‘You could send both the girls to St Paul’s–I’m sure they’re clever enough–and you could even display some of your work in the Walton Street shop until we find the right place for a gallery, and as a family you could stay in the Chelsea house when you are in London.’
She had been outmartialled and outmanoeuvred by an expert, Cathy recognised. But she wasn’t going to give in just like that; that wasn’t her way.
‘You’re doing a lot of talking about what we should be doing, Emerald, but what exactly are you planning to do personally to help the business, apart from telling us what to do, of course?’
‘I shall be using my address book to drum up new clients for the Walton Street business. As a starting point I shall offer two or three of London’s top charity organisers an auction prize for their next charity ball of a room makeover by Walton Street.’
Cathy gave a protesting gasp. ‘But that will cost thousands.’
‘And as an investment will bring in a hundred times more than it costs,’ Emerald blocked her protest crisply.
‘Emerald’s right,’ Janey felt obliged to agree–and not because of the money Emerald had promised her. Janey could remember the demand she herself had created for her clothes all those years ago when favoured friends had worn them. She gave a small sad sigh. ‘It all sounds wonderfully exciting. I feel quite envious,’ she admitted.
‘You will have your role to play as well, Janey,’ Emerald assured her. ‘I’m hoping that Rose will agree to take on the role of interior designer, but she’ll need help, and I think the two of you could work really well together.’
‘I can’t leave Pete,’ Rose reiterated.
Emerald looked away from her and down at the floor, and Rose knew what she was thinking: that one day Pete was going to die and leave her.
‘But how do you know that Mummy will want us to do any of this?’ Polly asked. ‘We could be taking something from her that she doesn’t want to give up.’
This time it was Drogo who spoke up. ‘For what it’s worth, my guess is that Jay will pull through this but Amber won’t want to leave him to travel up and down to London, Emerald is right about that. I believe, like Emerald, that Amber will be grateful to you all for taking over for her.’
‘So it’s down to you, Rose,’ Emerald said challengingly. ‘Will you do it?’
Rose wanted to refuse, she wanted to remind them of what Cathy had been saying about her only a short time ago, but most of all she wanted to let the bitterness and all the hurt of rejection and abandonment she had bottled up over the years spill out in front of them as she told them exactly why she was refusing.
Only somehow she couldn’t. Somehow, instead, she was nodding her head, giving in, as she had always given in, being weak as she had always been weak, and despising herself for it.
Amber felt the now familiar rush of air that meant that someone was approaching Jay’s bed, but she didn’t lift her gaze from her husband’s face to see who it was. Every second was too precious for a single one of them to be wasted.
It took the sister’s determined, ‘Mr Stanhope wishes to speak to you,’ to drag Amber’s attention away from Jay to look at the consultant.
‘I won’t leave Jay,’ she told him immediately.
A square-looking man in his fifties with a bald head and a steady gaze, dressed in a crisp white shirt, a bow tie and a pin-striped suit, he smiled at her.
‘Your family are in the waiting room. I’ve promised to talk to them.’
‘Have you got the results of the tests yet?’ Amber asked him, ignoring his hint that it would be easier if he talked to them all at the same time.
‘Yes.’
‘And?’ Amber pressed, adding determinedly, ‘You’ll have to tell me here because I won’t leave Jay.’
The consultant looked at the sister, who pulled up a spare chair for him so that he could sit down.
Chapter Sixty-Two
‘Drogo, do go and see if you can find out what’s happening,’ Emerald urged her husband. ‘The consultant was supposed to be here ages ago.’
‘Do you think that Daddy knew about his heart?’ Janey couldn’t stop herself from asking after Drogo had gone.
It was a question none of them could answer, but their growing tension was reflected in the way they all reacted when the waiting-room door opened several minutes later, heralding Drogo’s return.
‘The consultant’s with Amber, and he’ll be coming to speak to us in a few minutes.’
‘He’s with Mother?’