Chapters (40)
- Cover
- About the Author
- PENGUIN BOOKS
- Dedication
- One
- Two
- Three
- Four
- Five
- Six
- Seven
- Eight
- Nine
- Ten
- Eleven
- Twelve
- Thirteen
- Fourteen
- Fifteen
- Sixteen
- Seventeen
- Eighteen
- Nineteen
- Twenty
- Twenty-one
- Twenty-two
- Twenty-three
- Twenty-four
- Twenty-five
- Twenty-six
- Twenty-seven
- Twenty-eight
- Twenty-nine
- Thirty
- Thirty-one
- Thirty-two
- Thirty-three
- Thirty-four
- Thirty-five
- THE BEGINNING
‘Thanks,’ she said again. She knew him now: he thought she was sweet. He talked too much and was a charmer – like her father; like Adrian.
Not for her. She’d had enough of easy words.
‘Ladies and gentlemen,’ called Jem. Someone tapped a spoon against a glass; conversation died away. ‘Mesdames et messieurs,’ he added. ‘Et maintenant je vais parler en anglais. OK?’
Someone shouted something boisterously in French. Jem held up a hand. ‘This won’t take long,’ he said. ‘And I can always translate afterwards for anyone who doesn’t understand, though that feels a bit too much like work.’
He stood on the patio holding Juliet’s hand and smiled at everyone, taking in their faces. He seemed quite relaxed, thought Irene, amazed; no trace of his old stammer, no burning redness in his cheeks.
‘I never knew what to call her,’ he went on. ‘I used to say, my girlfriend, but that made us seem like teenagers. My partner – but we’re not in business together. My lover – oh God no, too explicit by half for a stammering idiotic Englishman like me. My um, er – that was the most common one. Now I guess I can call her my wife, but I think it’ll take me a long time to get used to that. I think I’ll be surprised for the rest of my life that I have someone as kind and beautiful and clever and good for my wife.’ A sentimental ripple went round the garden and Juliet’s mother gave a single, rasping sob. Jem took a breath: ‘Tomorrow we are going away for a one-night honeymoon, and next week I will probably spend my evenings sitting helplessly on the bathroom floor watching her being sick. And I tell you – not for one minute will I wish I was anywhere else. I’ll be the luckiest man in the whole world.’ He stopped abruptly and held up his glass. ‘To Juliet.’
‘To Juliet.’
Juliet stood forward then, stared at them all, smiled at Jem, opened her mouth and burst into tears. Everyone waited in silence and eventually she waved her hand in the air and said: ‘Sorry. Thank you. Oh dear God.’ She straightened her shoulders and gave a gulpy laugh: ‘Actually, I’d prepared this spiel, but probably that’s more or less what I wanted to say. Sorry. Thank you. Oh dear God. It seems to cover most of the bases. Now will someone please put the music back on before I start crying again.’
She stood back but then held up her hand and said in a quick, loud voice: ‘No, there’s one other thing. If there’s something you really, really want, don’t wait. Do it now.’
