‘Sometimes it’s jolly convenient to have connections,’ Victoria explained apologetically. ‘My uncle is something of a bigwig in the field of theatre.’ She tapped the side of her nose and gave a conspirational smile. ‘A quiet word in the right ear and here we are. Far from the madding crowd.’
‘I’m here with Alessandro!’ Megan blurted out, taking the bull by the horns rather than waiting for the bull to come charging at her.
She walked over to one of the small flowered sofas and stood behind it, her hands resting on the upholstered back.
‘Look, I really am so sorry that things didn’t work out between the two of you, but I want you to know that the—’
‘You’re here with Alessandro? I’m so glad!’
‘You’re…what…?’ Megan asked faintly.
‘So awfully glad.’ Victoria looked at her ruefully. ‘I felt so dreadfully guilty at the way things ended between us.’
‘You felt dreadfully guilty?’ Her mind seemed to be getting a little clogged up, and now she was repeating language she never normally used! But there was a dull pink tinge to Victoria’s face, and she did look very sheepish.
What, Megan wondered, was there for her to feel sheepish about? Alessandro had terminated the relationship, had broken off the engagement. Wasn’t she entitled to feel a little hard done by?
‘Why on earth would you feel guilty, Victoria?’ she asked in genuine puzzlement.
‘I never meant to meet Robbie! And I certainly never meant to—’
Robbie? Megan wondered what Robbie had to do with all of this. She felt as though she was in possession of a jigsaw puzzle, the key pieces of which were missing.
‘Dominic absolutely adores him.’
‘Good.’ Megan tried to work out what was going on. ‘It’s nice,’ she added vaguely, ‘for a boy to have a role model, so to speak….’
‘And I…’ Victoria took her hand in a gesture that Megan suspected was heartfelt rather than customary. ‘I felt so terribly awful about Alessandro…but Robbie…’
Pieces of the jigsaw were beginning to mesh together, and even though the picture wasn’t as yet comprehensive Megan was slowly realising that she didn’t like what she was seeing.
As if to confirm the suspicions forming at the back of her mind, she watched Victoria’s face flush with happiness.
‘I had to break off the engagement,’ she confessed. ‘Or rather the matter was taken out of my hands!’ She laughed ruefully. ‘Freudian slip, I’m afraid. I left my mobile phone at your Christmas party…Actually, I thought I had left it somewhere, put it down, but it turned out to have been in Alessandro’s pocket all the while. He found out the worst possible way that Robbie…’
‘Found out…?’ Megan said in a dazed fashion. Her brain was frantically trying to keep pace with what was being said.
‘Of course I never would have dreamt of doing anything!’ Victoria exclaimed, misinterpreting the whiteness of Megan’s face. ‘But Robbie had been texting me…and I did realise that I found him…well…I was absolutely confounded…but…’
‘So you told Alessandro?’ Megan numbly asked for complete clarification.
‘I had to. I couldn’t possibly continue the relationship when there had been such a sea change, so to speak. You do understand, don’t you?’ Victoria asked anxiously. ‘Of course Alessandro said that he was absolutely fine…’ She smiled. ‘But I can’t tell you how marvellous it is to know that he’s here…that you are with him…You are with him, aren’t you? Darling, I knew there was something between you two…Perhaps in the end this is all a question of fate….’
She glanced at her watch and gave a little squeal of dismay.
‘Robbie’s going to be raging if he gets back to his seat and I’m not there!’ She leapt to her feet. ‘I’ve ordered him to get me an ice cream…if I don’t rescue it, it will either be dripping down his hand or else he will have polished it off! You know men….’
No, Megan thought as she sprinted behind Victoria to find that the crowds had all returned to their seats for the second half of the play. No, she didn’t know men. Not at all. She especially didn’t know Alessandro.
Those little glimmers of hope that had darted in and out of her mind like fireflies, lighting up a future with promises which she knew would never be fulfilled but which had kept her busy with a little luxury wishful thinking, were now extinguished in a matter of seconds.