CHAPTER 5
Catriona hummed as she made herself ready for Peter. It all seemed a bit rushed, but as he had said, if she was leaving the office, he may not see her again. She reflected on her last cinema visit in male company. She didn’t think Peter was like Simon, but then she hadn’t thought Simon was so like Simon either. Well, she had walked out of one cinema. She could always walk out of another if the occasion demanded it. She wasn’t going to pay for the tickets anyway.
As it happened, the film was an enjoyable one, and it proved possible to see it through to its end. Peter had presented her with a box of chocolates, and if their fingers had touched while sharing them out, it was only by accident. Even though they were not in the back row she could see other couples holding hands in the dark, but Peter made no move towards taking hers. Afterwards, he escorted her home and said goodnight in a semi formal fashion, rather like Harry might have been with a bit more life in him.
‘I enjoyed the evening Peter,’ she said. ‘Thank you.’
‘My pleasure. Perhaps we could repeat the experience another day.’
‘Yes please,’ she said, without pausing to think. ‘I’d like that.’
‘There’s a concert in the park on Saturday,’ he said. ‘Would you care for that?’
‘A concert sounds nice. Will you call for me again?’
‘If I may.’
‘Please do. What time?’
‘I’m tempted to say straight after breakfast, but I’ll not inflict that on you, apart from the fact that I prefer to be civilised about my waking up time. What about one o’ clock?’
‘All right. I look forward to it.’
‘Goodnight then, Catriona.’
‘Goodnight Peter.’
He smiled, turned, and walked away rapidly. No attempt had been made to kiss her, for which she was duly grateful. Her experiences with Simon had made her wary. Just the same, she couldn’t help feeling a set of mixed emotions about the matter. Hormones, she supposed.
Saturday arrived and went. The concert itself was enjoyable, as was being in Peter’s company. When she had answered the door to his knock, he had looked at her in frank admiration.
‘You do look nice,’ he said. ‘That’s a lovely outfit you’re wearing.’
‘Why thank you kind sir,’ she dimpled, pleased that her efforts with the new clothing and ever so discreet makeup had not been in vain.
After the concert, Peter had taken her to a cafe for afternoon refreshments, where he had plied her with coffee and a scrumptious serving of strawberry cake and whipped cream. On taking her home, once again he hadn’t tried to kiss her. On the contrary, while he appeared to be a warm and kind person, he kept his distance. Once, just once, he had held her hand, and that was for no other reason than to help her up from the ground where they sat while listening to the band, relinquishing his hold as soon as she was properly on her feet. It was slightly frustrating. In Catriona’s mind he was a mixture of Simon and Harry. One the one hand, open and energetic, bursting with ideas, one the other, reserved and perhaps a little over polite.
It was not until their third outing that he took her in his arms and pressed his lips gently upon hers, a pressure that she willingly responded to.
‘If you only knew how much I have wanted to do that,’ he said huskily. ‘You don’t mind?’
It didn’t sound exactly like a question.
‘I don’t know,’ she said. ‘Perhaps you had better do it again so that I can decide.’
It was with her head swimming that she went to bed that night, dreaming of a gentle man. She decided she rather liked Peter. Without being possessive, a thing she couldn’t stand at any price, he made it clear that she belonged, not in a sense of ownership but rather as a feature of their relationship that was natural and normal. Simon had been possessive and crude, and Harry... well he was just Harry. He could have been moulded into whatever she wanted him to be, but she wasn’t sure he would have been worth the effort. Peter was different. The fact that he held down a well paid job did no harm either. No harm at all. Accountancy. Now there was a profession with real possibilities. She curled her lip at the thought of being tied down to a toyshop worker, even one who could be moulded.
From that point on, it developed into a whirlwind courtship. Peter never took her for granted, but made it very clear where his intentions lay. It came as no surprise to Catriona when he proposed to her. Third time lucky, she thought, as she considered his offer.
‘Well, this is a surprise,’ she said. ‘I never thought. You’ve caught me on the wrong foot, Peter. I’ll need time to think about it.’
‘Of course,’ he said, smiling with his usual happy expression. ‘Take as much time as you want. Just as long as you say yes.’
‘I probably will,’ she said. ‘But it’s a big step. We have to be sure.’
‘I’m sure.’
‘Yes, I believe you. Just the same, it’s still a big step. I mean, it’s simply not true that two can live as cheaply as one, especially if the two become three or more.’
‘I’m well paid,’ said Peter. ‘I like to pay cash for everything, and can do it as well. Apart from buying a house, that is. We’d have to get a mortgage for that. It’s better to do it that way in any case. Interest rates aren’t so high right now, and the house can be paid off out of future earnings, which will be a lot higher than they are at the moment.’
