The Last Dance

by Fiona McIntosh

  ‘Please don’t think I begrudge you any of this, Stella,’ Georgina assured, cutting into her thoughts. ‘I have more money than I’ll ever need.’

  Stella had to laugh at her candour.

  ‘I’m glad he made amends for how our family treated you.’ Georgina looked at her watch. ‘Speaking of Rex, I can’t believe how the time has flown. I need more time with you; there’s so much more to talk about.’

  She nodded, stood and Georgina followed suit. They walked slowly out of the orchard and up the garden. ‘Promise me again that you will remember me to Grace. Please tell her I would love to speak with her, or write to her . . . perhaps I could visit her at her school?’

  ‘Of course I shall. And maybe next time she and I can come together.’

  Stella’s hopes lifted. ‘Next time? I like the sound of that. Please do persuade her to come as well. Talking together, hugging again, it will help us all heal. Where in Hampshire is home for you?’

  ‘A village called Sonning. Grace’s school is on the East Sussex coast. But Rex is worried that should war come, we’d be vulnerable. He’s talking about sending Grace and myself away, but . . . to where? I don’t want to live alone, raise Grace, and raise our child.’

  ‘Child?’

  ‘Um . . . I’m expecting, Stella. I thought we’d get to all of this so much earlier but then Rex said put women together and they’ll talk forever and still say it’s not enough time.’ She smiled brightly. ‘I’m just eight weeks, so I’m not telling anyone. We had to take our honeymoon late, you see, because of Mother’s passing. She lived long enough to see me married but then we couldn’t go off on a romantic holiday as she was dying. Rex was all right to wait for the honeymoon but that didn’t mean he waited on everything!’ she said, lifting a perfectly shaped eyebrow to make Stella chuckle. ‘Now we’re going to have a wonderful few weeks driving around England. He wanted to take me to Europe but I prefer to be closer to home. Morning sickness is such a killer.’

  Stella nodded. ‘I know. Oh, congratulations, Georgina.’ She hugged her. ‘Listen to me now, why not come here?’

  ‘Pardon?’

  ‘If you need to leave the south, come here. This house is enormous – there are eight bedrooms up there. We use four. Look at the size of this garden: more than enough room for a school of children to play. And perhaps Rex would feel safe having you in Harrogate? Think about it. The offer’s there any time for you, for Grace . . . and for your child. Lots of help here too, and together perhaps we can help Grace heal,’ she said, taking Georgina’s hand and feeling the wonder of this new connection.

  ‘You were always so generous, thank you for forgiving me. But would you really want a baby around . . . I mean . . . I know you have your brother and sister, but they’re growing up. A crying baby is —’

  ‘I would love it. I’m not nearly as removed from infants as you imagine,’ she replied with a wry smile.

  Georgina frowned, trying to catch her meaning, but she was interrupted by the sound of a young voice approaching where they were standing in the middle of the pathway. A woman emerged from the back door, chasing after a child who looked to be around four years old.

  ‘Oh, hello Peggy.’

  ‘I’m sorry, Stella. We’re just home from school but he saw you from the window.’

  Georgina watched Stella bend down and open her arms with a look of pure affection. ‘Rufe! I was hoping you’d be back in time.’ She shook her head at Peggy. ‘I wanted him to meet our guest.’

  The little boy ran into his mother’s embrace, chattering about a painting he had done for her today.

  ‘Ooh, I’m sorry to have kept you waiting, darling,’ Stella said, loving the smell of shampoo she could still detect in her child’s soft dark hair, but now it was time to meet his stepsister, if that’s what Georgina was. ‘We shall go and view your painting, darling, but first, would you say hello to Georgina? She’s a very special person. Georgina, this is Rufus, my son.’

  Young Rufe squinted up at Georgina. ‘Hello. Are you a friend of Mummy’s?’

  ‘Er . . . yes, I am,’ Georgina answered, glancing at Stella with a look of atonement. ‘Hello, Rufe,’ she breathed. ‘What a handsome little boy you are.’

  He nodded with a wide grin that reminded Stella, as it always did, of Grace. ‘Mummy says I look like Daddy.’

  ‘I think you do too,’ Georgina admitted, and Stella heard her fighting back the emotion. ‘Just like the photos in the nursery.’

  Little Rufe didn’t understand, and grabbed his nanny’s hand. ‘Come on, Peggy, I want to fetch my painting for Mummy.’

  Stella threw her a look of gratitude as she moved off with her son before turning back to the stunned Georgina. ‘You see, Georgina, he gave me everything . . . not just his love, the roof over my family’s head, a business to keep me financially stable, but my whole future. I need no other man but that little one for now growing up behind Rory . . . I shall keep him safe, teach him well, ensure he’s loved by his family . . . and greater family,’ she said, squeezing Georgina’s hand again, ‘if you’ll help him to be part of your lives.’

