothes, Crystal thought. Lolly would never change.
“All sorted?”Crystal asked, as she switched off the engine and slid down out of the driver’s side to stand down beside the car.
Lolly looked surprised. “No, we were waiting for you,” she replied in all innocence.
Crystal’s blood pressure raised a notch. “What do you mean, waiting for me? I left you a set of instructions, the last time I was over here?”
“Oh, we did those things, mummy and I,” Lolly breezed airily. “It was the other things that we had a problem with.”
“Other things?” Crystal parroted, blankly. “Like what?” she demanded, racking her brains to try and work out what details she might have missed.
Lolly scuffed the toe of her boot in the gravel and snow.“Um, like when the lorry brought in all of the champagne and said they hadn’t been able to deliver the soft drinks because the truck was stuck somewhere between Devon and Newbury, but they weren’t quite sure where, and then the man came with the chocolate fountain and said they were out of chocolate chips in the warehouse because their deliveries hadn’t made it in time either, that we wondered what to do next. So we thought we’d wait for you.”
Crystal looked around at the several sets of tyre marks on the drive and noted the absence of any other vehicles. She asked the question, even though she knew she wouldn’t like the answer. “So where is the drinks truck now?”
“Gone, back to the depot.”
Crystal counted to five. “I see, so what exactly did the man leave? Did he deliver us anything else instead?”
Lolly brightened. “He left us double the quota of champagne though, for the same price, to make up for the inconvenience, and mummy went off down the road to the corner shop and bought up all of their supply of orange squash. We thought we’d make up cordial, you know, like the children drink. She got several bottles of lime and some of lemon and orange too. They had some of those brightly coloured umbrellas that you get in your drink in Marbella and matching straws, so she bought some of those too, thought it might liven things up a bit,” she gushed, nodding her head to confirm the point. Then, “Water is free, it comes out of the tap, so we shouldn’t run out.” She laughed, trying to cheer things up a bit.
“Very industrious,” Crystal murmured, cringing inwardly. How on earth was she going to fob off the landed gentry with orange squash decorated with bendy straws and parasols?
“Did we get any mixers of any kind?” she asked, rather faintly.
“Um, no. There’s always whisky and water though. Don’t suppose it does much for gin or vodka, though.”She frowned.“We thought we did quite well there. Only it was the chocolate fountain that we had the most trouble with.”
Crystal raised her eyes to the heavens. What on earth had they done to the machine? She hoped they hadn’t decided to put hot chocolate in it or something. The large fountain cost a fortune and she’d had to pay a hefty deposit and sign a waiver form to say they would pay for any damage.
“Trouble, Lolly? What trouble did you have with it?”
“Well, the man was going to show us how it worked and everything but because we didn’t have any of the chocolate balls to go in it, he couldn’t show us anything. We have read the book from cover to cover and we still don’t really know how to operate it.”
“Thank heaven for small mercies,” Crystal replied uncharitably, before she had chance to reign in her thoughts.
Lolly looked a bit hurt.
She took her cousin by the shoulder and gave her a big hug, to demonstrate that there were no hard feelings. She laughed, “What I should have said, is, so long as it is still in one piece then that is fine. I’ve used one before and we’ll get there between us.”
“You haven’t put anything in it, have you?” she asked sharply, as another thought came to mind. Knowing Aunt Vera she might just have thought it looked like a giant cake mixer and have batches of fruit cake in it by now, anything was possible.
“No, no,” Lolly replied. “It’s round here by the back door, dad is still trying to connect up the emergency generator at the moment, to put the power back on.”
“What?”Crystal yelled. “Don’t tell me the power is off, please, please don’t tell me that?”
“Um, yes. Since about eight o’clock this morning. Half of Bath is out, didn’t
you know?”
Crystal rubbed her forehead. “No, Lolly, I didn’t. Our power comes from the other direction entirely. We have working electricity.”
She thought fast. Lights, chocolate fountain, heaters and colossal power amps for the band. Her uncle’s emergency generator was never going to run that lot.
“Any idea when the power is likely to come back on?”
