‘Give him some stuff called Arkell,’ said Luke. ‘Makes the blood flow. And Tero?’
‘Bloody Miguel gave her such a bump last week, she’s lost her nerve. She won’t bump any more. She still gets the runs twenty-four hours before a big match and won’t eat for days afterwards. I can’t afford to let her lose weight. I ought to turn her away for the summer, but if I don’t take her to England she’ll pine, and so will I, I love her so much.’
She was so shocked by Luke’s appearance that she hardly listened to his answers. It was as though Big Ben or Westminster Abbey had suddenly been bombed. And, to cap it all, here was this bloody girl guarding him like a lioness.
Interrupting him, she said, ‘For the first time I can see how like Red you are.’
Luke smiled ruefully. ‘I guess there must be some plusses about getting sidelined. My brother’s an Adonis,’ he added to Margie.
‘I’ve seen pictures.’ Margie put her hand over his. ‘I like my guys more rugged.’
‘Red is the handsomest man in the world,’ exploded Perdita.
‘Not as good-looking as Rupert Campbell-Black,’ said Margie. ‘Wow! He came to see Luke this morning.’
Perdita felt sick. ‘Did he mention me?’
‘Only to say Venturer weren’t making a movie about you any more,’ said Luke. ‘He was over to finalize American sponsors for the Westchester.’
‘And you’re going to play in it,’ said Margie warmly.
Perdita clenched her fists.
‘Shame they lost the baby,’ went on Margie. ‘He and Taggie are going to adopt one, but they’re having problems in England. Rupert’s forty in the fall and the adoption societies don’t see him as ideal father material, so they’re putting feelers out in the States.’
‘He’s
‘Alejandro.’
‘For ten times more than Luke was getting,’ said Margie bitterly.
‘The receptionist told me Dancer was here,’ said Perdita.
‘He is so charming,’ said Margie. ‘He wants Luke to see Seth Newcombe, the guy who sorted out Ricky’s hand.’
‘I know,’ snapped Perdita. ‘I was at the hospital when Seth operated. Of course Luke should see him.’
Seeing Luke absolutely wiped out, Perdita added to Margie, ‘Look, Luke and I go back a long way. Would you like to piss off and leave us alone for five minutes?’
Margie raised a thick dark eyebrow at Luke, who nodded.
‘Well, only five minutes. I’ll be outside if you need me.’
Bloody cow, thought Perdita, but she did have wonderful legs. She moved round to see the framed photographs on Luke’s bedside table, disappointed to see they were of Leroy and Fantasma and not of herself.
‘It was nice of you to come,’ he said.
‘I would have come sooner. The others were convinced I’d do more harm than good.’
Luke gazed at her steadily for a second. There was exhaustion but no reproach in his eyes, but he didn’t contradict her.
Lowering herself gingerly on to the bed, so as not to jolt him, she started pleating the white counterpane.
‘I’m sorry I buggered off at Deauville. I didn’t know how you felt.’
‘That’s OK.’
‘You all right?’
‘Yeah, I’m fine now.’
‘I just fell madly in love with Red. I couldn’t help myself.’
‘Sure. How is he?’
‘Doesn’t know I’m here. I hope it might make him a bit jealous. He’s wildly jealous of you, because everyone loves you so much, I guess. They fancy Red, but they don’t seem to like him, but then they don’t know him. Tell me, what’s the best way to hold him?’
‘Don’t get heavy,’ said Luke, then, on reflection, ‘
‘I miss your poems,’ said Perdita. ‘Red’s almost illiterate. You should be nicknamed Well-Read and Ill-Red. Why are you staring at me?’
‘Because I’ve just twigged.’
‘W-what?’
They were interrupted by Margie the Martinet coming back with a doctor and a nurse, who asked Perdita to leave as they wanted to look at Luke’s hand. Beads of sweat were forming on his forehead at the prospect of more debilitating pain.
‘But I’ve only been here a few minutes,’ stormed Perdita.
‘Visitation’s being restricted to quarter of an hour,’ said the doctor.
‘Oh, for Christ’s sake.’
Once more the doctor, the nurse and Margie were confronting her as though she was a dangerous lunatic.
‘All right, I’m going.’ Perdita was fighting back the tears. ‘I hope you get better soon.’
Margie followed her out into the passage. Forcing her hands furiously into her trouser pocket, Perdita pulled out a bottle.
‘Give it to Luke,’ she said. ‘Morphine from Bart’s medicine cupboard in case the pain gets too bad.’
‘He needed that in August,’ said Margie, ‘when you shoved off with Red. Smashing up his hand and probably terminating his career was a day in the country compared with what you put him through last summer.’
As she went back into the room to grip Luke’s other hand as the doctor started to undo his bandages, he said through gritted teeth, ‘I’ve just realized who Perdita’s father is.’
59
Red’s temper was blazing like a forest fire when Perdita got home.
‘Where the fuck have you been? You were supposed to be at a Ferranti promotional lunch.’
‘I went to see Luke. I rang Dino’s secretary and said I couldn’t make it.’
‘Bullshit. You’re under contract. Buyers flew in from all over the world to meet you. Dino went apeshit. What in hell are you playing at? How was Luke anyway?’
‘Awful, simply terrible.’
‘You can’t have helped. I’ll go and see him tomorrow and you better call Dino and crawl or they’ll slap Winston Chalmers on you.’
Dino Ferranti was icy with rage. ‘You step out of line once more, right, and you’re fired,
All in all Perdita wasn’t in a very chipper mood to go to a barbecue that evening, particularly when Red was immediately collared by a comely female feature writer in a groin-level, blue suede skirt from
The party was held in a copse near one of the polo barns. Coloured lights hung from the trunks of the pine trees, which soared upwards like pillars blotting out the stars. The still air was heavy with the smell of charcoal, pine needles, long-marinaded hunks of lamb, pork and chickens which sizzled and spat as they turned on the barbecue. Rather like me, thought Perdita as she looked across at Red working his magic on the sexy journalist. He’d given up his yellow blazer because all the young bloods in Palm Beach had slavishly copied him. Now he had
