TWELVE

Geo looked up as M appeared in the doorway of her studio, and smiled. ‘Well, there you are! Good morning, Miss M. How’re you today?’

‘Fine, thanks, Geo, and you look pretty good yourself.’

Geo inclined her head, then said, ‘Your actor seemed very taken with you last night. Are you going to see him again?’ She grinned. ‘That’s a stupid question, isn’t it, since I’m sure you are.’

‘I’m having lunch with him today,’ M answered, leaning casually against the doorframe. She took a sip from the mug of tea she was holding, and gave Geo a brilliant smile that filled her face with sudden radiance. ‘And then we’re going to the movies.’

‘I thought he was going to swallow you whole last night,’ Geo remarked with a grin, her eyes dancing. ‘Gobble you up!’

‘Like the boa constrictor and the Little Prince?’ M raised a brow, laughing.

Geo also laughed, delighted by this response, and exclaimed, ‘I just loved that book when I was little, didn’t you?’

‘Of course, it was my real favourite, I think—everyone who reads it loves it, adults as well as children. It’s enchanting.’

Geo, intrigued by Larry and M after observing them together, was filled with curiosity about their relationship, and now asked with great eagerness, ‘So, go on then, tell me everything that happened. Everything. Don’t miss out a thing.’

‘There’s not much to tell,’ M responded, ‘there really isn’t. We went to dinner at an unassuming little bistro Larry likes, and then he took me home. Truly, nothing happened…if you mean what I think you mean.’

‘To his home? Is that where you went?’

‘No, don’t be silly! He brought me here, to this house, to your house. I was back here not long after one o’clock, and you were still out, weren’t you?’

‘I was, with James Cardigan. We had something from the buffet at Iris’s, but then the apartment seemed to fill up with all sorts of people. Actors, actresses—and some other rather strange types, James thought, and so did I. Anyway, we decided to leave because it got so crowded. James didn’t want the evening to end so he took me to a bar he knows in the MePa, and we stayed there for quite a while, having drinks and talking into the wee hours. I got to know him better…he’s really charming…’

‘Is he married?’ M wondered out loud, giving Geo a questioning look.

‘He’s never been married. Well, so he said.’ She put down her paintbrush and sighed. Rising, she walked over to the sofa near the window and lowered herself onto it, sighing again and looking across at M, still loitering in the doorway.

‘What is it, Geo?’ M was aware of the long, contemplative stare her friend was giving her.

‘Do you have a few minutes to spare? I want to tell you something.’

‘Of course. What is it?’ M asked again, walking into the studio, joining Geo on the sofa, puzzled by her friend’s sudden change in mood.

‘There’s a problem I’d like to discuss with you,’ Geo murmured.

Staring at her intently, M said, ‘You look awfully troubled, and very serious all of a sudden. What’s the matter?’

Geo did not answer for a few moments, and when she did she spoke slowly, her voice low. ‘I like James…like him a lot, and I must admit I’d forgotten how nice he is. Anyway, the point is this, I’d like to see him again. Want to very much. I believe I made a big mistake with him last night, though; in fact, I’m sure I did.’

‘What do you mean?’ M leaned closer, her expression puzzled. ‘It can’t have been all that bad, surely.’

‘Look, I had a lot to drink at the party, and later. More than usual, and I got far too garrulous, in my opinion. I told him too much about myself and it might have put him off.’

M was taken aback by this statement. Geo was not a particularly talkative person, nor was she very confiding. For a second she was silent, and then asked, ‘What on earth could you tell him about yourself that would turn him off?’ Her genuine puzzlement was apparent. When Geo did not answer, she asked, ‘You haven’t murdered somebody, have you?’

M said this in such a droll manner, Geo couldn’t help laughing. ‘No, I haven’t. But I have been married twice, and stupidly I told him this, and I think he was really shocked.’

‘I doubt that! He’s not the shockable type, if I know my Englishmen. He runs that security and investigation company, so I’m positive he doesn’t shock easily. Besides which, I think he might well have been a cop, or something like that. He would certainly have been in some sort of law enforcement agency before, in order to start that kind of company, don’t you think? He would need that kind of expertise and experience.’

‘I think he might have been a spy…I vaguely remember someone telling me that ages ago. Still, he did look shocked, I promise you.’

It struck M that Geo might have simply misunderstood James’s reaction, not read him correctly, and she said this to Geo, adding, ‘I’m sure it was only surprise. You don’t look old enough to have been married twice.’

‘I’m twenty-eight, didn’t I tell you that?’ Geo asked and sat back on the sofa, closing her eyes for a moment, looking pained.

‘Are you all right?’ M asked swiftly.

‘Yes, I’m okay.’ Opening her eyes, Geo sat up straighter on the sofa and continued, ‘I can’t imagine why I told him. It was stupid of me. I think it was because he reminded me of my first husband, Andy, who had that same wiry look as James. Oh, God, there’s not much I can do about it. I told him, and that’s that. Let’s face it, I’ve probably blown it.’

‘I’m sure it’s not a problem,’ M ventured, meaning this sincerely, and frowned as Geo closed her eyes once again, leaning back against the sofa. Her face was pale, and she trembled slightly.

After a moment, M took hold of her hand. ‘What is it, Georgiana? You can talk to me about private things if you want to. You know I’d never break a confidence.’

Opening her eyes, Geo said, ‘I know you wouldn’t. It’s just that…well, I usually get a terrible ache inside when I think of the way Andy died. I was heartbroken, I almost died myself when he had that fatal accident, and our baby certainly died…I had a miscarriage within days of Andy’s fall.’

