The Last Letter from Juliet - Melanie Hudson Page 0,83

shouldn’t he have a good time with Lottie?’

‘Because he’s in love with you, that’s why.’

I linked my arm in Anna’s.

‘Maybe once upon a time, but not anymore.’

During the whole evening – perhaps because there were far too many guests gathered in too small a space – Edward and I managed to behave like two independent planets, circling in the same orbit, but always a million light years apart.

At ten, Charles had excused himself and expressed a wish to go to bed. I offered to sit with him in his bedroom a while but he reached for my hand, pulled me close, kissed me on the forehead and declined. It was when I followed him into the hallway, where Lottie was dancing with Bill, that my heart finally broke in two. On seeing Charles retiring, Lottie had broken away from Bill and rushed over, offering to escort him around the dance floor before he went to bed. I had, on a number of occasions, offered to do the same thing, but Charles had refused to dance every time. But now, asked by Lottie, he accepted. And it was at the moment Charles stepped onto the dance floor with Lottie that Edward caught my eye. He was across the room, standing in the entrance to Pa’s study. His head tipped slightly to the side. Noticing Charles on the dance floor, Edward crossed the room towards me. He held out his hand.

‘Would you care to dance, Juliet?’

Anna kissed Bill goodnight just as the clock struck twelve. I waved off the last of the guests and joined Anna on the sofa in the lounge. An exhausted but happy Lottie had already said her goodnights and gone to bed, which left the two of us alone in the semi-darkness, with only the embers of the fire and a last flickering candle for company. We slouched side by side on the sofa, my cold left hand tucked into Anna’s warm right one.

‘He’s definitely not in love with her, you know,’ Anna began, staring into the fire. ‘I watched them all evening and, honestly, he made every possible excuse to get away from her at every possible moment. It was quite sad for Lottie, really. I don’t think Edward even knew he’d been invited tonight as Lottie’s particular guest. I think she’s a bit … delusional.’

I said nothing. What was the point of analysing the thing? I was married. Edward was single. The end.

‘Charles has upset you again, hasn’t he?’

I nodded, just as the tears I’d buttoned in all evening spilled over my lower lashes.

‘At first, I thought he was actually being quite husbandly towards you,’ she said, dabbing my eyes with a handkerchief, ‘quite sweet, in a way, but to dance with Lottie and then with that other woman at the end of the thing and not with you … it was cruel, Juliet, not to mention bloody humiliating, especially in front of Edward.’

I was too tired to argue. Anna didn’t let up. She took my hands firmly in hers.

‘Listen. It sounds to me like this marriage happened for all the wrong reasons at a time when you were excessively vulnerable. I know he’s been injured, but I really do think you should leave him, Juliet, for your own sanity, if not for his. I hate to say it, but the man seems to resent you.’

This one-way conversation carried along the same path for some minutes until Anna suddenly stopped.

‘Ssshhh,’ she whispered. ‘I can hear someone …’ We quietened a moment. ‘Is that Charles’ voice?’

It was.

We tiptoed to the door and listened.

‘… I know, darling,’ we heard him whisper into the phone, ‘and I feel the same way too, it’s all a wretched, blasted mess. But what can I do? She put bags of money into the house and we’re her only family. I can’t just walk away, not at the moment … yes, I love you, too … yes, yes, I know, but just give me some time …’

Anna and I turned to face each other in the firelight. She leant forward and whispered into my ear.

‘Get your warmest coat. I’ll see you at the kitchen door in ten minutes.’

It was one a.m. when I arrived at Edward’s cottage. The moon, just like a reliable old landing light, shone a path from across the sea down to Angels Cove, guiding me home. I freewheeled down the hill through a wind so sharp it cut into my face like a dagger and by the time I