Cowbells and Wedding Bells

“Why?”

“Why, what.”

“Why did she invite you to her wedding?”

Jessica is showing a grim determination in her interrogation that makes me smile. Seeing my amusement she gives me a suspicious look.

“You look like the cat that got the cream, uncle”, she exclaims. “Don't tell me that you had a clandestine tryst and you shagged her.”

It is a shot in the dark but she doesn't realise how near the truth it is.

◊ ◊ ◊

"Would you like to come up to my room for a nightcap?” Lottie had said.

The temptation was too hard to resist and I followed her in the lift.
Inside her room I came to the conclusion that sex was not what she needed to get rid of her frustrations, but companionship and friendship.

I rang room service and the only nightcap that we had consisted of two mugs of hot chocolate and we just talked until the small hours.

◊ ◊ ◊

Lottie had said that she wanted to enjoy every second of her remaining freedom and, apart from intimacy, I made sure that her stay was as pleasurable as possible.
I took her to the Royal Opera House, to concerts and plays; to visit stately homes and travelled extensively all over the country.

“You are a true gentleman”, she told me as we said our goodbyes at St.Pancras station.

Perhaps not the most appropriate endorsement that a hot-blooded Casanova like me wants to hear.

◊ ◊ ◊

Jessica is still trying to get some admission from me but I am not relenting.

“Don't be silly”, I retort with smug indignation, “the wedding invitation was bona fide. No strings attached.”

My niece wants to hear all the details of the ceremony, which I remember well and I am willing to relate, with the exception of the conspiratorial glances that the bride and I exchanged, suggesting regret for what did not take place on her visit to London. I saw her walking down the aisle to her fate and that was the last time I saw her.

“ Now I can reveal the reason why I have chosen Switzerland for our holiday”, I say and Jessica is all agog when I mention that some days ago I received a letter from Lausanne.

“You'll soon be able to meet Lady Charlotte, the woman we have been referring to as Lottie all this time. She has been widowed for some years now and busy managing the chain of hotels her father left her when he died.”

“Will we be staying in one of those hotels?” Jessica, always practical, asks.

“No, we'll be lodging in her chalet.”

She looks quite excited at the prospect of a new adventure with lot of skiing but most of all the après-ski.

Her sense of humour resurfaces once more

“So, we are going to the land of William Tell and cowbells but do I hear the sound of wedding bells?

© Luigi Pagano 2020

Previous episodes
1) https://www.abctales.com/story/luigipagano/tense-situation
2) https://www.abctales.com/story/luigipagano/treading-boards
3) https://www.abctales.com/story/luigipagano/swiss-finishing-school
4) https://www.abctales.com/story/luigipagano/secrets-and-half-lies