  ‘Oh, Stella . . . why didn’t you tell us?’ Georgina sounded cut.

  She shook her head. ‘Imagine your mother’s response. Apart from the pain it surely would have caused, she would have thought only the worst of me; that I was hoping for some sort of financial support. And you’ve just finished telling me how you felt about Grace usurping your place in the family; Grace would have hated Rufus for the same reason.’ She shrugged. ‘She may still do so, although I doubt it somehow.’ She took Georgina’s arm. ‘Please don’t be angry with me. Rufus is all I have and need of your father. He, with my beautiful brother and sister, complete me – I’m happy, independent, optimistic. That’s more than most might be able to claim.’

  ‘Would you have told me about Rufe?’

  ‘Not without your visit, no, but to be honest, I wanted to tell you the moment I hugged you hello. I’ve been desperate to share him with his other family but we’ve been talking nonstop since you arrived, finding the right moment was hard! I’m just glad he got home from school in time.’ They laughed. ‘I wouldn’t have let you go without knowing about him, or seeing a photo of him, though.’

  ‘So our father lives on through your son. New beginnings,’ Georgina whispered, tearily.

  To new beginnings, Stella echoed in her mind, deciding that this really was the start of a new era in her life.

  They hugged, holding the embrace as Stella looked over Georgina’s shoulder to where the jackdaw perched. He blinked his near human-looking eye of silvery iris and neat pupil with what Stella took to be approval before the curious bird leaped from the fence and was gone from them.

  Dance on, Rafe, she cast to its disappearing outline, feeling that he would return to check on her and their two families coming together. I’ll keep them all safe, I promise.

  ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

  I have an aversion to planning out stories. For the most part I set out with a single character and a dilemma, which expands to capture other people until suddenly there’s an adventure of sorts underway. That said, I thought that The Last Dance was to be a cosy tale of an illicit love affair in southern England but somewhere along the way it turned into an international spy story involving smuggled secrets and a brewing world war. I don’t know whom I have to thank for that but as I usually discover there is a host of people I owe a debt of thanks to for helping me to complete the storytelling journey.

  So, my sincere gratitude to VisitBritain for assisting me to piece together the Kent section and for the trip to the new London Transport Museum in Covent Garden – it is a quirky, fun installation for all visitors.

  In what now feels like another lifetime I was once a daily commuter between Brighton and London, but my 1979 knowledge was still too recent for my story so Brian Halford from National Rail kindly connected me with Phil Marsh from Cleek Railway Solutions. Phil passionately set about educating me with reg
ard to the south-eastern railway network of England in early 1933. I don’t believe there was a single question I posed that Phil didn’t have an answer to; he even made it possible for me to sight the rail ticket of the exact journey in the exact month and year I needed. Thank you, Phil – you’re a gem.

  The reading squad must be thanked and while they see reading early drafts as anything but a chore I am ever grateful to Pip Klimentou, Nigelle-Ann Blaser and Sonya Caddy for their feedback.

  To the team at Penguin Australia that has moved beyond the publisher role to become a beloved cheering squad, my love and thanks – especially to you, Ali Watts; also to Saskia Adams, Lou Ryan, Sharlene Vinall and Rhian Davies for having my back – and my thanks also to all at Penguin Random House for your immense care and support.

  I must also thank William Wordsworth for penning a poem I have loved since I learned it at school at about the same age that Grace learns it in my story.

  Finally, to family – more important than anything else. Thank you for being mine. Fx

  BOOK CLUB DISCUSSION NOTES

  In the opening pages of the novel, Stella whispers to her parents’ caskets: ‘Love like yours can only end in heartbreak.’ Did you think these words foreshadowed any kind of tragedy?

  In Rafe’s attic study Stella finds butterflies pinned to a board. Discuss the symbolism of this in relation to the two main characters.

  Rafe seems an entirely different man when out on the Weald or in the desert. Discuss the various internal and external settings of the novel, including the cruise ship. What role did these settings play in the story?

  As a character, did you love Georgina or loathe her?

  Discuss the differences between Stella’s middle-class upbringing and that of the Ainsworth children. Do you admire the Ainsworths, for all their indulgent ways?

  Was Stella right to follow her heart, given the circumstances and the prevailing mood of the era?

  Rafe tells Stella: ‘I’ve not been lucky to meet anyone who stirred my emotions into the perfect cocktail until I danced with you.’ Discuss the ways in which you think Rafe and Stella are perfect together.

  Which do you find the single most evocative and memorable scene in this book?

  Was Rafe’s ultimate act ‘right’ or ‘wrong’? Would you have done the same?

  Do you think this novel had a happy ending or a sad one?

  ALSO BY FIONA McINTOSH

  How To Write Your Blockbuster

  A practical resource for the aspiring novelist

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  AT HIS FINAL MASTERCLASS

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