Masters And Lovers 1-4
Chapter 58
Driving back through the snow and the rapidly falling darkness, Elizabeth is very quiet. I drop a hand to her knee. “You're thinking very loudly, my Love.”
She drops her hand to mine, squeezing a little. “I was thinking what a different side we're seeing of James.”
Hmmm...
Marlene?
“Perhaps he's simply letting down the barriers after years of keeping them raised? I think the failure of his first marriage left him very bitter.”
Elizabeth shoots doubt at me. “His first marriage?”
“You think he isn't married now? In every way that means anything…”
There is a long pause, then, “Yes, of course he is. His devotion to Charlotte… and her to him… are so obvious. I just wonder how Charlotte manages. I mean… she has the two of them. Michael is lovely but James…”
“What about James? I thought you liked him.”
“Oh, I do like him. Really, I do. It’s just…” she wriggles fingers. “He would be a bit much for me. He…. he still makes me nervous.”
“James is a good man, my Love. He's proved that. He made the ultimate sacrifice. And both Charlotte and Michael know that.”
*****
James
I push a tumbler into Michael’s hand. He sniffs. “Smells good. What is it?”
“That bourbon that Richard and Beth gave you.”
He examines the glass, looking a bit miffed. “So, you opened my Christmas present?”
“You would have shared it with me, wouldn’t you?”
“Well, yes, of course.”
“So, what’s the difference?”
with that
me from under his brows, then
Move on….
points with your Christmas gift for Charlotte; giving her that address. I take my hat
and looking at the glass. Then, “It wasn’t just to be as a surprise for Charlotte,” he says. “I kept quiet because the
He has.
Now what?
to raise the subject, with it being so close to Christmas.” He tilts his glass at me. “I wanted Charlotte to have a
a sudden surge of
the sentiment back, letting the
… but not away…
else
stands, reaching for his jacket. From a pocket, he
A photograph.
a new copy of something that looks much older; yellow-brown edges, creased corners, the colours out of true. The image is of three people, sitting around a drinks table in what looks like a hotel or club of some kind.
the centre of the image could be Charlotte, were the photo not so
Shelley?
Michelle….
Mitch….
Charlotte keeps a copy in her room, framed and sitting among her books. But in that photo, her mother looks tired, drained; at the end of her tether. In this one, she’s smiling and beautiful. She wears a
her left is a face we know, at least in a much older version; Klempner. He’s well-dressed, in a good suit, looking prosperous. But
With an arm slung around her shoulder is a beefily-built man with an all-American type smile.
My stomach tightens.
“Frank Conners?”
Michael nods. “Frank Conners.”
*****
Klempner
waist, I stoop, kissing her breasts, tasting the salty dampness