Daphne wasn’t like Victor.
At least, that was what I told myself then.
It was a beautiful morning in early autumn when the trees were just beginning to shed their leaves. You loved kicking through them on your way to playschool; the village looked so pretty, surrounded by red, gold and brown. It was brisk outside but sunny, and after I dropped you off I decided to walk the longer way home through the woods. It was peaceful, the sun slanting through the trees, and as I dug my hands into the pockets of my sheepskin coat I felt awash with happiness. As I rounded the corner on the path that led to the back of the cottage I noticed someone standing in our garden, by the stone wall that separated it from the woods. I stopped, hiding behind a thick tree-trunk. It was Daphne. And she wasn’t alone. She was with a man. My heart fluttered, my stomach turning over. Who was it this time? Not another journalist intent on finding out Daphne’s true identity?
I wondered if it was Sean, one of the farm hands. I’d never met him but Daphne had become quite pally with him at work, by all accounts. It sounded like he gave her things – spare eggs, the odd tin of paint, a pint of milk. I hoped he wasn’t taking these things illegally but Daphne said he was ‘all right’， which, from her, was quite high praise. It did cross my mind that he might fancy her, but I trusted her. I knew she loved me.
But as I peered closer I could see it was Joel.
Their voices floated towards me on the breeze. ‘I think you should go,’ I heard Daphne say. I went to step out from behind the tree. Was he bothering her again? But his reply rooted me to the spot.
‘I don’t understand why you’ve made up these lies about me,’ he said, throwing his arms out in exasperation. I could see, even from my position, that he looked genuinely confused. ‘Rose and I were friends and now she hasn’t spoken to me in months. If I see her in the street she avoids me.’
‘That’s her prerogative.’
‘You turned her against me by making out that I’m some – some lech.’
‘Don’t be ridiculous.’
‘I never came on to you. I never harassed you. The only thing I did was tell you how I felt about Rose. Is that why you did it? To stop us getting together?’
‘Get it into your thick head, she’s not interested and never will be, whatever I might have told her,’ she hissed. The anger on her face surprised me. She was usually so serene, so carefree. I’d always admired her patience, her kindness. I mean, of course, she wasn’t a saint. She was a worrier, like me. She got angry about injustices and inequality. She was independent and capable. But she was never petty or unfair – or so I’d always thought. But if Joel was telling the truth, if she had lied about the advances he’d made on her, then that was a very manipulative thing to do.
‘But you didn’t know that, did you? Not then. You thought she might like me too and decided to put a stop to it. You might have fooled everyone else around here, Daphne, with your butter-wouldn’t-melt fa?ade, but I can see through you.’
‘Why don’t you just fuck off?’ she snarled. ‘Leave us alone.’
I inhaled so sharply my chest hurt. I waited for Joel’s reaction. But he just shook his head sadly. ‘I hope you’re not using her. She’s a good person.’
‘Of course I’m not.’
He looked towards the cottage. ‘You’ve got a good set-up there. A roof over your head. Love. A ready-made family.’
She folded her arms across her chest. She was wearing a baggy fawn-coloured jumper and cream jodhpurs I’d bought her for her birthday. Her hair was starting to grow out and was now at her shoulders, but she kept it dark. I liked it that way. Her cheeks were red from the cold and her eyes burnt with intensity. She looked beautiful.
‘I love Rose.’