Page 125 of The Honeymoon Affair

‘The stand-in is excellent.’ Ellis beams at him and he gives her another glare. ‘This salmon is wonderful.’

‘I’m definitely using Iseult’s friend in future,’ he mutters.

‘Does she have her own company, or does she work in a restaurant?’ asks Ellis.

‘In a pub,’ I say.

‘A pub!’ Pamela looks at me with genuine interest. ‘So she does sandwiches and lasagne, that sort of thing?’

‘It’s a gastro-pub,’ I say. ‘It’s a very diverse menu and the food is great.’

‘Mum thinks every pub is like Miller’s.’ Charles shrugs. ‘Honest Food for Honest People is our motto, although not all the regulars there could be categorised as honest. Joey Harte was done for tax avoidance a few years ago, and wasn’t Mattie McDonagh jailed for that scam with the animal feed?’

‘Really, Charles, there’s no need to speak about our clientele like that,’ says Pamela. ‘Yes, some of them have had difficulties in the past, but I always say let bygones be bygones. Besides, the pub food is different to the restaurant’s offering.’

‘We’re always happy to take their money, no matter where it comes from,’ agrees Charles.

‘You shouldn’t be saying this in front of someone who works with the Gardaí,’ remarks Ellis.

‘I don’t—’

My words are drowned by a loud clatter from downstairs, and a muffled swear.

‘I’d better check what’s happened,’ says Charles, who’s on his feet immediately.

‘I’ll go with you.’

Ellis pushes back her chair and both of them hurry out, leaving me sitting with Pamela, who shakes her head and says that no matter what Charles thinks of his caterer, you can’t get good staff any more. She asks about my friend the pub chef, so I tell her about Celeste, how great she is, and then add that she’s my cousin, in case Pamela puts her foot in it by saying something disparaging about pub chefs again.

‘You’re close?’ She looks enquiringly at me.

‘Like sisters,’ I confirm.

‘I wish my family was closer,’ she says, and there’s a real sense of regret in her voice. ‘Charles and his brother are chalk and cheese, and Ellis . . . well, she’s a good girl, but she lacks ambition.’

‘I thought you didn’t like ambitious women,’ I remark.

‘Excuse me?’

‘You didn’t seem to like Ariel’s ambition.’

‘Because she put it above Charles.’

‘Wasn’t she entitled to?’

‘She was certainly entitled to be ambitious for him. That brought her success. It should have been enough.’

‘And Ellis?’ I ask. ‘What should she be doing?’

‘She should move from that airy-fairy arty-farty stuff she’s doing and be more commercial,’ says Pamela.

‘Surely if she’s happy, that’s all that matters?’

Pamela snorts.

‘And you have your literary circle,’ I add. ‘Clearly you’re ambitious enough for all of them if you’re on the airwaves.’

‘I’m not ambitious for me, only my sons,’ she says.