Tommy could not tear his eyes from Barbara. As they sipped champagne in the reception room outside the heavy mahogany doors that led to the ballroom he was acutely aware that he was not the only man who found her irresistible in that striking gown. Each direction he turned men were surreptitiously staring. He was also aware that their wives were mentally stripping him so he flashed the women his broadest smile as a warning to their husbands.
His hand rested possessively on the small of her back as he steered her to the edge of the room away from the ogling eyes of a pimply-faced waiter who was using his gangly height to try and peer down the front of her gown. Tommy followed his eyes and let them rest on place above her chest where one of the Lynley family necklaces should be displayed. Diamonds and emeralds would suit Barbara well.
"Everyone's staring at me," she hissed under her breath.
"Because you're the most smashing woman in the room."
"Smashing? Tally ho what! We're not in the Roaring Twenties Tommy or playing croquet at some sugar plantation in the West Indies."
He smiled at her analogy doubting that much croquet was played on the plantations. He leant close and whispered seductively, "what about the most stunningly gorgeous, beguilingly elegant, divine creature who has captivated every man here, especially me? Or we could settle for incredibly sexy? Or what about the hottest babe in the room?"
"You're making fun of me."
Tommy ran his fingertips up her arm and along her shoulder. He paused to trace lazy circles at the base of her neck. He smiled as her skin tightened under his touch then tracked his fingers up behind her ears. "No, I'm not. I want to kiss you where my fingers were." He shielded her from general view with his body. "And down here." He ran his finger down her throat to the edge of her gown. "I've never been more serious."
She stared at him with wide eyes, unable to speak. The gown and the looks she had from others had made her feel glamorous but his fingers and his words made her feel alluring and, if she were honest, rather racy. She knew her skin was blushing under his lingering fingers and when the doors swung open she was relieved. "Behave," she gently chided.
"I don't want to do that la mia amata."
"Huh?"
"It means my beloved. Actually that's what I should call you, amata. Far better as a pet name than the usual English words."
"Come on then amata, let's get tonight over with."
"Amato. I'd be amato, the male form."
"I should have known even that would be complicated with you." He kissed her quickly then they linked hands and followed the crowd towards the doors.
The ballroom was filled with tables arranged to focus on the raised bridal table in the corner. Barbara's cousin and her new husband were still in the grounds having photographs taken in the sunset so Aunt Marjory greeted all the guests at the door and informed them of their table number.
"We'll be right at the back," Barbara muttered as they waited in line for their audience with the queen of the night.
"All the easier to slip away." Tommy would play the game but he had no interest at all in the formalities of the evening other than spending time with the most bewitching woman here.
When they neared the head of the queue they could hear that Marjory had a standard patter to greet all the guests. It was forgotten though when they reached her. Her aunt stood speechless and gawped at them, her mouth flapping silently as she looked at them in turn. "Barbara! Er, umm, I, err," she eventually managed.
The two women were staring at each other. Barbara felt anger and disdain rising too quickly. She squeezed Tommy's arm.
"Thank you for inviting us," Tommy said smoothly filling the awkwardness, "it was a lovely ceremony and I'm sure this evening will be equally memorable. At which table are we seated?"
"Er, oh number twelve," her aunt managed, "have a wonderful evening."
"We will," Tommy replied, "how could I not with the most beautiful women here on my arm, except the bride of course." He almost chortled and felt Barbara's nails dig in through his coat.
"Except the bride of course," Barbara mimicked as they searched the table numbers for their seats. The table was not at the back but on the edge of the room near the open French doors that led onto the wide tessellated verandah. It had a slightly obscured view of the main table, a fact that pleased Barbara. There were seats for six but only two were occupied.
"Oh wonderful! Uncle Bill is on table twelve too! What a perfect evening."
Tommy laughed. "It will be fine. You'll enjoy it, I promise."
Tommy greeted Bill and a woman at the table who was clearly an introvert and hated being there. Her mousy brown hair hung limply over a dull, grey dress that looked more like a bank uniform than evening wear. Her horn-rim glasses slipped constantly down her nose and after the fourth attempt to re-site them with shaking hands the woman gave up. "Tommy Lynley," he said cheerily, "and of course you probably know my partner Barbara already."
