‘Tarquin, you obviously know Jess, and have also met the delightful Lottie properly now.’
‘Actually, I didn’t know her name.’
Harry pulled a face. ‘You said you’ve asked her out twice and you’ve not even bothered to ask her name.’ He shook his head, laughing. ‘No wonder she turned you down.’
‘Shouldn’t you be using Charlotte by now? Lottie is rather a childish moniker, don’t you think?’ He said, a sneering tone lacing the words.
‘I like it,’ I said, defiantly. Out of sight, I felt Seb’s hand lightly touch my back in support. He knew I didn’t need him to defend me, but it was nice to know he was there all the same.
‘And this is Seb Marshall. Seb, this is a good friend of mine, Tarquin Farquar-Stour-Pendleton,’ Harry said, frowning slightly as Tarquin shoved his free hand in his trouser pocket instead of extending it as his friend had obviously expected him to do. Clearing his throat, Harry continued, ‘Seb is the founder of the charity that I’m honoured to be doing a triathlon in aid of later in the year.’
Tarquin tipped his chin up a little, acknowledging this information. ‘I see. I suppose you must be very grateful that there are good, fit men like Harry here willing to put themselves out and do that sort of thing for you. I mean, as you can’t do it for yourself.’
I exchanged a glance with Jess, who was clearly seething. Neither of us had missed the veiled dig. I risked a glance at Seb, hoping that he might have missed it, but one glimpse was enough to see the slight flicker in his jaw. Tarquin was looking particularly smug and my eyes drifted once more to the window. It was enough to insult me but quite something else to be so casually callous. Not to mention uninformed. Had the Para Olympics passed him by entirely? Had he never heard of the Invictus Games? But the more I got to know Tarquin Farquar-Stour-Pendleton, the easier that possibility was to believe.
Seb swallowed and gave a brief, practised smile. ‘The charity is always grateful to people who are good enough to give up their time to help us, in any way.’
It was a good answer. Tactful and inoffensive. Unlike Tarquin, who raised his eyebrows briefly as if to acknowledge the answer, but it was clear that he hadn’t got the rise out of Seb he’d wanted to. His eyes slid to me, then flicked back to Seb, pausing a moment before switching back to me again, his brain trying to work out if there was a connection and what it was. Apparently, he came up with something, because a small sneer curled the edge of his mouth before he turned away, looking for yet another drink.
‘Why do you never hire enough bloody staff, Harry,’ he snapped before stalking off to replenish his glass.
Harry gave a small, noticeably awkward laugh. ‘Sorry about that. Tarq never seems to think before he speaks, so things can sometimes come out sounding different from how he actually means them.’
It was a valiant effort but one lost on Seb.
‘He knew exactly what he was saying, Harry. But don’t worry about it. You’re not responsible for him and shouldn’t be apologising for him.’
Harry ran a hand over his hair. ‘He does say the most ridiculous bloody things sometimes. Why he’s having a dig at you, I don’t know. A lot of his family were in the military, so he holds them in the highest regard.’
‘Right. Yes, I can see that.’ Seb smiled at Harry, softening the reply, letting him know that this wasn’t Harry’s fight.
Harry’s shoulders sagged a little and Seb moved slightly and bumped one with his own.
‘Don’t worry about it, mate. Like I said, not your fault. Don’t give it a thought. You’ve got a wonderful fiancée there – you’re supposed to be enjoying your engagement party, not excusing other people’s poor manners.’
‘I know but…’
Jess tucked her arm through Harry’s. ‘He’s right.’
He looked down at her, the smile breaking onto his face softly as he did so. ‘I know.’
She paused for a moment. ‘Is that true then, about his family all being in the military?’
‘Absolutely,’ Harry replied. ‘I mean, obviously going back, a lot of the commissions were bought and so on, but there’s been generations of Farquar-Stour-Pendletons wearing a uniform.’
‘So how come old Tarq didn’t join up?’ Jess asked.
‘That’s the thing. He did. I think he quite fancied himself in a uniform.’
‘I think he quite fancies himself full stop,’ I interjected and Jess grinned.
Harry wobbled his head a little in acknowledgement, and possibly agreement, of this statement. ‘I’m not sure how much he’d considered the realities of Army life past the swanky uniform and formal dinners, but he did sign up as an officer.’
‘So, what happened?’
‘Oh, there was some sort of health complication in the end which meant he couldn’t finish his training. Even I don’t know exactly what it was. Tarquin was pretty upset about the whole situation, to be honest, so we didn’t really press him on it. I know he regrets it though,’ Harry added, as if hoping that would excuse his friend’s earlier behaviour.
‘I see.’ Seb nodded.
