‘Great. It’s my birthday,’ she stammered. ‘I’ve been drinking, dancing . . .’
‘You should introduce me to your boyfriend.’
She didn’t know what he was talking about, but she found herself nodding. It might not be a bad idea to pretend she was popular and eligible and taken, she thought, expecting to see the beautiful Annabel appear at any moment.
‘Anyway. Your present.’
‘You shouldn’t have . . .’ she smiled, tearing off the red tissue paper to find a navy box. She gasped as she opened the lid and saw the snow globe inside. Its base was painted in gold and lapis, and inside the dome was a night-time street scene of Paris.
‘You should have,’ she beamed, lifting it off its tissue paper bed.
‘I’m sure you’ll be back there soon. But in the meantime . . . just turn the little key and dream of “La Vie en Rose”.’
She did as he said, and the famous French melody floated out of the box. She looked into his eyes, desperate to know what he was thinking and why he had bought her this little treasure.
‘Thank you, Edward. I love it,’ she said, feeling a thickness in her throat.
‘Look at you. The place is packed.’
‘My mum had a windfall. I think she may have used our life savings to bribe people to come.’
‘Well, I didn’t need a bribe.’
He gave her a soft smile and she was sure that he was flirting with her. She wanted to tell him to stop, that it wasn’t fair, but the last thing she wanted to do was reveal her feelings to him. She had spent the last month steeling herself and she wasn’t going to let herself down now.
‘Well, here’s someone you didn’t invite. Not officially. Georgia Hamilton, meet my brother Christopher.’
A thinner, younger version of Edward came over and shook her hand.
‘He’s my plus one, for my sins.’
‘Your brother is your plus one?’ she asked, her pulse racing.
‘This is a seriously good party, Georgia,’ said Christopher, smiling. ‘I’ve met a famous pastry chef, an artist and an Italian count from Perugia, and I’ve only been here ten minutes.’
‘A famous pastry chef?’ laughed Georgia, feeling giddy. ‘Is that how André is describing himself now?’
‘Pardon the interruption, but could I have a word?’ Estella looked serious as she led Georgia to one side.
‘What’s wrong?’ asked Georgia, out of earshot of her guests.
‘Don Daly has just arrived. They haven’t seen Sally since last night. They called us at the house this morning to see if she was with you, but we must have left for the boathouse. They know that your party is this evening and wondered if she’d turned up.’
‘You know, I don’t think she has,’ said Georgia, looking around. ‘I thought it was strange I hadn’t heard from her all day, considering it’s my birthday and she promised to help us decorate this afternoon.’
‘Do you have any idea where she might be? Mr and Mrs Daly are pretty frantic.’
‘Wait. Wait a moment,’ she said, remembering the bundle of letters she had received earlier that day. At the time she had been on the lookout for Edward’s handwriting, but thinking about it, there had been one unfranked envelope covered in Sally’s girlish scrawl.
She went over to the canvas sack she had brought with her that morning. She fished out the purple envelope and ripped it open. There was a single sheet of paper inside.
Happy birthday, darling Georgia.
Wishing you the merriest of days. I’d love to be celebrating with you tonight but something strange and wonderful and exciting has happened and I’m afraid I won’t be able to make it. I am moving to Italy with Gianni, you see, and we are leaving today. I know some people won’t understand this decision. Some people might even try to stop us. That’s why I haven’t told my parents yet, but I hope you will show them this note after you have read it.
Rest assured that I am happy. I always said that my life would begin when I found the person I wanted to spend it with. And here I am – ready to start my adventure.
Don’t spend your special night worrying about me. Gianni is capable and strong. I will contact you all when we have settled in Italy, which I expect will be in just a few short days.