A French Affair (33 page)

‘You must let me know how much they cost. We hope to make money – lots – on the items but we do need to keep proper accounts.’

‘They’re my donation. Is that all right for your accounts?’

Gina decided she had to pull herself together. She had been trying to suppress her feelings for Matthew since they’d been apart, burying them beneath activity and worry, but now he was with her and the show was about to begin she found they had all rushed back in a very inconvenient way. Everything he said seemed to have a hidden meaning and if it didn’t, it made her insides melt anyway.

‘That’s fine,’ she said briskly. ‘And while people are having drinks I’ll walk you through it all. Carefully – don’t tread on my train!’

She took him first to the Chinese Room, set up for
The Mikado
. The parquet floor shone, reflecting the fairy lights that Sally had threaded through branches. Little paper lanterns, some lit (bought from Sally’s favourite supplier), some not (made by Sally), combined to make the room the perfect mix of stage set and beautiful historic salon.

‘Before you say anything, we know
The Mikado
is Japanese and this is Chinese but we’re not being picky,’ she said warningly. She went over to where three musicians were warming up. ‘Are you OK, guys? How are you going to manage to get to your next venue?’

‘We’ve got a bit of time before we need to be in the conservatory,’ one of them – hardly more than a boy really – said.

‘So where do you come from?’ asked Matthew.

‘We’re music students. Andrew asked us to come. It’s a good gig so we’re doing it for nothing. And a meal, of course.’

‘Of course,’ agreed Gina, who hadn’t been told about this. ‘And a glass of wine. But only one – at least until we’re sure all the paying punters have enough.’

As they walked through to the conservatory, Gina said, ‘It’s brilliant to have musicians – especially for nothing – but I’m not sure I factored in all the extra meals and wine. It’s all an added expense.’

‘I’m sure it’ll be fine. How many tickets have you sold?’

‘I’m not absolutely sure. Some of the people who booked for parties might not have a full table of twelve. It’s a bit of a weak spot in the organisation. It would have been easier if we’d had more time to arrange it all in.’

Matthew opened the door to the conservatory. ‘Oh wow!’ he said.

Gina was pleased. The conservatory had been done up like a ship, first for
HMS Pinafore
and later for
The Pirates of Penzance
.

‘What I don’t get is how you’ll fit everyone in? Even without seating, you wouldn’t get more than, say, fifty people in here.’

‘There’s a shift system. You have a programme and you go to each room as instructed. Everything is performed twice. It should work.’ She wasn’t completely convinced but Andrew was very certain. ‘Then we have a break for supper and then the auction.’ She winked. ‘Come and let me show you why we’re really pleased it’s not raining.’

She led him out of the conservatory and across a drugget that led down a long path to a temple. ‘People will have to hurry,’ she said, ‘or they’ll freeze.’ She couldn’t herself though; there was something about wearing a gorgeous vintage gown that demanded she walked slowly, with decorum.

When they arrived she said, ‘This is one of the largest buildings in the garden and we’re having a soloist singing “The Moon and I”. Which is, in my humble opinion, a very lovely song. And look. A fake moon.’

‘This is really very atmospheric,’ said Matthew huskily, having given the building and the stage set within a brief inspection, before pulling her into his arms.

When Sally saw Gina a little later, she whisked her into the Ladies to touch up her chignon.

From an organisation point of view, Gina realised, the evening was not brilliant. People were not following their programmes and moving from one room to another like the well-oiled machine Gina had hoped for.

On the other hand, everyone was having a very good time. A few of the architectural interest groups had wandered off into other rooms but when Gina realised they’d been led there by Nicholas, she didn’t worry too much. The singers all had enthusiastic audiences and – she was extremely grateful for this – they didn’t go over time beyond the extra time Gina had allocated.

However, when the time came for supper and the auction, Gina had the house searched. She wanted everyone to be there, fed and tipsy enough to be slightly more generous than they would be had they drunk less champagne.

