Free Sea of Lost Love by Santa Montefiore

been making eyes at me all evening.”
    â€œHow presumptuous of him.”
    â€œI’ve been encouraging him, Mama.”
    â€œIs that wise? You know nothing about him.”
    â€œHe’s gorgeous and charming.”
    Her mother sighed and replaced the little powder puff in its case, closing it with a snap. “That doesn’t mean he’s got the qualities that make him worthy of you.”
    â€œIf you mean money, I don’t know.”
    â€œI’m not entirely shallow, darling. I mean, is he kind? Loyal? Has he got integrity? Does he respect you? Or is he just after a little tumble in the flower beds?”
    â€œReally, Mama. He’s not like that at all. At least, I don’t think he is.” She recalled Humphrey’s hot hand on her thigh and decided to tell her mother.
    â€œHumphrey! How ghastly!” Pamela replied, suitably appalled. “He’s a dirty old man. You see, Celestria, men are all the same. They all want a little flesh. You just have to decide whether or not you want to give it to them.”
    â€œNot Papa!”
    â€œYes, Papa. That’s why I have to keep myself looking beautiful—so I don’t lose him to some lovely young thing.”
    Celestria was horrified. She had never heard her mother talk about her father like that. “I’d hate to think of Papa being as fresh as Humphrey.”
    â€œOf course he’s nothing like Humphrey. Good Lord, no! Your father’s far too well mannered and decent. He’d never flirt so coarsely with a girl his daughter’s age, though your father does like to flirt.” Celestria noticed an edge of bitterness in her mother’s voice. She swayed a little in front of the mirror, tidying her hair with her hand. She was tipsy. Celestria was startled; it was so unlike her mother. “Your father gave me this when he made his first fortune,” she said, tracing her hand across the diamond brooch that was pinned to her dress. “He said he had to find stars big enough to outshine the stars in my eyes. So typical of Monty.” She laughed, the brittleness now softened by the warmth of her memories. “I told him even my father couldn’t have chosen better, and he was so proud. I know he felt the pressure of marrying an heiress. He wanted to make his own money, to stand on his own two feet. He accepted nothing from my father, only me! Well, he made money all on his own. My father’s very proud of him, though he’s never told him so. Men! They’re not very good at being sentimental.” Celestria watched the two interwoven stars glitter in the yellow light. That was how she saw her parents, interwoven with glitter. “Wouldn’t life be wonderful if one could freeze it before one falls off the peak and sinks onto a less satisfactory plateau?”
    â€œWhat do you mean?”
    â€œWell, it’s not a bed of roses, even with your father. Marriage has to be worked at, and work of any sort doesn’t suit me.” She took a tissue and dabbed the corner of her eye with a trembling hand. In a small voice she added, “I’ll give it a try. Your father’s worth the effort, don’t you agree? I just wish he was around more. He’s growing into a stranger.”
    â€œHe just works too hard. Perhaps if you talked to him—”
    â€œAll work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.”
    â€œPapa’s not dull.”
    â€œHis absence is making my life dull, darling. After the war we had to get to know each other again. Now I feel we’re going backwards, but there’s no war to give it a veneer of acceptability. It’s all very well being off all the time if you’re fighting to save your country. Making money doesn’t cut it. Not anymore.”
    Celestria placed her hand on top of her mother’s. It wasn’t easy discussing her father like that. She had placed him so high on a pedestal she was barely able to see him,