Dancing in the Dark by Susan Moody Page A

I could say the same for you, Fergus.’ She gives him a quick professional scan. ‘You look terrible, if you want to know the truth.’
    â€˜Ignorance was bliss.’
    â€˜Did you get another dose of malaria in Mexico?’
    â€˜Surprisingly, no.’
    â€˜Then what’s wrong? And don’t say nothing.’
    He longs to lean against the mother-lode of her bosom and be soothed. ‘Just a little matter of my next book, that’s all. Getting into it. Finding the theme, the connections.’ He laughs lightly, unconvincingly, hoping the airiness of his tone will disguise his black fear. ‘Maybe I’m all written out.’
    â€˜â€œ
One of the most original voices of his generation
”,’ she quotes. ‘I don’t think so.’
    He moves behind her into the big drawing room. The room has been knocked through so that one end looks on to the street while the other leads out to the garden, where he can see tables set up, umbrellas, a couple of people in white jackets bustling about, preparing for the party that is due to begin in a couple of hours. As Ricky’s godfather, he’s been invited early.
    In the ordered room there are marble fireplaces, high ceilings, deep skirting boards, a sense of permanence. Things he’s not before felt any urge for. Now, there’s a scorpion-scrape at the base of his gut:
whatever it is,
I want some, too.
    â€˜Wine? Gin? Whisky?’ she says.
    â€˜A glass of cold white wine would just touch the spot.’
    â€˜Which spot would that be, Fergus?’ She hands him a glass and raises her own.
    He touches his hand to the area above his heart. ‘This one, maybe.’
    â€˜It’s high time you found yourself a nice girl, a girl to keep. A girl to marry.’
    â€˜You know something, Caro, I’m beginning to agree with you. Not that I think of marriage as a cure for all ills.’
    â€˜Quite the opposite.’ She’s laughing. ‘And talking of ills, the boys know you’re coming and they’re dying to see you.’
    â€˜And I them.’ He pats the bag he’s brought with him. ‘Afraid I’ve got typical bachelor presents in here. Chocs, comic-books – and this rather gruesome drum from Columbia for my godson Ricky.’
    â€˜What’s gruesome about it?’
    â€˜The guy who sold it to me said it was made of human skin.’
    â€˜Fergus!’
    â€˜He only told me after I’d paid for it. And in any case, it probably isn’t true.’
    Charlie comes into the room and stops. ‘Aha!’ he says. ‘Fergus the Love Rat!’
    Fergus groans. ‘Not you too,
please
. I’ve had the press camped on my doorstep for days now – not that the houseboat has a doorstep.’
    â€˜Charlie, I told you not to mention it,’ says Caro.
    â€˜But is it true?’ Charlie is eager.
    â€˜Of course not. Do I look like a man who can get it up ten times a night?’
    â€˜I don’t know.’ Caro puts her head on one side.
    â€˜It’s not the frequency which fascinates me,’ Charlie says, ‘so much as the woman you’re alleged to have been shagging. Aristocratic landed gentry? Not at all the sort I’d expect you to go for.’
    â€˜She went for
me
,’ insists Fergus. ‘She fancies herself as some kind of a writer and I was leading a course at one of those summer schools. I simply passed the time of day with the creature, and the next thing I know, she’s in my bed, wearing something so flimsy you could have blown it off her with a sigh.’
    â€˜And did you?’
    â€˜What?’
    â€˜Sigh.’
    â€˜Actually, before I could even draw breath, she had her tongue down my . . . Look, I really don’t want to go into this. All I can say is, don’t believe anything you see in the newspapers. If anything, I’m the victim here, not her.’
    â€˜Is it true the husband came