she hoped was a normal expression on her face.
‘I’m a bit worried about Alice,’ she said, her voice shaking. ‘Have you seen where she’s got to?’
‘No, I haven’t. Has she been drinking too much?’ Jonathan looked anxiously at Liz. ‘Honestly, she is a silly girl!’
‘No, that’s not it,’ faltered Liz. She looked frantically around. ‘Haven’t you seen her anywhere?’
‘Excuse me!’ A bright, blond, slightly pregnant baby-faced girl tapped Liz on the shoulder. ‘Are you the mother of the little girl in the fringes? I thought you should know, she’s just run out into the street. She looked a bit upset.’
‘I’ll go,’ muttered Liz, and started to push her way past Jonathan. But he put his arm out to stop her.
‘No, I’ll go,’ he said firmly. ‘You stay here and enjoy the party. And talk to Anthea. I don’t think you two have properly met, have you?’ Liz stared, dumbfounded, at Anthea, who smiled vivaciously at her. ‘Thank you,’ added Jonathan to Clarissa, who waved her glass merrily back. ‘I won’t be long,’ he added, and suddenly was gone.
Liz looked at Anthea. She had nothing to say to her. But Anthea was brimming over.
‘Your husband is a genius,’ she began. ‘I can’t tell you how wonderful he is. I’ve never seen anything like it. His patience, his sense of humour . . . and he’s so good at explaining things so that children understand them!’ She paused. ‘Of course, you know about our son’s scholarship?’
‘I heard,’ murmured Liz, staring at the floor. ‘Tremendous.’
‘Isn’t it? We’re absolutely thrilled. Aren’t we, darling?’ Liz looked up in surprise, and through a horrified daze, saw that Anthea was gazing up at someone. And the someone was Marcus. And he was putting his arm affectionately around Anthea’s shoulders, and bending over and kissing her as though he still loved her.
A black hatred settled in Liz’s chest, threatening to break into heaving tears at any moment. She would stay for one more minute, she told herself, then go. But go to what? To Jonathan? To Alice?
‘I’ve told all my friends about your tutorial college,’ Anthea was saying. ‘And lots have signed up. They all think it’s wonderful. When I tell them about Daniel . . .’ She paused significantly. ‘And do you do Common Entrance coaching too, Mrs Chambers?’
‘No, I don’t,’ said Liz. She looked directly at Marcus’s unflinching eyes. ‘I’m not sure what I do these days.’
Jonathan found Alice running along the street, panting and wheezing and sobbing, with make-up smeared across her face, and a trail of cigarettes behind her. As he caught up with her, she was flicking her lighter frantically, swearing and crying out as the wind blew it out again and again.
‘Alice!’ he called as he caught up with her. ‘Alice! Slow down!’ Alice turned, saw her father’s face, then burst into a frenzy of sobs. ‘Come on!’ said Jonathan. He hooked an arm round her, then when she had slowed down enough, put another arm round her. ‘It’s all right,’ he said. ‘Really. Everything’s OK.’ For a few moments, Alice shuddered silently against his shirt. Then she looked up at his face, and gave an anguished cry.
‘Oh Dad! I’m so sorry!’ Her voice tailed away into a wail.
‘There’s nothing to be sorry for,’ said Jonathan calmly. ‘It was a boring party anyway.’ He grinned at Alice.
‘But you don’t understand!’ she began. She looked around her, at the dark, empty street. ‘Oh God! It’s so awful!’ A fresh stream of tears spurted from her eyes.
‘What I think is so awful,’ said Jonathan, regarding the thin white trail of cigarettes behind them, ‘is that you’ve been smoking for so long without telling us.’ Alice gasped.
‘How do you mean?’ she said, a note of resentment creeping shakily into her voice.
‘I thought when Genevieve went away, you might stop. But obviously not.’ Alice gaped at him.
‘Did you know? All that time?’
‘Subtlety, Alice,’ observed Jonathan, ‘is not your strongest point. The cigarette butts in the garage were a bit of a give-away.’
‘But you never said anything!’ There was a long pause.
‘Just because you know something,’ said Jonathan clearly, ‘it doesn’t mean you have to tell it to everybody. Or, indeed, anybody.’ He looked at her. ‘Do you always put your hand up in class when you think you know the answer?’ Alice shook her head mutely.
‘Exactly. Sometimes you leave it to someone else. Sometimes you’re not quite sure. Sometimes you decide the best thing is to wait, listen, and learn.’ Alice looked at him. Thoughts were