Page 156 of Guilty Pleasures

‘It wasn’t a question of sticking up for you. I’d simply hate to see Milford products being made on a conveyer belt in the Far East.’

‘Well, I appreciated it; thank you.’

Emma wasn’t sure she entirely believed Cassandra; her cousin never did anything without a motive; everything was calculated to benefit her. But then, Emma could do with every ally she could get at the moment. She had been nervous about coming out to Gstaad before this sudden outbreak of inter-family warfare and now she felt completely isolated. It won’t kill you to be civil, Emma, she told herself.

‘So how’s work?’

‘Very good actually,’ said Cassandra. ‘I’ve just taken Jessica West on as a contributing editor, I believe you know her? Used to go out with Rob Holland. It was quite serious at one point I think.’

‘Yes, I think he liked her,’ said Emma honestly, though it pained her to do so. ‘But I think she was a little too ambitious. I don’t think having stepchildren, playing happy families with Rob’s little girl, figured in her immediate masterplan.’

Cassandra smiled.

‘Yes, she told me that’s why she finished with him. According to her, he was very cut up about it and went running back to his ex – Madeline, isn’t it? Apparently Jessica saw them together in New York at somewhere glamorous like Sant Ambroeus. Sounds like they’re well suited, anyway. For all his rock ’n’ roll credentials, Rob is really just a Connecticut WASP.’

Emma stared down at the ground, dazed. While there was probably no way Cassandra knew about herself and Rob, her words were still designed to wound and they had had the desired effect, stabbing Emma in the heart like barbs. It all made sense. That was why Rob hadn’t phoned after their night in Somerset: he’d got back with Madeline in New York. Her mind whirled, desperate to think of some other explanation. It couldn’t be true, could it? Rob didn’t love Madeline and she didn’t love him either. But of course, love didn’t need to come into it. Rob was back with Madeline for the sake of Polly, to be a family because Polly was the most important thing in his life. She felt a tear slip down her cheek. Just one. It was an act of rebellion: telling her that her head and heart were in conflict.

‘Oh dear,’ said Cassandra with a quiet look of triumph. ‘Have I said something I shouldn’t?’

Emma turned swiftly on her cousin.

‘What is wrong with you Cassandra?’ she spat.

Cassandra turned and smiled, pulling her mink coat tighter around her body.

‘Oh dear, what’s rattled your cage? It’s not Rob Holland, is it? He’s slept with half of London, darling, so don’t waste your time.’

‘It’s not Rob, it’s you. You spread lies about me around the industry, you throw a party on the same night as the Milford launch, you even got that little creep from Astrid’s wedding to do a hatchet job on me! And now you think you can wind me up with stories about Rob.’

‘I’m only saving you from getting hurt, being foolish enough to fall for some cad like Rob Holland.’

‘Do you think I’m stupid?’ replied Emma angrily. ‘You don’t give a hoot about me. It’s all about Milford. It’s all about getting even.’ Emma took a deep breath and tried to compose herself.

‘I never asked for Milford, or even wanted it, but it’s mine now and I want to make it into the best thing I possibly can. Stop blaming me, Cassandra. Stop hating me. Please just leave me alone to get on with it. Take out your frustrations elsewhere.’

Cassandra’s mouth curled viciously. She wasn’t a woman who was accustomed to having people say things to her face. She stared at Emma with a look of disgust.

‘For all that blue-chip education, and those fancy letters at the end of your name, you really don’t know anything, do you,’ she said, her voice a low, cold whisper.

‘I know enough, Cassandra.’

‘Do you?’ she barked a hollow laugh, ‘I really doubt that, Emma.’ She stopped in the street and faced her cousin squarely.

‘But you’re right about one thing. I do blame you. But not for being given the company, although I’m sure you must have manipulated Saul somehow. Emma, I’ve been blaming you since I was thirteen years old.’

Cassandra paused, her breath puffing in white clouds.

‘I’ve blamed you since the day your father destroyed my family.’

Emma actually gasped. She was rooted to the spot and could only stare at the woman, her head in the air, her slim, straight nose held aloft like a bloodhound.

‘I don’t understand you,’ she whispered.

‘It’s very simple,’ said Cassandra, her voice dripping with venom. ‘Your father had an affair with my mother. Did you know that, Emma? Is that one of the things you “know”? My father found out and he left her. He left us. Do you know how that feels, Emma? Do you?’

‘Cassandra, please.’

‘Oh yes, you probably think you know how it feels, Emma, because your father is dead. But it’s really not the same as someone leaving you. Mine didn’t want us any more and you’ll never know how that rejection makes you feel.’