reached some sort of understanding.
‘What was it like?’ I was intrigued.
‘What, lunch?’
‘Yes.’
‘Dreadful.’
‘Oh! Why?’
‘Because I felt terrible. Absolutely ghastly. Couldn’t believe I was doing it. There I was, some silly, middle-aged woman, like Angie, making a fool of myself. Getting a cheap thrill out of having lunch with a man who wasn’t my husband. Suppose Dan had walked in? Or some mate of his? How hideous would that have been?’
‘Only lunch, Jennie,’ I reminded her. Jennie’s rigorous principles and high moral standards didn’t apply just to others, but to herself too.
‘Yes, only lunch. And a chaste peck on the cheek to say thank you, but by God I scurried home with my tail between my legs. Felt wretched picking up the children from school, listening to Hannah chatting away about her nature trip; wretched when Dan came in knackered from work and I guiltily fried him a steak. His eyes lit up pathetically when he saw it because these days he’s lucky if I throw sausage and chips at him. He gave me a delighted squeeze at the Aga. That made me feel even worse, I can tell you. Lousy. I almost broke down and told him.’
I hid a smile. Dan was a good man. And a worldly man. I didn’t think he’d kick his wife out for having lunch with someone.
She raked a despairing hand through her dark curls and threw her head back. ‘How do these women do it, Poppy? Sneak around deceiving people? I felt bad enough I hadn’t told
The church was fairly bursting now – testament indeed to how one could have one’s big day at a moment’s notice and still fill it – and Simon, tall and striking in his morning coat, came down the aisle with his best man, an equally good- looking blade. He greeted people along the way, his face alight, looking the picture of happiness. As he came to take up his position in the front pew, his eyes found Jennie almost immediately. He gave her a lovely smile. She smiled back.
‘He likes you,’ I said, not exactly surprised, but genuinely struck by the warmth.
‘Oh yes, we like each other tremendously. He’s a very nice man. Just what this constituency needs, incidentally, by way of a representative. But let me tell you, Poppy, it’s one thing to have a quiet crush on someone you bump into at the village book club and quite another to invent an excuse as to why you can’t take year three on the nature trail as promised, then stand on Cherton station in a new skirt and full slap hoping to God no one sees you. I kept reciting in my head, “I’m going to the dentist,” in case they did. And I can’t tell you how sweaty my palms were as I went past Dan’s office in the Strand by taxi. By the time I’d got to San Lorenzo’s my face was shiny, my clothes, I’d decided, all wrong for London, and all the thrilling excitement had disappeared down the plug hole because I was so bloody terrified I’d be spotted.’
‘In San Lorenzo’s?’ I said doubtfully.
‘Well, quite. Not exactly Odd Bob’s habitual stamping ground, I agree. I didn’t really expect half the village to be propping up the bar and to turn around accusingly when I came in. But you know what I mean.’
‘Did you tell him?’ I knew Jennie well.
‘Simon? Yes. Almost immediately. Explained I simply couldn’t handle this and wouldn’t be doing it again. He was sweet. Said he liked me all the more for it, and, actually, he wasn’t convinced he could cope with the subterfuge either. He’d run into Dan in the local garage, apparently, as they were both putting air in their tyres. Found it surprisingly hard to make small talk.’ She smiled. ‘We both agreed we could do the sex but not the deceit.’
‘Oh. So … you definitely knew what you were there for?’
‘Well, ultimately, yes. Oh, you can kid yourself it’s “just lunch”, Poppy, but it’s tantamount to sitting there in your underwear. And don’t let anyone tell you any different.’
The overture to
‘The idea of running upstairs and taking my clothes off, like Angie did, is complete anathema to me,’ she said rather primly.
‘Angie’s separated, Jennie,’ I said quickly. ‘Single.’
‘Her husband walked out on her.’
‘Yes,’ I said, surprised and wondering what she meant by that. Surely that was morally better than the other way round? For