"No, we've never met," she replied. She turned and smiled at Barbara. "I'm Kate, George's daughter. He was your great uncle. He had me very late in life."
"Randy old goat," Uncle Bill said, "your mother was a third of his age."
"I am aware of that," the woman replied sternly, "but both my parents were very kind and loving to me."
"Yes, there is no age barrier to love," Tommy said giving the poor woman one of his most generous smiles. She smiled back shyly then looked at her lap.
It was obvious to Barbara that Bill had been drinking all afternoon. He was focussing on his glass but when he looked up he began to leer at her. She had almost forgotten her awkwardness of wearing the gown. She had received many admiring looks on the way in, as had Tommy, and it had felt flattering. Now for the first time that changed. Bill was staring at her breasts, and licking his lips in a parody of Benny Hill. She shivered and instantly Tommy put his arm around her. "Ignore him," he whispered as he kissed her lightly on the cheek.
The guests began to fill the room. There were clearly more tables for the groom's family which seemed to have a definite family trait of male baldness and bowerbirdism. Almost every woman's gown was the same shade of shimmering blue. "I'm glad I didn't wear blue," Barbara quipped.
"Hmm, me too. That purple makes your eyes light up amata."
"I thought that was just the sight of you in your penguin suit."
They had their heads close, lost in their private world. "Was it? I must wear it everyday then just to see you smile."
"Yes please. Although I've always liked you in a towel too."
"I have one in our room I can wear later." They laughed conspiratorially.
"Barbara? Barbara Havers? Is that really you love?" Tommy turned to see a matronly woman in her seventies, dressed in a tight gown that was far too young for her. Supported by a walking stick she hobbled precariously towards them. Behind her trailed a weedy man in an ill-fitting brown suit carrying two overly generous glasses of white wine. Tommy stood and pulled out the chair beside him. The woman flopped gratefully into it and looked up expectantly at Barbara. "And who's this dishy chap?"
"Missus Brown this is my partner Tommy Lynley. Tommy this is Missus Brown. She used to live near us in Acton."
"And this's me husband Gerald. Known her since she was a babe I 'ave. She used to get bad colic and horrible nappy rash. Oh you've never seen the like. All red and scaly."
Tommy looked at the mortification on Barbara's face. He locked his lips together in a tight smile fearing he would start to laugh. "Delighted to meet you both." He extended his hand to the hapless Gerald who returned his greeting with the interest and intensity of a week old kipper before planting a brief, light kiss on the back of Missus Brown's liver-spotted hand.
"Ooooh aren't you the one! You've got a real gentlemen 'ere Babs! And so 'andsome. Better be careful or I'll whisk 'im away from yer."
"I'm afraid not Missus Brown," Tommy replied with great charm, "my heart's lost to just one woman."
"Oi Gerald, listen to Tommy. Yer might learn somethin'."
Tommy took Barbara's hand to reassure her. Their eyes laughed at the situation while they tried to kept their expressions neutral. To distract herself Barbara looked around the traditional ballroom dominated by tall mahogany dados that had been softened by large, cream floral arrangements dotted around the walls. Starched white linen covered the tables down to the floor and the centrepieces were three thick cream candles of different heights within a bed of gardenias and lilies. One of the candles had a photograph of the bride and groom above the date. She felt as if their eyes followed her so she subtly turned it to face Bill.
"They were looking at how radiant you are," Tommy whispered as he stretched his arm around her again. Without physical contact he felt adrift. Barbara tried to talk to Bill and the Browns while he chatted with Kate, but after determining she was from Chester, hated hot weather and had two cats he had exhausted her capacity for smalltalk. Now he turned his attentions back to Barbara while the Browns rambled on about the room, the ceremony and the bridal gown.
"Stop it," she said feeling her neck redden under his soft kiss.
"Why? I enjoy kissing your neck amata. In fact there are many other parts I want to kiss as well but I agree, not here."
