Page 73 of Wild Swimming at Croftwood Lake
Betsy gave Caspar a mutinous look, but said nothing else. Nora braced herself for an evening which wasn’t shaping up to be much fun. But she wanted to help, and she was pleased Archie had gone with her suggestion of taking Caspar out.
‘We could play poker,’ Constance blurted out, surprising them all.
‘Is that what you’ve been doing when you’re out at your knitting circle?’ Nora teased her. ‘Playing poker with Penny and Mary?’
Constance laughed and when everyone else did too, even Betsy, despite herself, it diffused the tension and by the time Caspar and Archie left for the pub, she seemed to be in a much more amenable mood.
‘I’ll just pop up and check on Florence,’ she said.
Nora and Constance went into the drawing room.
‘Shall I light a fire?’ Nora asked, thinking that it was too chilly in the room to sit comfortably.
‘I can ask Ursula,’ said Constance.
‘I don’t mind,’ said Nora. Ursula had more than enough to do already.
‘Thank you for staying tonight. I’m so pleased Archie and Caspar have gone out together. I’m sure that was your idea, and it’s wonderful.’
Nora didn’t want to take the credit because, although she’d suggested it, she knew it had been a big step for Archie to actually ask Caspar. ‘Hopefully it’ll help Archie understand where Betsy’s coming from.’
‘Because Betsy was still so young when her father died, I overcompensated and spoiled her. She used to be such a loving child, and now she seems so cross with me and Archie all the time. It can be very difficult.’
‘Hopefully, now Archie has got things on track with the estate, she will see how hard he’s working to secure it for Florence’s future. That must be important to her.’
‘I do wonder whether she’s thinking of that, or the short-term gains to be had from selling everything we own now. Still, at least we’ve managed to avoid the topic for tonight. Long may it continue.’
Ursula delivered a chilled bottle of Prosecco on a tray with three beautifully delicate champagne coupes and some nibbles.
‘Oh, lovely Ursula, thank you,’ said Constance.
By the time Betsy came down, Nora had a roaring fire going and Constance had poured them each a glass of bubbly and was curled in the corner of the sofa.
‘I thought you said champagne, Mama,’ said Betsy, sitting on the sofa opposite Constance and making a face as she sipped her drink.
‘I said bubbles, darling. We don’t run to champagne anymore.’
‘If I’d known, I’d have bought a case with me.’
‘It’s lovely, Constance,’ said Nora, seeing Constance’s face fall. It was no wonder Betsy felt she needed her funds topping up if she was buying champagne by the case.
‘So, you spotted the vase that we sold the other week,’ said Betsy to Nora.
Nora looked at Constance, who looked horrified.
‘Yes. Just a lucky find. I think it’s one of those things that goes in and out of fashion and perhaps wasn’t considered valuable until recently.’ This wasn’t true, but Nora was wary about seeming too knowledgeable about anything in case Betsy wanted to check every nook and cranny of the Court for other things to sell. And anyway, that wasn’t the point. The Court was full of beautiful things that were worth some money. But those were the things that had been handed down through the generations and it seemed very different to sell anything like that rather than a vase that had been languishing in a cupboard for who knew how long.
‘Mmm, makes one wonder what else might be here,’ Betsy said.
‘I think it was very much a one-off. We won’t be doing it again,’ said Constance, hoping to put an end to the conversation.
Nora was desperate to chip in and say that it wasn’t any of Betsy’s business, but that was difficult since it wasn’t her business either. So she kept quiet.
After another sip of Prosecco, Nora was overwhelmed with nausea. ‘Sorry, could you excuse me a moment,’ she said, trying not to run out of the room as dramatically as she felt she needed to, while also trying not to throw up on anything expensive.
She ran for the nearest toilet, which was thankfully just down the corridor and was sick. She sat on the floor trying to compose herself, but was clammy and not at all sure that being sick had helped her to feel better. Perhaps the Prosecco had been a bad idea after having had an upset stomach. She felt awful, leaving Constance to deal with Betsy alone, but all she wanted to do was go to bed.
Once she was sure that she could leave the safety of the toilet, Nora headed back into the drawing room.