The catering was pretty faultless. Vegetarians had been issued with fabric daffodils to put by their places so the staff would know and everyone else ate the chicken with good grace. Gina was constantly searching the room for signs of upset so she could glide over and soothe the situation but she didn’t need to. She began to wonder if the tip she had put in an envelope for distribution later was going to be big enough.

Anthea was a star. She stood at the rostrum (which she had brought with her) in a long, low-cut sequinned dress. She effortlessly drew the attention of the room. Gina found a chair at the back of the room to watch an expert at work.

Matthew’s items were perfect. There was some nice jewellery: nothing too valuable but he’d found a stunning diamanté necklace which, according to Anthea and the catalogue, was a copy of the one Audrey Hepburn wore in the film of
My Fair Lady
. It was possibly a bit over the top for most people normally, but now, when everyone was wearing their most glamorous clothes, it seemed a lot of people were willing to bid for it.

A few antique brooches and tie pins came up and were bid for by couples, and the good-tempered rivalry meant the prices were healthy. Gina sat back, arranged her skirts and thanked Anthea silently for having the idea and for doing such a good job with it. She even bid for a pretty little necklace herself, just because it would have looked so right with the gorgeous dress she was wearing, which was making her feel so special. But she was outbid early on and told herself that was just as well.

At last, the gavel came down for the last time and a cricket bat signed by a long gone but obviously very successful team was sold for a huge amount of money.

The evening was over. Gina could go home just as soon as everything was tidied up.

Sally came up and flung her arms round her neck. ‘I’ve got to go because my taxi is here but, honey, it was amazing. A billion, trillion times better than I could ever have imagined. The girls will be wild with jealousy when I tell them all about it.’

Gina hugged her hard. ‘Thank you so much for the flowers and all your help.’

Gina never left anything she had organised until she was sure all was in order. And so, half an hour later, she was still shooing people out of the house, finding bags, ringing for taxis. Finally they were free of the paying public and could get on with sorting out the caterers.

‘You were absolutely bloody brilliant!’ said Gina as she handed over her envelope, into which she’d added some extra notes, to the woman in charge. ‘I’m going to give you a fabulous testimonial.’

‘I’m very pleased you’re happy. There were a few
hiccups that you didn’t need to know about, we’ve all learnt a lot and got a lot of useful experience. And what a fantastic venue.’

At last it was only Nicholas, Gina, Matthew and Bernard left. Gina was retrieving glasses from far-flung corners, Matthew was in the kitchen and Nicholas had opened a bottle of brandy.

Bernard found her. ‘Gina, I’ve put sheets on the bed in the bedroom you got dressed in. Nicholas says you’re to come and have a brandy and then stay the night. You must be exhausted.’

Gina’s stock refusal to accept stuck on her tongue. Bernard took her arm. ‘Come on, the others are on their second brandy already.’

It was lovely to sit in the kitchen, a plate of left-over pudding and a bottle of brandy on the table, her shoes off, but Gina had been awake since before dawn and she was beginning to sway.

‘It’s been really nice to end the evening like this, but I really have to go to bed now.’ She stood up.

‘I’ll show you the way to your bedroom,’ said Matthew.

‘I know the way perfectly well, thank you,’ she said primly, and walked out of the room, suddenly feeling shy at leaving the room with Matthew in front of Nicholas and Bernard.

Two seconds later she was back. ‘Actually, Matthew, could you help me with my dress? I can’t get out of it on my own.’

Nicholas raised his glass to her, a mischievous look in his eye, and even Bernard smiled benignly at her.

Matthew put his hand in the small of her back as they went up the stairs together. She was glad of the support.

He unhooked her dress while she pulled hairpins from
her hair. When she was free of the hairpiece and had brushed her teeth she realised something.

‘I haven’t got a nightdress. I wasn’t expecting to stay overnight.’

‘I’m sure you’ll manage,’ said Matthew.

He pulled back the heavy bedspread and she got in, wearing her bra and pants. ‘It seems sort of out of period to sleep in my underwear in this bed. I should have a nightie buttoned up to my neck.’

‘I’m not going to ask Nicholas if he’s got one he can lend you but I am going to see if Bernard can rustle up a toothbrush.’

