Lies and Weddings(72)
“I can’t believe it either, but Mum’s telling me I need to find a very rich young prince to marry as soon as possible. She’s arranging for me to meet up with one of the handsome Brunei princes in London, and she’s even willing to forgo the five-year plan.”
“There was a five-year plan?”
“Yes, she was planning for me to be married the summer of my twenty-eighth birthday.”
“Why twenty-eight?”
“It’s some Chinese astrology thing. That’s the most auspicious year for me to get married. Which is why I needed to speak with you, actually. I need your honest opinion as a friend and your advice as a doct— Oh shit, don’t look out the window!”
Before she could help herself, Eden reflexively turned and saw Arabella glaring back at them as she walked down the village row with Hugo Anstruther, the Greshamsbury estate manager. Arabella spotted them immediately and barged into the café.
“What are you doing here, Beatrice?”
“Oh, hello, Mummy. I’m just having brekkie with Eden,” Bea replied sweetly.
“Good morning, Lady Arabella,” Eden said perfunctorily.
“Don’t you Lady Arabella me. Why are you here?”
“Uh…I come here every morning,” Eden replied slowly, afraid of where this conversation was heading.
Lady Arabella turned to the young barista working the milk frother behind the counter. “You! Are you the manager?”
“What, ma’am?” the lad shouted through the noise.
Arabella raised her voice. “Where is the manager?”
“Uh…is there a problem with your coffee?”
“Get your manager NOW,” Arabella said in a tone so menacing that the barista hightailed it into the back room.
“Hugo, please come in. I want you to witness this,” Arabella called out to her estate manager.
“Mummy, what are you doing?!” Beatrice whispered as the other customers began to gawk.
A woman came out of the back office and addressed Arabella. “I’m Svetlana, the shift leader. Can I help you?”
“Do you know who I am?”
“No.”
“I’m the Countess of Greshamsbury. This is my village, this is my building, and I control the lease. From this moment forward, that girl over there is no longer allowed to be a customer at this café, do you hear me?” Arabella pointed at Eden.
Svetlana looked at Eden in bafflement. “I’m sorry, I can’t do that. We don’t discriminate at Caffè Nero, ma’am. Every paying customer can enjoy our coffee.”[*]
“We’ll see about that. Hugo, put in a call to the corporate offices of Caffè Nero,” Arabella commanded, before glowering at Svetlana. “I’d look for another job if I were you.”
“Mummy, why are you doing this?” Bea protested.
“This is what happens when you disobey me. I told you specifically that I no longer wanted you to associate with that girl and you didn’t listen. So, not only is she no longer welcome at Greshamsbury Hall, she’s no longer welcome at Caffè Nero or anywhere in this village.”
Eden took a deep breath and tried to remain calm. “Lady Arabella, I am truly sorry if I’ve let you down—”
“Let me down?” Arabella began to laugh. “You didn’t let me down at all. You proved to be exactly what I’ve always known you to be. You’re a tricky slut who slept with my son in Hawaii!”
The customers gasped as Eden shook her head vehemently in protest. Arabella continued to act outraged, clearly relishing her audience. “You’re actually trying to deny sleeping with my son when half the island overheard him saying it on the hot mic?”
“You only heard half the story. I slept over at his house, but I didn’t sleep with him in the way that you’re inferring.”
“So you’re telling me you’ve never slept with my son?”
Eden paused for a second, fuming that she even had to answer such a question. “Never!”
“If that’s the case, does Freddy Farman-Farmihian know he’s the father of your baby?”
Eden gazed at Arabella in utter shock. She found that her throat was closing up and she couldn’t speak.
“Mummy, please stop!” Bea cried.
“Why should I stop? Do you know what I found in Eden’s room at the Four Seasons?”
“What?” Bea asked.
“A used pregnancy test! And it was pinker than the loo at Annabel’s!”
Eden had recovered enough to find her voice. “Lady Arabella, I don’t know what you’re talking about. I’ve never taken a pregnancy test in my entire life!”
“Are you just saying that because I’ve ruined your secret plan?”
“What secret plan?” Eden glanced at Bea, who looked utterly stunned.
“You deliberately sabotaged Rufus and Solène because you thought you could have him all to yourself, didn’t you? You stole my brilliant plan to make Rufus jealous with Freddy and turned it around by having Freddy chase you around the island and put you up in a fancy suite, while at the same time you were teasing Rufus with midnight showers and not-so-innocent sleepovers. But this little pregnancy has messed things up quite a bit, hasn’t it?”