Tube Talk
And then, out of the blue, her father rang.
‘Bella?’ he yelled. He always yelled as if he were in the midst of the Siberian wastes, even if it was only Clapham Common.
Bella felt her heart lift. Finn was a meteor, whizzing at top speed and possibly destructive, but he always sizzled with energy. ‘Hello, Finn. Where are you?’
‘I’m staying with your brother. He’s worried about you. We’re coming to see you. Time we broke you out of the Bastille.’
Maybe it was Finn’s renegade influence, but quite suddenly Bella had had enough of being a ladylike prisoner, with Lady Pansy vetoing her every choice and all her own friends unreachable on the other side of the Palace’s curtain wall.
‘No, I’ll meet you,’ she said decisively. ‘St James’s Park. On the bridge. Today at four.’
Lady Pansy, a creature of habit, took tea with the Queen at four on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
And while Lady Pansy was away, Bella just walked out. Nobody stopped her. The policeman on the gate didn’t even question her, just tipped his hat.
Why didn’t I think of doing this before? she thought. I must have been going stir crazy in there. I could have walked out any time I wanted.
She walked gently round the park, smelling the honey and musk of the early roses, savouring the great blowsy displays of annuals in the beds, and the lush green grass. It felt good to have the warm air on her face again. At last, Bella felt she could breathe.
She got to the bridge at four o’clock exactly. Finn wasn’t there. Par for the course, thought Bella tolerantly, and leaned over the railing watching a family of ducklings show off their prowess at swimming in a straight line – except for the tail-end Charlie, who kept getting distracted and was endlessly chivvied back into line by his father. She laughed aloud.
‘That doesn’t sound too bad,’ said a voice.
And she turned and there was Finn: disreputable holed jeans, appalling old lumberjack shirt, open to the waist, several days’ worth of beard and an Akubra hat. He raised his a hand, which was the closest he ever got to giving anyone a hug.
‘Live long and prosper.’
He was also a fan of cult TV. How could she have forgotten that? Bella was so pleased to see him, she grinned from ear to ear.
Her phone started to ring. She switched it off. This was Bella time. No one else was muscling in on that.
‘Finn, it’s good to see you. You look a complete down and out.’
He took it as a compliment and preened like one of the ducks. ‘Got back two days ago. Went straight to Neill’s. That Viking stunt of his looked good fun. Sorry I missed it.’
‘Well, stick around. He may do it again.’
‘I might. I might stick around to see you married, too. How do you feel about that?’
Bella thought about Finn slouching into the Cathedral and coming face to face with Lady Pansy. She could have danced with glee. ‘Oh, yes, please, Dad.’ Suddenly her eyes were brimming over.
He blinked. She never called him Dad. ‘Hey. No need to cry. If you want me there, I’m up for it. I’ll even walk you down the aisle if you want.’ His tone said it would be an enormous sacrifice.
‘You don’t have to go that far. Kevin has offered and he actually doesn’t mind wearing a morning suit.’
Finn gave a sigh of relief. ‘Great chap, Kevin. Always said so. Now walk round this pond with me and tell me what’s wrong.’
To her amazement, she did. Finn, who normally found human relationships both difficult and boring, listened with unusual attention. In the end he said, ‘You know, something seems to have happened to this chap of yours. He hasn’t had a blow to the head or anything, has he?’
‘No,’ said Bella, with a tearful chuckle.
‘Well, then, you’d better ask him what’s going on,’ said Finn. ‘Because sure as hell, something is.’
‘I don’t see what it could be—’
Finn raised his eyes to heaven. ‘God, this is why I can never live with women. They go off into corners and think, maybe it’s this, maybe it’s that. Ask, woman. Ask.’
Bella hesitated.
‘Call him now and I’ll buy us both an ice cream.’
She laughed. ‘Oh, all right.’
She switched the phone back on and at once texts started whizzing across the screen. Well, tough. She called Richard.
He picked up so fast, it was like a cat pouncing. ‘Bella. Oh, thank God! Are you all right? Where are you?’
‘I’m