Page 22 of The Midnight Secret

‘No, what I was referring to was her unfortunate propensity to fall on her back for the first rich man to look her way. Not to be indelicate, but if that was what she was after, she could have done a lot better than Callaghan.’

Everyone – even Bitsy and Peony – looked startled by this sudden, casual cruelty, denigrating both Effie’s friend and his own. Albie looked as if he was going to pass out.

‘James Callaghan is a far better man than you!’ Effie said in a low voice, holding back her temper, even though it wasbeing buffeted by his taunts like a balloon in the wind. ‘You’re just saying that because she chose him over you. They were engaged! She loves him!’

‘Does she really?’

‘Aye, she does!’

‘Eff...’ she heard Sholto murmur, a blush of embarrassment in his voice.

But Rushton shook his head, a mocking smile on his lips. ‘Then why was she standing in my Paris apartment a few short weeks ago wearing nothing but her negligée?’

Veronica yelped at the implied impropriety as Effie froze, her mind racing. Flora – in a negligée – in his Paris apartment? Was that true? She wanted to be loyal, but she couldn’t say for certain that it wasn’t. Flora loved James, Effie knew that, but she also knew her friend had supposed James dead. And she had been alone in Paris, with a man who had once courted her...Flora had never made any secret of her ambitions to marry up in this world.

‘Now see here!’ Colly said sharply, taking a step towards Rushton – but Effie was quicker. Her arm shot out before she could stop it, throwing her martini all over him.

There was another collective gasp, followed by a frozen silence as Rushton was forced to dry his face with the sleeve of his dinner jacket. At last the tension was broken by the sound of chuckling and Effie saw Baird-Hamilton smiling into his drink, amused rather than appalled.

Rushton looked furiously at him and then back at her, and Effie realized she was shaking. Horror at what she had done caught up with her. She’d lost control and revealed her true self – a wild creature, totally unsuited to polite society.

She couldn’t bear to look at Sholto and see the mortification on his face. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw him setdown his glass. Her cheeks flamed as she waited for him to speak.

‘Good aim, darling,’ he said, taking her empty glass from her and setting that down too before clasping her hand in his. Effie knew he could feel her trembling because his grip tightened in unspoken support. She risked a look up at him. His eyes were locked on Rushton’s in silent challenge, daring the other man to pass another inflammatory comment. Just one. But none came. Everyone in the room knew Sholto outranked him.

Finally, Sholto turned to his friends. ‘I say,’ he asked Gladly, ‘would you mind your driver running us back to Dupplin? I think we’ll call it a night.’

Gladly smiled. ‘Gladly, old fruit. Gladly.’

It was freezing outside as they waited for the car to be brought round. An owl hooted from the shadows of a nearby oak. Effie paced on the stone step, her hands balling into fists as her mind frantically replayed the disastrous events – Flora slandered; Effie herself losing her temper and confirming the women’s worst opinions of her; Sholto forced to leave his friend’s party...Oh God, had she done for Albie’s financial hopes too? Would the Americans reject him outright now and take their splashy fees with them?

‘Eff.’

She shook her head as she continued to pace, her despair growing with every passing minute. This would spread like wildfire through Sholto’s far-flung set. Peony and Bitsy lived for scandal, and Effie had just handed one to them on a plate.

‘Effie, stop.’ Sholto placed his hands upon her shoulders, forcing her to look at him. ‘What that man said in there was unacceptable about any woman, much less one of your dearestfriends. If you hadn’t thrown your drink over him,Iwould have, do you hear?...You’ve done nothing wrong.’

‘Haven’t I?Idon’t have the luxury of misbehaving, Sholto. People already expect the worst of me—’

‘No one thinks that!’ he protested. ‘My friends are modern and liberal-minded. They take you as they find you.’

‘When you’re around, maybe,’ she muttered, looking away.

‘What does that mean?’ He frowned. ‘Has someone said something to you?’

‘No.’ Effie tried to turn away, but he held her gently in place.

‘Was it Bitsy?’ he pressed. ‘I knew something was up between you earlier. Tell me what she did.’

‘Nothing. It was just me getting it wrong.’

‘Getting what wrong?’

She sighed, meeting his loving gaze. ‘I thought the point of a pillow fight was to hit one another – but in fact you have to sort ofpretendto hit one another.’ A small frown creased her brow. ‘And I don’t know how to throw something with a bad aim.’

A smile curved his lips as he smoothed away her frown with his thumb. ‘Your excellent aim is one of the many things I love about you.’

‘No it’s not,’ she protested as he pulled her closer into him, protecting her from the wind.

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