Даниэла Стил - All That Glitters

They were barely speaking to each other again on the first of June, when Nigel came home from a Saturday lunch with some of his male friends looking sheepish. She had no idea why he looked that way, and didn’t ask him. She was already tired of problems with the contractor and workmen at the house, doing work that hadn’t needed to be done anyway. It seemed like a total waste of time and money, and a lot of both.

“Do you want to go out to dinner tonight?” he asked her, which surprised her. They hadn’t gone out to dinner alone since April. They had done nothing but argue about the house, and eat at home. And most nights they didn’t bother to eat dinner, after they argued about the latest estimates from the contractor. Their lovemaking fell by the wayside again. She was paying for everything and money was flowing out the door. She had read somewhere that remodeling and moving were two of the greatest life stressors other than divorce or loss of a loved one. She was tired of hearing about the house she hadn’t wanted in the first place. She wasn’t sure she wanted to have dinner with him, and hear more. She was sure he had come up with some new expensive plan for the remodel.

She hesitated and he looked at her, and sat down on the couch. “I have something to tell you.”

“The house burned to the ground,” she said in a choked voice, almost hoping it had.

“Of course not. It’s going to be gorgeous and you’re going to love it. No, I had an opportunity today that I couldn’t pass up. I would have called you, but I didn’t want to tell you on the phone. A friend of mine invited one of my old mates from Eton for lunch. A great guy. He moved to Australia after he left Oxford. His parents died recently and he was here to settle their affairs. They had an absolutely gorgeous house in Sussex. My friend needs money, and he told me to name my price. I quoted an absolutely, ridiculously low amount, and he took it on the spot. We shook hands on it, so it’s a done deal. We’ll need a country house anyway, Coco. I know this is a lot all at once, but trust me, it’s a gorgeous place. I couldn’t pass it up. It needs a little work, but not much.”

“You did what ?” She stood across the room from him and stared at him, unable to believe what he had just said. “You bought a house in Sussex over lunch? It’s a done deal and you didn’t even call me? And you expect me to pay for it? Are you out of your mind, Nigel?” This time she wasn’t frightened or upset. She was furious. She couldn’t believe he’d done something like that. Now they were about to have two houses she didn’t want. He was out of control. He had signed off on their prenup as though it didn’t matter to him, and had been spending millions of dollars of her money ever since. “What were you thinking?” She owned the house, but he was costing her a fortune, and not even apologetic about it. He kept telling her how lucky she was that he was improving her investment. And now he wanted to buy another one, or just had.

“Coco, we need a country house. It just turned up a little earlier than we planned.”

“We never planned to have a country house. We never even talked about it. For what? Why do we need a country house?”

“To give house parties like the ones we go to every weekend. We can’t mooch off my friends forever,” he said primly, and for that exact moment she almost hated him.

“I don’t mooch off anyone, Nigel. I don’t even know if I can afford it.”

“I think you can.”

“You don’t know that. I don’t even know if I can. And a handshake does not constitute a ‘done deal’ when it requires someone else’s money. This is a nightmare.”

“Do you love me?” he asked, looking woebegone.

“That’s beside the point. I don’t love what you do, or how you spend my money, without even consulting me ! What kind of marriage is this?” It was a very expensive one to be sure.

“I’m asking you to trust me. I know houses. You’re going to end up with two of the prettiest houses in England.”

“And the largest staff and the highest expenses. How big is the place in Sussex?”

“It has four good houses on it, pastureland, and beautiful stables. He even threw in the horses. There are only six there now, but there’s room for a lot more. And there’s a lake.”

“This is insanity.” He told her the price he had agreed to, and she had to admit, it sounded low to her too, but she didn’t want a country house or to spend more money. She couldn’t be married to a man who incurred expenses to that degree without even asking her.

She slammed out of the house and went for a long walk. He was gone when she came back. She hoped he had gone to find his friend from Australia to tell him he had to renege on the deal. He didn’t come home until midnight, and he was drunk.

“Did you get out of it?”

“Out of what?” He looked confused as he got into bed.

“Out of the house in Sussex. I thought maybe that was where you went.”

“Of course not. I gave him my word as a gentleman, I can’t go back on that.”

“What if I refuse to pay?” She felt desperate and trapped. What if he bought more houses?

“I suppose then he might sue us for breach of promise. I gave him a note on it, and signed it.”

“Nigel,” she said, feeling frantic, “this has to stop. You’re going to ruin me.”

“According to my discreet inquiries, you have a lot more than that.” Her stomach turned over as he said it. And when had he researched that? Before or after he married her? Sam had been right from the first. Nigel was after money. A lot of it. And a lifestyle she didn’t want and feared she couldn’t afford long-term.

She went downstairs then and slept on the couch, and he was too drunk to get out of bed again. When he got up in the morning and came downstairs, she was gone. She had called Leslie Thomas, her boss, and went over to her house. She had no one else to talk to. She told her what had been happening, and Leslie looked dismayed.

“You know, these men from the old aristocratic families don’t know how to live without money. They’re used to their houses and their farms and their land just being there, and the lifestyle that went with it. When it’s all gone, they somehow expect it to be magically restored to them again. I think it crushed Nigel when his brother got everything, even though he knew he would. And I think he expects you to be that magic, to re-create for him that world that he grew up with. It’s not very realistic. I’m not sure that he even realizes he’s taking advantage of you. What do you want to do now? Divorce him?”

Coco shook her head miserably. “I love him, but he can’t keep doing this. I don’t trust him now, he can’t keep buying houses with my money.”

“Can you explain that to him?”

“I’m not sure he’ll listen. I’m trying to. He refuses to hear me.” She looked depressed about it. “We shouldn’t have gotten married. It was too fast. We didn’t know each other well enough. It was all very romantic, and now it’s anything but.”

“I thought so too, that it was too fast, but I know how Nigel is when he wants something. And he wanted you. I’m sure he still does. Maybe all you can do is tell him that if he buys another house like that, you’ll divorce him, and stick to it.” Coco nodded. There wasn’t much else she could do now except leave him. But even after the house he’d just bought in Sussex, she didn’t want to leave him. She loved him. “Your calling me this morning is fortuitous,” Leslie said to her. “I’ve been wanting to talk to you.” Coco wondered if she had done something wrong or was being fired. “I’m leaving Time . It was a big decision, but I’ve wanted to start my own business for a while. I came into some money recently from an aunt, and I’m going to give it a try. I want to start a relocation business, for people moving to London who need to set up house. I’ll find them a location, stage it for them, or decorate it, and get it all set up before they arrive. I have a friend who’s been doing that in Paris, and making very good money. There’s a real need for it. Corporations move people here all the time, and others just move here for personal reasons, as you did.”