She braced herself for some gentle French crooning, a little embarrassment that she could laugh off. And hoped now that Emily wouldn’t turn up – at least for the five or so minutes it would take her boyfriend to lay down a love song.
Only Frédérique didn’t start singing.
‘Lily, mon coeur, come ’ere,’ he said, holding his hand out and flashing his brilliant smile. She walked forward as if on autopilot and he took her hand.
‘I just wanted to take a moment for thees wonderful woman, eh?’ he said. ‘She come ’ere and in no time she change all our life!’
Lily doubted she’d made a difference to the lives of most people here, seeing as she’d only met a few of them once, and others had simply been over to chop down the grass or prevent walls from tumbling down. ‘No,’ she said. ‘I…’
But Frédérique was in full flow.
‘And I fink for this wonderful party too, eh, we should be very grateful!’ he said. ‘And maybe that I will give her the clap. We must all give her the clap – yes?’
The audience dutifully clapped and Lily felt the blush that had started on her neck creep to her cheeks.
‘Thank you,’ she said. ‘Come on, Frédérique, that’s enough.’
‘Ah but, my love,’ he said, still clutching the microphone. Still booming. ‘I ’ave something more to say.’
Lily caught Sam’s eye and had to look away quickly, not sure whether she was going to burst into tears or catch a fit of the giggles. She felt sorry, too, for Frédérique. However misjudged this intervention, it was sweet that he wanted to make her feel special.
She focused her eyes on him. ‘Can’t you say it later?’ she hissed, keeping her face fixed in a smile. ‘I’m really… it’s private, surely?’
‘Ah bah non!’ he said, seemingly forgetting he was broadcasting half of a private conversation for an audience. ‘This is something I want to say for all your friends, eh?’
There was nothing she could do.
She braced herself for an onslaught of compliments; or perhaps the opening strains of a love song.
But what happened next was far, far more dramatic.
Suddenly, Frédérique dropped on one knee. ‘My love,’ he said.
She was stunned into silence. Surely, the man wasn’t proposing. Perhaps it was just a romantic start to some sort of singing routine he’d worked out.
‘A few day ago thees woman she say to me, she want to ’ave a romance that go more doucement,’ he said, ‘more gentle, maybe a leetle more old-fashion, oui?’
‘But…’ Lily said.
‘And for the first day I fink maybe she does not love me, huh? Then I realise what she mean!’
‘What I…?’
‘My beautiful Engleesh lady, she is not disponsible to just anyone,’ he said. ‘She is my princesse, oui?’
For a moment, Lily didn’t follow.
‘I make love with many, many women,’ Frédérique said, addressing her. ‘So many, many women. But for you, I know, it is not enough, eh?’
‘What?’
‘I mean to say,’ he said. ‘Zat you are more special, mon coeur. You say to me, don’t call me lover we are not lovers.’
This was excruciating.
‘We are le heart of each other,’ he said, nodding.
‘Well, kind of…’
‘And then I know what it is you want!’ he said, triumphantly. ‘And it is too, what I would want for us, oui? You want that we marry before we make love. To take it old fashion, like in le movies?’
‘No, that’s not—’
‘So I say to you, Madame Buttercup. You ’ave come into my life and made the sun shine again. You are beautiful, you ’ave l’indépendence. You capture my ’eart so completely, that I am yours forever.’
‘Oh.’
‘I know we know so little of each other. But please to believe me, my heart, I must tell you that I do not make this proposal just because I want so much to make love with you, mon coeur.’
‘I…’
‘Because, of course, I want your body, so beautiful. But I also want your ’ead. Your mind. My love. I want to be making love to all of you.’
‘Oh.’
‘I want to be wiv you forever.’
‘…’
He drew a box out of his pocket, opening it to reveal a beautiful ring, set with a sapphire surrounded by diamonds. Her engagement ring from Ben had been a simple diamond solitaire, bought when they were too young to afford something bigger. But she’d always longed for a beautiful, antique ring. One day, Ben had told her, I’ll buy you one.