waitress came to clear the plates.
‘We’re thinking mid-November,’ Ollie said, when she’d gone again. ‘We don’t want to leave it too long.’
I realised then what the wedding was about. He had proposed because he was dying. Daisy didn’t know as much, but he would have explained that there were legal and financial implications in the unlikely event of a spouse’s decease. And though in principle she was against marriage, he had talked her round.
None of us had room for crème caramel or apple crumble. When Daisy and Em disappeared to the Ladies, Ollie ordered a dessert wine instead. I examined the label curiously. It dated only from last year.
‘It’s the nearest I could get,’ he explained. ‘This year being the other momentous year in my life.’
‘Because of the wedding.’
‘If you like.’
I didn’t like but nor was there time to discuss it and anyway the subject had been ruled off-limits.
‘Not more drink,’ Daisy said, returning, but she didn’t refuse when Ollie filled her glass.
‘It’ll help you sleep,’ he said.
‘I need all the help I can get. I swear I heard chains clanking last night.’
‘That’s just Archie’s body jewellery,’ Ollie said, quickly adding, before discussion could switch to Archie, ‘or Mrs Banks trying to scare us off. My guess is that she and her brood have secretly been living there. That’s why she was so hostile when we arrived.’
‘I wish someone had been living there,’ Daisy said. ‘Did Ollie tell you that we found a newspaper lining the wardrobe that dates back to 1976? I don’t think the place has been occupied since.’
‘If the owner rents it out on the Internet, it must have been,’ I said.
‘When Ollie looked the other day he couldn’t find the website, could you, love?’
‘I expect it’s being updated,’ he said.
‘They should update the house while they’re at it,’ Daisy said. ‘It’s still 1976 in there. Or 1876. Even 1776. It’s freaky.’
The maître d’ and the waitress stood to attention by the till. It was past midnight by now, and the restaurant completely empty but for us.
‘Time we returned to our ghost,’ Ollie said. ‘I’ll get the bill.’
Despite my efforts, he refused to let me contribute. Which was typically generous, and a massive relief, but which also, as always, put me in his debt.
It seemed only fair for Em to sit in the front while I squashed up with Daisy. With the hood up to keep us warm, Daisy fellasleep almost at once. And with her head resting chastely on my shoulder, I too slept through most of the journey. The one time I did wake — after Ollie had braked to avoid a muntjac deer — he and Em were arguing about professionalism: how close to clients should one get? Did you serve them better by keeping a distance? Was detachment a virtue or a sign of burnout? I often forget Ollie and Em have something in common: they work with people — mostly young men — who’ve fallen foul of the law.
‘I’ve learned to switch off,’ Ollie was saying. ‘I’ll be given a case, some terrible crime, a rape or murder, and spend weeks getting to know the victim or the accused. In court I give my heart and soul to them. But once the trial’s over, I’m gone, job done, I never think about them again. It’s the only way to survive without going mad. The same for you, Em. You can’t afford to get emotionally involved.’
Typical Ollie, I thought: Mr Stiff Upper Lip. It was only later, as we reached the farmhouse, that I realised what had prompted his monologue: Em must have told him of her encounter with the Lithuanian girl, Magda. I wondered if she had also mentioned the mad plan to take in Magda’s baby and the situation as regards us having a child of our own. Em was by nature discreet and knew that to talk freely would be to betray us — and humiliate me. But I’d seen Ollie work his magic on women before. And he had obviously cast a spell on Em, who just a few hours earlier had claimed to be furious
‘We’re thinking mid-November,’ Ollie said, when she’d gone again. ‘We don’t want to leave it too long.’
I realised then what the wedding was about. He had proposed because he was dying. Daisy didn’t know as much, but he would have explained that there were legal and financial implications in the unlikely event of a spouse’s decease. And though in principle she was against marriage, he had talked her round.
None of us had room for crème caramel or apple crumble. When Daisy and Em disappeared to the Ladies, Ollie ordered a dessert wine instead. I examined the label curiously. It dated only from last year.
‘It’s the nearest I could get,’ he explained. ‘This year being the other momentous year in my life.’
‘Because of the wedding.’
‘If you like.’
I didn’t like but nor was there time to discuss it and anyway the subject had been ruled off-limits.
‘Not more drink,’ Daisy said, returning, but she didn’t refuse when Ollie filled her glass.
‘It’ll help you sleep,’ he said.
‘I need all the help I can get. I swear I heard chains clanking last night.’
‘That’s just Archie’s body jewellery,’ Ollie said, quickly adding, before discussion could switch to Archie, ‘or Mrs Banks trying to scare us off. My guess is that she and her brood have secretly been living there. That’s why she was so hostile when we arrived.’
‘I wish someone had been living there,’ Daisy said. ‘Did Ollie tell you that we found a newspaper lining the wardrobe that dates back to 1976? I don’t think the place has been occupied since.’
‘If the owner rents it out on the Internet, it must have been,’ I said.
‘When Ollie looked the other day he couldn’t find the website, could you, love?’
‘I expect it’s being updated,’ he said.
‘They should update the house while they’re at it,’ Daisy said. ‘It’s still 1976 in there. Or 1876. Even 1776. It’s freaky.’
The maître d’ and the waitress stood to attention by the till. It was past midnight by now, and the restaurant completely empty but for us.
‘Time we returned to our ghost,’ Ollie said. ‘I’ll get the bill.’
Despite my efforts, he refused to let me contribute. Which was typically generous, and a massive relief, but which also, as always, put me in his debt.
It seemed only fair for Em to sit in the front while I squashed up with Daisy. With the hood up to keep us warm, Daisy fellasleep almost at once. And with her head resting chastely on my shoulder, I too slept through most of the journey. The one time I did wake — after Ollie had braked to avoid a muntjac deer — he and Em were arguing about professionalism: how close to clients should one get? Did you serve them better by keeping a distance? Was detachment a virtue or a sign of burnout? I often forget Ollie and Em have something in common: they work with people — mostly young men — who’ve fallen foul of the law.
‘I’ve learned to switch off,’ Ollie was saying. ‘I’ll be given a case, some terrible crime, a rape or murder, and spend weeks getting to know the victim or the accused. In court I give my heart and soul to them. But once the trial’s over, I’m gone, job done, I never think about them again. It’s the only way to survive without going mad. The same for you, Em. You can’t afford to get emotionally involved.’
Typical Ollie, I thought: Mr Stiff Upper Lip. It was only later, as we reached the farmhouse, that I realised what had prompted his monologue: Em must have told him of her encounter with the Lithuanian girl, Magda. I wondered if she had also mentioned the mad plan to take in Magda’s baby and the situation as regards us having a child of our own. Em was by nature discreet and knew that to talk freely would be to betray us — and humiliate me. But I’d seen Ollie work his magic on women before. And he had obviously cast a spell on Em, who just a few hours earlier had claimed to be furious
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