Chapter 9
Finally free from the stop and go traffic in town, Margaret felt a thrill of excitement surge through her veins as she began her adventure. She had Persephone's top down with the wind coursing all around her as she sped down the coastal road. Explaining her trip to Christopher was simple. She had learned the fine art of dissimulation early on; living and manoeuvring successfully in London society required it. She casually mentioned one evening that her old school friend, Dayna was to be taking a holiday down the coast with her family and had asked Margaret to come down and visit for a day or two. There really was a Dayna although she hadn't heard from her in years, but Christopher wasn't interested enough to question her story. As he focused on some article in his golf magazine, she elaborated, knowing that he wasn't really paying attention. She told him she would be away for two nights and would have her mobile if he needed to contact her. To extend the pretence of an innocent trip, she threw out that he was welcome to come along if he liked. As she knew full well, he wasn't interested in joining her, preferring to stay and play golf with his friends. As he left that morning for his early tee time, he wished her a safe trip with a quick wave of his hand. At least he remembered she would be away.
She had never done anything like this before, sneaking off to spy on another person and that person her only child. Quite honestly, there were moments when she doubted herself. Was she daft to go through with such an escapade? Well, what if she were? It was exciting to step outside of her usual proper matronly role and try on a newer persona. Perhaps her mission wasn't as daring as those of Mata Hari's or Josephine Baker's, or even Nancy Wake's, the WWII British agent the Nazi's christened the "White Mouse", but it was most certainly daring for a woman whose only other real escapade had been with her friend Daphne Scott when they used to steal from Mrs. Jessup's shop back in school. Even Carly didn't know the extent of those capers. Eventually they were caught and their parents notified. She was lucky that she hadn't been expelled. Even so, both she and Daphne had been labelled "thieves" and no one trusted either of them for months after that. It was so unfair; everyone stole from her nasty little shop; they just happened to get caught.
Ruth Ellingham, who had been a year behind her, had snubbed her from that day on and had almost sabotaged Margaret's marriage to her brother by revealing her thievery. Fortunately, when Margaret professed contrition for her youthful misdeed, Christopher's parents had been forgiving; after all, who didn't have a youthful indiscretion they wished would disappear. Nevertheless, Ruth continued to be cold towards her at every family gathering. But who needed Ruth anyway, an eccentric old maid. She was lucky, very lucky that Martin and his family took her in.
Margaret had planned this adventure carefully. After all, there were some risks involved. Certainly she would need to avoid Martin, but it wasn't just Martin who might recognize her. This was a medical conference she was infiltrating. A few of Christopher's old colleagues were still working who could be in attendance, and their wives as well. It had been years since she had seen any of them, but it was possible that one or another just might recognize her and word would get back to Christopher. If that were the case and he asked, she could just plead that it was all a coincidence, that Dayna's holiday had been in the same resort. She could have donned a disguise and used a false name, but that would be difficult to explain if word did get back. In fact, she had played with her hair, trying different styles, but in the end, none of them were suitable. If she were recognized, it was better to wave it away as a chance occurrence. Her only concessions to deception were her oversized tortoise shelled sunglasses for outdoor wear and a pair of glasses in a fashionable black frame to wear in the resort's interiors. The black frames were not particularly flattering and certainly less elegant than she would ordinarily have chosen. It was odd the way they made her feel as if she were a different person when she put them on, certainly not Margaret Ellingham.
She was able to reschedule her regular Thursday appointment with Miriam to early morning which enabled her to make her escape in time to arrive at the resort in the early afternoon. She wrapped a colorful scarf around her head, but even with that caution, it was likely that the wind in her hair would undo all of Miriam's efforts. No matter, it was truly exciting to be off, on the road, just herself and Persephone on an adventure. She felt like Grace Kelly speeding down the French Riviera in "To Catch a Thief". All she needed was Cary Grant in the passenger seat. "Too bad Cary's not available, Persephone. I'm sure you would have liked him." She threw a laugh into the wind and pressed a little harder on the accelerator.
