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Dominic stepped up to his fiancée, as she watched Helen run out of the party after her housemate. ‘What were you talking about?’
Emily shook her head. ‘Nothing.’
Dominic frowned. ‘Are you sure? It sounded pretty intense.’
‘It’s private.’
Dominic furrowed his brow. They were engaged. It was new territory for him, but secrets on day one seemed like a bad sign. ‘We’re getting married. You know you can tell me.’
Emily looked away for a moment. Dominic stayed quiet. Sometimes you could let a silence do the work for you. It was a tactic he used in tutorials. Less confident teachers panicked if they asked a question and didn’t get an answer right away. Dominic knew better. If you let the silence hang, after about seven or eight seconds the awkwardness would overwhelm at least one student and someone would come up with an answer. He watched Emily shuffle her feet, and waited.
‘It’s Tania,’ she blurted.
‘What about her?’
Emily took a step towards him so she could talk directly into his ear, the rabble of party noise blocking what she was saying to passers-by. ‘You know I said she wasn’t right for him? Right from the start?’
Dominic nodded.
‘Well I found out what she’s been hiding. I’m going to tell my dad tonight, before he chucks the rest of his life away on her.’
Unease sent a shiver down Dominic’s back. ‘What’s she been hiding?’
‘Well ...’
Dominic stood back and held up a hand. ‘Actually don’t tell me. Isn’t it up to her what she tells people?’
Emily folded her arms. ‘Not something like this. It’s really bad ...’
‘I said don’t tell me.’
‘She’s been to prison.’
Dominic closed his eyes. To be fair, that did sound quite bad, but the principle still held. A person could be born one thing and choose to be something else, or even be raised to be something else. He thought about his father sitting in his chair, muttering under his breath at the football on the telly and reading The Sun or The Mail. And now his son went to parties in manor houses with fancy caterers and funny pink drinks. ‘And unless she’s actually escaped and on-the-run she’s paid her debt to society, hasn’t she?’
‘It’s all right for you. It’s not your dad.’
‘That’s true, but think about that.’ Dominic took his fiancée’s hand. ‘You’re so close to your dad. That’s incredible. I barely spoke to mine, except to get a new dose of guilt, and now it’s too late to change it. Don’t throw away your relationship with Theo by doing something that’ll make him miserable.’
She wrapped her fingers around his. ‘It’s for his own good.’ For the first time there was a hint of uncertainty in her voice.
‘Will he see it that way? If you go to him and tell him whatever it is about Tania?’ Dominic circled his thumb gently on the back of her hand. ‘You’ve heard people say “Don’t shoot the messenger”? Well you’re the messenger. He might not thank you.’
She shook her head. ‘He’ll understand.’
Dominic pulled his hand away. ‘Em, I’m not sure.’
She smoothed her dress down and wiped a hint of a tear from her face. ‘It’s not up to you.’
‘True.’
‘Good, because I’ve decided what I’m doing.’
‘I don’t think ...’ He stopped talking as his fiancée walked away across the room. Dominic felt a flicker of irritation. He hadn’t been telling her what to do. He thought back over the conversation. Well, maybe he had been telling her what to do. He shook his head and set off after her.
‘Professor Collins!’
He stopped abruptly at the voice. ‘Nick?’ His wayward student was standing in the middle of the room holding a tray of bright pink punch.
Nick grinned. ‘I told you I got a job.’
‘Yeah. So I see.’
‘This is like a way cool party. Have you seen the magicians?’
Dominic nodded. He’d seen various fairies and elves performing tricks for the entertainment of the gathered guests.
Nick pointed towards a tall, dark-haired man, dressed in green and brown, his face painted like the bark of an aged tree. ‘He’s the best. He showed us this card trick before it all started that like blew my mind.’
Dominic watched the man for a second. He certainly seemed to have the group of guests standing round him, rapt. Suddenly the man raised his voice. ‘I need a volunteer!’ He looked towards Dominic. ‘You sir?’
Dominic shook his head and dropped his gaze to the floor. There was no way he was going to be a magician’s stooge. Next to him, Nick had no such inhibitions. He flung his free arm into the air and thrust his tray towards Dominic with the other ‘Hold these.’
Nick bounded forward. The magician shrugged. ‘Very well.’
Dominic took a step forward to watch the performance. The magician had his patter down. ‘All right young man. What’s your name?’
‘Nick.’
‘Excellent Nick. And can you confirm for the ladies and gentleman that we haven’t met before today?’
Nick nodded.
‘That’s great. And have you ever been hypnotised before?’
Nick shook his head.
‘Very good. Okay Nick. You’re feeling very calm. I want you to close your eyes for a moment, and picture a wheel. Can you see the wheel in your mind Nick?’
Nick nodded.
‘That’s great. Very slowly I want you to make that wheel turn in your mind. Watch the wheel. Round and round it goes, slowly turning, and you’re watching as it goes round and round and round. You’re feeling calm. You’re relaxed. The wheel goes round and round. And sleep.’
Nick remained standing, but his head dropped onto his chest. Dominic took a step closer.
The magician grinned at his growing audience. ‘Time for a little bit of fun.’ He turned to a woman in Tudor finery at the front of the small crowd. ‘Pick an animal.’
She giggled. ‘I don’t know.’
‘Any animal? It doesn’t matter.’
The woman shrugged. ‘A donkey.’
‘Excellent.’ The magician turned back towards Nick. ‘Nick, in a moment I’m going to tell you to open your eyes, and when you do you will believe that you are a donkey.’
A volley of laughter greeted the idea. Someone off to the right shouted out, ‘How’s he going to serve our drinks?’
The magician smiled. ‘Good point. Nick you will still be a waiter, but you will also believe that you are a donkey. You will have a yearning for carrots and you will believe that your ears have grown long and furry.’
Another volley of laughter broke out at the image. Dominic shook his head. This was a distraction. He picked up a cup from the tray and downed it. He’d been running after Emily, but why? She’d stormed away from him. She was set on exposing some deep, dark secret of Tania’s. That was the danger, wasn’t it? If you set out on life with a part of yourself hidden away, there was always a risk you could be exposed.
A hand tapped on his shoulder. ‘You didn’t want to be a volunteer?’
The elf who was doing the hypnosis show grinned broadly at him, flashing glimpses of long pointed teeth.
Dominic shook his head. ‘Not really my thing.’
‘Fair enough.’ The man was still smiling. ‘People get nervous about hypnosis. There’s no need. It only works if the volunteer’s up for it.’
‘Really?’
The elf nodded. ‘I could demonstrate.’
‘No thanks.’
‘Humour me.’ The elf tilted his head to one side. ‘Go on. Just close your eyes.’
Dominic sighed. He supposed it couldn’t hurt to play along. ‘No turning me into farmyard animals though.’
‘Trust me.’ The elf smiled broadly. ‘It’s a wedding party. From now on tonight is all about love.’
‘All right.’
‘Now just close your eyes and picture a wheel.’