fourth symphony to be precise, but I’m not as keen on that, I find it too heavy. Very dark.’ She screwed up her face.
‘Who chooses what is played?’ I asked.
‘The directors and the conductor, I think,’ she said. ‘I don’t really know. I expect the Americans had something to do with it too. I suppose the Elgar is there as it is quintessentially English. And, of course, there’s the anniversary of his birth.’
Of course, I thought.
‘Surely Sibelius wasn’t English,’ I said.
‘No,’ she said. ‘Finnish, I think, but I’m not sure. But the Americans seem to like his stuff. Must be something to do with all that hardship and living in log cabins.’ She laughed. ‘Par too dark and gloomy for me.’
‘Like treacle,’ I said.
‘Exactly, but less sticky.’ She laughed again. An uninhibited, happy laugh.
‘But it will be worth going just for the Elgar,’ she said. ‘Nimrod was one of the pieces I had to play for my audition to the Royal College. I adore it and I play it every time I need some comfort in my life, which, I have to tell you, has been quite often. My music and especially my viola have been a huge support to me at times.’ She stared somewhere over my head, but she wasn’t really looking. ‘I love my viola so much that I couldn’t possibly live without it.’
I was jealous. It seemed silly. Of course Caroline loved her music. After all, I loved my cooking. Could I live without that? No, I couldn’t. Well then, I told myself, stop being jealous of a viola. It was an inanimate object. I tried hard to, but with limited success.
In time, we walked back arm in arm to her flat and both went eagerly to her bed, where I strived to make good on my promise.
She didn’t exactly say that it was better than Tchaikovsky’s 1S12, but she didn’t say it wasn’t. Viola, eat you heart out.
CHAPTER 13
We woke early and lay dozing side by side in the bed, just touching occasionally. I rolled over and cuddled her but she didn’t respond and I sensed that she was troubled.
‘What’s the matter?’ I asked her.
‘Oh nothing,’ she said. ‘I was just thinking.’
‘About what?’ I asked.
‘Nothing important,’ she said. But it clearly was.
I started to explore her body with my hands but she sat up. ‘Not now,’ she said. ‘I want some tea.’ And she proceeded to get up, put on her dressing gown and go down the corridor to the kitchen. I lay back on the pillow and wondered if I had said or done something wrong.
She returned with two steaming mugs of tea and got back into bed but she did not remove the dressing gown.
‘Was I that much of a disappointment?’ I said, propping myself up on an elbow and sipping my tea.
‘Oh no,’ she said. ‘In fact, quite the reverse. That’s part of the problem.’
‘So what is the problem?’ I said. ‘Tell me.’
She leaned her head back against the wall with a sigh. ‘I can’t come and live in Newmarket,’ she said. ‘I need to live in London for my job.’
I laughed with relief. ‘I’m not asking you to live in Newmarket,’ I said.
‘Oh,’ she said rather gloomily. ‘I had thought you might.’
‘Well, I might,’ I said. ‘But I will probably be coming to live n London.’
‘That’s all right then,’ she said with a big smile. ‘But when? What about your restaurant?’
‘It’s not certain when,’ I said, ‘and I don’t want my staff to know yet, but the plan is to open a new restaurant in London sometime later in the year.’
‘Oh goodie,’ she said with excitement.
‘Am I right, therefore, in thinking that you are throwing yourself into my life on a permanent basis?’ I asked.
‘Maybe.’ She shrugged off her dressing gown and snuggled down next to me in the bed.
‘That is definitely all right then,’ I said.
At lunchtime, we caught the train to Virginia Water and took a taxi from there to Smith’s Lawn, the home of the Guards Polo Club. Neither of us had the faintest idea of what to expect but we had chosen to dress for all eventualities. Caroline selected a black and white floral printed dress which seemed, to me, to touch her in all the right places, showed off her considerable natural attributes and turned many an eye on the train. Over the dress, she wore a fitted tweed coat with brown fur around the collar and the cuffs. If she had brought a deerstalker and