Amy felt her stomach do a backward roll. Why had she eaten such a huge, sugary breakfast?
As for the idea of Sam getting married … That was weird. Somehow not believable. Surely he was too deeply annoying, too faux normal and authentically argumentative for anyone to want to knit themselves to him for eternity.
‘Who’s Tilly?’ Amy asked, cursing herself for not reining in her nosiness.
‘Tilly Wexmore-Yates,’ said Nisha impressively.
‘Seriously?’ demanded Amy, her mouth falling open.
Tilly Wexmore-Yates was on TV– not in anything Amy usually watched, but she was nonetheless someone most people had heard of. A popular presenter and ‘roving reporter’ figure on both the BBC and commercial channels, she was known for fronting programmes about consumer issues at home and abroad.
Tilly had the sort of long, pale blonde mermaid waves that less trichologically blessed women pined for. She was tall and slim, but with curves in what a tabloid newspaper might have called ‘all the right places’. Her huge blue eyes were set in a sweet, princess-y face. Like Sam, she came from money– but even though Tilly’s accent was plummier than his or Meg’s, Amy suspected the Wexmore-Yateses were what the old Viscount might call ‘new money’.
‘Seriously,’ Nisha said. ‘I’ve no idea what happened between them, obviously, but I hear the older Ainsworths were disappointed. Supposedly they were very keen on having her for a daughter-in-law.’
‘Oh,’ Amy murmured hollowly. Then, realising this was the ideal chance to dig for further information, she said: ‘What about the younger members of the family?’
She hated herself a little for this, yet itched for Nisha to answer the question that lay beneath the one she’d actually asked.
‘Pearl? I don’t think she was too bothered.’
‘Right,’ Amy said, frustrated.
‘I mean, what seven-year-old tomboy wants to share their favourite person in the world with someone as girly and glamorous as Tilly Wexmore-Yates?’ Nisha said, side-eyeing Amy as she spoke. ‘And Uncle Sam isdefinitelyher favourite, much to Meg’s disgust.’
‘Always the way,’ Amy said, shamelessly generalising to cover what felt oddly like relief. ‘Typical, isn’t it?’
‘Uh-huh,’ Nisha nodded, glancing at Amy again, her eyes alight with interest. ‘Though to be fair, he does an awful lot with her– he has since she was a baby. Despite being such a very dislikeable person.’
ABORT,ABORT! yelled a voice in Amy’s head. She needed to move them off this topic before she showed any further sign of being too invested in it– even though her brain was buzzing with more questions. Meg was Pearl’s mother? If so, who and where was her dad? And she must have had her young … At nineteen or twenty, Amy calculated. She could only imagine how badlythathad gone down with the Viscount– especially as there was no sign Meg had ever been married.
‘Oh! Before I forget,’ Amy said, as if what she was about to say next was so urgent it warranted a complete change of subject, ‘you need to tell me when the next book group meeting is– and what I need to read.’
In truth she wasn’t mad keen on joining, but mentioning it seemed prudent at this juncture.
‘Yes!’ Nisha cried. ‘I’m so glad you brought that up, I’ve been meaning to tell you. It’s on Wednesday and the book isAnd So We Meet Againby—’
‘Philippa Fotheringham,’ Amy said. ‘How uncanny. I’ve just read it.’
‘Ohmygod, it’samazing, isn’t it? I flippin’ LOVE Philippa. I’m her biggest fan. Like, biggestever.’
‘Oh, really? Ha! If you can believe it, I went for lunch with her on Friday– it was a work thing.’
‘SHUT. UP.’
Nisha’s mouth had dropped open, her bright pink lips a pretty neon ‘o’.
‘Yes,’ Amy said, laughing. ‘The publishing house I work for … Well. It’s totally hush-hush at this stage, but we’re trying to get her to sign with us.’
‘Ohmygod,’ Nisha repeated with quiet reverence, ‘you actually met her? What was she like?’
She was flapping her hands, fanning herself as if to try and stem her excess of excitement.
‘She was kind of badass, to be honest,’ Amy said. ‘I liked her a lot. I hope I’ll get to work with her.’ All of this was true, which– given her position on the idea of courting Philippa a few weeks ago– represented quite the turnaround.
‘Good,’ Nisha said emphatically. ‘That’s such a relief. It’s awful when you meet someone who’s had dealings with one of your heroes and it turns out they’re an absolute plonker in real life.’
‘Where am I going for the book club meeting?’ Amy asked.