“Um no. The phone works off the electricity too, and my mobile is flat. I haven’t had a chance to find out. The man who delivered the flowers thought it might be tomorrow if we’re lucky. They’ll connect up the city first, they always do. Farms and outlying areas are always given the lowest priority. Most are self-sufficient, like us, with our own generators and stuff. Dad thought we might be able to borrow a couple of spares off the neighbours if we need them, though.”
“Good thinking,” Crystal replied.“Where is the generator Lolly? If we start that up in the barn it will drown out the sound of the band, especially if we need to use more than one.”
“Hmm. Hadn’t thought of that,” Lolly stated, quite baldly.“Did think we might have supper by candlelight though, that would certainly cut out the need for so many lights.”
There was a health and safety nightmare, Crystal thought, but wisely kept her opinions to herself. Instead, she went for the practical approach. “Well, it does sound like you’ve been busy here today. Let’s take a look at the progress so far, shall we?”
As they cornered the building, heading for the paddock, Crystal involuntarily closed her eyes, she just couldn’t bear to look. ‘Let’s just hope that there is a tent there’, her more rational mind prompted, whilst her pessimistic side jeered, ‘no hope, not with Aunt Vera and Lolly in control’.
When she did manage to peek out from behind closed eyelids, the scene that awaited her, quite simply took her breath away.
The whole vista was purely and simply, a blanket of dazzling white. A path had been cleared through the snow, to the door of the marquee, the path was lined with outdoor solar lights and the marquee billowed in the centre of the field with its candy striped linings, chosen to match the hunt colours, flowing in the breeze, standing stark and proud against the pure white backdrop. The tent people had done a good job yesterday, she thought as she heaved a sigh of relief.
“We had to clear the snow first thing this morning, before we could do anything else.” Lolly advised. “Tent looks good though, don’t you think? The hunt will be pleased to see their colours displayed like that. I suppose you learned all the fancy stuff while working in LA?”
“Yes.”Crystal smiled. “It’s amazing what a large corporate budget can do, but I did learn a few tricks of the trade. This will be our best ball yet, Lolly. Just you wait and see.”
Lolly glowed with pride. She wanted to show Reginald just what a good corporate wife she would make. This was her very first attempt at showing off her abilities. He thought he was just coming to dinner tonight to meet her mum and dad. She hadn’t told him about her involvement with The Hunt yet either, some city types were a bit sensitive on these matters. She’d told him it was a black tie dinner, so that he would turn up in a suit and then she’d hired him a black and red cape and some fangs so that he could be Count Dracula for the ball. She just knew that once he’d met the Colonel and the Major and some of the other hunt chaps, he’d fit right in.
Now though, as the day wore on, she was getting nervous. She was beginning to question her hasty decision to keep him in the dark. What if he took umbrage at being misled? Had she made a big mistake? Lolly wasn’t too sure. She was so pre-occupied with her own personal concerns, that she failed to see the satisfied gleam in Crystal’s eye as she stepped inside the tent for the first time.
The caterers, the florists, the fitters and her relatives had all done her proud. The inside of the marquee looked sensational, all laid out in pristine order; she could imagine it tonight with the band playing, the waiters serving the food and the diners enjoying the ambiance, all dressed up in their costumes with good feelings and bonhomie riding high. She closed her eyes for a moment. Yes, flickering candlelight would just about work. They needed to work fast though, if they were to lay the tables with nightlights in a way that would be safe as well as practical.
“What do you think?”Lolly asked, cautiously.
“Fabulous,” Crystal replied honestly.“Where’s Aunt Vera? I need to go and say an extra special thank you for making such a huge effort.”
“Over the other side of the barn, checking on the chickens, I expect. We were a bit late getting around to them this morning, what with the comings and goings, and the snow and stuff.”
