Northanger Abbey

13

As Henry had predicted, the following morning brought the kind of day that shows Edinburgh at its brilliant best. The sun brought warmth to grey stone that could otherwise look forbidding and the greenery of the trees and private gardens was a satisfyingly vivid contrast. Clearly it was not the sort of day to attract Henry to clambering up the slopes of Arthur’s Seat.

Cat was not downhearted, however. She hugged the events of the previous evening close to her heart, happy at the prospect of seeing Henry again soon. Nothing could put a damper on her good spirits and she set off with Susie for the Book Festival full of cheerful anticipation. They had a sheaf of tickets for the day’s events, which included her mother’s favourite food writer. Cat had put enough money aside to buy his latest recipe book and she queued contentedly for half an hour in the heat to have it signed.

Towards the end of the afternoon, Ellie texted her.

Where r u?

@ bookfest. Where u?

Jst got bk 2 house. C u @ bookfest in 10?

OK. Outside spiegeltent.

When Ellie arrived, resplendent in a wide-brimmed hat, there was a brief moment of hesitation before they hugged and kissed each other on the cheek. ‘Henry explained,’ Ellie said.

Cat laughed. ‘And Henry explained to me too. He should join the diplomatic service.’

‘Ha! You wouldn’t say that if you could hear him ranting about people who mess him about at work.’

‘I’m so glad we got everything sorted out.’

‘Me too. Let’s go and get an ice cream, I’m roasting.’ And so they linked arms and stood in line. After they’d been served, they sat down on the grass and savoured the sensual pleasure of cold vanilla on a hot afternoon. ‘Henry says it’s supposed to be cooler tomorrow,’ Ellie said. ‘He thought we could do the Arthur’s Seat walk in the morning. What do you think? Are you still up for it?’

Cat nodded enthusiastically. ‘Totally. Henry’s right, it would have been a real slog doing it today in this heat. How early do you want to start?’

‘We’ll borrow the car and pick you up at nine, if that’s OK?’

‘Perfect.’ She finished her ice cream and lay back on the grass. ‘This is the best time I’ve had in my whole life.’

‘Don’t you miss your family?’

‘A bit. But I don’t miss being in the Piddle Valley, where nothing ever happens.’

Ellie snorted with laughter. ‘Every time you say that it makes me giggle. The Piddle Valley, for heaven’s sake.’

‘Northanger Abbey does sound much grander,’ Cat said wistfully.

‘You’ll come and visit, I know you will.’

Before they could make further plans, a familiar booming voice assaulted their ears. ‘Here you are! Susie said you were kicking around somewhere. We’ve been all over the bloody Book Festival looking for you, Cat.’ John Thorpe loomed over her, blocking out the sun.

Cat pushed herself up on one elbow. Her brother and Bella were by John’s side, gazing down at her. ‘It’s not like I was hiding,’ she muttered.

Ellie stood up. ‘I’ll see you in the bookshop,’ she said, slipping away. Cat wished she could do the same.

‘We’ve rearranged the run out to Linlithgow and Glasgow for tomorrow,’ Bella said.

Cat’s heart sank. ‘But Jamie’s car ... Surely it’s not up to the journey?’ It was her last best hope.

‘It’s fine,’ her brother said. ‘It was just a busted radiator hose. It looked much more spectacularly worse than it was.’

‘I can’t go,’ Cat said, taking the bull by the horns. ‘The same reason I shouldn’t have gone before – I’ve just made an arrangement with Ellie to go walking with her tomorrow.’

‘Oh, for heaven’s sake, Cat. You can go walking any old day,’ Bella insisted. ‘Surely Ellie won’t mind if you swap days?’

‘We can go to Glasgow any old day.’

‘Possibly not,’ John butted in. ‘I might have to go back to London. Urgent business. And that would put the mockers on our little trip. I can definitely do tomorrow. But after that ... ?’ He made a wiggling gesture with his hand, indicating uncertainty.

‘We need you to come, Cat, don’t let me down,’ Bella wheedled.

‘No. I’ve already messed Ellie around once, I won’t do it again.’

‘Just tell her you forgot you had a previous engagement.’

‘I’m not going to lie, Bella.’

Bella pouted. ‘You’re my best friend, Cat. I’ve hardly seen you for days. I know you, you’re so sweet and kind, are you really going to make me suffer without you? I know you hate to let a friend down.’

‘Ellie’s my friend too, and I won’t let her down.’

Bella tossed her head, her hair swinging about her shoulders. ‘Oh, is that how it is? Ellie Tilney’s your new best friend, is she? Even though you’ve only known her five minutes, I’m just chopped liver now. It’s Ellie this and Ellie that and Bella can go hang.’

‘You’re weirding me out, Bella.’ The extravagance of her friend’s protestations made Cat quite ill at ease.

Bella’s bottom lip quivered and she clung to Jamie’s arm. ‘I can’t help it if I have such strong feelings for the people I love. I get jealous when I see myself pushed out because some stranger caught your eye. It’s only because I care for you so much and I’ve missed you.’

