objected.
‘Now abideth breakfast, lunch and dinner,’ he intoned. ‘And the greatest of these is lunch.’
‘That’s a very naughty blasphemy. You’ll be struck down,’ she warned.
‘On the contrary, I seem to be blessed. Here I am lunching in the best restaurant on Exmoor, with the prettiest, wittiest woman I’ve met in a long time. Life is good.’ He sat back in his chair with such a contented look she could only laugh. ‘Now, what will you have?’
In the end she chose smoked salmon with poached pheasant egg and wood sorrel hollandaise for a starter, followed by roast breast of duckling with cabbage charlotte and truffled potato purée. Jack chose devilled rabbit kidneys and mushrooms on toast, and the roast rack of Broad Farm lamb with lentil and rosemary juices.
‘Rather than risk breaking our luck, shall we just go on drinking champagne?’ he asked when the waitress hovered for the wine order.
‘
You
can,’ she said genially. ‘I’m about at my limit.’
He ordered a bottle anyway, and lunch went on for such a long time, and he was such fun, and she was enjoying herself so much, that she ended up drinking quite a bit of the second bottle – not exactly her share, but enough to make her very relaxed. Jack seemed to have hollow legs, and put it away with ease, but it didn’t seem to have a bad effect on him. She remembered Gaga saying that when drink was taken, a man only became more of himself – which was a grand way of telling what his real nature was, she had added as a warning. Jack, after more than a bottle of Ayala, was relaxed, smiling, charming, voluble. Was it possible he was just a genuinely nice man?
She told about her family connections with Exmoor, and then asked him about his family. ‘Your son, Theo – short for Theodore?’
‘Oh, I know,’ he groaned. ‘What a thing to burden him with, poor little beggar! But have pity on me – his mother wanted to call him Titus.’
‘No!’
‘It’s true. I said to her, “Do you want all those Titus A. Newt jokes thrown at him?” Then it was Tiberius. She actually wanted to name our son after the most corrupt and sexually depraved emperor in Roman history!’
‘Wasn’t Caligula—?’ Kate hazarded.
‘He was mad. Tiberius knew what he was doing – that made it worse. Hey, you’re an educated woman!’
Kate shrugged. ‘I read a book once.’
‘That’s more than I can say for Felicity. She thought Tiberius had a nice sound to it. Distinguished, she called it. In the end, we had to compromise on Theodore. It quickly got shortened to Theo, which isn’t too bad.’
‘I quite like it.’
‘But I’m working towards “Ted”, or “the Tedder”.’
‘So you and Felicity are divorced?’
‘Oh yes – it’s all legit.’ He gave her a canny look. ‘No need to be nervous.’
She smiled at the joke, but asked, ‘What went wrong?’
He shrugged. ‘We should never have married, really. But I’d known her all my life. Her family and my family have always been connected. Our fathers knew each other, our mothers were on the same committees, we played together as children, went to the same dances when she came out – all that sort of thing. We looked good together, and it was always sort of expected that we’d get married eventually, so when the time came I just – went along with it. It seemed easier than the alternative.’
‘I’m guessing that going along with things is rather your weakness,’ she said.
He grinned. ‘How well you know me already! I like to avoid trouble whenever possible.’
‘So you’ve been married a long time?’ Kate said, puzzled.
‘We got married when I was twenty-three.’
‘Oh – then, how old is Theo? I was picturing a little boy.’
‘He’s five. Felicity didn’t want kids straight away, and then when she was ready, it didn’t happen.’
‘I’m sorry – not my business,’ Kate said.
‘It’s all right. I don’t mind. The sad thing is that when eventually
‘Now abideth breakfast, lunch and dinner,’ he intoned. ‘And the greatest of these is lunch.’
‘That’s a very naughty blasphemy. You’ll be struck down,’ she warned.
‘On the contrary, I seem to be blessed. Here I am lunching in the best restaurant on Exmoor, with the prettiest, wittiest woman I’ve met in a long time. Life is good.’ He sat back in his chair with such a contented look she could only laugh. ‘Now, what will you have?’
In the end she chose smoked salmon with poached pheasant egg and wood sorrel hollandaise for a starter, followed by roast breast of duckling with cabbage charlotte and truffled potato purée. Jack chose devilled rabbit kidneys and mushrooms on toast, and the roast rack of Broad Farm lamb with lentil and rosemary juices.
‘Rather than risk breaking our luck, shall we just go on drinking champagne?’ he asked when the waitress hovered for the wine order.
‘
You
can,’ she said genially. ‘I’m about at my limit.’
He ordered a bottle anyway, and lunch went on for such a long time, and he was such fun, and she was enjoying herself so much, that she ended up drinking quite a bit of the second bottle – not exactly her share, but enough to make her very relaxed. Jack seemed to have hollow legs, and put it away with ease, but it didn’t seem to have a bad effect on him. She remembered Gaga saying that when drink was taken, a man only became more of himself – which was a grand way of telling what his real nature was, she had added as a warning. Jack, after more than a bottle of Ayala, was relaxed, smiling, charming, voluble. Was it possible he was just a genuinely nice man?
She told about her family connections with Exmoor, and then asked him about his family. ‘Your son, Theo – short for Theodore?’
‘Oh, I know,’ he groaned. ‘What a thing to burden him with, poor little beggar! But have pity on me – his mother wanted to call him Titus.’
‘No!’
‘It’s true. I said to her, “Do you want all those Titus A. Newt jokes thrown at him?” Then it was Tiberius. She actually wanted to name our son after the most corrupt and sexually depraved emperor in Roman history!’
‘Wasn’t Caligula—?’ Kate hazarded.
‘He was mad. Tiberius knew what he was doing – that made it worse. Hey, you’re an educated woman!’
Kate shrugged. ‘I read a book once.’
‘That’s more than I can say for Felicity. She thought Tiberius had a nice sound to it. Distinguished, she called it. In the end, we had to compromise on Theodore. It quickly got shortened to Theo, which isn’t too bad.’
‘I quite like it.’
‘But I’m working towards “Ted”, or “the Tedder”.’
‘So you and Felicity are divorced?’
‘Oh yes – it’s all legit.’ He gave her a canny look. ‘No need to be nervous.’
She smiled at the joke, but asked, ‘What went wrong?’
He shrugged. ‘We should never have married, really. But I’d known her all my life. Her family and my family have always been connected. Our fathers knew each other, our mothers were on the same committees, we played together as children, went to the same dances when she came out – all that sort of thing. We looked good together, and it was always sort of expected that we’d get married eventually, so when the time came I just – went along with it. It seemed easier than the alternative.’
‘I’m guessing that going along with things is rather your weakness,’ she said.
He grinned. ‘How well you know me already! I like to avoid trouble whenever possible.’
‘So you’ve been married a long time?’ Kate said, puzzled.
‘We got married when I was twenty-three.’
‘Oh – then, how old is Theo? I was picturing a little boy.’
‘He’s five. Felicity didn’t want kids straight away, and then when she was ready, it didn’t happen.’
‘I’m sorry – not my business,’ Kate said.
‘It’s all right. I don’t mind. The sad thing is that when eventually
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