elopement there was a cocktail party at the Dorchester for the newly-weds in an attempt by Valerie Langley to normalise the situation. I admit I didn’t quite get the point of him then. But I was young and anyway I don’t remember thinking any the worse of Joanna for her choice. There is, after all, no accounting for taste. ‘How is marriage?’
‘It’s OK,’ she said. But then, after a pause, ‘It does go on a bit.’ Which sounded uncomfortably eloquent. I said nothing.
‘Have you seen Damian yet?’
She shook her head. ‘He’s still in his room. We were far too early. My mother’s impatience wouldn’t let us wait. This is the world she always wanted for me and she thinks Kieran is the reason I’ve dropped out of it. According to her I’m drowning. Socially. She wants to pull me back to the shore. She wants a divorce as soon as it can be arranged.’
‘You can’t be serious.’ It’s hard to explain how outlandish this seemed in 1970. Even ten years later it would have been perfectly believable.
‘Oh, but I am. She thinks if I dump Kieran now, everyone will forget about him. We’ve had no kids, despite going at it like rabbits.’ She paused to register that I was a little shocked. It’s odd to think one could be by such references when they came from a woman, but lots of us were. Having registered my blushes with a blush of her own, she continued, ‘The point is, if she can prise me free now, there’ll be no baggage that can’t be safely hidden inside the identity of my second husband, whoever he may be.’
‘And she’d be happy with Damian?’
‘After Kieran, she’d be happy with a passing Chinese laundryman.’
I smiled. Although, to be honest, in a way I was rather impressed with Valerie Langley’s commitment. I knew that in similar circumstances my own parents would just have shrugged and sighed, and occasionally allowed only very old friends to commiserate, but it would never have occurred to either of them actually to do anything about it. It wasn’t that I approved of the plan. Joanna had, after all, taken her vows and in those days that meant rather more than it does in these. But still, it certainly didn’t make me dislike her parents. ‘What does your father feel about it?’
‘He quite likes Kieran, but he wasn’t consulted.’
‘And Kieran is here?’
She nodded. ‘And he knows exactly what she’s trying to do.’
‘Yikes.’ Of course, we hadn’t touched on the nub of the matter. ‘Are you going to allow yourself to give him up?’
She thought about my question, but I don’t think there was any real doubt in her mind. ‘No,’ she said. ‘I wouldn’t give her the satisfaction.’
Kieran de Yong was the first person I spotted when I finally emerged to join the thrash. It would have been hard to miss him. His hair was dyed a particularly virulent shade of pinkish blond and he was wearing tight jeans under a kind of military jacket, which looked as if it had once graced an officer in the Guards, but the cuffs were now turned back to reveal a pink satin lining. His densely patterned shirt was wide open at the neck, to reveal two or three thick chains. The overall effect was not so much hideous as pathetic and, given what I had just heard, I felt very sorry for him. ‘Do you know Portugal at all?’ I asked, trying to make it sound as if I were interested in the answer.
He shook his head. ‘No.’
Lucy had joined us and she tried next: ‘Where are you and Joanna living now?’
‘Pimlico.’
We were both rather flummoxed, since obviously we could not simply stand and ask him questions, receiving one-word answers, until the end of the evening. But then he said something that indicated he was a little less dense than we had all assumed: ‘I know what this is all about. She thinks I don’t, but I do. And I’m not leaving.’
Naturally, Lucy hadn’t a clue as to the meaning of this, but I did and I rather handed it to him for agreeing to come at all. It was the decision of a brave man. I couldn’t very well comment without getting myself into a mess, but I smiled and filled his glass and attempted to establish that I was not an enemy.
There was still no sign of Damian. I registered that his windows remained tightly shut, just as I heard a flurry of arriving cars, followed by voices and doors opening and shutting, and out on to the terrace issued the whole Claremont/Belton party. Serena had brought the baby girl and there was a certain amount of fussing attendant on her arrival. I suggested they put the cot in my room, since it opened directly on to the terrace where we would be eating, and this was generally reckoned a good idea. It saddened me to see that the infant, Mary, was still the living image of Andrew. Not only did this seem like thoroughly bad luck for her, but it also gave rise to painful images in my semi-conscious mind.
To mark his distance from all this ‘women’s business,’ Lord Claremont hailed me in his vague and cheerful way. I think he was relieved to find a familiar face and also to have escaped from the exclusive company of his daughter’s in-laws, since I could tell at once they weren’t at all his type, however he may have urged the marriage. He started to walk towards me, but the temptations of Joanna and Lucy soon drew him in that direction for a little flirtation over his Sangria, or whatever the Portuguese equivalent is called. The Beltons clung together, staring out to sea, she too difficult and he too tired to talk to anyone else. Lady Claremont walked across. ‘How are you?’ She smiled. I told her. ‘So you’re forging off into an artistic life. How exciting.’
‘My parents don’t approve either.’
This made her laugh. ‘It’s not that. I rather like the idea. It just seems so terribly unpredictable. But if you don’t mind a few years starving in a garret, I’m sure it’s the right thing to do. One must always try to follow one’s heart.’
‘I quite agree. And there are worse things than starving in a garret.’ By chance, as I said this my eyes were resting on Serena, who was talking to Candida by the balustrade. Now this was purely because I couldn’t find anywhere more satisfactory to rest my eyes than on her, but I could see at once that Lady Claremont had taken my comment as a criticism of Serena’s life choices, for which she no doubt felt extra responsible, as well she might. Her face hardened a little as she looked back at me and her smile became fractionally taut.
‘You must go down and see Serena and Andrew. They’ve got the most marvellous set-up, a simply lovely