Martin and his family had arrived on Wednesday so she shouldn't encounter them at her check-in on Thursday. She pulled into the reception area and gave her keys to the valet. Ordinarily she would have packed a minimum of two large bags for a stay at a posh resort such as this and would have required the assistance of the porter, but her stay this time would be short and she had only the one bag along with her purse so she opted to pull it into reception herself … no need to draw undue attention if there were any acquaintances in the lobby. Check in was simple as she handed the clerk her credit card, and she took her room key and followed the clerk's directions to her room in one of the wings away from the hustle of the conference.
It was late afternoon by the time she found her way to the pool area where she hoped to find Louisa and James. It would be after naptime for the boy, and Martin would still be engaged in the conference. She took a seat on one of the lounge chairs between the main pool and the children's pool, hoping they would soon appear, but after ten minutes there was no sign of them so she decided to brave the beach area. Stepping gingerly onto the sandy boardwalk that wound its way between the beach and the resort's extensive gardens, she wandered to the end of the resort area proper and then back again, but saw no sign of them. She did notice a children's play area tucked into the side of the resort at the end of one of the paths and caught a glimpse of a woman with a child. She walked in that direction thinking it might be Louisa and James. It was.
James was climbing on the play equipment and Louisa was sitting on a bench nearby. Margaret could think of no reason she could give for taking a bench near the playground, so she walked slowly by the area and paused to lean against the fence pretending to search for someone, whilst surreptitiously watching James and his mother interact. She wondered if Martin had ever played on such equipment. Certainly, she had never accompanied him to one of the playgrounds near their home. Perhaps his nanny did; he was such a somber restrained child that she couldn't imagine him climbing on such play equipment or flying down a slide. There was so much of his childhood about which she knew nothing. She could feign regret, but she knew in her heart that she would do the same again. She just wasn't the motherly type. As she watched Louisa with James, it was apparent that Martin's wife was the motherly type. She was a teacher after all, but she pondered how Martin would need a wife with a more sophisticate urbane view of the world.
"Watch me, mummy," he cried.
"I am watching you James. Please be careful. Don't climb too high."
"I won't," He reassured her. Louisa rose and stepped carefully over the wood chips covering the ground to stand near her son, her hand supporting her back. The weight of her pregnancy was beginning to slow her down, and Margaret was surprised that Martin allowed her to come with him on this trip. True she wasn't due for another eight weeks if Miriam's intelligence was correct. Still babies were known to arrive early. She should be back in London near her doctors.
"One more minute, and then we need to go meet Daddy to wash up for dinner."
"Okay," he replied, climbing down and running to the slide where he grabbed hold of the ladder and determinedly climbed up, one rung at a time. "I want to go down the slide one more time."
Louisa moved closer to the edge of the slide and held up her hands, as if to catch him if he were to fall. "Okay, let's see you go down."
"Wheee …."
He landed in a heap at the bottom of the slide, obviously startled and began to cry. Louisa moved to the bottom of the slide, sat down, and helped him stand up, gathering him in her arms and soothing his tears away, "There, there. All better?"
He buried his face in her lap and hugged her as well as he was able given her size. "I'm okay mummy."
She ruffled his hair and kissed him on the top of his head. "Good, that's my big boy. Let's go."
By this time, Margaret had strolled on, not wanting to draw attention to herself, and she turned a corner to watch unnoticed as they went back towards the entrance to the hotel, James trotting ahead pulling Louisa as she struggled to keep hold of his hand.
Margaret went back to her room to contemplate Martin's family. His wife was beautiful, which reflected well on his taste, but her accent betrayed her parentage. It was obvious that she wasn't London society born, a mark against her; nonetheless, her accent wasn't terribly Cornish.
