The midwife recognized the wonderment of motherhood. ‘Well, I think you should look at your other daughter first; she’s a little smaller and …’
‘Yes, yes of course,’ Serena replied sharply, reluctant to move her eyes for a moment, but turning her head towards the second baby with a sense of apprehension.
The baby had sensed the attention and wriggled free from her blanket, kicking her legs furiously. They seemed ridiculously long, completely out of proportion to her narrow torso and neat head.
A wave of nausea swept over Serena. Looking at the child’s skin, so dark in comparison to that of the other one, she felt as though she might faint. She breathed deeply, noting the shiny black hair curling on to her daughter’s brow. The small features were almost identical to those of her sister, a fact which for some inexplicable reason filled Serena with dread.
Uncurling long, thin arms, the baby reached out towards her mother. But this frail, human gesture was too much for Serena. Clamping her hand over her mouth, she bit her palm so hard that it drew blood. She looked up and stared out of the dirty living-room window, but saw only the image of Royole Fergusson.
Suddenly she knew exactly what she had to do. If it worked, it would be the ultimate solution for her mulatto love-child, and herself.
‘Darling, how are you?’
Nicholas’s voice was very faint; Serena could barely hear him.
‘I’m fine.’ She struggled to keep her own voice light and carefree. ‘Can you speak up, Nicky, this is a bad line.’
‘Where are you? I’ll call you back,’ he offered.
‘Oh, I’m just about to go out for the day,’ she got in quickly. ‘Anyway, what I have to say won’t take long. Your mother’s invited me to one of her boring charity luncheons on Friday. I said I couldn’t go because you were due to arrive home, so I just wanted to confirm …’
Nicholas interrupted her. ‘I’m afraid I won’t be back on Friday. I was going to ring this evening and explain. Something important’s cropped up and I have to fly down to Brazil for the weekend. I’ll probably get back Tuesday, with a bit of luck.’
Serena couldn’t believe her own ‘bit of luck’. Forcing her voice to sound disappointed, she managed to say, ‘Oh Nicholas! I was so looking forward to us spending the weekend together.’
‘So was I, darling. You know where I’d much rather be.’
Nicholas sounded depressed. Serena was ecstatic.
‘Never mind Nick, I’ll have a quiet weekend in the country.’
‘So, how are those twins of mine behaving?’
She could hear him chuckling. Serena took a deep breath. ‘Still kicking me.’
‘Never mind, it won’t be long now, only another few weeks. I’m really looking forward to the birth.’
Nicholas sounded so excited that Serena felt a pang of guilt. ‘Must dash Nicholas, I’ve got an appointment with the doc.’
‘It might be rather difficult telephoning from Sao Paulo so, unless it’s urgent, I’ll see you on Tuesday morning. Judith in the London office has all the flight details.’
A loud crackling interrupted the conversation and the line went dead for a few seconds.
‘Nicholas, can you hear me, are you still there?’
‘Yes, I can just about hear you.’
Serena had to shout. ‘Don’t worry about calling me, darling, I’ll be fine. See you Tuesday, take care.’
She was about to put the phone down when the line suddenly cleared, and his voice was loud and very distinct.
‘I love you Bunty.’
‘You too,’ replied Serena, hoping it sounded sincere.
Replacing the receiver, she caught a glimpse of herself in the small mirror above the telephone table; dark ringed eyes stared back from a face that appeared to have shrunk visibly in the last twenty-four hours. She sensed, rather than saw, Mrs Neil come up behind her. Then one side of the midwife’s head appeared alongside her own in the mirror.
‘Talking to hubby were we?’
Serena turned sideways, her heart was thumping. She had to overcome an urge to turn and run out of the house.
‘Yes, I was as it happens. Overseas, I’m afraid. I’ll leave you some money,’ she blurted out. ‘If you don’t mind, I have a couple more calls to make.’
It was then that she noticed something in Mrs Neil’s hand.
She gasped as she recognized her own wallet. It contained her driver’s licence, passport and credit cards.
Holding the wallet in front of Serena’s face, Mrs Neil grinned broadly. ‘Make as many calls as you like, dear. I’m sure you can afford it, Lady Serena Frazer-West.’
There was a long silence before Serena, determined not to be intimidated, adopted the voice she usually reserved for her staff.
‘Yes, I am Lady Serena Frazer-West, and I can afford to pay your telephone bill, Mrs Neil. That’s if I may have my wallet please …’
The other woman ignored her and, clutching the wallet, she started to walk down the hall, not stopping until she reached the kitchen door where she turned to face Serena.
‘You go ahead, milady. Make as many calls as you like. Take your time, I’m not going anywhere. And later on, why don’t you make yourself comfortable in front of the fire. I’ll check on the babies and make us a nice, fresh pot of tea.’
The smile on her face was completely void of warmth.
‘Then we can talk business.’
‘Serena darling, what on earth has happened? You look absolutely ghastly.’
Rachel Sawyer had opened the front door of her mews house, shocked to be confronted by her best friend leaning heavily against the garage door.
Serena’s face was as white as if it had been newly cast in plaster. Her usually brilliant blue eyes were dulled and partly hidden under drooping lids, and there was a distinctly dishevelled look about her. In all the years Rachel had known Serena, she had never once seen her look even remotely untidy. Ordinarily she was very fastidious about her appearance.
They had been friends since starting boarding school together at seven, and Rachel knew her as well as she knew herself, if not better. It was therefore patently obvious that there’d been some crisis.
‘Come in quickly, and tell me what’s going on.’
Serena didn’t move, she began to tremble. ‘Rachel, I can’t even start to tell you.’ Her hand, pale and shaking, pushed a lock of stray hair out of her eyes.
Rachel at that point noticed that Serena was visibly slimmer. Pointing excitedly to her friend’s stomach, she squealed, ‘Why didn’t you tell me that you’d had the babies when you rang?’
‘I didn’t want to talk about it on the phone.’ She shuddered. ‘There was too much to tell.’
Immediately concerned, Rachel stepped forward into the street, opening her arms wide. ‘What is it darling, what’s wrong?’
Serena, stumbling on the wet cobblestones underfoot, fell into the warmth of her best friend’s embrace. Rachel was secure, comforting, familiar; she felt good.
‘Come