The mead was sweet and toxic. Marnie could feel the first sip going to her brain at warp speed and she thought she’d better not drink too much more of it if she was driving. She watched Titus Sutton knock back his cup in two gulps, in comparison to the tall, slender, dull-looking wife at his side, holding hers with her pinkie finger slightly stuck out, as if it were a cup of Earl Grey. Titus was talking to the May Queen’s mother now and guffawing at something, but Hilary Sutton’s smile was strained, as if she felt obliged to show approval.
The ‘fool’ in the half-horse costume was bouncing around the maypole, making people laugh. He looked as if he was having a whale of a time. Actually, he looked as if he was wrecked. Marnie imagined that it wouldn’t take very many of those meads to get everyone else feeling the same. Main ingredients: honey and petrol.
‘Marnie,’ Lilian’s voice cut through her reverie. ‘Why don’t you stay the night? I have a spare bedroom in the manor. Actually I have seven, but one is always made up. You can carouse into the night with us. Your car will be perfectly safe.’
Yeah, right, thought Marnie. The last thing she wanted to do was carouse into the night. Knowing her, she’d probably confess the sins of her life to the whole village and that would be another part of England that she’d have to avoid like the plague.
‘Thank you, but I’d better be going soon,’ she replied, whilst looking at her watch. ‘I’ve got some . . . er . . . files to look at before work tomorrow.’
‘You have to stay for the food,’ Emelie entreated with enthusiasm. ‘We all go up to the manor and it’s quite an occasion.’
As curious as Marnie was about seeing the manor, she had a long drive back home and work in the morn— . . . No, she didn’t, actually. Really, there was nothing stopping her going up to the manor with them all, except for some inexplicable reason, she felt that she had to go. She’d kept her promise to visit and should leave now.
‘Herv, come and meet my friend,’ Lilian waved over at the blond man and he waved back, made his excuses to the May Queen and wended his way over to the three women and Lionel. Close up it was even easier to see why her royal highness was in full-on flirty hair-flicking mode. He was quite a dish if you were in the market for some eye candy, which Marnie most categorically wasn’t. She’d always thought the long hair look on men was a bit girly or ‘aged rock star’ and hadn’t seen anyone yet who could carry it off with perfect aplomb – until now. All that mane, a killer smile plus knicker-meltingly blue eyes – but not the same blue as the Salt family eyes. Herv’s were much lighter; softer and yet more intense at the same time. And infinitely warmer: the difference between a Caribbean sea and a bloody cold Arctic one. Her knickers were not melting though. They had been coated with the strongest fire-retardant on the market and were totally impervious. He could have been Gerard Butler with a bouquet of red roses in one hand and bottle of warm massage oil in the other and still the permafrost would have remained intact.
‘Herv, this is my friend Marnie. Marnie, this is Herv Gunnarsen, my gardener and groundsman and maintenance man and . . . what did we decide your job title was in the end, Herv?’
‘I don’t think that we ever did.’
‘The word Herv should be added to the Oxford English Dictionary,’ Emelie giggled girlishly. ‘The definition should read man who does everything.’
Emelie was a sucker for his charms too, it seemed.
‘Nice to meet you, Marnie,’ said Herv, holding out his hand towards her. It engulfed hers in a warm, gentle shake. ‘So where did you meet Lilian then?’
Lilian answered for her. ‘We met online talking about cheesecakes. We have great fun and some rapier-sharp battles with truly hideous people. Idiots from all over the world.’
Marnie winced visibly. ‘If that sounds tragic, it’s because it is,’ she said quietly to Herv.
He laughed and it was a deep rumbling sound, as if it came from the very core of him.
‘I’d better get back,’ Marnie said again. ‘I’ve got a two-hour drive ahead of me. Should I leave my sack on the rack?’
‘I need to return your deposit,’ said Herv, hunting around himself again for his lost pocket.
‘No, it’s fine. Keep it in the collection box.’
‘That’s very kind of you,’ said Lionel.
‘Oh Marnie, it has been lovely to see you again. Please say you’ll come back. I’d love you to see the manor,’ said Lilian.
‘I will, I promise,’ said Marnie. ‘I’ll stay longer next time.’
Someone called Herv’s name and he indicated that he’d heard them with a wave of his arm. ‘Nice to meet you, Marnie. I hope I see you again, too.’ His smile said that he meant that.
‘Yes, bye,’ she said. ‘Nice to meet you.’ She daren’t look to her side where she could just see the May Queen dangling at the edge of her vision. Probably casting a hex on her.
‘Ladies and gentlemen, to the manor,’ shouted Titus, summoning everyone to follow him.
‘That isn’t his job either, that’s mine,’ said Lilian crossly as the crowd began walking towards Kytson Hill.
Marnie gave her a hug and it appeared that Lilian didn’t want to let her go.
‘Little Raspberries is there for you,’ she said again. ‘It doesn’t like being empty. I think you could help solve that problem.’
‘Go and eat and enjoy the rest of your day,’ Marnie commanded. ‘We will be in touch with each other again very soon.’
‘Let me know when you reach home safely,’ said Lilian.
‘Will do,’ replied Marnie. ‘Lovely to meet you too, Emelie, Lionel.’
‘Very much likewise,’ said Emelie, her lovely face lit up by her smile and Lionel reached over to shake her by the hand again.
She took a few steps, turned, blew a kiss to Lilian and set off towards her car, wondering why she felt the need to get away so quickly because there was nothing waiting for her at home. She didn’t even have a home.
Emelie had started to walk up with the others but Lilian and Lionel remained, watching Marnie until she was out of sight.
‘Do you reckon it is her?’ asked Lilian. ‘I’m so sure of it.’
‘Oh, I don’t know, dear Lilian,’ said Lionel, shaking his head slowly. ‘But I don’t think you should hope too much.’
‘She looks so Irish, her colouring, her eyes, Lionel,’ insisted Lilian. ‘And the dates tie up exactly. There’s a reason why she came into my life. I know, without any doubt, that’s it’s her.’
*
Marnie’s drive home was smooth and unhindered and she barely saw any traffic on the roads, which was good news because she tackled most of the journey on automatic pilot as her brain was whirring. For a reason she couldn’t fathom, her visit to Wychwell had stuck a huge wooden spoon in her life and stirred everything up. As if it weren’t agitated enough already.
She had just short of a month before her doctor’s note ran out – and what then? What was she going to do? She also had to decide about where she was going to live. She could go back to the estate agent and tell them she’d changed her mind about changing her mind, but she knew she wouldn’t. She had never liked living in Redbrook Row and now she carried a big fat greasy memory of shagging Justin in it. A very married man. She felt sick at the thought.