‘What? Are you joking?’
‘No. Ssh, he’s coming back.’
Marta had set out coffee, brandy and port, plus chilled lemonade and more iced water beside the two large white canvas sofas. Justin and Sylvina sat on one, with William opposite. William lit a cigar, took a few deep puffs and then leaned back, crossing his legs as the smoke curled above his head. Sylvina was taken aback when he announced softly, ‘One million.’ His face was impassive as he went on, ‘Would you like to tell me what you are prepared to do for that?’
Justin answered for her. ‘I think it is right that you should know she’s a lesbian.’
‘My loss,’ said William, and gave a wonderfully engaging chuckle. ‘But I think I’ve had my days paying for sex. This will be purely a business deal.’
Justin gave her a sidelong glance.
Sylvina said, ‘But you’ll have to agree not to have any sex with another woman whilst I am with you, so there will be no hint of a scandal attached to your liaison.’
William nodded. ‘How well known is your sexual orientation?’
‘What?’ She was puzzled.
‘I’m prepared to buy your services to re-establish myself as a respectable member of high society, but you can guarantee that after we announce our engagement, the British press will start digging up your past. If it is public knowledge that you are a lesbian, I’m back to square one.’
‘It isn’t,’ she snapped and, to her annoyance, felt herself blushing.
‘Any recent affairs?’ he asked, with a half-smile.
‘One, but she’s history,’ she said, glaring at Justin. ‘And it wouldn’t be in her interest to let it out. She wants to get into the movies, you see.’
William was not entirely convinced. He had taken out a small black notebook and was flicking through the pages. Sylvina glanced at Justin, who raised an eyebrow.
‘Justin said you will need a dress allowance, a car, servants. These will be listed as expenses, correct?’
‘Yes,’ Justin said.
‘What figure are we talking here?’
Sylvina shrugged and looked again to Justin.
‘Don’t look at me, Sylvina darling, you know what designer clothes cost. Anyway, William, it’ll be a good teaser sequence. You know, being seen together at the Paris fashion shows.’
‘My apartment’s leased for a year,’ Sylvina said, toying with her necklace, ‘but my château is always good for name-dropping, even if it is only occupied by cats and fieldmice. The exterior is still magnificent. We could have some wonderful publicity shots taken together there and...’ She was hardly able to take it in: he was paying her a million!
William jotted a note and turned to the next page, which was filled with neat lists. He had spent the afternoon working out whether Justin’s proposition was viable. ‘How much would it cost to refurbish?’ he asked.
‘I have no idea.’ Sylvina sighed. ‘It’s in an appalling state. No one’s lived there for ten, twelve years. Roof, plumbing, electrical wiring from the thirties. It was occupied by the Germans during the war...’
‘I think I get the picture.’ William made some more notes and pursed his lips. ‘You know, I think it might be a possibility. My humiliation at being made such a public laughing-stock fired up an immediate need to get my own back, which I felt was rather childish. But I have now become genuinely excited by the prospect. I’ve decided to take a lengthy period away from my work. If I am going to be reintroduced to society life, I might as well enjoy it. How long do you think we’ll need?’
Justin jumped in. ‘Oh, quite some time. Don’t forget, I’ll have my hands full redesigning the villa. That could be at least six months.’
‘Six months?’ she gasped.
‘Six months?’ William said, astonished.
‘Of course. I’ll have to ship in most of the fabrics and furnishings, and I’ll need time to prepare my plans.’
Sylvina was now in tune with Justin. The longer it took, the more money they could squeeze out of him. ‘To ingratiate yourself into the top level of society takes time and patience. You’ll need to get to know an awful lot of people. I can arrange dinners and parties to introduce you, but you also need a bit of refurbishment yourself, William. To get a perfect suit made up nowadays takes six to eight weeks.’
‘So we’re looking at even longer than six months,’ William said, shutting his book and slipping it into his breast pocket. ‘But in the cold light of day, let’s face it, the proposition is a farce and might easily backfire. To play out such an expensive game would make me even more of a loser if it goes wrong.’
‘It won’t,’ Justin interjected.
‘I’ll make sure of it,’ Sylvina said firmly.
William was beginning to feel in control again. Clearly Justin and Sylvina needed him — or his money. The game might work, but William’s business brain was still functioning at full speed. He would pay, but he would make sure he got his money’s worth.
‘Obviously the ball is firmly in your court, William, but last night when we talked you seemed so frustrated by all the crap you’d been subjected to,’ Justin said casually. ‘If you can live with it, that’s your business. I couldn’t — but, then, I’m not you.’
‘No, you’re not,’ William said. He rose, and glanced at Sylvina for permission to help himself to a brandy. ‘This would be a totally new venture for me. Even if I win the game, it will provide me with satisfaction but no financial remuneration.’ He swirled the brandy in his glass. ‘On the other hand it might be fun.’ He smiled and leaned against the back of the sofa. ‘Fun is not something I’ve had much of. What I had previously regarded as fun now seems rather wretchedly mundane. However, it sounds as if you wish to be the “ring-master” — because you instigated the game you would automatically control the events. I can’t let that happen. It is imperative that I am in control. I must be the manipulator, as I am in my business dealings.’
‘So what are you saying?’ Justin asked tentatively.
‘That I’ll play... but with ground rules that I set down. And if you do not come up to expectations, I walk away. Your pay-off will be dependent on success. In other words, I am perfectly willing to pay for the privilege of becoming...’ he chuckled ‘...your Eliza Doolittle, with a very attractive Professor Higgins.’ He beamed at Sylvina. His face was alert, his eyes bright. ‘So, here’s the proposition. If within eight and twelve months you can help me regain my standing in the upper echelons of UK society, you get your money.’
He had one final query. ‘One thing I do need to know, though, and whether or not I agree to all we have just discussed will depend on your answer.’ They waited with baited breath. ‘Tell me about Andrew Maynard. You first, Sylvina.’
She glanced at Justin, then fingered her necklace. ‘I know what happened to him, obviously. Very tragic, even more so because I had met him here, just the once, and he seemed to be a genuine and interesting young man. That’s all, really, I didn’t know him at all.’
William turned a cool gaze to Justin, and gasped. Tears were streaming down his cheeks.
‘What happened, Justin? I need to know.’
Justin paused for some minutes before he spoke, his voice low. ‘I met him about two years ago. It was his first time in France and he was trying to buy some batteries for his camera, down on the quayside. His French was appalling, so I introduced myself and—’
‘And?’ William interjected.
‘We became friends. He moved in here to stay for the rest of his holiday. Then we became lovers.’ Justin closed his eyes and sighed. ‘He was obsessed with this place, with me, with France. It was like he had never enjoyed a moment of his life until then. But he was just a summer thing for me. I had no idea what I had... encouraged. I mean, I’m a free spirit, but he wanted to own me, and because he couldn’t, he got into some weird sex-trips with rent-boys. Andrew had been sexually naïve, but he made up for it and, from then on, whenever he could he came here. Sometimes I never even saw him.’