but as the waitresses removed the first-course plates, a jolly bald man in a pale blue Peter Rabbit coat seized the microphone and was going through the race card, telling people which horses to back in the remaining races.
To Bolton’s irritation, he recommended three of Shade’s horses but Furious didn’t get a mention. Matters were not helped when Harvey-Holden returned for more champagne and a chat with Shade and Olivia.
‘Why can’t I have a trainer I can engage with?’ grumbled Bolton. ‘I asked Marius to join us,’ he added petulantly, ‘but with his usual lack of courtesy he hasn’t showed up.’
‘For Christ’s sake,’ snapped Alan, ‘it might have something to do with the fact that one of your guests took both Marius’s wife and twenty horses away from his yard.’
‘What’s that?’ Olivia swung round.
‘Poor Marius,’ sighed Cindy, ‘I don’t know how you could leave him, Olivia. I mean Shade’s well fit, but Marius is drop-dead gorgeous. Phwoar! I’d love to cheer him up.’
‘Really,’ said Olivia icily.
‘Reeely.’ Cindy leant across and admired the diamond big as a snowball on Olivia’s hand. ‘That’s a nice ring, where’d you get that?’
‘Shade gave it to me.’
‘Say no more,’ giggled Cindy. ‘I don’t fink Marius could have afforded that.’
A very, very bleak Olivia turned to Alan. ‘Isn’t she dreadful?’
‘I think she’s sweet,’ said Alan coldly.
As the waitresses swept in bearing roast pork with Calvados and cream sauce, and wild mushroom roulade for Bonny, Cindy turned back to Alan.
‘Doesn’t Lester mind you lusting after other men?’ he asked.
‘Naaah,’ Cindy hardly lowered her voice, ‘not as long as he can join in. Lester enjoys freesomes, but sadly, I don’t fink Marius is up for it.’
‘How exquisite freesomes sound!’ Alan filled up both their glasses.
‘Lester likes that stuck-up Michelle – he’s fumin’ she’s not leading up Furious today – and Michelle is seeing Marius so we could have ’ad a nice little foursome. Why don’t you join us one evening, Alan? Our jacuzzi takes eight, so does our bed.’
‘Gosh!’ said Alan excitedly. ‘Who else shall we have?’
‘Dame Corinna is a bit old to get her kit off,’ murmured Cindy, ‘but I found it very humbling and heart-warming, being singled out by her as an actress just now.’
‘We could ask Seth,’ suggested Alan and received a steely look from Martin and Romy.
Shade meanwhile was enjoying himself. It was music to his ears to hear Bolton bitching about Marius, and having patronized the little creep in the past he was prepared today to discuss fluctuations in the porn industry as seriously as if they were billion-pound arms deals.
Alan was then thrown to find himself almost liking Shade, when, as they settled down to their main course, Shade crossed the marquee and seized the microphone in order to praise St Richard’s Hospice, saying how miraculous they had been when his mother was dying of cancer.
‘They control the pain, families are allowed to stay, their kindness is unbelievable. I cannot thank them enough.’ He smiled round. ‘Death comes to all of us, but to some,’ his deep voice faltered for only a second, ‘in better ways than others.’
He then urged everyone to give generously to St Richard’s and to spend as much as possible at the auction after the last race.
Everyone cheered and clapped and as he returned to the table, Olivia hugged him: ‘Well done, darling, that was great,’ and Harvey-Holden patted him on the back.
Romy’s eyes gleamed. People were already chucking £20 notes into buckets that were being circulated. If only Shade could become a patron of WOO, their War on Obesity charity.
As the head of fundraising drew Shade aside to thank him, Olivia, so beautiful in her simple little lime-green suit, turned to Alan.
‘Please don’t hate me,’ she whispered.
‘I’ve missed you,’ he murmured.
‘Me too.’
‘Why didn’t you warn me you were leaving Marius?’
‘I thought you might stop me.’
‘Are you happy?’
Olivia gave a half-smile.
‘Shade’s trying so hard to look after me better than Marius did.’
‘I’d like some glazed tart,’ Cindy told a waitress.
‘Takes one to know one,’ sneered Bonny.
‘That was so moving,’ Romy told Shade as he came back to the table. ‘Martin and I have a colossal database but we find the best way of fundraising is face to face. We employ students to confront people in the street and persuade them to give ten pounds a month for African orphans.’
‘I’d pay students ten pounds to leave me alone,’ drawled Seth.
‘Oh get away, I know you don’t mean that,’ said Romy roguishly.
Glancing round, Bonny caught sight of the Scorpion, a