11

      Of the many fashionable and exclusive restaurants in London, San Paulo was – right now – the most exclusive and the most fashionable. Oswald usually detested these fly-by-night destination eateries, feeling much more at home in one of the private clubs that peppered the SW1 district in tiny pockets of old-school exclusivity. Still, it was good for crumpet, he thought, looking around at the lunchtime crowd, a throng of well-groomed Euro-Sloanes en route to a Mandarin Oriental spa treatment or a Neville hair appointment. There were bankers’ wives, Russian wives, footballers’ wives: the whole place smelt of husbands’ money, he reflected with disapproval, looking at the Jimmy Choo carrier bags and Hermès Birkins that lined the floor around the tables.

      ‘The doctor’s, eh? What’s wrong with you this time, Venetia?’ Oswald asked his eldest daughter, snapping his fingers to attract the attention of a waiter.

      ‘Not sure yet,’ said Venetia, keeping her head down. This was only her second day back in London after returning from Mustique, but she’d spent the entire time worrying about her test results. This morning the doctor had told her nothing, only taken more blood ‘for further investigation’. But however anxious Venetia was, she certainly didn’t want to suggest to Daddy that something was wrong.

      ‘It’s always something with you, isn’t it?’ Oswald paused and looked at her shrewdly, ‘Not women’s things, is it? It’s about time you and Jonathon started dropping a few sprogs.’

      Venetia began studying the San Paulo wine list intently. ‘As I say, we’re not sure what the problem is,’ she replied stoically, her heart racing.

      ‘Well, it’s about time one of you gave this family an heir. Still, at least we know you can have children, don’t we?’ he leered, fixing Venetia with a cruel smile.

      The memory she had been deliberately suppressing for weeks now came flooding back with a force that was frightening. She’d been seventeen years old. She’d had a summer fling with a boy in the village that ended three months later in a Marie Stopes clinic in London. Her father had insisted on literally dragging her to the door. It was not her age he had objected to, but the father. ‘Do you want a retarded ape for a child?’ he had taunted her. ‘Well, not under my roof!’ She wondered if the abortion had had anything to do with her infertility now, but she couldn’t mention it to Dr Rhys-Jones, not with Jonathon’s disapproving face watching her every move.

      Her painful thoughts were brought to a halt as a voluptuous dark-haired woman approached the table. In her late thirties, Maria Dante wore heavy make-up over her handsome features, her curvy body wrapped in a sharply tailored corset dress and jacket.

      ‘Hi Maria,’ smiled Venetia, trying to regain her composure. ‘Good to see you again.’

      Maria Dante nodded graciously and allowed the waiter to pull back her chair for her to sit down.

      ‘How were rehearsals?’ asked Oswald, stretching over to kiss her powdered cheek.

      ‘Going well,’ replied the singer, in an accent that was a cocktail of Italian and American. ‘The opening night is on the twenty-third, so you can see for yourself how well. That is, if you would still like to come?’

      Venetia looked at the two of them, puzzled by the familiarity between her father and the singer.

      ‘Oh, have you two met?’ she asked.

      ‘Only on the telephone,’ laughed Maria, looking at Oswald appreciatively. He had surpassed her expectations.

      Oswald took a sip of wine, and smiled smugly at his daughter.

      ‘After you mentioned the possibility of a musical evening at Huntsford, I took the liberty of phoning Miss Dante.’ He looked over at her like an antiques dealer sizing up his latest sideboard. ‘We were surprised that we had so many friends in common, weren’t we, Maria?’

      The singer giggled girlishly. ‘Oh, too many people.’

      Venetia smiled weakly. She had set up the lunch as a business meeting to introduce them, in the hope that Maria might charm Oswald into holding the event at Huntsford. Now she felt as if she were gate-crashing a first date.

      ‘Let’s cut to the chase so we can get on with a civilized lunch,’ said Oswald, swilling his wine around the glass. ‘I’m up for the event in principle. But if we are going to stage it at Huntsford, I want it done properly. Something on a grand scale. Something elegant. Something spectacular. I mean, bloody hell! anybody with access to the bloody Internet goes down to Glyndebourne these days. I’m not having that. Don’t want it to be like a ruddy singsong in someone’s back garden. The Balcon family have a reputation to protect.’

      He paused to rub his stomach, which hung over the waistband of his trousers.

      ‘I completely agree that it should be exclusive,’ interrupted Venetia, ‘which is why I think we should be looking at two hundred and fifty pounds a ticket. That way at least fifty per cent of the ticket price can go to charity.’

      Oswald put his glass down and sighed.

      ‘I thought I made it clear about charity,’ said Oswald, correcting the hard tone of his voice when he saw the startled expression on Maria’s face.

      ‘You should be the first one to know how much everything costs these days,’ he said to Venetia. ‘God only knows, you spend enough of Jonathon’s money.’

      She bridled.

      ‘Anyway, we have Maria’s fee to take into consideration,’ he continued, glugging more Pinot.

      ‘Fee?’ said Venetia, shifting in her chair. ‘I thought …’ She tried unsuccessfully to catch Maria’s gaze. ‘But what about the charity?’

      ‘My daughter.’ He began talking to Maria as if Venetia wasn’t present. ‘She always wants to help everyone. She wants to save the world!’

      He laughed, then turned back to Venetia. ‘Darling, the commercial reality is that these things are expensive. Don’t you think all these so-called charity concerts are lining somebody’s pocket? What’s the point on skimping on our evening of music just so we can send some loose change to some cripples? I for one won’t pretend it’s some grand humanitarian effort. It’s hypocritical nonsense.’

      Venetia was surprised to see that Maria was nodding as Oswald spoke, since the singer had been quite excited about the proceeds going to the National Children’s Home when they had spoken about it the previous week.

      ‘Now Maria.’ He placed a hand on Maria’s knee that she allowed to linger. ‘It all begins with you, my darling. What dates did you come up with?’

      She burrowed for her diary, not bothering to look at Venetia. ‘I have a couple of shows in Verona in the second week of July. I was rather looking at the first week of June.’

      ‘Splendid!’ said Oswald, reaching for the bottle of wine. ‘Now then, Venetia, do you think Serena would compere it? You do know my daughter Serena Balcon?’ boasted Oswald to Maria. ‘Such a beautiful girl.’

      Venetia rolled her eyes. The way he paraded his preferences for his youngest daughter never failed to rile the other sisters.

      ‘And couldn’t we get Camilla to rustle up all those legal bores she knows?’ he continued. ‘There’s huge corporate possibilities with all this,’ he added in a stage whisper to Maria.

      Oswald was clearly on a roll now, enjoying being centre stage. ‘Charlesworth’s quite connected in the classical world. And bloody Watchorn can put his money where his mouth is and drum up