The Uninvited Guests (31 page)

Authors: Sadie Jones

BOOK: The Uninvited Guests

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He was lost for words, for the moment, seeing in an instant that having desired Emerald’s house, her hair, her dazzling excellence, he now did
not
desire exactly those same attributes. She was a fine example of womanhood, to be sure. He was a fine specimen, too, he thought, but of a different species from Emerald Torrington and they would have made an unhappy hybrid. Unable to articulate any of these rare insights, he made do with smacking her on the arm.

‘Happy Birthday,’ he said. ‘I hope I can persuade you and Clovis into town for some more conventional entertainments. For fun.’

‘Fun would be grand. Goodbye, John.’

‘Goodbye.’

With that, they joined the others outside.

John glanced back, once, at the sun-bathed, elegant front of Sterne. He swallowed his residual disappointment that, given the news the house was saved, he would not now be its master, by money or marriage. Then he shook hands all round, and grinned and boomed his way out, thumping Ernest on the back and making confident little bows to the ladies. (He had the temerity to wink at Florence; she had the gall to wink back.)

‘Goodbye!’ called Emerald.

‘Goodbye!’ called everybody else, and he slapped his thigh with his driving gloves, climbed into his car, made a neat half circle, and sped away between the yews. He waved a hand in farewell to the group assembled on the drive and, with a splutter and a pop, he out-raced the lurcher Forth before reaching the road.

Smudge, encircled by her mother’s arm, remarked, ‘I like the farmer John Buchanan. He’s not bad,’ as if somebody had said he was.

The shiny car as it receded did not hold their attention for long, and as Forth galloped back towards them, Emerald looked up at Ernest, and Clovis took Patience’s hand and pulled her into the shadow of the porch. He kissed her, briefly, crushing her mouth most adorably.

‘I like you, too,’ she whispered. ‘Now stop that: you’re very naughty.’

They emerged onto the driveway like a pair of coy acrobats who’ve just pulled off a tricky triple somersault.

Observing them, Edward remarked, ‘I have only been away for one night, Charlotte; the children are transformed!’

‘Yes,’ answered she, vaguely, moving closer to him.

He bent to kiss her, but she interrupted him.

‘What is that divine smell?’ she sang as he noticed his nose, too, was tantalised by something marvellous.

They all turned as Florence Trieves emerged from the house.

‘You didn’t discover bacon?’ said Charlotte to her.

‘I did.’

‘My God, you’re superb.’

The spring morning, a tolerably clean house, fresh clothes, love, and four pounds of bacon were to the Torrington-Swifts and their guests the very pinnacle of bliss.

The dining room was bare of decoration, only themselves, the plates, the huge pile of rashers and jugs of coffee (with a tiny amount of cream between all of them).

Emerald sat close to Ernest, wondering at the way the sunlight touched his cheek and the dazzling deep hues of his hair. His eyes were amber, now she could see them in daylight. It was like eating bacon with a lion; she might sit there forever comparing the glorious tones of him against the tapestry and revelling in his thinking her clever. Ernest himself could not look at Emerald at all, for fear of ravishing her where they sat. Patience licked her fingers neatly like a kitten – the actual kitten Tenterhooks curled up on her lap, and the cat Lloyd on the sideboard, glaring at them.

They had no bread and no eggs either, nothing but the heaped rashers, that were alternately crispy and juicy, wet with hot fat and gorgeously salty.

‘We should keep hens,’ said Emerald.

Charlotte gave a shrug and said, ‘Oh, you know
hens
, they’re so small-minded,’ to which there was no sensible reply.

CURTAIN

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I consider myself tremendously lucky to have Caroline Wood as an agent; from the first draft manuscript until long after paperback release she is there, a fantastic agent and a great friend.

It is my immense good fortune to be published by Chatto and Windus. Clara Farmer’ s ability to see what a book
is
and enable it to be more so is a rare talent. She has been each book’s closest and kindest friend, and I am in her debt.

The Uninvited Guests
took in some ways something of a new direction and I am immensely grateful to Vintage Publishing, Random House, for unstintingly celebrating and supporting it. Not just Clara, but Dan Franklin, Rachel Cugnoni, Juliet Brooke and of course, Gail Rebuck, all have my heartfelt thanks. For their work in promoting the books with me, and the fun we have in doing so, I would like to thank Sue Amaradivakara, Bethan Jones, Lisa Gooding, Fiona Murphy and Claire Wilshaw.

For the US edition, I am grateful to have Terry Karten at Harper Collins, whose enthusiasm and delight in
The Uninvited Guests
has thrilled and encouraged me. Thanks as well to Jonathan Burnham, for taking the book to his heart. Many thanks to Sarah Odell, and to Jane Beirn for all her hard work – and her keenness; it has been a pleasure to work with her again. Also thanks to the wonderful Stephanie Cabot at The Gernert Company.

I should like to thank Christopher Neal for his witty cover illustration for the Chatto edition, and Suzanne Dean for her invaluable design. Thanks, too, to Tomer Hanuka for the gorgeous cover of the US edition.

In Canada, at Knopf, I am tremendously grateful to Louise Dennys for her passion and pleasure in the book, and to Marion Garner for her hard work and generosity. Thanks too, to Adria Iwasutiak.

I should also like to thank Mrs Beeton, very much.

Sadie Jones, December 2011

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

S
ADIE
J
ONES
is the author of the novels
The Outcast
, winner of the Costa First Novel Award in the United Kingdom and a finalist for the Orange Prize for Fiction and the Los Angeles Times Book Prize Art Seidenbaum Award for First Fiction; and
Small Wars
, a tale of love, war, and honor, which was published to critical praise on both sides of the Atlantic.
The Uninvited Guests
is her third novel. Sadie Jones lives in London.

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OTHER WORKS

The Outcast
Small Wars

CREDITS

COVER ILLUSTRATION BY CHRISTOPHER NEAL

COVER DESIGN BY RICHARD LJOENES

THE UNINVITED GUESTS
. Copyright © 2012 by Sadie Jones. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.

First published in Great Britain in 2012 by Chatto & Windus.

FIRST U.S. EDITION

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data has been applied for.

ISBN: 978-0-06-211650-5

EPub Edition © MAY 2012 ISBN 9780062116536

12 13 14 15 16 OFF/ RRD 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

ABOUT THE PUBLISHER

Australia

HarperCollins Publishers (Australia) Pty. Ltd.

Level 13, 201 Elizabeth Street

Sydney, NSW 2000, Australia

http://www.harpercollins.com.au