Worst Impressions

Bonus Chapter - Madame Courtenay's Visit

Charlie's parents stayed on in Switzerland while my mother escorted their children back to Netherfield. Mandy and I stayed with them. She had to get on with her university work, and I needed an excuse to avoid confronting my feelings a while longer.

Upon hearing that my mother was due to pass through Europe and into England, Madame Courtenay offered her services. Rather, she insisted they stop off at her home in Paris to fill her in on all the gossip. Stories of our journey to Italy and Mandy's pending case against Gideon were flying through our social circle. It was only a matter of time before the woman knew everything about our business, and it was better that it came from my mother.

As I understood it, her brother and his new wife, Beth's mother, were no longer at her home. Wyatt, too, was absent from her company, but that didn't mean that they weren't talking to one another via alternative means. I wouldn't have been at all surprised if she called him now and then and used him as a spy to hear all about Beth and her escapades.

The woman had missed a lucrative career in MI5.

I didn't find out until after the event that Madame Courtenay had travelled as far as Netherfield with the rest of the group. Not a woman to be refused, she'd somehow convinced my mother that it was necessary for her to inspect the school for some convoluted reason. Madame Courtenay had made many large donations to Netherfield in the past, and that was the sort of thing that could be used as leverage to ensure that they hosted her. The school wasn't about to offend one of their donors just because they were preparing for exams or trying to provide an education to their pupils.

My mother arrived back without Charlie and Chantelle, so I deduced that his reunion with Jenny had gone well. Even without my mother telling me, I knew he wouldn't have had the strength to stay at Netherfield if she'd turned him down.

'What do you mean that she was there with you?' I asked over dinner. Mandy had left campus to welcome her back. Charlie's parents were out for the night at a local restaurant so that we could catch up privately as a family. 'What would she want there?'

'I think it was a who rather than a what.'

I paled. 'Did she talk to Beth?'

'I wouldn't say that they talked. Rather, that they shouted. The acoustics in the classrooms at Netherfield are very impressive,' Mum added, smirking as though there was an inside joke there. 'I'm not sure I've heard anyone yell at Madame Courtenay before. I'm glad I was there to witness it.'

I set down my knife and fork. 'I'll have to apologise to her.'

'Why should you apologise to that old bat?' Mandy asked.

'To Beth,' I corrected. 'I can't imagine that she had anything nice to say.'

'From what I overheard, there was a lot of talk about money-grubbing, seducing you, staying in the gutter –'

I dropped my head into my hands. I was mortified. 'Oh my God, she'll never speak to me again!'

Silence fell across the table. The candles flickered gently, eating away at the wax which oozed down onto the expensive silver sticks below. Mandy reached for her wine glass and sipped at it slowly, meeting my mother's gaze, silently encouraging her to say something to improve the situation.

Mum cleared her throat gently and said, 'Beth wanted to offer her thanks to you, Mandy. She knows that her friend will feel a lot better knowing that we're working hard to keep Gideon locked up.'

'That's as much for me as it is for Lisa,' Mandy said. 'I hope that she knows that.'

'I'm sure she does, darling. She was also grateful to see Charlie back.'