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Authors: Caro Fraser
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somehow I don’t think so – not tonight.’
It wasn’t what he had expected, and he felt surprisingly disappointed. Sitting in the pub with her, the prospect of having her company for the rest of the evening, and then the night, had seemed a pleasurable one. He nodded. ‘Right. Right, OK … Do you need a cab?’
‘No, thanks. I’ll walk down to Temple tube. Bye.’
She turned and walked away, and after a few seconds she heard the sound of Leo’s footsteps dying away in the other direction. She pulled up her collar and snuggled it around her face. That had been just right, she thought. Perfect. Itwas the first time, ever, that she had said no to Leo. In the past, she’d had nothing to gain by playing hard to get. That had all changed now.
On Wednesday evenings Felicity went to visit Vince in the remand centre at Belmarsh. These were depressing occasions. Felicity always started off trying to be cheerful, but it was impossible to counter the gloom generated by Vince. Not that Felicity could blame him. Even if the police dropped the murder charge to manslaughter when his case came to court, as Vince’s solicitor assured him they would, what was the best he was looking at? Four years, possibly five. Vince would be the first to admit that he was no saint, he tended to get into fights and other kinds of bother, but that it should all end like this was to him the most blatant injustice. All right, the guy had died, but he hadn’t meant him to. He’d been unlucky. Fallen down and hit his head. How could they put him away for something he’d never meant to do, saying he’d killed a guy when that wasn’t the way it had been at all? He hadn’t killed him. The bloke had kicked his bike. He’d hit him, and the bloke fell down. He was unlucky. They were both unlucky.
On Felicity’s early visits to the remand centre after Vince’s arrest, it had been all he could talk about, the unfairness of it, how he hadn’t meant to, they couldn’t convict him of murder, that wasn’t bloody justice … until she was weary of hearing it. Then after a couple of weeks his invective against Fate and the police had stopped, and a kind of sullen passivity took its place. Sometimes conversation was hard. There were even occasions when it seemed to Felicitythat Vince was deliberately trying to take everything she said the wrong way, so that he could argue with her. She couldn’t fathom the growing resentment that she detected in his manner each time she visited. She told herself that she still loved Vince, and that she would see it through with him, but there were times when she wondered if he even wanted her to. The baby she had lost was never mentioned. Felicity told herself that she didn’t blame Vince – though, if he hadn’t been drunk and argumentative, she would never have had that fall … She had to convince herself it was for the best, really, otherwise she would have been stuck with a baby, no job, and Vince on remand. Not a happy thought.
That evening she sat at one of the Formica-topped tables in the big room where visits were conducted, and waited for a warder to bring Vince through, hoping he might be in a better frame of mind tonight. But Vince only gave Felicity the bleakest of smiles when he came in. He sat opposite her, hands flat on the table.
‘Hi,’ said Felicity. ‘Happy Valentine’s Day.’
‘Right.’
‘So – how are you doing?’
Vince shrugged. ‘Saw my solicitor today. She reckons my case might not come on till June. That didn’t exactly do me a lot of good, hearing that.’
‘That’s another four months!’
‘Yeah, I don’t need you to tell me that.’ He sighed and ran his hands through his shoulder-length dark hair. ‘Anyway, tell me what you been up to.’
Felicity talked for a while about chambers, and told him about a film she had been to see the weekend before. Shealways racked her brains before coming, trying to conjure up interest in her humdrum existence, anything to
It wasn’t what he had expected, and he felt surprisingly disappointed. Sitting in the pub with her, the prospect of having her company for the rest of the evening, and then the night, had seemed a pleasurable one. He nodded. ‘Right. Right, OK … Do you need a cab?’
‘No, thanks. I’ll walk down to Temple tube. Bye.’
She turned and walked away, and after a few seconds she heard the sound of Leo’s footsteps dying away in the other direction. She pulled up her collar and snuggled it around her face. That had been just right, she thought. Perfect. Itwas the first time, ever, that she had said no to Leo. In the past, she’d had nothing to gain by playing hard to get. That had all changed now.
On Wednesday evenings Felicity went to visit Vince in the remand centre at Belmarsh. These were depressing occasions. Felicity always started off trying to be cheerful, but it was impossible to counter the gloom generated by Vince. Not that Felicity could blame him. Even if the police dropped the murder charge to manslaughter when his case came to court, as Vince’s solicitor assured him they would, what was the best he was looking at? Four years, possibly five. Vince would be the first to admit that he was no saint, he tended to get into fights and other kinds of bother, but that it should all end like this was to him the most blatant injustice. All right, the guy had died, but he hadn’t meant him to. He’d been unlucky. Fallen down and hit his head. How could they put him away for something he’d never meant to do, saying he’d killed a guy when that wasn’t the way it had been at all? He hadn’t killed him. The bloke had kicked his bike. He’d hit him, and the bloke fell down. He was unlucky. They were both unlucky.
On Felicity’s early visits to the remand centre after Vince’s arrest, it had been all he could talk about, the unfairness of it, how he hadn’t meant to, they couldn’t convict him of murder, that wasn’t bloody justice … until she was weary of hearing it. Then after a couple of weeks his invective against Fate and the police had stopped, and a kind of sullen passivity took its place. Sometimes conversation was hard. There were even occasions when it seemed to Felicitythat Vince was deliberately trying to take everything she said the wrong way, so that he could argue with her. She couldn’t fathom the growing resentment that she detected in his manner each time she visited. She told herself that she still loved Vince, and that she would see it through with him, but there were times when she wondered if he even wanted her to. The baby she had lost was never mentioned. Felicity told herself that she didn’t blame Vince – though, if he hadn’t been drunk and argumentative, she would never have had that fall … She had to convince herself it was for the best, really, otherwise she would have been stuck with a baby, no job, and Vince on remand. Not a happy thought.
That evening she sat at one of the Formica-topped tables in the big room where visits were conducted, and waited for a warder to bring Vince through, hoping he might be in a better frame of mind tonight. But Vince only gave Felicity the bleakest of smiles when he came in. He sat opposite her, hands flat on the table.
‘Hi,’ said Felicity. ‘Happy Valentine’s Day.’
‘Right.’
‘So – how are you doing?’
Vince shrugged. ‘Saw my solicitor today. She reckons my case might not come on till June. That didn’t exactly do me a lot of good, hearing that.’
‘That’s another four months!’
‘Yeah, I don’t need you to tell me that.’ He sighed and ran his hands through his shoulder-length dark hair. ‘Anyway, tell me what you been up to.’
Felicity talked for a while about chambers, and told him about a film she had been to see the weekend before. Shealways racked her brains before coming, trying to conjure up interest in her humdrum existence, anything to
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