‘Use mine,’ mumbled Gina. Then she fell asleep.

Gina was alone in the bed when she woke up. Had Matthew stayed the night? If so, why hadn’t he woken her up to ravish her? And she was equally cross she’d fallen asleep before she could ravish him. She looked at the world blearily and spotted a cup of tea steaming on the bedside table.

She struggled upright and picked up the tea. She thought she’d drink a bit of it before she looked at her watch. Once she knew the time she’d probably have to leap out of bed and get dressed.

There was an envelope and a small parcel behind the mug, as she discovered when she picked it up. She picked up the envelope with a rather heavy heart. Was it from Matthew? Although he’d been very pleased to see her and they’d kissed, he hadn’t made love to her last night, or stayed for a romantic morning in bed together. So she still didn’t really know what he thought about their relationship – if they had one.

It was a sheet of Fairfield Manor writing paper.

I’m sorry to wake you, if I have. I have to get back now and it broke my heart to leave you sleeping but you deserve as much sleep as you can get so I didn’t disturb you. The parcel is a little thank-you present. You may remember we saw it when we were together in France. I had it made into a key ring by a silversmith I know in Edinburgh. It reminds me of you, serene on the surface but batting away like mad underneath.

See you soon

Matthew

She smiled but felt sad and a little put out that he hadn’t woken her: she would have swapped a bit of sleep for what might have happened.

The parcel, wrapped in a twist of tissue paper, was the little silver salt (or possibly pepper) shaker in the shape of a swan. She couldn’t help smiling. It was a lovely thing, useful and beautiful, and most importantly a present from Matthew.

She lay back on her pillows and finished her tea. When she got up she’d have to go home and do the sorting out. Had they made any money, or hadn’t they?

IN THE END
it was some days after the event before Gina could finally work out the accounts. Money had come in and gone out and she needed to track it all.

Apart from bills and payment for tickets there had also been many, many emails and letters congratulating the team on the event. Almost everyone had really loved it and – much to Gina’s relief – felt they’d got their money’s worth.

Nicholas had been ecstatic. He wanted to employ Gina to arrange more events: operas, music hall evenings, murder mysteries in fancy dress. He even wondered if ballets would be popular. Gina had been firm during the phone call. ‘Let’s see how this one has worked out financially. There’s no point in putting on huge entertainments if they don’t wash their faces – cover their costs and make some money.’

‘We could charge more. People will pay almost anything for this sort of thing. They couldn’t have loved it more. Oh – Noël Coward! How about Coward and Novello evenings?’

Gina laughed although she was trying to be firm with
Nicholas’s new-found passion for theatricals. ‘I’d be absolutely delighted to help you with anything you want to do, but, as I said, please first let me work out if they are remotely profitable. You could certainly take parties from the historical societies, give them lunch and a private tour and charge really quite a lot.’

‘Maybe Bernard should go on a cookery course. That could save us money. I must ask him how he feels about becoming a cordon bleu.’ He paused. ‘Though really,
au fond
, what I loved was seeing the house all dressed up. It wouldn’t be nearly so much fun if it was just normal.’

‘Well, we’ll see, shall we?’

‘Goodbye, my love,’ he said after a bit more discussion.

Sally had similarly been in love with the whole thing. ‘God, it was amazing. Whoever would have thought it could have worked out so well? You actually got people to move from one room to another without the use of a loudhailer. You’re a genius.’

‘Or a sheepdog,’ said Gina, whose anxieties about the numbers was dampening her enthusiasm very effectively.

‘No, but really, it was fab. So pretty. It would be a real shame if it didn’t happen again in some form.’

‘Promise not to talk to Nicholas, who thinks exactly the same, until I know if we’ve made money or not.’

‘We must have. We must have sold every ticket and they cost a hundred pounds. Surely to goodness we’ve made a profit when so many people were working for nothing.’

‘I don’t know. An awful lot of people got a discount and all the people who worked for nothing had to be fed and watered – or wined even. Until I’ve done the figures
I can’t tell where we stand. But if we’ve made a loss the French House will have to be sold and quick.’