The Pearl of Penang by Clare Flynn (best books to read for students txt) 📗

be performing as it was judged inappropriate in the light of the events of the day. There was not so much as a murmur of disapproval, apart from Veronica, who confined her protest to a rolling of the eyes, then said, ‘It’s ludicrous to be cancelling things when there’s not yet been a shot fired.’

Arthur spoke, his voice chilly. ‘Hitler’s invaded Poland. Isn’t that reason enough for you, Veronica?’

‘That was actually a couple of days ago.’ She had a petulant expression on her face.

‘Chamberlain had to wait for the French.’ Arthur blotted his mouth with his napkin, then laid it beside his plate. ‘And I dare say he was doing everything possible to avoid war.’

‘Appeasing the Hun more like.’ Doug appeared to be still out of sorts.

‘Please forgive me but I’m going to skip the pudding,’ said Arthur. ‘I have to get to the office before nine as there’s a call coming in from Singapore. The Chief Minister has been meeting with the military chiefs. He’s going to give us a debriefing.’ He got up from the table. ‘Sorry, old chap. Not a great end to your birthday. If I take the car, will you be able to drop Veronica off?’ Then he was gone.

Evie felt a mixture of relief that Arthur had left, with a contradictory sense of loss. She glanced across at Veronica, who was occupied with the champagne, tipping her husband’s untouched drink into her glass.

‘Waste not want not!’ Veronica declared. ‘They’ll soon be telling us we’ve all got to be thrifty, so I’d better do my bit for the cause.’

Douglas got up from the table. ‘Excuse me, ladies. I’ll be back in a few minutes. I need to talk to someone over there. I won’t have a pudding either, so go ahead and order yours without me.’ He moved away to the other side of the dining room to a table where two couples were drinking coffee and smoking. Evie saw him bending to talk to them and felt excluded and abandoned.

When she turned back, she realised Veronica was studying her.

‘You’re wearing that charming mauve frock again.’

Irritated, Evie said, ‘Douglas likes it.’

Eyebrows raised in disbelief, Veronica didn’t comment further. Instead she changed the subject. ‘I hear you were at the swimming club the other day.’

Evie felt her face turning crimson. Had she and Arthur been seen? Were those women in deckchairs cronies of Veronica? Had they spotted her walking off down the beach with Arthur? Her stomach flipped. ‘How did you know?’

‘Arthur told me.’

A shiver ran over Evie’s body, prickling her skin. What had he said? And why? It was a terrible betrayal.

‘He says you’re a strong swimmer.’

‘I love swimming.’

‘Yes. So does Arthur. I don’t at all.’ She gave a transparently fake smile to Evie. ‘But now the war’s here Arthur won’t have any time for that.’

‘Yes, I imagine he’s going to be very busy.’

Veronica slugged the rest of her champagne down, reached over to take Douglas’s flute and tipped that into hers, fixing Evie with a cold stare. ‘And even if he isn’t, he won’t have any time for that.’ She took another sip. ‘Any time for you. Do I make myself clear?’

Evie gaped, astonished. Before she could muster a response, Veronica rose from the table and waved at a couple walking towards the door.

Turning back to Evie, she said, ‘Tell Dougie I decided to get a lift with the Browns. They have to drive right past our house.’ She swept away, leaving Evie shocked and alone at the table.

15

The following morning, after Douglas had left for the Batu Lembah estate, Evie picked up his unread copy of the Straits Times. Glancing at the editorial, she was drawn into reading it. Evidently Britain’s declaration of war was to be interpreted as a cause for rejoicing. Remembering the conversation of the previous night about the complacency of the colonial government and the military, she read with disbelief:

‘At this safe distance from the scene of battle, with our defences perfected and Japanese participation in the struggle on the side of Germany an extremely remote possibility, Malaya has little to fear.’

She folded the newspaper and set it aside. It was impossible to concentrate. The war seemed very remote from her here, whereas what had happened the night before still caused her stomach to churn.

She knew she had no business thinking the way she did about another woman’s husband. Yet she couldn’t help herself. Arthur had taken her in his arms when they were in the sea, leaving her in no doubt that he desired her. he had also made it crystal clear that he was tied irrevocably to Veronica. He’d also made the importance of his career clear. Then Veronica’s revelation that she knew about the encounter on the beach, and her veiled threat, made Evie start to doubt her own reason.

It was hard not to conclude that the Leightons had some bizarre consensual ‘arrangement’. Mary’s revelation that Veronica had frequent extra-marital affairs and Arthur always accepted her back made Evie feel sickened. While she’d accepted his explanation about Veronica’s depressive behaviour and his obligation to her, the fact that he had told Veronica about their meeting at the beach made it hard not to construe that he had been using Evie in a retaliatory gesture to make his wife jealous.

Whatever the truth, Evie was completely out of her depth. She had never known anyone behave in the odd ways the Leightons and Douglas did. Perhaps it was the pressure of living for so long far away from one’s roots? Even her own mother, when she had committed adultery, had waited until her husband’s death before running off with her lover. But that wasn’t strictly true, was it? Evie had to acknowledge that it could well have been her mother’s intention to leave that had triggered her father’s crime and subsequent suicide.

So here she was, caught between an uncommunicative and often cold husband, and a man to whom she was strongly attracted but who had made it