‘Oh darling, I’m so terribly sorry; how very, very tragic. And your grief must have been enormous…’ M’s voice trailed off; she was at a loss for words. Anyway, weren’t words meaningless in a sense? Although her mother constantly said that loving words did help a person to cope with sorrow and grief—with most things, in fact.

‘I don’t think I’m overstating when I say it was overwhelming,’ Geo murmured. ‘It did take me a long time to recover. I was only eighteen…when Andy fell…and my life fell apart.’

Clearing her throat, M hesitated for a moment before quietly saying, ‘Perhaps it would help you if you told me about it, as you told James last night.’

‘Andy was a construction worker here in Manhattan,’ Geo began, ‘like his father and two brothers. He loved it, loved being up there, “hitting the sky”, he used to call it. Still, it was frightening at times to most of the guys. In fact, Andy often said that no one knows what fear really is unless they’ve dangled high in the sky with nothing between them and the ground but a narrow edge of metal and empty air.

‘There’s another thing, the men are worried about getting “the freeze”. That usually occurs when a guy has seen one of his buddies fall, which happened to Andy one day. He saw a friend slip and was never the same again. The freeze took hold of him. Naturally he understood that he couldn’t keep going indefinitely, and he became apprehensive about hitting the sky because he might fall off a girder. If they’re going to keep their jobs, the guys do have to keep on going up when they’re working on a high building, because the building keeps going up and up and up. I begged Andy to quit, and he promised he would as soon as they reached the next floor of the skyscraper. Unfortunately, he never made it to that floor…he slipped off a girder, fell and broke his neck, smashed his head on the pavement…At least he died instantly.’

Geo stopped speaking, sat very still, and M held her hand for a long time, not knowing how else to comfort her.

At last Geo spoke once more, continued her story. ‘I eventually pulled myself together and kept going as best I could. After Andy’s awful accident, my mother died. She’d had a long fight with cancer, had been in pain for years. In one way it was a blessing for her, she was no longer suffering. I had gone to live with her after Andy’s death, and inherited this house from her, where I’ve been living ever since.’

‘I’m so sorry about Andy and the baby, and your mother. How you coped I’ll never know,’ M murmured, her heart going out to Georgiana.

Geo nodded. ‘I suppose I coped by getting married again. When I was twenty-two, and it lasted a big two months. One day Ken packed his bags and left, without even saying goodbye. We eventually got a divorce, thank God.’ Now Geo glanced at M, and finished in a sad, low voice. ‘I’m known as a person who never talks much about the past, but I certainly talked last night…to a man I liked, and in a way I never spoke to Dax. You go and figure that one. And I’ll never hear from James again.’

‘I understand what you’re saying, but I don’t believe James Cardigan was shocked, or put off. How could he have been? And if he’s the man I think he is, then I’m sure he was touched, felt tremendous sympathy for you. I certainly do.’

‘You’re a woman: you would be sympathetic. Men sometimes aren’t at all empathetic, certainly about the kind of things I’ve just told you about—death, illness, and all that. It’s too much for them to handle.’

‘Oh, I do think you’re wrong! There are any number of men who are sympathetic, compassionate and very caring. At least I know a few.’

‘Introduce me to one. I’d like to meet a sympathetic man,’ Geo muttered.

‘Actually, I believe you were with one last night. Give James a chance. I think he’s worth it. And, you know what, I bet you he calls today.’

‘We’ll see, won’t we?’ Geo answered, and she did not sound very convinced.

Later, in her room, as she got ready to go out, M soon discovered that her mind remained focused on Georgiana. She had been touched and moved by the conversation they had just had, their most intimate to date. And now she realized yet again how little they knew about each other really. Yet they had bonded, become closer in the last few weeks, had quickly discovered they liked the same things: going to the theatre, and the movies, reading good books, especially biographies, listening to their favourite music. And art. That was the one great link between them, their love of beautiful paintings. And there was something else. Geo was endeavouring to make it on her own without cashing in on her mother’s name.

A week ago, Geo had confided that her mother had been Constance Redonzo, a well-known artist in the Seventies, Eighties and into the Nineties. M was familiar with her work, and knew that she was from the school of Marie Laurencin and Mary Cassatt, specializing in paintings of children and women in the Impressionist style. Geo had explained that soon after her mother’s death, she and her sister began to understand there was a very viable market for their mother’s work. Many of her fans, reading of her death in the obituaries, had been in touch with the gallery that represented her work, suddenly wanting to buy paintings. ‘Joanne and I had an unexpected but wonderful windfall. We made a lot of money and that’s why I am able to paint in peace. For now.’

Later, Geo had shown her some of the paintings by her mother that she owned, and M had been impressed, almost salivating over one in particular, longing to buy it on behalf of her father. But she did not dare. Such a move would be dangerous, would expose her. She had too much to hide, she knew that, and then wondered if James was aware of who she was. After all, he was in the business of…information. She doubted it, though.

And what about Laurence Vaughan? Did he suspect she was not who she said she was? Not at all, she was absolutely positive of that. Although she did have to admit that he would obviously be aware she came from a certain echelon of English society…their backgrounds were almost identical in so many ways, and he couldn’t have failed to miss the telltale signs last night.

As she buttoned the white cotton shirt and tucked it into her navy blue trousers, M contemplated the combination of Geo and James. It seemed to her that they would fit well together. She hoped he called this morning because that would make Geo exceedingly happy.

Turning away from the mirror, M pulled on a three-quarter-length navy blue knitted coat, added her pearl earrings, snatched up a battered red Hermès Kelly, slung it over her arm and left her room. She ran downstairs, strode down the corridor and waved to Geo, wishing her well, and swiftly exited the house. She hailed a cab, excited and intent on her purpose—being with Larry.