Cat grew increasingly uncomfortable in the face of Bella’s emotional incontinence. It was so far removed from her own family’s behaviour. Of course they acknowledged each other’s emotional states, but they would never have dreamed of spilling them out so publicly. She was about to point out that the main reason they had seen so little of each other was that the Thorpes had been monopolising her own brother when Bella took out a tissue and began dabbing at her eyes.

It was all too much for James, who burst out in indignation, ‘Now look what you’ve done, Cat. Bella’s crying, and all because you won’t come for a day out with us. It was supposed to be a treat, now you’ve spoiled everything. I think hanging out with the Allens has ruined you.’

Cat scrambled to her feet, astonished. Her brother had never taken another’s side over her, and it was a shock to realise how things had shifted between them. ‘I’m exactly the same person I always was. The one who keeps her word.’

Bella put a hand to her chest and sighed. ‘That’s that, then. If Cat’s not going, neither am I. I don’t want to be the only girl among you men.’

‘So take Claire or Jess,’ Cat said, tired of attempting to be conciliatory.

‘Oh, brilliant,’ John exploded. ‘Do you really think I came to Edinburgh to take my sisters out and look like a complete and utter twat? No thank you. If you’re not going, neither am I. Your company’s the only reason I wanted to go in the first place.’

‘Like I care,’ Cat muttered under her breath.

‘I can’t believe how obstinate you’re being,’ James said. ‘And here I’ve been telling Bella how kind and sweet-natured you always are to me and our sisters.’

‘It’s nothing to do with being kind. It’s to do with dealing fairly with people.’ In her outrage, Cat failed to notice John sidling away in the direction of the bookshop. ‘It’s not always easy, but I do try to do the right thing.’

Bella sulked. ‘It’s not much of a struggle when what you decide is right happens to coincide with what you want to do.’

Cat’s heart swelled at the unfairness of it, and they continued to argue the stalemate back and forth until the moment when John burst between them, rubbing his hands. ‘That’s it settled, then. We’re off to Glasgow tomorrow with a clear conscience. I’ve been and made your excuses to Ellie.’

‘You’ve done what?’

‘I told her you’d sent me to say that you’d just remembered you’d already agreed to come out with us to Linlithgow tomorrow so you’d have to postpone your walk till the day after. And she had to admit that would suit her just as well. So we’re sorted.’

Bella’s misery dissolved instantly and James looked relieved. ‘You are so smart, Johnny. And now, girlfriend, everything’s turned out perfectly. You’re off the hook and we are going to have a great day out.’

‘No, that’s not how it’s going to be,’ Cat said. ‘How dare you, Johnny? Who died and made you my social secretary? You’ve got no right to lie to my friend like that. I’m going after Ellie right now.’

But Bella grabbed her arm. ‘Don’t be silly, Cat.’

And Jamie angrily blocked her way. ‘Why are you being so difficult? Johnny just sorted everything out, you could be a bit grateful.’

‘Grateful? When he’s made me look like a complete – a complete – a complete shit?’

James stepped back in surprise. He’d never heard Cat swear in public before. A rebel and a tomboy she might be on the surface, but she had too much love and respect for their father to shame him with bad language where others might hear and judge. ‘Nobody will think that,’ he said uncertainly.

‘They will too. I’m going to find Ellie and tell her the truth.’

‘No point. She’s gone home,’ John said firmly.

‘Then I will go after her. Wherever she’s gone, I will go after her. There’s no point in talking to you people. What kind of man are you? You think if I can’t be persuaded into something, it’s OK to trick me into it?’ And with those words she pulled her arm from Bella’s grasp and pushed past the others. John tried to go after her, but James grabbed him.

‘Let her go. There’s no talking to her when she’s like this,’ he said.

‘She’s as obstinate as—’ But John could find no comparison that was fit for the consumption of the Book Festival crowd, who were already gawping at him.

Cat meanwhile was pushing through the press of bodies milling around in the sunshine. When she made it through to the street, there was no sign of Ellie. She ran to the corner and paused for a moment, torn between going straight down the hill and turning left or cutting along the bottom of the square and into Glenfinlas Street. She had no idea which her friend preferred, but she guessed at the latter because it was a quieter, more leafy route. She took to her heels in spite of the heat, convinced she would catch Ellie before she reached home.

But Ellie must have been walking briskly, for there was no sign of her until Cat skidded round the corner into Ainslie Place, when she caught sight of her quarry entering the front door. Putting on a turn of speed she didn’t know she possessed, Cat sprinted down the street, taking the front steps at a leap and before she could pause to consider, diving past Calman as he began to close the door.

‘Sorry,’ she gasped, making for the open door on the left that she guessed would take her into the drawing room. Ellie whirled round and stared at her in consternation, while her father and her brother looked up in wide-eyed surprise from the game of chess they were playing by the window. Short of breath and even more short of nerve, Cat made a nervous grimace that only someone who loved her could have called a smile. ‘I hurried to catch you up – To explain the stupidity, the mistake – I never promised Johnny Thorpe any such thing – As soon as he brought it up, I said no, I was committed to you – I’m sorry, I didn’t give Calman a chance—’

‘Hello, Cat,’ Henry said, getting to his feet. ‘How lovely to see you.’

