‘All right, darling?’ he said, taking the Duchess’s hand. He must have been three or four inches smaller than her, but somehow his width of shoulder and force of personality made it seem as though he was protecting some infinitely fragile object.
‘Miss Brocklehurst must be hungry. Shall we eat now?’
‘Yes, of course. How awful of me.’ The Duchess turned, smiling, to Imogen. ‘You will stay, won’t you? We see so few people here, and there are so many things I want to ask you about your holiday and about England.’
‘But you must be far too exhausted after such a terrible shock,’ stammered Imogen, terrified her table manners wouldn’t be ducal enough. But in the end they persuaded her and she found she was absolutely famished. All her worries about her table manners vanished when she saw Braganzi falling on his food like a starved dingo, elbows on the table, taking great swigs of wine with his mouth full, and picking away at his teeth.
They had some kind of fish mousse, then delicious chicken. If the Duchess and Braganzi both picked their bones, Imogen supposed it was all right if she did too.
‘And who did you come out here with?’ asked the Duchess.
‘He’s called Nicky Beresford.’
‘The tennis player? Oh, he’s frightfully glamorous. I’ve admired him at Wimbledon so often.’
‘And he thinks you’re marvellous too,’ said Imogen, her mouth full of fried potatoes.
‘How lovely.’ The Duchess looked pleased. ‘So you’re both having a wonderful holiday?’
‘Yes, I suppose so,’ said Imogen.
‘You don’t sound very enthusiastic,’ said Braganzi. ‘What was Mr Beresford doing leaving you alone on a hot summer afternoon?’
‘He — er he — it’s really very boring,’ faltered Imogen, but she was so longing to tell someone.
‘Go on,’ said the Duchess. ‘Enrico and I have so little excitement.’
And then the whole awful story came pouring out. ‘We came in a party,’ said Imogen, ‘but it was quite obvious even before we left London that Nicky had fallen for one of the other girls.’
‘Did she come with a boyfriend?’
‘Yes. He’s called Matthew O’Connor.’
‘He’s a journalist, isn’t he, a very good one?’ said the Duchess. ‘When I can face the English Sundays I always read him.’
‘He’s terribly nice,’ said Imogen, flushing.
‘Then why don’t you do a swap?’ said the Duchess.
‘He loves Cable, this other girl. He just ignores her and waits for her to come back. Occasionally they have terrible rows, but he realises she’s only doing it, well, to make him keener on her.’
‘How very complicated,’ said the Duchess.
‘O’Connor seemed quite keen on you the other night outside,’ said Braganzi drily.
Imogen went crimson.
‘How do you know?’ she stammered.
‘Enrico knows everything,’ said the Duchess with pride.
Goodness, thought Imogen, darting a startled glance at Braganzi, so he knew Matt and I were casing his house all the time.
They had their coffee on the terrace. The night was black now, sprinkled with huge stars. The fireflies darted above the tobacco plants and the Duchess bombarded Imogen with more questions, about her holiday, about her home in Yorkshire and then about England in general. Imogen suddenly realised it was very late.
‘I must go.’
‘Not yet. Enrico will take you back. Darling, go upstairs and just check if Ricky is all right.’
When he had gone, Imogen turned shyly to the Duchess.
‘What a sweet man he is,’ she said. ‘I never dreamt he’d be so kind.’
The Duchess’s face lit up. ‘You think so? I’m so pleased. People in England find it quite incomprehensible that I threw up everything to run off with him.’
‘I understand it perfectly,’ said Imogen stoutly. She was suddenly aware she was more than a little drunk.
‘I’d give anything to go home for a few weeks,’ said the Duchess, ‘but Enrico would be arrested the moment he set foot in England.’ Suddenly she looked very tired and shadowed under the eyes. ‘I miss the children horribly. Alexander, my ex-husband, won’t let me near them in case they are corrupted by Enrico. Corrupted, indeed! If the courts knew what an immoral creature Alexander was!’
‘I’m so sorry,’ said Imogen.
‘Oh, that’s enough about me,’ said the Duchess lightly. ‘Let’s talk about you. What can we possibly do to repay you? You have some days left of your holiday. We go back to Paris on Saturday. Why not leave the coast and Mr Beresford — it’s too hot anyway — and come back with us? We would love to show you round Paris.’
‘Oh no, really not,’ cried Imogen. Suddenly the thought of being whisked away from Matt, however little he felt about her, was more than she could bear. ‘It’s terribly kind,’ she added to soften her outburst. ‘Honestly, rescuing him was enough, knowing you’re pleased.’
‘There must be something you’d like.’
Suddenly Imogen’s heart beat faster. ‘There is just one thing,’ she said. ‘Matt — more than anything else in the world he wants an interview with your husband. He’s been trying to get one ever since we came out here. He’s really a very responsible journalist. He wouldn’t. .’ Her words faltered. She was about to say ‘bitch him up’, then thought it seemed rude.
The Duchess looked dubious. But at that moment Braganzi returned. ‘The little one is fine,’ he said.
For a moment they chattered to each other in Italian, the Duchess still looking worried.
‘I’m sorry,’ muttered Imogen. ‘I shouldn’t have asked. It was horribly presumptuous.’
‘It is difficult in Enrico’s position,’ explained the Duchess. ‘He is worried that anything Mr O’Connor says about him will prejudice my chances of seeing the children again.’
‘Oh well, of course. I should have thought,’ stammered Imogen.
Braganzi went over to the window and threw out his cigar into the garden. Then he turned round and smiled at Imogen.
‘It is a very little thing, in return for what you have done for us. Tell him to come at ten o’clock. But he must let me see what he is going to print. That is the only condition. He is an honourable man?’
‘Oh yes, yes, of course he is. He is very honourable,’ she said joyfully, thinking how pleased Matt would be. ‘I can’t thank you enough. I really must go now.’ She couldn’t wait to get back to Port-les-Pins and break the news to him.
The Duchess kissed her very affectionately, saying, ‘Write to us in Paris and let me know how the holiday progresses.’
Braganzi rode back with her in the car.
‘It’s been a wonderful evening,’ she found herself saying, ‘and the Duchess is so wonderful. I think she’s one of the nicest people I’ve ever met.’
‘She is,’ said Braganzi. ‘She likes you too. She is very isolated now, you understand. She gave up so much when she left England for me.’
‘But she gained so much.’
Braganzi sighed. ‘I hope so. But you will come and stay with us perhaps next year, and we see that you have a better holiday.’
He took her address in Yorkshire. What would her father say if he could see her now, thought Imogen with a giggle, hob-nobbing with one of the most notorious criminals in France.
The chauffeur was driving along the front now. Although it was long after midnight, people were still drinking in the cafés.
Imogen wondered where the others were; probably smashed out of their minds in some nightclub, or perhaps they were at the Casino. It would be awful if they’d gone to bed. It was almost as though Braganzi had read her thoughts:
‘There’s your friend Mr O’Connor keeping an eye out for you,’ he said, as the car drew to a halt, and he leaned across and opened the door for her. Then he smiled as he saw how Imogen’s face had lit up. ‘That pleases you, doesn’t it?’