‘That’s good to know,’ said Catriona. She felt no urge to tell him that with what her parents had left her, she could buy a house without having to borrow too much herself. A small house it was true, but a house nevertheless. That was her money, and while she was prepared to spend some of it for mutual benefit, the task of providing for a family devolved upon the man. Of course there would be fair shares otherwise, a strict fifty fifty split.
‘Can I ask you,’ she said hesitantly. ‘Can I ask you how much you are paid?’
‘Of course. You’ll need to know whether I can afford to support you. It varies, according to the amount of outside work I do. Last year I pulled in about two thousand pounds. I’d be grateful if you didn’t mention the outside work to anybody, by the way. Strictly speaking I’m not supposed to do that, but it’s a start towards building up a clientele of my own. I’m thinking of the future, you see. You have to be a bit sharp nowadays to make a decent living.’
‘No, I won’t say anything,’ Catriona said absently. ‘I wouldn’t know who to talk to in any case.’
Yes, she thought, Peter will do nicely. Can’t let him off too easily though. Take your time. Keep him guessing.
‘Are you likely to be paid any more than that in the future?’
He nodded. ‘Certainly. What’s more, just as soon as I get going on my own, the sky’s the limit. Accountancy’s one of the best paid jobs in the modern world. If I told you what our senior partner gets, you wouldn’t believe it.’
‘Oh?’ said Catriona. ‘And just how would you know that sort of information?’
He showed his teeth in a wolfish smile. ‘I took the trouble to find out, the same as I did with your address. Perhaps I shouldn’t have done but I was curious. I wanted to know what my prospects were likely to be. As it happens, I think I can do even better than that.’
‘Well,’ she said. ‘I have no parents, as you know, nobody to talk to and ask for advice, apart from my brother, and I don’t think he’s quite the right person for it. This is something I have to tackle on my own. You won’t mind if I keep you waiting for a while?’
‘As I said, take as long as you like.’
‘It won’t be for ever, Peter. I do think that if a thing is right, then a decision can be made quickly. I just have to be sure that it is right, you see. I’ll let you know by next Saturday without fail. And if I do say yes, then I won’t hold you to a long engagement.’
‘It’s a fair deal,’ said Peter. ‘That’s all I ask for then.’
During the week, Catriona went window shopping, deciding what to buy for the wedding. The range of shops she visited was enormous, from furniture to kitchen equipment, jewellery to wedding dresses, going away outfits to prams, the last with a deliciously tight feeling in her lower body. She looked at the calendar. Yes, the first week of next month would probably be suitable, providing the priest could fit them in then. Now there was a thought, and a disquieting one. She tackled Peter about it on the Saturday when he came to pick her up for their weekly walk in the park.
He rang the doorbell and waited as usual. Catriona opened the door as usual, but for once didn’t seem to be ready.
‘Come in, Peter,’ she said. ‘I want to talk to you.’
‘Trouble?’ he asked with a grin. ‘Have I done something wrong that I’m not aware of?’
‘No, at least nothing that comes to my mind. Search your conscience Peter Walker. You should know. Anyway, there’s a question I have to ask you. Something to find out before I give you my answer. You know, the big answer, the one I promised to give you today.’
‘I hadn’t forgotten,’ he said.
‘No, I don’t suppose you had. Do sit down Peter. I want a serious talk with you.’
He followed her in to the living room and took a place on the small sofa.
‘All right, I’m sitting. What is it?’
Catriona drew in a deep breath. ‘Do you know that I’m a Catholic?’
‘No I didn’t. Is that important? Sorry, I’ll rephrase that. Of course it’s important. You wouldn’t have mentioned it otherwise.’
‘You don’t mind, do you?’
‘Why on earth should I mind? It’s you I want to marry, not the Pope.’
She smiled at him ‘You couldn’t. He’s a man, and he’s not allowed to marry anyway. What I mean is, being a Catholic is important to me. I can’t say I’m such a regular churchgoer as perhaps I should be, but I do take it seriously. If we were to be married, I would want it to be in church. A Catholic church.’
‘I wouldn’t have any problem with that, Catriona,’ he said gently. ‘I have no strong feelings on the matter.’
‘If we had any children, they would have to be brought up as Catholics, you do realise that?’
‘It doesn’t matter. As I said, I have no strong feelings.’
‘The priest will probably try to convert you.’
Peter shrugged. ‘He’s welcome to try.’
‘You don’t mind?’
‘I don’t mind. Not in the slightest. I don’t say I’m going to be converted, that’s not likely, but for the rest...’ He shrugged again. ‘It’s all the same to me. If I’m to be honest, it’s meaningless, but that’s not to say that I’ll try to bring you to my way of thinking.’
‘I’m glad to hear it,’ said Catriona. ‘In that case, I can give you my answer now. Yes, I’ll marry you Peter. Just as soon as you want.’
Peter’s face lit up with an expression of satisfaction. ‘I’m tempted to say right now, but I guess the proceedings take a little longer to organise.’