The Library of Lost and Found(79)

For the next twenty minutes, Betty’s nerves prickled. She laughed, she smiled and she helped to serve food, but all the time she wondered where her mother had got to.

Thomas caught her eye, tapped his watch and pointed upward.

Betty stood up and smoothed down her dress. “I’ll just be a moment. I’ll see where Mum is.”

She found Zelda and Martha sitting on the bedroom floor, reading a book together. Martha rested her cheek sleepily against Zelda’s shoulder. The bottle of wine, now empty, lay on the carpet. “Tell me that you haven’t given Martha any of that?” Betty demanded.

Zelda batted her hand. “Of course not. It’s too good for children.”

Betty clenched her teeth. “Come on downstairs, Mum. You’ve been gone for a long time.”

“I think I’ll stay here.” Zelda shuddered. “Apologies, Betty, but you married into a very boring family.”

Betty watched Martha trying not to laugh. “Mum,” she warned.

“It’s okay.” Zelda waved her hand. She got to her feet, stumbling a little. “I’ll come back down. I’ll be polite and schmooze Anthony. I’ll behave.”

“Thank you.”

Back at the table, Betty’s spine felt stiff. As she promised, her mother smiled. She stroked Anthony’s arm and engaged Eleanor in a conversation about diamond jewelry. Betty moved a bottle of wine away from her, but Zelda pulled it back again.

When everyone had finished eating, Betty took up a long sharp knife and, using the tip of her forefinger as a guide, poked the tip of the blade into the center of the cake. She was just about to plunge it in when the doorbell rang. Her hand jerked, the knife slipped and she nicked her skin. “Ouch.” A bobble of blood appeared and a drop fell on top of the cake.

Thomas leaped up. He wiped it with a napkin, leaving a red smear on the icing sugar. “Leave the door alone,” he ordered. “Carry on cutting the cake.”

Betty wrapped a napkin around her bloody finger. She carefully pushed the knife down and along, completing the first slice.

The doorbell sounded again.

This time, Zelda pushed her plate away. “It might be for me.”

“You?” Thomas raised an eyebrow. “Why would anyone call here, for you?”

Zelda held his gaze. “I told George that I was coming for tea.”

“Ah, George? Someone else from school, perhaps?” Anthony asked.

“No.” Zelda batted a crumb from her dress. “My new lover. Please excuse me.”

Thomas’s mouth hung open. He scraped his chair away from the table. “Stay there, Zelda.”

Betty felt the atmosphere in the room switch. She glanced at Thomas and watched a bead of perspiration trickle down his forehead. She placed a hand on top of his, but he snatched it away. “Let’s carry on with our tea, shall we?” he said.

The doorbell rang, a further three times in a row.

Zelda stood up. “I’ll get it.”

“No,” Thomas boomed. He hit the table with the flat of his hand. “You won’t.”

Anthony’s eyes shone wide. He fiddled with his watch. “Oh, is that really the time?” he murmured.

Eleanor gave a small beatific smile.

Betty hurriedly cut the cake into ten pieces. “I’ll go and see who it is.”

Before Thomas could object, she slipped out of the room. Winding the napkin tightly around her finger, she opened the door.

A young lady with long platinum-blond hair down to her waist stood on the pavement outside. “Hi,” she said, with a small frown. “Is Ezmerelda here?”

Betty wasn’t sure how to respond. Thomas would not be happy that her mother had arranged for a visitor to call during the tea. She opened her mouth but Zelda appeared in the hallway, behind her.

“You came,” she said, her voice full of joy.

The woman nodded.

“This is my friend, Georgina,” Zelda said to Betty. “I wanted you to meet her.”

“You can call me George,” the woman said and offered her hand. “Or Gina. I use both.”

“George?” Betty repeated as the woman stepped into the hallway. She glared at her mother. “I thought that George was a…”

“You never asked.” Zelda shrugged. “You’ve been too busy, running around after the Lord of the Manor.”

“Now, that’s not fair, Mum. I—” Betty stopped talking as she heard footsteps. Thomas appeared in the hallway with Anthony following close behind him.

“What’s going on?” Thomas’s eyes glinted.

“I asked Gina to call for me,” Zelda said. “This tea thing has gone on longer than I expected.”

Anthony edged towards the door with his back against the wall. “Well, this really has been a most lovely tea, Thomas. Betty, thank you very much.”

“Stay,” Thomas shot out his hand, placing it on Anthony’s arm. “You’ve not had any cake yet.”

“No, I, um, must go. It was lovely to see you again, Ezmerelda.”

“You too, Anthony,” Zelda said, her voice a little too singsong. She slipped her fingers into Gina’s and they held hands. “Come on.” She tugged her towards the dining room.

Betty watched the color drain from Thomas’s face. His cheeks turned from red to white. The air was thunderstorm-heavy as Anthony muttered, “Goodnight now,” and scurried away into the night.