Lucy Gordon - The Monte Carlo Proposal

He was on the sofa, leaning back, staring at the ceiling, a look of seraphic happiness on his face.

‘Are you all right?’ I asked him.

‘Yes, thank you. It was a very satisfactory evening.’

‘I guess it was. When you weren’t being swarmed over by women I saw all the men sizing you up.’

‘Uh-huh!’ He laughed. ‘But I don’t think they’ll do it again.’

I began to get the picture. Or at least some of it.

‘I saw you talking to Harry,’ I mused.

‘Which one was Harry?’

‘The respectable one-the lawyer.’

‘Ah, yes! Oddly enough, he’s the only one who actually looks like a crook. He kept telling me that his firm was looking to branch out into corporate law, providing a top-quality service for a very select clientele.’

‘Jack, no! Even Harry doesn’t suffer from that much self-delusion.’

‘Now, there you’re wrong. There is no limit to his self-delusion. He was the only one I disliked. The others are all honest rogues.’ He laughed suddenly. ‘Why was Alec sporting a black eye? Gang warfare?’

‘Only the kind that goes on in his home every day. Lil caught him grazing in forbidden pastures. She tends to get physical when she’s provoked. Come to think of it, she was getting very physical with you on the dance floor.’

‘She’s a good dancer, but I don’t think she’s had much chance recently. I’m sure Alex doesn’t take her out.’

‘I think he might now,’ I said, chuckling.

‘Who’s the one with jet black hair?’

‘David’s wife, Angie.’

‘She lectured me about how all men need keeping in their place. She says she’s tried to pass her theories on to you.’

He regarded me quizzically, but I refused to be drawn.

‘I don’t take second-hand theories,’ I said loftily. ‘I prefer to invent my own.’

A smile came into his eyes. ‘That’s my girl. Ah, well, I’m sorry it’s over. I really enjoyed it.’

‘Yes, I saw you enjoying it with Penny,’ I said coolly. ‘She was the one in the see-through dress, in case you didn’t catch the name. I hope you got a good look at everything.’

‘If I didn’t it’s no fault of hers. Hetta wants me to back her in a modelling career. Or becoming a pop star. I don’t think it matters as long as I come across with the necessary.’

‘Are you going to?’

‘Not a chance. I’ve brought saying ‘Uh-huh!’ in a non-committal voice to a fine art. Mind you, I’ve had years of practice with Grace.’ He gave a wry smile. ‘It was fun. I’d forgotten about fun.’

His eyes were shining. I smiled back, loving to see him like that.

‘Goodnight, Jack,’ I said.

‘Goodnight, Della.’

He rose from the sofa and half turned away, then swung around and grasped hold of me without warning, pulled me against him and kissed me hard.

His arms were very tight around me, so that I couldn’t clasp him back even if I’d been able to think clearly. I had nothing to do but stand there and be kissed, very thoroughly.

Now I knew how much I’d wanted to be kissed. His lips felt so good on mine. I’d missed him so much.

Then, as suddenly as it had begun, it was over.

‘Goodnight,’ he said breathlessly, and vanished.

I stood there for a while, trying to calm my nerves, wondering what was happening to me.

Jack’s Story

I USEDa private detective to find out all about Bentley Cunningham, the man whose wife had lost the diamond bracelet.

‘He’s like a bit of theatre scenery,’ the detective told me after he’d rooted around a bit. ‘Looks good from the front but it’s all one-dimensional, there’s nothing behind. A breath of the wrong financial wind could blow him flat. He inherited his company from his father and he’s let most of it slip through his fingers. His wife has no idea. She still thinks he’s a big success, so he has to keep up the pretence. That bracelet was a way of fooling her, but he had to take out an expensive loan to buy it. And it wasn’t insured, so they got very upset when they thought it had gone for good.’

His company made machine tools and was situated near the Thames. As soon as I approached it I could see the signs that said he needed a friendly investor badly.

When I introduced myself I was glad to see he knew my name. That would make it a lot easier.

What wasn’t easy was actually doing what I intended. It had been simple to plan it inside my head, but this was reality, where I had to get it right first time, and I was nervous.

That’s right. Bully Jack was going to do a bit of manipulating, and he was nervous because it mattered more than anything had mattered in his life.

I’d spent sleepless nights thinking of my darling going back to jail. In the early hours I’d made idiotic plans. I would take her and Grandad and we would vanish, spending the rest of our lives on a barge, cruising the waterways. They would look for us in vain.

Anything was better than seeing her suffer for even a few minutes, let alone a few months.

Approaching Cunningham meant violating every principle I had. But I was discovering what principles were really for. They were for ditching when you found out what mattered most to you. Della mattered more than anything or anyone, and to hell with principles.

So, for the first time ever, I indulged in the kind of behaviour for which Bully Jack was already famous.

Not that there was any bullying needed. Poor Cunningham was a decent little man who was out of his depth. When he heard my proposal he thought Christmas had come. I ended up poorer, he ended up richer and beaming with relief. And Della ended up safe.

As soon as I was out of there I called Wendell.

‘I want you to handle this investment as well as looking after Della,’ I said. ‘Then you can see that they’re properly co-ordinated.’

He agreed to call Cunningham at once, then the police.

As I returned to the flat I pictured Della’s face when she heard the news, but it was strangely difficult. Her relief was easy to imagine. It was the bit afterwards that caused me trouble. How would she be? Awkward? Embarrassed? Even a little hostile? I could imagine anything these days. I didn’t really know who she was.

It made no difference. Whoever she turned out to be, she’d got under my skin and into my heart, and she was there for life. But I didn’t know what she felt about anything, especially me. She’d been very quick to assure me that she had no ‘illusions’ about our love reviving. But was that her way of putting me at ease? Or of saying it was really over? I was about to find out.

I entered the apartment full of anticipation and trepidation in equal measure, but it was an anticlimax. Only Grandad was there.

‘What have you been up to?’ he asked as soon as he saw my face. I was still partly in a state of shock.

‘Bribery and corruption,’ I said slowly.

‘Good for you,’ he said at once. ‘Any use?’

‘Oh, yes. The charges are going to be dropped.’

He gave a yelp of glee and began to dance around like a little kid, carolling tunelessly.

‘Where is she?’ I asked.

‘Doing a bit of shopping. But she only just went, so she might be a couple of hours.’

The thought of waiting there for two hours suddenly made my stomach churn. I needed to be doing something as the most important moment of my life drew near.

‘I have to go,’ I said. ‘I’ll be back later. Bye, Nick.’

‘What did you call me?’

‘Er-Grandad. See ya!’

I went to my office, to be met by the news that Grace was waiting for me.

I found her sitting in a chair by the window. I saw her before she saw me, and caught a look of misery on her face that she normally hid. As soon as she glanced up the old look was back. It was armoured and guarded for war, but I wasn’t fooled now. I was remembering what Della had told me about her.