Free Birth Marks by Sarah Dunant

Rambert. So what? I just thought she deserved the chance to get away. If that was what she needed. Maybe that’s why she got pregnant, eh? Cocking a snook at the old dear.’
    â€˜Who was the father?’
    â€˜I said already—she didn’t tell me about the baby.’ And you could tell he hadn’t liked the question.
    â€˜OK. So let’s try something else. What about her debts?’
    â€˜I told you, she needed some money.’
    â€˜Not some money, Scott, a lot of money. What did she spend it on, apart from clothes?’ He shrugged. ‘Eight thousand quid at last count, which amounts to seriously more than the odd spending spree. What was she on?’
    The laugh was more like a guffaw. ‘Anyone ever told you that you sound like a social worker?’
    â€˜Yeah, all the time. So, d’you wanna talk or just sit here and drink? And if I were you I’d watch that frown. You’re going to get wrinkles if you’re not careful.’
    He sighed. ‘A lot of it was above board. Medical bills, physios, that kind of thing. But if you want to believe the rumours, she probably would have been doing some stuff when she was with Left Feet First. Coke, maybe a little speed. But she was clean by the time she got to Cherubim. Contrary to what you guys read in the tabloids there are a number of drugs that you can stop taking. It’s just you can’t pay back the money they cost.’
    Boy, I must be looking my age. Either that or this was just his form of revenge. ‘And she couldn’t?’
    â€˜We didn’t talk about it.’
    â€˜So what did you talk about, Scott? Or did you just invite me here because you’ve run out of late-night drinking companions?’
    I got another scowl, then he sat back in his chair and said, ‘I don’t know for sure, but I think she might have gone to Paris.’
    â€˜To Paris?’ And I must say, it’s good he mentioned it, because I never would have guessed.
    â€˜It was a long time ago, right? So I only remember bits of it. I think it must have been a month or so after she arrived—which would make it some time in February—she saw this ad in one of the papers. And before you ask me, I don’t know which paper and I can’t remember the date. All I know is what she told me. It was for some job in France. I don’t even know what it was doing, exactly, except that it was a temporary post with very good money. Well, she was pissed off with Cherubim, pissed off with not earning enough, pissed off with everything really. I think she thought maybe if she went away, did something different, cleared her debts, got Miss Patrick and her bleeding obligations off her back for a while…Anyway, she told me she’d applied for it. And then a week or so later she got an interview. I know because it meant going to Paris and I covered for her, her classes I mean. When she got back she didn’t say much about it. Just told me it had been some kind of personal assistant business job and that she hadn’t got it. I asked her a few more questions but she shrugged them off. I figured she was just disappointed. Then a couple of weeks later she went off again without telling me, just called in sick one morning. I didn’t think anything of it at the time, but then the same thing happened a bit later. And I knew it was Paris this time, because I saw the ticket in her handbag. I suppose I wondered then if it might be a guy. I even made some joke about how expensive it was, joining the highfliers’ club, and maybe she should just invite him back to her place. But she didn’t find it very funny and when I pushed a bit further she clammed up on me. I guess I was a bit surprised. I mean we were quite tight in our own way. I suppose we had some things in common, like we both should have been doing better but couldn’t get the expectations off our back. Anyway I figured she just didn’t like