Revenge of the Middle-Aged Woman

She was not sure if I was teasing or bitter, laughing or crying – I was not sure myself.

Poppy stood behind me and slid her arms round me. ‘It was so easy, Mum. Thailand is magic and moonlight. It seemed right to go with one’s feelings.’ She was silent. ‘I got caught up.’

‘As long as you’re both happy.’

Poppy’s arms tightened around me. ‘Where’s Parsley?’

I told her and she burst into shuddering sobs, which I suspected were only partly for Parsley. Eventually she calmed down and settled back on the sofa, her sweet young face swept of its defences. ‘You’ll like Richard, really,’ she said. ‘You don’t know him yet.’ This was true. ‘He’s full of surprises, and Dad got off to a bad start asking him all those questions about jobs. It brought out the worst in him.’

‘I see. Our fault, then?’

‘Got it in one.’ Poppy grinned, and I felt better.

Chapter Twenty-one

The minute he heard the news, Nathan drove over to Lakey Street. I opened the door and almost did not recognize the figure in the crumpled shirt and shorts. In Greece he had obviously got very sunburnt and the skin on his face and arms was still peeling.

He surged into the hall and Poppy came tearing down the stairs and flung herself into her father’s arms. He hugged her convulsively. ‘What have you done, my girl?’

She beat his chest with her fist. ‘What have you done?’

This was a private exchange, so I left them to it and went out into the garden.

The fountain splashed contentedly. The delphiniums had shaken out a late and final giddy display of blue and white parasols and the Ligularia had put forth garish orange flowers. ‘Rose?’ Nathan had appeared on the patio. There were tears on his cheeks and he wiped them away with the back of his hand, then ran his fingers through his hair. ‘I can’t believe she’s married that man. Has he been in touch with you? He hasn’t contacted me.’ His expression was as bleak as I had ever seen it. ‘Did we go wrong? Or is this Poppy?’

I wanted to pull him close and tell him that, yes, he had been a good father, the best, which was what he was driving at. His own culpability in the situation. ‘It’s not a question of where we’ve gone wrong. Getting married without us does not make Poppy bad. Or us bad parents. We had got used to thinking of our children as children, not as separate people. Poppy’s reminded us, that’s all.’

Nathan rubbed the burnt triangle at his throat. ‘What’s she been living on all these months while she’s been floating round the world? We didn’t give her much.’

The question had crossed my mind. ‘Presumably she and Richard pooled their resources.’

‘Richard’s resources! He wouldn’t recognize a resource if it sat in his lap. That man has welfare dependency written all over him.’ We had only met Richard three times but Nathan prided himself on his instant character assessment. (To be fair, he was often correct.)

I stared at this crude reincarnation of the Victorian father. ‘You don’t mean that.’

‘I suppose not.’ A bundle of bamboo stakes lay on the path. Nathan seized the nearest and drove it savagely into the flowerbed. ‘I’m damned if I’ll give her a party. She can bloody well go to a pub.’

Tactfully, I waited until Nathan had hauled out his handkerchief and wiped his face and hands before I said, ‘We have to accept this marriage, Nathan.’

He looked even bleaker as he shifted the options around in his mind. ‘Are you all right?’

‘Fine.’

He gave the still quivering cane a kick. ‘While I’m here, Rosie, I have to talk to you about the house.’

I stiffened and, because I was frightened at what was coming next, I sounded sharper than I intended. ‘Don’t call me Rosie.’

‘But…’ He gave an offended shrug. ‘If that’s what you prefer.’

It was ridiculous that we were sparring over a nickname but I asked, as calmly as I could, ‘What did you want to talk to me about?’

Nathan straightened up and assumed his office voice – always a bad sign. ‘Please think about what I’m going to say. What if I bought you out of your half of the house?’ Then he added, in the same smooth tone, ‘After it had been valued professionally’

‘What?’

Nathan retreated to the garden bench, sat down and patted the space beside him. I ignored the invitation, which meant that he had to look up at me as he put his case.

‘It would save money, which you will need. We could do it quickly and without too many middlemen.’ He faltered at my expression. ‘We have to be practical.’

I said childishly, ‘I don’t have to be. Not any longer.’

‘Yes, you do, Rosie… Rose. Please don’t let your anger get in the way of what makes sense.’

‘I’m not letting Minty set foot in my house.’

‘My house, too.’

‘But you left it,’ I blazed at him.

There was a difficult, dangerous silence. This was like being rejected all over again but worse: it made me feel that Nathan had shrunk and his grand gesture of striking out for freedom had not been that at all. I could understand his wild, sweeping decision, his uncharacteristic unpredictability, which at least had been courageous and bold, but not this feeble putt, designed to restore the status quo, except with a different woman.

I turned on my heel and went inside.

‘Will you please listen to me?’ Nathan hotfooted after me into the sitting room, where I dropped into the blue chair.

I shook my head. ‘No need. I’ve got the general idea. I agree to give our house up to you and Minty. It’s simple enough and extremely simple for you and your… Well, I don’t know what term I should use for Minty. There are so many.’

‘I mean well.’

I thought about that one and decided to give him the benefit of the doubt, but I was puzzled. ‘I thought you wanted to break out.’

Wisely, Nathan ignored the comment. ‘You’ll do better out of it.’ He inspected the catch on the french windows. ‘This looks dicey. I’d better call Charlie and ask him to come over and mend it.’

‘If you like.’

‘As I’m not here to see to things, it would be best.’ He gave it a final rattle. ‘I’m glad you see my point of view.’

‘I don’t. No, that’s not quite correct. I can quite see how the convenience appeals to you but what I can’t understand is how you could possibly suggest such a hurtful arrangement. You know what the house means… our house, Nathan. At least Henry VIII beheaded his wives.’

‘What a ridiculous thing to say’ Now Nathan was looking at me as if I was someone at work who needed to be dealt with sharply. ‘I know it sounds awful but if you allow yourself time to think.’ He spread his hands in the reasonable, negotiating gesture that he had off pat. ‘You know as well as I do that what appears to be one thing is often different when stock is taken.’

Certainly that had been true of Flora Madder. ‘Can’t you see? I don’t want to give up my house, though I know I’m going to have to… I certainly don’t want to give it up to Minty.’

There was an audible gasp. Both of us swivelled round. Poppy was in the doorway, her mouth set and white. ‘Have I gone mad or are you suggesting what I think you’re suggesting, Dad?’

Nathan looked thunderstruck, and struggled: ‘It’s between me and your mother.’

‘No, it isn’t.’ Poppy.’ advanced into the room. ‘Sam and I have to put up with what you’ve done, too. It’s bad enough that you’ve left, without turning Mum out like a beggar. I think I have a right to a view on that.’

I almost smiled; I almost wept. ‘Poppy darling, your father and I will sort this out.’

‘Well, speak up, Mum. Don’t let him walk all over you.’