‘Henry, hello. I tried to catch Ellie up because that high-handed idiot Johnny Thorpe took it into his head to tell her a pack of lies. He did, didn’t he, Ellie?’

Ellie seemed uncertain how to respond. ‘He said you’d made a mistake about tomorrow. That you’d promised to go on some trip with him and Jamie and Bella tomorrow so you wouldn’t be able to come up Arthur’s Seat with Henry and me.’

Cat made an impatient gesture with her hands. ‘I knew it. Honestly, Ellie, that is a complete fantasy. A lie. I made no such plans. He just wants me to come on this stupid outing so he can show off his fancy car again. I am determined to go walking with you and Henry tomorrow, not go to Glasgow or Linlithgow with that idiot.’

‘Well, that seems pretty clear,’ Henry said.

‘I’m sorry, I seem to leave a trail of confusion wherever I go,’ Cat said.

General Tilney got to his feet and came towards them. ‘That’s what comes of being such an attractive young woman,’ he said. It was a line that from another might have seemed louche or inappropriate. But in the General’s dry tone, it was impossible to take exception to it. ‘Eleanor, are you going to introduce me to your friend?’

Ellie dipped her head. ‘Father, this is Catherine Morland from Dorset who is here in Edinburgh for the festival with her friends the Allens.’ It was curiously formal, but it seemed to be the style of the house, for the General acknowledged the introduction with a half-bow from the waist.

‘A pleasure,’ he said. He gave Ellie a sharp look. ‘But you didn’t come in together. Why did Calman not bring Miss Morland in? What was he thinking? We don’t just barge into rooms in this house.’

‘My fault,’ Cat said, clapping a hand to her chest. ‘I was incredibly rude. I ran straight past him. Poor man, he didn’t stand a chance. And please, General, call me Cat. Everyone else does.’

He smiled. ‘Come and sit with us. Calman will bring us tea and cakes, it’s that sort of time.’ He nodded at Ellie, who hurried out of the room, and waved Cat to a sofa near the massive marble fireplace. Now she saw him at closer range, she could see that although his features were very similar to his son’s, his skin was covered in fine wrinkles as if he’d spent years out of doors in all weathers. But because his hair was the kind of light brown that disguised the strands of silver, he still looked amazingly young. Like a two-hundred-year-old vampire, Cat’s wicked angel whispered in her ear. That same angel noticed there was a faint outline above the elaborate mantelpiece, as if the large mirror one might expect to find there had been temporarily removed.

Afternoon tea soon appeared, so lavish Cat was fascinated by its generosity to the point where she failed to notice her companions ate hardly anything. Instead they all chattered as cosily as if they’d known each other for years. The General remained formal and somewhat aloof, but he was not averse to joining the conversation when he had something germane to contribute. Eventually, he stood up and apologised for having to leave them. ‘I have some calls to make,’ he said. ‘But we would be very happy if you would stay for dinner.’

Cat was as dismayed as she was surprised. ‘I’d love to,’ she said. ‘But I know Mrs Allen has tickets for a concert this evening and I mustn’t let her down.’ She also got to her feet. ‘In fact, I really should get back. This has been a lovely afternoon. Thank you.’

‘We’ll see you tomorrow morning around nine,’ Henry reminded her.

‘I’ll see you to the door,’ the General said. He took her elbow as they left the drawing room. ‘You have the spring in your step of a natural dancer,’ he said as he opened the front door. ‘I thought as much when I saw you dancing with Henry.’

It was the icing on the cake, to be complimented by a man as eminent as the General. Cat proceeded happily to Queen Street, taking note of that dancer’s spring in her step that she’d never noticed before. What an afternoon of ups and downs it had been. She hated upsetting James and Bella but she had been determined to do the right thing. And it had been the right thing, in spite of Bella’s snide suggestion that she was trying to justify what she intended to do anyway. If anyone was selfish, Cat told herself, it was Bella. She checked her phone and sure enough, there were half a dozen messages from Bella entreating her to change her mind, plus a couple complaining of her intransigence.

The Allens were both sitting in the window sipping white wine when she returned and she amused them over dinner with her adventures. ‘For what it’s worth, I think you made the right choice,’ Mr Allen said. ‘Gadding about in gaudy convertibles sends the wrong sort of message about the kind of girl you are, Cat.’

‘You’re so right,’ Susie said. ‘I don’t think your father would approve. Much better to take a sedate walk with the Tilneys. Such a good family, by all accounts. Just the kind of young people your parents would like to think of you hanging out with, Cat.’

Generally, that would have been the opposite of a recommendation to a teenager. But Cat was so deeply mired in her admiration for the Tilneys that not even the potential approbation of her parents could divert her.