was still trembling, added, ‘It’s all right, darling,’ and suddenly he knew that it was and he’d never let her go again.
‘Mr Minister,’ said a voice, ‘I mean, Mr Shadow Minister.’ Glancing round, Rupert saw they were surrounded by press. Holding Taggie close, he whispered, ‘Where’s the car?’
‘Outside, just through the door.’
‘We’ll make a dash for it.’
On the motorway he managed to shake off the reporters, took an exit into some Royal Berkshire countryside and pulled up with a jerk in a lay-by. Then, removing both their seat belts, he turned to face her, taking her hands.
‘I want you to know. .’ it was he who was stammering now. . ‘that I only joined the fucking consortium because of you. In fact, I only came back from Gstaad for your rotten brother’s twenty-first because I wanted to have a crack at you. I only let myself be interviewed by your father because I thought he’d think me a wimp if I didn’t, and I might be able to ingratiate myself with him. I only bought his bloody wood for that ludicrously inflated price because I love you. The only reason I didn’t move in months ago was because in the one unselfish gesture of my life (and Christ, it was the most difficult), I thought it was unfair to foist my sodding bloody-minded nature on you. No one could have had a more appalling past.’
Taggie put up a hand to his lips to halt him. ‘I don’t care about your past,’ she said shakily. ‘All I want to be is your future.’
It was not long before the car had misted up completely, and Rupert stopped kissing her and wrote, ‘I adore you. Will you marry me?’ on the windscreen.
And underneath Taggie wrote, ‘Yes pleese.’
Back on the motorway it was light now, and Taggie could see how grey and thin Rupert looked, and how blackly shadowed he was under the eyes.
‘I just can’t wait to feed you up,’ she wailed.
Looking ahead, she saw the pallid full moon, which like a sympathetic friend had peered in at different windows of her turret bedroom throughout the night as she paced the floor boards wondering whether or not she should go and meet Rupert. Now, clearly dying to go to bed, the moon kept on bobbing round clumps of trees or above the frozen white downs, as if just managing to keep awake to see how the story ended. Silently, thankfully, Taggie made a joyful thumbs-up sign as the moon finally disappeared from view.
‘How did you screw up the courage to come and meet me?’ asked Rupert, putting his hand on her thigh as they turned off the motorway.
‘I went to see the children and gave them your presents yesterday afternoon. I was so desperate, it was the nearest I could get to you. They were so sweet, and Malise and Helen were really nice. They asked me to stay to supper, and after the children went to bed, I talked to Malise. He said he and Helen had over-reacted about the memoirs, and he was sorry, and how happy Helen had made him, and he was thirty years older than her, and he told me to go for it.’
‘Really?’ said Rupert in amazement. ‘Good for Malise.’
‘Where are we going?’ asked Taggie, snuggling up to him.
‘To ask your father’s permission. If he won’t give it, we’ll have to elope, but I don’t want it hanging over us.’
‘You’ll have to see Mummy as well.’
‘She’s back!’ said Rupert in outrage. ‘When, for Christ’s sake?’
‘The day before yesterday, the evening we got the franchise.’
‘That figures,’ said Rupert dismissively. ‘Realized she’d backed the wrong horse.’
‘No,’ said Taggie. ‘She saw Daddy crying on television when he came out of the IBA. You know how emotional he is, and she thought it was from unhappiness because he’d lost it, and felt so sorry for him that she rushed back and turned up at Freddie’s house in the middle of the celebrations, just after Daddy’d rung you in fact. It was so odd. I’m not boring you?’ she added quickly.
‘You never, never bore me,’ said Rupert, touching her cheek.
‘Well, d’you know what Mummy said when she first saw him? Such a strange remark that I remembered it. She said: “
‘Pa and Ma for the course,’ said Rupert, shaking his head.
Taggie giggled. ‘It was a bit embarrassing. Hordes of press and television people turned up to interview Daddy and photograph him about getting the franchise, and he’d locked himself in with Mummy. So Freddie and Cameron had to field all the questions.
‘And then, even worse, Valerie arrived. She’d beetled up from London the moment she’d heard Venturer had won to get in on the act, and she found everyone plastered, and Freddie kissing Lizzie Vereker on the sofa. So she stormed off to bed, and she couldn’t get in because Mummy and Daddy were in there already.’
‘Christ, we’ll never behave like that, will we?’ said Rupert putting his hand over hers. ‘Still, I’m glad they’re back together again.’
All the same Rupert was surprisingly nervous about confronting his future father-in-law. He needn’t have bothered. When he went into the library Declan was poring over all sorts of leaflets for electronic equipment, spread out on the table.
‘Rupert. Great to see you, good of you to come back so quickly. Come and look at this stuff. We’re going to bid for satellite next.’
Rupert took a deep breath. ‘I actually came back to ask for your daughter’s hand in marriage, Declan.’
‘Have you? Declan peered over his spectacles at Taggie. ‘I thought you might. Well, she certainly looks happier than she’s done for the past nineteen years, so I’d better say yes. We’ve got a hell of a lot to do here. Can you start work before Christmas?’
‘No, I bloody can’t. I’m going to be on my honeymoon over Christmas.’
‘So soon. Can’t you wait till the Spring and go to Paris? Maud and I went to Paris. I’d better call her and we’ll have a drink. Good thing you didn’t turn up yesterday, we were all so hungover, you might not have had such a genial reception. Maud!’ he yelled up the stairs.
Maud wandered down, looking pretty wretched after her prolonged disappearance, but with plenty of her old insouciance, and embraced them both.
‘She’s obviously so glad to be home, she wouldn’t have minded you marrying the cat,’ Rupert said to Taggie afterwards.
A bottle of champagne had been opened, when Patrick marched in, looking like a thundercloud.
‘Oh Christ, here comes Frank Bruno,’ said Rupert, ducking behind Taggie.
‘I’ve just heard the news on Radio One,’ said Patrick coldly. ‘I suppose none of you has had the decency to tell Cameron.’
‘Oh dear,’ said Declan. ‘I’ll ring her.’
‘It’s my responsibility. I’ll do it,’ said Rupert.
‘I’ll do it,’ said Patrick heavily.
He took the telephone into the drawing-room next door and dialled the number of Cameron’s house in Hamilton Terrace. She took a long time to answer.
‘I’ve just heard,’ she said in a flat voice.
‘It must hurt, I’m very sorry.’
‘You needn’t be,’ snapped Cameron. ‘Why should I care if your sister’s finally got him, when it’s all over between him and me?’
‘Still hurts,’ said Patrick reasonably. ‘Not much fun seeing someone get a clear round on a horse you were bucked off by. I’ll be over later.’
‘Whatever for?’ Cameron’s voice was shrill with hostility. ‘I’m going out.’
‘You stay where you are.’
Cameron collapsed on her bed. She had nowhere to go anyway. She supposed her house belonged to Venturer now. Outside, the shoppers were trailing argumentatively home in the rain, weighed down by Christmas presents. Then, like a frozen pipe that suddenly bursts with a thaw, Cameron, for the first time since Rupert left for
