On the Verge

Robin reads Claude's little black book.

It was intriguing reading. The entries which most interested Robin were headed 'mv Balearic, 7 -- 13 June.' This, he knew, was the cruise sailing upon which Vera and Olivia had taken a mother-and-daughter break the previous summer. He read on. There followed a list of four names, all feminine he noted, with abbreviations which might well indicate status, and numbers which might well indicate age, each followed by a question mark. He wondered if the question marks indicated uncertainty as to the ages, or perhaps some other possibility.

Vera is still suspicious.

When he returned to the sitting room, he found that William and Gladys had arrived, and a vigorous discussion was under way.

Vera turned on William. "I don't know how you have the nerve to enter this house!"

"It's all been a misunderstanding," William replied. "The man who was seen entering Gladys' house was Charles, not me. You were misinformed."

"That's right, Vera," Gladys confirmed. "It was Charles, not William."

"I'll trust you to keep out of it, you two-faced Jezebel!" Vera answered. "I suppose you'll be telling me next that it wasn't my husband who answered the phone when Charles rang? And that you hadn't had the brass neck to tell me to my face that you found my husband attractive? Which just shows what poor judgment you've got. Well, you want him, you keep him."

"Oh, I say, Vera," Charles protested, "that's coming it a bit strong! It's all the fault of that stupid old man, thinking that I was your husband."

"Oh, you'd have to be stupid to think that anyone would marry me, would you?"

"I didn't say that!"

"I'd say the stupid one was the one who believed the old man in the first place," Gladys chipped in, looking hard at Vera. "To be so suspicious of your own husband suggests a guilty conscience to me."

"And just what is that supposed to mean?" demanded Vera, stepping in front of Gladys and staring at her unblinkingly.

Robin stepped between them. "I must speak to you privately, Mrs Johnson. Can we go into the kitchen?"

"Keep out of this, Robin," Vera answered. "It's not your affair."

Suppressing a smile at her choice of phrase, Robin insisted, "It really is most frightfully important that you hear what I have to tell you. I promise you that you will be glad that you did."

"Oh, all right," Vera reluctantly conceded, "but this had better be good."

We'll always have Paris the aft deck.

In the kitchen, Robin produced the notebook. "This is Claude's diary. He was here earlier to speak to Olivia, and he left it behind."

"Claude? Who the hell is Claude?" As she spoke, Vera suffered a sense of déjà vu as she recalled that this was the second time she had posed the question that day.

"He's the dance instructor who's been giving me and William lessons. He was also the dance instructor on the Balearic, the cruise ship that you and Olivia were on last year."

"Oh," Vera said softly.

"There are some rather peculiar entries in the diary," Robin continued, "some of them in a sort of code. Look at this one here." He pointed to one of the pages, "It says '11^th June, 10.30 VJ (bloody dr)'. I wonder what that could mean? Then it says '12 VJ' followed by two stars. Odd, isn't it? And so on, until we get '23.30 VJ' followed by three stars and 'aft deck' followed by three exclamation marks. I've looked through the whole of the diary and that's the only entry with three stars and three exclamation marks for any of the cruises."

"Is it really?" said Vera, a hint of pride in her voice.

"That entry was for the 12^th of June, the last day of that particular cruise. Stars and exclamation marks? Hmm, I wonder perhaps if there were fireworks on the aft deck that night? Were there, Mrs Johnson, fireworks on the aft deck the last night of the voyage?"

"I really can't remember," Vera answered distantly. "Anyway, those initials could mean anything."

"True," replied Robin, "they could mean anything. I tell you what, William is good at solving puzzles. He's at a bit of a loose end, now that you have thrown him out. I think I'll show it to him, and see what he can make of it. It will give him something to take his mind off things."

"No! No, don't do that!" Vera exclaimed urgently. "I mean, well, you're quite wrong in thinking that I've thrown him out. It's just that we have a few things to discuss,that's all, and I don't want him distracted just now."

"Of course, if William is moving back in with you, I wouldn't dream of bothering him with this silly diary. Are you quite, quite sure that William is moving back in?"

"Yes, I am sure, so just forget about the diary."

"Okay. I think we might as well join the others now."

Vera comes to heel.

