The Token Wife

While she was waiting for the coffee to brew, she popped out into the yard and called David on her mobile, only to discover that his was switched off.

She pulled a face as she returned indoors. If she used the ordinary phone his mother was bound to answer, and be plaintive at the prospect of her boy spending time with anyone else.

But maybe David would call her instead before that happened.

When she went upstairs, she found Ellie’s tray still untouched outside her door.

Puzzled, she set the coffee down beside it and knocked. ‘Ellie—Ellie, wake up. Your tea’s getting cold.’

There was no answer, and, after a moment’s hesitation, she opened the door, and looked in.

But there was no blonde head lifting sleepily from the pillow. The bed was empty, and the room unoccupied.

And no prizes for guessing where Ellie was, Lou thought, feeling oddly embarrassed. That neatly made bed was a total giveaway. She must have decided to celebrate her engagement in the arms of her fiancé after all.

‘Everyone’s still asleep,’ she told Mrs Gladwin as she carried all the things back to the kitchen. ‘I’m going into the village to get the papers.’

She followed the previous night’s detour on the way back. The curtains were still firmly closed on the first floor of David’s house, but his car was missing from its usual parking spot outside.

He must have gone to the cottage to find me, Lou thought, her heart lifting. ‘We can have breakfast together.’

Yet there was no sign of his blue Peugeot at Virginia Cottage either. Instead, there was Alex Fabian, walking alone in the garden. He was the last person she’d expected to see so early, under the circumstances. And the last person she wanted to see, she amended quickly.

She hesitated, feeling strangely awkward, wondering if there was some way to evade him, but he had already seen her, so she had to reluctantly stand her ground.

‘Good morning,’ he said as he came up to her. ‘Did you sleep well?’

‘Yes—thank you.’ She stared down at the gravel. ‘And—you?’

‘Not particularly,’ he said. ‘The coffee did its work too well.’

She gave a quick, forced smile. ‘I’m sure Ellie wouldn’t agree.’

‘Oh,’ he said. ‘And how does it concern her?’

‘I took her some morning tea,’ she said. ‘And her bed hadn’t been slept in. I—I drew the obvious conclusion.’

His hand closed on her arm. ‘Look at me,’ he commanded harshly. ‘What the hell are you talking about?’

She stared up at him, bewildered. ‘Ellie wasn’t in her room this morning. I—I thought she was with you.’

‘I haven’t seen your sister,’ he said, ‘since nine-thirty yesterday evening, when she decided to have that extremely early night. And the last place she would ever be likely to spend the night is in my bed.’

He set off towards the house, taking Lou with him, whether or not she wished to go.

She tried to hang back. ‘I’m sure there’s a perfectly logical explanation.’ She tried to think of one. ‘Perhaps she got up early, and went for a walk.’

‘Walking,’ he said, ‘is not one of her pastimes. Your sister believes in taxis, when chauffeur-driven cars aren’t available. I think you know that.’

‘Maybe there’s been some emergency at the office, and she’s had to go back to London.’ Lou clutched at a passing straw.

‘If so, I think they’d probably have sent for your father,’ he said. ‘And he’s still here.’

In the hall, Marian greeted Alex, all smiles. ‘Breakfast is ready, if you’d like to come into the dining room.’

He said, ‘Have you seen Ellie this morning, Mrs Trentham? Because Louise says her bed has not been slept in.’

Marian’s hand went to her throat. ‘Oh, what nonsense. I expect she was just too happy and excited to sleep.’

‘All the same, with your permission, I’d like to look in her room.’

Lou tried to detach herself from his grasp. ‘I’d rather not…’

‘I’m afraid you must,’ he said. ‘You can tell me if anything’s missing.’

My God, Lou thought as she followed him unwillingly upstairs. She’s done it. She’s decided she can’t go through with the engagement, and she’s run away. And, if that’s so, I should be delighted for her. So why do I feel so scared suddenly?

‘Well?’ Alex demanded as they stood in the middle of Ellie’s bedroom, looking round them.

Lou swallowed. ‘The case she brought down with her has gone.’ She opened the wardrobe, and looked in the drawers. ‘And she seems to have taken underwear and some clothes.’

‘And left these.’ His voice was suddenly grim.

Lou turned to see him holding two envelopes. ‘Where did you find them?’

‘Propped against the lamp on the night table,’ he said. ‘One for each of us.’ He paused. ‘Are you sure you want to open yours?’

‘Of course,’ Lou said indignantly. ‘I’m worried sick about her. I need to make sure she’s all right.’

‘I think you underestimate her sense of self-preservation,’ Alex Fabian said drily as he handed her the envelope.

Her name was a mere scrawl on its surface. Inside was a single sheet of paper. She could barely decipher the writing. ‘Lou, darling,’ she eventually translated, ‘I’m so terribly sorry. Please try to understand and forgive me.’

‘What does it say?’ Alex’s level voice reached her.

She turned and looked at him. He was holding his own letter, two pages of it, between thumb and forefinger as if he found it distasteful.

She said, ‘She wants me to forgive her—but for what? For running away?’

‘Not just for that, I’m afraid.’ He paused. ‘You see, she didn’t go alone.’

She saw something in his eyes that she had never expected to find there. Compassion. And it frightened her more than any coldness—any anger.

She tried to say ‘What do you mean?’ But, although her lips moved, the words would not emerge.

She heard a sound from the doorway, and looked round swiftly, praying it would be Ellie standing there. Ellie, saying it had all been a silly mistake, and here she was, safe and sound.

Only it was her father, his face like thunder.