Page 102 of An Invitation to the Kennedys

‘Cocoa.Minnie insisted on making it for me.I said I didn’t want it, and then, when she brought it, I realised it was exactly what I wanted.’

‘Clever Minnie.’

‘So,’ Brigid asked, looking first at one then the other, ‘what was that all about?Chips was like a madman.Poor Fritzi.It was like watching a hare chased by hounds.Every way he turned, Chips was there before him, shouting about emperors.’She laughed a little.

‘You mind that he should be hounded?’Honor asked.

‘I felt sorry for him, that’s all.’

It was, Honor thought, looking at her sister, the truth.Mostly the truth, anyway.‘I doubt it was anything much,’ she said.‘Just Chips being, well, himself.’

‘Rathermorethan himself, I thought,’ Brigid said.‘Like one of Cook’s concentrated sauces.Boiled right down and all the more intense for it.What was he complaining about before dinner, anyway?’she asked then.‘In here?I heard him as I passed by.’

‘He thinks it’s my fault that Paul is throwing tantrums and cheeking the tutor.’

‘And the nanny,’ Brigid added.‘He cheeks her too.I’ve heard him.Adorable child,’ she hastened to say, ‘but terribly bold.’

‘Yes, I suppose so.And now Chips.’

‘Oh dear.’

‘Yes.Chips has decided it’s because I’m not with him enough.Although I don’t at all see what I could do, when Chips is the only person Paul pays attention to.I don’t see how my being more with him would make any difference.’She looked at them both, desperate for agreement.

‘I think perhaps children are like puppies,’ Brigid said.‘Look at Pugsy, who is only ever with Maureen; how disagreeable and snappy he is.I feel sure that if he were with, say, Kick, he would be quite different.Outdoorsy and jolly.’

‘How clever you are, Biddy.’Doris gave her a quick smile.

‘You may be right,’ Honor said sadly.‘But even if you are, it won’t change anything.’

‘Will it really not?’Doris asked her gently.

‘No.I can’t let it.I have made up my mind that I must go.’

‘Go where?’Brigid said.

‘Anywhere.Anywhere that Chips is not.’

‘I see.’

‘And if that means leaving Paul also, then it is wise not to get too fond of him.’

Neither Doris nor Brigid said anything.Brigid stared at her mug of cocoa, now empty, as though afraid to look up and meet Honor’s eyes.Doris was silent too, but she held Honor’s gaze in the looking-glass and after a moment said, ‘Shall I see if Molly will bring you up cocoa too?’

‘That would be nice,’ Honor said.‘Biddy, you should go to your room.Doris, will you stay a while?’

‘I must get back to my room too,’ Doris said.

She spoke evasively, so that Honor, as soon as Brigid had gone, asked, ‘Surely you aren’t going to the stables?It isn’t safe.’

‘It’s safe enough.Anyway, it’s what we decided.In the telephone call.I need to, Honor.Will you be sure to let me back in?’

‘Of course.I was unlikely to sleep anyway, and even less likely now.But I can’t like this, Doris.You are shooting completely in the dark.’

‘I am, rather,’ Doris agreed.‘I don’t much like it either.But perhaps tonight I will learn more … In any case, it’s what we decided,’ she repeated.‘What they decided.’

Chapter Fifty-Two

Doris