The Friends We Keep(26)

“I’ve upgraded you to a suite,” the woman said with a smile. “The only room we had available was unrenovated. I hope you like it.” She opened the door with a flourish as Maggie and Evvie looked at each other with wide eyes, Evvie stepping in first, pretending to be nonchalant, as if she stayed at hotels like this all the time, as if upgrades were part of her life experience.

She couldn’t keep up the pretense for long, for it was the most beautiful room she had ever seen.

The Dinham Arms was a former coaching inn, bought by a wealthy local couple and transformed into a luxury Relais and Chateaux a few years previously. The students whose parents could afford it had all eaten their famous Sunday lunch in the old beamed restaurant, complete with a dessert cart that was wheeled around to each table.

But the suite! Evvie had never seen anything so luxurious. A vast four-poster bed, so high there were mahogany footstools on either side to enable guests to climb in, yards of sumptuous pomegranate-printed fabric draping over the top and down the sides, and pillows piled high.

“This is amazing,” breathed Evvie, her smile almost cracking her face. “Thank you so, so much!”

“Bugger the South of France,” squealed Maggie, climbing onto the bed as soon as the receptionist left. “Oh my God. I’m staying here forever.” She sank back into the pillows and disappeared as Evvie walked around the bedroom, touching the glossy antique side tables, running her hands along the top of the sofa and marveling at the beauty of the fabric, before opening the door into a marble bathroom that was bigger than her bedroom at home, with an enormous tub that seemed to be a Jacuzzi, and a shower that seemed to double as a steam room.

“I feel like the princess and the pea,” shouted Maggie from the bedroom as Evvie unscrewed the caps on the tiny shampoos and conditioners, body washes, and bubble baths, smelling everything and swooning. “You have to climb into this bed. It’s insane.”

Evvie dutifully put the caps back on, and went back into the bedroom, climbing up the steps to the four-poster and sinking down next to Maggie.

“Are you still here?” asked Evvie, reaching out an arm and feeling for her friend. “This bed is so damn huge, I think I lost you.”

“What even is this?” said Maggie. “My parents have a king, but this thing is way bigger.”

“Maybe it’s a California king.”

“What’s that?”

“I have no idea. But I think it’s bigger. I can’t believe you don’t know, Maggie! You’re the expert on fancy hotels.”

Maggie rolled into the middle, her head on her elbow as she looked at her friend, frowning. “What do you mean?”

“You know what I mean. You. Your life outside of the university. I love you, and I love that you come from a different world than me, so don’t pretend that you’re not used to this kind of luxury.”

Maggie shook her head. “I’m not from this kind of world. Don’t you know that by now? I mean, yes, we’re comfortable and we have a lovely country house, but everything’s falling apart inside. Seriously, the rugs are all completely threadbare, and in winter it’s so cold, you have to go to bed with a hot water bottle.”

“But you have stables! And horses!”

“Because my mother is always riding. Trust me, whatever money we have is so old, it’s practically disappeared.”

“Oh, come on, Maggie. You’re about to leave for your house in the South of France.”

“You’re right. I’m incredibly lucky, but our lifestyle isn’t nearly as luxurious as this! I know, I sound like a posh Yah, but my family is old-school. We don’t spend a penny unless we have to. Unless it’s for the horses or the dogs,” she mused. “Then there’s no limit. Oh, or a sheep.”

“A sheep?”

“We had a sheep with a twisted colon, and my mother insisted on having it operated on.”

“You’re so weird.” Evvie started to laugh.

“I know. That’s why you love me.”

“I do love you. But not as much as I love this!” Evvie flopped back on the bed. “In a week’s time I’m going to be sharing a New York apartment that will probably be grotty as hell. I’m going to enjoy this while I can.”

“I love that you now use the word ‘grotty.’” Maggie grinned.

“Remember when I had to ask you what that meant? I’m sure the model apartment will be bad.”

“It will be knickers on the radiators and tampons everywhere. But soon you’re going to be super famous, and then you’ll stay in luxury all the time. You’ll fly over to stay with me in my Westbourne Grove flat and you’ll be horrified at how I live.”

“I definitely won’t be,” assured Evvie. “By the time I’m twenty-six, I’m planning on trips to Africa to make the world a better place. I’ll be sleeping in mud huts on the floor.”

Maggie grinned. “I’ll believe it when I see it.”

“Oh, please cancel France and stay here with me. Your parents won’t mind. They’ll understand.”

“I wish I could,” sighed Maggie. “I can’t get out of it. All the boys will be there, and Charlie’s leaving next week to teach rugby in New Zealand for a year. This is our last family get-together. I’ll phone you every day, I promise. Maybe you’ll find some sexy man in town to share this bed with. It would be a pity not to share it.”