I felt a stab of disappointment.
‘At least I don’t think I am,’ he went on, putting a warm hand on my tits, spanning both nipples with finger and thumb.
‘Look,’ he whispered, ‘I can stretch an Octavia.’
I giggled.
‘That’s better. Come on lovely, remember, from now on I’ve got custody, care
And with infinite tenderness he kissed me, until I felt the waves of lust begin to ripple through me.
‘It’s Friday,’ he said, as his hand edged downwards. ‘We’ve got the whole weekend ahead. We needn’t get up at all.’
Then later he said, ‘Relax sweetheart, don’t try so hard, there’s no hurry. I actually
Then later, more harshly, ‘Stop fighting me; we’re on the same side.’
Then suddenly it happened — like a great, glorious, whooshing washing machine — it’s the only way I can describe it — leaving me shuddering and shuddering with pleasure at the end, like the last gasps of the spin-dryer. And afterwards I cried some more because I was so happy, and he held me in his arms, telling me how much he loved me until I fell asleep.
A few hours later the dawn woke me. We’d forgotten to draw the curtains. All I could see were huge windows framing the plane trees of Holland Park. I blinked, turned and found Gareth looking at me. I must be dreaming.
I put my hand out to touch his cheek.
‘Are you real?’ I said incredulously.
He smiled. ‘I am if you are.’
His eye had turned black, his chest was covered in bruises.
‘I think I’m in bed with Henry Cooper,’ I said. ‘I never dreamt he’d make such a sensational lover. Do you think we could possibly do it again?’
And we did, and it was even better than the last time, and I screamed with delight and joy because I’d been so clever.
When I woke again he wasn’t there. I looked round in panic; then I found a note pinned to the pillow.
‘Gone shopping with Monkey. Back about eleven. I love you, G.’
Still overwhelmed with wonder at what was happening to me, I got up, wrapped myself in a towel and, wandering into the kitchen, found a pile of unopened mail. I flipped through it. Three envelopes were written in distinctively female hands. I turned them over. One was from someone called Michelle in France, another from a Sally in the Middle East, another hadn’t put her name on the back, but it was post-marked Taunton, and she’d written ‘private and confidential’ on the bottom.
I stood, overwhelmed with terror. Gareth had had millions of women before me. What was to stop him having millions in the future? Last night’s protestations might have been just a ruse to get me into bed. I couldn’t bear it. I went back into the bedroom and sat shaking on the bed, feeling myself pulled down into the familiar black slimy cavern of horror.
‘Keep calm,’ I kept saying to myself. ‘It’s all right.’
Suddenly I jumped out of my skin as the telephone rang. It was Mrs Smith.
‘He’s not here,’ I said. I could feel myself bristling.
‘Well that’s all right. Just give him a message that everything’s OK.’
‘I’ll tell him,’ I said stiffly.
Mrs Smith laughed, ‘I’m so glad you two have finally got it together,’ she said. ‘He’s been absolutely insufferable since he came back from that boat trip. It’ll be nice working for a human being again.’
‘Oh,’ I stammered, feeling myself blushing all over. ‘Do you mean to say — was it that obvious?’
‘Yes,’ she said. ‘He’s a very dear man. I think you’re very lucky, and if you look behind the drawing-room door you might find something else to convince you.’
She dropped the receiver.
I ran to the drawing-room. Behind the door were two canvases stacked against the wall. I turned them over and gave a gasp of delight. One was my Adam and Eve picture, the other the Cotman. I looked at them incredulously, tears filling my eyes.
Then I heard a key in the door, and a scampering of feet. Monkey, rushing up the stairs, reached me first, but the next moment I was in Gareth’s arms, with Monkey frolicking and frisking round our feet.
‘I was worried some of Andreas’ hoods might have got you. Annabel Smith says you’ve been like a bear with a sore head since the boat trip,’ I gabbled incoherently. ‘And you bought back my pictures; it’s the nicest thing anyone’s ever done for me, I can’t believe it. When did you do it?’ I added as we went upstairs.
‘Last week sometime. I didn’t hang them. I thought you could decide where you want to put them. But I’m not having Adam and Eve over the bed to distract you whenever we have sex.’
I went scarlet. ‘I suppose bloody Xander told you that.’
He stopped in the doorway of the kitchen and kissed me on my bare shoulder.
‘Christ, you’re beautiful Octavia. Do you feel you can really put up with a jumped-up Welsh gorilla for the rest of your life?’
Then he kissed me on the mouth.
‘Xander ought to be shot,’ I said when I could speak, blushing even more furiously.
He laughed. ‘I’m only teasing you.’
The telephone rang. ‘If that’s Mrs Smith again, she said you weren’t to worry about anything,’ I said.
It was Xander.
Gareth listened for a minute; then he said, ‘That’s great. Talk to Octavia.’
‘Hullo darling,’ said Xander. He sounded very cheerful.
‘Are you all right?’ I said.
‘Well things have been pretty heavy. Ricky made the most awful scene, and I hoped very much Joan was going to have a coronary, but Pammie was staunchness personified; she told them both to get stuffed. And the police have pulled in that little snake, Guido, so all in all things haven’t turned out too badly. And I must tell you,’ he lowered his voice, ‘I do fall on my feet. There is the most enchanting constable in the C.I.D. here who’s been too marvellous to me.’
‘Xander, you are
‘Well since you’ve taken Gareth away, I had to find some compensation. Look, I’m terribly sorry, I’d no idea you’d have to take your clothes off to get me that money.’
Gareth was frying bacon and eggs when I came off the telephone. Stroking Monkey, I told him about the police constable.
‘He’s quite incorrigible,’ said Gareth. ‘All the same he’ll be nice as a brother-in-law.’
My hand stopped in mid-stroke.
Gareth turned the bacon thoughtfully, then he shot a sideways glance in my direction.
‘What did you say?’ I whispered.
‘I said I was looking forward to having him as a brother-in-law.’
‘You shouldn’t tease,’ I stammered.
‘I’m not teasing. I told you I’d been shopping this morning.’
He extracted a dark blue leather box from his pocket, his hand shook slightly as he handed it to me. So did mine as I opened it. I had terrible trouble with the clasp. Inside was the biggest sapphire I’d ever seen.
‘Oh,’ I breathed, ‘is it really for me?’
‘No one else.’ He switched off the bacon and slid it onto my finger.
‘W-what about your harem of girls, Annabel Smith and co?’
‘I’ll give them up if you will.’
‘You don’t
‘Oh yes I do,’ he said. ‘I’m not a Welsh prude for nothing. I want to regularize things, particularly for Monkey, make him feel more secure.’
I giggled.
