Page 73 of For Love or Money
The tension around the table dissolved as everyone laughed.
They continued drinking long after dinner, and as the wine flowed, Lesley was alarmed to find the Bradshaws started to punctuate their conversation with snatches of songs and poetry. A hush fell over the table as Jane broke into an impromptu rendition of ‘La Vie en Rose’ in a surprisingly sweet, high voice. It was lovely, and very evocative in the setting. But Lesley started to panic when Peter launched into a Shakespeare monologue.
‘I’m warning you right now,’ she said under her breath to Al, ‘there’d better not be audience participation. If I have to do a party piece, I’m getting the next flight out of here.’
Al chuckled. ‘Don’t worry. You wouldn’t get a chance even if you wanted to. There are far too many show-offs here for you to get a look in.’
‘A woman after my own heart!’ Michael said, turning to her. ‘Joy and I keep our heads down when they get like this.’
‘The only poemyouknow,’ Joy said, ‘starts “There once was a nympho named Jill”, and no one wants to hear that.’
Lesley laughed. ‘I wouldn’t mind; it sounds good.’
When Joy started clearing up, Lesley quickly sprang up and offered to help, seizing the excuse to scuttle off to the kitchen, just in case there was any chance she’d be called on to perform. Al followed and began stacking the dishwasher while she and Joy went back and forth carrying things in from the terrace.
‘Peter’s doing a dirty poem about Stella now,’ she hissed at Al as she handed him a pile of plates.
He laughed. ‘Is this true?’ He looked to Jane, who was coming in with an armful of empty wine bottles.
‘Swear to God,’ Lesley said, ‘all about having her long legs wrapped around him in bed. And he was looking right at her, in case anyone didn’t get the message. Tell him,’ she said to Jane.
‘“My girl’s tall with hard, long eyes” – you know the one,’ Jane said to Al.
‘It’s E.E. Cummings,’ Al told Lesley.
‘Well, at least he didn’t make it up himself. But I still think it’s very inappropriate in front of the children,’ Lesley sniffed.
‘What children?’
‘Scott and Rafe.’
Al looked at her askance.
‘It doesn’t matter how old they are, they’re stillPeter’schildren, and no one wants to have their parent’s sex life rubbed in their face.’
‘It does sound very unhygienic,’ Al said.
Jane leaned on the worktop and sighed. ‘It used to be all Yeats with him – all that yearning for Maud Gonne.’
Al shot her a sympathetic look; clearly Jane used to be Peter’s muse for his after-dinner ramblings.
‘Ah well, those days are “Gonne”,’ Jane said, smiling at the pun.
‘But they’ll be back,’ Lesley said. ‘Don’t worry, you’ll be treading on his dreams again in no time.’
When Jane had gone back to the garden, Stella came in and sidled up to Lesley.
‘I thought maybe we could go shopping tomorrow,’ she said. ‘Unless you have other plans?’
Lesley looked to Al, who shook his head.
‘No, tomorrow would be fine.’
‘Great!’
Al removed himself, leaving Lesley alone with Stella.
‘I didn’t like to say it in front of Jane,’ Stella said in a low voice, ‘but Peter suggested I look for a wedding dress while I’m here. So I’d really be grateful for some help. I’m pretty clueless about wedding dresses.’
