Page 25 of Old Girls on Deck

‘Nor me. It’s a beautiful suite,’ I said, ‘and I don’t care where Alfred has put my socks. And I think we deserve it, I can’t think why, but I’m sure we do.’

Well, I wasn’t actually sure we deserved a 24-hour butler and embroidered towels stacked like a pyramid in the bathrooms next to the bottle of azure bath oil flecked with gold leaf. But I wasn’t going to admit it.

‘And the captain has invited us for cocktails at 5.30p.m. This must be thanks to your celebrity status; I’m beginning to feel like the bag carrier. People will be asking for your autograph at this rate. Alfred the butler. Didn’t Batman have a butler called Alfred?’

We giggled for a bit and topped up our glasses, after making sure Alfred wasn’t watching.

We decided to sit out on the veranda with our champagne – once we had put on coats because it was rather chilly.

‘I’ve done this so many times in the past,’ Diana said, resting her head back. ‘Sometimes, when Sam was small, he came with us but most of the time I was on my own. Casper insisted I would have more fun if I joined him on the ship, but I can admit it now, many times it wasn’t the case. The last couple of days with you have been very different from the way things were back then. Casper was the captain, if he thought that I was larking around with the other passengers, he would not have been pleased. He had his position to remember, and so did I. Is it disloyal of me to think like that?’

‘No, I don’t think so,’ I said.

I’d secretly thought Casper was very controlling but in all the years, Diana hadn’t opened up like this to me before; it was rather surprising. Perhaps she really was relaxing for once. Maybe their marriage, which had always seemed so glamorous and perfect when I compared it with Eddy and me, hadn’t been quite that marvellous after all.

Deciding we probably didn’t need afternoon tea, I showered and went to find something suitable to wear in one of the huge wardrobes. Alfred was certainly a master un-packer, he had hung up my things in colour order, rolled my belts and scarves into the little square compartments in one of the drawers and put my shoes in neat pairs on a special shoe rail.

Diana, meanwhile, was sitting in one of the comfy chairs, watching a programme about chicken farming. She looked up.

‘Do you know there are more chickens than humans in the world? And I think they said chickens with white earlobes produce white eggs and hens with red earlobes lay brown eggs. I didn’t know chickens had earlobes.’

I laughed. ‘The things you learn on holiday, eh? Was this where you learned all the trivia you know?’

‘Yes, it probably was. I spent hours watching information broadcasts or reading obscure books from the ship’s library. It’s odd how even after a few days, I’m starting to look back with a new perspective on those voyages with Casper. I’d always felt very lucky, privileged to see so much of the world. It would have been ungrateful to think otherwise.’

‘But you were allowed to enjoy yourself?’

Diana didn’t answer, which made me slightly uneasy. My guess was that Diana had been allowed to enjoy herself but on Casper’s terms. Eddy wasn’t like that. After all, he hadn’t seemed at all concerned that I was going off on this jaunt without him. And he never checked up on me or criticised when I was late or got a bit squiffy at parties. I felt unexpectedly proud for a moment that he was so easy-going.

I switched off the television and went to look in her wardrobe, which had been arranged with the same precision as mine.

‘Nice shower?’ Diana asked.

‘Excellent.’

‘Didn’t need Alfred to help out with anything? Scrubbing your back or topping up your champagne? I’m sure he would oblige. Though what he must have thought of my Monsoon cocktail dresses and T-shirts is anyone’s guess.’ Diana shook her head and laughed.

I rummaged through the coat hangers. ‘What are you going to wear to the captain’s cocktail party? I’m going to wear the red one with the twinkles, so I stand out. Or at least my cleavage will. Or perhaps I should wear something more modest?’

Eddy had bought me that dress for his retirement party. It was far more daring than I would have chosen, and his district manager had spent a lot of the evening staring down the front of my dress and looking wistful, which Eddy, who didn’t have a jealous nature, had thought was hilarious.

Diana gave it some thought. ‘I will wear the blue thing.’

‘Narrow it down a bit. Most of your things are blue,’ I said.

Diana looked thoughtful. ‘They are, aren’t they? Well, we’d better get on with it, it’s five o’clock already. Any idea where the Renoir room is?’

6

The Renoir room was on deck 12 at the top of the ship. A medium-sized room tastefully decorated with wooden panelling and old prints of tall-masted ships, and a wonderful view over the stern where the white water churned as we moved forwards through the Celtic Sea and down towards the Bay of Biscay.

Bang on five thirty, after hesitating, walking backwards and forwards to waste a few more minutes and then waiting for several moments outside the door nudging each other like kids, because neither of us wanted to be the first to go in, I opened the door.

Some very glamorous couples in evening dress were there already, with drinks and canapés. They looked like the sort of people who might have been asked to feature on the new BVP website. Well-dressed, glossy, smiling.

There was the hum of well-modulated chatter, and several of the women were clustered around the captain and his officers, with bright-eyed smiles. He was obviously hilarious because every time he stopped talking there was a burst of tinkling laughter from his admirers.

A crew member welcomed us and took our names, before escorting us to the captain.