His seductive tone was hard to resist and she moaned softly. "We could go."
He smiled against her neck while she tried to drink some wine. "Plenty of time. I want to show you off. Make every man in the room jealous that you are with me."
Further conversation was abruptly halted by a trumpet fanfare. Barbara nearly spat her wine across the table. The guests all stood and clapped as the bridal party entered. Finally the bride and groom entered arm-in-arm. Tiny white fireworks exploded in front of them to mark their path to the table. The groom's family seemed to have a family chant, or a genetic disposition to a unique warbling laugh, and they practiced it loudly until the bridal party was seated.
"Kill me now," Barbara whispered into his ear. "I'm so sorry."
"Don't be. I'm taking notes for future reference."
The three course meal was tasty and the speeches mercifully short. Tommy had a tasty lemon chicken risotto and Barbara devoured a creamy tomato pasta for entree. Both selected the rosemary-roasted lamb rack as their main. Uncle Bill and Gerald were discussing the football and Missus Brown was berating poor Kate about the cost of using public lavatories these days and how the rising costs were directly related to Tory party policies.
Tommy grabbed Barbara's hand and escorted her through the doors onto the wide patio. Out of sight and hearing they both started to laugh. "Oh Tommy, this was such a bad idea."
"On the contrary." Tommy pushed her gently against the wall and kissed her.
She tugged at his lapels almost pulling them off balance. "This is a wonderful idea," she said as she returned his attention.
They stayed outside for about ten minutes before decorum dictated they return for dessert and the cutting of the cake. The bridal waltz was comically painful or painfully comical; Barbara could not decide. As they guests were invited onto the floor Tommy took her hand. "May I have this dance?"
"No."
"No?"
"I can't dance properly," she muttered.
"Can you follow my lead?"
"Probably not."
"Can you give your trust over completely to me?"
She screwed up her face in thought. "Yeah, I think so."
"Then come. Close your eyes and just feel the music. Feel my body and allow yours to move with it."
Barbara was skeptical but obeyed. Tommy whisked her effortlessly around the room. She sensed eyes on them but she kept her focus on the feel of his body against hers. It was sensuous yet calming and she felt lighter than air. The more they danced the more erotic it felt. The music changed to a slow tune and Barbara was engulfed in Tommy's arms as he gently traced circles with his fingertips on her back just above the zipper. Before long soft lips were kissing her gently and her hand went to caress his neck.
She broke the spell by opening her eyes. Her family were all staring at them and she pulled away. "We should sit for a while."
"I didn't know yer could dance love, not like that," Missus Brown said as they sat and took a sip of wine.
"So you've tamed her have you son? She was a very acerbic young woman. I never thought she'd find anyone who'd like her." Uncle Bill, was the only one to voice what Tommy suspected many of the rest of the family thought.
Barbara had warned him but their attitude incensed him. He took her hand. "Barbara is the most caring, loyal and loving woman I've ever known and I'm still astounded that she chose to share so much of her life with me. Maybe if you'd spent time trying to understand her instead of judging her you'd have seen past her pain and understood what a truly beautiful woman she is."
"Here, here!" Everyone at the table turned and stared at Kate. "You two look so in love. You deserve to be happy. Ignore Bill and his bad manners. He hasn't had a woman in forty years,"
"If you'll excuse us." Tommy stood and led Barbara out to the verandah.
"Thank you," she said, "for defending me."
"I wasn't defending you I was stating a fact. Barbara, I know this is not the best time or the most romantic setting but will you spend more of your life with me? For the longest time I've known I can't live without you but now I can see our future - together with maybe a few additions along the way."
"Tommy...we...how long were you thinking?"
"Good point Barbara. I should have been more specific." He laughed softly and sank onto his knee.
"Oh, that long." Barbara thought she might faint.
"Yes. Barbara will you honour me by agreeing to marry me and spend the rest of our lives together?"
"But we...this is...oh Tommy, I want to say yes but you...we haven't even, you know."
"We can go upstairs and change that right now if that's a pre-requisite."
"No!" Barbara tore her hand from his grip and disappeared back into the room.