What became of us

hungry,’ Saskia said.
    ‘I’m starving !’ shouted Lily, jumping up.
    ‘Come on, then, let’s go home,’ Manon said.

Chapter 41

    They must have had sex, Annie thought. Roy was studiously concentrating on the blackening pieces of flesh on the barbecue. A rare, pink shadow floated across Manon’s face as she smiled at Annie, then remembered the agreed rendezvous in the Randolph which she had failed to keep.
    God, she was beautiful, Annie thought, with her heart-shaped face and eyes so pale that men could see their dreams there.
    But where had they done it, Annie wondered. Surely not right under the nose of Brown Owl? It had been a warm night, but they were getting beyond doing it in a secluded bit of garden, weren’t they? Which left the car. What sort of car did Roy have anyway?
    Annie recalled a boyfriend at Magdalen who had been keen on trying sex in all sorts of different locations. The punt had been fine when moored, but slightly distracting when drifting; the chapel would have been deliciously sinful if he had been able to manage an erection there; all she remembered of the cloisters was the smell of dog on the picnic rug he brought along for them to lie on. They had eventually been caught in flagrante on high table in the dining hall in the middle of the afternoon, and his gibbering panic and eagerness to cast the blame on her had spelled the end of that relationship. She had spotted him on television at the last election losing a safe Tory seat, and she had wondered if he had had anyone on the benches of the House of Commons.
    ‘Come and say hello to Annie,’ Manon encouraged the girls, who were staring at her shyly from the patio.
    ‘Hello Annie,’ Saskia said politely.
    ‘Have you brought us any presents today?’ asked Lily.
    ‘Manners, Lily,’ Geraldine reprimanded from the kitchen window.
    ‘It’s OK,’ Annie called, ‘I promised them yesterday I would.’
    ‘Nevertheless,’ Geraldine said, disappearing from view.
    ‘Nevertheless!’ Annie mimicked, sticking her tongue out in Geraldine’s direction. Both little girls shrieked with laughter. She was quite gratified to think that she might have empowered them to be cheeky to their grandma.
    ‘Come and see what I’ve got you,’ she said, stretching out her hands so that they could pull her out of the swing seat.
    Roy ’s car had to be the nondescript navy blue saloon parked in the road at the front. She peered in the window as they passed, looking for evidence of the previous night’s frolics. There were two children’s seats strapped side by side in the back and crisp packets all over the floor. It looked unlikely.
    ‘I like your car, Annie,’ Saskia remarked.
    ‘In fact, it looks like a toy,’ Lily said.
    ‘You’re right, it does,’ Annie agreed, bending down to the passenger seat and pulling out two large cardboard carrier bags each containing several smaller bags.
    ‘Now whose is which? Take them back to the garden and open them there,’ she instructed, wanting the generosity of the presents to be witnessed by Geraldine. Lily’s was really too big for her to carry, but she dragged it along manfully.
    Geraldine was drawn into the garden by the yelps of joy as the little girls pulled out teasure after treasure.
    ‘Really, you shouldn’t give them so many things,’ she scolded Annie.
    ‘I know,’ Annie replied with a satisfying smirk.
    ‘Where’s Ursula?’ Geraldine asked.
    ‘George has chickenpox and her mobile’s run out,’ Annie said, bored with acting out Ursula’s apologies all over again.
    ‘She’s gone home?’ Manon asked, surprised.
    ‘So she says,’ Annie gave her a conspiratorial wink.
    Only then did Manon remember the plan for adultery hatched between them the evening before. What a peculiar night it had been.
    Annie yawned histrionically and lounged back in the swing seat.
    ‘Did you manage to make me that coffee, Roy?’ *e asked.
    ‘Sorry!’ he replied.
    ‘I’ll put the kettle on,’ Geraldine called wearily from the kitchen as if they were all children incapable of doing anything for themselves. She was standing at the sink beside the open window pretending to be busy, and eavesdropping on everything that was said.
    The little girls had stripped down to their knickers and were trying on their clothes. Manon went to sit beside Annie.
    ‘Two hours’ sleep. I’m knackered,’ said Annie.
    ‘What did you do?’ Manon asked.
    ‘Waded about in a fountain, stole bikes, narrowly