“Right.” Crystal snapped back into professional mode. “So, we have double rations of champagne for everyone, that should keep most people happy. The champagne won’t get too hot if we stack it outdoors, the snow will act as a natural cold room and if we can come up with a theme for the cordial and the lack of spirits and mixers, then we might just be off the hook. We can say that there’s not a traditional bar tonight due to the weather and most folk will understand, but we have to put something in place to fill the gap. Then there’s the power supply to contend with and the lack of chocolate for the chocolate fountain. Can we put anything else in it, I wonder?”
“I wouldn’t suggest it, if I were you. We’ve got the rugby crowd and the hunt supporters here tonight in full measure, that lot are an explosive combination when you mix them together. They’re excitable enough on the best of days. Mum suggested hot punch, but we thought the fruit might get stuck in the mechanism. What do you think?”
“That’s an absolutely brilliant idea, we don’t have to put lumps of fruit in it at all, we can serve the fruit on the side. Have we got enough red wine? I can call the manufacturers and check, maybe get them to give me a few tips. It works with champagne, so I don’t see why warm wine should be a problem. It will smell really nice if we lace it with cinnamon and orange. Like a kind of mulled wine? That might get rid of some of the orange squash too. We don’t have much time left now though, to get it sorted out. What time are the band due?”
“I asked the flower man to give them a call and let them know the problems we were having. I asked them to get here early so that we could work it out. He didn’t know where Devil’s Bottom was. I hope he managed to follow my instructions and found the right house. He seemed like a nice chap, and he’s got tickets himself for tonight, so I expect he’ll get the message through to them, one way or another.”She glanced over her shoulder, towards the doorway. “Oh look, here comes the chef, probably saw you arrive. They’ve been having problems too.”
“No kidding,” Crystal murmured. Why did the Hunt Ball always fall apart at the last moment? This was the fourth year that she’d been involved with it now, and each one had given her grey hairs. She plastered a professional smile onto her face, and turned to meet the head chef.
She held out her hand. “Hi, Chris. Long time no see? How are you doing? Good to see you back here, and in charge.”She turned on the charm, a bit of flattery worked wonders in her job.
Chris ceased glowering and proffered his hand. He’d always had a soft spot for Crystal and they’d worked together many times in the past.
“Ar’ternoon, ma’am. Glad to see you’ve arrived.”He cast a disparaging glance out over the snowy fields. “Soddin’ weather this is, it be givin’ me problems a’right.”
“Hmm, I’m sure,” Crystal replied, noncommittally. The last thing she needed to do was wind him up any further. “So which bits of the menu are covered and sorted, and which do we have problems with, then?”
“Starter’s fine. I always keep enough staples in, to cover the most obvious disasters, as you well know. Salmon were poached and cooked yesterd’y and it’s cold enough in the van to keep that lot at the right temperature ‘til it needs to be served. Pudding’s not too bad either, we can switch the ice cream bombes and the sorbets for melon balls and fruit salad, ’specially if those posh skewers you ordered are
n’t needed for the chocolate fountain now. But when it comes to the main course, we’re scuppered, unless we can get the power back on.”
“My uncle is working on that now. What time do you need to start?”
Chris sucked at his teeth as he pondered the question. “Most of the preparations is done off site, so there’s only minimal heatin’ and stuff to be done ’ere, as you know. So long as we don’t ’ave to do it by candlelight, you’ve got another hour at most before we need to get started. That smart tent, out back, is really handy, gives us much more space for platin’ up and servin’ out.”
Crystal thought fast.“So what time will you need the power till?”
“Till after the last of the main course is served. Why?”
“We may have to shuffle between the power for the chocolate fountain and auxiliary lighting, the food, and the band, but I think we can just about cover it. Lolly sent a message to the band to ask them to turn up early to work through the problems, so we should be OK. I’ll see if I can rustle up a couple of spare generators in the meantime. Is that OK for you? We’ll go with the menu changes that you have recommended and announce it at the start of dinner. It’s the best that we can do, right now. Keep going, you’re doing an excellent job.”
“Oh, ah. I’m used to that one, especially ’ere. We’ve never ’ad one go right yet, ’ave we?”
“It’s the name of the game Chris, it’s the name of the game. It will all come out right on the night, don’t worry,” Crystal replied, sounding more confident than she felt.
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