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Alice took a seat in the lounge, thankful that Joss hadn’t mentioned finding her nosing through the ledgers at the reception desk. She caught the whiff of drink on his breath as he leaned towards her to hand her a glass of wine. He’d obviously had a glass or two immediately before he found her.
Joss poured himself another large glass and took a seat on the sofa opposite. He downed the contents of his glass.
Alice followed suit, downing her glass and helping herself to another.
They drank in silence for some time, both lost in thoughts of past misdeeds. Alice went to pour herself another glass and discovered that the second bottle was empty. ‘Oh, dear,’ she said, surprised that her speech sounded slurred.
‘Do we need another bottle?’ Joss asked. He attempted to stand up.
Alice watched him sway and then back down abruptly. ‘Perhaps I should let the ten or so glasses go down first.’ He laughed. ‘Ten or so glasses. That’s funny.’
‘Before you get another bottle,’ said Alice, surprised that the ground was moving beneath her feet; it was the most peculiar floaty sensation, as though she was sitting in a boat. Alice knew that all this had been a bad idea. The fact was, she didn’t drink. She looked at Joss and said in surprise, ‘Am I drunk?’
Joss laughed again. ‘Probably.’
‘I want to get something off my chest, Joss. I get the feeling that whatever it was that you used to do; you can keep a confidence.’
‘I can do that, yes.’
‘I did something years ago, and it’s haunted me ever since …’
Joss leaned towards her and attempted to put his empty glass on the coffee table. He missed. It fell on the carpet. ‘Oh, bother.’
‘Never mind that,’ said Alice. ‘I want to tell you my secret.’
Clarissa crept out of her room. It was late, well past midnight, and she was thirsty. She wanted a glass of water. Unsure whether the water from the tap in the en suite bathroom was drinking water, she decided to go downstairs and find the kitchen. She’d had the impulse to wake Emily and ask, but her friend was fast asleep and she didn’t want to disturb her.
Clarissa crept past Joss’s room, aware that despite her saying otherwise, Emily had been disappointed that he hadn’t taken her up on the invitation.
She walked down the stairs, her mobile phone to hand, thinking she’d need a light, but the stairs and reception hall downstairs were lit quite adequately. As she stepped off the bottom stair, she thought she heard voices.
Clarissa followed the voices to the lounge. She hovered in the doorway, staring at Joss and Alice and the empty bottles of wine on the coffee table in front of them. She frowned, hoping Emily didn’t find out that Joss would rather spend the evening with Alice than with her.Well, I’m not going to tell her, thought Clarissa as she backed out of the room before they saw her. She was just turning on her heel when she thought she heard Alice say, ‘I want to tell you my secret.’
Clarissa stopped dead and turned around.
‘But first I need to ask: can you help me?’
‘Whatever with, Alice?’
‘To stop my daughter taking a DNA test and finding out the truth.’
Clarissa knew she’d had a bit too much to drink herself that evening. She rubbed her face, thinking,I didn’t hear what I thought I just heard. She even felt she must be imagining Alice and Joss sitting there drinking together. Clarissa walked back to her room, forgetting why she had ventured downstairs.
‘Where were you?’ Emily asked, catching Clarissa creeping back into the room.
‘I went to get a glass of water.’
Emily rubbed her eyes. ‘Well, where is it?’
Clarissa looked at her empty hands. She burst out laughing, then clamped a hand to her mouth.
Emily shook her head. ‘You’re still drunk.’ She rolled over in bed.
Clarissa got in beside her. She whispered in her ear, ‘I think I know Alice’s secret.’
‘Okay, good. Tell me in the morning.’
Chapter 36
