‘What promise is that?’ she asked. She could see a vein pulsing in his neck and feel the sudden tautness in his body.
He turned his head into the palm of her hand and kissed it, his soft lips against her skin making her heart thud. ‘The one I made last night,’ he said slowly, now taking hold of her hand in his. ‘About not rushing things. But you see, I’d give anything to wake up in the morning with you by my side. It would be the perfect Christmas present. One I would always treasure.’
‘The thing about some promises,’ she said, transfixed by the yearning in his face, ‘is they’re just like parking meters.’
He raised an eyebrow and cocked his head. ‘Whatever response I was expecting, or hoping for, it certainly wasn’t that!’
She smiled. ‘It’s really quite simple,’ she said. ‘The promise you made was the sort that wasn’t meant to last longer than twenty-four hours.’
‘It was?’
‘Oh yes. And,’ she pointed to the carriage clock, ‘by my reckoning it ran out a few hours ago.’
He stared at her, then threw back his head and laughed. ‘Now she tells me!’
When he fell silent, he drank the rest of his brandy, as did Romily. They each placed their empty glasses on the mantelpiece, and then, as one, moved into each other’s arms and kissed. Her hands pressed into his shoulder blades, he moved against her, strong and sure, his right hand holding the nape of her neck. Locked together, they kissed as they had before, passionate and with the need for more from the other.
At last they pulled apart, both breathing hard and gazing deep into each other’s eyes. Without another word exchanged, Romily switched off the lamp on her desk and led Red from the room to go upstairs.
Chapter Seventy-Five
Island House, Melstead St Mary
December 1962
Isabella
‘I don’t believe for one minute that story Romily gave us about her and Red being just friends. The sexual tension between them last night during dinner was akin to watching bacon sizzling in a pan!’
Max smiled. ‘What a way with words you have, my darling. Does it bother you that they might be lovers?’
Wearing the shirt Max had worn yesterday, Isabella turned away from the window where she had been watching yet more snow fall from the leaden sky. ‘Heavens no!’ she said. ‘I think it would be wonderful for Romily to have a man in her life after all this time on her own.’
‘What about you, do you like having a man in your life?’
Isabella thought how much Max had come to mean to her. How he filled her heart in a way no man ever had before. People often spoke of finding a partner who was the missing piece they had never even realised was missing from their lives, but only now did she know how true that was.
‘You’ll know,’ Elijah had once said to her when she’d been in her early teens and had asked him how she would know that she was in love with somebody. ‘You’ll just know with all your heart that you’ve found the right person.’
She went back to the bed where Max was lying on his side looking at her. ‘I rather think I do,’ she said, slipping under the warm bedclothes to join him.
He contemplated her for a few seconds, then rolled over to lean on top of her. ‘I hope it’s this particular man you enjoy having around,’ he said.
She placed her hands either side of his bristly unshaven face and kissed him. ‘Do you really?’
‘How can you ask that after everything I told you on the train yesterday?’
‘Well,’ she said, teasingly, ‘put yourself in my shoes. Why should I believe I’m any different to all the many women you’ve had in your life before me? Including,’ she said with extra emphasis, ‘my aunt.’
He frowned and suddenly looked serious. ‘You will keep your promise never to say anything about that, won’t you? I only told you because I meant it when I said I didn’t want there to be any secrets between us.’
When he’d admitted to her that he had been somewhat economical with the truth in his explanation as to how well he knew Evelyn, she had greeted his confession with relief. She had been utterly convinced he was about to ruin everything by saying he was married. Compared to that, a brief affair with her aunt all those years ago didn’t bother her in the slightest. ‘Ancient history,’ she had assured Max. ‘I couldn’t care a fig about it.’ Perhaps it was her reaction – her fear that she was going to lose Max – that made her realise just how strongly she felt for him.
However, knowing what she now knew did make her review her opinion of her aunt. Evelyn had never struck her as the spontaneous sort to throw herself into a passionate fling. Certainly not when she was already seeing another man: Kit.
‘Of course I won’t say anything,’ she said to Max. ‘I’d hate to cause Evelyn any embarrassment. Or Kit. Although there are plainly going to be some awkward moments ahead for us, aren’t there?’
‘We’ll ride them out,’ he said firmly. ‘My first hurdle is to convince Evelyn that I’m not the dirty dog she imagines me still to be. She didn’t exactly sound full of the milk of human kindness towards me when I spoke to her on the telephone. But that wasn’t really what I was referring to. What about the other thing I told you?’
‘You mean your job?’
‘No, the other and far more important thing. Are you sure that’s not a problem? Have you given it any more thought? I would understand if it’s—’
She kissed him again. ‘Shh . . . not another word. I’ve given it all the thought I need to.’
‘But it’s important. You’re so much younger than me and—’
She silenced him with another kiss. ‘Stop looking for problems where there aren’t any. It’s Christmas Day and I don’t want anything to spoil it.’
Then, on impulse, she said: ‘And to prove to you that I don’t care about any of the stuff you’re worried about, there’s something I want you to do for me.’
‘Name it.’
They dressed in as many layers as they could put on, and in which they could still move. And with no sign of Romily up and about, or her guest, Isabella opened the back door and let them out.
They had only been trudging through the falling snow for a short distance when the bitterly cold air found its way to her chest. She started to cough.
‘Is this such a good idea?’ asked Max.
‘I’ll be fine,’ she assured him. She loved it that he was always so concerned for her. Never would she forget him turning up that day during the smog, when she was stuck in bed feeling so ill.