“Well, now that you have noticed me, I can tell you about the new song I have for you. It’s just fabulous.”
“It sounds delightful. What say you come upstairs for a moment and we play it through on the piano. That’s if Dorothy and Evie can excuse us, of course.”
“Of course,” Dorothy replied. Evelyn was not certain she liked the idea of being left alone with Dorothy, but she did not seem to have a choice. Lilian drained the last of her coffee and sprang to her feet, taking the bag containing the new sheet music.
“In that case, ladies, I might see you later. If not, it will be my loss.” Vernon kissed his fingers and blew the kiss towards Dorothy, then repeated the action towards Evelyn. Evelyn copied Dorothy’s response, which was not to respond, regarding him cooly. Vernon smiled and headed towards the back of the room. Lilian followed after him without a word.
Dorothy sighed. “Well, that’s those two gone for an hour or so. Just watch out for the chandeliers rattling, if you know what I mean.” She sipped her coffee.
Evelyn looked up at the ceiling, realising there were no chandeliers and entirely unsure what Dorothy was saying. “So Vernon has a piano upstairs as well as down here?”
“Oh yes, and he plays very well. But it’s not all he plays very well, if you follow.”
Evelyn thought she did but did not want to assume. “Vernon’s very charming, isn’t he.”
Dorothy’s expression hardened. “Oh yes, he is, Evie.” She paused, appearing to consider her next words. “Too charming. Look, Evie, I don’t really know you at all. But you’re in London, you’re looking for new experiences. It’s only natural that Vernon would appeal. He simply doesn’t have the moral compass not to flirt with every woman he meets. And he’s an attractive man. But don’t choose him.”
“Don’t choose him for what?” Evelyn was startled by this turn in the conversation and yet appreciated Dorothy’s honesty.
“To be your first new experience. To see if you can experience that ideal marriage but without the marriage part. There are all kinds of reasons not to choose Vernon but the most important is that, ultimately, he doesn’t care. I’m not saying that he’s a bad man, I consider him a good friend. But he’s really the depths of our generation’s degeneration. He just doesn’t care because he doesn’t think caring is important. He believes in experience and pleasure and being the most incorrigible, but he will move on without a thought too. And you don’t want that.”
“How do you know?” Evelyn did not like the idea that Dorothy thought she knew what Evelyn wanted.
“Because I know, Evie. You’re not from this world. Until this week I doubt you realised there were people in the world like Vernon. Like any of us, for that matter. And you can be part of this world, but don’t let yourself drown in the cynicism of it. Don’t think you can’t do better than Vernon.” There was a rare passion in Dorothy’s tone.
“I appreciate you trying to help me,” Evelyn replied. “But I am capable of managing my own life.”
“I’m not patronising you, Evie. I’m only giving you the benefit of my wisdom. And I’ve seen the way you look at Vernon, and the way he looks at you.”
“What do you mean, the way he looks at me?” Evelyn found this revelation fascinating.
“He looks at you as though you’re the next tasty morsel in an endless banquet.”
“Does he really?” Evelyn tried not to be pleased.
“Yes. But you don’t want to be consumed, do you?”
“Of course not.” Evelyn made an attempt to sound disapproving.
“If you’re not sure, Evie, think about where Lilian is, right at this moment. What exactly do you think she and Vernon are doing?”
Realisation dawned on Evelyn. “Oh. You mean, Lilian and Vernon are—”
“Lilian and Vernon are not really anything, but at this moment they’ll be enacting something you read about in that book, or something similar.” Dorothy softened her words with a small smile. “You need to wake up to this world, Evie. Do you want to end up like Lilian? She’s head over heels for him, though she tells herself she’s not. And he does not care one little bit.”
Evelyn pondered this and wondered why she’d not realised the way Lilian felt about Vernon previously. Then she felt unaccountably compelled to confide further in Dorothy. “I’ve been so innocent and naive, Dorothy. I want it gone, all traces of who I used to be. I want to be part of your world. I feel like I’m behind a window, separate from you all because of the things I haven’t experienced. I don’t want to be the innocent laughing stock or someone you need to look after and protect. I do have those feelings.”
Dorothy’s eyes registered understanding and sympathy. “Of course you do, darling. And you’ll be very welcome in our world, as you call it. But Vernon isn’t the gatekeeper, much though he’d like to think so.”
“Why do you keep talking about Vernon?” Evelyn asked at last, realising she’d done nothing to dispell Dorothy’s assumption. “I don’t have any feelings about Vernon. I admit, he flatters me. No one has ever treated me in quite that way before and it has an effect on me. But, even before you told me about Lilian, I was only a little drawn to him.”
“But when I asked if you’d seen anyone who makes your heart beat faster, I could read the answer all over your face, whatever Lilian has to say about it. Oh good Lord, it’s not James, is it?”
“No, of course not.” Evelyn was offended Dorothy would suggest it and tried to ignore the nagging anxiety of James’s apparent feelings towards her.
“Well, that’s a relief. I’d have credited you with very little taste if it’d been him, poor boy that he is. So who is it? Come on, spill the beans, darling. I won’t tell.”
“Really, it’s no one…” Evelyn began.
Dorothy
