reached the gate to Villiers Street she glanced back at the figure sitting alone on the grass in the sunshine, among the rest of humanity, and felt a pang of pity mixed with irritation. She supposed she was glad he’d rung her. She’d rather he stayed with her than dossed on the streets.
Hurrying through the door to the clerks’ room, Felicity bumped into an irate Maurice Faber.
‘I hope you’ve arranged to have something done about my lighting.’
‘The earliest I can get someone to look at it is Wednesday morning.’
Maurice glanced at Felicity’s bag and realised she hadonly just returned to chambers. ‘Have you been out to lunch till this hour?’
‘I went out at ten to two, actually.’
‘I suggest you try to take lunch at the conventional time.’ Maurice turned to retrieve some papers from his pigeonhole and Felicity made a face at his back.
When Maurice had gone out, Henry wandered over to Felicity’s desk. ‘Those bundles came over from Freshfields while you were out – the ones Mr Vane needs for his arbitration tomorrow.’
‘Oh, thanks. I was just about to chase them up,’ said Felicity.
Henry picked up the cheesed-off note in Felicity’s voice and glanced with concern at her dispirited face. ‘Some problem? Anything I can help with?’
Henry shook his head. ‘I wouldn’t relish having my sister descend on me out of the blue. But when it’s family – well, what can you do?’
‘Quite.’
Not quite sure what further consolation to offer, Henry changed the subject. ‘By the way, we’ve got a date fixed for the chambers’ party.’
‘What party?’
‘They’ve decided to have a bash to celebrate the expansion of chambers. The usual PR job. Invite along every commercial solicitor in the City who likes a drink – which is most of them – get them nicely tanked up, and hope the work floods in.’
‘When is it?’
‘July the twentieth. Not the handiest time of year to be throwing a junket, given that some people will be away on holiday, but then again, it saves on the champagne. Mr Hayter suggests having a marquee in Inner Temple Garden, so I’ll have to get busy arranging that. Then there’s the food and drink. You, me, Peter and Robert will have to sit down and sort it all out.’
‘Not a prospect I relish,’ muttered Felicity, as Henry went to answer his phone. Despite what Henry had said about keeping everything harmonious, so far she was doing her best to avoid contact with Peter. The worst of it was, despite having been deceived and strung along by him, she still felt a little pang every time she set eyes on him. But that was love for you. She seemed fated to get it wrong every time.
In Court 17, the afternoon’s proceedings in the case of
Rotterdam Diamonds B VBA v. Air Italia
had been underway for a little over an hour. Camilla, acting as a junior in the case, had endeavoured to listen attentively to her leader, Adrian Eder QC, but now she found her attention wandering. It drifted, as it did about twenty times an hour, to Leo. The past six days had been sheer torment, possibly the most wretched of her life. Leo hadn’t been in chambers, he hadn’t called her, and she had been forced to endure the past weekend in the company of her charmless flatmate, Jane, who was evidently dying to know what had gone wrong between her and Leo, but was behaving like the soul of discretion. The unaskedquestions hung heavy in the air, and Camilla felt she would have preferred an outright interrogation to Jane’s sympathetic, silent glances of concern. She’d thought of going to her parents for the weekend, but didn’t dare, in case Leo should ring while she was away. He hadn’t. Camilla had come to the inescapable conclusion that he wasn’t at all bothered by what had happened. She still felt she’d been right to be upset by the way he concealed things from her, and that he should be the one to make the first move, but he evidently didn’t care enough. So much for
Hurrying through the door to the clerks’ room, Felicity bumped into an irate Maurice Faber.
‘I hope you’ve arranged to have something done about my lighting.’
‘The earliest I can get someone to look at it is Wednesday morning.’
Maurice glanced at Felicity’s bag and realised she hadonly just returned to chambers. ‘Have you been out to lunch till this hour?’
‘I went out at ten to two, actually.’
‘I suggest you try to take lunch at the conventional time.’ Maurice turned to retrieve some papers from his pigeonhole and Felicity made a face at his back.
When Maurice had gone out, Henry wandered over to Felicity’s desk. ‘Those bundles came over from Freshfields while you were out – the ones Mr Vane needs for his arbitration tomorrow.’
‘Oh, thanks. I was just about to chase them up,’ said Felicity.
Henry picked up the cheesed-off note in Felicity’s voice and glanced with concern at her dispirited face. ‘Some problem? Anything I can help with?’
Henry shook his head. ‘I wouldn’t relish having my sister descend on me out of the blue. But when it’s family – well, what can you do?’
‘Quite.’
Not quite sure what further consolation to offer, Henry changed the subject. ‘By the way, we’ve got a date fixed for the chambers’ party.’
‘What party?’
‘They’ve decided to have a bash to celebrate the expansion of chambers. The usual PR job. Invite along every commercial solicitor in the City who likes a drink – which is most of them – get them nicely tanked up, and hope the work floods in.’
‘When is it?’
‘July the twentieth. Not the handiest time of year to be throwing a junket, given that some people will be away on holiday, but then again, it saves on the champagne. Mr Hayter suggests having a marquee in Inner Temple Garden, so I’ll have to get busy arranging that. Then there’s the food and drink. You, me, Peter and Robert will have to sit down and sort it all out.’
‘Not a prospect I relish,’ muttered Felicity, as Henry went to answer his phone. Despite what Henry had said about keeping everything harmonious, so far she was doing her best to avoid contact with Peter. The worst of it was, despite having been deceived and strung along by him, she still felt a little pang every time she set eyes on him. But that was love for you. She seemed fated to get it wrong every time.
In Court 17, the afternoon’s proceedings in the case of
Rotterdam Diamonds B VBA v. Air Italia
had been underway for a little over an hour. Camilla, acting as a junior in the case, had endeavoured to listen attentively to her leader, Adrian Eder QC, but now she found her attention wandering. It drifted, as it did about twenty times an hour, to Leo. The past six days had been sheer torment, possibly the most wretched of her life. Leo hadn’t been in chambers, he hadn’t called her, and she had been forced to endure the past weekend in the company of her charmless flatmate, Jane, who was evidently dying to know what had gone wrong between her and Leo, but was behaving like the soul of discretion. The unaskedquestions hung heavy in the air, and Camilla felt she would have preferred an outright interrogation to Jane’s sympathetic, silent glances of concern. She’d thought of going to her parents for the weekend, but didn’t dare, in case Leo should ring while she was away. He hadn’t. Camilla had come to the inescapable conclusion that he wasn’t at all bothered by what had happened. She still felt she’d been right to be upset by the way he concealed things from her, and that he should be the one to make the first move, but he evidently didn’t care enough. So much for
Similar Books