When they rejoined the others in the sitting room, William and Olivia were conferring quietly, while Charles and Gladys had their heads together in another corner.

"I have been thinking things over," Vera announced at large, "and I have come to the conclusion that we have all been over-reacting to a couple of very trivial occurrences. I have decided, therefore, to forgive and forget, and . . ."

"I beg your pardon," Gladys said firmly, "did you say 'forgive'?"

"I'm sorry," Vera apologised, "that was just a trite phrase which slid off my tongue inadvertently. What I should have said was, that I now realise that absolutely nothing has happened to give any of us the slightest cause for concern. We should everyone of us put it all behind us, and get on with our lives as if nothing has happened. What I mean is, nothing has happened, so let us all forget everything that has happened, not that anything has, I mean . . ."

William came to her rescue. "I think we all know what you mean, my love, so let's hear no more about it. Right?"

With one voice, Vera, Charles, and Gladys all replied, "Right!"

This could be the start resumption of several beautiful friendships.

Gladys took Charles' arm and said, "Come back to my place, and I'll cook us something to eat." Charles eagerly accepted the invitation, and they left.

Robin took Olivia aside and said, "There's something I want to discuss with you. Let's go to my house. Dad's gone to his lady friend's, so we can talk in peace." Olivia took his arm, and they left.

Vera said, "It seems there are just the two of us. I'll go and see what there is to eat."

William and Vera make plans.

"Before you do that, I've got a suggestion to make," said William. "Why don't you and I go on a cruise this year, just the two of us? The travel agents have been advertising cruises on a new ship, the Harmony. We could book on that, and treat it as a second honeymoon."

"That would be wonderful, darling," Vera replied.

At Gladys' house, she and Charles make plans.

Charles came up behind Gladys as she was preparing their meal, and put his arms around her. "This is so cosy, love, why don't we make it permanent? Let's get married. What do you say?"

"Say? Yes, yes, yes! That's what I say. I thought you'd never ask."

"Where shall we go for our honeymoon?"

"Somewhere on our own, far from friends and neighbours. What about a cruise?"

"Good idea. I've seen advertisements for a new cruise liner, the Harmony. I'll see if I can book us on that."

At Robin's house, he and Olivia make plans.

"I have a proposition to put to you," Robin said firmly to Olivia as soon as they were alone in his house.

Olivia was not sure if she approved of Robin's new-found assertiveness, and was alarmed at the possible implications of his statement. "What sort of proposition?" she queried defensively.

"Oh, don't worry, not that sort. On the contrary. What I suggest is, that we skip the big wedding, get married quickly on the quiet without telling anyone, then go off on a honeymoon cruise. The quicker we get away from our parents, the better, I reckon."

Olivia gazed at him adoringly. How masterful and controlling he was! "Anything you say, darling. Perhaps we could get a booking with the same company Mother and I went with last year. They have got a new liner, I believe."

"Right, that's what we'll do," and Robin took her in his arms.

At La Paloma Dance Studio, Claude and Yvette make plans.

At the dance studio, Claude was opening the afternoon post. "Hurrah!" he suddenly exclaimed.

"What is it, Sid?" Yvette asked. "You won the pools or something?"

"Nearly as good as that, Dor. We've been offered a gig as the resident dance instructors and exhibition dancers on the new cruise ship, the Harmony!"

"That's wonderful," Yvette said. "I can't wait to get away from the awful people we've had to deal with recently."

At Ted Knight's council house, his daughter makes plans.

"Had a nice day, Dad?" Ted Knight's daughter asked him as he sat down to their evening meal.

"Quite nice," Ted replied. "Met some nice people and had a couple of nice chats."

"Well, I've got some good news for you, Dad. Guess where we're going on holiday this year?"

"Spain again? Channel Islands? I quite fancy the Channel Islands."

"Better than that, Dad. I entered a competition in the evening paper, and guess what? I won!"

"Smashing, love! What did you win then?"

"It was a special promotion for a new cruise liner called the Harmony. I've won two tickets for a ten day cruise in the Mediterranean! What do think of that?"

"Smashing! When we get back I'll have something to tell the people I meet on my constitutional. Won't they be jealous!"

* * *

The End

"Now this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. but it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning." (Winston Churchill, 10 November 1942)

* * *