Secrets and Lies Read Online Free Page B

Livia arranged the sandwiches on a tray and picked up the plate. ‘Come on, let’s take this food through into the dining room, else we won’t get to eat it until next year.’
    As they went out with the trays there was a scuffle at the top of the stairs, and a movement in the shadows.
    ‘Is that you, Meggie?’ Livia called, her voice sharpened by the thought that her daughter may have overheard something she shouldn’t have.
    There was no answer, but after a moment Shadow came down the stairs. He gave a stretch, his chest flattening against the floor in an elegant bow, his back end rearing high in the air. Going to stand by the front door, he gazed expectantly back at them, tail wagging.
    ‘You certainly pick your moments to go outside,’ Livia grumbled. ‘I’ll be back to open the door when I’ve got rid of this food tray.’
    The rug had been rolled up and removed leaving the parquetry floor exposed, which made an ideal surface for dancing on.
    The younger people gravitated towards each other and soon the gramophone was going at full blast as they energetically applied themselves to the latest dance tunes from the Jack Payne orchestra, while the older generation sailed more sedately around the floor in matched steps.
    Esmé didn’t allow Matron’s presence to lessen her enjoyment of the party as she lost herself amongst the other swirling short skirts.
    Champagne corks popped. Somebody grabbed her hand when a Charleston started, and Leo Thornton rumbled softly into her ear, ‘Chad said you’re a dab hand at this. Let’s give it a go then.’
    He was loose-limbed and uninhibited, and soon they had a circle of people round them as they all frantically applied themselves to releasing their pent-up energy. Matron was jiggling around on the outskirts, tittering into her champagne.
    It reached a crescendo with a countdown from twenty, and as the clock struck midnight everyone shouted ‘Happy New Year!’
    Leo’s timing was perfect. As the clock finished chiming he took her into his arms and kissed her. Considering he’d hardly spoken to her all evening it was rather a long and intimate kiss, but she enjoyed it.
    Then someone came between them. ‘Don’t keep her all to yourself, Leo.’ She parted with the Australian reluctantly, blushing a little when Chad grinned at her and kissed her cheek. ‘Be careful of Leo, he’s got a way with women,’ he said against her ear in a voice loud enough for Leo not to have missed. Esmé had the feeling he was warning Leo, rather than her.
    Everyone hugged and kissed each other and welcomed in 1934 with
Auld Lang Syne
.
    Esmé wondered what the New Year would bring, apart from the fact that she and Chad would officially become adults. Perhaps she
would
go to Australia with Minnie for a couple of years on a working holiday. If Leo was staying for the weekend, which he probably was, she could ask him about the place.
    By the time she returned Chad would be well on his way to becoming a GP. Dr Elliot the elder had promised to employ him during his holidays so he could gain some experience, and Esmé had planned to work for them. She gave a tiny sigh. Oh dear, the future seemed all very dull and safe. She must make sure she never married a doctor, because she was up to the ears in them already. Then, when her eyes met Leo’s and he grinned, and winked at her, she thought: Well . . . she could always be persuaded to change her mind if need be.
    Six months later, when the air was perfumed with flowers and the country was a choir of summer colours, Esmé’s life took an unexpectedly dramatic turn.

Two
1934
    Esmé concentrated on the button she was sewing on her blouse, only half listening to Minnie’s prattle.
    The first half of the year had sped by. As usual, there had been scandalous rumours about the Duke of Windsor and Mrs Simpson. In January over 10,000 people had attended a rally in London, arranged by the Blackshirt, Oswald Mosley. There were scuffles, and violence.