A Week in Winter(38)

‘And it might have been very cold – damp, even,’ Lillian chimed in quickly.

But Teddy was having none of it. ‘The two of you must go together.’

Lillian coughed, but appeared to give the matter some thought. ‘No, darling, we’ll wait and set it up another time.’

‘It would be a bit like Hamlet without the Prince,’ Winnie said with a terrible forced smile that she felt must look like a death’s head.

‘There are other weekends, other places,’ Lillian pleaded.

‘Let’s not even think of going without you.’ Winnie practically tore Lillian’s good linen table napkin into shreds.

‘But what would I like better when I am away than to think of the two of you having a holiday together? Getting to know each other properly. The two people I love.’ He was clearly sincere, and both women were trapped.

‘Well, of course we will get to know each other, Teddy, it’s just that we don’t want you to lose out on a holiday,’ Lillian began.

‘Your mother could come to Dublin, and I would take her on a day out while you are away.’ Winnie felt a whimper in her voice.

‘This place sounds so right for you both, and it’s booked. You must go,’ he said.

‘It might be the wrong age group for us. There could just be a house full of young people.’ Lillian was grasping at straws. ‘It’s not a holiday that would attract young people, of course,’ she said eventually.

‘Yes, we might be out of place.’ Winnie nodded so fervently she feared her poor, tired, muddled head might fall off.

But these were just the dying gasps of beached fish. They looked at each other. They both knew that to refuse would be to lose him. And neither of them was willing to take that step. They began to backtrack.

Lillian caved in first.

‘But if it’s what you really want . . . Yes, all in all, it has a lot going for it. Certainly, I’d be very happy to go with you, Winnie.’

‘What?’ Winnie felt as if she had been shot.

‘Teddy is right. We do need to get to know each other. I could easily go with you then. And, do you know, I think I’d enjoy it.’

Winnie felt the room tilt around her.

She must speak this very moment, or else she had agreed to go on a week’s holiday with this hateful woman. But her throat was dry and she could not find her voice. She felt herself nodding dumbly. She was like a drowning woman with the waters closing overhead but she could not stop it happening. She realised that if she did not speak, she would end up going to the West with Lillian Hennessy.

Lillian’s small, spiteful face was very near hers. She was planning this week in the West as her way to destroy whatever Teddy and Winnie might claim to have.

Winnie straightened herself up.

In her mind she said, All right, bring it on, then let’s see who wins, but aloud she said, ‘It’s a great idea, Lillian. I’m sure we’ll have a wonderful time. I’ll confirm the booking for the two of us.’

Somehow the meal came to an end and it was time for Teddy to drive her to the station.

‘We’ll be in touch before we go,’ Lillian called from the hall door.

‘What did I tell you?’ Teddy asked. ‘I knew you two would get on together.’

‘Yes, she was very kind, very welcoming.’

‘And you are both going off on a holiday together – isn’t that magical?’

‘Yes, she said she liked the sound of this place over in Stoneybridge.’

‘Mam doesn’t go on holidays with anyone, you know. She is very choosy. So she must have taken to you immediately.’

‘Yes, isn’t it great . . .’ Winnie said. She felt flat and defeated and as if her hangover was about to kick in. It was a warning to her to go easy on wine at lunchtime for the rest of her life. A warning that had come way too late.

Winnie stared out the window as the train hurtled through rural Ireland. What kind of people worked moving cattle around these small green fields, or digging those crops into hard earth? They were people who would never have had too much wine at lunchtime, or any time. They would never have agreed to go on a week’s holiday with the most hateful woman in Ireland. She tried to sleep but just as the rhythm of the train was beginning to lull her into some kind of rest, she got a text message on her phone.

It was from Teddy.

I miss you so much. You lit up the whole party at lunchtime. They were all mad about you. And so am I. But you’ll never know just how wonderful you were to my mother. She has talked of nothing else but her holiday with you. You are brilliant, and I love you.

It didn’t cheer her. It made her feel even worse about herself. She was a grown woman. She wasn’t a schoolgirl. She had messed everything up. In ten weeks’ time she would go to Stone House with Lillian Hennessy. It was like the Mad Hatter’s Tea Party. It was like one of those terrible dreams that are both silly and frightening at the same time.

Winnie’s friends noticed a change in her. She just shrugged when they asked her about her visit to Rossmore. They hardly dared to enquire whether Teddy was still visiting. Winnie refused the idea of going on any holidays with them.

Fiona and Declan had begged her to come and stay in the holiday home they had rented in Wexford. There would be plenty of room and they would love to have her. But Winnie didn’t even consider it. Nor the suggestion that she go on a bus tour of Italy with Barbara and David, who were heading that way. And Ania’s pictures of the boat they were renting on the Shannon River didn’t raise a flicker of interest.