Page 8 of The Girl with the Irish Secret
‘What about Arnaud?’ Vi asked, surprised by the hint of sadness in Sylvia’s voice. She was also surprised that Sylvia had forgiven her so quickly, but then the row had not been about her but with Lily and Rose. Sylvia always tried not to interfere in their arguments, preferring to stay neutral in order to mediate between them.
‘Arnaud? Oh, he’s in the South of France during the winter,’ Sylvia said. ‘He thought I might like to spend the cold months there with him. But I missed Kerry too much. The wind and rain don’t worry me. They pass very quickly and then we havethe sunshine back and the glorious views of the ocean. There’s nothing like it in the whole world. Today was one of those days.’
‘No, there isn’t,’ Vi agreed, imagining how lovely Kerry would be right now, the water of Dingle Bay glittering in the sunshine and the ocean beyond stretching out to the horizon where sea met sky and the sun would sink behind the islands in a riot of pink, red and orange. She could nearly smell the salty air and taste the newly caught fish cooked in batter and served with chips and mushy peas in one of the restaurants on the quays. ‘I’ll come home as soon as I can,’ she promised. ‘I want to start looking into Kathleen O’Sullivan’s life from the very start.’
‘That might come with a few surprises,’ Sylvia remarked. ‘Not always good ones.’
‘What do you mean?’ Vi asked. ‘What do you know about her?’
‘Not much, but what I’ve heard is not all so lovely,’ Sylvia said cryptically. ‘But I have to go. Nora is expecting me for dinner. Let me know when you’ll be arriving and we’ll have the gatehouse all warm and cosy for you.’
‘Thank you, Granny,’ Vi said. ‘But what was that about Kathleen O’—?’
‘Bye for now,’ Sylvia said, and hung up.
Vi sat there with the phone in her hand, wondering what Sylvia had meant. Did her grandmother know something about Kathleen O’Sullivan? Something that went against the sweet, wholesome image she had presented to the world? Vi realised that her grandmother was of the same generation and that they had both grown up in Kerry around the same time. Maybe Vi’s research would start much closer to home that she had imagined.
4
A week later, Vi found herself having a drink in an Irish pub with Jack Montgomery. Feeling as if she was dreaming, or in some kind of parallel universe, she wandered into the dim, crowded pub dressed in a navy suit with a short skirt, high heels and her hair in a messy bun with tendrils around her face. It looked natural, but the style and the ‘natural’ makeup had taken her over an hour to achieve. She scanned the room, but didn’t see Jack, so she sat down at a small round table in an alcove to wait for him. A waiter appeared asking what she wanted, but she told him she was waiting for someone, so he nodded and disappeared. Then after a few tense moments, when she thought he wouldn’t show up, there was a sudden murmur through the pub and there he was, pushing through the crowd, looking unperturbed by the eyes on him.
He looked around for a moment and when he spotted Vi, walked swiftly to her table and sat down. ‘Hey,’ he said, smiling. ‘You chose the best spot in the place. Clever of you. Nice to see you again… eh… Vera?’
‘Violet,’ she corrected.
‘Oh, of course. I knew that. Hi there, Violet.’
‘Hi, Jack,’ she said. ‘How are you?’
‘Great.’ He looked at her for a moment. ‘You look cute. What did you do to your hair?’
Vi touched the back of her head. ‘Oh, I just put it up out of the way.’
He nodded. ‘Nice. What do you want to drink?’
‘I’d love a pint of Guinness,’ she said without thinking.
‘A whole pint?’ He raised one eyebrow, his mouth quivering. ‘You’re that thirsty?’
Vi shrugged. ‘Sure. Why not? This is an Irish pub, after all. Nothing like draught Guinness on a Friday night.’ She suddenly felt reckless and wanted to show him she didn’t care what he thought. Did he think she was going to sit here and be prim and proper and mind her ps and qs just to impress him?Be yourself, she said to herself.Don’t try to be something you’re not.
‘It’s Thursday,’ he said.
‘I know, but I’ve just finished filming. It feels like Friday night to me.’
‘Oh, I see.’ He waved at a waiter. ‘A pint of Guinness for the lady and a Jameson’s for me. Best whiskey in the world,’ he said to Vi when the waiter had left. ‘You Irish do make the best drinks.’
‘We do,’ Vi agreed. ‘Except for wine. The French do that better than us.’
‘Yes, of course. If you’re into wine.’ He smiled. ‘So you just finished filming?’
Vi nodded. ‘Yes, my character, Jane, has just been killed in an accident under suspicious circumstances. Such a relief. Didn’t really enjoy the part I was playing. The dialogue was terrible and the whole plot was deadly.’ She giggled. ‘Well, it would be, being a murder mystery.’
He smiled. ‘I’m sure you let them know how deadly it was.’
Vi nodded. ‘Yeah, I’m afraid I did, so they killed me off. It wasn’t really in the script but they changed it when I started to complain. So glad to have finished that one. And now I can prepare for my role as Kathleen.’
‘You’ll be perfect,’ he said, looking at her with amused eyes. ‘It’ll be interesting to see what you do with the role.’