It was 5:30 already. Margaret perused the room service menu and decided to order her evening meal to be delivered at 7:30. In the meantime, she left her room to explore the resort, hoping to catch sight of Martin with his family as they dined. Ellinghams were notoriously early diners so she expected they would have an early reservation perhaps around 6pm. The resort was quite large and there were a number of restaurants scattered throughout; it might come down to chance to actually catch sight of the three of them, but she set out nonetheless. She decided to start her reconnaissance in the main lobby, donning her glasses and a dark cardigan sweater before walking down the hall in the direction of the reception area.
It was relatively quiet in the bright and airy lobby with only one guest checking in at this hour. No sign of Martin or his family so she moved on to the retail area of the resort. There were all sorts of souvenir shops to investigate and she stopped in one that was sited across from two of the resort restaurants, one a casual cafe and one a more sophisticated seafood restaurant. It was unlikely that one would take a three-year old into a formal restaurant, but she didn't know Martin. If he held James to the strict standard of behaviour his own father had imposed on him, they might enter any one of these eateries. She took her time examining the merchandise on offer in the shop, all the while keeping a sharp eye on the crowd that milled about the village area.
She noticed a tall man with very short hair and large ears; those ears, it had to be Martin. She ambled toward the front of the shop to get a better look. Yes, she saw Louisa, so it must be him. He was holding James' hand as they walked toward the cafe. She watched as they checked in with the hostess and were led to their table. All of the resort restaurants were open air and it was easy to watch diners as they ate. She continued to browse, looking up periodically to watch the small family's interactions. The hostess had brought a booster seat for James, and she saw them place their order.
Martin was seated facing in her direction and she watched him carefully. His expression was serious, his forehead creased and his mouth fixed in what some might call a grimace. He was explaining something to his wife, shaking his head slightly. She would tilt her head to one side and appear to ask a question and he would answer. Soon he nodded his head and looked up as a softer more quizzical expression crossed his face, and leaning across the table, he said something to Louisa. She replied animatedly … telling him about their day, Margaret supposed. He glanced over from time to time at James who was munching on a piece of bread Louisa had given him. It appeared that Martin would address his son who answered happily, softening the expression on Martin's face even more.
"May I help you madam?" She turned to see one of the clerks standing at her elbow. She had lost track of time and had undoubtedly drawn attention to herself by standing and staring out the door for longer than was seemly.
"Oh, no, no. I was just thinking what exactly would be the best gift for several of my friends." She waved her hand in the direction of the fountain across the way, "and I was distracted. The view is so pretty."
The clerk turned towards the fountain and replied, "Yes it is." She leaned in, anxious to make a sale, "Is there something particular you had in mind for your friends? Perhaps I could help you. Is it just one or two close friends, or a large circle of friends? We have some lovely coin purses over here, not too expensive. They make perfect gifts if you have a large group of friends."
"Oh yes. I'd like to see them." She led Margaret over to a shelf with a display of embroidered coin purses, eyeglass cases, mobile phone cases and the like. They were quite festive with resort themes. "Yes, there appears to be a good selection. Thank you." Margaret nodded her head and leaned over the display indicating that the clerk should let her browse alone. She picked up one or two of the items and then slid over to look out the shop windows again. Martin and his family had been served, and the three of them were focused their meal, only glancing up from time to time to smile at each other or to make what Margaret surmised was a brief comment on the meal. She noticed Louisa lean over the table to feed Martin a taste from her plate, after which he tilted his head and nodded as if to say it was good. James seemed to enjoy his dinner as well, and he offered his Dad a taste of his meal as well. When he tried to offer Martin another bite, Martin shook his head and pointed to James' mouth indicating that James should eat the rest of his meal. Margaret couldn't help but think what a sweet family picture they made. Would it be so bad to acknowledge Martin's choice of wife? She would have to think very hard about that.
Margaret looked at her watch and saw that it was half six, still an hour before her meal was to be delivered. She replaced the items she had selected back on the shelf and left the store, spent a few minutes exploring one or two other shops, and then returned to her room.