‘With some pretty close runner ups.’ Chloe smirks, peering through the window at Rob Bright who’s cavorting with another victim.
I glare at Chloe. ‘Admittedly, Josh has acted badly, but Izzy you can’t confront him in there, it’s not the time nor the place.’
Izzy’s crying, great shuddering heartfelt sobs. ‘I can’t understand what has come over him. He was so loving and kind, such a romantic – the perfect man…’
‘Hmmm, no such thing,’ Chloe remarks.
‘I thought he was the one, for God’s sakes, and now he’s cold, distant, like it never happened. It’s like I imagined it all.’
‘Maybe there’s a reasonable explanation,’ Mel persists, ever the optimist.
‘Huh, they always say that.’ Chloe, bizarrely, is quick to notice the faults of total losers, unless she is going out with them herself. This must come under the ‘love is blind’ category.
‘Is everything all right?’ Nick Palmer-Wright appears at the doorway looking genuinely concerned, earning himself huge brownie points from me.
‘Yes, just a misunderstanding,’ I reply, smiling gratefully at him.
‘Oh good. We don’t want anyone to be unhappy.’ He glances rather doubtfully at Izzy’s tear-stained face. ‘I was going to ask Chloe to dance if she’s free.’
Chloe blushes and having glanced at me shyly, accepts, and they disappear back into the ballroom. I notice what a handsome couple they make, mentally dismissing my misgivings that this can only end in tears.
‘Getting on very well together, those two,’ Mel says drily.
‘Yes, it’s nice for Chloe. She’s lived in Kian’s shadow for so long, it’ll do her good to have someone make her feel better about herself. If you guys will stay with Izzy, I’ll go and get her some water.’
I brave the crazy melee of the ballroom once more. It is a gorgeous splash of whirling colour, filled with smiling happy people. Before I manage to make my way very far across the ballroom, I feel Rob’s sweaty hand on my arm.
‘Miss Johnson, I’ve been looking for you all evening,’ he recriminates, his beery breath betraying the fact he’s slightly the worse for wear. ‘You’ll never guess who’s here.’
‘I’m sure I can,’ I mutter.
Rob carries on oblivious. ‘Hattie Parker – Lady Constance’s daughter. She isn’t very often out in society as she spends a lot of time abroad.’
‘Don’t blame her. Which one is she?’
‘Over there.’
I wince as Rob points across the room in an embarrassingly obvious manner to where the horsey-looking girl is standing talking to Mrs Drummond.
‘She would be.’
Eventually I manage to detach myself from Rob, making the excuse that I’m expected elsewhere. He wanders off, muttering about introducing himself to Darcy Drummond. Good luck to him if he does, he won’t receive much of a reception there. Speaking of Darcy, I spot him standing in the corner talking to his mother, with Hattie Parker. To be fair, he looks bored as usual. He catches my glance and looks away again immediately as his mother’s trying to capture his attention.
As I approach the drinks, I bump straight into Jessica Palmer-Wright, who’s holding a couple of glasses of champagne – I bet one’s for Darcy. I almost feel sorry for her, she is wasting her time with Lady Hattie around.
‘Ah, Sophie,’ remarks Jessica PW, ‘I hear you’re a real fan of Daniel Becks. I assume you’re unaware that he comes from a broken home and was brought up on an estate in Brixham. Also, he has behaved so badly to poor Darcy,’ she sneers bitchily, making me want to slap her. ‘I’m sorry to be the bearer of bad news about your hot new man, but quite honestly, considering his background, you can’t expect much better.’
‘Really? Thank you for your information, Miss Bingley,’ I remark incredulously. ‘What did he do to Darcy that was so bad?’
‘Miss Who?’ Jessica snaps. ‘I can’t remember the exact details but I know it was really awful,’ she simpers insincerely.
‘You haven’t told me anything I didn’t know already. Daniel told me about his background himself and why should I care where he lived when he was growing up?’
‘No, I don’t suppose you would,’ Jessica sneers and stalks off.
It is all I can do to grab a bottle of mineral water for Izzy and start to make my way back through the throng to the gardens.
Emma’s dancing with a tall chap with dark hair and sideburns, but is looking happy and carefree.
Mel whirls past. I notice she’s been captured by Rob again but she seems to be enjoying herself in spite of this handicap. She’s more than capable of getting herself out of anything if she needs to. Also the good thing about Regency dancing is at least you can move around the room away from your partner for some of the time.
Chloe returns with Nick. She looks flushed and pretty, she hasn’t been like this for years, not since she met Kian anyway.
I repeat to her what Jessica Palmer-Wright said about Daniel.
‘She’s such a bitch,’ I add grumpily. ‘Then again, she’s bound to be on Darcy’s side, she’s so desperate to marry the guy. Good luck to her with Lady Hattie around.’
‘I hate to be the bearer of bad news,’ says Chloe, ‘but I talked to Nick about it and he says that it was Daniel actually who screwed Darcy over some business deal.’
‘Does he know Daniel then?’ I ask.
‘No.’
‘Then how’s he supposed to know what happened?’
Chloe looks upset.
‘I don’t mean to blame Nick, he’s a really nice guy,’ I continue, ‘and it’s nice he’s just trying to stick up for his mate but he will of course have heard the story from Darcy. It doesn’t mean it’s true.’
Chloe’s unconvinced. ‘I know what you mean but I still can’t believe Darcy’s quite as bad as Daniel’s making out. It doesn’t make sense.’
‘I can. He’s such an arrogant everything-is-okay-in-the-name-of-business guy. I can tell his type a mile off, as long as he’s making a profit he doesn’t care what happens to anyone else’s. Look at Bill Bellingham – bought up all the local parks and built on them, raking in a fortune, even paying off the jury when the protestors appealed.’
‘I don’t think you can accuse Darcy of acting like Bill Bellingham – he’s a real lowlife.’ Chloe laughs.
‘If the cap fits,’ I retort.
‘Are you sure it isn’t because he upset your pride that you hate him so much?’
I’m about to reply when I notice Mel coming back with Rob. ‘Look out, maybe we should act as though we’re going somewhere. I can’t bear any more of Rob’s conversational wit.’
‘I think we should try to get Izzy home,’ Maria interrupts, appearing suddenly. ‘She isn’t feeling too well. It’s such a shame Matthew isn’t here.’
‘Matthew – from the dance evening?’ I ask.
‘Yes, he’s totally crazy about Izzy and is such a nice guy, but all she cares about is Josh,’ Maria says sadly.