Sister, who came back into the room just in time to hear this remark, put her hand to her heart and nearly fainted. That was going to be something to tell her next patients about; never, in all her sisterhood, can she have heard its like from a mother to an only daughter. But Polly, gazing open-mouthed at her mother, taking in every detail of the new appearance, was quite unmoved; it was too typical of Lady Montdore’s whole outlook on life for somebody who had been brought up by her to find it odd or upsetting. In any case, I doubt if she minded much about the baby herself; she seemed to me rather like a cow whose calf has been taken away from it at birth, unconscious of her loss.
‘What a pity you couldn’t have come to the ball, Fanny,’ Lady Montdore went on. ‘Just only for half an hour, to have a look. It was really beautiful. A lot of Cedric’s friends came from Paris for it, in most striking dresses, and I am bound to say, though I have never liked the French, they were very civil indeed and so appreciative of anything one did for them. They all said there hadn’t been such a party since the days of Robert de Montesquiou and I can believe it – it cost £4,000, you know, the water for the gondolas was so heavy, for one thing. Well, it shows these foreigners that England isn’t done for, yet, excellent propaganda. I wore all my diamonds and I have given Cedric a revolving diamond star (goes by clockwork) and he wore it on his shoulder – most effective, I must say. We thoroughly enjoyed every minute and I wish you could read the letters I’ve had about it, really touching, people have had so little pleasure the last year or two and it makes them all the more grateful, of course. Next time we come over I’ll bring the photographs, they give a wonderful idea of what it was like.’
‘What was your dress, Mummy?’
‘Longhi,’ said Lady Montdore, evasively. ‘Veronica Chaddesley Corbett was very good as a prostitute (they were called something different in those days) and Davey was there, Fanny, have you heard from him? He was the Black Death. Everybody made a real effort, you know – it’s a terrible pity you girls couldn’t have come.’
There was a pause. She looked round the room and said with a sigh,
‘Poor Patricia – well, never mind, that’s all over now. Boy was telling us about his book, such an excellent idea, Three Dukes, and Cedric is very much interested because young Souppes, the son of the Prince des Ressources, whom we used to see at Trouville, is a friend of his. Chèvres-Fontaine, which Cedric used to take every summer, belongs to his first cousin. Isn’t it a curious coincidence? So of course, Cedric can tell Boy a great many things he never knew about them all, and they think later on they might go to Paris together to do some research, in fact, we might all go, wouldn’t that be amusing?’
‘Not me,’ said Polly, ‘no more abroad for me, ever.’
At this point Boy came into the room and I discreetly left it, in spite of a furious look from the bed. I went into the garden to find Cedric. He was sitting on the churchyard wall, the pale sunshine on his golden hair, which I perceived to be tightly curled, an aftermath of the ball, no doubt, and plucking away with intense concentration at the petals of a daisy.
‘He loves me he loves me not he loves me he loves me not, don’t interrupt my angel, he loves me he loves me not, oh, heaven heaven heaven! He loves me! I may as well tell you, my darling, that the second big thing in my life has begun.’
A most sinister ray of light suddenly fell upon the future.
‘Oh, Cedric,’ I said. ‘Do be careful!’
I need not have felt any alarm, however, Cedric managed the whole thing quite beautifully. As soon as Polly had completely recovered her health and looks, he put Lady Montdore and Boy into the big Daimler and rolled away with them to France. The field was thus left to a Morris Cowley which, sure enough, could be seen day after day in the drive at Silkin. Before very long, Polly got into it and was taken to Paddington Park, where she remained.
Then the Daimler rolled back to Hampton.
‘So here we all are, my darling, having our lovely cake and eating it too, One’s great aim in life.’
‘Yes, I know,’ I said, ‘the Boreleys think it’s simply terrible.’
THE BLESSING
TO EVELYN WAUGH
PART ONE
1
‘The foreign gentleman seems to be in a terrible hurry, dear.’
And indeed the house, though quite large, what used to be called a family house, in Queen Anne’s Gate, was filled with sounds of impatience. Somebody was stamping about, moving furniture, throwing windows up and down, and clearing his throat exaggeratedly.
‘Ahem! Ahem!’
‘How long has he been here, Nanny?’
‘Nearly an hour I should think. He played the piano, very fast and loud, for a while, which seemed to keep him quiet. He’s only started this shindy since John went and told him you were in and would be down presently.’
‘You go, darling, and tell him he must wait while I change out of these trousers,’ said Grace, who was vigorously cleaning her neck with cotton wool. ‘Oh, the dirt. What I need is a bath.’
The drawing-room door was now flung open.
‘Do I see you or not?’ The voice was certainly foreign.
‘All
