doubtful about being able to deliver it. ‘He doesn’t call home much,’ she observed. ‘Can’t think why.’
From that bad beginning things got worse. There were delays at the airport, and the threat of a bumpy journey when she did finally get off the ground.
Oh, great! I’m a nervous flyer even when it isn’t bumpy. Plus I’ll get there too late. Plus I’ve done just what he predicted and lived down to all his worst fears,
CHAPTER TEN
‘THE fete’s going to be spoiled,’ the vicar’s wife sighed. ‘The weather’s cloudy and Lady Larne isn’t coming, after she promised!’
Her husband tried to soothe her. ‘Lord Larne said she was detained by urgent family affairs, but he’s very kindly agreed to take her place. And I believe that
If Mrs Rogers was overwhelmed at the prospect of this treat she managed to conceal it admirably.
People had been arriving for the fete for the last half-hour. Lord Larne was there, smiling but ill at ease. The Honourable Sarah had also deigned to grace them with her presence and walked about, her arm tucked proprietarily into Jarvis’s, like one whose moment had arrived. Ferdy had come to watch the fun.
The vicar sighed and looked up at the dark sky.
‘Well, she’s not going to descend out of the clouds, is she?’ his wife snapped.
‘I suppose not. Let’s get on with the opening.’
The crowd had gathered in front of a small raised platform. The vicar took up his position, looking fixedly cheerful. Jarvis did the same, although he felt far from cheerful. A dead weight seemed to have settled in his chest, making everything an effort. Even now that the moment had arrived he found it hard to believe that Meryl had actually let them all down this way.
Sarah’s compassion had been hard to bear. Without actually saying that she’d always predicted this she showed that she regarded him as an object of pity. Which was to say that he’d been a fool. And so he had. When Sarah had promised to accompany him to the fete he hadn’t wished to hurt his old friend by saying that she was no substitute for Meryl, the woman who’d duped and betrayed him. But no woman was a substitute for her.
How eager he’d been to believe her! How nearly he’d yielded! The reality was bitter, and it was only now that he admitted to himself how deeply he’d longed to be convinced.
But hell would freeze over before he allowed anyone to suspect. So he adjusted his smile, assumed an air of attention, and wished he was dead.
‘Good afternoon, ladies and gentleman,’ the vicar said brightly.
He got no further. A buzzing was making itself heard overhead, causing everyone to look up. But whatever was making the noise was coming from above the clouds.
The vicar raised his voice. ‘Once again St Luke’s fete is-’
Suddenly the clouds parted, revealing that the noise was coming from a helicopter. In the same instant the sun came out, streaming down so that the helicopter appeared to be descending directly on a beam of light.
The crowd scattered, leaving the pilot space to land, but nobody went further than necessary. No one was going to miss this.
At last there was a perfect landing, with a blast of propellers that ruined more than one hairdo. The owners never noticed. They were too busy watching the door open and the vision appear.
‘Hello, everyone,’ Meryl called.
A cheer went up, growing louder as she stepped down from the machine. The pilot waved and lifted off, revealing Meryl in all the glory of a scarlet trouser suit and huge hat with scarlet streamers. She raised both hands in the air and turned around so that her smile fell on everyone, then bounded to the platform to shake the vicar by the hand.
‘Bet you thought I wasn’t coming!’ she sang out.
‘I explained that you were unavoidably detained,’ Jarvis said. ‘But we all hoped until the last moment.’
‘You should have known I wouldn’t let you down,’ Meryl said, speaking to both of them, but mostly to him.
The crowd was applauding now, crowding around the platform. Meryl went to the front and launched into the speech she’d been working on for most of the journey. Ferdy sidled up to his sister. ‘You’re supposed to look pleased,’ he murmured.
In a burst of inspiration Meryl made a funny story of her journey and the final mad dash to hire a helicopter, ‘Because I wouldn’t have missed this for anything. And all the time I was in the air one thought kept me going- When I land somebody’s going to give me a lovely cup of English tea. Ladies and gentlemen, I declare this fete well and truly open and-and good luck to all who sail in her.’
Roars of laughter. Applause, cheering. She had been a triumphant success.
She was plied with tea, which she drank with genuine relief. The vicar’s two little girls bounced onto her and Meryl scored another bullseye by remembering their names. Then she was swept off to do a grand tour of the stalls. Many contained home-made items, and each one was a potential trap for giving offence. Meryl sized up the situation fast, and discovered a snag.
‘Where’s Jarvis?’ she muttered in Ferdy’s ear. ‘Tell him it’s life and death.’
Jarvis was nearby. He hadn’t taken his eyes off his wife. ‘What is it?’ he asked.
‘I haven’t got any cash. I want to buy something from every stall, and I haven’t changed my dollars.’
‘How did you pay for the helicopter?’
Her lips twitched as she looked him in the face. ‘Told them to send the bill to you.’
‘That was very enterprising of you.’
‘Come on, I need money urgently.’ She flapped her hands. ‘Money, money, money!’
Luckily he’d come amply provided with cash for the same purpose. It gave him a strange feeling to be thrusting notes into her eager hands, but then all other thoughts vanished in the pleasure of seeing her again.
She went around, stall by stall, exclaiming with pleasure and buying liberally. Jarvis had to admit she did it beautifully. Whatever she bought she had an idea for using the article at Larne- ‘This would look wonderful on that little table in the library’ -a subtle piece of flattery that won her golden opinions.
‘We usually have a stall with knitted clothes,’ the vicar said, ‘but not this year. All the ladies are busy working on something else. Your doing, I understand.’
She confessed it and a few minutes later Jarvis drew her aside, ‘You didn’t!’ he accused.
‘I did.’
‘I told you what I thought of that idea.’
‘And I told you where you could put your objections-
She darted away out of sight behind a tent, from which floated back sounds of anguish and a stomach subjected to too much strain. Jarvis, following at a cautious distance, found her kneeling on the grass.
‘Are you all right?’ he demanded, putting an arm around her shoulders.
‘I am now,’ she gasped. ‘Turbulence-all through the flight-and then the helicopter bounced me around even more. Oof! I shouldn’t have had that last cream cake.’
‘Poor thing,’ he said kindly. ‘Shall I take you straight home?’
‘No way. There’s the children’s fancy dress contest yet.’
‘You’re looking very queasy,’ he said, helping her to her feet.
‘I’ve got a headache. Could you get me something for it?’
He hurried back with aspirin and tea a few moments later to find Meryl no longer there. She’d returned to the fray and was laughing over the antics of a mongrel in the dog obedience trials.
‘These are for her,’ he told Sarah who appeared by his side. ‘She’s not feeling too good, but you wouldn’t know it to look at her.’
